Underrated Films
by rlhron | created - 08 Aug 2011 | updated - 24 Jul 2017 | Public* * * * * * * LISTED BY YEAR AFTER LOVE * * * * * * *
Underrated films are great movies that have either been overshadowed by other films, forgotten, failed at the box office, received bad reviews, rated too low on IMDB, have a small cult following, or are out-of-print.
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1. The Getaway (1972)
PG | 123 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A recently-released ex-con and his loyal wife go on the run after a heist goes awry.
Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, Ben Johnson, Sally Struthers
Votes: 35,712 | Gross: $36.73M
Prison, bank robbery, car chases and romance, this film has everything.
2. Love with the Proper Stranger (1963)
Unrated | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A salesclerk at Macy's department store finds herself pregnant after a one-night stand with a musician who does not even remember her.
Director: Robert Mulligan | Stars: Natalie Wood, Steve McQueen, Edie Adams, Herschel Bernardi
Votes: 5,486
Love with the Proper Stranger was a controversial film back in the early 60's. Dealing with the topic of abortion, it was released a decade before Roe v. Wade. Steve McQueen and Natalie Wood are at their very best in this gritty drama. So why is it still out-of-print (OOP)?
3. The Boy (I) (2015)
Not Rated | 111 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
An intimate portrait of a 9-year-old sociopath's growing fascination with death.
Director: Craig William Macneill | Stars: David Morse, Jared Breeze, Rainn Wilson, Bill Sage
Votes: 5,748
This film is a slow burning inferno. Hang in there, it will be worth your time.
4. Everything Must Go (2010)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
When an alcoholic relapses, causing him to lose his wife and his job, he holds a yard sale on his front lawn in an attempt to start over. A new neighbor might be the key to his return to form.
Director: Dan Rush | Stars: Will Ferrell, Rebecca Hall, Christopher Jordan Wallace, Michael Peña
Votes: 53,165 | Gross: $2.71M
Will's best film.
5. Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
R | 102 min | Drama
While drag-racing through the American Southwest in a Chevrolet 150, a driver and his mechanic cross paths with an enigmatic hitchhiker and the tall-tale-spinning driver of a GTO.
Director: Monte Hellman | Stars: James Taylor, Warren Oates, Laurie Bird, Dennis Wilson
Votes: 13,430
The best road movie ever!
6. McFarland, USA (2015)
PG | 129 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Jim White moves his family after losing his last job as a football coach, and at his new school he turns seven disappointing students into one of the best cross-country teams in the region.
Director: Niki Caro | Stars: Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Ramiro Rodriguez, Carlos Pratts
Votes: 42,275 | Gross: $44.47M
I didn't see this one coming. Amazing true story.
7. The King of Comedy (1982)
PG | 109 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A passionate yet unsuccessful comedian stalks and kidnaps his idol to take the spotlight for himself.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott, Sandra Bernhard
Votes: 119,300 | Gross: $2.50M
Martin's most underrated film.
8. The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Terence McDonagh is a drug- and gambling-addled detective in post-Katrina New Orleans investigating the killing of five Senegalese immigrants.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Russell M. Haeuser, Val Kilmer
Votes: 80,941 | Gross: $1.70M
A strange film in a great way
9. The Duellists (1977)
PG | 100 min | Drama, War
France, 1801. Due to a minor perceived slight, mild-mannered Lieutenant d'Hubert is forced into a duel with hot-headed irrational Lieutenant Feraud. The disagreement ultimately results in scores of duels spanning several years.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Keith Carradine, Harvey Keitel, Albert Finney, Edward Fox
Votes: 26,741 | Gross: $0.20M
OOP
10. It Follows (2014)
R | 100 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A young woman is followed by an unknown supernatural force after a sexual encounter.
Director: David Robert Mitchell | Stars: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe
Votes: 269,298 | Gross: $14.67M
It doesn't think. It doesn't feel. It doesn't give up.
11. A Face in the Crowd (1957)
Approved | 126 min | Drama, Music
A female radio reporter turns a folk-singing drifter into a powerful media star.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Anthony Franciosa, Walter Matthau
Votes: 17,155
A must see!
12. Seven Up! (1964 TV Movie)
40 min | Documentary, Biography, Reality-TV
In this the first installment, we get a chance to meet some of the individuals who took on the responsibility of the 7 Up project, 21-years-ago - Tony, Bruce, Suzi, Nick and Peter.
