The Most Memorable and Influential Films since the 1960s.
You’d be a little surprised, dismayed a bit, and reminded of those forgotten classics.
Filmmakers are genius, let’s face it.
Some accomplishments in cinema over the past 7 decades or more proves the art has reached the ultimate pinnacle.
So where would we be today without contemporary cinema?
Still reading classic books, newspaper columns, and listening to radio serials?
We’d still have theater houses, which is where the birthplace of modern cinema originated from.
So is there a one best or greatest film ever?
There are a lot of great films, from many great genres, from many talented directors, over a span of time.
However, my list of memorable and influential films can’t only be measured by success at the box office.
It’s the impact it had on audiences.
Memorable films not only dazzle us, but, question our beliefs, portray a different view, and make us feel something different rolling out of the cinema.
The best films not only touch the deepest parts of our soul, they also can make us laugh, cry, scream, and feel related to the story.
Above all, it can remind us that story, as ancient as time itself, resonates something inside all of us.
What defines a memorable or influential film?
Many things; talent, timing, theme, direction, and basically the art in progress.
It takes many to tango for a memorable film to stand out.
The story is one, but the character portrayal is another, and who’s playing the part.
A good topic is everything to its season.
The public’s mood needs to be ready, or able, to accept a certain film offering.
That’s why some flop, or are too ahead of their time, to gain the respect it deserves.
What’s incredible is the art of storytelling hasn’t changed much over time, only its presentation.
These films I’ve decided to have no basis for promotion, or a bias towards any certain genre, enterprise, or individual.
I believe there is no best film, or films out there, only what inspires, and touches, our hearts, minds, and imaginations.
The films are from each decade, and span from sci-fi to romance, from drama to epic true stories.
Including the harrowing madness of horror to the actions of heroes, and comical villains.
Plus a few rollercoaster comedy’s and documentary’s thrown in!
The 1960s
A decade meared with controversies and social change, also had an effect in films.
The passing on of the old to new in the industry highlights a new era born.
The industry overall caused a radical style to the way films were made.
As corporations bought the aging studios, the style of movie making and genre went in new directions and experimentation.
The likes of John Ford, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, and Frank Capra stepped aside for up comers like Stanley Kubrick, Roman Polanski, Sydney Pollack, Mike Nichols, and Arthur Penn to take our movie screen in newer directions.
Included are many international films, which the 60s were an exceptional decade for.
So here are some of the influential pieces, in the chronological orders of only their release dates.
And with, of course, more notable mentions at each end of the decades!
‘Psycho’ thriller, 1960, by Alfred Hitchcock.
‘The Apartment’, comedy/drama, 1960, by Billy Wilder.
‘Yoyimbo’, action/adventure, 1961, by Akira Kurosawa.
‘Lawrence of Arabia’, epic, 1963, by David Lean.
‘Dr Strangelove or; how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb’, comedy, 1964, by Stanley Kubrick.
‘The Battle of Algiers’, war/drama, 1966, by Gillo Pontercorvo.
‘The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly’, western, 1966, by Sergio Leone.
‘The Graduate’, drama, 1967, by Mike Nichols.
‘War and Peace’, war/drama, 1967–68, by Sergei Bonderchuk.
‘Easy Rider’, Drama/Adventure, 1968,by Dennis Hopper.
‘2001; A Space Odyssey’, sci-fi, 1968,by Stanley Kubrick.
‘Planet of the Apes’, sci-Fi, 1968, by Franklin J Schaffner.
The Runners-Up!
‘Rosemary’s Baby’, by Roman Polanski. ‘Goldfinger’, by Guy Hamilton. ‘Dr. No’, by Terence Young. ‘Persona’, by Ingmar Bergman. ‘Dr Zhivago’, by David Lean. ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’, by Sergio Leone. ‘La Dolce Vita’ and ‘8 and a half’, by Federico Fellini. ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, by Arthur Penn. ‘In the Heat of the Night’, Norman Jewison. ‘La Noire De’, by Ousmane Sembene. ‘The Great Escape’, by John Sturges. ‘Charade’, by Stanley Donen. ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, by Robert Mulligan. ‘Army of Shadows’, Jean-Pierre Melville. ‘The Sound of Music’, by Robert Wise. ‘Spartacus’, by Stanley Kubrick. ‘My Fair Lady’, by George Cucor. ‘Mary Poppins’, by Robert Stevenson. ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, by Blake Edwards. ‘Night of the Living Dead’, by George A. Romero.
