Best Drama Movies

#1 The Shawshank Redemption 1994

Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

Director: Frank Darabont. Cast: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, Mark Rolston, James Whitmore, Renee Blaine, Brian Delate, Brian Libby.

Overview: Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

Genres: Drama, Crime. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 22m. Rated: R.

#2 The Godfather 1972

An offer you can't refuse

Director: Francis Ford Coppola. Cast: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard S. Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, Richard Conte, Al Lettieri, Diane Keaton, Abe Vigoda, Talia Shire, Gianni Russo, John Cazale, John Marley, Rudy Bond.

Overview: The story spans the years from 1945 to 1955 and chronicles the fictional Italian American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael, steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.

Genres: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller. Countries: Italy, United States of America. Runtime: 2h 55m. Rated: R.

#3 The Godfather: Part II 1974

I don't feel I have to wipe everybody out, Tom. Just my enemies.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola. Cast: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, John Cazale, Talia Shire, Lee Strasberg, Michael V. Gazzo, G.D. Spradlin, Richard Bright, Francesca De Sapio, Oreste Baldini, Gastone Moschin, Giuseppe Sillato, Kelly Williams.

Overview: The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family tells the story of a young Vito Corleone growing up in Sicily and in 1910s New York; and follows Michael Corleone in the 1950s as he attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba

Genres: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller. Countries: Dominican Republic, Italy, United States of America. Runtime: 3h 20m. Rated: R.

#4 12 Angry Men 1957

Life is in their hands. Death is on their minds

Director: Sidney Lumet. Cast: Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Jack Warden, Henry Fonda, Joseph Sweeney, Ed Begley, George Voskovec, Robert Webber, Rudy Bond, James Kelly, Billy Nelson.

Overview: 12 Angry Men is the 1957 film debut for director Sidney Lumet. An interpretion from a Broadway show, this film is about 12 jurors who must decide whether an 18-year-old is guilty of killing his father.

Genres: Drama, Mystery. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 36m. Rated: G.

#5 Schindler's List 1993

Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.

Director: Steven Spielberg. Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall, Embeth Davidtz, Malgoscha Gebel, Shmuel Levy, Mark Ivanir, Béatrice Macola, Andrzej Seweryn, Friedrich von Thun, Krzysztof Luft, Harry Nehring, Norbert Weisser.

Overview: Told from the perspective of businessman Oskar Schindler who saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his armor factory. Schindler’s List is based on a true story, illustrated in black and white and filmed on many original locations which brought much discussion and controversy.

Genres: Drama, History. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 3h 15m. Rated: R.

#6 One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest 1975

If he's crazy, what does that make you?

Director: Milos Forman. Cast: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, William Redfield, Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco, Dean R. Brooks, Alonzo Brown, Scatman Crothers, Mwako Cumbuka, Danny DeVito, William Duell, Josip Elic, Lan Fendors, Nathan George, Ken Kenny.

Overview: While serving time for insanity at a state mental hospital, implacable rabble-rouser Randle Patrick McMurphy inspires his fellow patients to rebel against the authoritarian rule of head nurse Mildred Ratched.

Genre: Drama. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 13m. Rated: R.

#7 Seven Samurai 1954
Shichinin no samurai

Director: Akira Kurosawa. Cast: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Inaba, Seiji Miyaguchi, Minoru Chiaki, Daisuke Katô, Isao Kimura, Keiko Tsushima.

Overview: A veteran samurai, who has fallen on hard times, answers a village's request for protection from bandits. He gathers 6 other samurai to help him, and they teach the townspeople how to defend themselves, and they supply the samurai with three small meals a day. The film culminates in a giant battle when 40 bandits attack the village.

Genres: Action, Drama, Foreign, Indie. Country: Japan. Runtime: 3h 27m. Rated: NR.

#8 The Dark Knight 2008

Why So Serious?

Director: Christopher Nolan. Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Eric Roberts, Michael Jai White, James Smith, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Ron Dean, Cillian Murphy, Chin Han, Ritchie Coster.

Overview: Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Crime, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Thriller. Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America. Runtime: 2h 32m. Rated: PG-13.

#9 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2003

The eye of the enemy is moving.

Director: Peter Jackson. Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Hugo Weaving, Bernard Hill, Andy Serkis, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Karl Urban.

