Stacker compiled data on all 1990s TV shows in English with over 7,500 votes on the Internet Movie Database and ranked the top 100 according to IMDb user score (as of February 2023), with ties broken by vote count.

Do you remember the cop show that introduced (partial) nudity and crude language to prime-time TV? Or the Nickelodeon show that launched the career of a future cast member of "Saturday Night Live"? How about the NBC crime drama that has had more spinoffs than there are presidents on Mount Rushmore? We include those shows and more, plus transcendent British comedies, genre-bending cartoons, and the sketch show that birthed the careers of many of the top comedians of the '90s. Each slide features a hodgepodge of information like notable cast and crew, accolades won, the show's legacy, and other interesting tidbits.

It is a testament to the power of '90s TV that many of the shows on the list, while still holding up on their own, are being revived for newer generations. Hulu has revived the beloved '90s animated sitcom "King of the Hill," which premiered on the streamer with its 14th season in August 2025. And a "Baywatch" reboot will hit screens in January 2027, with Shay Mitchell, Stephen Amell, and Livvy Dunne set to star.

In other words, if you're missing your favorite '90s TV series, you might not need to wait long for a follow-up. In the meantime, though, continue reading to see if your top picks made the list.

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One of the anchor shows during NBC's ascent as a comedy fireworks factory, "Frasier" ran for 11 seasons. Starring Kelsey Grammer as psychiatrist Frasier Crane, the show remains one of the most celebrated sitcoms ever. "Frasier" also had several tie-ins to another seminal sitcom, "Cheers." A rebooted "Frasier" premiered in 2023 and ran for two seasons before being canceled.

"The Simpsons" is still going strong. Homer, Bart, Marge, Lisa, and Maggie have been iconic characters for decades and multiple generations of youth (and adults). With more than 35 years on the air, the show holds the world record for the longest-running animated sitcom.

 The truth is out there: "The X-Files" is one of the most memorable shows of the '90s. Starring agents Scully and Mulder, this duo that was well-studied in extraterrestrial happenings explored the most mysterious realms of Earth. The show originally ran from '93 to '02, while its 10th season aired in 2016, and its 11th and final season aired in 2018. The show also hit the big screen in two feature films. "The X-Files" legacy still resonates among a new generation of UFO chasers and believers of the unknown. 

A gritty cop drama, "Homicide" was often in the shadow of "Law & Order" on NBC, but was equally, if not more revered by critics. The show was based on a book by David Simon, perhaps best known as the creator of "The Wire." After the show went off the air, a TV movie aired in February 2000.

HBO became a major player in TV dramas with the release of "Oz," where at the fictional Oswald State prison, a series of gangs quarreled as they searched for some semblance of existence while serving their sentences. The show's premise was that the prisoners lived in a contained but open community, behind pods as opposed to traditional cells. Christopher Meloni, Ernie Hudson, and J.K. Simmons were among the show's stars, along with Dean Winters—who you may know as "Mayhem" from the Allstate commercials.

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"Star Trek: The Next Generation" is the most popular series in the famous sci-fi franchise. Set 78 years after the events of the original series, this show follows the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) as it explores "strange new worlds" and "to boldly go where no man has gone before. The show introduced fans to a new crew led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), who would star in his own spinoff, "Star Trek: Picard," from 2020-2023.

 Trey Parker and Matt Stone's crude kids picked up where "The Ren & Stimpy Show," "The Simpsons," and "Beavis and Butt-Head" left off, taking cartoon humor to a new level. In the fictional Colorado town of South Park, four friends get into all kinds of mischief over the course of more than 300 episodes. A movie and hundreds of varieties of merchandise have kept the South Park brand strong well into the 21st century. 

"Dragon Ball Z" is the sequel to "Dragon Ball." The show began by focusing on Goku and his son, Gohan, and took many twists and turns during a run of just under 300 episodes. "Dragon Ball Z" may be one of the most important shows in terms of the popularity of manga in the U.S.

Judd Apatow executive produced this cult classic, which only lasted one season but is cherished near-universally by those who watched it. Based on high school-aged teens, the show was the starting point of successful careers for actors like Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini, and James Franco. In 2018, a documentary looked at the short but wondrous existence of "Freaks and Geeks."

"Twin Peaks" only aired two seasons during its initial run, but its cultural impact far exceeded its runtime. The surreal mystery drama quickly gained a cult following and spawned a full-length movie, "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me," after the show's final episode. In 2017, Showtime revived the series for a third season and retained most of its original cast, including Kyle MacLachlan reclaiming his role as agent Dale Cooper.

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NBC scored a runaway hit with "Friends," with fans going crazy over everything from the theme song to Jennifer Aniston's haircut. The sitcom's premise is pretty basic: six friends live in New York City and have crazy stories of dating, family, and friendship—but something was particularly endearing about Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe. It turns out that many Major League Baseball players from Latin America watched reruns to learn English better.

The brainchild of Aaron Sorkin, "The West Wing" had great storylines and a powerful cast to create one of network television's most memorable dramas. Rob Lowe, Allison Janney, Martin Sheen, and others starred in this White House-centered show. Among the many think pieces about the show, a popular theory is that "The West Wing" foreshadowed the politics of the presidency of Barack Obama.

The '90s was the era of the sitcom, and many people think "Seinfeld" was the best of all time. Created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, the show was a fictionalized telling of the former's life. During its nine-season run, "Seinfeld" won numerous awards and is still referenced in pop culture today. Not bad for a show about nothing.

This noir animated version of Batman was unlike any other portrayal of the Caped Crusader at the time. Considered by some critics as the best adaptation ever of a comic book series on TV, "Batman: The Animated Series" combined precise artwork, great writing, and switched seamlessly between canon and new storylines.

The questionable ending aside, "The Sopranos" might be the definition of "prestige television." James Gandolfini starred as Tony Soprano, and the show followed him and his associates as they became mob kingpins in the Northeast. In 2021, a movie served as a prequel to "The Sopranos," keeping the legacy of this show alive and well.

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On board are hundreds of crew members, each performing a specific function. At the vessel's main helm are a handful of leaders, including the captain (the director), who may still be beholden to the powers that be. Tensions run high, and opinions can clash over the best course of action. It can seem like a miracle when the vessel arrives at its destination intact, but sometimes, it does not.

It's easy to pinpoint where it all went wrong in certain situations. Perhaps unexpected bumps required a major change, such as bringing in a new director or having to recast the lead. Or maybe external controversies marred a film's release—at least, that's what actor Gal Gadot claims happened to 2025's live-action "Snow White," which failed to break even on its estimated $250 million budget.

More recent releases, meanwhile, have no outside drama to blame: Despite big-name stars, 2026 movies like "Mercy," "The Death of Robin Hood," and "The Bride!" failed to break through. Of course, these are only a few recent examples of box-office disappointments. What about the most notable flops in film history?

Stacker is honoring the occasions when big-budget vehicles fail to deliver the goods by ranking the biggest box-office bombs of all time using estimates from The Numbers as of May 2025. More than 6,000 movies—every title with data available—were examined to find the biggest financial flops. Rankings were compiled by determining each movie's estimated loss, which is the worldwide box-office earnings minus the reported production budget. The box-office gross does not incorporate video or other retail sales. The calculations also do not reflect that theaters receive a significant portion of ticket sales.

The estimated losses presented may underreport how much money studios were really out, as other expenses like marketing spend, distribution costs, and intellectual property rights are not factored in. Because studios keep those costs close to the vest, most of that data is not public and therefore can't be factored into this ranking, which makes lists like these difficult to calculate. For example, Disney reportedly lost $200 million on its notorious 2012 flop "John Carter" once marketing, distribution, and IP rights are factored in. However, you won't see that movie on this list since the data we do have—its estimated budget of $263.7 million and its worldwide gross of $282.8 million—make it appear as if the film made about $19 million.

With those caveats in mind, keep reading to discover 50 of the biggest box-office bombs ever. How many have you seen?

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Warner Bros. had high expectations for "Father's Day," seeing as it starred Robin Williams and Billy Crystal at the height of their respective careers with comedy veteran Ivan Reitman directing. However, in his 1997 review, Roger Ebert gave the film a one-star rating, calling it "a brainless feature-length sitcom with too much sit and no com." Meanwhile, this film was just one among many major disappointments for the studio that year.

"The Great Raid" dramatizes the Raid at Cabanatuan, when American soldiers and Filipino resistance guerrilla fighters joined forces to rescue Allied prisoners from a Japanese POW camp. The film had all the makings of a hit: a dramatic, action-packed storyline; an all-star cast including James Franco, Benjamin Bratt, Connie Nielsen, and Joseph Fiennes; and the backing of a major studio. However, critics were less than impressed by its slow pacing, reliance on overdone war movie cliches, and the film's bizarre romance subplot.

Based on the book "Dorothy of Oz" by L. Frank Baum's grandson, Roger Stanton Baum, this computer-animated children's movie follows our Kansas girl as she returns to the magical city to help save it from a villainous Jester. Despite having a star-studded cast including Lea Michele, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi, Kelsey Grammer, Hugh Dancy, Oliver Platt, Patrick Stewart, and Martin Short, the film was a total flop thanks to its bland plot, cardboard-like characters, terrible animation, and bizarre original songs. The film lost so much money that it caused the studio that produced it, Summertime Entertainment, which was embroiled in investor lawsuits, to shut down completely.

Set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, "Kraven the Hunter" explores the backstory of Kraven, a supervillain who frequently appears in Spider-Man tales. Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the titular character and Russell Crowe as his estranged father, the casting was the only thing the movie did right. Stilted dialogue, uneven pacing, and a plot that was haphazardly stitched together doomed this CGI-heavy film from the start.

This 1998 actioner ups the stakes by pitting an armored truck driver (Christian Slater) against a gang of thieves (led by Morgan Freeman) during a catastrophic rainstorm. A disaster film in every sense, "Hard Rain" was plagued by many problems during filming and in post-production. After a series of reshoots and delays, the movie came out around the same time Slater was dealing with a major scandal involving heavy drug use and violent behavior. Between that and the negative reviews, it was dead on arrival.

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More than a mere box-office bomb, "Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000" is one of the most ridiculed flops of all time. This big-budget sci-fi thriller, which depicts the future rebellion of humankind against alien overlords (aka Psychlos), was penned by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Flaunting long dreadlocks and bad teeth, John Travolta plays a Psychlo named Terl. Travolta, a Scientologist, was a producer on the film as well.

After making a string of notable films in the mid-to-late 1990s, director Michael Mann's output became uneven at best, culminating with this 2015 fiasco. The movie, bogged down by cheap-looking cinematography and a muddled storyline, sees Chris Hemsworth tackling a global ring of cyber terrorists. Most moviegoers didn't show up to see "Blackhat," and those who did were largely underwhelmed.

Three friends—a doctor (Christian Bale), a nurse (Margot Robbie), and a lawyer (John David Washington)—work together to solve the potential murder of a retired army general. Set in the 1930s and based on a real-life conspiracy, this period mystery lacked the rhythm and coherence needed to make it shine. Despite a strong promotional push, the movie wound up losing the studio over $100 million.

Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds might sound like a match made in Hollywood heaven, but the two actors simply couldn't make 2013's "R.I.P.D." work. Based on a comic book, the film comes off as a poorly executed "Men in Black" imitation with the walking undead substituted for aliens.

"Reminiscence" isn't a bad film by any stretch of the imagination—it's just not quite as good as producers Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan's other project, "Westworld." Both media pieces feature similar themes and are neo-noir, science fiction stories, which led audiences to compare the two. In the end, viewers felt "Westworld" was more original and unique than "Reminiscence." The favoritism showed in the lackluster ticket sales.

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When making an expensive film based on a video game, it's probably wise to avoid discarding the elements that made the game such a big hit in the first place. But that's what this 2001 movie did, and the result was an epic financial disaster. Much of the film's budget went toward employing photorealistic computer animation, quite groundbreaking for its time and a primary selling point, but it fell flat with audiences and critics.

Live-action adaptations of animated properties rarely work out as well as studios hope. "Knights of the Zodiac," an adaptation of the manga series "Saint Seiya," is a prime example of this. Critics, like Carlos Aguilar at the Los Angeles Times, pointed to the movie's attempts to appeal to die-hard fans of the series and wider audiences at the same time, as well as the movie's low production values, as the primary reasons for its failure at the box office.

Alternatively titled "D-Tox," "Eye See You" is an early '00s thriller starring Sylvester Stallone about a cop who finds himself being stalked by a serial killer while stuck at a rehab center. It seems Universal Pictures was aware they had a flop on their hands before it even released the film. After putting the project through multiple rounds of reshoots, it released the movie overseas months before giving it a much more limited U.S. release. Danny Graydon for the BBC said the movie was "a boring, formulaic mix of serial killers and stalk'n'slash, this will not reinvigorate Sly's action hero status or loosen his maniacal destruction of the quality control button."

Adapted from the bestselling novel by Michael Crichton, this 2003 adventure flick follows a group of archaeologists who travel back in time to 14th-century France. The film might have cost $80 million to produce—$109 million when adjusted for inflation—but critics felt it looked downright cheap. That's without mentioning its muddled plot, poor writing, cheesy tone, and stiff acting. Audiences weren't too excited about it either.

Intended as a reboot of the G.I. Joe franchise, "Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins" was not the fun, campy romp fans hoped it would be. Instead, the film was a dull, poorly shot feature whose only real purpose seemed to be setting the stage for future installments in the series. The only bright spot in the entire thing was Henry Golding's performance.

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This second screen adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's iconic novel, this version of "Lolita" starred Jeremy Irons, Dominique Swain, Melanie Griffith, and Frank Langella. Much of the film's box-office failure had to do with protests over its content—it took a full year after the movie was completed for it to find a U.S. distributor—and its more accepting attitude of the darker sexual elements of the story.

"Ferrari" follows the personal and professional struggles of Enzo Ferrari (the brand's founder) during the lead up to the 1957 Mille Miglia. Adam Driver stars alongside Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, and Patrick Dempsey. Although some critics, like RogerEbert.com Managing Editor Brian Tallerico, loved it, praising the crafting and cinematography, others found the pacing and lack of momentum of any kind off-putting. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote that the movie had "a stolid, almost joyless determination" in telling the story—not exactly the sort of praise that would drive audiences into theaters.

"Lucky Numbers" proved anything but lucky once its numbers came in. Directed by Nora Ephron ("Sleepless in Seattle"), the comedy follows a down-and-out weatherman (John Travolta) as he engages in a lottery scheme. Why the movie cost so much to make is anyone's guess. It came out the same year as "Battlefield Earth," proving the year 2000 was simply not a good one for Travolta.

The third installment in the "SpongeBob" movie franchise, "Sponge on the Run," follows everyone's favorite yellow sea sponge as he sets out to rescue his pet snail, Gary, who has been kidnapped. Alongside the series' regular cast, a host of celebrities, like Snoop Dogg, Awkwafina, Tiffany Haddish, Keanu Reeves, and Danny Trejo, lent their voices to the project. Generally well-received by critics and audiences alike, the movie suffered at the box office due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw theaters around the world shut down entirely or greatly reduce their capacities and showtimes.

A skilled FBI agent (Antonio Banderas) must team up with his mortal enemy (Lucy Liu) to take down a common enemy in this 2002 clunker. More than just a huge box-office bomb, it holds the distinction of having a 0% Rotten Tomatoes score.

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A group of spies from organizations worldwide must work together to prevent WWIII in this action flick. Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Fan Bingbing, Diane Kruger, and Lupita Nyong'o starred in this film written and directed by Simon Kinberg. It seems the film's online marketing was to blame for its box-office failure, as it led many fans to believe the movie would be more clichéd and unimaginative than it actually is.

Decades before Pixar's "Inside Out" took viewers inside the human brain, this 2001 animated flick explored the wonders of the human body—a zookeeper named Frank DeTorre's body, to be exact. By swallowing a contaminated egg, Frank (Bill Murray) unleashes a deadly virus that could potentially destroy him from the inside out. It's up to a white blood cell named Osmosis Jones to save the day—with help from a cold pill, of course. Directed by gross-out kings the Farrelly brothers and featuring voices from various comedic talent, the movie kept things strictly PG, appealing to essentially no one as a result.

In this 2019 thriller, an ex-convict intentionally gets himself incarcerated again so that he can infiltrate the mob. Based on a Swedish crime novel called "Three Minutes," the movie suffered from a "TV-procedural quality," according to Guy Lodge of Variety, and felt more like a recycled string of tropes than an original entry into the genre.

Set in the world of Playmobil toys (which, for the uninitiated, are adjacent to Legos) this animated children's movie follows a young girl as she attempts to save her brother after he's sucked into this make-believe universe. Like many other movies on this list, it had quite the star-studded cast—Anya Taylor-Joy, Jim Gaffigan, Adam Lambert, Kenan Thompson, Meghan Trainor, Daniel Radcliffe—but their star power wasn't enough to save it from being a commercial failure. Most viewers felt the film was just a glorified advertisement and that both the plot and original musical numbers came second to selling more toys.

One might hear the words "Kevin Costner flop" and think of movies like "Waterworld," but "The Postman" remains his biggest box-office bomb. Costner directed and starred in the film, which takes place in post-apocalyptic America and follows a self-made postman as he delivers mail. If you're not intrigued, neither were movie crowds—it failed abysmally.

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In "Renfield," we follow the story of Dracula (Nicolas Cage) and his servant (Nicholas Hoult), who has been forced to capture prey for his master for centuries. The premise may sound perfectly campy, but in practice, it's a rarely funny schlep through 90 minutes of thinly disguised therapy speak about toxic relationships. Its only redeeming qualities are Nicolas Cage's solo scenes and its perfectly executed gory scenes.

Another dud from Paul W.S. Anderson, this 1998 movie takes place in a future society where soldiers are trained from birth. One of those soldiers is Todd 3465 (Kurt Russell), who's left for dead on a distant planet and is eventually tasked with fighting off a new breed of trained killers. The film mostly comes across as a knock-off of "Universal Soldier."

An action-movie veteran with four decades of experience under his belt, director Rob Cohen has run the full gamut in terms of quality, though most of his films are considered pretty bad. Meanwhile, this 2005 atrocity remains his biggest bomb to date. In the movie, starring Jessica Biel and Jamie Foxx, three pilots struggle to contain an artificial intelligence program before it kicks off a world war.

Set against the backdrop of the Apollo 11 mission, "Fly Me to the Moon" follows an ad executive (Scarlett Johansson) and a NASA launch director (Channing Tatum) as they fall in love and work together to prepare a false moon landing in case the real mission fails. If that plot sounds like a lot to you, you're not alone. The chief complaint of most critics and audience members was that the mix of historical elements and romantic plotlines didn't quite gel, leaving the film feeling disjointed and imbalanced.

Originally named "Eaters of the Dead," the title of the Michael Crichton novel upon which it was based, this John McTiernan film underwent drastic re-edits and a name change before arriving in theaters. Such significant restructuring only added to the movie's already bloated production costs and subsequent losses. In the film, Antonio Banderas plays a prophesied warrior who helps a clan of Vikings fend off an enemy threat.

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Representing Paramount Animation's first live-action film and 2017's first major flop, "Monster Trucks" chronicles the adventures of a young boy and his oil-eating creature friend. Long before the movie was released, early reactions to the trailer ranged from muted to scathing—the outlook was so grim that Paramount's parent company, Viacom, declared the film a write-down before it even premiered.

Disney-Pixar's "Onward," about two elf brothers who set out to find a magical artifact that will bring their deceased father back to life for 24 hours, was one of the first film victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. Released just a week before most theaters around the country shut down to help stem the spread of the virus, the movie was simply unable to sell tickets and recoup production costs. Still, it managed to be a critical and audience favorite once it hit streaming services, earning nominations for Best Animated Feature Film at the Golden Globes and Academy Awards.

