26) Star Wars triology (1977)
Endlessly imitated but never rivalled, this first instalment of George Lucas's space opera dresses up the timeless tale of good versus evil with ground-breaking special effects and a dazzling array of intergalactic characters. Mark Hamill plays Luke Skywalker, whose dull life on a remote planet is thrown into chaos when he intercepts a distress call from beleaguered Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher). With robots R2-D2 and C-3PO in tow, Skywalker teams up with an ageing Jedi warrior (Alec Guinness) and a cynical space rogue (a star-making turn from Harrison Ford) to rescue Leia from the clutches of the evil Darth Vader. Breathless action collides with sci-fi theatrics and more than a hint of mysticism to create a new style of cinema that remains unmatched for sheer entertainment value.
27) The Last King Of Scotland (2006)
It was supposed to be a wild adventure in a far-off country, but when a naive young doctor arrives in 1970's Uganda - hoping for fun, sun and to lend a helping hand - he finds himself instead on a shocking ride into the darkest realm on earth. Befriended by the charismatic new leader, Idi Amin, and appointed as his personal physician, Nicholas Garrigan is originally blinded by his larger than life and charming persona. But when the terrible truth of his despotic rule is revealed, he must fight for both his life and soul against one of the cruellest leaders in history.
28) Unforgiven (1992)
Winner of four Oscars, including best picture and director, this is, quite simply, one of the finest films ever made in the genre. Exploring the harsh realities of frontier life, Clint Eastwood depicts the west as an unforgiving place where tragedy strikes every time somebody draws a gun. It's clear from the fevered manner in which Saul Rubinek's dime novelist character gathers his Wild West stories from the last eyewitnesses that an era is about to pass into legend. Screenwriter David Webb Peoples reinforces this shift in attitudes through the film's understated feminism and its assertion that what once passed for law and order often had little to do with justice. Eastwood's own world-weary performance as William Munny, a retired gunslinger forced to strap on the six-shooters one last time to feed his children, is exemplary, cleverly drawing on our familiarity with his “Man with No Name” persona to convey the magnitude of the disgust that he now feels at the prospect of killing. The support playing of Morgan Freeman as his former partner, Richard Harris as vain killer English Bob and Oscar-winning Gene Hackman as the vicious Sheriff Daggett is unsurpassable. You won't forgive yourself if you miss it.
29) The Searchers (1956)
Like Monument Valley, where it was filmed, this masterpiece western of revenge and reconciliation from director John Ford is massive and unmissable. It touches the heart of racist darkness and cleanses itself in the process. As John Wayne's Ethan Edwards sets out to kill both the Comanche butcher of his brother's family and the abducted niece who, in his eyes, has turned native, his five-year quest becomes a search for his own soul. Jeffrey Hunter is the conscience along for the ride, but it's the complexity of Wayne's antihero that reveals him as a rootless pioneer, forever framed in the doorways of family homesteads of which he can never become part. Ford's great allegory is of a people lost and found.
30) The Apartment (1960)
When he saw David Lean's classic Brief Encounter, director Billy Wilder was intrigued by the man who gave Trevor Howard the use of his flat. That germ of an idea eventually led to The Apartment, in which Jack Lemmon is a schmuck who loans his home to his philandering superiors in return for promotion. With its marvellous script and flawless performances by Lemmon, Fred MacMurray as his slimy boss and Shirley MacLaine as an elevator girl, this satire of office life has real bite as well as a feel-good glow. A timeless classic that won five Oscars, including best picture, direction and screenplay.
31) A Place in the Sun (1951)
Elizabeth Taylor has never looked lovelier, or the young Montgomery Clift more tortured than in this glossy adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's dour novel An American Tragedy, previously filmed by Josef von Sternberg. This film won six Oscars, including best director for George Stevens, whose trademark dissolves are most tellingly displayed as Clift and Taylor meet for the first time. Trouble is, this tale of love across the tracks has dated badly, and today seems rather drawn out. But Clift and, especially, Shelley Winters are brilliant, so forget the plot and just revel in what was once Hollywood's idea of classy movie-making.
32) My Fair Lady (1964)
This sumptuous adaptation of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's smash Broadway version of George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion won eight well-deserved Oscars. It boasts superb performances from Rex Harrison — repeating his stage success as Henry Higgins — and Stanley Holloway as Alfred P Doolittle (Warner wanted James Cagney). At the time, there was criticism that Julie Andrews didn't re-create her original Broadway role, but Audrey Hepburn is still quite wonderful as Eliza. If not coarse enough for the Covent Garden flower girl, nobody, but nobody, could ever blossom as beautifully as Hepburn does in the Cecil Beaton costumes later on, and, despite being dubbed in the singing duties by Marni Nixon, her portrayal is funny and heart-warming in equal doses. A more visually inspired director — Vincente Minnelli or William Wyler — might have brought a little more élan to the work, but, with elegance and taste, George Cukor rightly preserves the theatricality of the enterprise and provides a joyful experience to savour again and again.
33) The Jazz Singer (1927)
Jakie Rabinowitz (Al Jolson) goes into show business despite his family's protestations that he should become a cantor like his father. Changing his name to Jack Robin, Jakie follows his passion for jazz and ragtime music, but in doing so, he alienates himself from his family and his Jewish roots. THE JAZZ SINGER holds the distinction of being the world's first major motion picture to utilise synchronous sound, effectively ending the era of silent movies. Songs include 'Mammy' and 'Toot, Toot, Tootsie'.
34) Patton (1970)
PATTON is a three-dimensional bronze bust of World War II field general George S. Patton (George C. Scott) who wrote poetry, fired pistols at strafing fighter planes, and loved America with a lofty and historical zeal. Tracing his personal rivalries with such generals as Rommel and Montgomery, his problematic treatment of his own men, and his nearly runaway contempt for diplomacy, the film triumphs as an enduring portrait of a complex and larger-than-life figure. PATTON was recipient of 10 Academy Award Nominations and winner of eight, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor--Scott, Best (Adapted) Screenplay--Francis Ford Coppola/Edmund H. North.
35) The wild Bunch (1969)
This is, arguably, one of the greatest westerns ever made. And argument is what Sam Peckinpah's masterpiece has always caused for its slow-motion spurting of blood, its surrealistically choreographed gunfights and its portrayal of Pike Bishop's amoral Texas outlaws as heroes. Yet William Holden's laconic Bishop, however violent, is one of a truly romantic breed as he leads his bunch to their deaths in a defensive revenge on revolutionary guerrilla forces. Lucien Ballard's photography gives a funereal hue to this elegy to the passing of a certain breed of chivalry. You can see why John Wayne is said to have hated the film; Peckinpah was practically reinventing a genre, with no place left for false nobility.