Overview: Aragorn is revealed as the heir to the ancient kings as he, Gandalf and the other members of the broken fellowship struggle to save Gondor from Sauron's forces. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam bring the ring closer to the heart of Mordor, the dark lord's realm.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction. Countries: New Zealand, United States of America. Runtime: 3h 21m. Rated: PG-13.

#10 Fight Club 1999

How much can you know about yourself if you've never been in a fight?

Director: David Fincher. Cast: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf, Zach Grenier, Richmond Arquette, David Andrews, Rachel Singer, Holt McCallany, Eion Bailey, Jared Leto, Peter Iacangelo.

Overview: A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.

Genres: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller. Countries: Germany, United States of America. Runtime: 2h 18m. Rated: R.

#11 Goodfellas 1990

Three Decades of Life in the Mafia.

Director: Martin Scorsese. Cast: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Chuck Low, Frank Sivero, Frank DiLeo, Tony Darrow, Mike Starr, Frank Vincent, Frank Adonis, Catherine Scorsese, Suzanne Shepherd, Gina Mastrogiacomo.

Overview: Henry Hill is a small time gangster, who takes part in a robbery with Jimmy Conway and Tommy De Vito, two other gangsters who have set their sights a bit higher. His two partners kill off everyone else involved in the robbery, and slowly start to climb up through the hierarchy of the Mob. Henry, however, is badly affected by his partners success, but will he stoop low enough to bring about the downfall of Jimmy and Tommy?

Genres: Crime, Drama. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 25m. Rated: R.

#12 Casablanca 1942

They had a date with fate in Casablanca!

Director: Michael Curtiz. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Lebeau, Dooley Wilson, Joy Page, John Qualen, Leonid Kinskey, Curt Bois, Marcel Dalio, Helmut Dantine.

Overview: Casablanca is a classic and one of the most revered films of all time. Starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in a love triangle in the city of Casablanca which is a refuge for many fleeing foreigners looking for a new life during the war. Political romance with a backdrop of war conflict between democracy and totalitarianism. A landmark in film history.

Genres: Crime, Drama, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 42m. Rated: PG.

#13 City of God 2002
Cidade de Deus

If you run you're dead...if you stay, you're dead again. Period.

Directors: Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund, Lamartine Ferreira, Isabella Teixeira, Malu Miranda. Cast: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen, Matheus Nachtergaele, Seu Jorge, Jefechander Suplino, Alice Braga, Roberta Rodrigues, Luis Otávio, Darlan Cunha.

Overview: City of God is one of the most successful Brazilian films of all times. It depicts the raw violence in the ghettos of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970’s that even had young kids carrying guns and joining gangs when they should be playing hide-and-seek.

Genres: Crime, Drama, Foreign. Country: Brazil. Runtime: 2h 10m. Rated: R.

#14 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001

One ring to rule them all

Director: Peter Jackson. Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Bean, Christopher Lee, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Craig Parker.

Overview: Young hobbit Frodo Baggins, after inheriting a mysterious ring from his uncle Bilbo, must leave his home in order to keep it from falling into the hands of its evil creator. Along the way, a fellowship is formed to protect the ringbearer and make sure that the ring arrives at its final destination: Mt. Doom, the only place where it can be destroyed.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction. Countries: New Zealand, United States of America. Runtime: 2h 58m. Rated: PG-13.

#15 Sunset Boulevard 1950

A Hollywood Story

Director: Billy Wilder. Cast: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson, Fred Clark, Lloyd Gough, Jack Webb, Buster Keaton, Cecil B. DeMille, Hedda Hopper, Anna Q. Nilsson, Ray Evans, Jay Livingston, H.B. Warner.

Overview: Director Billy Wilder is ice cold in his captivating Hollywood drama Sunset Blvd. A screenwriter begins an affair with a silent film actress who thinks she’s at the top of her field...

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 50m. Rated: PG.

#16 It's a Wonderful Life 1946

It's a wonderful laugh! It's a wonderful love!

Director: Frank Capra. Cast: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen, Todd Karns, Samuel S. Hinds, Georgie Nokes, Ward Bond, Gloria Grahame, H.B. Warner, Frank Albertson.

Overview: An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would had been like if he never existed.

Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Holiday. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 10m. Rated: NR.

#17 Se7en 1995
Seven

Seven deadly sins. Seven ways to die.

Director: David Fincher. Cast: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey, Andrew Kevin Walker, Kevin Spacey, Daniel Zacapa, John Cassini, Hawthorne James, Richard Roundtree, John C. McGinley.