What began as a project intended for Ron Howard ended up in the hands of John Lee Hancock, and things only got worse from there. True to its name, the movie depicts the famous 1836 showdown, where Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton) and James Bowie (Jason Patric) helped a relatively small group of Texans and Tejano men fend off a Mexican army of more than 2,000 soldiers. The battle might have been victorious, but the film was an outright failure for Disney.

In this biographical drama, two Navy fighter pilots prove their friendship and loyalty during the Korean War. Jonathan Majors plays Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the first Black naval aviator, and Glenn Powell is Lieutenant Tom Hudner. Despite positive reviews from critics and the movie's determination to stay away from the cliches and stereotypes that usually dominate films of this type, the movie got lost in the hype surrounding "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" and lost Columbia Pictures $89.2 million.

Financed primarily by Russian bankers, though filmed in English, this 2010 film barely penetrated the U.S. market and earned just $13.9 million in Russia. Consequently, the investors reportedly lost up to 90% of their backing. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's masterful ballet will live on, but this poorly received adaptation has already been forgotten.

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According to actor Rose McGowan, "Monkeybone" could have been an incredible movie had Fox Studios not fired its original director, Henry Selick. Instead, the film—about a cartoonist (Brendan Fraser) who gets trapped in a world of his own creation—remains one of the biggest flops of all time.

If you ask director Ridley Scott why he thought this Ben Affleck-Matt Damon-written film was a box-office failure, he'd tell you it was all millennials' fault. In an interview, Scott said millennials simply weren't interested in anything beyond their cellphones, and that's why no one bought tickets to the film. No word on whether he thought its subject (the true story of the last trial by combat in medieval France) or the film's slow pacing may have had anything to do with it losing nearly $70 million.

As the man behind shows like "The Simpsons" and movies like "Broadcast News," James L. Brooks is responsible for some of Hollywood's finest offerings. This 2010 dramedy is not one of them. Starring Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Jack Nicholson, and Paul Rudd, the movie finds its protagonist (Witherspoon) in the middle of a light-hearted love triangle. Brooks decided to reshoot the beginning and end after completing the film, thereby inflating its already outrageous budget. Meanwhile, the lead actors earned a combined payday of $50 million, which didn't help the bottom line either.

Set on a planet where everyone can hear each other's thoughts and women have ceased to exist, "Chaos Walking" follows a man (Tom Holland) as he seeks to protect a girl (Daisy Ridley) who has crashlanded in his backyard. Early viewers critiqued the film for its disjointed storylines, uneven pacing, and underdeveloped characters. Combined with the negative critical reception it received, the film was certain to become a box-office failure.

Geena Davis and Matthew Modine are a pair of pirates in this legendary turkey from Davis' then-husband, Renny Harlin. In later interviews, Harlin blamed part of the film's failure on production company Carolco, which was going under at the time. Another element in the film's demise? Harlin's own hubris in the wake of successful efforts like "Die Hard 2" and "Cliffhanger." A handful of poor casting choices didn't help either. Consequently, "Cutthroat Island" went down like a hole-ridden ship.

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Adapting a classic short story by Ray Bradbury, this 2005 sci-fi film explores the unintended effects of time travel. The movie features a scientist who travels back in time to the dinosaur era, strays off the designated path, and changes history in catastrophic ways. "The Simpsons" tackled the very same premise in a "Treehouse of Horror" segment.

Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian was eager to see a big-budget movie about the Armenian genocide of 1915, so he paid for most of it himself. The result was this 2017 historical drama that floundered at the box office. That's in part due to some aggressive opposition from the Turkish government, though lukewarm critical reception certainly didn't help. Adding to its tragedy, Kerkorian passed away before production began.

This Pixar-Disney animated feature follows a middle school band teacher who falls into a coma after an accident, and works to reunite his soul and body before his upcoming jazz performance. The project won rave reviews and garnered three Academy Award nominations, taking home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. However, "Soul" still classifies as a box-office flop because it was released straight to streaming, and only a handful of viewers paid to watch it in theaters.

One of the most expensive independent films ever made, "Moonfall," is about a group of former astronauts and conspiracy theorists who discover the truth about the moon after it suddenly leaves Earth's orbit. Anxieties about a possible COVID-19-induced shutdown (which affected how many theaters the movie was sent to) and mixed critical reviews led this project to be a commercial failure.

After spending nearly two decades in development, "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" finally arrived in theaters in 2002 and swiftly became one of the most infamous duds of the modern era. Starring Eddie Murphy as a lunar nightclub owner in the year 2087, the film went big on camp and short on laughs—a significant drop in quality compared to the actor's better films. Murphy later said in an interview: "I know two or three people that liked this movie."

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In a textbook case of movie-making gone awry, this disaster reportedly started with a production budget of around $44 million, which climbed to $75 million after several big names—namely Diane Keaton, Garry Shandling, Goldie Hawn, and Warren Beatty—joined the cast. The costs only escalated from there, and that was before the extensive reshoots in the wake of negative test screenings. Ultimately, it took three years for the movie—about the farcical exploits of an architect (Beatty)—to arrive on the big screen, where it went down in flames.

Boston.com critic Kevin Slane wrote that "Argylle" was "one of the worst movies I've ever seen, full stop." The spy comedy was marketed as a sort of "Knives Out" and "Kingsman" mashup, with an incredible cast (Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O'Hara, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, and Samuel L. Jackson all star) and massive budget of $200 million. But despite having all of the makings of a blockbuster, its lengthy run time of 139 minutes, convoluted plotlines, and distracting use of CGI doomed it to the slush pile.

The Cades, a legendary family of explorers, must overcome their differences to save their planet in this animated Disney feature. One of Disney's biggest theatrical flops in recent years, the movie grossly underperformed at the box office for several reasons, including mixed critical reviews, a lack of word-of-mouth buzz, and confusion over whether or not it would be immediately available on streaming platforms (like its predecessors "Soul," "Luca," and "Turning Red" had been). Then there was also the inclusion of an openly LGBTQ+ character, which led to Disney pulling the movie from smaller, more conservative markets where it would have been challenged.

This already forgotten Disney film, which cost more than $150 million to make, earned just over $6 million on its opening weekend. Produced by Robert Zemeckis, the film employs motion-capture animation, giving it an off-putting aesthetic. Whatever the reason, the stink on this one was so powerful that Disney removed the word "Mars" from an upcoming film title. That film was "John Carter," which tanked anyway.

"Turning Red," an animated Disney feature about a young girl who turns into a red panda whenever she feels intense emotion thanks to a hereditary curse, is perhaps one of the best films to come from the studio in recent years. With a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and several major award nominations, including Academy Award, Golden Globe, Critics' Choice, and BAFTA nods, the reception for the project was largely positive. But with Disney electing to scrap its worldwide theatrical release plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the box-office numbers from the handful of theaters it was released in hardly reflect that.

Story editing by Cynthia Rebolledo. Copy editing by Robert Wickwire.

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In the movie industry, the 1970s "New Hollywood" era inaugurated the careers of auteurs like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. However, the decade trickled out with the popularity of crowd-pleasers like "Jaws" and "Star Wars," and the 1980s became the decade of action movies, blockbusters, and never-ending sequels. For instance, original action movies like the first "Rambo" film, "First Blood," quickly became beloved hits. Meanwhile, follow-ups like "Rambo III" exasperated many critics.

Decades later, the '80s lives on in new takes on old properties. That includes movies that were not very well regarded at the time, like 1982's "Tron" and 1987's "The Running Man." Both got new installments in 2025, but neither fared particularly well with critics. Edgar Wright's "The Running Man" received mixed reviews, with many critics disappointed by its departure from Wright's signature style, while "Tron: Ares" earned a little over 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, performing similarly to 2010's "Tron: Legacy." That hasn't stopped Hollywood from putting out further '80s remakes, though. The June 2026 iteration of "Masters of the Universe"—which first premiered in 1987—earned an 86% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes and has already spawned a future sequel, even after a less-than-impressive box office showing.

But what about the worst movies from that beloved decade? To find those forgettable films and some iconic stinkers, Stacker used data from IMDb to rank the worst movies of the 1980s—some loathed, some loved, and some loathed and loved simultaneously. The rankings are based on user reviews—the lower the rating, the worse the film, ranking it higher on the list. In the case of a tie, the movie with more user votes ranks higher on the list. These films have at least 25,000 user votes and were released between 1980 and 1989. Each movie's Metascore is provided for critical context but does not impact the ranking.

Read on to learn which '80s movies are the worst of the worst.

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Described as a "gory waste of time" by then-New York Times critic Caryn James, the sixth film in the "Friday the 13th" franchise sees villain Jason Voorhees accidentally revived from the dead and set on a new path of terror. Though the installment has a 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, "Jason Lives" maintains a number of fans and a few defensive critics. Among them, Trace Thurman of the "Horror Queers" podcast applauds director Tom McLoughlin's "tongue-in-cheek approach."

Notably not the final chapter, "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" is only the fourth of 12 films in the franchise. The plot may sound familiar: Jason Voorhees, thought to be dead, goes on yet another rampant killing spree. While the film garnered mostly negative reviews, including a pan on "Siskel & Ebert" where critic Roger Ebert describes the film as an "immoral and reprehensible piece of trash," Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly actually ranked the film as the best in the franchise in 2023.

Clint Eastwood directs and stars in "Firefox," which centers on a retired Air Force pilot's mission to steal a dangerous jet fighter prototype from the Soviet Union. Based on a popular 1977 novel by Craig Thomas, the adaptation was widely ill-received. In The New York Times, critic Vincent Canby called the film "a James Bond movie without girls, a Superman movie without a sense of humor."

Known for its steamier scenes, "9½ Weeks" features Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger playing strangers-turned-lovers who face obstacles amidst their ongoing sexual exploits. With mixed reviews, including praise from Roger Ebert, the film ended up doing quite well as a home video release. This didn't stop the film from receiving three Golden Raspberry Award nominations, including Worst Actress for Basinger.

Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the titular character, the action epic "Conan the Destroyer" follows Conan as he escorts a virgin princess to retrieve a jeweled horn (because it's her destiny, of course). The sequel to "Conan the Barbarian," the film has garnered a mostly negative reception amongst fans and critics. However, critics like Roger Ebert liked the movie, describing it as "funnier" and "more entertaining" than its predecessor.

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Directed by Amy Heckerling, "Look Who's Talking" casts Bruce Willis as the narrating voice of baby Mikey, whose single mother (Kirstie Alley) develops a relationship with a charming taxi driver (John Travolta). The film grossed more than $140 million at the box office and spawned two sequels despite a mixed critical response, which included a Washington Post review saying that the movie's concept "might have made a brilliant short" at best.

In this Tom Cruise classic, the Hollywood icon plays a New York City bartender who takes a gig in Jamaica only to find himself falling in love with an artist (Elisabeth Shue). Despite being a box office success, the film was generally poorly reviewed and won Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay at the Razzie Awards.

Michael Myers returns to Haddonfield to hunt down his niece in this fourth installment of the "Halloween" franchise. The sequel did not dazzle critics. Writing for Empire in 2000, Kim Newman called the film "stupid, unscary, and plodding." Still, "Halloween" fans remained loyal, and the film grossed nearly $18 million at the box office.

In this sequel, the "Police Academy" troop is assigned to a new precinct and must face a troublesome gang on the streets of an unnamed city. Though the movie was a success at the box office, critics were generally not amused. Empire critic Ian Nathan describes the film as having a "wafer thin plot" but with a "good number of laughs"—reason enough for the franchise to spawn five subsequent films.

This 1980s Sylvester Stallone vehicle centers on a trucker named Lincoln Hawk, who is determined to win an arm wrestling championship and reunite with his estranged son. The film was not received well and was nominated for three Razzie Awards, with David Mendenhall winning both Worst Supporting Actor and Worst New Star.

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Controversial for its use of graphic violence, this Italian gore film follows a professor's quest to recover the footage of a film crew who disappeared in the Amazon while documenting a cannibalistic Indigenous tribe. Reviews have been divided since the movie's release. Slant Magazine's Eric Henderson perhaps puts it best, saying the film is "artful enough to demand serious critical consideration, yet foul enough to christen you a pervert for even bothering."

Based on a 1908 novel by Henry de Vere Stacpoole, "The Blue Lagoon" sees two shipwrecked children come of age (and sexual maturity) while stranded on an island. "The Blue Lagoon" did well at the box office and made enough cultural impact to produce a 1991 sequel and a 2012 Lifetime remake. Critics were not impressed by the film, though, and Brooke Shields took home the first-ever Worst Actress Razzie Award.

Another Sylvester Stallone action film for the list, "Cobra" follows a cop who must protect a lone witness from a diabolical cult. Though the film scored nearly $50 million at the box office, "Cobra" was one of Stallone's weakest releases—financially and critically—of the decade. "Cobra" was nominated for a grand total of six Razzie Awards, including Worst Actor and Worst Screenplay for Stallone.

Stallone persists in his dominance of this list with "Rambo III." The third movie in the "Rambo" franchise takes the titular Vietnam vet on a dangerous rescue mission to Afghanistan. Stallone nabbed the Worst Actor Razzie Award for his role in the critically panned but financially successful film.

In this sequel, robot Johnny Five goes to New York City with scientist Ben Jahveri and must avoid being exploited by criminals. The New York Times' Vincent Canby wrote that watching "Short Circuit 2" as an adult is "as much fun as wearing wet sneakers."

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In the second installment of the "Poltergeist" series, the Freeling family moves to a new house, only to experience yet another supernatural haunting. Nina Darnton of The New York Times wrote, "The movie, like most sequels, has no reason for existing beyond the desire to duplicate a financial success." The film pulled in about $41 million at the domestic box office and earned star Zelda Rubinstein a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Supporting Actress.

Paul Hogan returns as Mick Dundee in this sequel, which finds the Australian back in New York City, trying to protect his lover from the dangerous gangsters who have followed them. Critics were less than enthused about the follow-up film, with Janet Maslin of The New York Times saying that the sequel "lacks the sense to leave well enough alone." "Crocodile Dundee II" did not perform quite as well as the original film at the box office, but still produced a 2001 sequel, "Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles."

Dolph Lundgren stars in this Marvel comic adaptation about a vigilante assassin known only as The Punisher, who sets out to avenge the murder of his family. Though the film initially received mixed reviews, "The Punisher" has gone on to become a cult classic. A reboot of the film was released in 2004 and a TV series premiered in 2017, running for two seasons.

In "Raw Deal," Arnold Schwarzenegger is an ex-FBI-agent-turned-small-town-sheriff, aiding the FBI in an undercover plot to take down the Chicago mafia. Both financially and critically disappointing, the film has been repeatedly compared to Sylvester Stallone's "Cobra." Vincent Canby wrote in The New York Times that "Though the language is vulgar, the macho posturing absurd, and some of the plotting inscrutable, 'Raw Deal' has a kind of seemliness to it."

Though not critically well received at the time of its premiere, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" has gone on to become a cult favorite like its predecessor. The sequel again has the cannibal family terrorizing an innocent. Though almost as controversial as the first film in the nine-film franchise, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" failed to "outgross" the original, according to critic Roger Ebert.

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Based on Stephen King's short story, this supernatural horror centers on a religious cult of children who hunt down two adults trapped in their rural town. Though "Children of the Corn" has certainly become a horror classic, followed by multiple remakes and sequels, the film was not critically well received. Critic Roger Ebert lambasted the film, saying by the end of it, "the only thing moving behind the rows is the audience, fleeing to the exits."

In this third installment of the "Friday the 13th" franchise, Jason Voorhees is back and once again lurking around Crystal Lake with murderous intentions. Many critics commented on the movie's frequent use of 3D filming techniques. Slant Magazine's Jeremiah Kipp explained that "Part 3" was "shot in such a way to capitalize on the brief fad of Reagan-era 3D movies."

The fourth in 10 films of the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise, this sequel has villain Freddy Krueger once again infiltrating dreams, including those of a woman who might just be able to defeat him. Critics remain split on this installment, with Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times citing it as the best in the series and Time Out deriding the movie's "variable special effects."

Blending elements of science-fiction and romance with an unforgettable soundtrack, this film has become a campy classic. Geena Davis stars as a Southern California gal who takes in three colorful, furry aliens (played by Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey, and Damon Wayans). Roger Ebert described the film as silly but admitted that he "had fun watching it."

Directed by and starring William Shatner, the fifth film in the Star Trek franchise pits Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock against Spock's estranged half-brother. The film was a box-office disappointment compared to its predecessors, and critics weren't impressed, either. The New York Times' Caryn James described Shatner's directorial choices as a "misguided attempt to make this the biggest, grandest 'Star Trek' yet."

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This campy science-fiction comedy stars Kim Basinger as an alien sent to Earth to seduce a physicist (Dan Aykroyd) for his research. Critics generally panned the film, with Roger Ebert explaining that "the screenplay never seems to realize the comic potential of the situation."

Directed by Academy Award-nominated director Robert Altman and starring Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall, the adaptation of the classic "Popeye" comics was a surprise critical bust at the time of its 1980 release. The film's reception has warmed over time, though, and in 2014, Eric Spitznagel of Vanity Fair cited it as the best movie that Robin Williams ever made.

A horror film about sentient homicidal machines, "Maximum Overdrive" is an adaptation of a 1978 Stephen King short story called "Trucks." The film was a critical and box office flop, grossing just $7 million worldwide. King was nominated for Worst Director and Emilio Estevez for Worst Actor at the 1987 Razzie Awards.

Based on the Mattel-created character He-Man, this live-action film starring Dolph Lundgren depicts the warrior in an epic battle against his nemesis, Skeletor (Frank Langella). The film bombed at the box office and critics were not forgiving. "Masters of the Universe" still has its fans, though, and in 2012 Slant critic Glenn Heath Jr. gave the movie a more lighthearted review, encouraging viewers to "cherish" the film's broader themes.

"Police Academy 3: Back in Training" did not redeem the critical failure of its two predecessors in the "Police Academy" franchise. In this installment, the crew of misfit police officers go back to school to teach a new group of recruits. The film drew crowds and big ticket sales, but critic Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times panned the film, writing, "The most you can say for 'Police Academy 3: Back in Training' is that it's no worse than 'Police Academy 2'—which was awful."

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In this sequel, Freddy Krueger returns to haunting dreams, stalking the mind of a teenage boy he hopes to possess. Though the film received a positive review in The New York Times, the reception overall was largely mixed. "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2" has since reached cult-classic status and is remembered for its queer subtext.

In the third installment of the "Karate Kid" franchise, series villain John Kreese seeks revenge against Miyagi and Daniel with help from a Vietnam War veteran. Caryn James of The New York Times saw the film's lack of character development and "sluggish script" as two of the movie's biggest cinematic failures. The film was nominated for a grand total of five Razzie Awards, including Worst Picture.

Screenwriters Daryl Haney and Manuel Fidello took some creative liberties with the seventh movie in the "Friday the 13th" franchise. The movie centers on a telekinetic teenager, who accidentally brings Jason Voorhees back to the surface of Crystal Lake once again. The film received mostly negative reviews, with Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune pointing out the entire franchise's misogynistic undertones.

The only film in the "Halloween" franchise that doesn't feature masked villain Michael Myers, "Halloween III" follows Dr. Daniel Challis as he uncovers a murderous plot that uses Halloween masks as weapons of destruction. The film received largely negative reviews, and Roger Ebert called it a "low-rent thriller."

The sequel to "The Fly" features only one of the actors from the original movie and tells the story of Brundlefly's son, who seeks a cure for his fly-like mutated genes. The film was widely panned by critics; Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that the sequel had "no comparable wit or depth" to its predecessor.

