IMDB - Top 250

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The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) invites its users to rate movies, then compiles a list of those with the highest average weighted rating. For a movie to appear on the list, there must be at least 1300 ratings for it given by �regular IMDb voters�.

The formula for calculating the Top 250 Films gives a true Bayesian estimate:

weighted rating (WR) = (v / (v+m)) x R + (m / (v+m)) x C
where:
R = average for the movie (mean) = (Rating)
v = number of votes for the movie = (votes)
m = minimum votes required to be listed in the Top 250 (currently 1300)
C = the mean vote across the whole report (currently 6.8)

The list is restricted to theatrical releases; it does not include shorts, TV movies, straight-to-video releases, TV series or miniseries, or any documentaries. For the IMDB top 50 documentaries, see http://www.listsofbests.com/list/11635

For items ranked 251-500 at the IMDb, check out the Bubbling Under List: http://www.listsofbests.com/list/51302

(Last update: June 24, 2009)

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  1. 1.
    The Shawshank Redemption (Two-Disc Special Edition)
    by Frank Darabont

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  2. 2.
    The Godfather (Widescreen Edition)
    by Francis Ford Coppola

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  3. 3.
    The Godfather, Part II (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)
    by Francis Ford Coppola

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  4. 4.
    The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
    by Sergio Leone

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  5. 5.
    Pulp Fiction

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  6. 6.
    Schindler's List (Widescreen Edition)
    by Steven Spielberg

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  7. 7.
    The Dark Knight
    by Christopher Nolan

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  8. 8.
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
    by Milos Forman

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  9. 9.
    12 Angry Men
    by Sidney Lumet

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  10. 10.

  11. 11.
    Casablanca
    by Michael Curtiz

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  12. 12.
    Star Wars, Episode IV- A New Hope (Widescreen Edition)
    by George Lucas

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  13. 14.
    Seven Samurai - Criterion Collection
    by Akira Kurosawa

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  14. 15.
    Goodfellas
    by Martin Scorsese

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  15. 16.
    Rear Window (Collector's Edition)

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  16. 17.
    City of God
    by Fernando Meirelles

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  17. 19.
    Once Upon a Time in the West
    by Sergio Leone

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  18. 20.
    Up [Theatrical Release]

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  19. 22.
    Fight Club (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
    by David Fincher

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  20. 23.
    The Usual Suspects (Special Edition)
    by Bryan Singer

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  21. 24.
    Psycho (Collector's Edition)

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  22. 25.
    The Silence of the Lambs - Criterion Collection
    by Jonathan Demme

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  23. 26.
    Sunset Boulevard (Special Collector's Edition)
    by Billy Wilder

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  24. 28.
    The Matrix
    by Larry Wachowski

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  25. 29.
    Memento

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  26. 30.
    North by Northwest

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  27. 31.
    It's a Wonderful Life
    by Frank Capra

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  28. 32.
    Seven (New Line Platinum Series)
    by David Fincher

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  29. 33.
    Citizen Kane
    by Orson Welles

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  30. 35.
    Leon - The Professional (Uncut International Version)
    by Luc Besson

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  31. 36.
    Apocalypse Now

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  32. 37.
    American Beauty

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  33. 38.
    Taxi Driver

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  34. 39.
    American History X
    by Tony Kaye

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  35. 40.

  36. 41.
    Vertigo (Collector's Edition)

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  37. 42.
    Wall-E

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  38. 44.
    Paths of Glory
    by Stanley Kubrick

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  39. 45.
    Amelie
    by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

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  40. 46.
    M - Criterion Collection
    by Fritz Lang

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  41. 47.
    Double Indemnity
    by Billy Wilder

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  42. 48.
    To Kill a Mockingbird (Universal Legacy Series)
    by Robert Mulligan

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  43. 49.
    Alien
    by Ridley Scott

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  44. 50.
    A Clockwork Orange
    by Stanley Kubrick

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This is a community list. You can contribute, edit, or help maintain it by adding it to your lists.
Created by fox woods on Mar 18, 2006.
 

Comments

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updated 6.17.09 — 2 weeks ago

I also updated the section where it said how the top 250 is calculated. You can’t see this on normal imdb but you can with imdbpro.


Untitled — 4 weeks ago

This is a pretty good list. This helps you get a good understanding of film classic and current. It also has a nice selection of foreign classics. Its cool that it is so dynamic because if you finish with it soon you will be able to watch more, with the new additions and all. Plus there’s the Bubbling Under List on IMDB pro, won’t even get into that!


Rachael
Umeå

60% so far — 5 weeks ago

I’m watching almost a film from here a day, sometimes more than one. Most so far have been good, only a few have disappointed. And there are a couple I’m leaving to the very end, as they are in a genre I’m not fond of (mainly, horror).


Completed! — 7 weeks ago

Finally finished watching all the movies in IMDB 250 as of May 3rd. Of course, this list changes frequently with new movies entering the list all the time. Nevertheless, feel very happy & satisfied that at a point in time, i have watched all the movies in the list.


Untitled — 9 weeks ago

“You cannot convince me Wall-E is the 41st greatest movie of all time.”
Who’s trying to convince you? Are you trying to take this list seriously? Come on, it’s a movie list. It’s not meant to be definitive, it’s subjective. No one can convince me Shawshank is the greatest film of all time because there is not such thing as the greatest film of all time!


great.....i feel i need life — 9 weeks ago

i’m done with 250 films on the current imdb , and i personally own 240 movies..now i’m on to list by Genre,Film-noir. It took me great deal of time, but gave me company for about one and half years, as i was battling through depression due to loss in love. Yeah i need life, i think.


liam24
Kochi

Untitled — 9 weeks ago

The IMDB list has become a joke. IMDB has had years to fix it so fans of summer blockbusters can’t spam it until some garbage like “Transformers” makes the list. A simple solution would be to not let any movie votes count towards the list until months after the DVD release. You cannot convince me Wall-E is the 41st greatest movie of all time.


Untitled — 11 weeks ago

Dear god, is the Dark Knight ever going to fall out of the top 10?! UGH, UGH, UGH.


Untitled — 16 weeks ago

please update the list….


MKaiserman
West Orange

IMDb editor speaks on IMDb Top 250 — 20 weeks ago

Posted on Roger Ebert’s AnswerMan column:

Keith Simanton, IMDb’s managing editor, replies: “Our Top 250, as voted by users, is just that, a list of the Top 250 films as voted on by our users. It’s not a classic (ah, there’s a subjective term!) list by any measure, nor is it a critic’s list. We leave that to the professionals.

“We do get bouts of irrational exuberance for some titles. I rather like it and find it analogous to my own experience. I’ve often felt more fondly about a film upon leaving the theater than my tempered opinion of it as the weeks and months pass. Our “this too shall pass” approach has proved itself out as this inflation value of the new is not a recent phenomenon. In 1991, “Beauty and the Beast” was the No. 1 title on the Top 250 and now it’s not even in the chart; great movie though it is, things do tend to balance out over time.

“At any moment there are always some recent titles in the list but they do find their level eventually. Some of them even continue to maintain a high level, one I personally would not have accorded them. We do appreciate the suggestion, however, as we’re always looking for ways to improve the service, and this kicked off a great internal debate.”



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