Overview: Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The seasoned Det. Sommerset researches each sin in an effort to get inside the killer's mind, while his novice partner, Mills, scoffs at his efforts to unravel the case.

Genres: Crime, Horror, Mystery, Thriller. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 7m. Rated: R.

#18 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2002

A New Power Is Rising.

Director: Peter Jackson. Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Christopher Lee, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Hugo Weaving, Craig Parker, Bernard Hill, Andy Serkis, Brad Dourif.

Overview: Frodo and Sam are trekking to Mordor to destroy the One Ring of Power while Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn search for the orc-captured Merry and Pippin. All along, nefarious wizard Saruman awaits the Fellowship members at the Orthanc Tower in Isengard.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction. Countries: New Zealand, United States of America. Runtime: 2h 59m. Rated: PG-13.

#19 Memento 2001

Some memories are best forgotten.

Director: Christopher Nolan. Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior, Russ Fega, Jorja Fox, Stephen Tobolowsky, Harriet Sansom Harris, Thomas Lennon, Callum Keith Rennie, Kimberly Campbell, Marianne Muellerleile, Larry Holden, Buzz Visconti.

Overview: Suffering short-term memory loss after a head injury, Leonard Shelby embarks on a grim quest to find the lowlife who murdered his wife in this gritty, complex thriller that packs more knots than a hangman's noose. To carry out his plan, Shelby snaps Polaroids of people and places, jotting down contextual notes on the backs of photos to aid in his search and jog his memory. He even tattoos his own body in a desperate bid to remember.

Genres: Crime, Drama, Suspense, Thriller. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 53m. Rated: R.

#20 Forrest Gump 1994

Life is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get.

Director: Robert Zemeckis. Cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, Sally Field, Michael Conner Humphreys, Peter Dobson, Hanna R. Hall, Sonny Shroyer, Jed Gillin, Afemo Omilami, Steven Griffith, John William Galt, Nora Dunfee, Michael Mattison.

Overview: A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events - in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. Yet, despite all the things he has attained, his one true love eludes him. "Forrest Gump" is the story of a man who rose above his challenges, and who proved that determination, courage, and love are more important than ability.

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 22m. Rated: PG-13.

#21 Leon: The Professional 1994
Léon

If you want a job done well, hire a professional.

Director: Luc Besson. Cast: Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman, Danny Aiello, Peter Appel, Willi One Blood, Don Creech, Keith A. Glascoe, Michael Badalucco.

Overview: Léon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner." But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling custodian of 12-year-old Mathilda. Before long, Mathilda's thoughts turn to revenge, and she considers following in Léon's footsteps.

Genres: Crime, Thriller. Countries: France, United States of America. Runtime: 1h 50m. Rated: R.

#22 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 1964

Director: Stanley Kubrick. Cast: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens, Keenan Wynn, Peter Bull, Jack Creley, Tracy Reed.

Overview: An insane general starts a process to nuclear holocaust that a war room of politicians and generals frantically try to stop. A classic black and white war satire from director Stanley Kubrick starring Peter Sellers.

Genres: Comedy, Drama, War. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 34m. Rated: PG.

#23 City Lights 1931

Director: Charlie Chaplin. Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee, Harry Myers, Al Ernest Garcia, Hank Mann.

Overview: City Lights is the first silent film that Charlie Chaplin directed after he established himself with sound accompanied films. The film is about a penniless man who falls in love with a flower girl. The film was a great success and today is deemed a cult classic.

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 27m.

#24 Apocalypse Now Redux 2001

The Horror. . . The Horror. . .

Director: Francis Ford Coppola. Cast: Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Albert Hall, Harrison Ford, Dennis Hopper, G.D. Spradlin, Jerry Ziesmer, Scott Glenn, Francis Ford Coppola.

Overview: Apocalypse Now Redux is an extended version of the 1979 epic war film Apocalypse Now. Unlike other new cuts of the film, Redux is usually considered by fans and critics, as well as director Coppola, as a completely new movie altogether. The movie adds 49 minutes of all-new material, and represents a significant re-edit of the original Apocalypse Now. The movie came into production when Coppola concluded that his original cut was tame by today's standards. Coppola, along with editor/long-time collaborator Walter Murch, then added several scenes that enhanced the surrealism in the original story.

Genres: Action, Drama, War. Runtime: 3h 22m. Rated: R.

#25 North by Northwest 1959

It's a deadly game of 'tag' and Cary Grant is 'it'...

Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Cast: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, Philip Coolidge, Doreen Lang, Josephine Hutchinson, Leo G. Carroll, Philip Ober, Adam Williams, Edward Platt, Robert Ellenstein, Martin Landau, Les Tremayne, Patrick McVey.

Overview: An advertising man is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 16m. Rated: G.

#26 Citizen Kane 1941

Everybody's talking about it!

Director: Orson Welles. Cast: Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick, Everett Sloane, George Coulouris, Dorothy Comingore, William Alland, Philip Van Zandt, Buddy Swan, Paul Stewart, Harry Shannon.

Overview: Orson Wells was 26 when he made his first feature film Citizen Kane. The film became known as one of the greatest of all time and earned him international celebrity. The story is about the publishing business and how one thrill-seeker’s struggle for power negatively affected everybody he came in contact with and eventually lead to a merciless war.

Genre: Drama. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 57m. Rated: PG.

#27 American History X 1998

Some Legacies Must End.

Director: Tony Kaye. Cast: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo, Avery Brooks, Jennifer Lien, Ethan Suplee, Stacy Keach, Fairuza Balk, Elliott Gould, Guy Torry, William Russ, Joseph Cortese, Jason Bose Smith, Antonio David Lyons, Alex Sol.

Overview: Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two thugs who tried to break into/steal his truck. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.

Genres: Action, Crime, Drama. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 59m. Rated: R.

#28 Paths of Glory 1957

Director: Stanley Kubrick. Cast: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready, Wayne Morris, Richard Anderson, Joe Turkel, Timothy Carey.

Overview: Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory is among the most powerful antiwar films ever made. A fiery Kirk Douglas stars as a World War I French colonel who goes head-to-head with the army’s ruthless top brass when his men are accused of cowardice after being unable to carry out an impossible mission. This haunting, exquisitely photographed dissection of the military machine in all its absurdity and capacity for dehumanization (a theme Kubrick would continue to explore throughout his career) is assembled with its legendary director’s customary precision, from its tense trench warfare sequences to its gripping courtroom climax to its ravaging final scene.

Genres: Drama, History, War. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 26m. Rated: NR.

#29 American Beauty 1999

Look closer

Director: Sam Mendes. Cast: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, Chris Cooper, Scott Bakula, Peter Gallagher, Allison Janney, Sam Robards, Barry Del Sherman.

Overview: Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.

Genres: Drama, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 2m. Rated: R.

#30 Taxi Driver 1976

On every street in every city, there's a nobody who dreams of being a somebody.

Director: Martin Scorsese. Cast: Robert De Niro, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Jodie Foster, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, Albert Brooks, Diahnne Abbott, Frank Adu, Gino Ardito.

Overview: Robert De Niro stars as Travis Bickle in this oppressive psychodrama about a Vietnam veteran who rebels against the decadence and immorality of big city life in New York while working the nightshift as a taxi driver.

Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 53m. Rated: R.

#31 The Human Condition I 1959
Ningen no jôken Vol. I

Director: Masaki Kobayashi. Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama.

Overview: The Human Condition is a Japanese epic film trilogy made between 1959 and 1961. The trilogy follows the life of Kaji, a Japanese pacifist and socialist, as he tries to survive in the fascist and oppressive world of WWII-era Japan. No Greater Love (1959) opens with Kaji marrying his sweetheart Michiko despite his misgivings about the future.

Genres: Drama, History. Country: Japan. Runtime: 3h 28m.

#32 Saving Private Ryan 1998

In the Last Great Invasion of the Last Great War, The Greatest Danger for Eight Men was Saving... One.

Director: Steven Spielberg. Cast: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Dennis Farina, Joerg Stadler, Harve Presnell, Max Martini, Matt Damon, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, Giovanni Ribisi, Jeremy Davies, Ted Danson, Paul Giamatti.

Overview: As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.

Genres: Action, Drama, History, War. Countries: France, United Kingdom, Ireland. Runtime: 2h 50m. Rated: R.

#33 Modern Times 1936

Director: Charlie Chaplin. Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford, Chester Conklin, Hank Mann, Stanley Blystone, Al Ernest Garcia, Richard Alexander, Cecil Reynolds, Mira McKinney, Murdock MacQuarrie, Wilfred Lucas, Edward LeSaint, Fred Malatesta.

Overview: The Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.

Genres: Comedy, Science Fiction. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 27m.