The 1970s
From the over spill of the 60s, the next decade, emerged out a so called ‘Brat pack’ to Hollywood’s door.
The likes of Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas were some directors to revolutionize the way we watch movies.
It was a period where the anti-hero, villains, detectives, and crime boss stories became dominant.
A new creative revolution, as the major studios and marketing departments began looking for younger audiences to appeal to.
As the decade neared a close, an edge of your seat fantasy, adventure, and ‘awe’ reset the way we watched movies for good.
With it, new special effects technology sped up in a race to see who could fill the cinema’s seats the fastest.
A brand-new concept called a ‘blockbuster’ film and trilogies, marking this decade as Hollywood’s greatest turn yet.
I wouldn’t have had the room to include everything here, so don’t worry, every decade list comes with many good ‘runners-up’, or praiseworthy mentions!
‘The Conformist’, thriller, 1970, by Bernardo Bertolucci.
‘The Godfather’, action/drama, 1972, by Francis Ford Coppola.
‘Solaris’, sci-Fi/drama, 1972, by Andrei Tarkowski.
‘The Exorcist’, horror, 1973, by William Friedkin.
‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’, comedy, 1974, by Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam.
‘Chinatown’, mystery/crime, 1974, by Roman Polanski.
‘Jaws’, drama, 1975, by Steven Spielberg.
‘Taxi Driver’, drama, 1975,by Martin Scorsese.
‘Star Wars’, sci-fi/fantasy, 1977,by George Lucas.
‘Apocalypse Now’, war, 1979, by Francis Ford Coppola.
‘Alien’, sci-fi/thriller, 1979, by Ridley Scott.
Worthy mentions
‘Manhattan’ and ‘Annie Hall’ by Woody Allen. ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ by Steven Spielberg. ‘Nashville’ by Robert Altman. ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest’ by Milos Foreman. ‘The French Connection’ by William Friedkin. ‘Animal House’ by John Landis. ‘Halloween’ by John Carpenter. ‘A Clockwork Orange’ by Stanley Kubrick. ‘The Godfather Part II’ by Francis Ford Coppola. ‘Midnight Express’ by Alan Parker. ‘Mean Streets’, by Martin Scorsese. ‘The Poseidon Adventure’, by Ronald Neame. ‘The Deer Hunter’ by Michael Cimino. ‘American Graffiti’ by George Lucas. ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, by Tobe Hooper. ‘The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant’, by Rainer Werner Fassbender. ‘The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeois’, by Luis Bunuel.
The 1980s
With the return of Comic book marvel heroes, both new, and old.
The 80s kept evolving our cinema experience, and sci-fi fantasy went to the next level.
Without the impacts of horror, comedy, and feel good dramas to the big screen. Hollywood was back and more bankable as the special effects got even bigger and brighter.
Blockbusters and trilogies were one. As were real life stories and biographies to touch our heart and arouse deep emotions with some stunning acting and directing.
With Spielberg and George Lucas pulling back to allow the Ridley Scott’s and James Cameron’s to show us their talent.
The industry also said farewell to one of its pioneer moviemakers, Alfred Hitchcock, in 1980.
The 80s had action heroes a plenty as genres exploded in every direction.
Of course there were too many to list here, but, to be fair, the ‘notable mentions’ are just as great.
‘The Empire Strikes Back’, sci-fi/fantasy, 1980, by Lawrence Kasden.
‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, action/adventure, 1981,by Steven Spielberg.
‘Poltergeist’, horror, 1982, by Tobe Hooper.
‘Blade Runner’, sci-fi/fantasy, 1982, by Ridley Scott.
‘Gandi’, drama, 1982, by Richard Attenborough.
‘E.T’, sci-fi/drama, 1982, by Steven Spielberg.
‘Aliens’, sci-fi/fantasy, 1986, by James Cameron.
‘Dirty Dancing’, drama, 1987, by Emile Ardinio.
‘Platoon’, war/drama, 1987, by Oliver Stone.
‘My Neighbor Totoro’, animation, 1988, by Studio Ghibli.
‘Dead Poets Society’, drama/teen, 1989,by Peter Weir.
