Reddit is home to one of the internet‘s most vibrant film communities. In the r/movies subreddit alone, over 28 million users regularly debate and discuss their picks for the greatest movies ever made. Looking at the most frequently cited titles across numerous Reddit threads reveals a crowdsourced ranking of the platform‘s top 15 films of all time.
This eclectic list features masterpieces from Hollywood‘s Golden Age to modern animated classics. Critically acclaimed movies directed by the likes of Kubrick, Kurosawa, and Coppola appear alongside fan favorite blockbusters. And while recency bias leads many contemporary best-of lists to focus just on recent decades, Reddit still shows appreciation for groundbreaking older works.
Behind each selection is a story of captivating characters, technical innovation, and enduring cultural impact. Let‘s explore the creative pinnacles that explain why these 15 movies continue to inspire audiences and filmmakers 75+ years after the oldest entries first premiered.
The Lack of Films Before 1960 Impacts Rankings
Before analyzing Reddit‘s picks, it is important to address one overarching trend: modern streaming‘s dearth of pre-1960s cinema. Legal and technical hurdles make most films from the medium‘s early decades difficult to access through popular services like Netflix or Hulu.
So despite a shared deep admiration among cinephiles for foundational works like Citizen Kane, Casablanca, and Singin’ in the Rain, few younger viewers joining Reddit have actually seen these classics. Their absence from digital libraries shapes all best-of lists today, including this Reddit compilation.
Still, the 15 films highlighted here reflect the exceptional reach and resonance of a select group of 20th century masterpieces that managed to permeate pop culture. And while no list on a US site could fully encapsulate international cinema, these works showcase transcendent storytelling that continues to inspire.
#15. Fargo (1996)
The only film on this list from directors Joel and Ethan Coen fittingly launches Reddit‘s rankings. Though better known for No Country for Old Men among general audiences, their 1996 dark comedy Fargo remains a creative high point in the minds of Reddit cinephiles.
Beyond critical acclaim that includes two Academy Awards, Fargo endures thanks to the Coen‘s trademark quirky characters, regional accents that have permeated broader culture, and a standout lead performance from Frances McDormand. Her Marge Gunderson deserves a spot alongside cinematic icons like The Godfather‘s Vito Corleone. And nearly 25 years later, the Coens‘ snow-covered tale of bungling criminals and Minnesota nice still entertains.
#14. Jurassic Park (1993)
Fargo represents subtle filmmaking focused on dialogue and local color. Meanwhile, Steven Spielberg‘s 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park wows with massive set pieces and landmark special effects. This monster movie set a new standard for CGI, seamlessly blending prehistoric beasts into the modern world.
Beyond technical mastery, Jurassic Park also taps into timeless wonder around dinosaurs that catapulted it to record box office numbers. Add in a John Williams score that elevated the action and thrills, and the movie still makes a compelling pick for Reddit‘s 14th best film ever 27 years after velociraptors first stalked across screens.
#13. Star Wars (1977)
Speilberg‘s career-long collaborator John Williams also provided the unforgettable soundtrack for 1977‘s Star Wars. George Lucas‘s space saga epitomizes sweeping sci-fi spectacle, transporting viewers to "a galaxy far, far, away" full of exotic planets that felt tangibly lived-in.
Groundbreaking worldbuilding and epic mythology aside, Star Wars endures thanks to universally relatable themes about underdog heroes overcoming evil empires. Timeless stories can resonate across cultures and generations. Add in spectacle advancing special effects year-over-year, and the franchise sits comfortably among Reddit’s best movies today.
#12. The Graduate (1967)
Dustin Hoffman cemented his status as a standout of New Hollywood playing directionless college grad Benjamin Braddock in 1967‘s The Graduate. Uncertainty about life after school feels as relevant now as it did 50+ years ago. And director Mike Nichols, harnessing Simon & Garfunkel‘s iconic "Sounds of Silence,” captured existential ennui better than most films before or since.
Beyond the emotional resonance, Anne Bancroft’s calculating Mrs. Robinson also shattered taboos around older female sexuality on screen. These complex characters navigating messy relationships transcended boilerplate comedies from Hollywood‘s Golden Age. The film signaled creative growth that pushed boundaries throughout the industry.
#11. Taxi Driver (1976)
New Hollywood antiheroes became even more unsettling thanks to Martin Scorsese‘s 1976 masterpiece Taxi Driver. Robert De Niro‘s iconic turn as alienated veteran Travis Bickle terrified audiences even as he won their empathy. Supporting roles from Jodie Foster as a child prostitute and Harvey Keitel as her unsavory pimp deepened the seedy atmosphere.