Director: Paul Almond | Stars: Douglas Keay, Bruce Balden, Jacqueline Bassett, Symon Basterfield
Votes: 4,363
Starting at the age of 7, a group of children are interviewed every 7 years to show how their lives change. The most recent addition to this series is "56 Up" which was released in 2012. The complete series is now available in a nice 7-disc set.
13. Harlan County U.S.A. (1976)
PG | 103 min | Documentary
A heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.
Director: Barbara Kopple | Stars: John L. Lewis, Carl Horn, Norman Yarborough, Logan Patterson
Votes: 6,641
One of the ten best documentaries ever made.
14. The Third Man (1949)
Approved | 93 min | Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller
Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard
Votes: 181,927 | Gross: $0.45M
Sure, many film buffs have seen The Third Man and TCM plays it all the time but it's on this list for those who have never seen it.
15. Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
Not Rated | 112 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In an oppressive future, a fireman whose duty is to destroy all books begins to question his task.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Oskar Werner, Julie Christie, Cyril Cusack, Anton Diffring
Votes: 45,444
What if in the future you had no right to read books? Set in an isolated society where books are outlawed and it is the duty of firefighters to burn any books on sight, Fahrenheit 451 uses unique film techniques to bring to the screen a great adaptation of the 1951 Ray Bradbury novel of the same name.
16. Love (1919)
TV-G | 23 min | Short, Comedy
A farm boy must rescue his sweetheart from being married off to someone she does not love.
Director: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle | Stars: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Monty Banks, Frank Hayes, Kate Price
Votes: 340
******Listed by year from here down******
Today, everyone knows of Charlie Chaplin, a lot have watched Buster Keaton's "The General", many others have heard of Harold Lloyd but very few have ever seen a Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle film.
17. Safety Last! (1923)
Not Rated | 74 min | Action, Comedy, Thriller
A boy leaves his small country town and heads to the big city to get a job. As soon as he makes it big his sweetheart will join him and marry him. His enthusiasm to get ahead leads to some interesting adventures.
Directors: Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor | Stars: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, Noah Young
Votes: 22,936 | Gross: $1.36M
Harold gets overshadowed by Charlie and Buster way too often.
18. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Passed | 114 min | Biography, Drama, History
In 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. The ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer | Stars: Maria Falconetti, Eugene Silvain, André Berley, Maurice Schutz
Votes: 60,723 | Gross: $0.02M
Sure, "Passion" received it's awards back in the day but it only has a small fan base today.
19. City Lights (1931)
G | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
With the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee, Harry Myers
Votes: 196,186 | Gross: $0.02M
City Lights has been overshadowed on many lists by Modern Times and other great Chaplin classics.
20. Frankenstein (1931)
Passed | 70 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Dr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff, John Boles
Votes: 79,773
Bride of Frankenstein seems to make it on more lists over Frankenstein. The original is the better film because he doesn't talk in Frankenstein and the scene at the pond with the girl is still very moving today.
21. It Happened One Night (1934)
Passed | 105 min | Comedy, Romance
A rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns
Votes: 112,351 | Gross: $4.36M
If you asked 100 people on the street to name a film that Clark Gable was in, most of them would say "Gone With The Wind", some would say "Who is Clark Gable?" and a very few would say "It Happened One Night".
22. Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
Passed | 91 min | Drama, Romance
An elderly couple are forced to live hundreds of miles apart when they lose their house and none of their five children will take both parents in.
Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Victor Moore, Beulah Bondi, Fay Bainter, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 9,526
Most films today are not as touching as this gem.
23. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Passed | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan
Votes: 23,215
Yes, Yankee Doodle Dandy is Cagney's best film but Angels with Dirty Faces is a superb film as well!
24. Of Human Hearts (1938)
Passed | 103 min | Drama, Western
Ethan Wilkins is a poor and honest man who ministers to the human soul, while his son Jason yearns to be a doctor, helping people in the earthly realm.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Walter Huston, James Stewart, Gene Reynolds, Beulah Bondi
Votes: 1,358
With as many amazing films that James Stewart had, it is easy to see how Of Human Hearts has been overlooked.
25. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Not Rated | 112 min | Comedy, Romance
When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey
Votes: 73,900
Bringing Up Baby usually gets more love than The Philadelphia Story.
