my favorite movies of the 20th century
by halreed | created - 27 Sep 2011 | updated - 21 Feb 2012 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Falling Down (1993)
R | 113 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey, Rachel Ticotin
Votes: 206,375 | Gross: $40.90M
2. Pulp Fiction (1994)
R | 154 min | Crime, Drama
The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis
Votes: 2,216,318 | Gross: $107.93M
3. Rio Lobo (1970)
G | 114 min | Drama, War, Western
After the Civil War, Cord McNally searches for the two traitors whose treachery caused the defeat of McNally's unit and the loss of a close friend.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: John Wayne, Jorge Rivero, Jennifer O'Neill, Jack Elam
Votes: 13,642 | Gross: $9.27M
4. Big Jake (1971)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Western
In 1909, when John Fain's gang kidnaps Jacob McCandles' grandson and holds him for ransom, Big Jake sets out to rescue the boy.
Directors: George Sherman, John Wayne | Stars: John Wayne, Richard Boone, Maureen O'Hara, Patrick Wayne
Votes: 14,384 | Gross: $16.35M
5. Coogan's Bluff (1968)
R | 94 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Arizona Deputy Sheriff Coogan is sent to New York City to escort an escaped fugitive back for trial.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Lee J. Cobb, Susan Clark, Tisha Sterling
Votes: 18,887
6. McQ (1974)
PG | 111 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Seattle cop is caught up in a corrupt police force that he is trying to make right. McQ is a cop with a mission.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: John Wayne, Eddie Albert, Diana Muldaur, Colleen Dewhurst
Votes: 5,936 | Gross: $0.24M
7. First Blood (1982)
R | 93 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A veteran Green Beret is forced by a cruel Sheriff and his deputies to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.
Director: Ted Kotcheff | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Brian Dennehy, Richard Crenna, Bill McKinney
Votes: 275,169 | Gross: $47.21M
8. Death Wish 3 (1985)
R | 90 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Architect/vigilante Paul Kersey arrives back in New York City and is forcibly recruited by a crooked police chief to fight street crime caused by a large gang terrorizing the neighborhoods.
Director: Michael Winner | Stars: Charles Bronson, Deborah Raffin, Ed Lauter, Martin Balsam
Votes: 17,339 | Gross: $16.12M
9. The War Wagon (1967)
Unrated | 101 min | Drama, Western
The story of a man who was shot, robbed and imprisoned who returns to steal a large gold shipment from the man who wronged him. The gold is transported in an armored stage coach, the War Wagon.
Director: Burt Kennedy | Stars: John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Howard Keel, Robert Walker Jr.
Votes: 10,793
10. Mad Max (1979)
R | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In a self-destructing world, a vengeful Australian policeman sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley
Votes: 221,987 | Gross: $8.75M
11. Dr. No (1962)
PG | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A resourceful British government agent seeks answers in a case involving the disappearance of a colleague and the disruption of the American space program.
Director: Terence Young | Stars: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Bernard Lee, Joseph Wiseman
Votes: 179,265 | Gross: $16.07M
12. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
PG | 135 min | Western
Missouri farmer Josey Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla unit and winds up on the run from the Union soldiers who murdered his family.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Chief Dan George, Bill McKinney
Votes: 79,755 | Gross: $31.80M
13. Unforgiven (1992)
R | 130 min | Drama, Western
Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner Ned Logan and a young man, The "Schofield Kid."
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris
Votes: 435,702 | Gross: $101.16M
14. The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
Passed | 122 min | Drama, Western
Ranch owner Katie Elder's four sons determine to avenge the murder of their father and the swindling of their mother.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Martha Hyer, Michael Anderson Jr.
Votes: 19,167 | Gross: $13.33M
15. Another 48 Hrs. (1990)
R | 95 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Jack Cates once again enlists the aid of ex-con Reggie Hammond - this time to take down The Iceman, a ruthless drug lord operating in the San Francisco bay area.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, Brion James, Kevin Tighe
Votes: 44,470 | Gross: $80.82M
16. Commando (1985)
R | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A retired Special Forces colonel tries to save his daughter, who was abducted by his former subordinate.