36) Frankenstein (1931)
“It's Alive!” Shocking in its day and still a genuinely creepy experience, director James Whale's primitive yet enthralling interpretation of Mary Shelley's classic tale of man playing God is the most influential genre movie ever made. Its success kick-started the golden age of horror for Universal Studios and provided inspiration for scores of imitators and successors. Boris Karloff breathes miraculous life into his definitive monster portrayal: the most touching moment is the creature reaching up to grasp a ray of sunlight. A superb cast, imaginative set design and Whale's innovative direction using bizarre camera angles invoke a remarkably tense and melancholy atmosphere, while the creation scene itself is a masterpiece of gothic science gone mad.
37) French Connection (1971)
John Frankenheimer's sequel to The French Connection may be less believable than its predecessor, but it's still a cracking thriller. Here, New York cop “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman brilliantly reprising his Oscar-winning role from the original) blunders into the French operation to uncover heroin-tsar Fernando Rey's drugs ring. There's a disturbing sequence that details Hackman's withdrawal after being forcibly addicted, but after that it's revenge and violence all the way.
38) Forrest Gump (1994)
Winner of six Oscars, including best picture, actor and director, this comedy drama was a box-office blockbuster in America, though its simple-minded patriotism was greeted with a certain cynicism in Europe. Gump, played by Tom Hanks, is a chump: a semi-literate everyman who drifts through recent American history (Vietnam, the civil rights movement, assassinations, Watergate) and emerges triumphant. He's an athlete, war hero and hokey southern savant, a one-man palliative for a nation's political and moral bankruptcy. His personal credo is “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get”, and that's as profound as the movie gets. But Hanks's performance is truly remarkable and, this being a Robert Zemeckis film, the effects are stunning: Gump meeting people such as JFK and Nixon is amazingly believable, and Gary Sinise as an amputee combines brilliant acting with state-of-the-art technology. One can sneer at it, but one can't ignore it.
39) Ben Hur (1959)
This 1959 version of Lew Wallace's best-selling novel, which had already seen screen versions in 1907 and 1926, went on to win 11 Academy Awards. Adapted by Karl Tunberg and a raft of uncredited writers including Gore Vidal and Maxwell Anderson, the film once more recounts the tale of Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), who lives in Judea with his family during the time that Jesus Christ was becoming known for his radical teachings. Ben-Hur's childhood friend Messala (Stephen Boyd) is now an ambitious Roman tribune; when Ben-Hur refuses to help Messala round up local dissidents on behalf of the emperor, Messala pounces on the first opportunity to exact revenge on his onetime friend. Tried on a trumped-up charge of attempting to kill the provincial governor (whose head was accidentally hit by a falling tile), Ben-Hur is condemned to the Roman galleys, while his mother (Martha Scott) and sister (Cathy O'Donnell) are imprisoned. But during a sea battle, Ben-Hur saves the life of commander Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins), who, in gratitude, adopts Ben-Hur as his son and gives him full control over his stable of racing horses. Ben-Hur never gives up trying to find his family or exact revenge on Messala. At crucial junctures in his life, he also crosses the path of Jesus, and each time he benefits from it.
40) Dances With Wolves (1990)
Kevin Costner's directorial debut, the first western to win the best picture Oscar for 60 years, is a heartfelt attempt to create a frontier epic and to atone for Hollywood's shameful depiction of native American life. Costner himself plays the depressed, battle weary Union officer John Dunbar, a Civil War hero who, given the choice, opts for a remote posting in South Dakota to see the frontier before it disappears. After befriending the Sioux Indians he decides to join them, and marries Stands with a Fist (Mary McDonnell), a white woman also adopted by the tribe. Although the film is three hours long, Costner directs his pet project with a clear passion for the subject, and in so doing proves that epic westerns can still work if their heart is in the right place, the characters are real, and the cinematography is stunning — take a bow Dean Semler, another deserving winner of one of the seven Oscars awarded to Costner and company. Costner demythologises the westerns made by such directors as John Ford (for instance, much of the dialogue is in the Lakota Sioux language) to re-create the genre and present a wistful and poignant look at a way of life and a people that have all but disappeared. Admirably supported by fellow Oscar nominees Graham Greene, as Kicking Bird, and the brilliant McDonnell, Costner gives Dunbar an essential decency with which viewers cannot fail to empathise, right up until the moving climax. A marvel from beginning to end.
41) American Graffiti Details (1973)
How do you follow a modern masterpiece like American Graffiti? Not with this plodding, inferior sequel, which catches up with the Class of 1962 as they live through the Vietnam-dominated, hippy 1960s. The only saving grace is yet another brilliant soundtrack, featuring golden oldies from the Supremes, Mary Wells, the Byrds, Bob Dylan and Cream. Wolfman Jack and Country Joe and the Fish also make appearances in this dismal failure, aimlessly directed by Bill L Norton.
42) Amadeus (1984)
The winner of eight Oscars and an unexpected box-office smash, Amadeus is simply one of the finest biographical dramas ever made. Reworked rather than simply adapted by Peter Shaffer from his own hit play, the film is as much about the mediocrity and envy of the composer Antonio Salieri as it is about the eccentric genius of his rival Mozart. There is, therefore, a sort of poetic justice in the fact that F Murray Abraham — for those with an interest in biographical minutiae, the “F” stands for Fahrid — pipped Tom Hulce for the best actor award. But surely Jeffrey Jones deserved a nod for his delightful portrayal of Emperor Joseph II? Returning to Prague (standing in for Vienna) for the first time since the Soviet invasion in 1968, director Milos Forman and his regular cinematographer Miroslav Ondricek revel in the beauty of the city, but credit must also go to Patrizia von Brandenstein for her superb sets and inspired choice of location interiors. As one would expect, the music is majestic, thanks largely to Neville Marriner's outstanding interpretation of everything from gypsy dances to Don Giovanni.
43) Rebel Without A Cause (1955)
The age-old theme of teenage violence and delinquency is given distinctive insight by the well-cast Dean-Wood-Mineo trio. Perhaps the best teen-age drama of the 1950s. Academy Award Nominations: Best Supporting Actor--Sal Mineo, Best Supporting Actress--Natalie Wood, Best Motion Picture Story.