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Based on the comic book series of the same name, this action film follows warrior Red Sonja in a quest for vengeance against those who murdered her family. The film received horrendous critical reviews upon release, including a humorous take from Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. The Razzies awarded actor Brigitte Nielsen the Worst New Star award for her portrayal of Red Sonja.

In "Cyborg," action star Jean-Claude Van Damme plays a martial artist hunting down a killer in a dystopian future. The film was a critical flop and currently stands at a measly 22% on Rotten Tomatoes. Nevertheless, "Cyborg" generated two sequels—both of which fared equally poorly among viewers.

The misfits of the "Police Academy" franchise are back in this fourth installment, now training civilian volunteers. Once again, the universally negative critical reviews did not deter moviegoers, and the sequel sold more than $28 million in tickets. Kevin Thomas' Los Angeles Times review attempted to make sense of the phenomenon, saying, "What's so amazing about the 'Police Academy' movies is that they keep being made even though they stopped being funny after the hilarious original."

In the fifth installment of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise, Freddy Krueger attempts to possess a fetus, hoping to be reborn into the world. Reviews were tepid at best, with Variety describing "The Dream Child" as "a poorly constructed special effects showcase."

Christopher Reeve co-stars with comedian Richard Pryor in the third film adaptation of the comic book series, which pits Superman against an evil computer genius. The film did well at the box office, grossing more than $80 million worldwide, but suffered in reviews. Pryor was nominated for the Worst Supporting Actor Razzie, while Giorgio Moroder was nominated for Worst Musical Score.

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The fifth film of the "Halloween" franchise sees Michael Myers return to kill his niece, who has been rendered mute. Upon the movie's release, many critics expressed weariness at the series' now-repetitive plot and tricks. In his New York Times review of the film, Stephen Holden wrote, "Each new installment of the 'Halloween' series is rather like taking another swing through the same all-too-familiar funhouse."

A traumatized Tommy Jarvis must face a new hockey-masked murderer in the fifth "Friday the 13th" movie—which, notably, does not feature Jason Voorhees. In the Chicago Tribune, Gene Siskel complained that the film had "little suspense."

Based on the exploits of a Marvel character, "Howard the Duck" follows the titular character, a humanoid alien duck, as he attempts to stop an invasion of planet Earth. The film has sustained a cult following, despite negative critical reviews and bombing at the box office. The film won four Razzie Awards, including Worst Picture; a few years later, "Howard the Duck" earned a nomination for Worst Picture of the Decade.

The first film in the franchise to not star Steve Guttenberg, the fifth "Police Academy" brings the misfits to a police convention in Miami Beach. By this point, critics had more than had enough of the series—Caryn James declared in The New York Times that "the formula is pretty long in the tooth by now."

After "Grease" became a beloved musical classic, "Grease 2" was inevitable. Also a musical, "Grease 2" stars Michelle Pfeiffer and gender swaps the stereotypes portrayed in the first film. Though "Grease 2" did not earn the same box office numbers or critical success as its predecessor, the film has gone on to become a campy favorite. Some fans even claim that the sequel is better than the original.

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In the eighth "Friday the 13th" movie, Jason Voorhees is awakened and terrorizes a group of high school students on a boat heading toward Manhattan. Critics did not praise the film; the New York Daily News noted that "Jason Takes Manhattan" "grossly underutilizes its promising premise."

Original star Steve Guttenberg didn't return to the "Police Academy" franchise for the sixth film, but that didn't stop the rest of the central crew from returning to take on crime in the city streets. Chris Wellman wrote of the film in the Los Angeles Times, "To know these 84 minutes is to know an endless living death." Today, "City Under Siege" has a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.

In "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace," Christopher Reeve returns for the final time as the superhero, facing up against a new villain called Nuclear Man. The film was ultimately a failure with critics and audiences, for which Janet Maslin of The New York Times blamed the "chintzy" flying sequences and the "perfunctory" special effects. The film was nominated for two Razzie Awards: Worst Supporting Actress and Worst Visual Effects.

Much like its predecessors, "Jaws 3-D" features a villain in the form of a giant, murderous shark—this time, trapped in the SeaWorld amusement park. The 3D film flopped financially in comparison to the two previous movies in the series and was nominated for five Razzie Awards, including Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay.

The final film in the Jaws franchise sees a giant shark following Chief Brody's family in search of revenge. With 2% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film is regarded as a spectacularly bad sequel. Roger Ebert described "Jaws: The Revenge" as "not simply a bad movie, but also a stupid and incompetent one." The film was nominated for seven Razzie Awards and won for Worst Visual Effects.

Data reporting by Karim Noorani. Story editing by Cu Fleshman. Copy editing by Tim Bruns.

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Films are constantly embarking on new terrain, as you can see in some of the top movies of 2026. The year has delivered a wide variety of well-reviewed films, from thrillers like "Send Help" to action-packed tentpoles like "Project Hail Mary" and family-friendly mysteries like "The Sheep Detectives." And with several highly anticipated releases still to come—"Dune: Part Three," "Avengers: Doomsday," and "Jumanji: Open World," to name just a few—there's no telling which movies will go down in cinematic history as the best of 2026.

Exceptional filmmaking works occur across all genres, with endless approaches to be found. The best of them feel like honest reflections of the current moment. A truly great work of cinema can be cherished for its writing, acting, directing, cinematography, and music, but also as a visual documentation of the era in which it was released. Hence, the best movie from the year you were born is both a great film in and of itself and an illuminating window into a history you don't remember.

Stacker compiled data on the top feature-length films from the past century of cinema and crowned a champion each year using the Stacker score—an equally weighted blend of IMDb and Metacritic ratings. Films had to have at least 2,500 votes and a Metascore to make the list. Ties were broken by Metascore and further by IMDb votes. A couple of years in the '20s did not have sufficient Metacritic data. In these instances, the #1 film was determined by IMDb user rating. Data is as of Jan. 3, 2025.

Let's find out if the top movie from your birth year has aged as gracefully as you.

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An early master class in filmmaking, this Russian drama recounts both the 1905 uprising aboard the titular Battleship Potemkin and the adjoining street demonstrations. It features the legendary "Odessa Steps" sequence, during which unarmed protestors square off against military officers. Sergei Eisenstein's radical use of montage and quick-cut editing would influence a legion of subsequent directors.

Buster Keaton co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in this Civil War-set adventure story. Inspired by actual events, Keaton portrays an engineer who attempts to recover a stolen locomotive. The action culminates with a now-famous bridge stunt, which was the most expensive scene in silent movie history.

Fritz Lang's sci-fi masterpiece takes place in the futuristic city of Metropolis. Just below the utopian surface, an exploited underground workforce toils away so that the rich can play. When the son of a wealthy architect falls in love with a working-class leader, it sparks a revolution. "Metropolis" is largely considered the greatest science-fiction movie of the silent era, and it became the first film inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2001.

Starring Maria Falconetti as the doomed Jeanne d'Arc, "The Passion of Joan of Arc" takes place during the final days of the teenage saint's life before she was burned at the stake for heresy. Sped along by tense close-ups and medium shots, the movie earned an award from the National Board of Review as well as two Photoplay Awards.

Despite its short run time and lack of dialogue, modern cinephiles still hail Dziga Vertov's masterpiece as one of the best documentaries ever made. Vertov took a camera to the streets of several cities in the Soviet Union to film everyday urban life. The result is a joyously dizzying montage of different people, places, and professions.

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Based on the gripping anti-war novel of the same name, this World War I drama is easily one of the most violent and uncompromising movies of its time. The audience follows a group of young German soldiers as they encounter terror and disillusionment while fighting for their country. It was the first film from Universal Studios to win the Oscar for Best Picture—then known as "Outstanding Production"—a feat the studio wouldn't repeat for 43 years.

Even as talkies surged in popularity, Charlie Chaplin stuck to his silent-era roots with 1931's "City Lights." The film finds The Tramp (Chaplin) resorting to various extremes as he tries to raise money for a beautiful blind girl. The work was in production for more than three years before reaching completion.

Centered on a pair of mischievous brothers in 1930s Tokyo, Yasujirô Ozu's comedic "I Was Born, But…" shows the city in the midst of massive cultural change. Remembered for its nuanced portrayal of contemporary social hierarchies in Japan, the movie won a Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film in 1933 and remains one of the greatest accomplishments of Japanese silent cinema.

Nearly 100 years and 12 more movies later, King Kong has solidified his place in popular culture. And when the titular giant ape first burst onto the silver screen back in 1933, audiences were spellbound by the film's revolutionary special effects and daring storyline. Despite the stop-motion animation that appeared somewhat clunky even to those early moviegoers, "King Kong" grossed $90,000 in the first four days after its release.

Frank Capra's beloved rom-com stars Claudette Colbert as a spoiled heiress who runs away from home only to find herself tethered to an undercover reporter (Clark Gable). Colbert told a friend it was the worst film she'd made to date, only to watch the project become a huge success. Both she and Gable won Oscars for their respective performances.

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The horror sequel that launched a thousand Halloween costumes, "Bride of Frankenstein" was all but destined for greatness after the 1931 success of James Whale's "Frankenstein." The film reunited Whale with "Frankenstein" stars Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, and Dwight Frye in a scheme to build a partner (Elsa Lanchester) for the misunderstood monster. Though plagued by delayed production starts, casting issues, and budget woes, "Bride of Frankenstein" ultimately enjoyed critical and audience acclaim that endures nearly a century on.

Continuing his fight against the talkie tide, Charlie Chaplin released "Modern Times" in 1936 as a silent film with sound effects. The film sees the Tramp struggling to keep pace with modern industrial society. At one point, Chaplin considered making the film a talkie but eventually determined it would only detract from the work.

Based on a novel of the same name, this French romantic drama takes place in the Casbah quarter of Algiers. While hiding from the authorities, crime boss pepé le Moko (Jean Gabin), falls for a Parisian woman (Mireille Balin). In his review, contemporary writer Graham Greene claimed it "raised the thriller to the level of poetry."

With a budget of $2 million ($42 million in 2023), "The Adventures of Robin Hood" was most expensive film for Warner Bros. at the time of production. The studio's investment ultimately paid off, with the Technicolor release breaking the opening day record at Radio City Music Hall and the film scoring three Oscars. Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, and Olivia de Havilland star in this fondly remembered masterpiece from Hollywood's Golden Age.

In this blockbuster adaptation, Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh), goes from a pouty girl to a tormented woman during the Civil War and Reconstructionist eras. Making the film was no easy task, with production experiencing all kinds of setbacks, including brutal clashes between various egos and personalities. Nevertheless, when adjusted for inflation, it remains the most profitable film in Hollywood history.

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Adapting John Steinbeck's novel of the same name, "The Grapes of Wrath" follows an Oklahoma family migrating through the Dust Bowl to California during the Great Depression. Released just as America began to climb out of the socioeconomic ravages of the '30s, "The Grapes of Wrath" strongly resonated with contemporary audiences due to its realistic portrayal of issues like homelessness and poverty. Even now, those themes make John Ford's film a timeless, relevant watch.

More than a mere milestone, "Citizen Kane" provides a singular education in atmosphere, editing, cinematography, creativity, and technique. Director and star Orson Welles plays newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane, a fictional character modeled after William Randolph Hearst, whose unquenchable ambitions remain elusive even after his death. It's reported that Welles was injured twice during the shoot and that he drank so much tea it caused his skin color to change.

"Casablanca" tells the story of Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), an expat who runs a nightclub in Morocco that doubles as a haven for World War II refugees. Surrounded by danger on all sides, Blaine enters a world of trouble when he agrees to help an old flame (Ingrid Bergman). While the screenplay might now seem like the stuff of perfection, the script wasn't even complete when filming began.

A not-so-subtle criticism of the British military's pomp and circumstance, "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" recounts the career of a fictional officer, from his heroic feats in the Boer War to his woefully out-of-touch later years. While filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger based the movie's protagonist on a satirical cartoon, the powers-that-be weren't laughing—Winston Churchill himself attempted to halt the film's production. Fortunately for audiences, "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" made it to the big screen (in Technicolor, naturally) despite Churchill's best efforts.

Adapted from a novel by James M. Cain, "Double Indemnity" follows an insurance agent (Fred MacMurray) who is drawn into a lurid murder scheme by a mysterious femme fatale (Barbara Stanwyck). The classic film noir was co-written by famous mystery writer Raymond Chandler, who frequently clashed with director Billy Wilder behind the scenes.

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Shot in Nazi-occupied France on a then-astronomical budget, this sprawling drama became a critical and commercial smash. Set in 1830s Paris, the film tells the story of a beautiful courtesan (Arletty) and the men who vie for her affection. A 2011 restoration brought the film back to life in all its stunning sound and glory.

At the behest of government agent T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant), a woman (Ingrid Bergman) infiltrates a secret Nazi group in this classic spy thriller. When romance ensues between the pair, it complicates her mission. The film holds an impressive Metascore of 100, where numerous critics agree that this is Alfred Hitchcock at the top of his game.

The beloved holiday classic "Miracle on 34th Street" follows a single mother (Maureen O'Hara) who hires a Kris Kringle actor (Edmund Gwenn) for the holiday season at Macy's—only to discover she might have found the real deal. Though the movie inspired a 1973 TV movie and a 1994 remake, most agree that the newer versions don't hold a candle to their predecessor. The original "Miracle on 34th Street" bagged three Academy Awards, as well as a nomination for Best Picture.

There's no honor among thieves in John Huston's timeless tale of greed and betrayal. The film sees two down-on-their-luck men on a hunt for gold in Mexico, where paranoia gets the better of them. Long-running TV show "The Simpsons" once parodied the film in the episode "Three Men and a Comic Book."

Pulp novelist Holly Martin (Joseph Cotten) heads to postwar Vienna to investigate the death of his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). What he uncovers is a much broader conspiracy with Lime at its very center. Director Carol Reed's use of off-kilter theme music and harsh lighting drives home a lingering sense of unease, positioning Martins as a mere pawn in someone's international game.

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Akira Kurosawa's tale of unreliable narration is so influential that there's an official term bearing its name. Naturally, this classic tale of finger-pointing and warped perspectives has had a lasting influence on cinema itself. Witnesses to a brutal crime offer up their four unique perspectives, each of which reveals the storyteller's underlying motives.

This adaptation of Tennessee Williams' famous play depicts the hostile relationship between Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) and her brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando). Their ongoing battle lays bare a number of domestic struggles and hyper-masculine themes. It's one of just three films in history to win three Academy Awards for acting.

The transition from silent films to talkies makes for glorious entertainment in this 1952 musical. Despite the positive vibes, things were less hunky-dory behind the scenes. Not only did Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor suffer dance-related injuries, but Gene Kelly was reportedly very demanding of his peers. In fact, Reynolds once said that completing this film and surviving childbirth were the two hardest experiences of her life.

"Tokyo Story" tells of an aging couple who find themselves ignored by their busy adult children, an all-too-familiar scenario for viewers around the world today. A reflection of Yasujirô Ozu's distinct filmmaking style, "Tokyo Story" shows the upending of traditional Japanese family values in the wake of World War II.

One of Alfred Hitchcock's best-known works tells the story of a wheelchair-bound photographer, (James Stewart) with a penchant for voyeurism. Upon witnessing a potential murder, he decides to investigate. As Hitchcock would later tell director François Truffaut during a now-famous interview, the film was inspired by two actual murder cases.

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A precursor to modern heist films, "Rififi" centers on a group of thieves who plan one final robbery in Paris. The real-life events behind the film's production are nearly as dramatic as the plot: filmmaker Jules Dassin moved to the City of Light after being blacklisted in America for his Communist ties. Gritty and daring even by modern standards, "Rififi" is a testament to Dassin's lasting legacy despite the ignominious end to his time in Hollywood.

More than just an acclaimed John Wayne Western, "The Searchers" is celebrated as one of Hollywood's greatest achievements. The film tells of Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards (Wayne), who embarks on a perilous journey to save his niece from the Comanches. The actor was so enamored with the role and the film that he named one of his own children after the character he portrayed.

A lone holdout must convince a jury of his peers to reassess their guilty verdict in this gripping drama. Screenwriter Reginald Rose came up with the story after serving on a jury in a 1954 manslaughter case. Before appearing on the big screen, it debuted as a live TV episode in the CBS "Studio One" anthology series.

Gracing this list yet again, Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" follows a private investigator (James Stewart) who falls in love with the woman he's been hired to follow (Kim Novak). A relative disappointment during its initial release, the film went on to earn substantial acclaim. It even took the #2 spot on the British Film Institute's list of the Greatest Films of All Time in 2022, slipping one spot after being named #1 in 2012.

Alfred Hitchcock kept the iconic movies coming in the late 1950s, as evidenced by this seminal thriller. Due to a case of mistaken identity, a New York ad executive (Cary Grant) is embroiled in an international conspiracy. Grant was reportedly so confused by the script that he didn't know what the movie was about while filming it.

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Hot on the heels of "North by Northwest," Alfred Hitchcock released this game-changing, genre-defining slasher flick. Not just famous for its shape-shifting story and brutal shower scene, "Psycho" is also the first film to ever feature a toilet flushing. Paramount executives were initially hesitant to finance the film, prompting Hitchcock to finance the movie out of his own pocket.

Toshiro Mifune stars in "Yojimbo" as a ronin who cleverly pits two feuding gangs against one another—a relatively lighthearted storyline as far as the samurai genre is concerned."Yojimbo" would go on to influence the spaghetti Western genre and inspire two famed Westerns—Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars" and Walter Hill's "Last Man Standing."

David Lean's three-plus-hour epic was a massive influence upon a legion of subsequent filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg. Rife with unforgettable scenes, the film chronicles the adventures of World War I British officer T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole). On assignment in Arabia, Lawrence unifies warring Arab tribes in their fight against the Turks.

Like the novel upon which it's based, Luchino Visconti's historical drama depicts the final days of a waning aristocracy. The film takes place in 19th-century Sicily and builds toward a stunning 45-minute ballroom sequence. Multiple versions of the film exist, including one that reportedly runs for 205 minutes.

Dark comedies don't get much darker than this: a series of farcical mishaps resulting in nuclear war. Unbelievably, the film we know and love today toned down Stanley Kubrick's original vision. An early cut of the film included a pie fight in the war room, and an early script had aliens watching the whole ordeal from deep space.

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The final collaboration between Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune ranks as one of the pair's greatest works together. "Red Beard" stars Mifune as a gruff, but charitable, older doctor who clashes with an arrogant young arrival to his rural clinic.

Starring Clint Eastwood in one of his most iconic roles, "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" centers on three wildly different characters on a treasure hunt in the Civil War-era West. Sergio Leone uses the movie's admittedly lengthy run time to explore themes of hypocrisy, greed, and the potential for both good and evil. Eastwood's co-stars, Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef, also put in memorable performances—who could forget the trio's epic final showdown?

"Playtime" pokes fun at the increasing modernity of Paris—and those who can't keep up with it. Over the course of the movie, Monsieur Hulot (writer-director Jacques Tati) becomes increasingly baffled by futuristic aspects of the city as he attempts to reach a meeting with a business contact. "Playtime" remains a favorite in French cinematic history for its expansive visuals and action-packed sequences, which create a hilarious physical comedy with exceptionally little dialogue.

A haunting musical theme sets the stage for Roman Polanski's nightmarish horror flick. Is the pregnant Rosemary (Mia Farrow) growing something evil inside her, or is it all in her head? This film makes up the second part of the director's informal "Apartment Trilogy."

Adapted from a novel of the same name, this World War II drama takes viewers deep into the French underground. A former resistance fighter, director Jean-Pierre Melville's lived experience lends the work an atypical sense of intimacy. The film didn't reach the U.S. market until 37 years after its initial release.

