Here’s the complete list of 193 movies that I think are essential viewing. Note that not all of my favorite movies are included, nor are all the movies included my favorites. I’m going to whittle this down to an even 100 for a final list of MUST-SEE MOVIES. It’s in caps because I really consider them must sees. In the meantime, just consider this list “Recommended Viewing”.
| 12 Angry Men |
| 2001: A Space Odyssey |
| 28 Days Later |
| A Nightmare on Elm Street |
| Akira |
| Aladdin (Disney) |
| Alien |
| Aliens |
| Almost Famous |
| Amadeus |
| Amelie |
| American Beauty |
| American Graffiti |
| Any Given Sunday |
| Army of Darkness |
| Austin Powers |
| Back to the Future |
| Bambi |
| Basic Instinct |
| Batman |
| Before Sunrise |
| Being John Malkovitch |
| Blade Runner |
| Braveheart |
| Brazil |
| Breakfast at Tiffany’s |
| Cape Fear (1991) |
| Casablanca |
| Charade |
| Citizen kane |
| Clerks |
| Coffee and Cigarettes |
| Coming to America |
| Crash |
| Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon |
| Dances with Wolves |
| Das Boot |
| Dead Man |
| Dead Poets Society |
| Die Hard |
| Diner |
| Dirty Dancing |
| Donnie Darko |
| Dr. No |
| Dr. Strangelove |
| Dracula (1992) |
| E.T. |
| East of Eden |
| Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind |
| Evil Dead II |
| Fargo |
| Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas |
| Ferris Beuler’s Day Off |
| Fiddler on the Roof |
| Fight Club |
| Finding Nemo |
| Flatliners |
| Footloose |
| Forrest Gump |
| Friday the 13th |
| Gandhi |
| Garden State |
| Ghost |
| Ghost Busters |
| Ghost Dog |
| Gladiator |
| Goldeneye |
| Goldfinger |
| Gone with the Wind |
| Good Will Hunting |
| Grease |
| Groundhog Day |
| Halloween |
| Heat |
| Heathers |
| High Fidelity |
| I (Heart) Huckabees |
| Independence Day |
| Indiana Jones |
| It’s a Wonderful Life |
| Jaws |
| Jean de Florette |
| Jerry McGuire |
| Jurassic Park |
| Kill Bill v. 1-2 |
| King Kong |
| La Femme Nikita |
| La Haine |
| Labyrinth |
| Legend |
| Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson, all 3) |
| Mad Max |
| Magnolia |
| Mary Poppins |
| Men in Black |
| Minority Report |
| Mission Impossible |
| Monsters, Inc. |
| Monty Python’s Search for the Holy Grail |
| Moulin Rouge (2001) |
| Mulholland Drive |
| My Fair Lady |
| Natural Born Killers |
| Night of the Living Dead |
| Ocean’s 11 |
| Office Space |
| Pretty Woman |
| Princess Mononoke |
| Psycho |
| Pulp Fiction |
| Rambo |
| Rebel Without a Cause |
| Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves |
| RoboCop |
| Rocky |
| Romeo and Juliet (1996) |
| Ronin |
| Run Lola Run |
| Rushmore |
| Saving Private Ryan |
| Say Anything |
| Scarface |
| Shakespeare in Love |
| Shine |
| Shrek |
| Silence of the Lambs |
| Sin City |
| Singin’ in the Rain |
| Sleepless in Seattle |
| Snatch |
| Spiderman |
| Spirited Away |
| Star Wars (ep. 4-6) |
| Superman |
| Taxi Driver |
| Taxi Driver |
| Terminator II: Judgement Day |
| The Big Lebowski |
| The Big Sleep |
| The Blues Brothers |
| The Breakfast Club |
| The Crying Game |
| The Dark Crystal |
| The English Patient |
| The Exorcist |
| The Fifth Element |
| The Fugitive |
| The Godfather |
| The Godfather II |
| The Golden Child |
| The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly |
| The Goonies |
| The Graduate |
| The Hunt for Red October |
| The Iron Giant |
| The Last Temptation of Christ |
| The Lion King |
| The Matrix |
| The Muppet Movie |
| The Nightmare Before Christmas |
| The Passion of the Christ |
| The Pianist |
| The Pink Panther (1963) |
| The Princess Bride |
| The Professional |
| The Ring |
| The Shining |
| The Sixth Sense |
| The Sound of Music |
| The Stepford Wives |
| The Sting |
| The Terminator |
| The Triplets of Belleville |
| The Truman Show |
| The Usual Suspects |
| The Wizard of Oz |
| Thelma and Louise |
| Titanic |
| Tombstone |
| Top Gun |
| Total Recall |
| Toy Story |
| Traffic |
| Trainspotting |
| Tron |
| Unforgiven |
| Wayne’s World |
| West Side Story |
| Whale Rider |
| Who Framed Roger Rabbit? |
| Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory |
| Willow |
| Zoolander |