top 250 movies of all time - IMDb

top 250 movies of all time

by mikkellynge | created - 03 Apr 2011 | updated - 13 Jul 2011 | Public
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1. Avatar (2009)

PG-13 | 162 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

83 Metascore

A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.

Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez

Votes: 1,352,025 | Gross: $760.51M

2. Inception (2010)

PG-13 | 148 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

74 Metascore

A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.

Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Ken Watanabe

Votes: 2,428,329 | Gross: $292.58M

3. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

PG-13 | 112 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy

69 Metascore

In a magically realistic version of Toronto, a young man must defeat his new girlfriend's seven evil exes one by one in order to win her heart.

Director: Edgar Wright | Stars: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick

Votes: 443,956 | Gross: $31.49M

4. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

84 Metascore

A Mumbai teenager reflects on his life after being accused of cheating on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?".

Directors: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan | Stars: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Saurabh Shukla, Anil Kapoor

Votes: 860,686 | Gross: $141.32M

5. Gran Torino (2008)

R | 116 min | Drama

72 Metascore

After a Hmong teenager tries to steal his prized 1972 Gran Torino, a disgruntled, prejudiced Korean War veteran seeks to redeem both the boy and himself.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Christopher Carley, Ahney Her

Votes: 792,456 | Gross: $148.10M

6. The Jacket (2005)

R | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery

44 Metascore

A Gulf war veteran is wrongly sent to a mental institution for insane criminals, where he becomes the object of a doctor's experiments, and his life is completely affected by them.

Director: John Maybury | Stars: Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Daniel Craig, Kris Kristofferson

Votes: 116,829 | Gross: $6.30M

7. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

PG-13 | 117 min | Biography, Drama

64 Metascore

A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.

Director: Gabriele Muccino | Stars: Will Smith, Thandiwe Newton, Jaden Smith, Brian Howe

Votes: 534,186 | Gross: $163.57M

8. The Illusionist (2006)

PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery

68 Metascore

In turn-of-the-century Vienna, a magician uses his abilities to secure the love of a woman far above his social standing.

Director: Neil Burger | Stars: Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti, Rufus Sewell

Votes: 381,365 | Gross: $39.87M

9. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

R | 153 min | Adventure, Drama, War

69 Metascore

In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.

Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Mélanie Laurent

Votes: 1,501,773 | Gross: $120.54M

10. 500 Days of Summer (2009)

PG-13 | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

76 Metascore

After being dumped by the girl he believes to be his soulmate, hopeless romantic Tom Hansen reflects on their relationship to try and figure out where things went wrong and how he can win her back.

Director: Marc Webb | Stars: Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Geoffrey Arend, Chloë Grace Moretz

Votes: 533,536 | Gross: $32.39M

11. Conviction (II) (2010)

R | 107 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

61 Metascore

A working mother puts herself through law school in an effort to represent her brother, who has been wrongfully convicted of murder and has exhausted his chances to appeal his conviction through public defenders.

Director: Tony Goldwyn | Stars: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Melissa Leo, Thomas D. Mahard

Votes: 45,149 | Gross: $6.78M

12. Fight Club (1999)

R | 139 min | Drama

67 Metascore

An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.

Director: David Fincher | Stars: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Meat Loaf, Zach Grenier

Votes: 2,200,353 | Gross: $37.03M

13. V for Vendetta (2005)

R | 132 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

62 Metascore

In a future British dystopian society, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of "V", plots to overthrow the tyrannical government - with the help of a young woman.

Director: James McTeigue | Stars: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Rupert Graves, Stephen Rea

Votes: 1,144,930 | Gross: $70.51M

14. Apocalypto (2006)

R | 139 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

68 Metascore

As the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, a young man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression.

Director: Mel Gibson | Stars: Gerardo Taracena, Raoul Max Trujillo, Dalia Hernández, Rudy Youngblood

Votes: 321,270 | Gross: $50.87M

15. The Aviator (2004)

PG-13 | 170 min | Biography, Drama

77 Metascore

A biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly

Votes: 372,726 | Gross: $102.61M

16. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

R | 118 min | Drama, Fantasy, War

98 Metascore

In the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.

Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú

Votes: 683,430 | Gross: $37.63M

17. The Punisher (2004)

R | 124 min | Action, Crime, Drama

33 Metascore

An undercover FBI agent becomes a vigilante and sets out to unleash his wrath upon the corrupt businessman who slaughtered his entire family at a reunion.

Director: Jonathan Hensleigh | Stars: Thomas Jane, John Travolta, Samantha Mathis, Laura Harring

Votes: 165,321 | Gross: $33.81M

18. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

R | 116 min | Drama, Horror, Musical

83 Metascore

The legendary tale of a barber who returns from wrongful imprisonment to 1840s London, bent on revenge for the rape and death of his wife, and resumes his trade while forming a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett.

Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall

Votes: 377,266 | Gross: $52.90M

19. Reign Over Me (2007)

R | 124 min | Drama

61 Metascore

A man who lost his family in the September 11 attack on New York City runs into his old college roommate. Rekindling the friendship is the one thing that appears able to help the man recover from his grief.

Director: Mike Binder | Stars: Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle, Jada Pinkett Smith, Liv Tyler

Votes: 98,359 | Gross: $19.66M

20. Rounders (1998)

R | 121 min | Crime, Drama

54 Metascore

A young, reformed gambler must return to playing high stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks, while balancing his relationship with his girlfriend and his commitments to law school.