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Often regarded as Bernardo Bertolucci's best film, "The Conformist" follows a compliant Italian man turned political assassin. Upon meeting the wife of his target, the man's loyalties are put to the test. Citing an "unsettling blend of images and ideas," critic Andrew O'Hehir attests that "it's the very strangeness of Bertolucci's masterpiece that has made it so influential in cinema history."

Welcome to the small and somber town of Anarene, Texas, circa 1951. As a group of teenagers come of age against Anarene's bleak backdrop, they ruminate on what the future has in store. The film employs black-and-white cinematography and haunting imagery to evoke a perennial atmosphere of aimlessness and despair.

As impactful today as it was the year you were born (if that year was 1972), "The Godfather" is the quintessence of classic cinema. The film centers on the Corleone crime family, whose members struggle to maintain power against a sea of rivals. Who would have guessed that Oscar-winning star Marlon Brando was reading off cue cards the whole time?

Before he unleashed "Star Wars" on cinemagoers, George Lucas crafted this loving ode to early 1960s America. Dripping with nostalgia, the film follows a group of teenagers as they cruise around their California town over the course of a single night. Their adventures play out against a never-ending backdrop of hit oldies tunes.

After helming the first "Godfather" movie, director Francis Ford Coppola was so exhausted that he didn't want to sign on for a sequel. Nevertheless, he and writer Mario Puzo soon found themselves compelled to tell parallel stories about two Corleone men coming into power. And thus, "The Godfather: Part II" was born.

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"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" finds the famed British comedy troupe mired in a series of medieval-themed shenanigans, ostensibly under the guise of a quest for the titular biblical artifact. Made on a budget of just $400,000, much of which was provided by musicians like Genesis and Pink Floyd, "Holy Grail" made $5 million at the American box office and became a near-instant comedy classic. Even today, jokes like "just a flesh wound" and "are you suggesting coconuts migrate?" still hold up.

This 1976 masterpiece sees a war veteran-turned-cab driver in New York City slowly lose his mind. During its most iconic moment, star Robert De Niro confronts himself in a mirror: "You talkin' to me?" As it turns out, the actor improvised the line, having heard Bruce Springsteen utter it at a concert just days before.

Before the sequels, spin-offs, theme park attractions, conventions, video games, and Happy Meal toys, there was an ambitious 1977 movie about a space war between interplanetary rebels and an evil empire. One has to wonder if the film would've had the same impact if it had been released under its early working title: "Adventures of the Starkiller as Taken From the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars." Seriously, that was the name given to the second draft of the screenplay.

Director Terrence Malick lets the Oscar-winning cinematography do most of the talking in this mysterious period drama. The film takes place in the early 20th century and follows a poor couple (Richard Gere and Brooke Adams) as they seek their fortune in the Texas Panhandle. While an ethereal quality persists, the film also documents harsh turn-of-the-century labor practices.

Francis Ford Coppola plunged deep into the heart of darkness with this loose adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella. Set during the Vietnam War, the film sees a seasoned officer (Martin Sheen) embark on a dangerous mission with life-changing repercussions. The film was re-cut and re-released more than once, most recently as "Apocalypse Now: Final Cut."

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Martin Scorsese's portrait of real-life boxer Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro), ranks among the most uncompromising character studies ever committed to celluloid. Presented in black-and-white, the film interweaves LaMotta's professional bouts with his violent outbursts at home. Indisputably gritty, the work also retains a certain poetic sensibility.

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" stars Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones' first big-screen outing: a search for the long-lost Ark of the Covenant. The movie has grossed $390 million worldwide and made a massive impact on pop culture. But don't just take our word for it—the Library of Congress officially preserved "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in 1999 for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Jones' action-packed adventures continue into the 21st century, most recently in 2023's "Dial of Destiny."

Ingmar Bergman's semi-autobiographical period piece tells the story of its title characters, two privileged siblings growing up in an unconventional household. Their idyllic existence is uprooted by the death of their father, which casts a long and dark shadow over the events that follow. Two distinct versions of the film exist—a theatrical version and a TV version—the latter of which runs for 312 minutes.

Loosely based on a posthumous novella by Leo Tolstoy, this offbeat crime drama follows a counterfeit note as it passes from one person to the next. True to form, director Robert Bresson uses the story as a conduit for themes of sin, redemption, and persecution. It earned him a Best Director prize at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival.

Move over, Taylor Swift—"Stop Making Sense" holds the unofficial title of the best concert movie of all time. A snapshot of music history, "Stop Making Sense" showcases The Talking Heads' December 1983 performances at Hollywood's Pantages Theater. Though the film has since been remastered, "Stop Making Sense" already stood out at the time of its release thanks to its groundbreaking audio and visuals.

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For his Holocaust documentary "Shoah," Claude Lanzmann eschewed archival footage of concentration camps and World War II. Instead, Lanzmann relies solely on interviews conducted with survivors and perpetrators of the genocide. Audiences generally regard the nine-and-a-half-hour-long "Shoah" as a difficult watch, while critics describe the film as a "monument against forgetting."

Vietnam War veteran turned Hollywood icon Oliver Stone drew upon personal experience while crafting this acclaimed war drama. The film tells the story of a young army volunteer, played by Charlie Sheen, who is swept up in a conflict between two of his superiors. The film won four Academy Awards, including best picture and best director.

French director Louis Malle drew from elements of his own childhood in this semi-autobiographical drama. The film takes place during World War II in a Catholic boarding school, where two best friends hide a deadly secret. Critic Peter Bradshaw wrote that "every scene is masterful" in his review of the re-release for The Guardian.

Produced by Studio Ghibli, this animated World War II drama presents a gripping story of survival. Isao Takahata's film follows two siblings as they try to find their parents in the wake of an American firebombing. Japanese author Akiyuki Nosaka wrote the novel upon which the film is based, having experienced fire-bombings firsthand.

Daniel Day-Lewis delivers an Oscar-winning turn as Irish artist Christy Brown in this biographical drama. Suffering from cerebral palsy, Brown learns to paint and write using only his left foot. The film is one out of three major collaborations between Day-Lewis and director Jim Sheridan.

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Depicting three decades in the life of an American gangster, Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas" reinvented style and substance to massively influential effect. The film is based on the book "Wiseguy" by Nicholas Pileggi, who thought it was a prank when Scorsese first expressed interest in filming an adaptation. The two eventually connected and even worked together again on 1995's "Casino."

Walt Disney Animation Studios was in the midst of a latter-day renaissance when it released this box-office blockbuster. Cursed by an evil spell, a beast must convince his captive to find the prince hiding within him. Primarily hand-drawn, the film made additional use of newly developed computer animation for its now-famous ballroom sequence.

"Brother's Keeper" recounts the events surrounding William Ward's alleged "mercy killing" at the hands of his brother Delbert. A far cry from a salacious true crime documentary, this film is known for its sensitivity and nuance; exploring the long-lasting ramifications of a murder trial in the Wards' small, rural town. The movie picked up several awards on the festival circuit, including the Audience Award for its Sundance premiere.

Turning away from kid-friendly fare, Steven Spielberg debuted this award-winning World War II drama in 1993. Liam Neeson portrays Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved more than 1,000 Jews during the Holocaust. Spielberg refused to accept a salary for directing the film or take in any of the profits, saying to do so would be akin to taking "blood money."

Two years after "Reservoir Dogs," director Quentin Tarantino cemented his legacy with this quintessential crime drama. Telling three interconnected stories of pulpy violence, the film had a substantial impact on the movies released in its wake. Uma Thurman only agreed to play gangster's wife Mia Wallace—one of her most iconic roles—after Tarantino read her the entire script over the phone.

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An overnight game-changer, Pixar's feature film debut was the first fully computer-animated film in history. "Toy Story" depicts a group of toys that spring to life and compete for their owner's attention. The film's box office success helped pave the way for both Pixar's legacy and computer animation at large.

In this British drama, an adopted Black woman (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) tracks down her biological mother (Brenda Blethyn). Their subsequent relationship doubles as a poignant character study with an emotional core. Much of the dialogue was improvised, with director Mike Leigh encouraging the actors to develop their own characters.

Based on a novel by James Ellroy, this period crime drama goes straight to the heart of 1950s police corruption and racial tension. In the wake of a brutal killing, three policemen with three different moral codes must work together to solve the crime. Brilliant performances, solid writing, and Curtis Hanson's deft direction effectively transport viewers to a bygone era.

Steven Spielberg wasn't finished detailing the horrors of World War II, as evidenced by this Oscar-winning masterpiece. Following an explosive invasion sequence, a group of soldiers advance behind enemy lines in search of a paratrooper, played by Matt Damon. To help ensure accuracy, the main actors went through tactical training and a 10-day boot camp before shooting began.

In "My Voyage to Italy," legendary Italian American director Martin Scorsese takes audiences on a deeply personal trip to the land of his heritage. The four-hour-long film chronicles a journey more emotional than physical, as Scorsese walks viewers through his favorite Italian filmmakers to share how each has influenced his storied career. Creative and insightful, "My Voyage to Italy" provides a fascinating look into the mind of one of the medium's great masters.

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Clocking in at just under three hours, Edward Yang's sweeping drama follows members of a middle-class Taipei family. Technical brilliance and emotional intimacy strike a perfect balance, turning every moment into a miniature work of art. The film premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, where Yang took home the prize for best director.

Animation wizard Hayao Miyazaki remains best known for this wondrous fantasy film, in which a young girl enters a parallel world in the Japanese countryside. Oozing with imagination, the story draws upon Shinto-Buddhist folklore. The film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

This blockbuster sequel continued the adventures of Frodo and Sam in their attempt to destroy an all-powerful ring. The film also introduced audiences to a shifty creature named Gollum, who was brought to life using groundbreaking computer-generated imagery. Speaking of Gollum, The Beatles once expressed interest in creating their own adaptation of Tolkien's trilogy in the 1960s, with John Lennon matched to play the devious creature.

Peter Jackson capped off his "Lord of the Rings" trilogy in spectacular style with this epic fantasy film. Frodo and Sam reach the last leg of their journey while the forces of good and evil engage in one final battle. In addition to sweeping at the Oscars and earning more than a billion dollars at the box office, the film reportedly holds the record for the highest body count in a single movie.

Set nine years after Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise," "Before Sunset" stands on its own amid the many romance movies of the early aughts. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reprise their roles as Jesse and Celine, whose feelings for one another rekindle as they wander the streets of Paris. Shot in just 15 days, "Before Sunset" takes place in real-time and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

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Known for its attention-grabbing subject matter as much as its style, "Grizzly Man" shares the story of activists Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard, who made an ultimately fatal decision to live with grizzly bears in the Alaskan bush. Werner Herzog pieced together Treadwell's own footage from his life among the grizzlies to present a more comprehensive, somewhat humanizing image of the two conservationists. Released two years after the pair's deaths, "Grizzly Man" won the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at the time of its Sundance premiere and remains a thought-provoking exploration of America's wild spaces.

Guillermo del Toro mixes history and fantasy as only he can in this gripping Oscar-winner. Set in Spain during the early Francoist era, the film follows a young girl (Ivana Baquero) into a mythical universe. "Bewitchingly bonkers," is how critic Nigel Andrews described the film in his review for Financial Times.

As computer-generated animation progressed in quality, moviegoers were treated to "Ratatouille," a Disney-Pixar release about a Parisian rat who dreams of becoming a chef. Besides introducing French cooking to an entire generation of American kids, "Ratatouille" earned widespread critical acclaim for its storytelling and went on to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

Disney-Pixar presents viewers with a futuristic wasteland, where human consumption has rendered the planet uninhabitable. A garbage-collecting robot wades through literal mountains of trash before hopping aboard a space-bound flight. Whereas most Disney-Pixar films use anywhere from 50,000 to 75,000 storyboards, this "WALL·E" reportedly involved as many as 125,000.

One of the most famous opening sequences in animation history gives way to the story of an old man and his flying house. With help from a young boy and thousands of balloons, the man takes off for Paradise Falls. Some viewers might wonder: How many balloons would it actually take to lift a house in real life? Anywhere from 100,000 to 23.5 million, according to different calculations.

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The first animated movie to gross more than $1 billion at the box office, "Toy Story 3" caters directly to the audiences who spent their childhoods watching "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2." Viewers quickly fell in love with the movie's nuanced representation of growing up, and so did the Academy, with "Toy Story 3" winning Oscars for both Best Original Song and Best Animated Film.

Director Asghar Farhadi offers a glimpse of modern Iranian culture through the disintegration of a marriage. Determined to leave the country for better opportunities, a woman files for divorce. The powerful drama was nominated for two Academy Awards, winning for best foreign language film.

A couple's enduring love is put to the test in this award-winning drama from director Michael Haneke. When the wife (Emmanuelle Riva) suffers a massive stroke, her husband (Jean-Louis Trintignant) must confront some heartbreaking realities. As with much of Haneke's work, the story marches at a gradual pace toward an unforgettable finale.

Based on the real-life memoir of Solomon Northup, this historical drama explores America's cruel past. Living the life of a free man up North, Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is abducted by kidnappers and sold into slavery down South. This was the first film produced and directed by an African American to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Shot over the course of 12 years, Richard Linklater's experimental drama brings a whole new meaning to the coming-of-age genre. Not so much a story as a collection of evocative scenes, the film follows Mason (Ellar Coltrane) from childhood to college-age adolescence. Patricia Arquette won an Academy Award for her supporting role as Mason's mother.

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Leave it to Disney-Pixar to turn the inner machinations of the human mind into a computer-animated adventure. As a young girl named Riley grapples with a major life change, so too do her personified emotions. The filmmakers consulted with both a psychology professor and an emotions expert when bringing Riley's interior world to life.

Kenneth Lonergan's somber drama tells the story of Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck), a young man who's been hollowed out by a personal tragedy. Suddenly tasked with guardianship over his nephew, Chandler struggles to leave the past behind. The film won two Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay, respectively.

While World War II allied soldiers attempt to flee Germany, the enemy is closing in. Christopher Nolan's war film moves at a breakneck pace and often to the beat of a ticking clock. As it turns out, that very tick-tock effect was sourced from Nolan's own stopwatch.

Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón revisits his early childhood in this semi-autobiographical drama. Presented in black-and-white, the film follows an upper middle class family and their maid (Yalitza Aparicio) in 1970s Mexico City. The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Foreign Language Film and Best Director.

Audiences are still waxing rhapsodic about this Best Picture winner from South Korea's Bong Joon-ho. When members of a poor family con their way into an upper-class household, their scheme leads to devastating consequences. Socioeconomic themes make for a consistent foundation atop which one unpredictable plot point gives way to another.

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Set during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of thousands of Bosnian Muslims, "Quo Vadis, Aida?" paints a singular, heart-wrenching portrait of an often-overlooked atrocity. Though banned in Serbia, the nation that perpetrated the ethnic cleansing, "Quo Vadis, Aida?" screened around the world to critical acclaim and garnered an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature Film.

Directed by The Roots drummer Questlove, "Summer of Soul" documents the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a six-concert series that celebrated Black pride and unity at a major turning point in American history. The creative team behind the movie restored footage to bring performances from Nina Simone, Gladys Knight and the Pips, B.B. King, and more back to life. The documentary won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature as well as a Grammy for Best Music Film.

Starring "Normal People" breakout Paul Mescal, "Aftersun" is a bittersweet, coming-of-age drama following 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) and her father (Mescal) on a holiday trip to a Turkish resort. Haunting and heartfelt, this semi-autobiographical film from Charlotte Wells has been praised for its moving depictions of parenthood and intergenerational mental health struggles.

Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" takes viewers back to the days of World War II, when physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and a team of scientists developed the groundwork for the first atomic bomb. Though this sprawling film isn't without its critics, "Oppenheimer" co-dominated the summer box office in 2023 and won seven Oscars, including the coveted Best Picture Award.

Adrien Brody stars in this sprawling, three-and-a-half-hour epic as László Tóth, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor and architect. After premiering at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2024, "The Brutalist" earned rave reviews from critics like Rolling Stone's David Fear, who described the film as "a bold, visionary, sweeping work of art." Audiences and members of the Hollywood elite seem to agree. "The Brutalist" has an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes and scored three Golden Globe Awards in January 2025. At the March 2025 Academy Awards, the film picked up three Oscars, including a second Best Actor trophy for Adrien Brody. Holding his award, he broke the record for longest-ever acceptance speech, perhaps in tribute to the staggering length of "The Brutalist."

Additional writing by Cu Fleshman. Data reporting by Rob Powell. Story editing by Cynthia Rebolledo. Copy editing by Meg Shields.

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That was followed by 1903's "The Great Train Robbery," inspired by Butch Cassidy and considered the movie that brought the genre into public view. From there, these yarns progressed from simply amusing stories about cowboys and Native Americans to deeply compelling motion pictures in which the lines between lawman and outlaw are blurred. They also launched the careers of some of film history's most iconic actors—from John Wayne to Roy Rogers to Clint Eastwood.

In the latter half of the 20th century, there was a steep decline in Westerns Hollywood released each year. Still, other countries like Italy, Korea, Russia, Germany, and Australia picked up the mantle and provided their own unique contributions to the genre. These days, we're beginning to see a resurgence in Western films, as audiences express a craving for more grounded and authentic movies. In April 2026, audiences turned up for the neo-Western "Normal," starring Bob Odenkirk, and a remake of John Wayne's 1947 classic "Angel and the Badman" is due out on Oct. 9, 2026.

No matter their exact subject, Westerns also provide a good vehicle for tackling the cultural reckoning America has been facing for the last several years, namely our realization that the national myths and histories we've established haven't always been honest and have often come at the expense of many of our fellow citizens' lived experiences. In some cases, movies can address and explore more recent history and culture classes, as in Ari Aster's "Eddington," released in July 2025, which focuses on COVID-19 conspiracy theories.

From silent films to recent Hollywood blockbusters, Stacker compiled a list of the best Western films, one representing each year since 1925. Data was pulled from IMDb (as of Dec. 19, 2024), with the rankings based on user votes. To make this list, movies had to be both the highest-rated Westerns in their given release years and had to have more than 2,000 IMDb user votes. For years when no Western movie had 2,000 votes on IMDb, the film with the highest user rating was included, regardless of the number of votes.

Now it's time to giddy up and embark on a journey through the Wild West. Along the way, you will find not only the best Western film from the year you were born but also a few ace-high Westerns with which you may have yet to be acquainted. Head 'em up and move 'em out: This is one chronological hoedown that will turn even a tenderfoot into a true buckaroo.

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In this silent comedy, Charlie Chaplin plays a prospector named Little Tramp who joins the Klondike Gold Rush, gets trapped in a blizzard with another prospector (Mack Swain) and a fugitive (Tom Murray), and falls for a barmaid (Georgia Hale). Some of the movie's famous scenes include Chaplin making dinner rolls dance on the end of his forks, and another where he tries to eat a boiled shoe.

Based on a Jack London short story called "The Unexpected," "By the Law" is a Soviet silent film that follows a small group of gold miners in the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush. Fed up by how poorly other members of the group have treated him, the film's protagonist, Michael Dennin (Vladimir Fogel), murders two of his fellow prospectors, which results in his fate being placed in the hands of the survivors who have differing opinions on how to handle his transgressions. While the movie was widely claimed across Europe and in the U.S., it was poorly received in its home country for its lack of propaganda.

A young rancher brings his new bride home, only to have their relationship threatened by his unhappy, meddling father and a nomadic shepherd in the 1927 silent film "White Gold." The movie, which has a decidedly unhappy ending, won critical praise for its scripting technique (scenes were written sequentially and based entirely upon the actors' reactions to the preceding narrative turns) which made it feel closer to "realism than anything ever before attempted in motion pictures" according to the Ottawa Citizen.