26. The Clock (1945)
Passed | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In 1945, during a 48-hour leave, a soldier accidentally meets a girl at Pennsylvania Station and spends his leave with her, eventually falling in love with the lovely New Yorker.
Directors: Vincente Minnelli, Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Judy Garland, Robert Walker, James Gleason, Keenan Wynn
Votes: 4,048 | Gross: $2.78M
You have seen The Wizard of Oz but have you heard of this other classic of Judy's?
27. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Passed | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A married woman and a drifter fall in love and then plot to murder her husband.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn
Votes: 22,894 | Gross: $8.33M
If you love the remake with Jack, check out the original.
28. Caged (1950)
Not Rated | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A gentle, naive, pregnant 19-year-old widow is slowly, inexorably ground down by the hardened criminals, sadistic guards, and matron at a woman's prison. Will she be the same person when her sentence is up?
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Eleanor Parker, Agnes Moorehead, Ellen Corby, Hope Emerson
Votes: 4,718
Caged is the best of all of the female prison movies.
29. D.O.A. (1949)
Approved | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Frank Bigelow, told he's been poisoned and has only a few days to live, tries to find out who killed him and why.
Director: Rudolph Maté | Stars: Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, Luther Adler, Beverly Garland
Votes: 13,100
D.O.A is a film noir that is way underrated.
30. Rashomon (1950)
Not Rated | 88 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura
Votes: 180,625 | Gross: $0.10M
Love Kurosawa
31. Winchester '73 (1950)
Passed | 92 min | Action, Drama, Western
A cowboy's obsession with a stolen rifle leads to a bullet-ridden odyssey through the American West.
Director: Anthony Mann | Stars: James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally
Votes: 21,990
When talking about the best films of Jimmy Stewart, Winchester '73 doesn't seem to be mentioned nearly enough.
32. Don't Bother to Knock (1952)
Passed | 76 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
After being dumped by his girlfriend, an airline pilot pursues a babysitter in his hotel and gradually realizes she's dangerous.
Director: Roy Ward Baker | Stars: Richard Widmark, Marilyn Monroe, Anne Bancroft, Donna Corcoran
Votes: 8,502
One of her best performances in a great film that is not well known.
33. The Road (1954)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
A care-free girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart, Aldo Silvani
Votes: 66,618
Check out The Criterion Collection edition of this film. "The Criterion Collection is dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions of the highest technical quality, with supplemental features that enhance the appreciation of the art of film." Criterion has released nearly 900 films on dvd and blu-ray.
34. Suddenly (1954)
Unrated | 77 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
In the city of Suddenly, three gangsters trap the Benson family in their own house, on the top of a hill nearby the railroad station, with the intention of killing the president of the USA.
Director: Lewis Allen | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, James Gleason, Nancy Gates
Votes: 7,380 | Gross: $1.40M
Frank held up this film for years. I'm glad Suddenly is out there now for everyone to enjoy.
35. 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: 53,271 | Gross: $3.00M
Even though Leslie Nielsen plays a straight man in Forbidden Planet, I can't help but laugh whenever I see him on the screen.
36. The Wrong Man (1956)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, Film-Noir
In 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle, Harold J. Stone
Votes: 31,387
One of Hitchcocks brilliant films that has been overshadowed by his other masterpieces.
37. The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Approved | 81 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
After Scott Carey begins to shrink because of exposure to a combination of radiation and insecticide, medical science is powerless to help him.
Director: Jack Arnold | Stars: Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, Paul Langton
Votes: 19,986
The Incredible Shrinking Man is still a joy to watch today.
38. The Mark (1961)
Approved | 127 min | Drama
A man who served prison time for intent to molest a child tries to build a new life with the help of a sympathetic psychiatrist.
Director: Guy Green | Stars: Maria Schell, Stuart Whitman, Rod Steiger, Brenda de Banzie
Votes: 996
39. Carnival of Souls (1962)
Approved | 78 min | Horror, Mystery
After a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival.
Director: Herk Harvey | Stars: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger, Art Ellison
Votes: 27,845
A low budget horror cult classic.