Notable mentions
‘Das Boot’, by Wolfgang Peterson. ‘Out of Africa’, by Sydney Pollack. ‘Raging Bull’, by Martin Scorsese. ‘The Breakfast Club’ by John Hughes. ‘Die Hard’, by John McTiernan. ‘The Last Emperor’, by Bernardo Bertulucci. ‘The Mission’, by Roland Joffe. ‘Laputa; Castle in the sky’, by Studio Ghibli. ‘Fitzcarraldo’, by Werner Herzog. ‘Koyaanisqatsi’, by Godfrey Reggio. ‘Dune’, by David Lynch. ‘Born on the 4th of July’, by Oliver Stone. ‘Rain Man’, by Barry Levinson. ‘Back to the Future’, by Robert Zemeckis. ‘Amadeus’, by Milos Foreman. ‘Empire of the Sun’, by Steven Spielberg. ‘Scarface’, by Brian De Palma. ‘Airplane’, by David and Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams. ‘Do The Right Thing’, by Spike Lee. ‘The Thing’, by John Carpenter.
The 1990s
The blockbusters continue in this action packed decade.
Emotional drama runs a new course with more depth, and the fading of gangsters makes way for superhuman villains and action heroes to return more, as franchises begin dominating the scene.
The 90s consolidates what the 80s let rip.
Some elegant real life sagas replace the space operas and fantasy’s, except for James Cameron’s mind-blowing success with Terminator 2; Judgement Day.
Of course, with a nice mix of true story adaptations and the feel good comedy explosions.
The technology takes us further into the deep blue and green screens for CGI software and effects to roll in full motion.
And we pay tribute to the loss of one of cinema’s greatest directors; Stanley Kubrick.
From true stories, documentaries, and thrillers, the 90s list had some epics.
‘JFK’, true story/drama, 1991, by Oliver Stone.
‘Baraka’, documentary film, 1993, by Ron Fricke.
‘The Silence of the Lambs’, thriller, 1993, by Jonathan Demme.
‘Schindlers List’, true story/war, 1993, by Steven Spielberg.
‘Pulp Fiction’, comedy, action, drama, 1994, by Quentin Tarantino.
‘The Shawshank Redemption’, crime/drama, 1994, by Frank Darabont.
‘Forest Gump’, drama, 1994, by Robert Zemeckis.
‘The Lion King’, animation, 1994, by Rob Minkoff and Roger Alles.
‘Life is Beautiful’, war/romance, 1994, by Roberto Benigni.
‘Good Will Hunting’, drama, 1997, by Gus Van Sant.
‘Saving Private Ryan’, war/action, 1998, by Steven Spielberg.
‘American Beauty’, romance/drama, 1999, by Sam Mendes.
‘Fight Club’, thriller/drama, 1999, by David Fincher.
‘The Matrix’, sci-fi/action, 1999, by Lana and Lilly Wachowski.
‘The Sixth Sense’, thriller, 1999, by M. Night Shyamalan.
The best of the rest!
‘Goodfellas’, by Martin Scorsese. ‘Dances with Wolves’, by Kevin Costner. ‘Terminator 2’ and ‘Titanic’, by James Cameron. ‘Princess Mononoke’, by Studio Ghibli. ‘Scream’, by Wes Craven. ‘Die Hard 2’, by Renny Harlin. ‘Seven’, by David Fincher. ‘Jurassic Park’, by Steven Spielberg. ‘The Usual Suspects’, by Bryan Singer. ‘Leon’, by Luc Bessen. ‘The Truman Show’, by Peter Weir. ‘Toy Story’, by John Lasseter. ‘The Piano’, by Jane Campion. ‘Eyes Wide Shut’, by Stanley Kubrick. ‘Ed Wood’ and ‘Edward Scissorhand’, by Tim Burton. ‘Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels’, by Guy Ritchie. ‘Braveheart’, by Mel Gibson. ‘Apollo 13’, by Ron Howard. ‘Fargo’ and ‘The Big Lebowski’, by Ethan and Joel Coen. ‘Philadelphia’, by Jonathan Demme. ‘Run Lola Run’, by Tom Tykwer. ‘Shine’, by Scott Hicks. ‘Three Colors; Red’’, by Krzysztof Kieslowski.
The 2000s
Wow, we go into new territory here.
The big epics and masterpieces of the 90s get more digitalized. The drama still fills our screens with love and tears.
The 2000s seem more a mishmash of previous decades rolled into one.
A new era of directors continues, with the likes of the Coen brothers, Christopher Nolan, Peter Jackson, Gus Van Sant, and Paul Thomas Anderson.
Meanwhile, film studios merge, with the rapid rise and return of more Disney pictures to the cinema.
Performers also come and go.
The once heavyweights of the 80s and 90s such as Sylvester Stallone, Nicolas Cage, Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson, Richard Gere, John Travolta, Harrison Ford, Jim Carrey, and Arnold Schwarzenegger step aside.