In "The Wind," Lillian Gish plays an impoverished young woman from Virginia who moves in with her cousin (Edward Earle) in Texas and has trouble adapting to life in the Wild West. The silent film was originally set to end with Gish's character being driven to insanity and wandering off into the desert. However, MGM ordered a happy ending before the movie's release.

Directed by William Wyler (who also directed "Ben-Hur," "The Best Years of Our Lives," and "Funny Girl"), "Hell's Heroes" chronicles a crew of bank robbers (Charles Bickford, Fred Kohler, and Raymond Hatton) who promise a dying woman they'll take her son to his father—who just happens to be the bank cashier they killed. This film was originally released in two alternate formats: silent and "talkie."

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John Wayne's first big role came with "The Big Trail," in which he played a fur trapper who sought revenge for his friend's death and took to the Oregon Trail to track the potential killers. Director Raoul Walsh told Wayne, then an inexperienced actor, that he only had to "sit good on a horse and point." Though the Library of Congress deemed the film of historical importance, it wasn't the film that launched Wayne to mega-stardom; credit for that goes to 1939's "Stagecoach."

The plot of "Cimarron" spans 40 years, beginning with the Oklahoma land rush of 1889. A newspaperman (Richard Dix) and his young wife (Irene Dunne) move to the town of Osage. They begin a life there, one marked by outlaws, conflict, and oil drilling. In recent years, the film has come under fire for its portrayal of racist stereotypes.

A near shot-for-shot remake of the 1927 film "The Land Beyond the Law," "The Big Stampede" recycles much of the footage from the original and spends little time or effort ensuring that the two projects blend well together. But audiences didn't seem to be too bothered by the discrepancies, distracted as they were by John Wayne's lively performance as a deputy sheriff tasked with scaring off a band of cattle rustlers.

"Secrets" tells the story of a New England debutante (Mary Pickford) who accompanies her husband (Leslie Howard) to California on a quest to build a fortune and a family. Once there, the couple is challenged by the Wild West's way of life but finds success and happiness. A remake of a 1924 silent film by the same name, Pickford was originally set to star in an adaptation three years earlier, but was unhappy with the results and ordered the footage to be destroyed.

This fictional retelling of the life of Pancho Villa stars Wallace Beery as Villa and Fay Wray, fresh off of "King Kong," as a character named Teresa. The movie opens in 1880s Mexico with a young Villa avenging his father's death and spans his entire life through to his assassination. At the time, the film was criticized for its violence—not because its plot strays far from reality.

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In "Ruggles of Red Gap," Charles Laughton plays a Gentleman's Gentleman (aka a valet) who becomes the property of an American cowboy following a poker bet gone awry. His transition from the formal, traditional culture of English manor houses to the laid-back, egalitarian culture of the Wild West isn't always an easy one. Still, it sure served up lots of laughs for the audience. The film was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar in 1936, and Laughton's performance also helped him earn the Best Actor award at the inaugural New York Film Critics Circle Awards.

Opening at the end of the Civil War, "The Plainsman" is a fictionalized account of the relationship between the Western heroes Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill Cody, and General Custer. Starring Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, James Ellison, and John Miljan, the film is a classic mix of romance, rousing cowboy and Indian battle scenes, and sweeping shots of wide-open plains. A massive hit with audiences, the movie was the first collaboration between director Cecil B. DeMille and Gary Cooper. However, the pair would go on to do three more projects together.

This comedy film stars the iconic duo of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The film follows the pair attempting to deliver the deed to a valuable gold mine to the rightful heir, only to have it stolen by a scheming saloon owner. Other stars include James Finlayson and Sharon Lynn. Although the film received no major awards then, it was considered one of Laurel and Hardy's best works.

This film adaptation of the book, "Benefits Forgot," chronicles a family comprised of a preacher father (Walter Huston), a kind mother (Beulah Bondi), and a petulant son named Jason, who is played by a young James Stewart—more famously known as Jimmy Stewart. When Jason goes off to fight in the Civil War, abandoning his mother without writing to her for years, President Lincoln (John Carradine) tells the young man he's ungrateful and inspires him to return home.

A group of strangers rides a stagecoach through dangerous Apache territory in "Stagecoach." John Wayne and Claire Trevor lead a cast that also includes Thomas Mitchell, Louise Platt, and Donald Meek, with Andy Devine playing the stage driver and George Bancroft playing his shotgun guard. Director John Ford was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the film, which was also nominated for Best Picture and scored a Best Supporting Actor win for Mitchell.

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Tyrone Power plays a swordsman who masquerades as a bandit to save California's common folk from an oppressor (J. Edward Bromberg) in "The Mark of Zorro." During his quest to restore justice, he falls in love with the oppressor's daughter (Linda Darnell). The movie is a remake of a 1920 silent film with the same title, and various other movies and properties based on the characters have been created.

"They Died with Their Boots On" is a fictionalized account of Gen. George Custer's life, beginning with his training at West Point United States Military Academy, continuing through his time in the American Civil War, and culminating with his death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. General Custer was portrayed by Errol Flynn in this, his last of eight roles opposite actress Olivia de Havilland.

In "The Ox-Bow Incident," members of a posse capture three men suspected of killing a local farmer and debate whether or not to lynch them. Henry Fonda plays one of the posse members, while Dana Andrews plays one of the men suspected of murder. Other stars include Mary Beth Hughes, Harry Morgan, Harry Davenport, Frank Conroy, William Eythe, George Meeker, Anthony Quinn, and Francis Ford (brother of film director John Ford).

Fictionalized versions of Billy the Kid (Jack Buetel) and Doc Holliday (Walter Huston) appear in yet another Western, this time as rivals-turned-partners who find themselves both ganging up against a corrupt sheriff and bickering over the same woman. The woman in question was played by none other than Jane Russell in her breakout role. Russell's performance was considered so sultry that the Hayes office launched a massive campaign against the movie, which ultimately led to director Howard Hughes making some significant changes to the original cut.

Starring John Wayne, "Tall in the Saddle" tells the story of a quiet cowboy who arrives in Arizona to begin his new job as a ranch hand, only to discover that his employer has been murdered. Ella Raines plays Wayne's love interest, the fiery owner of a neighboring ranch, and other stars include Ward Bond, George "Gabby" Hayes, Audrey Long, Elisabeth Risdon, and Donald Douglas.

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In "Along Came Jones," Gary Cooper plays an easygoing man who is mistaken for an outlaw. Meanwhile, the real criminal (Dan Duryea) hides out in the home of his girlfriend (Loretta Young), who slowly but surely develops feelings for Cooper's character. It is the only film for which Cooper served as a producer during his long movie career.

"My Darling Clementine" starred Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp, who takes a job as the sheriff of Tombstone, Arizona, to bring in the men who stole his family's cattle and killed his brother. John Ford directed the motion picture, which was inspired by the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The cast also included Victor Mature, Linda Darnell, Walter Brennan, Tim Holt, Cathy Downs, and Ward Bond.

In "Pursued," Robert Mitchum plays a man who is haunted by the memory of the night his whole family was murdered. Having grown up with a neighboring family, he falls in love with his adoptive sister (Teresa Wright), much to the dismay of her brother (John Rodney) and dangerous uncle (Dean Jagger). Film historians refer to the film as a "psychological" Western.

In "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt play unemployed drifters who convince an old prospector (Walter Huston) to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains. Huston won an Academy Award for his performance in the film, as did his son John for his writing and directing duties. The movie was also nominated for Best Picture, but it lost to "Hamlet."

John Wayne plays an aging U.S. Cavalry captain who, on the eve of retirement, takes out one final patrol to stop an impending attack by Native Americans, in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon." Director John Ford initially did not want to cast Wayne as the motion picture's protagonist, due to the age difference between the actor and the character. However, once production had been completed, Ford was far and away impressed with Wayne's performance—as was Wayne himself.

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Gregory Peck is Jimmy Ringo, a gunslinger haunted by the cycle of violence perpetrated by his very existence. Though the script was written with John Wayne in mind, he turned it down because he refused to work for Columbia Pictures. The film is considered a classic, in part, because it was among the first in the subgenre of "psychological Westerns," which prized character development over action scenes.

In "Westward the Women," Robert Taylor plays a wagon master hired to escort 140 women from Chicago to a ranching community in California, to marry the men there. Along the way, he falls in love with one of the women looking to start a new life (Denise Darcel). Frank Capra, who wrote the story, was originally set to direct the film, with Gary Cooper in the lead. However, Capra later sold the story to his neighbor, William A. Wellman.

Gary Cooper plays a town marshal who resigns his post to please his new wife (Grace Kelly) in "High Noon." However, as the town is threatened by the arrival of an outlaw and the new marshal fails to show up, Cooper's character makes plans to face the foe himself at high noon. Cooper scored an Academy Award for his performance in the film, which won a total of four out of the seven Oscars for which it was nominated.

In "Shane," Alan Ladd plays a weary gunfighter whose hopes of settling down with a family are dashed when a settler-rancher conflict forces him to take action. Brandon De Wilde and Jack Palance earned Academy Award nominations for their supporting performances in the film, and director George Stevens and screenwriter A.B. Guthrie, Jr. were also nominated. The movie was also nominated for Best Picture, but ultimately walked away with just one Oscar, for cinematography.

In "Johnny Guitar," Joan Crawford plays a strong-willed saloon owner who helps a wounded gang member (Sterling Hayden) but is then framed for murder and bank robbery by a rival rancher (Mercedes McCambridge). Film historians claim the movie is particularly notable because it reverses the roles of the standard Western.

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Spencer Tracy stars in "Bad Day at Black Rock" as a one-armed veteran who arrives in an isolated desert town only to discover that its residents will go to violent lengths to keep its past a secret. Tracy earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance in the film, while John Sturges and Millard Kaufman scored nominations for their direction and writing, respectively.

In "The Searchers," John Wayne plays a Civil War veteran who tracks down the Native American tribe that slaughtered his family and abducted his niece (Natalie Wood). The movie was a financial success, but it failed to score any Academy Award nominations. However, it has since been the subject of multiple documentaries and earned a score of accolades, including at the top of the American Film Institute's list of the 10 best Western films ever made.

In "3:10 to Yuma," Van Heflin plays a broke rancher who is hired for the simple task of putting a captured outlaw (Glenn Ford) on the 3:10 train to Yuma. However, things get far more complicated for him when the outlaw's gang attempts to free him. Ford was originally tapped to play the protagonist but turned down the role for a chance to try his hand as the film's villain. The movie was remade in 2007, with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe in Heflin's and Ford's roles, respectively.

Gregory Peck plays a Maryland shipping magnate and former sea captain who travels west only to become embroiled in two families' feud over a patch of land in "The Big Country." Other key cast members include Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston, and Burl Ives, the last of whom won an Academy Award for his supporting performance in the film.

In "Rio Bravo," John Wayne plays a small-town sheriff who enlists the help of a handicapped man (Walter Brennan), an alcoholic (Dean Martin), and a young gunslinger (Ricky Nelson) to keep the brother of a ruthless cattle baron behind bars. Angie Dickinson, Ward Bond, John Russell, and Claude Akins round out the cast. Wayne and director Howard Hawks later collaborated on two companion pieces to the motion picture: 1966's "El Dorado" and 1970's "Rio Lobo."

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Seven American gunmen join together to protect a Mexican peasant village from bandits in "The Magnificent Seven," a remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film "Seven Samurai." The movie's all-star cast includes Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, James Coburn, and Horst Buchholz. The property spawned three sequels, a 1990s television series, and a 2016 remake.

Marilyn Monroe stars in "The Misfits" as a divorcée who falls in love with an aging cowboy who is used to a life free from romantic entanglements (Clark Gable). The movie was both Monroe's and Gable's final film. Gable passed away less than two weeks after production ended and Monroe just over a year later.

"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" marked James Stewart and John Wayne's first pairing on the big screen. Stewart played a senator famous for shooting a notorious outlaw. He attends the funeral of a rancher (Wayne) and recounts the true story of the incident. Unlike many other Westerns of the era, the movie was shot and released in black-and-white instead of color.

Paul Newman headlines as Hud Bannon, a heavy-drinking, womanizing man angling to seize control of his father's cattle business. Patricia Neal won an Academy Award for her lead role as a housekeeper, and actor Melvyn Douglas won for his supporting role as Newman's aging father. Chinese American cinematographer James Wong Howe also won one of his two Oscars for his camerawork on this film.

Spaghetti Westerns became popularized with this Clint Eastwood film, directed by Italian Sergio Leone. "A Fistful of Dollars" birthed Eastwood's famous character, the "Man with No Name," which he went on to play in "For a Few Dollars More" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." Interestingly, the film was an unlicensed remake of the Japanese samurai film "Yojimbo"; director Akira Kurosawa successfully sued in return for some of the film's rights.

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In the second part of the "Man with No Name" trilogy, Eastwood returns as a bounty hunter on the hunt for a villainous bank robber. "For a Few Dollars More" was an international co-production between Italy, Spain, and West Germany. Eastwood's character wears the same poncho throughout the trilogy—a close viewing reveals bullet holes and mended sections from "wounds" inflicted during the first film.

In "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef play men who form an uneasy alliance to track down a fortune in gold that has been buried in a cemetery. The movie's theme song is widely considered one of the most recognizable and popular movie themes ever, even climbing as high as #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Paul Newman stars in this revisionist Western about a White man raised by Apaches who becomes a group's only hope of survival when their stagecoach is robbed. The film was widely praised for Newman's performance—he has comparatively little dialogue but manages to convey a lot through his mannerisms and posturing—and marks the final time he would work with Martin Ritt (who famously directed him five other times, including in "The Long, Hot Summer").

A mail-order bride (Claudia Cardinale) arrives in Arizona to discover that her new husband has been killed by a gunman (Henry Fonda). He was hired by a mogul (Gabriele Ferzetti) who wants the land this distraught bride has inadvertently inherited. When another gunman (Charles Bronson) comes on the scene—carrying a vendetta against Fonda's character—the three personalities become entangled, and violence ensues. Fonda famously plays against type in this film, taking on a villainous role.

In "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," Paul Newman and Robert Redford play the title characters, the leaders of a band of outlaws. When their attempt to rob a train goes awry, they find themselves on the run with the hope of escaping to Bolivia. The movie was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. It ultimately won four of those awards, including Best Original Song for Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head."

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"White Sun of the Desert" breaks the mold for Western films, taking place amid the Russian Civil War. Set in what's now Turkmenistan, a Red Army soldier (Anatoly Kuznetsov) travels home, only to be caught up in a melee between the Red Army and Basmachi guerillas in the desert. Russian astronauts are known to watch the film before preparing for liftoff, as a sort of good luck ritual.

Described by director Robert Altman as an "anti-Western," "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" turns many of the genre's traditional tropes on their heads. It follows a mysterious gambler (Warren Beatty) and a sex worker (Julie Christie) as they team up to create a thriving business in the sleepy town of Presbyterian Church, Washington, only to have their success threatened by a greedy mining company. Named one of the American Film Institute's Top 10 Western Movies, the film also earned Christie an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

This is part of a Swedish epic, which takes place over two movies and tells the story of a farming family that immigrates to America. "The New Land" followed "The Emigrants," focusing on the family's life in Minnesota. Lead actor Max von Sydow would later become famous for "The Exorcist," while his co-star Liv Ullman became known as a muse of director Ingmar Bergman.

Clint Eastwood directed and starred in "High Plains Drifter," a revisionist Western in which a mysterious gunslinger arrives in a small settlement and helps its residents hold off three approaching outlaws. Eastwood drew much of his inspiration for the film's direction from his previous collaborations with directors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel, and he gives them an honorary nod during the movie's final scene, in which their names can be seen on tombstones in a graveyard.

In "Blazing Saddles," Harvey Korman plays a corrupt politician who convinces a dimwitted governor (Mel Brooks) to appoint a Black railroad worker (Cleavon Little) as the new sheriff of an Old West town to create chaos. An alcoholic gunslinger (Gene Wilder), however, helps the new sheriff beat the odds and bring law and order to the town. Madeline Kahn earned an Academy Award nomination for her supporting performance in the comedic Western, which was also nominated for Best Film Editing and Best Original Song.

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In "Rooster Cogburn," John Wayne stars as the title character, an aging U.S. Marshal who joins a minister's daughter (Katharine Hepburn) on a quest to track down the band of outlaws who killed her father. Wayne reprised the character he originally played in 1969's "True Grit"—a role for which he won his only Academy Award.

In "The Outlaw Josey Wales," Clint Eastwood plays a peaceful farmer who joins a Confederate guerrilla unit when his family is murdered by Union soldiers during the Civil War. After the war, he is branded an outlaw and pursued by bounty hunters. Eastwood directed the film himself after firing writer and director Philip Kaufman, who adapted the story from a book written by Asa Earl Carter.

Maurizio Merli plays Blade, a hatchet-wielding bounty hunter. When he arrives in a mining town, the mayor hires him for a hit. In the process, he disrupts the system of power and unleashes a cascade of violence. The film is also known by its original title, "Mannaja."

This French animated film chronicles the comic book character Lucky Luke, a cowboy known for shooting faster than his own shadow. The comic book series was created by the Belgian cartoonists René Goscinny and Morris, who based Luke's enemies, the Daltons, on the real Dalton brothers, a Wild West family of train and bank robbers.

Robert Redford plays a washed-up rodeo champion-turned-cereal spokesman who kidnaps the breakfast company's horse after realizing they've been mistreating it in this late '70s Western. Jane Fonda adds to the fun as the reporter covering the story, as does country legend Willie Nelson who has a small role. A huge commercial success—it was the 11th highest-grossing film the year it came out—the movie received mixed critical reception. Still, the general consensus today is that it's a fun, classic romp with outsized bad guys and overly moralized good ones.

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Director Walter Hill sympathetically explored the origins, the adventures, and the ultimate fate of the James-Younger gang in 1980's "The Long Riders." The film follows two bands of brothers who join forces to become bank robbers, and the actors who played the brothers were themselves related: James and Stacy Keach portrayed Jesse and Frank James, while David, Keith, and Robert Carradine played Cole, Jim, and Bob Younger. Dennis and Randy Quaid also played brothers in the film, as did Christopher and Nicholas Guest.

In "Death Hunt," Charles Bronson plays a trapper whose feud with a dog owner escalates to him being wrongfully accused of murder. Suddenly finding himself a fugitive, his expert knowledge of the frigid Canadian wilderness allows him to survive and evade the law amidst the manhunt. Robert Aldrich was initially hired to direct the movie, originally titled "Arctic Rampage," but he was fired and replaced by Peter R. Hunt.

"The Grey Fox" is based, in part, on the true story of Bill Miner, a stagecoach robber who spent 30 years behind bars before being released in the early 1900s and taking up a career as a train robber. Richard Farnsworth, decades into a Hollywood career that had thus far been not all that noteworthy, played the titular character in what Roger Ebert called "the loveliest adventure of the year." The role was perhaps the biggest of Farnsworth's career, earning him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance in a Drama.

In "Lone Wolf McQuade," Chuck Norris plays a Texas Ranger and martial arts expert whose attempt to catch a dangerous drug lord (David Carradine) selling U.S. military weapons to Central American terrorists results in the kidnapping of his daughter. He teams up with an FBI agent (Leon Isaac Kennedy) to bring a stop to the criminal and save his kidnapped daughter. The movie was shot in Texas, in locations including a desert with a high rattlesnake population. There are even reports of a rattlesnake crawling into bed and interrupting a love scene between Norris and his love interest in the film, Barbara Carrera.