Director: Mark L. Lester | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Dan Hedaya, Vernon Wells
Votes: 174,683 | Gross: $35.10M
17. The Terminator (1984)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity's future salvation.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield
Votes: 923,022 | Gross: $38.40M
18. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick
Votes: 1,172,602 | Gross: $204.84M
19. True Grit (1969)
G | 128 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A drunken, hard-nosed U.S. Marshal and a Texas Ranger help a stubborn teenager track down her father's murderer in Indian Territory.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Jeremy Slate
Votes: 51,399 | Gross: $31.13M
20. True Lies (1994)
R | 141 min | Action, Comedy, Thriller
A fearless, globe-trotting, terrorist-battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife might be having an affair with a used-car salesman while terrorists smuggle nuclear war heads into the United States.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton
Votes: 280,570 | Gross: $146.28M
21. Eraser (1996)
R | 115 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A Witness Protection specialist becomes suspicious of his co-workers when dealing with a case involving high-tech weapons.
Director: Chuck Russell | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vanessa Williams, James Caan, James Coburn
Votes: 118,280 | Gross: $101.30M
22. The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)
PG-13 | 85 min | Comedy, Crime
Lieutenant Frank Drebin discovers that his ex-girlfriend's new beau is involved in a plot to kidnap a scientist who advocates solar energy.
Director: David Zucker | Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson
Votes: 122,029 | Gross: $86.93M
23. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
R | 83 min | Horror
Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain
Votes: 183,299 | Gross: $30.86M
24. Total Recall (1990)
R | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
When a man goes in to have virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars implanted in his mind, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real - or is he?
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Rachel Ticotin
Votes: 354,030 | Gross: $119.39M
25. Predator (1987)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall, Elpidia Carrillo
Votes: 454,162 | Gross: $59.74M
26. The Shining (1980)
R | 146 min | Drama, Horror
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers
Votes: 1,104,920 | Gross: $44.02M
27. The Gauntlet (1977)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A hard but mediocre cop is assigned to escort a prostitute into custody from Las Vegas to Phoenix, so that she can testify in a mob trial. But a lot of people are literally betting that they won't make it into town alive.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince
Votes: 25,052 | Gross: $35.40M
28. Tightrope (1984)
R | 114 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
New Orleans single dad and cop Wes Block goes after a serial rapist-killer, but when he gets too close the hunter suddenly becomes the hunted.
Directors: Richard Tuggle, Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Geneviève Bujold, Dan Hedaya, Alison Eastwood
Votes: 19,162 | Gross: $48.14M
29. Every Which Way But Loose (1978)
PG | 114 min | Action, Comedy
The San Fernando Valley adventures of trucker turned prize-fighter Philo Beddoe and his pet orangutan Clyde.
Director: James Fargo | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis, Beverly D'Angelo
Votes: 30,003 | Gross: $106.00M
30. Pale Rider (1985)
R | 115 min | Drama, Western
A mysterious preacher protects a humble prospector village from a greedy mining company trying to encroach on their land.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Sydney Penny
Votes: 64,630 | Gross: $41.41M
31. The Trouble with Girls (1969)
G | 97 min | Comedy, History, Musical
Chautauqua manager Walter Hale and his loyal business manager struggle to keep their traveling troupe together in small-town America.
Director: Peter Tewksbury | Stars: Elvis Presley, Marlyn Mason, Nicole Jaffe, Sheree North
Votes: 1,775
32. Goodfellas (1990)
R | 145 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco
Votes: 1,255,586 | Gross: $46.84M
33. The Crooked Way (1949)
Passed | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
War hero recovers from amnesia and is confronted by his criminal past.
Director: Robert Florey | Stars: John Payne, Sonny Tufts, Ellen Drew, Rhys Williams
Votes: 1,398
34. Forbidden Planet (1956)
G | 98 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
A starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilization.
Director: Fred M. Wilcox | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens
Votes: 53,124 | Gross: $3.00M
35. The Laughing Policeman (1973)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In San Francisco, California, one victim in a mass murder is a police detective. His partner and a new partner investigate in the city's seamy side.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg | Stars: Walter Matthau, Bruce Dern, Louis Gossett Jr., Albert Paulsen
Votes: 3,222 | Gross: $1.36M
36. 48 Hrs. (1982)
R | 96 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A hard-nosed cop reluctantly teams up with a wise-cracking criminal temporarily paroled to him in order to track down a killer.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy, Annette O'Toole, Frank McRae
Votes: 85,152 | Gross: $78.87M
37. It Could Happen to You (1994)
PG | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A police officer promises to share his lottery ticket with a waitress in lieu of a tip.
Director: Andrew Bergman | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Bridget Fonda, Rosie Perez, Wendell Pierce
Votes: 44,578 | Gross: $37.80M
38. The Detective (1968)
Approved | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
While grappling with his wife's infidelity, an NYPD detective investigates the murder of a gay man, which he discovers is linked to official corruption involving sex and drugs.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Lee Remick, Ralph Meeker, Jack Klugman
Votes: 4,147 | Gross: $14.30M
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