FilmFanSea

Inspired by the "How many of the 10 Biggest Box Office Bombs do you own" thread . . .

Every 10 years, Sight and Sound magazine polls many of the world's greatest directors and critics in an effort to determine the greatest films of all time. The last survey occurred in 2002. The magazine publishes a top 10 for each group (directors and critics), but lists the vote totals for each film nominated. Below, I list the composite ranking (director & critic votes combined) of the Top 109 vote-getters available on Region 1 DVD.

I had planned to limit it to 100 titles, but had to settle for 109 due to ties. The films are listed in the order they finished in the poll. I haven't included those films which have never been released in Region 1.

This is not a poll of how many you've seen, but how many you own (you don't have to list them). Also indicate if you feel the Sight and Sound poll is meaningful to you or not: do you feel any urge to own the DVDs of these films considered "the greatest" by "experts" in the field?


The Top 109 Films Available on Region 1 DVD

1. Citizen Kane (Welles/1941/Warner)
2. Vertigo (Hitchcock/1958/Universal)
4. 8½ (Fellini/1963/Criterion)
5. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick/1968/Warner)
7. The Godfather Part II (Coppola/1974/Paramount)
8. Seven Samurai (Kurosawa/1954/Criterion)
9. Rashomon (Kurosawa/1951/Criterion)
10. Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein/1925/Image)--also due from Criterion (2004??)
10. Singin' in the Rain (Donen/1951/Warner)
12. Sunrise (Murnau/1927/Fox)
13. The Searchers (Ford/1956/Warner)
14. Lawrence of Arabia (Lean/1962/Columbia TriStar)
15. The Godfather (Coppola/1972/Paramount)
16. The Bicycle Thief/Ladri di biciclette (De Sica/1948/Image)
16. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer/1928/Criterion)
19. Breathless/À bout de souffle (Godard/1959/Fox Lorber)
19. L'Avventura (Antonioni/1960/Criterion)
19. Touch of Evil (Welles/1958/Universal)
22. Dr. Strangelove (Kubrick/1964/Columbia TriStar)
22. Jules and Jim (Truffaut/1962/Wellspring)
22. Raging Bull (Scorsese/1980/MGM-UA)--OOP
25. L'Atalante (Vigo/1934/New Yorker)
25. Psycho (Hitchcock/1960/Universal)
25. Sunset Blvd. (Wilder/1950/Paramount)
28. The General (Keaton/1926/Kino)--new version from Image in October
28. Mirror (Tarkovsky/1975/Kino)
28. Some Like It Hot (Wilder/1959/MGM-UA)
33. Andrei Rublev (Tarkovsky/1966/Criterion)
33. Children of Paradise/Les Enfants du paradis (Carné/1944/Criterion)
33. City Lights (Chaplin/1931/Image OOP/new version due from Warner late 2003 or early 2004)
33. Grand Illusion (Renoir/1938/Criterion)
37. The Apartment (Wiilder/1960/MGM-UA)
37. Apocalypse Now (Coppola/1979/Paramount)
37. The Seventh Seal (Bergman/1956/Criterion)
37. Taxi Driver (Scorsese/1976/Columbia TriStar)
43. Casablanca (Curtiz/1942/Warner)
43. Chinatown (Polanski/1974/Paramount)
43. Contempt/Le Mépris (Godard/1964/Criterion)
43. Third Man (Reed/1949/Criterion)
48. Ivan the Terrible I & II (Eisenstein/1945,58/Criterion)--also available from Image
48. Metropolis (Lang/1926/Kino)
50. The 400 Blows/Les Quatre cents coups (Truffaut/1959/Criterion)--also available from Fox Lorber
50. Intolerance (Griffith/1916/Kino)
50. M (Lang/1931/Criterion)