Divine stars in this Western spoof as Rosie Velez, a dancer who meets a gunman (Tab Hunter) who brings her to a local town called Chili Verde. Things heat up when she discovers that the local saloon owner has half of a treasure map tattooed on her buttocks—the other half of which is, coincidentally, tattooed on Rosie. A song by Divine, "These Lips," was featured on the film's soundtrack.

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In "Pale Rider," Clint Eastwood plays a mysterious preacher who helps defend the residents of a small village against a greedy mining company trying to take their land. The movie grossed $41 million against a $6.9 million production budget, earning it the title of the highest-grossing Western released in the 1980s.

In "Three Amigos," Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short play a trio of silent movie stars who inadvertently find themselves mixed up with a ruthless Mexican gang leader (Alfonso Arau). Martin, who co-wrote the screenplay, was always attached to the project. However, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi were at one time tapped to costar—as were Bill Murray and Robin Williams at a later date—before Chase and Short signed on to the project.

"A Man from Boulevard des Capucines" stands out in the history of Westerns for two reasons: it's a rare example of a "red Western" produced by the Soviet Union, and it was directed by a woman. It tells the story of a film-loving cowboy who changes the course of one wild town when he introduces them to his favorite movies. While it manages to avoid sermonizing for the most part, the film makes a deft point about the influence and responsibility of the industry.

"Young Guns" stars Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney, and Casey Siemaszko as gunslingers who become deputies to avenge the murder of one of their friends. Estevez portrays Old West gunslinger Billy the Kid in the film, which spawned a 1990 sequel in which Estevez, Sutherland, and Phillips reprised their roles.

In "Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat," David Carradine plays the leader of a colony of vampires who reside in an isolated desert town. Their peaceful existence is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a descendant of Van Helsing (Bruce Campbell), who is hell-bent on destroying them.

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Kevin Costner plays a soldier who leaves his remote Civil War outpost to join a nearby Sioux tribe in 1990's "Dances with Wolves." Costner also directed the film, which won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, making it the first Western to do so since 1931's "Cimarron." The movie was not just a critical success but a financial one, grossing $184.2 million at the U.S. box office and revitalizing the Western genre.

In this slapstick comedy, three city-dwelling friends (Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, and Bruno Kirby) vacation together on a dude ranch. Though they're enamored with classic Western films of the past, the two-week cattle drive with other city slickers and a band of real cowboys (including Jack Palance playing the trail boss, a role which earned him an Oscar) ends up being more than they bargained for.

Clint Eastwood plays a retired gunslinger who reluctantly agrees to take on a corrupt sheriff (Gene Hackman) in "Unforgiven." Eastwood won an Academy Award for his directing duties on the film, which also won Best Picture. Hackman, meanwhile, won for his supporting performance. Audiences appreciated the movie—which Eastwood decided would likely be his last Western—to the tune of $101.2 million at the U.S. box office.

In "Tombstone," Kurt Russell portrays Wyatt Earp, whose hopes of retiring anonymously in Tombstone, Arizona, are dashed when he is called back into action to fight a vicious band of outlaws threatening the town. Val Kilmer costars in the film as Doc Holliday, with Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, and Dana Delany rounding out the principal cast. Western staple Robert Mitchum agreed to narrate the story after a back injury forced him out of a planned onscreen role.

Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt, Aidan Quinn, and Henry Thomas play a father and his three sons, respectively, who succumb to the tragedies of war and romantic rivalry in "Legends of the Fall." Pitt's popularity propelled the movie to a total gross of $160.6 million worldwide. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning one for cinematography.

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In "Dead Man," Johnny Depp plays a wounded accountant who, while on the run for murder, travels to the Western frontier. Once there, he encounters a Native American (Gary Farmer) who prepares him for his journey into the next life. Director Jim Jarmusch has described his film as a "psychedelic Western."

Described as a "masterwork" and "a great American movie," "Lone Star" follows lawmen in a small Texas town as they try to learn who's behind the murder of one of their own. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Chris Cooper, Kris Kristofferson, and Elizabeth ​​Peña, the mystery is not only engaging on a surface level but also in the way that it deftly tackles tougher topics like racism and who decides what gets canonized as history. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Variety's Derek Elley deemed this martial arts Western crossover a "cross-cultural actionfest." It is the sixth film in the "Once Upon a Time in China" series. Jet Li's character, Wong Fei-Hung, travels to San Francisco from China. On the route, and once in the California city, Wild West-style chaos ensues, including a Native American ambush and a bank robbery.

Antonio Banderas plays a thief seeking revenge for his brother's death in "The Mask of Zorro." He is trained by an aging swordsman (Anthony Hopkins) who shares the same enemy. Catherine Zeta-Jones also stars in the film as the aging swordsman's long-lost daughter and the eventual love interest of the thief. The movie earned $250.3 million worldwide against a $95 million production budget, and Banderas and Zeta-Jones reprised their roles seven years later in a far less successful sequel.

The sole horror Western on our list, "Ravenous" follows a group of high-ranking Army officials and civilian misfits as they set out on a rescue mission only to find themselves being trailed by a crazed cannibal. Despite its star-studded cast, which consists of Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, Jeffrey Jones, and David Arquette, the production of the film was a complete mess with two directors (Milcho Manchevski, Raja Gosnell) being fired before Antonia Bird was brought in to take over mid-shoot. While the film wasn't a massive success at the time, it has since become something of a cult classic, with many critics praising the way it addresses things like Manifest Destiny and capitalism.

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A surrealistic Brazilian comedy, the original title of the film was "O Auto da Compadecida," which translates to "The Compassionate Woman's Play" in Portuguese. Actors Matheus Nachtergaele and Selton Mello play poor men in Northeast Brazil who, in the afterlife, face judgment for their wrongdoings. It was adapted from a play by Ariano Suassuna and was a major theatrical hit in Brazil.

This German film was intended to be a parody of Westerns. Not only did Michael Herbig direct the film, but he also wrote the screenplay, produced, and starred in it. He plays an Apache chief who, along with his "blood brother," tries to buy a saloon. However, they end up making a bad deal with a fake investor named Santa Maria. The premise for the movie was based on the "Winnetou" sketches performed on the late-night comedy show "Bullyparade."

An Australian contribution to the cannon, "The Tracker" follows a group of four men— three white, one Aboriginal— who are on a journey to find the Black killer of a white woman in the early 20th-century outback. While it may seem on the surface like a standard tale of racial politics, director Rolf de Heer takes pains to undermine the expectations of the audience and keep them off kilter enough that they must fully engage with the material.

In "Open Range," Kevin Costner plays a former Civil War soldier living a peaceful life as a hired hand for an open-range cattleman (Robert Duvall). However, that tranquility is interrupted when a corrupt land baron (Michael Gambon) threatens his frontier friends, forcing him to take up arms once again. Costner also directed the film, which co-starred Annette Bening and Diego Luna and earned $58.3 million at the U.S. box office against a $22 million budget.

In "Hidalgo," Viggo Mortensen portrays cowboy Frank Hopkins, who travels to Arabia with his mustang Hidalgo to compete in a deadly cross-desert horse race. The titular Mustang was portrayed by five American Paint horses, one of which was later purchased by Mortensen. Screenwriter John Fusco, who also worked on 1988's "Young Guns" and 2002's "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron," bought the movie's main stunt horse and retired him at his horse conservancy Red Road Farm.

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The screenplay for this Australian Outback Western was written by rock musician Nick Cave. A renegade (Guy Pearce) can only save his younger brother from law enforcement officers by hunting down and killing his murderous older brother. The movie takes on themes of racism, family bonds, and colonialism. Ty Burr of The Boston Globe called it "a near-masterpiece of mood and menace, and one that deserves to be seen on the largest screen possible."

Liam Neeson plays a Confederate colonel who, at the end of the Civil War, hunts down a Union soldier (Pierce Brosnan) against whom he has a grudge. Richard Gere was originally tapped to play Brosnan's role in the film, which received mild praise from critics who appreciated its unique, sans-villain approach. Still, it failed to make much of a dent at the box office. The revisionist Western topped out with a mere $1.2 million gross worldwide.

This 2007 remake of the 1957 film "3:10 to Yuma" tells the story of a broke rancher (Christian Bale) who is hired for the simple task of putting a captured outlaw (Russell Crowe) on the 3:10 train to Yuma. However, things get far more complicated for him when the outlaw's gang attempts to free him.

This South Korean Western action film was inspired by "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." The story takes place in Manchuria just before World War II. A bounty hunter (Jung Woo-sung), a thief (Song Kang-ho), and a hitman (Lee Byung-hun) set out on an adventure to find a treasure map dating back to the Qing Dynasty … all while being pursued by bandits and the Imperial Japanese Army.

Based on a comic strip of the same name, "Lucky Luke" is a French Western that follows a fearless gunslinger who has been tasked by the President with bringing peace to Daisy Town. A fun spoof on the more serious tropes, the screwball comedy has been praised by critics for its visually arresting production design and the performances of its actors, like Jean Dujardin. Unlike many of the other films on our list, this one has some family-friendly tropes, with nothing more risque than a chaste kiss and some "Road Runner" style violence.

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Starring Hailee Steinfeld in her film debut, alongside Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and Barry Pepper, "True Grit" follows a grizzled lawman, a precious teenager, and a U.S. Marshal as they set out to track down the outlaw responsible for the murder of the girl's father. An adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel, the film is not the first adaptation of the source material (there was a 1969 version that starred John Wayne, Kim Darby, and Glen Campbell), but it's by far the grittiest. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, the movie came home with no trophies but won at the box office with over $252 million in global ticket sales.

In "Rango," Johnny Depp voices the title character, a pet chameleon who accidentally winds up in a lawless Wild West town in the middle of the Mojave Desert. He is appointed sheriff when he inadvertently kills the hawk terrorizing the town's residents. He quickly discovers, however, that he is in way over his head. The Best Animated Feature winner at that year's Academy Awards was also a hit at the box office, earning $245.7 million worldwide against a $135 million production budget.

Jamie Foxx plays a freed enslaved person who, with the help of a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz), sets out to rescue his wife (Kerry Washington) from a Mississippi plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio) in "Django Unchained." Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed the film, which grossed nearly $450 million worldwide, making it the filmmaker's biggest box-office total ever. Tarantino also won an Academy Award for his writing duties on motion pictures and Waltz for his supporting performance.

A neo-Western thriller in the style of the Coen brothers, "No Man's Land" is a nihilistic tale of a lawyer and two soulless poachers set in the Gobi desert. The film was shot and completed in 2009 but wasn't released for several years, reportedly due to pushback from China's film bureau over how it depicted police officers. Hardly a feel-good movie, it's not an easy watch, but it's well worth viewing for its art-house style and commentary on man's baser instincts.

Dubbed "a gripping revenge Western" by Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, "The Salvation" follows a Danish man as he seeks revenge against a notorious gang leader following the murder of his wife and young son. The movie stars Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. While it wasn't a huge box-office hit, nor did it garner many award nominations, it's still a beautifully shot, excellently choreographed nod to Westerns of decades past.

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Leonardo DiCaprio plays a frontiersman who is mauled by a bear and left for dead during a fur trading expedition in "The Revenant." He struggles to survive absolutely brutal conditions on his journey home to confront his former friend (Tom Hardy). DiCaprio won an Academy Award for his performance, and Alejandro G. Iñárritu won another for his directing duties on the film, which earned 10 other Oscar nominations and a $533 million box-office haul.

In "Hell or High Water," Chris Pine plays a divorced father who reunites with his ex-con brother (Ben Foster) to rob branches of the bank that is threatening to foreclose on their family's ranch. Their plan appears to work until a retiring Texas Ranger (Jeff Bridges), desperate for one last notch in his belt, begins to close in on them. The neo-Western crime thriller scored four Academy Award nominations and a lot of acclaim from critics for its complex narrative, confident pacing, and well-rounded characters.

Set on the Wind River Indian Reservation, "Wind River" follows a Fish and Wildlife Agent (Jeremy Renner) and an FBI Agent (Elizabeth Olsen) as they attempt to solve the murder of a young Indigenous girl. Following its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, the movie received mixed reviews from critics, with some calling it gripping and satisfying while others, namely those from indigenous communities, criticizing director Taylor Sheridan for choosing to tell a story that was not his, as a white man, to tell.

Two years after their feature-length series of connected Golden Age Hollywood vignettes "Hail, Caesar!," the Coen brothers returned with a more staunchly divided feature-length piece. "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" comprises six short Western films with no plot connections diverse in cinematography, style, and tone. The film's unique style, bombastic characters, sing-songy pleasantries, directorial stamps, and strong thematic throughline rendered it a popular and critical success.

Ned Kelly was an Australian escaped convict, gang leader, and a cultural icon akin to Robin Hood. His life has been fictionalized many times, including in this 2019 film with George MacKay playing the titular character. The movie follows him and his gang trying to escape law enforcement in the 1870s. Other actors in the film include Essie Davis, Charlie Hunnam, Russell Crowe, and Nicholas Hoult.

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In "News of the World," an aging Civil War captain sets out to return a young girl who had been raised by the Kiowa tribe to her birth family. Starring Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel, the movie is predictable at times and fairly thin in terms of its themes. However, the stellar performances of its lead actors and attention to detail in every aspect still managed to set it apart. Nominated for several Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and Critic's Choice trophies, the project won none of the accolades but was placed on a few best-of-the-year lists.

A widower with a mysterious past must defend his son after they get mixed up with a group of double-crossing criminals carrying a load of cash in "Old Henry." Tim Blake Nelson plays the titular character alongside Scott Haze and Gavin Lewis. Following its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, the movie became a surprise hit for streaming services. It remained on Apple's Top 10 list for two months and landed a spot on the National Board of Review's Top Independent Films of the Year list.

Based on a 1960s novel of the same name, "Butcher's Crossing" follows a late-19th-century Ivy League dropout as he joins a buffalo hunting group in Colorado and learns a lesson about remorseless brutality. Shot on the Blackfeet reservation in Montana, the movie was praised for its near-perfect casting (Nicolas Cage, Fred Hechinger, Jeremy Bobb, Paul Raci, Xander Berkeley, and Rachel Keller). Still, it was slammed for failing to capture the tension and psychological drama of its source material. Still, the gorgeous cinematography—and Cage's excellent character work—make it well worth a watch.

Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, "Killers of the Flower Moon" tells the story of the murders of several Osage tribal members after oil was discovered on their lands. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book of the same name by David Grann, the movie had a cast jam-packed with big names, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, John Lithgow, and Brendan Fraser. A massive commercial and critical hit, the movie has been classed as a masterpiece and frequently praised for the way it seamlessly blends several genres and serves as a requiem for a country that, in its greed and desire for dominance, has strayed far from its founding principles.

Though "Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter 1" made headlines for all of the wrong reasons in 2024—less-than-glowing critical reviews and a box office return so poor that further theatrical release plans were quickly scrapped—the movie still has quite a few fans. Fresh off his leading role on the hit TV series "Yellowstone," Kevin Costner directs and stars in this sweeping Civil War-set epic, the first of a four-part film series. Film critics took issue with the movie's plodding pace and tone-deaf portrayals of Native Americans, but "Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter 1" managed to pick up steam after debuting on the streaming platform Max in August 2024. And in a year of few Western movies, this controversial pick managed to come out on top.

Additional writing by Cu Fleshman and Madison Troyer. Story editing by Cynthia Rebolledo. Copy editing by Robert Wickwire. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick.

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We may not be able to answer those questions yet, but we can get insights into how recent albums are holding up so far. To do so, Stacker set out to find the best albums of the 21st century, compiling data from Metacritic as of July 2024. Albums were ranked according to their Metascore, which represents an aggregation of critic reviews. EPs, rerelease box sets, reissues, and compilations were not considered. Ties were broken internally by Metacritic.

On this list, there are plenty of artists whom music lovers of many generations will recognize, from Bob Dylan for '60s kids to Fiona Apple for those who grew up in the '90s.

Some of the top albums—ranging from music by country legend Loretta Lynn to pop-punk darlings the Wonder Years—might get listeners to sing along or even forget about the outside world for a few minutes. At the other end of the spectrum, there's no shortage of music for getting angry and letting it all out, from the Chariot's thrashing post-hardcore to Deafheaven's black metal. Discover artists who honor their predecessors while helping to shape the world we live in today. Composer David Lang, for example, channeled Hans Christian Andersen and Johann Sebastian Bach for his Pulitzer Prize-winning choral piece. Or get ready to be transported far away by the West African sounds of Ali Farka Touré. Those looking for something to get them moving can turn to the hip-hop sounds of N.E.R.D., the seductive R&B offerings of Amaarae, or BERWYN's genre-bending sound that combines elements of trap with bedroom pop.

Read on for the 50 best albums of the 21st century so far, according to critics.

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'In Search Of…' is the debut album by N.E.R.D., a side project for the Neptunes' members Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. The group served as an outlet for the hip-hop veterans to experiment with other sounds, from funk rock to bossa nova. "In Search Of…" is notable for being released in two versions: The first is electronic, produced by the Neptunes, and came out in 2001; the second is a rock version produced by Spymob released in 2002.

Deafheaven's "Sunbather" is filled with black metal's trademark screaming vocals and crashing percussion. However, the San Francisco Bay Area band also mixed in the sounds of shoegaze, a musical style marked by distortion, reverb, and high volume.

American singer, songwriter, and musician Ry Cooder is perhaps best known for producing the hugely popular "Buena Vista Social Club" album of Cuban musicians in 1996. Fifteen years later, his political album, "Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down," earned accolades for protesting bank bailouts, inequality, and war.

Seven-piece British rock outfit Black Country, New Road followed an acclaimed studio album debut with this sophomore standout. It features tighter songwriting and incorporates both string instruments and horns. But just before the album was released, frontman Isaac Wood unexpectedly left the band, though they've continued touring and recording music.

Beyoncé's "Lemonade," her sixth album released along with an hourlong film, tackles issues of infidelity, family, relationships, and race. In the film "Lemonade," viewers see her husband Jay-Z's grandmother at her 90th birthday party, ostensibly explaining the album's name, saying she had been given lemons and "made lemonade."

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British singer-songwriter Rebecca Taylor—aka Self Esteem—conjures personal themes and bombastic melodies on her sophomore album. Various critics have hailed "Prioritise Pleasure" as a radical pop masterpiece, picking up where previous artists such as Madonna and Britney Spears left off.

The second studio album from British duo Nova Twins was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize in 2022, the coveted annual award given to the musical act from the U.K. or Ireland with the best album of the year. "Supernova" spans a variety of aggressive rock styles while dipping its toes into hip-hop and EDM.

When jazz saxophonist and composer Marius Neset released "Golden Xplosion" in 2011, an esteemed Norwegian jazz journalist called him "the most talented Norwegian saxophonist since Jan Garbarek in the 1960s." The then-25-year-old musician's mature songwriting, paired with energetic performances, set him apart.

For his seventh album, jazz pianist Dave Stapleton recruited aforementioned saxophonist Marius Neset, drummer Olavi Louhivuori, bassist Dave Kane, and the Brodowski String Quartet. "Flight" is widely considered Stapleton's most ambitious project, blending contemporary jazz with classical music.

The Menzingers are a popular punk band from Scranton, Pennsylvania. After two indie releases, "The Impossible Past" is their debut album with Epitaph Records. The album notably moves away from their initial hardcore punk sound to, as Anna Gaca of Pitchfork described it, "melodic pop-punk comfort food."

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Saba's "Care for Me" is a deep dive into grief as he raps about his late cousin, who was stabbed to death on a train in Chicago. The deeply personal album also features guest appearances by Chance the Rapper, Kaina, and theMIND.

Allison Russell's sophomore solo album, "The Returner," garnered her four Grammy nominations, including one win. The Americana artist took home the Best American Roots Performance award for the album's track "Eve Was Black."

