Mark’s Alternative AFI List: The 100 Greatest American Movies of All T

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Mark’s Alternative AFI List: The 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time

As many of you know, the American Film Institute (AFI) released its list of the 100 greatest American movies in 1998 and then released a slightly altered 10th Anniversary edition. Although both lists featured a lot of great selections, I always felt that they excluded too many worthy films at the expense of films that were undeserving of their spots. So here is my alternative AFI list. I’ve also included the links to both AFI lists so you can compare them to my list if you want. Also, I would love to know what YOU think were the greatest American movies ever made. Do you agree with my selections? If not, why not? (Note: I base my list purely on cinematic merit. Just because I include a particular film does not mean I endorse the film’s message.)

Mark’s Alternative AFI List of the 100 Greatest American Movies
1. Intolerance
2. The Birth of a Nation
3. Citizen Kane
4. Goodfellas
5. The Godfather
6. Once Upon a Time in America
7. Schindler’s List
8. Apocalypse Now
9. 2001: A Space Odyssey
10. JFK
11. Do the Right Thing
12. Sophie’s Choice
13. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
14. The Wizard of Oz
15. Gone with the Wind
16. Network
17. Dark City
18. Mulholland Dr.
19. Dr. Strangelove
20. Modern Times
21. Taxi Driver
22. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
23. The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)
24. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
25. The Ten Commandments
26. Blade Runner
27. Minority Report
28. L.A. Confidential
29. Flags of Our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima
30. Sunset Boulevard
31. Nashville
32. Magnolia
33. Tree of Life
34. Born on the Fourth of July
35. Unforgiven
36. Chinatown
37. The Godfather Part II
38. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
39. The Shawshank Redemption
40. Adaptation
41. The Great Dictator
42. The Producers
43. Singin’ in the Rain
44. City Lights
45. Cloud Atlas
46. The Adventures of Robin Hood
47. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
48. The Best Years of Our Lives
49. Lawrence of Arabia
50. The Manchurian Candidate
51. 12 Angry Men
52. It’s a Wonderful Life
53. Groundhog Day
54. Annie Hall
55. Pulp Fiction
56. Interstellar
57. Reds
58. The Right Stuff
59. Se7en
60. Munich
61. The Truman Show
62. Atlantic City
63. The Grey Zone
64. Platoon
65. Primary Colors
66. Toy Story
67. Wag the Dog
68. Black Hawk Down
69. The Last Emperor
70. The Grapes of Wrath
71. The Cotton Club
72. The Player
73. Raging Bull
74. Raiders of the Lost Ark
75. Peeping Tom
76. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
77. Psycho
78. Jaws
79. Alien
80. No Country for Old Men
81. Titanic
82. The Wild Bunch
83. Once Upon a Time in the West
84. Brazil
85. Syriana
86. Amadeus
87. Dances with Wolves
88. Giant
89. The Dark Knight
90. Finding Nemo
91. American Graffiti
92. Lone Star
93. Hamlet (1996)
94. The Little Mermaid (1989)
95. The Killing Fields
96. Ace in the Hole
97. An Officer and a Gentleman
98. Three Kings
99. The Social Network
100. All the King’s Men (1949)

Original AFI List
https://www.afi.com/afis-100-years-100-movies/
10th Anniversary Edition
https://www.afi.com/afis-100-years-100-movies-10th-anniversary-edition/

Mark C



Thanks, Allaby! I’d love to see what movies other members consider the greatest in American cinema.

Mark



Great list, Allaby! If I did my list for all movies, and not just American ones, Downfall would have made my list. I find The Godfather Part III to be an interesting inclusion. From what I understand, it’s roundly despised by a lot of people. I think it’s a good movie, though not great, and certainly not nearly as good as the first two.

Mark



Two DW Griffith's? Bold statement these days. But I do agree that Intolerance is a silent-era gem.
“Two DW Griffith's? Bold statement these days.”

I don’t think there’s anything bold about this. When I list a favorite movie, I could care less about whether or not the movie is popular (with critics and/or audiences) or politically correct or socially acceptable.
From a cinematic POV, I worship Birth of a Nation, even though I condemn its racist message. I also love D.W. Griffith’s Broken Blossoms, even though I—as an Asian-American—recognize that the movie looks incredibly racist against people of Asian descent nowadays (though it was racially progressive in one crucial way). Gone with the Wind is another film that routinely gets called racist, yet I revere that film and consider it one of the greatest romantic and historical epics to ever come out of Hollywood; and, in some ways, it was very progressive for its time.

Mark



“Two DW Griffith's? Bold statement these days.”

I don’t think there’s anything bold about this. When I list a favorite movie, I could care less about whether or not the movie is popular (with critics and/or audiences) or politically correct or socially acceptable.
From a cinematic POV, I worship Birth of a Nation, even though I condemn its racist message. I also love D.W. Griffith’s Broken Blossoms, even though I—as an Asian-American—recognize that the movie looks incredibly racist against people of Asian descent nowadays (though it was racially progressive in one crucial way). Gone with the Wind is another film that routinely gets called racist, yet I revere that film and consider it one of the greatest romantic and historical epics to ever come out of Hollywood; and, in some ways, it was very progressive for its time.