Ragged storytelling paralleled the lead’s unraveling psyche. And Scorsese‘s virtuoso directing amplified everything, blending dream-like visuals with gritty realism. The film felt like a waking nightmare reflecting 1970s American decay. Over 45 years later, Taxi Driver‘s impact still echoes through scores of psychological thrillers and vigilante justice tales it inspired.
#10. No Country for Old Men (2007)
The second Coen Brothers film on this list took Best Picture at the 2007 Academy Awards thanks to further evolution of their trademark themes. No Country for Old Men pits pure evil personified by Javier Bardem‘s Anton Chigurh against an aging Tommy Lee Jones struggling to keep chaos at bay.
The Coens strike an unsettling tone where violence erupts without warning, resisting clean resolutions. It makes for an uneasy viewing experience even among fans. Though audiences crave certainty, the directors deny comfortable endings as nihilism triumphs. This refusal to conform to conventions makes No Country for Old Men truly haunting cinema.
#9. Easy Rider (1969)
First-time director Dennis Hopper captured the sixties counterculture zeitgeist through the ultimate road trip in Easy Rider. Alongside Peter Fonda, the duo embodied hippie bikers seeking freedom beyond establishment constraints. Languid traveling montages stretched across America‘s endless highways as Bob Dylan‘s fiery lyrics fueled their journey.
Not just conforming to cultural currents, Easy Rider shifted them further. Fonda and Hopper filmed guerrilla-style across the southwestern United States with a hungry young crew absorbing their experimental techniques. Fresh film school grads like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas found inspiration that fueled their own unconventional career paths.
#8. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
While Easy Rider leaned into realism, Stanley Kubrick proved mastery over tone through satire in 1964‘s Dr. Strangelove. As Cold War anxiety mounted, only farce could properly skewer the political and military leaders steering humanity towards nuclear catastrophe. Voiceover narration set a mock serious stage for Kubrick to relentlessly mock ineffective people and policies.
Peter Sellers disappeared into multiple hilarious roles embodying government chaos. Yet the true standout was Slim Pickens’ symbolism-rich, slow-motion rodeo ride on an atomic bomb towards doomsday. The juxtaposition clearly displayed elite strategic failures imperiling us all. Though released over 55 years ago, Dr. Strangelove’s dark themes unfortunately remain relevant today.
#7. Days of Heaven (1978)
Kubrick’s satire targeted failed human systems. Meanwhile, Terrence Malick’s 1978 masterpiece Days of Heaven poetically captured interpersonal struggles between harvest workers that resonate beyond its early 20th century period setting. Nestor Almendros’s cinematography created painterly scenes using natural magic hours lighting. This approach required capturing only a few minutes of perfect conditions each day, but yielded unparalleled beauty.
Malick’s trademark narration adds additional dreamlike detachment atop visually arresting wheat fields and vistas. And while characters occupy distinctive roles in a core melodramatic love triangle, their universal passions and conflicts feel recognizable across the ages. Days of Heaven ultimately attains a transcendence through style and storytelling few films can match.
#6. City Lights (1931)
Another directorial masterwork over 50 years older than Days of Heaven also made the Reddit list. Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights endures as the best silent comedy ever thanks to the two extraordinary lead performances from Chaplin himself alongside Virginia Cherrill. Despite no spoken dialogue, Chaplin’s expressive "Little Tramp” conveys humor and heartbreak solely through pantomime and choreography that inspired generations of physical comedians like Rowan Atkinson’s Mr. Bean.
Mistaken identity, class divides, and charity all drive the narrative. But City Lights stays memorable thanks to Chaplin’s trademark slapstick set pieces that build steadily into emotional crescendos. When the blind flower girl finally sees the indigent man whose kindness changed her life, Chaplin achieves pathos to rival any sound film.
#5. Spirited Away (2001)
Japanese animation pioneer Hayao Miyazaki earned global admiration for his fantasy epic Spirited Away. As the only hand-drawn animated film to ever win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, it helped expand appreciation for the artform in Hollywood circles and beyond.
Spirited Away taps into beloved coming-of-age themes as Chihiro tackles witches and spirits in an attempt to rescue her parents and escape a magical bathhouse. Miyazaki‘s trademark lush visuals transport viewers across folkloric landscapes overflowing with magic and whimsy outside Chihiro‘s mundane existence. It makes the real world feel drab by comparison.
Thanks to Disney handling western distribution, Spirited Away grew domestic fandom beyond core anime enthusiasts. This gateway ushered in wider approval of prestige animation alongside Disney and Pixar‘s CG offerings.