Billy Strings incorporated an array of influences in his fourth studio album. The result sees the bluegrass musician embrace elements of heavy metal, psychedelic, and classic rock without straying too far from his signature sound. The experiment worked: "Renewal" topped Billboard's Bluegrass Albums chart for nine weeks.

Bob Dylan's 31st studio album, "Love and Theft," was released on the same day as the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Some hardcore fans and conspiracy theorists have argued that premonitions were hidden in the lyrics. The album, filled with sounds of blues and swing, won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album, along with two other nominations.

Noname, a Chicago rapper born Fatimah Warner, made "Room 25" as a follow-up to her mixtape "Telefone." She financed the album's production and imbued it with the same humor and conversational tone her first project delivered.

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Songwriter Phil Elverum, who records under the name Mount Eerie, made the concept album "A Crow Looked at Me" as a tribute to his late wife, Geneviève Castrée. She died of pancreatic cancer in 2016, leaving him with their young daughter. On the painfully honest album, he sings about grief, memory, loss, and gratitude.

"Untitled (Rise)" was the second album British R&B group Sault released in 2020. Like its predecessor "Untitled (Black Is)," which came out in June, "Untitled (Rise)" explores the modern-day Black experience. The album was shortlisted for the 2021 Mercury Prize.

"Madvillainy" is a collaborative creation of rapper MF Doom and producer Madlib, released under the name Madvillain. The album was enormously popular, and fans have been hoping for a reunion of the two stars of underground hip-hop ever since.

From 2005 to 2017, Caroline Polachek was one-half of the indie pop group Chairlift. The split came as a shock, as the members seemed to get along and continued to grow in each of their three albums. However, after the breakup, Polachek kept evolving as a solo artist, and Pitchfork's Cat Zhang called this sophomore solo album the best of her career. In addition to receiving critical acclaim, "Desire, I Want To Turn Into You" was also nominated for a Grammy.

The third studio album from Spanish singer Rosalía is a creative tour de force that draws upon various influences and genres, from reggaetón to hip-hop. It features contributions from hit-makers like Pharrell Williams and the Weeknd. The album won Rosalía the Latin Grammy for Album of the Year and Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album at the 65th Grammys.

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"The Livelong Day" is Lankum's second album since changing their name from Lynched. The Irish band is folk on paper, but their music fuses the genre with components of psychedelia and punk to create something brand new. "The Livelong Day" won the Choice Music Prize for Album of the Year, a top honor in their home country.

"One Wing" is the fifth and final album by Atlanta-based post-hardcore band the Chariot. The band was founded by former Norma Jean singer Josh Scogin, who wanted to go in a more punk-metal direction than his former bandmates. After a decade together, the Chariot disbanded in 2013, a year after the release of "One Wing."

Kanye West's fifth album, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," has an array of guest appearances, including Nicki Minaj, John Legend, Bon Iver, Kid Cudi, Beyoncé, and Jay-Z. The acclaimed album wasn't nominated for the Grammys' Album or Record of the Year, which many saw as a snub at the volatile artist. In 2022, awards predictors at Gold Derby called it one of the 10 most "unforgivable Grammy snubs" for Album of the Year.

"Savane" is the final solo album by Ali Farka Touré. It was released posthumously in July 2006, just months after the African blues star died from bone cancer at age 66. Pitchfork's Joe Tangari called it "a deeply felt album that stands among his best."

Charli XCX delivered her most successful album to date with "Brat." The pop star's sixth album showcases her love of French dance music from the late '90s and 2000s, with Pitchfork's Meaghan Garvey calling it "one of the best pop albums of the year." It sparked the viral trend "brat summer" (which even 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris got in on). "Brat" was also shortlisted for the 2024 Mercury Prize.

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"Skeleton Tree" was the 16th album by Australian rocker Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was recorded as Cave mourned the loss of his 15-year-old son, who fell from a cliff in England in 2015, though most of its somber sounds and dark lyrics were written before the accident.

Like many, Charles Lloyd was troubled by the state of the world in 2020, so the legendary jazz saxophonist set out to create music with a new ensemble featuring pianist Jason Moran, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Brian Blade. Together, they made "The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow," an album that shows all sides of the musician, who turned 86 on the day of its release.

British rapper Ghetts (aka Justin Clarke) 's third studio album is his first on a major recording label. Filled with gritty stories of life in East London, it mixes a hip-hop sound with funk, strings, and horns.

After putting out four EPs, Doe released their debut album, "Some Things Last Longer Than You," in 2016. The London-based indie rock trio took inspiration from bands like Sleater-Kinney and Weezer and showcased that influence while wearing their hearts on their sleeves.

After his debut mixtape, "DEMOTAPE/VEGA," was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize in 2021, BERWYN followed it up with a critically acclaimed debut album. "WHO AM I" sees the Trinidad-born, London-bred singer-songwriter tap into genres ranging from trap to bedroom pop as he navigates personal subjects like addiction and racism in his lyrics.

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"Eternal Forward Motion" is the third album from U.K.-based metalcore band Employed to Serve. The woman-fronted group meshes punk and metal with pop sensibilities and continues to evolve with each album while staying true to its core sound.

Rose City Band isn't a band but rather the moniker for Ripley Johnson's solo project. The second album from the artist of Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo fame sees him straddling the line between psychedelia and country rock music, enhancing the sound with the jaw harp, mandolin, and pedal steel guitar.

Jaimie Branch's third and final album was released posthumously after the avant-garde trumpeter died of an accidental drug overdose in 2022. Critics praised "Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die (world war)" for bringing punk rock ethos to jazz music, showcasing the incredible potential Branch had as a genre-defying artist before her tragic death.

California band Joyce Manor is known for mixing power pop, emo, and punk sounds, and their sophomore album did just that. The nine-track album is also a picture of efficiency, clocking in at just over 13 minutes. As DIY Magazine's Heather McDaid said: "It speaks volumes on their fearlessness to release an album so short and so stripped back, yet pull it off so seamlessly."

R&B star D'Angelo released his third album, "Black Messiah," following a 14-year absence. Filled with protest songs, the album arrived amid political turmoil over police brutality after the killings of two unarmed Black men in the summer of 2014—Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Their deaths are directly referenced in D'Angelo's track "The Charade." "Black Messiah" went on to win Best R&B Album at the 58th Grammys.

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When Bob Dylan released "Rough and Rowdy Ways" in 2020, it marked the first time in eight years that he'd given the world new original music. A quick listen revealed the prolific Dylan hadn't lost his touch, with each track containing the myths, magic, and truths we've come to expect from the then-79-year-old singer-songwriter.

Not only did "DAMN." win a Grammy for Best Rap Album, but it also made history in 2018 as the first album to win a Pulitzer Prize that wasn't classical or jazz. The committee said "DAMN." had "vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism" that captured "the complexity of modern African American life."

"Stankonia" is the fourth album by the funky hip-hop duo OutKast, comprised of Big Boi and André 3000. The album, which Pitchfork's Kris Ex praised as "the group's most expansive and abrasive effort," went on to win the Grammy for Best Rap Album in 2001. The hit single "Ms. Jackson" took home the award for Best Performance by a Duo or Group.

Cindy Lee is the drag alter ego of Patrick Flegel. Under the moniker, the former frontperson of the band Women explores themes like alienation and gender identity washed in haunting avant-garde pop songs. "Diamond Jubilee" is Lee's seventh studio album, and when it came out in March 2024, its 9.1 rating made it the highest-scoring album on Pitchfork since Fiona Apple's "Fetch the Bolt Cutters" earned a perfect 10 in 2020.

"Fountain Baby" is the second album by Ghanaian American artist Amaarae. The 14-song collection tackles themes like race and gender through unconventional R&B sounds, combined with her tantalizing vocals. With her sophomore album, NPR's Tarisai Ngangura said Amaarae "redefines herself as a pop auteur."

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"Bloodstone & Diamonds" is Machine Head's eighth studio album and the first with bassist Jared MacEachern. The project notably builds on the intense sound the metalcore pioneers established on the band's previous two albums, "The Blackening" and "Unto the Locust."

Composer David Lang's choral piece was inspired by two famous works: Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Match Girl" and Johann Sebastian Bach's "Saint Matthew Passion." The piece premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2007, won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2008, and was released to the public a year later.

Nick Cave described "Ghosteen" as having two acts: The songs in the first half are the children, and the songs in the second are their parents, according to Rolling Stone. Like "Skeleton Tree," "Ghosteen," Cave's 17th album with the Bad Seeds, is imbued with his grief over the death of his teenage son four years earlier. On the album, Cave "sounds simultaneously alone at the edge of the world and surrounded by benevolent spirits," as AV Club described.

The working title of Kendrick Lamar's second major label studio release was "Tu P*mp a Caterpillar" in honor of the late rapper Tupac Shakur. Touching on highly personal topics like fame, depression, and death, "To P*mp a Butterfly" scored Lamar five Grammys, including Best Rap Album in 2015. He was nominated for 11 awards that year, the most for any artist since Babyface scored 12 nods in 1996.

"The Greatest Generation" is the Wonder Years' fourth full-length album. In addition to being praised for its creativity, it also brought the Philadelphia-based pop-punk outfit mainstream success. It was the band's first album to land in the top 20 on the Billboard 200 chart and outsold all of its predecessors.

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Produced by Jack White of the White Stripes, "Van Lear Rose" is widely considered one of Loretta Lynn's best albums. It was the 42nd studio album by the country music legend from Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, who was married at 13 and had four children by age 18. It features the song "Miss Being Mrs.," about the death of her husband. "Van Lear Rose" won the Grammy for Best Country Album and picked up another for her and White's "Portland Oregon" in the Best Country Collaboration with Vocals category.

Former Beach Boy Brian Wilson made "SMiLE" from the band's unfinished 1967 album "Smile," recreating songs that include a lively, pared-down version of "Good Vibrations." Though he'd earned four Grammy nominations with the Beach Boys nearly four decades earlier, the album won Wilson his first award: Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow."

Muncie Girls wowed the pop-punk world with their politically charged debut album "From Caplan to Belsize," with NME's James McMahon calling it "one of the most special indie rock records to emerge in an age." The U.K.-based trio released its sophomore album "Fixed Ideals" in 2018 before breaking up in 2023.

"Fetch the Bolt Cutters" was the first album singer-songwriter Fiona Apple released in eight years (and as of April 2026, she hasn't released another). It was recorded in the house where the reclusive artist had been living, and its title comes from a line in the British mystery series "The Fall" starring Gillian Anderson.

"Ten Freedom Summers" is a 19-track, four-disc set by jazz trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith. It centers on 10 key years of the Civil Rights Movement, from the Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857, which stated that enslaved people were not citizens of the U.S., to the post-9/11 landscape in which it was released. JazzWire's Kevin Le Gendre praised the album—a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in music—as a "deeply moving and artistically ambitious work."

Story editing by Jaimie Etkin. Copy editing by Robert Wickwire. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick.

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In one fateful 1951 episode, Emerson invited her friend, Steve Allen, to chat and play the piano on air. A couple of years later, Allen would create "The Tonight Show" for NBC, which is widely considered the first long-form, late-night show to hit national airwaves.

During his tenure on "The Tonight Show," from 1954 to 1956, Allen solidified the format many late-night shows still follow today: an opening monologue, some audience work, celebrity chats, person-on-the-street interviews, and musical performances. Everyone who has followed in his footsteps—from Johnny Carson to Joan Rivers and Jimmy Kimmel—has added their own twists to the formula with varying levels of success.

The genre's constant evolution has seen late night TV go to unexpected places in recent months. The July 2025 cancellation of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," which many attribute to his criticism of Paramount settling its lawsuit with President Donald Trump, had late-night writers and experts fearing future attempts at censorship. Those concerns were amplified in September 2025, when "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" was temporarily suspended over comments Kimmel made about deceased rightwing activist Charlie Kirk, with the Federal Communications Commission threatening action against ABC affiliates. The massive backlash, which included fiery defenses of free speech and a Disney boycott, prompted a reversal of the decision.

These late night battles aren't over yet, though. In April 2026, Kimmel provoked even more threats from President Trump with a joke comparing Melania Trump to an "expectant widow" before the April 25 shooting attempt at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. But for now, at least, late-night hosts like Kimmel are staying loud. And many continue to hold pop cultural sway—some more so than others. To identify the most popular late-night hosts over the years, Stacker used survey data from YouGov on the most well known and liked TV personalities as of the fourth quarter of 2024 to rank the top 20 late-night hosts. They were then ranked by the percentage of survey respondents who had a favorable opinion of them. To qualify, a host had to host a late-night show (a talk show airing at 11 p.m. or later) for at least one full season. Ties were broken internally by YouGov.

Read on to see if your favorite host made the list and to learn more about these individuals' contributions to the genre.

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Dick Cavett got his start in late-night TV behind the scenes, writing jokes for the likes of Jack Paar and Johnny Carson. Then, in 1968, ABC offered him his own show, simply titled "The Dick Cavett Show. " This show ran as the network's entry in the late-night wars, airing in the 11:30 p.m. slot. Often described as a more cerebral offering, the series ran until 1975 and took home multiple Emmys before Cavett moved on to other projects.

Now 89, Cavett's latest late-night appearance was on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in 2020. However, he still gives interviews and even made an appearance in a 2024 music video.

When ratings for "The Late Show with Joan Rivers" began to sag in the late 1980s, Arsenio Hall was tapped by Fox as a guest host tasked with reviving the series. Though the show eventually folded, Hall impressed executives and audiences enough that he was awarded his own series with Paramount, "The Arsenio Hall Show." Running from 1989 to 1994, the show was known for booking guests other hosts shied away from (like Public Enemy and Tupac Shakur) and for tackling topics Hall's competitors often skirted around, from the HIV/AIDS epidemic to gang violence.

Mike Wallace is best known for his four decades as a correspondent on "60 Minutes." But before his time on the storied CBS news program began in 1968, Wallace hosted two hard-hitting talk shows in the 1950s: "Night Beat" and "The Mike Wallace Interview." The former was one of the first half-hour newscasts in TV history, airing Tuesdays through Fridays at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. and consisting of news segments and sit-down interviews. "We were dinner conversation," Wallace later told the Television Academy Foundation. "Everybody in sports, in theater, in movies, when they came to town, in politics… everybody wanted to be on 'Night Beat.'"

"The Mike Wallace Interview" technically isn't late-night by this list's standards (it ran once a week on ABC at 10:30 p.m.) but it continued to lay the groundwork for Wallace's cut-throat interview style. He interviewed a wide range of iconic figures, from authors (like Ayn Rand and Aldous Huxley) and actors (like Gloria Swanson and Tony Perkins) to legendary architects and artists (Frank Lloyd Wright and Salvador Dalí). Wallace lived until he was 93 in 2012.

Peter Jennings anchored "ABC World News Tonight" for 22 years, rounding out the "Big Three" news anchors who got their big breaks in the 1980s: Jennings, Tom Brokaw of "NBC Nightly News," and Dan Rather of "CBS Evening News." Most people may not think of Jennings as a late-night host, but he actually hosted two late-night series in the 1960s: "Vue" on CJOH-TV in Ottawa, Canada, and then "CTV World News," which he co-anchored at just 23 years old. Soon thereafter, he'd move stateside to ABC and eventually make history with his coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks. Four months after announcing his lung cancer diagnosis on the air in 2005, he died at the age of 67.

British comedian John Oliver honed his cutting-edge political humor on stand-up stages across the U.K. before hopping across the pond in 2006 to become a correspondent on "The Daily Show." In 2014, he was given his own late-night series, HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver." The show, which kicked off its 13th season in February 2026, has won 30 Emmys and is frequently praised for its insightful musings and for pressing on political, social, and cultural issues.

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After turns on hit shows "A Different World" and "The Sinbad Show," a couple of HBO stand-up specials, and several movie roles in the '80s and '90s, comedian and actor Sinbad was given the opportunity to host the syndicated late-night show "Vibe" in 1997, replacing the series' initial host, Chris Spencer. Although the gig only lasted one year, it stood out thanks to the type of audience it attracted—young, urban viewers vs. more middle-aged, suburban watchers.

While Sinbad has been out of the public eye for some time—he experienced a stroke in 2020 that had him hospitalized for five months—he returned to acting with a role in Tyler Perry's "Straw," which hit Netflix in June 2025.

Thirty years ago, Jon Stewart launched MTV's first talk show, "The Jon Stewart Show," a job that eventually led to him hosting Comedy Central's "The Daily Show." From 1999 to 2015, Stewart helmed the late-night show, winning a slew of accolades along the way, including 10 consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Variety Series. After a nearly decade-long hiatus, during which he hosted "The Problem with Jon Stewart" on Apple TV+, Stewart returned to "The Daily Show" in 2024 and is currently slated to stay on through the end of 2026.

It should come as no surprise that the always outspoken and highly political Stewart has been speaking out about the cancellation of his former colleague Stephen Colbert's late-night show in July 2025.

A longtime cast member and writer on "SNL," Seth Meyers was no stranger to late-night hours when he landed his gig as the host of NBC's "Late Night" in 2014 after Jimmy Fallon announced his departure for "The Tonight Show" (once Jay Leno left for good). Meyers' decade on the show since has resulted in 11 Emmy nominations. In his spare time, he has taken on several other projects, including co-creating the mockumentary series "Documentary Now!," writing a children's book called "I'm Not Scared, You're Scared," and filming a stand-up special, "Seth Meyers: Dad Man Walking," which was nominated for a 2025 Golden Globe.

Steve Allen got his start in radio in the 1940s before becoming a late-night pioneer in the 1950s. The co-creator and first host of "The Tonight Show" only sat behind the desk for five years (from 1953 to 1957), but his style and sense of humor set the precedent for much of what we still see on these types of shows today, including man-on-the-street interviews and audience participation. After stepping back from "The Tonight Show," Allen hosted several other game shows, variety shows, and talk shows, and he also composed hundreds of songs for the stage and other artists. He died in 2000 at the age of 78.

A 1987 Washington D.C. talent show was the catalyst that led Wanda Sykes to leave her first career as a National Security Agency officer to become one of the most beloved comedians of her generation. After spending five years writing for "The Chris Rock Show" in the 1990s, Fox offered Sykes the opportunity to host her own late-night program, "The Wanda Sykes Show," in 2009. Though it only lasted for a single season due to low ratings, the fumble hasn't stopped the comic, who's appeared on series like "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," "The Good Fight," "Black-ish," and "The Upshaws." In 2023, she even guest-hosted "The Daily Show" after Trevor Noah left the gig in 2022. She's been nominated for 17 Emmys and won one for her writing on "The Chris Rock Show."

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One of the longest-running correspondents on "The Daily Show," Stephen Colbert was given his own late-night show in 2005, Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report." He left that gig in 2014 to take over CBS's "The Late Show" after David Letterman's retirement. Eventually becoming the #1 show on late-night TV, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" won the Peabody Award and garnered more than 30 Emmy nominations.

On July 17, 2025, CBS announced that it would be ending "The Late Show" after the next TV season, calling the move a "financial decision." That reasoning didn't pass muster with many observers, who noted the timing of the firing, mere days after Colbert called out parent company Paramount for settling its lawsuit with President Trump in advance of the FCC deciding on Paramount's planned merger with Skydance. The massive backlash to CBS' decision may not save "The Late Show," but it did have Colbert setting new ratings records. His final episode aired on May 21, 2026.

A trailblazer for women in comedy, Joan Rivers began her stand-up career in the mid-1960s, telling her blunt, self-deprecating, sometimes acerbic jokes on stages all across New York City. In 1965, she was invited to perform on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," and her career took off from there. She became a regular on that show and eventually landed her own groundbreaking late-night program, Fox's "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers," in 1986.