44) King Kong - The Eighth Wonder Of The World (1933)
This cinematic classic is my all time personal favourite with ground breaking special effects for the time and new processes to bring Kong to life.
It was one of the first films to have a fully integrated soundtrack where music is fundamental to the action. The sound effects are also very advanced for the time with a great many sounds being mixed in.
This film gets a very deserving 4 stars in Halliwells guide. Was way ahead of its time in 1932 when it was made.
45) Jaws (1975)
Peter Benchley's pulp bestseller is here turned into the scariest sea saga ever filmed, with Steven Spielberg creating maximum suspense in the first dark moments and then maintaining the momentum with brilliant sleight-of-hand direction. The tale of a great white shark terrorising a New England resort community and the modern-day Captain Ahab (Robert Shaw) employed to kill it is now a classic of the suspense thriller genre. John Williams's Oscar-winning music and the excellent performances of Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss add to the ingeniously mounted tension that cleverly plays on all our deepest primeval fears.
46) Annie Hall (1977)
Although Woody Allen had still to acquire great technical strength as a film-maker, this was the movie where he found his own singular voice, a voice that echoes across events with a mixture of exuberance and introspection. Peppered with hilarious, snappy insights into the meaning of life, love, psychiatry, ambition, art and New York, this comic delight also gains considerably from the spirited playing of Diane Keaton as the kooky innocent from the Midwest, and Woody himself as the fumbling New York neurotic. The narrative runs parallel to the real-life relationship between the two leads (Keaton's father's name was Hall), and the film scooped four Oscars, including best film and screenplay (co-written with Marshall Brickman) for Allen, and best actress for Keaton.
47) The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
In this magnificent adaptation of John Steinbeck's Depression-era novel, Henry Fonda plays the farmer who leads his family from the dust bowl of Oklahoma to the promised land of California. The scene when their home is bulldozed is heart-rending and their fate as migrant workers has lasting power. But the film also has some weaknesses, notably a corny religious symbolism in place of Steinbeck's raw politics. When studio boss Darryl F Zanuck was persuading Steinbeck to endorse a happy ending, Zanuck was called away to deal with an even more urgent matter. “The Grapes of Wrath,” said Steinbeck, “is unimportant compared to Shirley Temple's tooth.” It's stupendously photographed by Gregg Toland, but the Oscars went to director John Ford and Jane Darwell, who's unforgettable as Ma Joad.
48) ET - The Extra-Terrestrial (2002)
Steven Spielberg's ode to aliens could also be seen as a tribute to all the loners of the world, as little ET, abandoned by his pot-bellied extraterrestrial pals, has to cope on Earth until they can come back and rescue him. Luckily, he's befriended by an equally lonely little boy named Elliott, played by Henry Thomas, who proceeds to teach his alien chum how to talk, dress up in women's clothes and guzzle beer. Much has been made of the changes and additions to the anniversary edition, but this is no extended director's cut; the alterations are minimal. Some of ET's facial expressions have been enhanced with computer animation, there are five additional minutes of footage that were left out of the original and — significantly in the current political climate — the guns carried by the government agents have been digitally replaced by walkie-talkies. However, changes or not, this is still a special, delightful adventure, in which Spielberg manages not only to entertain young children but also reach out to the child in all of us.
49) Taxi Driver (1970)
Back in the 1970s, smutty comedies such as this entry in the Adventures series were the order of the day for comedy actors trying to break into movies. Robert Lindsay, Liz Fraser, Ian Lavender and Henry McGee are among the familiar faces who probably squirmed with embarrassment at their performances in this bawdy comedy. Barry Evans is the nominal leading man, adding new meaning to the familiar drivers' refrain, “You'll never guess who I had in the back of the cab?”
50) Fellinis 8.1/2 (1962)
Federico Fellini's Oscar-nominated 8 1/2 is a masterpiece of storytelling and cinema. The most autobiographical of Fellini's films, the plot of which concerns a 43-year-old film director who is having a midlife crisis, it is a career benchmark for this magnificent Italian New Wave director. Beautifully choreographed with flashbacks, dream sequences, exaggerated fantasy scenes, and magical surrealist episodes, 8 1/2 is one of the richest, most exuberant movies ever made, in the mode of Fellini's artfully abstract LA DOLCE VITA and AMARCORD.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
My Top 25 Classic Cinema
1) Charlie Chaplin - Gold Rush (1925)
THE GOLD RUSH is still Chaplin's most perfectly realized comedy and one of those rare movies that enchant anew no matter how many times you've seen it...
2) Charlie Chaplin - City Lights (1931)
If only one of Charlie Chaplin's films could be preserved, CITY LIGHTS would come the closest to representing different notes of his genius...
3) Gone With The Wind (1939)
Deliciously eccentric, yet cuttingly acute in its understated socio-political criticism, this is tantamount to a Borges-scripted Ealing comedy. Set in a small village in Patagonia, Alejandro Agresti's fable is filled with lovable eccentrics, from the scientist whose inventions already have patents, to the cinema projectionist who keeps showing films in the wrong order — which goes some way to explaining this isolated community's wondrously cockamamie worldview. However, everything changes with the arrival of two unsuspecting intruders, Buenos Aires cab-driver Vera Fogwill, and fading French movie-star, Jean Rochefort. Testament to the enduring power of cinema, this is witty, warm and wacky.
4) Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)
This is director David Lean's magisterial portrayal of one of Britain's most enigmatic yet charismatic heroes, TE Lawrence, whose precise role in the Arab revolt against the Turks during the First World War still perplexes military historians. Peter O'Toole's flamboyant performance hints at every aspect of Lawrence's complex character (including his masochistic tendency), while Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson's script develops into a withering satire on the ball-and-socket mentality of Lawrence's superiors, who play the Great Game of Empire by the book. Taking 15 months to shoot in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Spain and England, Lean developed an obsession with the desert mirroring Lawrence's own. There are some awesomely beautiful images, notably the mirage that introduced the world to a new star, Omar Sharif. Winner of seven Oscars and restored to its original version in 1989, this is movie-making on the grandest scale.
5) The Graduate (1967)
This landmark satire on America's bourgeoisie thrust the unknown Dustin Hoffman into the limelight and won a best director Oscar for Mike Nichols. In his film debut, Hoffman is sensational as the innocent college graduate who is seduced by older married woman Anne Bancroft and then falls for her daughter Katharine Ross. The humour in Calder Willingham and Buck Henry's screenplay has the bite of a dry martini, Robert Surtees's stunning, innovative camerawork contributes telling visual ironies (especially in the scene where Hoffman runs to the church) and the Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack perfectly captures the mood of disaffected youth seething beneath the laid-back exterior of 1960s California. Nichols's Oscar was well deserved, launching him into the top rank of Hollywood directors, though the film missed out in six other categories — best picture, actor (Hoffman), actress (Bancroft), supporting actress (Ross), screenplay and cinematography.