They make way for Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Russel Crowe, Will Smith, Clive Owen, Ben Stiller, Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Owen Wilson, Adrian Broody, Hugh Jackman, Adam Driver, and of course Johnny Depp.
However, some like Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Dustin Hoffman, Hugh Grant, Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, and Morgan Freeman fit well at any time in cinema.
And ladies, it’s the elegance of Kate Winslet, Charlize Theron, Natalie Portman, Naomi Watts, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Keira Knightly, Halle Berry, Scarlett Johansson, and Reese Witherspoon that contribute greatness to the screen in the last 20 years of film.
We also pay tribute to the deaths of Marlon Brando, Sydney Pollack, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Heath Ledger, Dennis Hopper, and the beloved Robin Williams in the 2000s already.
It was the hardest list, including some worthy documentaries.
‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, action/romance, 2000, by Ang Lee.
‘Amelie’, romance/comedy, 2001, by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
‘A Beautiful Mind’, drama/romance, 2001, by Ron Howard.
‘Spirited Away’, animation, 2001, by Studio Ghibli.
‘The Pianist’, biography/drama, 2002, by Roman Polanski.
‘City of God’, crime/drama, 2002, by Fernando Meirelles.
‘The Lord of the Rings; The Return of the King’, fantasy/adventure, 2003, by Peter Jackson.
‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’, romance/sci-fi, 2004, by Michel Gondry.
‘Pan’s Labiryth’, fantasy/war, 2006, by Guillermo Del Toro.
‘There Will Be Blood’, drama, historical, 2007, by Paul Thomas Anderson.
‘The Dark Knight’, action/drama, 2008, by Christopher Nolan.
‘Home’, documentary, 2009, by Yann Arthus-Bertrand.
‘Avatar’, sci-fi fantasy, 2009, by James Cameron.
‘Samsara’, documentary, 2011, by Ron Fricke.
‘Interstellar’, sci-fi/adventure, 2014, by Christopher Nolan.
‘Timbuktu’, drama/political, 2014, by Abderrahmane Sissako.
‘Lion’, drama, 2016, by Garth Davis.
And the best of the rest..
‘Gladiator’, by Ridley Scott. ‘Hero’, by Yi-Mou Zhang. ‘The Departed’, and ‘Rolling Thunder Revue; A Bob Dylan Story’, by Martin Scorsese. ‘Mulholland Drive’, by David Lynch. ‘Donnie Darko’, by Richard Kelly. ‘V for Vendetta’, by James McTeige. ‘Shrek’, by Vickey Jenson and Adam Adamson. ‘Finding Nemo’, by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich. ‘No Country for Old Men’, by Joel and Ethan Coen. ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan. ‘Little Miss Sunshine’, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. ‘The Martian’, by Ridley Scott. ‘Kill Bill vol.1’ and ‘Inglorious Bastards’, by Quentin Tarantino. ‘Serenity’, by Joss Whedon. ‘Skyfall’ by Sam Mendes. ‘WALL.E’, by Andrew Stanton. ‘The Prestige’ and ‘Dunkirk’, by Christopher Nolan. ‘Downfall’, by Oliver Hirschbiegel. ‘Big Fish’, by Tim Burton. ‘Minority Report’, by Steven Spielberg. ‘Boyhood’, by Richard Linklater. ‘The Fall’, Tarsem Singh. ‘The Passion of the Christ’, by Mel Gibson. ‘Cold War’, by Pawel Pawlikowski. ‘Children of Men’, by Alfonso Cuaron. ‘The Hobbit; The Desolation of Smaug’, by Peter Jackson. ‘Mad Max; Fury Road’, by George Miller. ‘La La Land’, by Damien Chazelle. ‘Roma’, by Alfonso Cuaron. ‘Shaun of the Dead’, by Edgar Wright.
The wrap up!
As you can see, some films have been well known. Others get the mere appreciation for beauty and quality.
Film takes more than a portrayal of its genre, it takes willingness to express the art perfectly.
I chose from a variety of different sources online, such as, IMDb film rank lists, Rolling Stone Magazine, Rotten Tomatoes, Empire Magazine, The Academy of Motion Pictures and Arts, stacker, indiewire, screenrant, timeout, and ranker.
I know I’ve probably missed your favorite.
I hope you can appreciate the influence these movies have on us viewers and in staying true to the art form of cinema.
Originally published at http://www.spiritofwords.org.au on January 17, 2022.