Rivers' tenure only lasted seven months, thanks to blacklisting from her mentor-turned-rival Carson and fights between her husband-producer Edgar Rosenberg and studio executives. The fallout almost ended her career, but she made a comeback in the early '90s doing red carpet and fashion commentary until her death in 2014. Rivers will go down in history as the first woman to headline a long-form late-night talk show.

Conan O'Brien got his start in the entertainment industry writing for hit series like "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons." In 1993, he made his late-night hosting debut as the second host of NBC's "Late Night" franchise after David Letterman departed for CBS. In 2009, O'Brien left that show to helm "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" in the wake of Jay Leno's "retirement," but he was ousted when Leno decided to come back in one of the most controversial moments in late-night hosting history. O'Brien then left network late-night entirely to host "Conan" on TBS, where he stayed from 2010 to 2021. These days, he keeps busy with a podcast and an HBO Max travel show, which earned him an Emmy in 2024.

The other late-night Jimmy, Jimmy Fallon, was castmates with Seth Meyers on "SNL" before he landed his gig on NBC. After succeeding Conan O'Brien as "Late Night" host from 2009 to 2014, Fallon moved to "The Tonight Show," where he still reigns. In addition to his nightly appearances, Fallon has written several children's books and still appears in movies and on TV shows, like "Jurassic World" and "Only Murders in the Building," usually as himself.

Most folks know Pat Sajak as the host of "Wheel of Fortune," a job he held from 1981 until 2024. But some may remember his brief foray into late-night TV, hosting "The Pat Sajak Show" from 1989 to 1990. While the program is largely forgettable, there was one moment that will go down in history—when conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh acted as a guest host in 1990, bringing up the hot-button issue of abortion and essentially getting yelled out of the studio. The series was canceled two weeks later.

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David Letterman spent 33 years on network late-night TV, hosting more than 6,000 episodes of "Late Night" on NBC and "The Late Show" on CBS, making him the longest-serving host in late-night history. Between the two series, he also won five Emmy awards. Since retiring from the "Late Show" desk in 2015, Letterman has focused on his new Netflix talk show "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction," which has been running since 2018.

Letterman does make occasional appearances elsewhere, including a stop on Busy Philipps' QVC talk show "Busy This Week" in July 2025, where he admitted, "I just love being on TV." And though the Letterman YouTube channel is mostly home to clips from his late-night hosting career, Letterman does sometimes post new content. Also in July, he shared a Zoom video, where he called CBS' firing of Stephen Colbert "gutless."

Born and raised in South Africa, comedian Trevor Noah began working as a correspondent on "The Daily Show" in 2014. The following year, Comedy Central announced that he'd be replacing Jon Stewart as full-time host, a position he held until 2022. For that final season, Noah won the Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series. He's kept very busy since leaving "The Daily Show," hosting award shows like the Grammys and touring worldwide while filming multiple comedy specials. He's also the host of the hit interview podcast "What Now?" and made headlines in June 2025 when he moved it from Spotify to SiriusXM.

Comedian Jay Leno began his TV career as a frequent guest on "The Tonight Show" in the 1970s before eventually taking over as host in 1992 when Johnny Carson stepped down. He spent two separate stints behind the "Tonight Show" desk, one from 1992 to 2009 and another infamous one from 2010 to 2014, before permanently moving on to other projects like CNBC's "Jay Leno's Garage" and the Fox game show "You Bet Your Life." In July 2025, Leno provoked ire after criticizing current late-night hosts for being overly partisan.

Just a few years after his TV debut on Comedy Central's "Win Ben Stein's Money," Jimmy Kimmel was handed his own late-night series, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Now in its 22nd season, the show still draws sizable audiences and is ABC's longest-running late-night program. However, that all may end sooner rather than later—Kimmel started hinting in February 2024 that he won't renew his contract, which is set to expire after the show's 23rd season ends. In an April 2025 interview with Rolling Stone, Kimmel said of his potential retirement, "I've realized that there's no point in talking about it. It upsets the people I work with."

In September 2025, Kimmel made headlines following comments he made about the death of Charlie Kirk, which prompted FCC threats against ABC affiliates and the temporary suspension of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" The move prompted an enormous outcry and defenses of Kimmel, including from fellow late-night hosts. When Kimmel returned to the air on Sept. 23, 2025, he did not mince words about the importance of being able to speak out without fear of government reprisal. "A government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn't like is anti-American," he said in his first monologue after the suspension. "This show is not important. What's important is that we live in a country that allows us to have a show like this."

Finally, the most popular host in late-night TV history is Johnny Carson, the 30-year host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" between 1962 and 1992. Known for his quick wit and casual, conversational hosting style (perhaps as a result of his shy nature), Carson was "seen by more people on more occasions than anyone else in American history," according to PBS. He died in 2005 at 79 years old, but he's still known as "The King of Late Night" today.

Additional writing by Jaimie Etkin. Data reporting by Luke Hicks. Story editing by Jaimie Etkin. Copy editing by Tim Bruns. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick.

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Movies have been a defining part of the summer experience for decades since Steven Spielberg pioneered the modern summer blockbuster in 1975. With his seminal summer horror film "Jaws," Spielberg changed the filmmaking landscape. Hollywood had been in a transitional period following the studio system and Hollywood's Golden Age. But, after "Jaws" and the introduction of the "Movie Brats," a core group of emerging American directors including Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Brian De Palma, and Francis Ford Coppola, the American film industry entered an exciting era defined by ambition, creativity, and soaring box office sales.

Do you remember the film that defined the last summer of your high school years? Stacker compiled Box Office Mojo data on summer movies from 1975 to 2024 and listed the #1 film at the box office for each summer, defined as the first Friday in May through Labor Day weekend.

Look back and see which iconic film took over the box office the summer you graduated!

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A New England tourist town becomes tormented by the presence of a bloodthirsty shark. The sheriff wants the beaches closed, but the mayor fears the loss of revenue, so it's up to an oceanographer and a local shark hunter to rid the town of the beast for good. "Jaws" had a notoriously troubled production, in part because it was the first major film to be shot on location on the ocean.

There's something not quite right about Damien, adopted by American diplomat Robert Thorn and his wife, Katherine, after the stillborn death of their baby. A prescient warning from a priest and a series of deaths sends Robert down a rabbit hole to figure out whether he adopted the Antichrist. "The Omen" spawned a horror franchise that includes three sequels, a 2006 remake, and a 2024 prequel.

The first film released in George Lucas' epic trilogy introduces us to the hero Luke Skywalker, who must team up with a Jedi Knight, his hairy sidekick, and two droids to save Princess Leia and the entire galaxy from the evil Darth Vader. Due to troubled production and budgetary issues, many who worked on the film—and the studio that backed it—feared it would be a flop.

Good girl Sandy Olsson has a romantic summer fling with greaser Danny Zuko after she transfers to America from Australia. And while opposites attract, the two high school kids' dueling cliques would rather see the lovers torn apart. The popular musical starring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta spawned a sequel, as well as a prequel series that launched on Paramount+ in 2023.

Something horrible happened in the Amityville house, and now it's coming for George Lutz and his entire family. It turns out the home was the site of a brutal massacre and the former home of a Satanist. The film's score composed by Lalo Schifrin was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award.

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In this thrilling sequel to "A New Hope," intrepid Jedi-in-training Luke Skywalker must journey to the planet Dagobah to learn the ways of the Force from Master Yoda. Meanwhile, the Force's dark side pulls him into a climactic lightsaber battle with Darth Vader. For this second film in the original trilogy, Lucas handed the directing reins over to Irvin Kershner, who also directed the John Carpenter-penned "Eyes of Laura Mars" and "RoboCop 2."

While saving the world from a terrorist plot, Superman accidentally frees the Kryptonian villain General Zod and his henchmen—and they're headed straight to Earth. Superman must rise to the occasion, even after deciding to hang up his cape in favor of a normal life. "Superman II" co-screenwriter Mario Puzo may be better known as the author and Academy Award-winning co-screenwriter of "The Godfather," "The Godfather Part II," and the film's eponymous source novel.

Stranded on Earth, the gentle alien E.T. befriends a young boy and his siblings in another Steven Spielberg classic. But when E.T. falls ill and the government catches wind of his existence, it's a race to get E.T. on the first spaceship back to his home planet. Many remember "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" as the breakout role for a very young Drew Barrymore.

The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of Jedi Luke Skywalker, who must fight against the cruel Jabba the Hut and his own father, the evil Darth Vader. His friends in the Rebel Alliance, including Princess Leia and Han Solo, battle against the Galactic Empire on the forest planet of Endor. While Richard Marquand directed the film, Steven Spielberg, David Cronenberg, and David Lynch all turned down the job.

"Who you gonna call?" In this classic film, a group of fired Columbia University professors in New York City team up to fight a scourge more maddening than rats or cockroaches: supernatural forces. But when they accidentally come upon a portal to another dimension, the Ghostbusters are forced to save the entire city. The movie inspired four more films, including a 2016 reboot starring all women and the most recent hit, 2024's "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire."

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This sequel to the iconic 1982 film sees John Rambo in jail when he's offered a way out by his former boss. If he travels to Vietnam and finds American POWs, his criminal record will be cleared, but everything changes when the woman he loves dies at the hands of American forces.

Hotshot pilot Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is sent to the Fighter Weapons School, where his cocky attitude and recklessness create problems with the other students. As Maverick competes to be the best fighter pilot in his class, he also fights for the love of his instructor, Charlotte Blackwood. The film's appeal is so long-lived that its 2022 sequel, "Top Gun: Maverick," outperformed the original film at the box office.

Everyone's favorite Detroit cop, Axel Foley, returns to L.A. in this hilarious sequel with a brand-new case to crack. Foley is tasked with pinning down a series of robberies dubbed the "alphabet crimes," which leads him to an illegal weapons dealer. "Beverly Hills Cop II" received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for the song "Shakedown."

When a potential cheating scandal leaves one man dead, the finger of suspicion is pointed at the husband of the victim's lover: star toon Roger Rabbit. Private investigator Eddie Valiant is tasked with bridging the worlds of toons and humans to find the man's real killer and clear Roger's name. "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" won four Academy Awards: Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, and a Special Achievement Award.

Tim Burton's classic take on the Caped Crusader sees the city of Gotham besieged by a grinning madman known only as The Joker, who takes full control of Gotham's criminal underworld. In this new evil, Batman finds his greatest opponent and must save the city while concealing his true identity and protecting the woman he loves. Before Michael Keaton was eventually cast as Batman, several actors were considered for the role, including Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner, and Harrison Ford.

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When a banker is unknowingly double-crossed by his corrupt friend and murdered over a dubious business deal, he becomes a spirit in between planes of existence. But, while he's dead, he discovers what happened to him, and he seeks help from a psychic to get justice and protect the love of his life. Anyone who has seen the movie has never heard "Unchained Melody" the same way since. "Ghost" was a departure for director Jerry Zucker of the Zucker Brothers comedy directing duo, who, along with Jim Abrahams, was responsible for such classics as "Airplane!" and "Top Secret!"

Eleven years after the events of the first "Terminator" film, young John Connor becomes the target of a T-1000 robot that's been sent from the future. But another robot from the future, a T-800, has been sent to protect him, and John, alongside the robot and his mother, must go on the run to save humanity from a robot uprising. "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" earned four wins at the 64th Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing Editing, Best Sound, and Best Makeup.

In this sequel to Tim Burton's classic take on Batman, the Dark Knight returns as Gotham finds itself overtaken by a mutant, sewer-dwelling man known as The Penguin and his goons. The Penguin has teamed up with corrupt businessman Max Shreck to get rid of the Bat once and for all, accompanied by Shreck's former assistant-turned-Catwoman, Selina Kyle.

Though "Batman Returns" was the #1 movie of the summer in 1992, it failed to bring in the same box office earnings as its predecessor; in total, it earned $162.9 million domestically compared to "Batman's" $251.2 million. As a result, Burton was replaced with Joel Schumacher, who went on to direct the marginally more successful "Batman Forever" and the bomb that was "Batman & Robin."

Billionaire John Hammond has cracked the code for bringing dinosaurs back to life and decides to create a new kind of zoo to show them off to paying customers. Disaster, of course, ensues. A paleontologist, a paleobotanist, and a mathematician must keep people safe in the facility after an accident forces Hammond to learn just what happens when you play God. "Jurassic Park" employed groundbreaking fusions of CGI and animatronics to bring prehistoric creatures to life and made millions in the process—it was the first film to gross $50 million in a single weekend when it debuted.

Young lion cub Simba is next in line for his father's throne, but King Mufasa's malicious brother, Scar, has other plans. After Scar lures Mufasa and Simba to a stampede of wildebeests, only Simba makes it out alive, and he eventually must journey home to take back his kingdom. Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella were starring together in "Guys and Dolls" on Broadway and initially auditioned to voice Scar's hyenas, but they had such good comedic chemistry it was decided they were better as the meerkat and warthog team of Timon and Pumbaa.

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In this second Batman sequel, Val Kilmer takes over for Michael Keaton in front of the camera and Joel Schumacher takes the reins from Tim Burton behind it. "Batman Forever" sees the titular superhero go up against two new villains with the help of his trusty new sidekick, Robin: The Riddler and Two-Face. "Batman Forever" boasts a star-studded cast, including Jim Carrey, Tommy Lee Jones, Nicole Kidman, and Drew Barrymore.

A group of disparate people seemingly connected by fate stand between Earth and total annihilation by an alien insurgence. With millions already killed and the rest of the world at stake, a counterattack is planned for the Fourth of July. In 2016, a sequel to "Independence Day" was released, titled "Independence Day: Resurgence," but it only brought in a third of the original's total domestic box office earnings. Director Roland Emmerich has said he would like to make a third "Independence Day" movie, but that's still up in the air as of September 2024.

Another summer, another box office winner in which Will Smith takes on some aliens. In "Men in Black," the eponymous shadowy government agency is responsible for maintaining checks and balances for aliens visiting Earth. NYPD officer James Darrell Edwards III (Smith) inadvertently becomes one such "man in black," and is dubbed Agent J along with his partner Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones). J investigates a series of alien-related activities that uncover a plot by an intergalactic terrorist. The smash hit spawned two more sequels and a reboot, but none could match the box-office success of the original.

With a deadly asteroid on a crash course for Earth, NASA decides to employ a crew of oil drillers to travel to the asteroid's surface and detonate a bomb. Meanwhile, one of the members, the arrogant A.J., attempts to win the approval of his superior, whose daughter A.J. is in love with. While it received mixed reviews, "Armageddon" was a box office winner and garnered four nominations at the 71st Academy Awards: Best Original Song, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Visual Effects.

In this first prequel film set before the events of the classic trilogy, Darth Vader's origin story is revealed, starting with him as a young child named Anakin Skywalker, who has an intrinsically strong connection with the force. Anakin joins Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Jedi apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi to protect Queen Amidala. George Lucas returned to the "Star Wars" director's seat for this film for the first time in more than 20 years. Despite the lackluster reviews, the movie dominated the box office and has the fifth-highest earnings of any "Star Wars" film.

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In the second installment of the popular franchise, IMF agent Ethan Hunt returns with his team to destroy a biochemical weapon that is in the wrong hands. But, a gang of international terrorists is also tracking down the deadly virus, led by a former IMF agent. It's one of a handful of movie sequels on this list that outdid its predecessor at the box office.

Territorial ogre Shrek lives peacefully in his swamp until a horde of fairytale creatures is banned from their kingdom by the evil Lord Farquaad. To regain his solitude, Shrek embarks upon a perilous journey with a talking donkey to rescue Princess Fiona, who is slated to be Farquaad's bride. The film's performance was in stark contrast to its rocky beginnings; one animator said that those who failed while working on another DreamWorks film, "The Prince of Egypt," were sent to work on "Shrek" as punishment. Ironically, "Shrek" ended up earning a standing ovation at Cannes and $267.9 million at the domestic box office, compared to the $101.4 million "The Prince of Egypt" brought in.

The plot of this Sam Raimi film is one any comic book fan is likely familiar with dorky high school teen Peter Parker is bitten by a genetically modified spider and becomes the web-slinging superhero of New York City. As Peter gets accustomed to his new crime-fighting life, he copes with the death of his beloved uncle, his crush on Mary Jane Watson, and a villainous madman known as the Green Goblin. The movie's upside-down kiss between actors Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst as Spider-Man and Mary Jane became instantly iconic; but in a 2024 interview, Dunst said it was "actually kind of miserable" to film.

After the death of his wife, overly protective clownfish Marlin wants his only son, Nemo, to be as safe as possible. But, on Nemo's first day of school, Marlin's worst fears are realized: Nemo swims too close to a boat and is captured by a diver. Then, it's up to Marlin to traverse the vast ocean to rescue his last living family member. In addition to its box office success, "Finding Nemo" made history as the first Pixar film to win Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards.

Everyone's favorite grouchy ogre returns, and this time Shrek has to take on a challenge more harrowing than rescuing a princess: meeting her parents. In "Shrek 2," Shrek has to win the good graces of Fiona's royal family and circumvent the underhanded schemes of Fiona's Fairy Godmother. Like "Mission Impossible: II" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" before it, "Shrek 2" is another sequel that outdid the original at the box office.

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In this epic conclusion to George Lucas' prequel trilogy, Anakin Skywalker slowly turns to the dark side before assuming the villainous role of Darth Vader. This culminates in a climactic lightsaber battle with Obi-Wan Kenobi, fomented by Anakin's bond with the evil Emperor Palpatine. It'd be another 10 years before the "Star Wars" franchise would make its triumphant return to the box office.

Though all five "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies were released in the summer, only one dominated the box office for the full season: "Dead Man's Chest." The third installment in the iconic adventures of Jack Sparrow sees the swashbuckler contend with the ghoulish, tentacled villain Davy Jones. Jones comes to Sparrow to collect a blood debt, so the pirate must figure out a way to escape the damnation of his very soul. At the 2007 Academy Awards, the film took home the Oscar for Best Visual Effects; it was also up for Best Art Direction, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing.

In this conclusion to Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy, Peter Parker is faced with a trio of foes: Sandman, Venom, and his own best friend, Harry Osborn, who discovers Peter's true identity and seeks revenge for the death of his father, the Green Goblin. All the while, Peter struggles to maintain his relationship with Mary Jane. Neither the third movie nor the second matched the success of "Spider-Man" at the box office, but it was still enough to dominate all other movies in the summer it was released.

Christopher Nolan's lauded second installment in his "Batman" trilogy sees the Caped Crusader facing off against his greatest enemy: the twisted, maniacal Joker. Batman must find a way to put an end to the Joker's madness while keeping himself from straying too far from heroism into vigilantism. Actor Heath Ledger delivered a stellar performance as Joker but died tragically six months before the film was released. He received a posthumous Academy Award for his portrayal in the Best Supporting Actor category.

Two years following the events of the first "Transformers" film, hero Sam Witwicky adjusts to his new life in college, while his Autobot friends attempt to adjust to life on Earth. But an ancient Decepticon has other plans that threaten the fate of the entire planet. To date, "Revenge of the Fallen" is the biggest domestic box office winner of the "Transformers" franchise—of course, that could change with the release of "Transformers One" on Sept. 20, 2024.

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The first two movies in the "Toy Story" franchise were released around Thanksgiving, but the third movie debuted in the summertime, becoming king of the box office. In "Toy Story 3," Andy is grown up and finally off to college, but sadly, his beloved toys don't come with him. After being left behind, the toys end up at a daycare center full of rowdy children, and Woody must figure out a way to help his pals escape. The film features new additions including Michael Keaton, Ned Beatty, Whoopi Goldberg, Kristen Schaal, and Timothy Dalton.