6) Raging Bull (1980)
Critics and film-makers are always being asked to reel off their desert island films: Raging Bull, without question, is one such great. Director Martin Scorsese makes no concession to character likeability as he portrays Jake La Motta's downward slide from arrogant prizefighter to frustrated, hateful dropout. Robert De Niro, who piled on the pounds to play the latter-day La Motta, proves he is the ultimate Method actor, both utterly convincing in the ring (the brutal fight sequences are spectacularly staged) and as the empty barrel abusing everyone (including his wife, Cathy Moriarty, and brother, Joe Pesci) at home. Scorsese effortlessly fuses top-drawer acting (De Niro rightly won a best actor Oscar for his efforts), pumping narrative drive and blitzkrieg camera technique to deliver a giddy, claustrophobic classic.
7) To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
This is a beautifully crafted and faithful screen adaptation (by playwright Horton Foote, who won an Oscar) of the now-classic Harper Lee novel about a lawyer in the Deep South and the effect of a rape trial on his children. Gregory Peck won the best actor Oscar as Atticus Finch, but in truth he's ill-cast — if ever a role was meant for Henry Fonda it was this one. Robert Duvall, making his screen debut as the disturbed Boo Radley, is excellent, as are the well-cast children (Phillip Alford and Mary Badham, sister of film-maker John Badham), and Robert Mulligan's direction is quietly impressive (even if the film's a shade overlong). The book was once considered strong stuff, but is now taught in schools everywhere.
8) Doctor Zhivago (1965)
'Doctor Zhivago' is a film whose like we will not see again. This was one of the last gasps of true epic film making, a story of human beings set against a vast historical panorama, made without any computer-generated images and featuring only people to keep your interest, with not a space alien or hobbit in sight. Who can believe now that there was a time when that was sufficient?
I first saw this film when I was 8 years old. Certainly I was not able at that time to understand all aspects and nuances of the story, but I was nonetheless mesmerized by the production: the sheer scope and spectacle of it, the absolutely glorious cinematography, the rich characters. It was unforgettable to me, and along with a few other films from that period like 'The Sound of Music', fostered a lifelong love for movies. For that alone, I have a soft spot in my heart for this film and will always be grateful for it (and David Lean).
9) The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
This 1962 political and psychological thriller dealing with brainwashing and assassination generally tends to appear on most 'Top 100 Movies of All Time' lists. Frank Sinatra is decent as always, but it's Laurence Harvey as the brainwashed sleeper agent who is the highlight of the movie.
It features some great performances and memorable sequences, and ultimately it's an important film because of the sensitive issues that it deals with. It's always been a controversial film, banned in all of the 'Iron Curtain' countries and even taken out of circulation in America after John Kennedy's assassination -- on Sinatra's own wishes.
This is easily John Frankenheimer's best film. And as if it had somehow cursed him, when in 1968 he drove his friend Robert Kennedy to the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, the senator was assassinated there that same day.
10) The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Re-released on its tenth anniversary, this deeply moving version of Stephen King's story Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption from first-time director Frank Darabont is one of the best adaptations of the novelist's work. Tim Robbins plays Andy Dufresne, a Maine banker sent to Shawshank State Prison for murdering his wife and her lover. Regularly brutalised by the inmates and the penal system in general, his existence improves when he befriends fellow lifer and prison fixer Red, played by Morgan Freeman. Under Darabont's inspired direction, Robbins and Freeman both rise to the challenge of portraying world-weary dignity against the odds, while the severity of the prison system is underlined in the poignant performance of James Whitmore as a veteran convict trying to make it on parole, but ill-equipped to do so.
11) LEON (1994)
A film about an elderly hitman who takes a 12 year old orphan girl under his wing, sparking an ambiguous relationship in which the pair co-habit and, among other things, play 'dress-up' - in today's climate, Daily Mail readers would probably have raised an uproar. However, despite the deliberately blurred boundaries which exist between the central couple, this film is exceptionally touching, and both lead performances are incredibly moving and sympathetic.
As the eponymous Leon, Jean Reno convinces as both a fumbling man-child with no social skills, and a clinically effective hitman, performing jobs with a lethal detachment. Luc Besson handles the mix between action and burgeoning relationship with great skill, and the final third of the film has an unforgettable emotional punch.
12) Schindler's List (1993)
This outstanding Holocaust drama, based on Thomas Keneally's bestseller Schindler's Ark, won seven Oscars, including best picture, director (Steven Spielberg), adapted screenplay and score. It tells the story of Second World War entrepreneur Oskar Schindler (played by Liam Neeson), whose operation to supply the German war effort led him to be the unexpected saviour of more than 1,000 Jewish factory workers in Poland. Spielberg uses stark, brutal realism to put over his powerful points about racism and ethnic cleansing, and the use of stunning black-and-white photography and gritty hand-held camera footage give the film a potent documentary style. Ralph Fiennes invokes an awesome mixture of revulsion and sympathy as the inhuman Nazi commandant, Amon Goeth, and Neeson matches him with a heartfelt performance as the enigmatic Schindler. Ben Kingsley is also superb as Schindler's Jewish accountant and conscience.
13) Pulp Fiction (1994)
While not as abrasive or compelling as Reservoir Dogs, this follow-up not only confirmed Quentin Tarantino's genius for writing hard-boiled comic dialogue, but also demonstrated a control over a wealth of characters and crossplots that was simply astonishing for a film-maker still, essentially, in the process of learning his trade. Originally entitled Black Mask, the picture went on to scoop the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival and win Oscars for Tarantino and his co-writer Roger Avary. Scorching though the writing is, it needed a high-calibre cast to carry it off. Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Maria de Medeiros and Christopher Walken are excellent, but the revitalised John Travolta and the then largely unknown Samuel L Jackson are unforgettable. As much pop as pulp, this is exhilarating stuff and clearly one of the best films of the 1990s.
14) The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966)
This concluding part of the “Dollars” trilogy is not only the most graphically violent of the three, but also ups the compassion and dark humour quota of the first two Sergio Leone films. The stylised violence of the genre is thrown into shocking relief by the bloody futility of the American Civil War that intrudes on the lives of drifters Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach. There is nothing new about the buried treasure plotline, but it is a deceptively simple story, through which Leone dexterously interweaves different strands of small- and large-scale human drama, drawing superb performances from his leads and providing a compelling feast for the viewer.
