The Godfather is the don of Empire's top 500 film poll

[Blowfeld]

The Godfather is the don of Empire's top 500 film poll
Citizen Kane fails to make the top 10 while The Fountain and Superman Returns make surprise appearances further down the list

Well at least it wasn't Citizen Kane again. The Godfather has topped a list of the top 500 films of all time compiled by Empire magazine following a poll of readers and film industry luminaries.

Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 tale of an American mafia clan beat off competition from two movies featuring Harrison Ford: Raiders of the Lost Ark, which presumably experienced a bump following the release of the latest sequel this summer, and The Empire Strikes Back. The Shawshank Redemption and Jaws were at four and five.

The rest of the top 10 was filled by Goodfellas, Apocalypse Now, Singin' in the Rain, Pulp Fiction and Fight Club, the success of the latter suggesting that David Fincher's 1999 film continues to grow in stature as the years go by.

Empire polled more than 150 directors, including Quentin Tarantino and Mike Leigh, as well as 50 film critics and more than 10,000 members of the public. This summer's biggest hit, The Dark Knight, unsurprisingly made the top 20 - the only film from the 21st century to do so - and there were places in the top 60 for all three Lord of the Rings films.

Lists of the best films of all time are regularly topped by Citizen Kane, Orson Welles' 1941 film about the efforts of a group of journalists to discover the meaning of a millionaire newspaper tycoon's final word. But the film failed to even make the top 10 in Empire's list.

Given the magazine's populist nature, it's perhaps inevitable that the poll suffers a little in terms of credibility in some areas. Bryan Singer's rather insipid Superman Returns makes it into the top 500, as does the pretty poor Pirates of the Caribbean sequel, Dead Man's Chest. Perhaps more bizarrely, Darren Aronofsky's much derided The Fountain is in with a bullet at No 484, suggesting the director's ill-fated opus may yet attain cult classic status.


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[Kristatos]

I've never really "got" that film. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it was a bad movie, just that I can't quite understand all the adulation it receives. To me, it was good, but not the greatest film ever made.

[Blowfeld]

As the list concerns Bond fans; Casino Royale ranked 56 and Goldfinger ranked 166.

Presumably none of the votes for Royale were confused with the 1967 edition.

I am puzzled by some of the movies making the list. Why were so many UK movies snubbed?

Hot Fuzz ranked 374 while Wall-E ranked 373. No contest, Hot Fuzz is a better movie.

[katied]

Hot Fuzz ranked 374 while Wall-E ranked 373. No contest, Hot Fuzz is a better movie.

Darn right. Hot Fuzz is a great movie

And they actually care about what Quentin Tarantino's opinion of the best movies are??

[Mazer Rackham]

These things go back n' forth year after year.

Goldfinger is overrated. A fun film but not the Best Bond film ever.

Superbad, Superman Return, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Fountain, Back To The Future Part II,Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, Unbreakable, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace , Dumb and Dumber, do not belong on anyones best movies list.

[katied]

These things go back n' forth year after year.

Goldfinger is overrated. A fun film but not the Best Bond film ever.

Superbad, Superman Return, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Fountain, Back To The Future Part II,Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, Unbreakable, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace , Dumb and Dumber, do not belong on anyones best movies list.

Eh,Goldfinger is one of my favorite Bond films.

As for the rest of those movies, yeah.A lot of people I know thought Superbad was *hilarious*. I dunno, I just didn't think it was funny.

[Mazer Rackham]

These things go back n' forth year after year.

Goldfinger is overrated. A fun film but not the Best Bond film ever.

Superbad, Superman Return, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Fountain, Back To The Future Part II,Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, Unbreakable, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace , Dumb and Dumber, do not belong on anyones best movies list.

Eh,Goldfinger is one of my favorite Bond films.

As for the rest of those movies, yeah.A lot of people I know thought Superbad was *hilarious*. I dunno, I just didn't think it was funny.

Goldfinger is a good movie and does belong on a top movie list. I have other Bond movies in mind that would take the top spot. But GF is always listed as one of the best ever, I happen to think that is overrated.

Problem with the 500 list is a lot of very recent half decent films are one the list, in a few more years those half way decent film wouldn't be mentioned.
Godfather, the original Start Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies, Citizen Kane, Scarface, Jaws, The Maltese Falcon are classics.
Sin City not so much.

[FormerBondFan]

The original Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogy are the best ones in the 500 list IMO.

[James]

I hope Mutiny On The Buses made that list.

[Blowfeld]

I hope Mutiny On The Buses made that list.

What about Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure?

[stockslivevan]

If any Bond flick deserved to be in a best film list, it would be From Russia with Love. But everyone loves Goldfinger. I can understand why, it's fun. It's not in my top 5 Bond list, but I can understand why it's more enjoyable for people than DN and FRWL.

[Captain Nash]

So what was the highest ranking Bond film?
Casino Royale.
Not the best, but surely makes me happy to see it ranked so highly.
That's gotta hurt some of the members here.

[katied]

Those lists are subjective.There are a lot of movies on that list that don't deserve to be *shrug*

[Captain Nash]

I'll agree with that penny.
But then with such a broad areana of fans, it's difficult to keep everyone happy.
Much like an internet forum.

[stockslivevan]

So what was the highest ranking Bond film?
Casino Royale.
Not the best, but surely makes me happy to see it ranked so highly.
That's gotta hurt some of the members here.

But that's just a minority's opinion! Everyone hates Craig, Flashbacks of a Fool TANKED!!! CR was only successful because of curiosity factor! It only got good review because EON bought them out! I'm telling you, that's how it happened!!!!!111

[Kristatos]

So what was the highest ranking Bond film?
Casino Royale.
Not the best, but surely makes me happy to see it ranked so highly.
That's gotta hurt some of the members here.

Empire polls always show a bias towards recent movies.

[katied]

Empire polls always show a bias towards recent movies.

Yup.