Top Ranked Films of Martin Scorsese

These are all the films of Scorsese’s that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls. Martin had 13 titles in all, second only to Hitchcock's 14, and in my opinion, a much better, more serious body of work than Hitch's.

1. Taxi Driver (1976) #3

2. Raging Bull (1980) bw #25

3. Goodfellas (1990) #26

4. Casino (1995) #120

5. Mean Streets (1973) #166

6. The Departed (2006) #191 [AA]

7. The King of Comedy (1982) #393

8. Age of Innocence, The (1993) #417

9. Last Temptation of Christ, The (1988) #494

10. After Hours (1985) #531

11. Shutter Island (2010) #567

12. My Voyage to Italy (1999) #755

13. Last Waltz , The (1978) #796



This list could also include the excellent Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, which won Ellen Burstyn her only Oscar®, so far anyway. I suppose it could include The Aviator (#1265), but the one really missing here to me is Gangs of New York, which came it at #1681.

Top Ranked Films of John Ford

These are all the films of John Ford’s that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls. He had ten this time, down from 14 in 2009. [Photos courtesy of Fanpix.net]

Long considered the 'iconic' American director, he made the most revered westerns of all time, and practically defined the genre by himself. Yet, some of his best films are outside that genre.

My favorite Ford film is The Grapes of Wrath (1940), from John Steinbeck's Pulitzer-winning novel, and a story that got them all branded 'Commies' by the McCarthy-run HUAC; it's simply a humane story about every person deserving some dignity, justice, and work in life.



Next I prefer his best western, The Searchers (though She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is also a great one in spite of the title), then non-westerns missing from the top 1000, The Informer (1935, about IRA terrorists, for which Ford favorite Victor McLaglen won his only acting Oscar), and Mister Roberts (1955, a comedy about a naval supply ship during WW2, he shared directing credit with Mervyn Leroy). It’s good to see the underrated My Darling Clementine rising over time, it’s the one about the gunfight at the O.K. corral, with Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the Clancy Brothers; it may be Ford's finest b&w western.



They Were Expendable (1945) is also an underrated war film, about the PT boats and their crews. It was his first film after making war propaganda films for the government’s war effort from 1941-1945, and he used that experience to make a taut, realistic and often overlooked war film about a little known part of the Pacific war, that of the U.S. patrol boats, which were mobile but small and vulnerable, hence the title.



1. Searchers, The (1956) #65

2. Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The (1962) #107

3. Grapes of Wrath, The (1940) #144

4. Stagecoach (1939) #283

5. My Darling Clementine (1946) #315

6. Quiet Man, The (1952) #425

7. How Green Was My Valley (1941) #528

8. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) #765

9. They Were Expendable (1945) #782

10. Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) #865

Wayne's own favorite performance

was in this Ford cavalry film,

about a retiring colonel, tired of

all the Indian wars. It could be

his most affable western character.

The other cavalry film, Fort Apache, should also be on this list - it's ranked 1998th this time. I'm always bored by Stagecoach, The Quiet Man, and How Green Was My Valley, but they're still all finely crafted - but "that's just my opinion, I could be wrong" (Dennis Miller).



As always: your results may vary, void where prohibited, not responsible for accidents

Top Ranked Films of Stanley Kubrick

These are all the films of Kubrick’s that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls. In fact, these are all eleven films that Kubrick made, and he has the most titles in the top 100 with six. 2001 thankfully changed the look of science fiction films forever.



1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) #4

2. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) #18

3. Barry Lyndon (1975) #56

4. Clockwork Orange, A (1971) #59

5. Paths of Glory (1957) #91

6. Shining, The (1980) #94

7. Full Metal Jacket (1987) #135

8. Killing, The (1956) #366

9. Spartacus (1960) #390

10. Lolita (1962) #474

11. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) #568

2001 was shot entirely on a sound stage in England

Top Ranked Films of Alfred Hitchcock

These are all the films of Hitchcock’s that made the top 1000 in our 2011 update of the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, all polls. His 14 titles led all directors in total film count in the 1000. [Photos courtesy of Fanpix.net]

1. Vertigo (1958) #12

2. Psycho (1960) #14

3. North by Northwest (1959) #27

4. Notorious (1946) #54

5. Rear Window (1954) #64

6. Rebecca (1940) #153

7. Strangers on a Train (1951) #157

8. Shadow of a Doubt (1943) #264

9. Birds, The (1963) #282

10. 39 Steps, The (1935) #372

11. Rope (1948) #457

12. Lady Vanishes, The (1938) #621

13. Dial M for Murder (1954) #657

14. Marnie (1964) #681