15) The Godfather (1972)
This crime drama and its 1974 sequel are among American cinema's finest achievements since the Second World War. The production problems are well documented — how Paramount wanted a quickie, how Francis Ford Coppola came cheap and how he turned the picture into an epic success, a box-office hit that was also an artistic triumph. His first masterstroke was casting Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall and Diane Keaton, four relative unknowns and one known risk; his next masterstroke was to keep cool under fire, like Michael Corleone himself, turning Mario Puzo's pulp novel into art and showing how capitalism and crime go hand in hand. It's thrilling, romantic, tense and scary — a five-course meal that leaves you hungry for more.
16) Goodfellas (1990)
This unflinching depiction of the attraction and brutal reality of the Mafia lifestyle from Martin Scorsese is a masterwork on every artistic level. Direction, script — based on Nicholas Pileggi's nonfiction book Wiseguy — photography, ensemble acting (Joe Pesci won a deserved Oscar, but he's matched by Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta) and driving pop and rock soundtrack seamlessly combine to dazzling effect in this instant classic. Crackling with raw energy, Scorsese's fascinating new take on themes explored in his earlier Mean Streets enthrals from the first violent frames to the stunning final sequence. Be prepared to be completely bowled over by a director at the peak of his talents and in full control of topnotch material.
17) One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Adapted from Ken Kesey's novel, this film is one the classic movies of the seventies, thanks in no small measure to the talents of director Milos Forman, who propelled the comic antics to a horrifyingly poignant finale and resounding critical and commercial success; it became one of the few to be awarded all the major Oscars, winning for best picture, director, screenplay, actor (Jack Nicholson) and actress (Louise Fletcher). Nicholson's legendary performance as McMurphy, a free spirit at loose in a state mental home, is one of his greatest characterisations, as he stirs up rebellion against the oppressive regime of Fletcher's ward sister, in which drugs make patients' decisions. And among those patients are such then almost unknowns as Danny DeVito, Brad Dourif and Christopher Lloyd. The rights to the script had been bought by Michael Douglas — he was one of the film's producers years before for father Kirk, who'd played McMurphy on stage but was by this time too old for the part. This then became the great turn-down movie (with James Caan refusing McMurphy while Anne Bancroft, Angela Lansbury and Ellen Burstyn declined the nurse), but the awards proved just how wrong they were.
18) Rocky (1976)
If you're attempting to take up sport...
this is the film for you. How inspiring is Rocky running up those stairs? OK, so the story, dialogue and acting are in a class of their very own and you won't find anything as pish anywhere else in the world of mainstream cinema, but just surrender yourself to it - it's brilliant.
19) Gladiator (2000)
Ridley Scott and the boys from DreamWorks produced the first genuine Roman epic since 1964's The Fall of the Roman Empire with this virtual remake that deals with the transition of power from the sage-like Marcus Aurelius to his monstrous son, Commodus. The fictional hero, General Maximus, is Caesar's adopted heir, whom Commodus turns into an exile after killing his family. Becoming a gladiator, Maximus fights to avenge his loved ones and save the soul of Rome. The film's strengths are a fine script, which doesn't stint on the politics, and excellent performances from Richard Harris as Aurelius and Oliver Reed, in his final film, as a gladiator trainer. Also superb is Joaquin Phoenix as the paranoid, teenage Commodus, while Russell Crowe is utterly convincing as the Conan/Spartacus-like hero. As always with Scott, the visuals are fabulous: the computer-generated ancient Rome is simply staggering, allowing helicopter shots over the city and turning the Colosseum into a living building, a character in its own right and a blood-soaked stage on which the fate of the characters and the empire is enacted. For those old enough to remember the 70mm epics of yesteryear, this is a nostalgic synthesis of all of them. For those who haven't seen those earlier movies, Scott will open their eyes to a “brand-new” old world.
20)The Italian Job (1969)
Cult favourite, best remembered for its unexpected ending. The film encompasses the spectrum of all that is essentially English. A classic (eurosceptic) film, even though it's not all that well acted. Michael Caine?s wardrobe is superb, with his finely tailored suits and Quincy Jones? music holds it all together. The car chase is one of the absolute best, with the patriotically-coloured Mini?s always driven in order of red, white, and blue. This picture was, and continues to be, the greatest publicity the Mini has ever had.
21) The Great Escape (1963)
Neither the passing of time nor the familiarity of its content have diminished the excitement of director John Sturges's terrific war film, an epic on the scale of his Magnificent Seven, which was shot on authentic European locations. The climactic scenes are now rightly regarded as classic, and the characters have passed into folklore. Three of the “Magnificent Seven” are reunited (Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Coburn) in a brilliant Anglo-American cast that couldn't be bettered. Elmer Bernstein's deceptively simple march theme has passed into movie legend.
22) Amelie (2001)
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, along with former collaborator Marc Caro, is better known as a purveyor of nightmarish excursions into the fantastic — Delicatessen, City of Lost Children, Alien: Resurrection. But this romantic comedy drama enchants and beguiles with a nostalgic optimism thanks to glorious visuals and ceaseless invention. Audrey Tautou is guaranteed iconic status as Amélie, the Montmartre waitress whose selfless joie de vivre leads her to improve the lives of her friends and neighbours. She only takes a break from her role of good fairy to pursue Mathieu Kassovitz, the handsome loner who collects rejected photo-booth snaps for his album of forgotten smiles. It has to be conceded that complaints of uncosmopolitan conservatism made against this film have some justification. But as a love letter to the City of Light — filmed at locations all around Paris yet retaining the stylised magic of a movie set — this is as deliciously romantic and ingeniously mischievous as cinema gets.
23) Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
This multi-Oscar-winning classic, adapted from Thomas Harris's bestseller, was responsible for giving cinematic serial killers a better image, thanks to Anthony Hopkins's enthralling portrayal of Hannibal Lecter. So what if Lecter was an incarcerated cannibal? It was unprecedented that an actor playing a crazed killer should mount the podium to collect an Oscar (the ceremony host that year, Billy Crystal, was wheeled on dressed as Lecter), while Hopkins's “Fava beans and a nice chianti” line became legendary. Jodie Foster also won an Oscar for her role as fledgeling FBI agent Clarice Starling, who is drawn into a disturbingly close relationship with Lecter as she hunts for serial killer “Buffalo Bill”, and it's a testament to her abilities that she holds her own against her scene-stealing co-star. With a track record for directing quirky comedies (Something Wild, Married to the Mob), director Jonathan Demme made a seemingly effortless switch to terror, summoning up a magnificent air of gothic gloom. The hunt for the killer is genuinely suspenseful, but Demme generates the real chill with the probing mind games between his two marvellous leads. Spare a thought, too, for the talented supporting players: stoical Scott Glenn as Foster's boss, Ted Levine as the tormented killer and Anthony Heald as the ill-fated hospital head, the butt of the movie's flip end gag.
