TOP 150 MOVIES

An immersive and enthralling display of filmmaking skill and lump in throat storytelling, Dunkirk features director Christopher Nolan at his leanest and most intense.

Set during the Dunkirk evacuations of World War II - where for over a week almost 400,000 British and allied troops awaited evacuation on the beaches of Dunkirk, France, as the German Air Force struck from above - Nolan weaves his different narrative timelines to create a unique retelling of an important moment in British war history.

Shot with IMAX cameras on 65 mm film stock, the imagery of Dunkirk is breathtaking in its epic size and crisp in its Hoyte Van Hoytema’s photography. For all the technical brilliance that Dunkirk displays, it is also a film of immense humanity with Nolan’s portrayal of the horrors and heroism of combat sure to shake viewers to their very souls, as men young and old, solider and civilian, answer the call to save the defenders of their country from death by above.

Who is the Zodiac? It is a question that has haunted authorities and crime buffs for decades and is the focus of David Fincher’s masterful true crime thriller Zodiac.

Based on true events surrounding the exploits and manhunt of a serial murderer who terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s and early 1970s, Zodiac is a tale of obsession told through the investigations of a detective (Mark Ruffalo), a journalist (Robert Downey Jr), and a cartoonist (Jake Gyllenhaal), who oddly enough came closer than anyone in solving the mystery.

Fincher’s methodical approach and knack for the visual left no stone unturned in his recreation of these events and the environment they were set in. Perhaps more important for this list is Fincher’s ability to scare his viewers in his recreation of the Zodiac’s many atrocities with a deft hand for tension and realistic approach to violence, with some sequences too horrific to endure.

It takes gumption to say that your film is “war personified”, yet that is exactly what director Francis Ford Coppola boldly did when he claimed that his Apocalypse Now is not about the Vietnam war but is the Vietnam war.

Granted, the production of Apocalypse Now was a battlefield within its own right, with Coppola fighting against a less than co-operative Philippines government, mother nature, and the destructive personalities of actors Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando.

But Apocalypse Now is much more than a bunch of actors playing war in the jungle to the drum of a director at breaking point: it is madness made writ set amongst the backdrop of Vietnam, with Sheen’s Captain Willard assigned to assassinate Brando’s Col. Kurtz with “extreme prejudice”, his journey upriver to Kurtz’s Cambodian compound unleashing the horrors of war.    

In Spielberg’s filmography perhaps no other image struck a chord as devastatingly simple as a young girl with a red coat - set upon a black and white backdrop - lost amongst the evil insanity that was the liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto. It is one of many moments in Schindler’s List that makes it a film of immensely powerful significance and cemented Steven Spielberg’s reputation as one of the best filmmakers of all time.

Schindler’s List stars Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, a German businessman and member of the Nazi party who exploited Polish-Jewish refugees by employing them in his factories, only to be moved by their plight at the hands of the sadistic SS lieutenant Amon Goth (Ralph Fiennes) and eventually securing their freedom.

Shot in black and white and featuring incredible performances from Neeson, Fiennes and Ben Kingsley, Schindler’s List saw Spielberg reach artistic highs that silenced many a critic who found his filmmaking to “Hollywood”. Schindler’s List also proved to be a personal turning point for Spielberg, who would go on to create the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, a non-profit organisation that provides visual testimony by survivors of the Holocaust. 

Urban filmmaking at its best, The Departed is a brutally violent, beautifully crafted, and incredibly well acted piece of film making that will leave you reeling.

Directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese, this remake of Infernal Affairs comes off the better film due Scorsese’s deft hand at the gangster genre, the career defining performances from every member of its stellar cast, and a fine screenplay by William Monahan who astutely adapted the original films Hong Kong setting to the mean streets of Boston while building upon its themes of betrayal and redemption.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon are excellent as cops on opposites sides of law, yet it is Jack Nicholson who steals the show as Frank Costello, the sadistic mob boss whose un-PC, unpredictable nature the perfect treat for Nicholson to sink his teeth into, which he does with much ferocity turning in one of his best performances in the process.

One of the most powerful and memorable war films ever made, Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory is not so much an indictment of war and the military, but more of a critical look at the abuses of justice by those who hold the power of authority. 

Set in France, 1916, Paths of Glory tells the true-life story of three French soldiers placed on trial for cowardice, and the commanding officer (Kirk Douglas) assigned to defend them against impossible odds. As well as featuring several heavy moral and ethical themes, Paths of Glory also displays a rich eye for detail with its impressive set design and authentic looking costumes.

Although it is one of his much earlier works, Stanley Kubrick displays masterful direction as shown in several key scenes, most notably a fluid tracking shot in the French trenches. Its simple yet heartbreaking conclusion leaves an undeniable sense of mourning for the events that have preceded it and will linger in the souls of those who have watched this remarkable film.

Chronicling the unearthing of the Watergate scandal which would lead to the impeachment of President Richard Nixon, All the President’s Men is a thinking man’s conspiracy thriller that is not weighed down by the mass of its information, and will keep many glued to the screen as to what revelation will be revealed in this pursuit for the truth by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman).

Tense in tone and mesmerising in structure, director Alan J. Pakula includes every deadline, dead end, and death threat these two ambitious reporters encounter without jeopardising the thrills and mystery that makes All the President’s Men such a suspenseful watch, as a conspiracy that leads all the way to the White House is revealed and a president is stood down.

This excellent follow up to Star Wars is an altogether darker film yet still filled with the fun sci-fi adventure and classic riffs on the eternal confrontation between good and evil that made the first film such an engrossing watch.

Plot wise this Irvin Kershner directed sequel follows young Jedi prodigy Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) as he is taught the ways of The Force by master Jedi Yoda (his debut!). Meanwhile Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and crew are hounded by the merciless Darth Vader.

That the film ends on such a shocking downer does not take away The Empire Strikes Back standing as one of the most celebrated and loved adventure stories of all time, nor does the irony that perhaps the best Star Wars movie was not directed by George Lucas.

Has there ever bee as complex, polarising, and confident a film as The Tree of Life? Director Terrence Malick is not one to create straight forward movies, and in his limited yet bountiful filmography of complex works The Tree of Life is his masterpiece.

Both grand and intimate, Malick’s exploration into the relationship between man, God, and nature is one of assured conviction in both its ideas and its imagery. Whether it is the scenes of a family eating dinner or the creation of the universe unfolding before our eyes, there is not one frame or hushed narration that doesn’t belong.

Performances also impress with Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain giving soulful turns as the parents of a young Texan family, who take centre stage in Malick’s theologically rich submergence into the divinity of nature, and the nature of the divine. Simply stunning.

The film that took blockbuster filmmaking to heights never thought, Star Wars couples brilliantly filmmaking craftsmanship with an exciting story of good versus evil in the far reaches of space.

The brainchild of one George Lucas, Star Wars tells the story of a rebel alliance doing battle against an evil empire, led by the sinister Darth Vader. Joining the battle is farmhand Luke Skywalker (Mark Hammil) and his brave warrior mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness.)

Iconic characters, masterful set and production design, innovative special effects, and a story for the ages all combine to make not only a film, but a pop culture movement that still holds a strong power.