Mark
Yeah, but top 2? Of all time?



Yeah, but top 2? Of all time?
“Yeah, but top 2? Of all time?”

Yes, because while D.W. Griffith didn’t invent cinema, with these two films, made (incredibly) within a year of each other, he advanced the art and craft of cinema more than any other filmmaker in history. The techniques Griffith pioneered with Birth of a Nation and Intolerance are still—more than a century later—used by filmmakers today.
Before 1915, films were nothing more than minutes-long moving picture shows at nickelodeons. And then Griffith came along with an ambitious three-hour historical epic and changes the game forever. And then just a year later, he releases an even MORE ambitious epic whose scope spans across human history.
Top 2 of all time? You better believe it.

Mark



“Yeah, but top 2? Of all time?”

Yes, because while D.W. Griffith didn’t invent cinema, with these two films, made (incredibly) within a year of each other, he advanced the art and craft of cinema more than any other filmmaker in history. The techniques Griffith pioneered with Birth of a Nation and Intolerance are still—more than a century later—used by filmmakers today.
Before 1915, films were nothing more than minutes-long moving picture shows at nickelodeons. And then Griffith came along with an ambitious three-hour historical epic and changes the game forever. And then just a year later, he releases an even MORE ambitious epic whose scope spans across human history.
Top 2 of all time? You better believe it.

Mark

That would suggest that for the last 100 years these techniques haven't been improved on or beaten. By that logic, the greatest film of all time is the very first film ever made.



Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain
Mark’s Alternative AFI List: The 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time
... I would love to know what YOU think were the greatest American movies ever made. Do you agree with my selections? If not, why not? ...
Great list. Really, not much to disagree with. But, since you asked ...

You'll expect different orders from different viewers. So any interesting discussion gets down to choices. So for example, two of my all-time favorites, Casablanca and Saving Private Ryan, aren't there but Officer and a Gentleman is. Wondering why Richard Gere's officer made a better movie than Tom Hank's leader

Unless I'm missing them, Westerns are sparse. My favorites also include The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and High Noon, both of which cast a bit of a different angle on Western mythology (not to mention McCabe and Mrs. Miller).

I noticed your comment that you couldn't "care less" about popularity, political or social factors, and that's completely up to you ... not criticizing your approach. But I'd suggest you'd be in a better position to discuss if you said you don't take them into account rather than you don't care. I glean from your comments that you care very much about movies and what qualifies and what doesn't.

So I'm not challenging individual picks so much as wondering how you define "cinematic merit"? Technology and production values? Conciseness of plotting and dialog? Scoring and cinematography? Once you begin to judge by any value in the message or the performance, it feels like it becomes harder to ignore at least social context.

Again, fine list. Not complaining. Just taking up your offer to discuss the merits of the picks and understand more your overall approach to selection and prioritization ...
__________________
Scarecrow: I haven't got a brain ... only straw. Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got a brain? Scarecrow: I don't know. But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they? Dorothy: Yes, I guess you're right.



I included 101 as I have 2001 down as British:


The Birth of a Nation 1915
Way Down East 1920
The General 1926
Metropolis 1927
Sunrise 1928
Scarface 1932
A Night at the Opera 1935
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1936
The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938
The Wizard of Oz 1939
The Roaring Twenties 1939
Gone With the Wind 1939
The Maltese Falcon 1941
Citizen Kane 1941
Casablanca 1942
Laura 1944
Leave Her to Heaven 1945
My Darling Clementine 1946
Out of the Past 1947
Key Largo 1948
Sunset Boulevard 1950
The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951
A Streetcar Named Desire 1951
Limelight 1952
Rear Window 1954
On the Waterfront 1954
Rebel Without a Cause 1955
The Killing 1955
Bad Day at Blackrock 1955
Forbidden Planet 1956
12 Angry Men 1957
Touch of Evil 1958
Anatomy of a Murder 1959
North by Northwest 1959
Psycho 1960
The Birds 1963
The Sound of Music 1965
The Graduate 1967
Bonnie and Clyde 1967
Point Blank 1967
In The Heat of the Night 1967
Once Upon a Time in the West 1968
*2001: A Space Odyssey 1969
McCabe and Mrs Miller 1971
Two Lane Blacktop 1971
The Andromeda Strain 1971
Straw Dogs 1971
The Godfather 1972
Cabaret 1972
Mean Streets 1973
Badlands 1973
The Exorcist 1973
The Godfather Part 2 1974
Chinatown 1974
Jaws 1975
Dog Day Afternoon 1975
Taxi Driver 1976
Killer of Sheep 1977
Star Wars: a New Hope 1977
Superman 1978
Alien 1979
Apocalypse Now 1979
The Warriors 1979
The Empire Strikes Back 1980
Body Heat 1981
The King of Comedy 1982
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial 1982
Stranger Than Paradise 1984
The Terminator 1984
Paris, Texas 1984
Ghostbusters 1984
Beverly Hills Cop 1984
Blue Velvet 1986
Manhunter 1986
Fatal Attraction 1987
When Harry Met Sally 1989
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989
Goodfellas 1991
Blade Runner (Director's Cut) 1992
The Player 1992
Pulp Fiction 1994
Seven 1995
L.A. Confidential 1997
Saving Private Ryan 1998
The Matrix 1999
Donnie Darko 2001
Mulholland Drive 2001
Sideways 2004
No Country for Old Men 2007
Wall-E 2008
There Will be Blood 2008
Inglourious Basterds 2009
The Master 2012
Frances Ha 2012
Django Unchained 2012
Argo 2012
Drive 2012
Nightcrawler 2014
La La Land 2016
Arrival 2016
The Lighthouse 2019