24) Top Gun (1986)
Quentin Tarantino's vigorous assertion in Sleep with Me that this is the ultimate gay fantasy movie rather pulls the carpet from under the feet of those attempting to appraise this slavish tribute to flash fly boys and their hi-tech toys. There is no denying the quality and entertainment value of the flying sequences, which effortlessly blend mile-high footage with state-of-the-art modelwork, but the rivalry between Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer, and Cruise's tempestuous affair with Kelly McGillis, are pure bunk. Yet, with the shameful exception of McGillis, all emerged with reputations enhanced, particularly director Tony Scott, who takes all the credit for preventing this mindless macho daydream from nose-diving.
25) Jurassic Park (1993)
Steven Spielberg soared to new heights with this massively successful adventure adapted from Michael Crichton's bestseller. The world's ultimate theme park, featuring genetically re-created dinosaurs, is about to open and owner Richard Attenborough decides to give a sneak preview to a select few, including scientists Sam Neill and Laura Dern. However, all is not well in this new Garden of Eden and, in the jungle, the creatures are restless (when movie scientists tamper with nature, you just know something will go wrong). T-Rex and his chums are the undoubted stars of the show and the mix of computer animation and models is truly inspiring. Spielberg orchestrates the action with effortless verve and, although it's too long and full of loose ends, only the most Scrooge-like viewer will fail to be transfixed by the thrilling action and the sheer scale of the director's vision. Spielberg is less assured in the department of character development and some of the actors give worse performances than the computer-generated creatures, but, with a landmark spectacle like this, who cares?
THE GOLD RUSH is still Chaplin's most perfectly realized comedy and one of those rare movies that enchant anew no matter how many times you've seen it...
2) Charlie Chaplin - City Lights (1931)
If only one of Charlie Chaplin's films could be preserved, CITY LIGHTS would come the closest to representing different notes of his genius...
3) Gone With The Wind (1939)
Deliciously eccentric, yet cuttingly acute in its understated socio-political criticism, this is tantamount to a Borges-scripted Ealing comedy. Set in a small village in Patagonia, Alejandro Agresti's fable is filled with lovable eccentrics, from the scientist whose inventions already have patents, to the cinema projectionist who keeps showing films in the wrong order — which goes some way to explaining this isolated community's wondrously cockamamie worldview. However, everything changes with the arrival of two unsuspecting intruders, Buenos Aires cab-driver Vera Fogwill, and fading French movie-star, Jean Rochefort. Testament to the enduring power of cinema, this is witty, warm and wacky.
4) Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)
This is director David Lean's magisterial portrayal of one of Britain's most enigmatic yet charismatic heroes, TE Lawrence, whose precise role in the Arab revolt against the Turks during the First World War still perplexes military historians. Peter O'Toole's flamboyant performance hints at every aspect of Lawrence's complex character (including his masochistic tendency), while Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson's script develops into a withering satire on the ball-and-socket mentality of Lawrence's superiors, who play the Great Game of Empire by the book. Taking 15 months to shoot in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Spain and England, Lean developed an obsession with the desert mirroring Lawrence's own. There are some awesomely beautiful images, notably the mirage that introduced the world to a new star, Omar Sharif. Winner of seven Oscars and restored to its original version in 1989, this is movie-making on the grandest scale.
5) The Graduate (1967)
This landmark satire on America's bourgeoisie thrust the unknown Dustin Hoffman into the limelight and won a best director Oscar for Mike Nichols. In his film debut, Hoffman is sensational as the innocent college graduate who is seduced by older married woman Anne Bancroft and then falls for her daughter Katharine Ross. The humour in Calder Willingham and Buck Henry's screenplay has the bite of a dry martini, Robert Surtees's stunning, innovative camerawork contributes telling visual ironies (especially in the scene where Hoffman runs to the church) and the Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack perfectly captures the mood of disaffected youth seething beneath the laid-back exterior of 1960s California. Nichols's Oscar was well deserved, launching him into the top rank of Hollywood directors, though the film missed out in six other categories — best picture, actor (Hoffman), actress (Bancroft), supporting actress (Ross), screenplay and cinematography.
6) Raging Bull (1980)
Critics and film-makers are always being asked to reel off their desert island films: Raging Bull, without question, is one such great. Director Martin Scorsese makes no concession to character likeability as he portrays Jake La Motta's downward slide from arrogant prizefighter to frustrated, hateful dropout. Robert De Niro, who piled on the pounds to play the latter-day La Motta, proves he is the ultimate Method actor, both utterly convincing in the ring (the brutal fight sequences are spectacularly staged) and as the empty barrel abusing everyone (including his wife, Cathy Moriarty, and brother, Joe Pesci) at home. Scorsese effortlessly fuses top-drawer acting (De Niro rightly won a best actor Oscar for his efforts), pumping narrative drive and blitzkrieg camera technique to deliver a giddy, claustrophobic classic.
7) To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
This is a beautifully crafted and faithful screen adaptation (by playwright Horton Foote, who won an Oscar) of the now-classic Harper Lee novel about a lawyer in the Deep South and the effect of a rape trial on his children. Gregory Peck won the best actor Oscar as Atticus Finch, but in truth he's ill-cast — if ever a role was meant for Henry Fonda it was this one. Robert Duvall, making his screen debut as the disturbed Boo Radley, is excellent, as are the well-cast children (Phillip Alford and Mary Badham, sister of film-maker John Badham), and Robert Mulligan's direction is quietly impressive (even if the film's a shade overlong). The book was once considered strong stuff, but is now taught in schools everywhere.
8) Doctor Zhivago (1965)
'Doctor Zhivago' is a film whose like we will not see again. This was one of the last gasps of true epic film making, a story of human beings set against a vast historical panorama, made without any computer-generated images and featuring only people to keep your interest, with not a space alien or hobbit in sight. Who can believe now that there was a time when that was sufficient?