40. Harakiri (1962)
Not Rated | 133 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
When a ronin requesting seppuku at a feudal lord's palace is told of the brutal suicide of another ronin who previously visited, he reveals how their pasts are intertwined - and in doing so challenges the clan's integrity.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita, Tetsurô Tanba
Votes: 68,790
Harakiri is a great film to watch in a double feature before Seven Samurai because it helps set up the importance of the "Top Knot" at the beginning of Samurai.
41. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Passed | 134 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A former child star torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Wesley Addy
Votes: 61,943 | Gross: $4.05M
These two hated each other in real life and they used that to make a really amazing film.
42. Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
G | 104 min | Action, Adventure, Family
The legendary Greek hero leads a team of intrepid adventurers in a perilous quest for the legendary Golden Fleece.
Director: Don Chaffey | Stars: Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Gary Raymond, Laurence Naismith
Votes: 31,067 | Gross: $4.58M
Dazzling!
43. Fail Safe (1964)
Approved | 112 min | Drama, Thriller
A technical malfunction sends American planes to Moscow to deliver a nuclear attack. Can all-out war be averted?
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, Dan O'Herlihy
Votes: 24,428
Fail-Safe was held up in the courts so it could not premiere before Dr. Strangelove. Peter Seller's classic and Fail-Safe may both deal with the same subject matter but they are as different as night and day. Fail-Safe is a mesmerizing film.
44. The Collector (1965)
Not Rated | 119 min | Drama, Thriller
A man kidnaps a woman and holds her hostage just for the pleasure of having her there.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Terence Stamp, Samantha Eggar, Mona Washbourne, Maurice Dallimore
Votes: 11,974
45. The Fortune Cookie (1966)
Passed | 125 min | Comedy, Romance
A crooked lawyer persuades his brother-in-law to feign a serious injury.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ron Rich, Judi West
Votes: 15,585
Wilder has so many great films that it is easy to see why this film gets overlooked.
46. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
PG-13 | 166 min | Western
A mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards
Votes: 349,293 | Gross: $5.32M
Once Upon a Time in the West has been overshadowed by westerns like High Noon, The Searchers, Shane, Butch Cassidy and The Professionals.
47. Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Approved | 137 min | Drama, Horror
A young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer
Votes: 235,403
Rosemary's Baby is still as fresh and interesting today as it was when it was released. And now it is a Criterion film.
48. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
M | 129 min | Drama
The lives of a disparate group of contestants intertwine in an inhumanely grueling dance marathon.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Jane Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Susannah York, Gig Young
Votes: 20,876 | Gross: $12.60M
Sydney Pollack's compelling dance marathon movie.
49. The Landlord (1970)
PG | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
At the age of 29, Elgar Enders (Beau Bridges) "runs away" from home. This running away consists of buying a building in a black ghetto in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. Initially, his ... See full summary »
Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: Beau Bridges, Lee Grant, Diana Sands, Pearl Bailey
Votes: 3,089 | Gross: $0.96M
50. The Owl and the Pussycat (1970)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Romance
A stuffy author enters into an explosive relationship with his neighbor, a foul-mouthed, freewheeling prostitute.
Director: Herbert Ross | Stars: Barbra Streisand, George Segal, Robert Klein, Allen Garfield
Votes: 4,407 | Gross: $23.68M
Barbra Streisand's most underrated film.
51. Duel (1971 TV Movie)
PG | 90 min | Action, Thriller
A business commuter is pursued and terrorized by the malevolent driver of a massive tractor-trailer.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Dennis Weaver, Jacqueline Scott, Eddie Firestone, Lou Frizzell
Votes: 78,469
Steven's forgotten film.
52. Harold and Maude (1971)
PG | 91 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.
Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles, Cyril Cusack
Votes: 81,881
One of the best cult films out there.
53. Deliverance (1972)
R | 109 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's dammed and turned into a lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a canoeing trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox
Votes: 119,361 | Gross: $7.06M
Can you hear the dueling banjos playing?
54. Sisters (1972)
R | 93 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A small-time reporter tries to convince the police she saw a murder in the apartment across from hers.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning, William Finley
Votes: 20,714 | Gross: $0.35M
A little strange but really good.
55. What's Up, Doc? (1972)
G | 94 min | Comedy, Romance
The accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars
Votes: 27,091 | Gross: $10.47M
Another great film by Barbra.
56. X, Y & Zee (1972)
PG | 110 min | Drama
The venomous and amoral wife of a wealthy architect tries, any way she can, to break up the blossoming romance between her husband and his new mistress; a good-natured young widow who holds a dark past.