Although I don't have them in my top 100 American movies, I'd also consider the following for their iconic/cultural status:
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969
All the President's Men 1976
Shane 1953
Singin in the Rain 1952

And also maybe stuff like
Die Hard
Planes Trains and Automobiles
Halloween
The Exorcist
Deliverance
National Lampoon's Vacation


Forest Gump?
even something like Airplane
something Clint Eastwood
Mississippi Burning

Actually for Steve Martin I like Roxanne.

depends if you're going for the best films, or most iconic films.



First off, I’d like to thank you guys for your insights and opinions. I’ve only been to this site a few days, and I already feel as though I’ve entered Movie Heaven. You people are teaching me a lot and keeping me on my feet.

Robert the List and Stillmellow, I enjoyed your lists. It’s interesting how we can agree on movies and even more interesting how disagree.

Now for the more specific responses:

TheManBehindTheCurtain
“You'll expect different orders from different viewers. So any interesting discussion gets down to choices. So for example, two of my all-time favorites, Casablanca and Saving Private Ryan, aren't there but Officer and a Gentleman is. Wondering why Richard Gere's officer made a better movie than Tom Hank's leader.”

I’ve never been able to understand why so many people are crazy about Casablanca. (For example, the late great Roger Ebert once said if he were stranded on a desert island and could have only ONE movie, it would be this one.) Now, I do admire Casablanca and acknowledge it as a cinema classic; I just don’t love it nearly as much as others. I love Saving Private Ryan, mainly because of the FRICKING AWESOME D-day sequence. As a matter of fact, I saw SPR seven times in the theater just so I could see that battle scene on the big screen over and over. However, as a whole, I’ve always felt that SPR is a bit overrated. As far as war films go, I don’t love it nearly as much as others like Apocalypse Now, Black Hawk Down, and Letters from Iwo Jima. On the other hand, I just adore An Officer and a Gentleman and always have. I’ve watched it numerous times, and the ending always makes me cry. And I find naval officer cadet Zack Mayo’s transformation to be far more profound and interesting than Capt. John Miller’s transformation.”

“Unless I'm missing them, Westerns are sparse. My favorites also include The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and High Noon, both of which cast a bit of a different angle on Western mythology (not to mention McCabe and Mrs. Miller).”

I love Westerns and will be doing a “top Western movie” list sometime so I can list all my favorites. But my top 100 list here is for the crème de la crème, so only a few westerns made the cut.

“I noticed your comment that you couldn't "care less" about popularity, political or social factors, and that's completely up to you ... not criticizing your approach. But I'd suggest you'd be in a better position to discuss if you said you don't take them into account rather than you don't care. I glean from your comments that you care very much about movies and what qualifies and what doesn't.”

You’re right. Please forgive me, I’m not very good at expressing myself.

“So I'm not challenging individual picks so much as wondering how you define ‘cinematic merit’? Technology and production values? Conciseness of plotting and dialog? Scoring and cinematography? Once you begin to judge by any value in the message or the performance, it feels like it becomes harder to ignore at least social context.”

I need to say something right off the bat: I’m really not very good at judging films. Most if not all of you on this forum are probably a lot better at it than I am. If you don’t believe me, always keep in mind that I’m the guy who thinks Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a damn good Indy movie and The Phantom Menace is a great Star Wars movie. And if you’re STILL not convinced of my suckiness in this area, just know that I also enjoyed widely derided films like Geostorm and Gods of Egypt.
When I judge a film, especially films that I consider for lists such as this one, I look at how the film is crafted in terms of story, characters, and aspects of production, such as direction, production design, visual effects (if any), cinematography, score, etc. I also put a high premium on whether or not a film employs innovative techniques in craftsmanship and plot, though these are not necessarily required. And while I don’t require a movie to move me emotionally, I will take that into account as well.

Keyser Corleone:
“That would suggest that for the last 100 years these techniques haven't been improved on or beaten. By that logic, the greatest film of all time is the very first film ever made.”

That’s a great point. But, as I said above, when I judge movies, I put a high premium on innovative filmmaking and story techniques. And there is just no doubt in my mind that Birth of the Nation and Intolerance are two of the most amazing films in this regard. I would also put Fritz Lang’s Metropolis in this category; in fact, that movie would have been my No. 3 pick if my list covered ALL cinema, not just American cinema. And while other directors have improved on these techniques and pioneered of their own, these films (along with Citizen Kane and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) are the greatest pioneering films of all time. And I find all five of these films utterly fascinating from a story POV, in spite of their flaws.

Mark