I first saw this film when I was 8 years old. Certainly I was not able at that time to understand all aspects and nuances of the story, but I was nonetheless mesmerized by the production: the sheer scope and spectacle of it, the absolutely glorious cinematography, the rich characters. It was unforgettable to me, and along with a few other films from that period like 'The Sound of Music', fostered a lifelong love for movies. For that alone, I have a soft spot in my heart for this film and will always be grateful for it (and David Lean).
9) The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
This 1962 political and psychological thriller dealing with brainwashing and assassination generally tends to appear on most 'Top 100 Movies of All Time' lists. Frank Sinatra is decent as always, but it's Laurence Harvey as the brainwashed sleeper agent who is the highlight of the movie.
It features some great performances and memorable sequences, and ultimately it's an important film because of the sensitive issues that it deals with. It's always been a controversial film, banned in all of the 'Iron Curtain' countries and even taken out of circulation in America after John Kennedy's assassination -- on Sinatra's own wishes.
This is easily John Frankenheimer's best film. And as if it had somehow cursed him, when in 1968 he drove his friend Robert Kennedy to the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, the senator was assassinated there that same day.
10) The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Re-released on its tenth anniversary, this deeply moving version of Stephen King's story Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption from first-time director Frank Darabont is one of the best adaptations of the novelist's work. Tim Robbins plays Andy Dufresne, a Maine banker sent to Shawshank State Prison for murdering his wife and her lover. Regularly brutalised by the inmates and the penal system in general, his existence improves when he befriends fellow lifer and prison fixer Red, played by Morgan Freeman. Under Darabont's inspired direction, Robbins and Freeman both rise to the challenge of portraying world-weary dignity against the odds, while the severity of the prison system is underlined in the poignant performance of James Whitmore as a veteran convict trying to make it on parole, but ill-equipped to do so.
11) LEON (1994)
A film about an elderly hitman who takes a 12 year old orphan girl under his wing, sparking an ambiguous relationship in which the pair co-habit and, among other things, play 'dress-up' - in today's climate, Daily Mail readers would probably have raised an uproar. However, despite the deliberately blurred boundaries which exist between the central couple, this film is exceptionally touching, and both lead performances are incredibly moving and sympathetic.
As the eponymous Leon, Jean Reno convinces as both a fumbling man-child with no social skills, and a clinically effective hitman, performing jobs with a lethal detachment. Luc Besson handles the mix between action and burgeoning relationship with great skill, and the final third of the film has an unforgettable emotional punch.
12) Schindler's List (1993)
This outstanding Holocaust drama, based on Thomas Keneally's bestseller Schindler's Ark, won seven Oscars, including best picture, director (Steven Spielberg), adapted screenplay and score. It tells the story of Second World War entrepreneur Oskar Schindler (played by Liam Neeson), whose operation to supply the German war effort led him to be the unexpected saviour of more than 1,000 Jewish factory workers in Poland. Spielberg uses stark, brutal realism to put over his powerful points about racism and ethnic cleansing, and the use of stunning black-and-white photography and gritty hand-held camera footage give the film a potent documentary style. Ralph Fiennes invokes an awesome mixture of revulsion and sympathy as the inhuman Nazi commandant, Amon Goeth, and Neeson matches him with a heartfelt performance as the enigmatic Schindler. Ben Kingsley is also superb as Schindler's Jewish accountant and conscience.
13) Pulp Fiction (1994)
While not as abrasive or compelling as Reservoir Dogs, this follow-up not only confirmed Quentin Tarantino's genius for writing hard-boiled comic dialogue, but also demonstrated a control over a wealth of characters and crossplots that was simply astonishing for a film-maker still, essentially, in the process of learning his trade. Originally entitled Black Mask, the picture went on to scoop the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival and win Oscars for Tarantino and his co-writer Roger Avary. Scorching though the writing is, it needed a high-calibre cast to carry it off. Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Maria de Medeiros and Christopher Walken are excellent, but the revitalised John Travolta and the then largely unknown Samuel L Jackson are unforgettable. As much pop as pulp, this is exhilarating stuff and clearly one of the best films of the 1990s.
14) The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966)
This concluding part of the “Dollars” trilogy is not only the most graphically violent of the three, but also ups the compassion and dark humour quota of the first two Sergio Leone films. The stylised violence of the genre is thrown into shocking relief by the bloody futility of the American Civil War that intrudes on the lives of drifters Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach. There is nothing new about the buried treasure plotline, but it is a deceptively simple story, through which Leone dexterously interweaves different strands of small- and large-scale human drama, drawing superb performances from his leads and providing a compelling feast for the viewer.
15) The Godfather (1972)
This crime drama and its 1974 sequel are among American cinema's finest achievements since the Second World War. The production problems are well documented — how Paramount wanted a quickie, how Francis Ford Coppola came cheap and how he turned the picture into an epic success, a box-office hit that was also an artistic triumph. His first masterstroke was casting Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall and Diane Keaton, four relative unknowns and one known risk; his next masterstroke was to keep cool under fire, like Michael Corleone himself, turning Mario Puzo's pulp novel into art and showing how capitalism and crime go hand in hand. It's thrilling, romantic, tense and scary — a five-course meal that leaves you hungry for more.
16) Goodfellas (1990)
This unflinching depiction of the attraction and brutal reality of the Mafia lifestyle from Martin Scorsese is a masterwork on every artistic level. Direction, script — based on Nicholas Pileggi's nonfiction book Wiseguy — photography, ensemble acting (Joe Pesci won a deserved Oscar, but he's matched by Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta) and driving pop and rock soundtrack seamlessly combine to dazzling effect in this instant classic. Crackling with raw energy, Scorsese's fascinating new take on themes explored in his earlier Mean Streets enthrals from the first violent frames to the stunning final sequence. Be prepared to be completely bowled over by a director at the peak of his talents and in full control of topnotch material.
17) One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Adapted from Ken Kesey's novel, this film is one the classic movies of the seventies, thanks in no small measure to the talents of director Milos Forman, who propelled the comic antics to a horrifyingly poignant finale and resounding critical and commercial success; it became one of the few to be awarded all the major Oscars, winning for best picture, director, screenplay, actor (Jack Nicholson) and actress (Louise Fletcher). Nicholson's legendary performance as McMurphy, a free spirit at loose in a state mental home, is one of his greatest characterisations, as he stirs up rebellion against the oppressive regime of Fletcher's ward sister, in which drugs make patients' decisions. And among those patients are such then almost unknowns as Danny DeVito, Brad Dourif and Christopher Lloyd. The rights to the script had been bought by Michael Douglas — he was one of the film's producers years before for father Kirk, who'd played McMurphy on stage but was by this time too old for the part. This then became the great turn-down movie (with James Caan refusing McMurphy while Anne Bancroft, Angela Lansbury and Ellen Burstyn declined the nurse), but the awards proved just how wrong they were.