Director: Brian G. Hutton | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Caine, Susannah York, Margaret Leighton
Votes: 1,416 | Gross: $1.36M
57. Badlands (1973)
PG | 94 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town, and her older greaser boyfriend, embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota Badlands.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri
Votes: 78,451
58. Paper Moon (1973)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, John Hillerman
Votes: 52,484 | Gross: $30.93M
59. The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
Not Rated | 98 min | Drama, Fantasy
In 1940, after watching and being traumatized by the movie Frankenstein (1931), a sensitive seven year-old girl living in a small Spanish village drifts into her own fantasy world.
Director: Víctor Erice | Stars: Fernando Fernán Gómez, Teresa Gimpera, Ana Torrent, Isabel Tellería
Votes: 20,701
60. The Sugarland Express (1974)
PG | 110 min | Crime, Drama
A woman attempts to reunite her family by helping her husband escape prison and together kidnapping their son. But things don't go as planned when they are forced to take a police hostage on the road.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, Michael Sacks, William Atherton
Votes: 19,109 | Gross: $7.50M
Spielberg's first feature length film was a flop at the box office.
61. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Four armed men hijack a New York City subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. The city's police are faced with a conundrum: Even if it's paid, how could they get away?
Director: Joseph Sargent | Stars: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo
Votes: 35,883 | Gross: $2.49M
62. Three Days of the Condor (1975)
R | 117 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A bookish CIA researcher in Manhattan finds all his co-workers dead, and must outwit those responsible until he figures out who he can really trust.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max von Sydow
Votes: 62,642 | Gross: $41.51M
63. Rocky (1976)
PG | 120 min | Drama, Sport
A small-time Philadelphia boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight the world heavyweight champion in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers
Votes: 628,915 | Gross: $117.24M
Rocky is a masterpiece and one of the 20 best films of all time. Today, many people don't realize how great of a film Rocky really is because it has been harmed by some bad Rocky sequels.
64. A Star Is Born (1976)
R | 139 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A has-been rock star falls in love with a young, up-and-coming songstress.
Director: Frank Pierson | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson, Gary Busey, Oliver Clark
Votes: 13,187 | Gross: $80.00M
... and another great film with Barbra.
65. Pumping Iron (1977)
PG | 86 min | Documentary, Sport
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno face off in a no-holds-barred competition for the title of Mr. Olympia in this critically-acclaimed film that made Schwarzenegger a household name.
Directors: George Butler, Robert Fiore | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Matty Ferrigno, Victoria Ferrigno
Votes: 24,960
See first hand how Arnold became a household name.
66. Saturday Night Fever (1977)
R | 118 min | Drama, Music
Anxious about his future after high school, a 19-year-old Italian-American from Brooklyn tries to escape the harsh reality of his bleak family life by dominating the dance floor at the local disco.
Director: John Badham | Stars: John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney, Barry Miller, Joseph Cali
Votes: 87,579 | Gross: $94.21M
67. Capricorn One (1977)
PG | 123 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
When the first manned flight to Mars is deemed unsafe and scrubbed on the launch pad, anxious authorities must scramble to save face and retain their funding - and so an unthinkable plot to fake the mission is hatched.
Director: Peter Hyams | Stars: Elliott Gould, James Brolin, Brenda Vaccaro, Sam Waterston
Votes: 24,743
68. All That Jazz (1979)
R | 123 min | Drama, Music, Musical
Director/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid career of Joe Gideon, a womanizing, drug-using dancer.
Director: Bob Fosse | Stars: Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Ann Reinking, Leland Palmer
Votes: 35,432 | Gross: $37.82M
69. Being There (1979)
PG | 130 min | Comedy, Drama
After the death of his employer forces him out of the only home he's ever known, a simpleminded, sheltered gardener becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful tycoon and an insider in Washington politics.
Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden
Votes: 77,713 | Gross: $30.18M
70. The Black Stallion (1979)
G | 118 min | Adventure, Family, Sport
After being shipwrecked with a magnificent horse off the coast of Africa in the 1940s, a boy bonds with the stallion, and trains him to race after their rescue.