#34 Lawrence of Arabia 1962

Director: David Lean. Cast: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Omar Sharif, Claude Rains, Anthony Quayle, José Ferrer, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Wolfit, Zia Mohyeddin, I.S. Johar, Gamil Ratib, Michel Ray, John Dimech.

Overview: Lawrence of Arabia is the classic film from David Lean starring Peter O’Toole and based on the autobiography from Thomas Edward Lawrence who during the first World War was on assignment by the British Empire in Arabia. The film would become a cult classic and is known today as a masterpiece.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Foreign, History. Runtime: 3h 36m. Rated: PG.

#35 The Lives of Others 2006
Das Leben Der Anderen

Before the Fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany's Secret Police Listened to Your Secrets.

Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. Cast: Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Mühe, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur, Thomas Thieme, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Volkmar Kleinert, Matthias Brenner, Bastian Trost, Charly Hübner, Herbert Knaup, Marie Gruber, Hinnerk Schönemann, Thomas Arnold, Ludwig Blochberger.

Overview: The tragic love story in the East Berlin with the backdrop of an undercover Stasi controlled culture. Stasi captain Wieler is ordered follow author Dreyman and plunges deeper and deeper into his life until he reaches the threshold of doubting the system.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, Thriller. Country: Germany. Runtime: 2h 17m. Rated: R.

#36 The Shining 1980

The Horror is driving him crazy

Director: Stanley Kubrick. Cast: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson, Philip Stone, Joe Turkel, Anne Jackson.

Overview: The Shining is a Stanley Kubrick adaptation of Steven King’s horror novel of the same name. The film takes the viewer into a remote hotel where a Jack Torrance and his wife and son must live in for the winter. One of the scariest films of all times mixes up reality and makes isolation a psychological nightmare.

Genres: Drama, Horror, Thriller. Country: United Kingdom. Runtime: 2h 24m. Rated: R.

#37 To Kill a Mockingbird 1962

If you have read the novel, you will relive every treasured moment. . .If not, a deeply moving experience awaits you!

Director: Robert Mulligan. Cast: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, Robert Duvall, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy, Ruth White, Brock Peters, Estelle Evans, Alice Ghostley, Paul Fix, Collin Wilcox Paxton, James Anderson, William Windom.

Overview: To Kill A Mockingbird is the film adaptation of the classic book by Harper Lee. The film tells the story of a child in a small American town in the 1930’s where color prejudice, racial hatred, and taking the law into your own hands were everyday events. Gregory Peck would receive an Oscar for his excellent portrayal of a single father named Atticus Finch.

Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 9m. Rated: NR.

#38 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948

The nearer they get to their treasure, the farther they get from the law

Director: John Huston. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett, Barton MacLane, Alfonso Bedoya, Arturo Soto Rangel, Manuel Dondé, José Torvay, Margarito Luna, Robert Blake, John Huston.

Overview: Fred C. Dobbs and Bob Curtin, both down on their luck in Tampico, Mexico in 1925, meet up with a grizzled prospector named Howard and decide to join with him in search of gold in the wilds of central Mexico. Through enormous difficulties, they eventually succeed in finding gold, but bandits, the elements, and most especially greed threaten to turn their success into disaster.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Western. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 6m. Rated: NR.

#39 The Pianist 2002

Director: Roman Polanski. Cast: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Emilia Fox, Ed Stoppard, Julia Rayner, Jessica Kate Meyer, Michał Żebrowski, Wanja Mues, Richard Ridings, Nomi Sharron, Detlev von Wangenheim, Krzysztof Pieczynski.

Overview: The Pianist is a film adapted from the biography of Wladyslaw Szpilman. A Jewish-Polish pianist who during the second world war lived and hid miraculously in Warsaw after having gone through a terrible tragedy. A film from Roman Polanski.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, History. Countries: Germany, France, United Kingdom, Poland. Runtime: 2h 30m. Rated: R.

#40 Satantango 1994
Sátántangó

Director: Béla Tarr. Cast: Mihály Vig, Putyi Horváth, László feLugossy, Éva Almássy Albert, János Derzsi, Irén Szajki, Alfréd Járai, Miklós Székely B., Erzsébet Gaál, Erika Bók.

Overview: In a small dilapidated village in 1980s Hungary, life has come to a virtual standstill. The autumn rains have started. The villagers expect to receive a large cash payment that evening, and then plan to leave. Some want to abscond earlier with more than their fair share of the money. However they hear that the smooth talking Irimias, whom they thought had died, is coming back. They are apprehensive that he will take all their money in one of his grandiose schemes to keep the community going.

