The 50 Best, Most Iconic Movie Posters of All Time

The best movie posters excite us and peak our interest without telling us more than we should know going into a movie. This is an art form. Do you have a favorite movie poster that you'll never forget? Well, we've rounded up the most effective, tantalizing and iconic movie posters ever.

Though there are films from a wide variety of genres on this list, you'll notice it's heavy on action, sci-fi and horror genre titles. These pictures are often sold entirely on their concepts rather than star power, and some genre posters are just as—if not more—memorable than the films they advertise. These are the posters that are forever engrained in our memory.

Here are the 50 best, most iconic movie posters of all time. 

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50. The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)

Before Steve Carell was a household name, this laugh-out-loud funny one-sheet teased a high-concept raunchy romp. The humane, finely acted romantic comedy delivered even more than that, though. The picture was a smash, and spawned an era of R-rated comedy prosperity.

49. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

The 1970s was a golden age for brutal horror, thanks to the nixing of Hollywood's standard censorship code in the late 1960s. One of the most memorable posters from this era read "Who will survive...and what will be left of them?" With minimal gore and lots of twisted imagination, the original Texas Chain Saw holds up as a blisteringly freaky watch.

48. Parasite (2017)

The history-making South Korean thriller that swept the Oscars had a brilliant poster that teased one of the film's many themes—identity, and the loss of it.  The image tells us nothing about the twisted plot while sucking us into its gravitational pull.

47. Batman (1989)

A shimmering gold logo and the last names of stars Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton was all that was needed to hook audiences; Batman ruled the summer 1989 box office. Nearly two decades later, the "Why so serious?" marketing behind The Dark Knight became just as iconic.

46. Lord of War (2005) 

What red-blooded film fan could resist Nicolas Cage made out of gun parts and bullet shells? The Oscar winner plays an ethically challenged arms dealer in Andrew Niccol's war drama.

45. Airplane! (1980)

A twisted cartoon perfectly sums up this circus of a big-screen farce, one of the funniest comedies of all time.

44. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1995) 

Hunter S. Thompson's infamous novel about drug use and living on the fringes is brought to life in this Salvador Dali-esque trippy image.

43. The Rocketeer (1991) 

Joe Johnston's overlooked family action pic was teased in theaters with this attractive lobby card taking artistic cues from the film's 1930s time period.

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42. Moonlight (2016)

The dreamy, neon-hued one-sheet teases the film's visual beauty, and the film's central theme of identity.

41. Apocalypse Now (1979) 

The Vietnam War appears to take on an almost supernatural quality in this work of art by Bob Peak.

40. The Social Network (2010) 

Prophetic, Oscar-winning The Social Network is a key Hollywood film of the last decade. Jesse Eisenberg as controversial Mark Zuckerberg is superimposed upon the film's clever tagline.

39. Halloween (1978)

The night he came home. Who the heck is he? This scary composition is so scary and enticing, audiences couldn't wait to find out. Halloween was the most successful independent film ever for two full decades, eventually dethroned by The Blair Witch Project (another horror pic with a killer poster).

38. Forbidden Planet (1956)

What could have been a dime-a-dozen B-movie remains essential, transcendent sci-fi. The historic poster centers on Robby the Robot, with Anne Francis dramatically draped over his arms.

37. American Beauty (1999)

Look closer. Few things grab your attention on a film poster quite like a naked body. American Beauty's iconic midriff is tasteful and intriguing without telling us anything about the plot.

36.  Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Films about the Vietnam War conjured many powerful images, hence their presence on this list. Stanley Kubrick's drama was advertised with punchy minimalism, a helmet reading "Born to Kill," and the tagline: "In Vietnam the wind doesn't blow it sucks."

35. Rosemary's Baby (1968) 

The scariest baby carriage of all time is front-and-center in the one-sheet for Roman Polanski's iconic thriller, based on the book by Ira Levin.

34. Mean Streets (1973) 

The poster for Martin Scorsese's breakthrough is an elegant composition presenting the criminal underworld of Little Italy, New York.

33. Amadeus (1984)

"The man, the music, the madness, the motion picture!" Adapted by Peter Shaffer from his own play, Miloš Forman's biopic won eight Oscars including Best Picture.

32. Platoon (1986) 

The most famous scene from Oliver Stone's Vietnam War film features an agonized Willem Dafoe, arms reaching to the sky. This scene and image have been parodied ad nauseum.

31. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

How many images are as iconic as Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) in pearls? The instantly recognizable opening scene was reportedly difficult to film due to crowd control and Hepburn's disliking pastries, among other reasons.

30. The Little Mermaid (1989)

Of all the hand-drawn Disney classics that could have made this list, we're going with the simple artwork of Ariel perched on a rock, looking longingly into the distance. Along with plenty of mystery, the poetic image promises a return to the magic of Disney's golden age, following a decades-long drought in the wake of Walt Disney's death. It's a promise the picture, the inaugural film of the Disney Renaissance, keeps.

29. Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)

Talk about high-concept! The endlessly referenced and spoofed poster for this '50s B-movie is far more memorable than the silly film. This was super racy for 1958. The film is in black-and-white, but the one-sheet is painted with warm reds and yellows.