Director: Carroll Ballard | Stars: Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney, Teri Garr, Clarence Muse
Votes: 14,047
71. The Champ (1979)
PG | 121 min | Drama, Sport
Billy Flynn is an ex-champion boxer who was KO'd by booze and gambling. When the wealthy, estranged mother of his young son begins trying to lure the boy away from him, Flynn must return to the ring to provide for his child.
Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Stars: Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway, Ricky Schroder, Jack Warden
Votes: 9,249 | Gross: $30.44M
Why is this film still OOP?
72. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
PG | 105 min | Drama
After his wife leaves him, a work-obsessed Manhattan advertising executive is forced to learn long-neglected parenting skills, but a heated custody battle over the couple's young son deepens the wounds left by the separation.
Director: Robert Benton | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry
Votes: 154,818 | Gross: $106.26M
73. Moonraker (1979)
PG | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
James Bond investigates the mid-air theft of a space shuttle, and discovers a plot to commit global genocide.
Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Richard Kiel
Votes: 108,852 | Gross: $70.31M
Recently named the worst of all Bond films. Yes, it is campy but it made more money than any other Bond film before or after it up until Goldeneye was released 16 years later. Because of the success of Star Wars, Moonraker leap frogged "For Your Eyes Only" and became the follow up film to "The Spy Who Loved Me".
74. The Rose (1979)
R | 125 min | Drama, Music, Romance
The tragic life of a self-destructive female rock star who struggles to deal with the constant pressures of her career and the demands of her ruthless business manager.
Director: Mark Rydell | Stars: Bette Midler, Alan Bates, Frederic Forrest, Harry Dean Stanton
Votes: 9,251 | Gross: $29.20M
75. The Big Red One (1980)
R | 113 min | Drama, War
A hardened sergeant and the four core members of his infantry unit try to survive World War II as they move from battle to battle throughout Europe.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco
Votes: 21,406
76. Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The fictionalized life of singer Loretta Lynn, a girl who rose from humble beginnings to become a country music star in the 1960s/70s.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Levon Helm, Phyllis Boyens
Votes: 20,522 | Gross: $67.18M
77. Nine to Five (1980)
PG | 109 min | Comedy
Three female employees of a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot find a way to turn the tables on him.
Director: Colin Higgins | Stars: Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, Dabney Coleman
Votes: 39,443 | Gross: $103.29M
78. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After the Rebel Alliance are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,381,008 | Gross: $290.48M
More often Star Wars is on a best list and Empire Strikes Back is not. Empire is the better film and therefore has been overshadowed by Star Wars way to often.
79. Somewhere in Time (1980)
PG | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A Chicago playwright uses self-hypnosis to travel back in time and meet the actress whose vintage portrait hangs in a grand hotel.
Director: Jeannot Szwarc | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, Christopher Plummer, Teresa Wright
Votes: 32,565 | Gross: $9.71M
80. Blow Out (1981)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A movie sound recordist accidentally records the evidence that proves that a car accident was actually murder and consequently finds himself in danger.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz
Votes: 63,397 | Gross: $13.75M
One of Travolta's best films directed by Brian De Palma.
81. Escape from New York (1981)
R | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 157,661 | Gross: $25.24M
82. The Howling (1981)
R | 91 min | Horror
After a bizarre and near deadly encounter with a serial killer, a television newswoman is sent to a remote mountain resort whose residents may not be what they seem.
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, Christopher Stone
Votes: 40,235 | Gross: $17.99M
83. Thief (1981)
R | 123 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ace safe cracker wants to do one last big heist for the mob before going straight.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson, Jim Belushi
Votes: 39,093 | Gross: $11.49M
84. Burden of Dreams (1982)
Not Rated | 95 min | Documentary
A documentary following German auteur Werner Herzog as he deals with difficult actors, bad weather and getting a boat over a mountain, all in an effort to make his film Fitzcarraldo (1982).
Director: Les Blank | Stars: Werner Herzog, Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards
Votes: 8,144
Burden of Dreams is an incredible documentary about the making of the film Fitzcarraldo, which is not a very good movie, but more people have seen Fitzcarraldo than have seen Burden of Dreams. What is up with that?
85. 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: 275,824 | Gross: $47.21M
Don't let the sequels fool you. This film is amazing! Stallone really pulls off playing a war hero who is just trying to fit in a world that doesn't want him.
86. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Kids all over America want Silver Shamrock masks for Halloween. Doctor Daniel Challis seeks to uncover a plot by Silver Shamrock owner Conal Cochran.
Director: Tommy Lee Wallace | Stars: Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan O'Herlihy, Michael Currie
Votes: 61,035 | Gross: $14.40M
If this film would have only been named "Season of the Witch", it would have received much better reviews. No Michael Myers in this one and that's why the ratings are so low. A really good horror film if you can get past the title!
87. Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
Not Rated | 86 min | Documentary, Music
A collection of expertly photographed phenomena with no conventional plot. The footage focuses on the relationship between nature, humanity, and technology.
Director: Godfrey Reggio | Stars: Edward Asner, Pat Benatar, Jerry Brown, Johnny Carson
Votes: 41,524 | Gross: $1.72M
Life in a Day (2011) reminds me of Koyaanisqatsi. Have you even heard of this documentary? The trilogy is now a Criterion release.
88. The Thing (1982)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Masur
Votes: 467,137 | Gross: $13.78M
89. Christine (1983)
R | 110 min | Horror, Thriller
A nerdish boy buys a strange car with an evil mind of its own and his nature starts to change to reflect it.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, Robert Prosky
Votes: 92,517 | Gross: $21.20M
90. The Dead Zone (1983)
R | 103 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A man awakens from a coma to discover he has a psychic ability to foresee future events.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom
Votes: 77,382 | Gross: $20.77M
91. Local Hero (1983)
PG | 111 min | Comedy, Drama
An American oil company has plans for a new refinery and sends someone to Scotland to buy up an entire village, but things don't go as expected.
Director: Bill Forsyth | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Peter Riegert, Fulton Mackay, Denis Lawson
Votes: 26,721 | Gross: $5.90M
92. Silkwood (1983)
R | 131 min | Biography, Drama, History
A worker at a plutonium processing plant is purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing worker safety violations at the plant.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher, Craig T. Nelson
Votes: 22,225 | Gross: $35.62M
93. Tender Mercies (1983)
PG | 92 min | Drama, Music
A broken-down, middle-aged country singer gets a new wife, reaches out to his long-lost daughter, and tries to put his troubled life back together.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Robert Duvall, Tess Harper, Betty Buckley, Wilford Brimley
Votes: 12,036 | Gross: $8.44M
The first 6 months of release, Tender Mercies only played in 3 theaters. By the time Robert Duvall won the Academy Award for Best Actor, the film was already on cable.
94. 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: 924,940 | Gross: $38.40M
Terminator has been overshadowed on most lists by Terminator 2, even though the second film is a popcorn film and is not as good as the original. Terminator's box office gross failed to come close to the box office sales of part 2.
95. Paris, Texas (1984)
R | 145 min | Drama
Travis Henderson, an aimless drifter who has been missing for four years, wanders out of the desert and must reconnect with society, himself, his life, and his family.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, Sam Berry
Votes: 119,221 | Gross: $2.18M
96. Repo Man (1984)
R | 92 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A young punk, recruited by a car repo agency, finds himself in pursuit of a Chevrolet Malibu with a huge, $20,000 bounty--and something otherworldly stashed in its trunk.
Director: Alex Cox | Stars: Harry Dean Stanton, Emilio Estevez, Tracey Walter, Olivia Barash
Votes: 41,182 | Gross: $3.57M
The limited edition tin is a great set!
97. Stop Making Sense (1984)
PG | 88 min | Documentary, Music
Considered by critics as the greatest concert film of all time, the live performance was shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December of 1983 and features Talking Heads' most memorable songs.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: David Byrne, Bernie Worrell, Alex Weir, Steven Scales
Votes: 20,117 | Gross: $5.02M
This could also double as a great workout video.
98. The Mission (1986)
PG | 125 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Eighteenth-century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South American tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal.
Director: Roland Joffé | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally, Aidan Quinn
Votes: 65,736 | Gross: $17.22M
99. Empire of the Sun (1987)
PG | 153 min | Drama, War
A young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation of China during World War II.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers
Votes: 134,383 | Gross: $22.24M
Many have said this film is way too long. I say to them, "What's your hurry?"
100. The Lost Boys (1987)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror
After moving to a new town, two brothers discover that the area is a haven for vampires.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Dianne Wiest, Barnard Hughes
Votes: 161,332 | Gross: $32.22M
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