Genres: Drama, Foreign. Countries: Switzerland, Germany, Hungary. Runtime: 7h 30m.

#41 Das Boot 1982

When the hunters become the hunted

Director: Wolfgang Petersen. Cast: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch, Martin Semmelrogge, Bernd Tauber, Erwin Leder, Martin May, Heinz Hoenig, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Claude-Oliver Rudolph, Jan Fedder, Ralf Richter.

Overview: A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War. Soon it becomes hunted itself. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while stretching both the boat and themselves to their limits...

Genres: Action, Drama, Foreign, History, Thriller, War. Countries: Germany, France. Runtime: 2h 29m. Rated: R.

#42 A Clockwork Orange 1971

Being the adventures of a young man whose principal interests are rape, ultra-violence and Beethoven.

Director: Stanley Kubrick. Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Adrienne Corri, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, James Marcus, Michael Tarn, Carl Duering, Paul Farrell, Miriam Karlin, Sheila Raynor, Aubrey Morris, Godfrey Quigley, Clive Francis, Richard Connaught.

Overview: A Clockwork Orange is one of Stanley Kubrick’s greatest works about a gang of dangerous teenagers in future Britain. One member tries to get out and is beaten up and left for the police. He’s given the option to help the police find his old gang or stay in jail for a long time. Based on a novel, the film was personally put into theatres by Kubrick adding to the film's importance and strength.

Genres: Crime, Foreign, Science Fiction. Country: United Kingdom. Runtime: 2h 16m. Rated: R.

#43 The Bicycle Thief 1949
Ladri di biciclette

Director: Vittorio De Sica. Cast: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell, Carlo Jachino, Giulio Chiari.

Overview: A man and his son search for a stolen bicycle vital for his job.

Genres: Drama, Foreign. Country: Italy. Runtime: 1h 33m.

#44 All About Eve 1950

It's all about women...and their men!

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Cast: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Gregory Ratoff, Barbara Bates, Marilyn Monroe, Thelma Ritter.

Overview: Director Mankiewisz’s tragic comedy about the American show business is one of the darkest and most cynical films ever made. Bette Davis is brilliant in her roll as a once Broadway Diva who takes care of the promotion for the talented actress Eva (played by Anne Baxter). All together the film won six Oscars in 1951.

Genres: Comedy, Drama. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 18m. Rated: PG.

#45 Requiem for a Dream 2000

Director: Darren Aronofsky. Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans, Christopher McDonald, Louise Lasser.

Overview: The hopes and dreams of four ambitious people are shattered when their drug addictions begin spiraling out of control. A look into addiction and how it overcomes the mind and body.

Genres: Drama, Indie. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 42m. Rated: R.

#46 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004

I already forget how I used to feel about you.

Director: Michel Gondry. Cast: Kate Winslet, Jim Carrey, Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunst, Tom Wilkinson, Ryan Whitney, Jane Adams, Debbon Ayer, David Cross, Gerry Robert Byrne, Brian Price, Josh Flitter, Paulie Litt, Lola Daehler.

Overview: What would happen if we could erase the worst experiences and relationships from our memory? Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry combined forces to answer this very question.

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 48m. Rated: R.

#47 Cinema Paradiso 1990
Nuovo Cinema Paradiso

Director: Giuseppe Tornatore. Cast: Philippe Noiret, Jacques Perrin, Marco Leonardi, Salvatore Cascio.

Overview: A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, Romance. Countries: France, Italy. Runtime: 2h 35m. Rated: PG.

#48 Chinatown 1974

Director: Roman Polanski. Cast: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez, John Hillerman, Darrell Zwerling, Diane Ladd, Roy Jenson, Roman Polanski, Richard Bakalyan, Bruce Glover.

Overview: A private detective investigating an adultery case stumbles on to a scheme of murder that has something to do with water.

Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 11m. Rated: R.

#49 Rashomon 1950
Rashômon

Director: Akira Kurosawa. Cast: Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Kichijirô Ueda, Noriko Honma, Daisuke Katô.

Overview: In ancient Japan a crime take place as told from three different travelers who have experienced the crime: a man being killed and his wife being raped. Which if any of the stories is true? A Akira Kurosawa film about morals, truth, and communication.

Genres: Crime, Drama, Foreign, Mystery. Country: Japan. Runtime: 1h 28m. Rated: NR.