18) Rocky (1976)
If you're attempting to take up sport...
this is the film for you. How inspiring is Rocky running up those stairs? OK, so the story, dialogue and acting are in a class of their very own and you won't find anything as pish anywhere else in the world of mainstream cinema, but just surrender yourself to it - it's brilliant.
19) Gladiator (2000)
Ridley Scott and the boys from DreamWorks produced the first genuine Roman epic since 1964's The Fall of the Roman Empire with this virtual remake that deals with the transition of power from the sage-like Marcus Aurelius to his monstrous son, Commodus. The fictional hero, General Maximus, is Caesar's adopted heir, whom Commodus turns into an exile after killing his family. Becoming a gladiator, Maximus fights to avenge his loved ones and save the soul of Rome. The film's strengths are a fine script, which doesn't stint on the politics, and excellent performances from Richard Harris as Aurelius and Oliver Reed, in his final film, as a gladiator trainer. Also superb is Joaquin Phoenix as the paranoid, teenage Commodus, while Russell Crowe is utterly convincing as the Conan/Spartacus-like hero. As always with Scott, the visuals are fabulous: the computer-generated ancient Rome is simply staggering, allowing helicopter shots over the city and turning the Colosseum into a living building, a character in its own right and a blood-soaked stage on which the fate of the characters and the empire is enacted. For those old enough to remember the 70mm epics of yesteryear, this is a nostalgic synthesis of all of them. For those who haven't seen those earlier movies, Scott will open their eyes to a “brand-new” old world.
20)The Italian Job (1969)
Cult favourite, best remembered for its unexpected ending. The film encompasses the spectrum of all that is essentially English. A classic (eurosceptic) film, even though it's not all that well acted. Michael Caine?s wardrobe is superb, with his finely tailored suits and Quincy Jones? music holds it all together. The car chase is one of the absolute best, with the patriotically-coloured Mini?s always driven in order of red, white, and blue. This picture was, and continues to be, the greatest publicity the Mini has ever had.
21) The Great Escape (1963)
Neither the passing of time nor the familiarity of its content have diminished the excitement of director John Sturges's terrific war film, an epic on the scale of his Magnificent Seven, which was shot on authentic European locations. The climactic scenes are now rightly regarded as classic, and the characters have passed into folklore. Three of the “Magnificent Seven” are reunited (Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Coburn) in a brilliant Anglo-American cast that couldn't be bettered. Elmer Bernstein's deceptively simple march theme has passed into movie legend.
22) Amelie (2001)
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, along with former collaborator Marc Caro, is better known as a purveyor of nightmarish excursions into the fantastic — Delicatessen, City of Lost Children, Alien: Resurrection. But this romantic comedy drama enchants and beguiles with a nostalgic optimism thanks to glorious visuals and ceaseless invention. Audrey Tautou is guaranteed iconic status as Amélie, the Montmartre waitress whose selfless joie de vivre leads her to improve the lives of her friends and neighbours. She only takes a break from her role of good fairy to pursue Mathieu Kassovitz, the handsome loner who collects rejected photo-booth snaps for his album of forgotten smiles. It has to be conceded that complaints of uncosmopolitan conservatism made against this film have some justification. But as a love letter to the City of Light — filmed at locations all around Paris yet retaining the stylised magic of a movie set — this is as deliciously romantic and ingeniously mischievous as cinema gets.
23) Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
This multi-Oscar-winning classic, adapted from Thomas Harris's bestseller, was responsible for giving cinematic serial killers a better image, thanks to Anthony Hopkins's enthralling portrayal of Hannibal Lecter. So what if Lecter was an incarcerated cannibal? It was unprecedented that an actor playing a crazed killer should mount the podium to collect an Oscar (the ceremony host that year, Billy Crystal, was wheeled on dressed as Lecter), while Hopkins's “Fava beans and a nice chianti” line became legendary. Jodie Foster also won an Oscar for her role as fledgeling FBI agent Clarice Starling, who is drawn into a disturbingly close relationship with Lecter as she hunts for serial killer “Buffalo Bill”, and it's a testament to her abilities that she holds her own against her scene-stealing co-star. With a track record for directing quirky comedies (Something Wild, Married to the Mob), director Jonathan Demme made a seemingly effortless switch to terror, summoning up a magnificent air of gothic gloom. The hunt for the killer is genuinely suspenseful, but Demme generates the real chill with the probing mind games between his two marvellous leads. Spare a thought, too, for the talented supporting players: stoical Scott Glenn as Foster's boss, Ted Levine as the tormented killer and Anthony Heald as the ill-fated hospital head, the butt of the movie's flip end gag.
24) Top Gun (1986)
Quentin Tarantino's vigorous assertion in Sleep with Me that this is the ultimate gay fantasy movie rather pulls the carpet from under the feet of those attempting to appraise this slavish tribute to flash fly boys and their hi-tech toys. There is no denying the quality and entertainment value of the flying sequences, which effortlessly blend mile-high footage with state-of-the-art modelwork, but the rivalry between Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer, and Cruise's tempestuous affair with Kelly McGillis, are pure bunk. Yet, with the shameful exception of McGillis, all emerged with reputations enhanced, particularly director Tony Scott, who takes all the credit for preventing this mindless macho daydream from nose-diving.
25) Jurassic Park (1993)
Steven Spielberg soared to new heights with this massively successful adventure adapted from Michael Crichton's bestseller. The world's ultimate theme park, featuring genetically re-created dinosaurs, is about to open and owner Richard Attenborough decides to give a sneak preview to a select few, including scientists Sam Neill and Laura Dern. However, all is not well in this new Garden of Eden and, in the jungle, the creatures are restless (when movie scientists tamper with nature, you just know something will go wrong). T-Rex and his chums are the undoubted stars of the show and the mix of computer animation and models is truly inspiring. Spielberg orchestrates the action with effortless verve and, although it's too long and full of loose ends, only the most Scrooge-like viewer will fail to be transfixed by the thrilling action and the sheer scale of the director's vision. Spielberg is less assured in the department of character development and some of the actors give worse performances than the computer-generated creatures, but, with a landmark spectacle like this, who cares?
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