_The 100 Best Films of All Time (79-75) (extended and updated)
79. Star Wars: Episode VI- The Return of the Jedi
Director: Richard Marquand
Cast: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Genre: Sci-Fi
Academy Awards: 1
Year: 1983
Imdb-Rating: 8.1
Critic's opinion (James Berardinelli):
Although it was great fun re-watching STAR WARS and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK again on the big screen, RETURN OF THE JEDI doesn't generate the same sense of enjoyment. And, while Lucas worked diligently to re-invigorate each entry into the trilogy, JEDI needs more than the patches of improved sound, cleaned-up visuals, and a few new scenes. Still, despite the flaws, this is still STAR WARS, and, as such, represents a couple of lightly-entertaining hours spent with characters we have gotten to know and love over the years. RETURN OF THE JEDI is easily the weakest of the series, but its position as the conclusion makes it a must-see for anyone who has enjoyed its predecessors.
78. Alien
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Ian Holm
Genre: Sci-Fi
Academy Awards: 1
Year: 1979
Imdb-Rating: 8.3
Critic's opinion (Dragan Antulov): The fear and anxiety that viewers share with the movie protagonists made ALIEN one of the most successful horror films, if not the best horror film of all times. Fact that it created numerous imitations and spawned three sequels so far speaks enough of its quality and importance. Yet the best recommendation for this film is the multitude of fans that watch this movie time and time again, re-experiencing same, often not so pleasant emotions, yet enjoying the rarely good work of art when they see one.
77. 8 ½
Director: Federico Fellini
Cast: Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouck Aimée
Genre: Comedy
Academy Awards: 2
Year: 1963
Imdb-Rating: 8.1
Critic's opinion (Breck Patty): The film sets in motion a dizzying spiral of vignettes that both thwart and allude to the commercial cinema's tradition of straightforward, invisible storytelling. Plot elements proceed not logically but metaphorically, suspense is suspended in favor of digression, and the resolution that caps the film is emotional rather than explanatory. Narrative becomes an act of autobiographic examination in which cohesiveness is tossed to the wind like a handful of confetti: vivid snippets of visions, dreams, fantasies, memories, and even actuality collide in a kaleidoscopic interplay of elements which dazzle and illuminate. 8 1/2 is narcissism in a fun-house mirror.
76. A Matter of Life and Death
Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Cast: David Niven, Kim Hunter, Robert Coote
Genre: Drama
Academy Awards: 0
Year: 1946
Imdb-Rating: 8.1
75. Braveheart
Director: Mel Gibson
Cast: Mel Gibson, Sophia Marceau, Patrick MacGoohan
Genre: Drama
Academy Awards: 5 (including Best Picture)
Year: 1995
Imdb-Rating: 8.3
Critic's opinion (James Berardinelli): BRAVEHEART is a brutal, bloody motion picture, but the violence is not gratuitous. The maimings, decapitations, and other assorted gruesome details make Wallace's world seem real and immediate. In addition, few theatrical moments make a more eloquent statement against war than when Gibson shows women and children weeping over the dead on a body-littered battlefield. War is a two-headed beast, and both faces--the glorious and the tragic--are depicted.
ooo... braveheart and the worst of the star wars trilogy... two of the worst movies i've ever seen... what are these critics thinking.
Definetly, Braveheart does not deserve a rank in such a list.
Frankly, I'm quite in favour with Return of the Jedi. Sure, it is the worst of the first SW-trilogy (if you can use terms as "bad" or "worst" for such an excellent trilogy), but as a movie on its own it is still convincing.
ok i'm gonna step in on Jedi's deffence. Jedi is a great film. I think what happens is that after enough critics say its bad people start believing them. i myself love it, this is how i rate them:
Empire Strikes Back: 10 / 10
Return Of The Jedi: 8 / 10
Star Wars: 4-5 / 10
As you can see i don't like star Wars, but i know all the critics do, but i don't let that get in the way of my view. i see Jedi as a very fun and layedback film compared to the first two (gotta love that ewok song at the end of the orignial version of jedi - but lucas messed with ti on the re-release, you fool! that was the best bit!)
Thx. I'd consider it like that:
Star Wars: 10/10 (amazing)
Empire Strikes Back: 9/10
Return of the Jedi: 8/10
But I'm sure there are still other listologists who would rank them in another way...
thats how i rank them... but im just not a huge fan of the trilogy anyhow... and if you wanna talk about enough critics saying it's bad people start believing... enough critics and nuts start saying star wars is the best movie of all time and people start believing it is a closer assessment.
SW: 7or8/10
II:7/10
III: 5/10
something like that, it has been a while.
It is one thing to have The Return of the Jedi on such an esteemed list (something I just could not do). It is really another thing to have it merely one slot below Alien. Ouch!
You have done an excellent job in putting these lists together. I ran through the finished product, and I think I have seen 95 of the films here. I think it is slanted a bit towards English-language films and popular blockbusters (I suspect Braveheart will be on few similar lists in a decade or two), but your presentation is superb and fun to sift through. Kudos!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
...and one slot above Once Upon a Time in the West! Oy vey...
Have you thought about putting together a "Seen in" list, lbangs? I'd be curious to know which 5 you missed.
Oh, and great list, 1922! Thanks for taking the time to construct it - I really like how you put it all together!
Thanks again.
Exact. If it had been my personal list, OUATITW would have been in the first 10.
Thx!. I agree that Alien would have deserved a much better ranking than #78.
Then I also think that some blockbusters (like Braveheart, Titanic or Jurassic Park) should not have been on this list, but they finally got onthere.