#4. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Speaking of lush visuals, Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone revolutionized spaghetti westerns thanks to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’s iconic cinematography. Sweeping vistas dwarfed gunslinging protagonists, enhanced by Ennio Morricone’s scored punctuated by eclectic shouts and firearm sound effects amping up the tension.
Leone exploited Hollywood’s fixation on heroic cowboys to flip genre tropes. Protagonists lacked clear morals contrasted against corrupt systems failing communities across the frontier. Audiences rooted for Eastwood’s “Good” even as he acted chiefly in self-interest. Meanwhile, seeds of moral relativism implicit even in this black and white tale fundamentally changed how viewers perceived simplistic American mythology.
#3. Seven Samurai (1954)
Before Eastwood’s Man With No Name challenged western archetypes, Japanese legend Toshiro Mifune displayed similarly nuanced ronin bearing only his sword and principles. In Akira Kurosawa’s landmark 1954 action drama Seven Samurai, Mifune leads six other masterless warriors defending a farming village from ruthless bandits.
Seven Samurai endures thanks to enduring power dynamics that transcend genres and nationalities. Kurosawa contrasts servant leadership against authoritarian domination, arguing true strength flows not from position but from empowering people. Though his ronin lack external statuses signifying importance, their superiority emerges through humility, empathy and skill benefiting commoners.
Beyond thematic relevance, Seven Samurai anchors its message through kinetics. Kurosawa’s groundbreaking editing amplified confrontations between charging cavalry and steadfast spearlines. Sweat and mud convey visceral realism outpacing stale Hollywood fare reliant on tropes. This fusion of message and medium cemented Seven Samurai’s legacy.
#2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Stanley Kubrick emerges again with his 1968 masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, which anchored sci-fi spectacle through thematic ambition. Kubrick envisioned a future where technology outstripped humanity, and artificial intelligence overtook its creators. Once again, Kubrick conveyed cynicism around human governance through skepticism of our inventions.
He also stretched special effects to surreal limits. 2001’s prolonged opening without dialogue forces meditation upon the infinite cosmos and life’s origins with nothing but classical music backing space station ballet. Images range from ornate spacecraft waltzing over waltzes to psychedelic colors engulfing audiences during the film’s climactic “Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite” sequence. Critic Roger Ebert praised the sensory feast‘s ability to capture, “the wonder and mystery of space in a way no other film has.”
Kubrick‘s fearless film stretches physics and perception until inner and outer worlds blur. Scifi blockbusters henceforth followed his lead crafting loyal fans and disciples in directors like Christopher Nolan. Thus 2001 retains relevance among cineastes and cosmologists alike.
#1. The Godfather (1972)
There was no debate around which movie Reddit selected as the single greatest film ever made. Francis Ford Coppola‘s Best Picture winner The Godfather delivers. As an intimate epic tracing the Corleone crime family‘s multigenerational rise and decline, this mob masterpiece juggles an enormous narrative without losing sight of intimate character drama.
Marlon Brando and Al Pacino deliver career-defining performances as the aging Godfather passing power to reluctant heir Michael. Their parallel arcs from righteous outsiders to corrupt insiders fuel an operatic study of how power warps moral foundations. Even small compromises in service of loved ones open doors to darker deeds changing someone fundamentally.
The Godfather leaves no doubt why it crowns Reddit’s list and many others as the best movie ever made. Unequaled acting and storytelling that unpack profound themes ensure Coppola‘s opus will forever sit among cinema‘s most hallowed texts.
Why These Movies Endure
Rather than just summarizing plots, the preceding deep dives aim to spotlight each film’s deeper impact explaining their enduring admiration. Every work shaped emerging genres. Some advanced technical craft redefining possible spectacle through choreography, editing, makeup, and visual effects. Most constructed layered characters and propulsive themes that resonated across languages and cultures.
Importantly, The Godfather’s top spot seems secure thanks to unmatched artistic execution. But Kubrick, Kurosawa, and Coppola innovations that awed early audiences represent table stakes today. Jurassic Park CGI no longer impresses kids raised on video game graphics. So recency bias will continue elevating next-generation filmmaking that pushes boundaries anew.
Still, studying Reddit’s list provides touchstones for understanding what reaches through changing tastes and technologies to compel beyond temporary distraction. Great stories centered on universal hopes, relationships, and fears endure. Masterful visuals sometimes outlive their creators as with Keaton’s clockwork stunts. So too may today’s pioneering green screens someday feel quaint.
But by learning from enduring classics, perhaps some few current movies will also persist as essential cinema 100 years hence. Whether through intimate character studies or interstellar spectacle, new innovators may yet create lasting magic by standing on the shoulders of these giants recognized by Reddit.