Director: John Dahl | Stars: Matt Damon, Edward Norton, Gretchen Mol, John Malkovich

Votes: 156,004 | Gross: $22.91M

21. About a Boy (2002)

PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

75 Metascore

Will, who attends single parent meetings to woo women, meets Marcus, a troubled 12-year-old boy. As they become friends, Will learns to be responsible while he helps Marcus with his studies.

Directors: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz | Stars: Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Sharon Small

Votes: 188,066 | Gross: $41.39M

22. The Weather Man (2005)

R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama

61 Metascore

A Chicago weather man, separated from his wife and children, debates whether professional and personal success are mutually exclusive.

Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Hope Davis, Nicholas Hoult, Michael Caine

Votes: 81,955 | Gross: $12.48M

23. Kick-Ass (2010)

R | 117 min | Action, Comedy, Crime

66 Metascore

Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a superhero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.

Director: Matthew Vaughn | Stars: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloë Grace Moretz, Garrett M. Brown

Votes: 577,381 | Gross: $48.07M

24. Yes Man (2008)

PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Romance

46 Metascore

A man challenges himself to say "yes" to everything.

Director: Peyton Reed | Stars: Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, John Michael Higgins

Votes: 372,775 | Gross: $97.69M

25. Shutter Island (2010)

R | 138 min | Mystery, Thriller

63 Metascore

Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule, two US marshals, are sent to an asylum on a remote island in order to investigate the disappearance of a patient, where Teddy uncovers a shocking truth about the place.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Emily Mortimer, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley

Votes: 1,371,358 | Gross: $128.01M

26. Donnie Darko (2001)

R | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

88 Metascore

After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.

Director: Richard Kelly | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne

Votes: 822,923 | Gross: $1.48M

27. Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

PG-13 | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

70 Metascore

A delusional young man strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the Internet.

Director: Craig Gillespie | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, R.D. Reid

Votes: 149,904 | Gross: $5.97M

28. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

PG | 115 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family

72 Metascore

A young boy wins a tour through the most magnificent chocolate factory in the world, led by the world's most unusual candy maker.

Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter

Votes: 499,397 | Gross: $206.46M

29. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

R | 108 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi

89 Metascore

When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories for ever.

Director: Michel Gondry | Stars: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Gerry Robert Byrne

Votes: 1,036,082 | Gross: $34.40M

30. The Lives of Others (2006)

R | 137 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

89 Metascore

In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police, conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover, finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.

Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | Stars: Ulrich Mühe, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur

Votes: 398,097 | Gross: $11.29M

31. Coraline (2009)

PG | 100 min | Animation, Drama, Family

80 Metascore

An adventurous 11-year-old girl finds another world that is a strangely idealized version of her frustrating home, but it has sinister secrets.

Director: Henry Selick | Stars: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, Jennifer Saunders

Votes: 245,265 | Gross: $75.29M

32. Blood Diamond (2006)

R | 143 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller

64 Metascore

A fisherman, a smuggler, and a syndicate of businessmen match wits over the possession of a priceless diamond.

Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly, Kagiso Kuypers

Votes: 566,495 | Gross: $57.37M

33. School of Rock (2003)

PG-13 | 109 min | Comedy, Music

82 Metascore

After being kicked out of his rock band, Dewey Finn becomes a substitute teacher of an uptight elementary private school, only to try and turn his class into a rock band.

Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Jack Black, Mike White, Joan Cusack, Adam Pascal

Votes: 317,900 | Gross: $81.26M

34. Let the Right One In (2008)

R | 114 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror

82 Metascore

Oskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.

Director: Tomas Alfredson | Stars: KÃ¥re Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl

Votes: 221,902 | Gross: $2.12M

35. The Butterfly Effect (2004)

R | 113 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

30 Metascore

Evan Treborn suffers blackouts during significant events of his life. As he grows up, he finds a way to remember these lost memories and a supernatural way to alter his life by reading his journal.

Directors: Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber | Stars: Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Melora Walters, Elden Henson

Votes: 504,027 | Gross: $57.94M

36. Walk the Line (2005)

PG-13 | 136 min | Biography, Drama, Music

72 Metascore

A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.

Director: James Mangold | Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick

Votes: 258,337 | Gross: $119.52M

37. The Matrix (1999)

R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi

73 Metascore

When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.

Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving

Votes: 1,968,671 | Gross: $171.48M

38. Ray (I) (2004)

PG-13 | 152 min | Biography, Drama, Music

73 Metascore

The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.

Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell

Votes: 152,679 | Gross: $75.33M

39. What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

PG-13 | 118 min | Drama

73 Metascore

A young man in a small Midwestern town struggles to care for his mentally-disabled younger brother and morbidly obese mother while attempting to pursue his own happiness.

Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen

Votes: 245,229 | Gross: $9.17M

40. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

R | 101 min | Comedy, Drama

80 Metascore

A family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.

Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris | Stars: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Abigail Breslin

Votes: 498,527 | Gross: $59.89M

41. Juno (2007)

PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Drama

81 Metascore

Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes a selfless decision regarding the unborn child.

Director: Jason Reitman | Stars: Elliot Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman

Votes: 535,912 | Gross: $143.50M

42. Paper Man (2009)

R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama

37 Metascore

A washed-up writer forms an unlikely friendship with a teenager from Long Island.

Directors: Kieran Mulroney, Michele Mulroney | Stars: Jeff Daniels, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Lisa Kudrow

Votes: 19,755 | Gross: $0.02M

43. I Am Legend (2007)

PG-13 | 101 min | Action, Drama, Horror