50. Ordet (Dreyer/1955/Criterion)
50. Wild Strawberries (Bergman/1957/Criterion)
55. Amarcord (Fellini/1974/Criterion)
55. Barry Lyndon (Kubrick/1975/Warner)
55. Modern Times (Chaplin/1936/Warner)--Image version OOP
55. North by Northwest (Hitchcock/1959/Warner)
55. On the Waterfront (Kazan/1954/Columbia TriStar)
64. The Wizard of Oz (Fleming/1939/Warner)
65. Blade Runner (Scott/1982/Warner)
65. The Gold Rush (Chaplin/1925/Warner)--Image version OOP
65. Last Year in Marienbad (Resnais/1961/Wellspring)
65. Man with the Movie Camera (Vertov/1929/Image or Kino)
65. Nashville (Altman/1975/Paramount)
65. Pulp Fiction (Tarantino/1994/Miramax)
65. Rear Window (Hitchcock/1954/Universal)
65. Rio Bravo (Hawks/1959/Warner)
65. Sweet Smell of Success (MacKendrick/1957/MGM-UA)
65. Wild Bunch (Peckinpah/1969/Warner)
82. A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick/1971/Warner)
82. The Decalogue (Kieslowski/1988/Facets)
82. Goodfellas (Scorsese/1990/Warner)
82. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Ford/1962/Paramount)
82. The Night of the Hunter (Laughton/1955/MGM-UA)
82. Ran (Kurosawa/1985/Wellspring)
95. Black Narcissus (Powell & Pressburger/1947/Criterion)
95. Blue Velvet (Lynch/1986/MGM-UA)
95. Breaking the Waves (von Trier/1995/Artisan)
95. Don't Look Now (Roeg/1973/Paramount)
95. Double Indemnity (Wilder/1944/Image release OOP)--Universal release not available yet
95. Él/This Strange Passion (Buñuel/1952/?)--available in R0 NTSC version from films sans frontières
95. Gone with the Wind (Fleming/1939/Warner)
95. The Gospel According to St Matthew (Pasolini/1964/Water Bearer/Image release OOP)
95. His Girl Friday (Hawks/1940/Columbia TriStar)
95. It's a Wonderful Life (Capra/1946/Artisan)
95. The Lady Eve (P. Sturges/1941/Criterion)
95. McCabe & Mrs Miller (Altman/1971/Warner)
95. My Life to Live/Vivre sa vie (Godard/1962/Wellspring)
95. Nosferatu (Murnau/1922/Image or Kino)
95. Notorious (Hitchcock/1946/Criterion/Anchor Bay OOP)
95. Once Upon a Time in America (Leone/1983/Warner)
95. Pierrot le Fou/Crazy Pete (Godard/1965/Wellspring)
95. Sherlock, Jr. (Keaton/1924/Kino)--Image version due in October
95. Stagecoach (Ford/1939/Warner)
124. Alexander Nevsky (Eisenstein/1938/Criterion)--also available from Image
124. All About Eve (Mankiewicz/1950/Fox)
124. All About My Mother (Almodóvar/1999/Columbia TriStar)
124. Beauty & the Beast/La Belle et la bête (Cocteau/1946/Criterion)
124. Brief Encounter (Lean/1946/Criterion)
124. Close-Up (Kiarostami/1990/Facets)
124. Cries & Whispers (Bergman/1972/Criterion)
124. Crimes & Misdemeanors (Allen/1989/MGM-UA)
124. Duck Soup (McCarey/1933/Image version OOP/Universal version not released yet)
124. Earth (Dovzhenko/1930/Image or Kino)
124. Fellini Satyricon (Fellini/1969/MGM-UA)
124. Gertrud (Dreyer/1964/Criterion)
124. Los Olvidados/The Young & the Damned (Buñuel/1950/?)--R0 NTSC release available from films sans frontières
124. Loves of a Blonde (Forman/1965/Criterion)
124. Marnie (Hitchcock/1964/Universal)
124. Open City/Roma, città aperta (Rosselini/1945/Image)
124. Red River (Hawks/1948/MGM-UA)
124. Solaris (Tarkovsky/1972/Criterion)
124. Throne of Blood (Kurosawa/1957/Criterion)
124. To Kill a Mockingbird (Mulligan/1962/Universal)
124. Umberto D. (De Sica/1952/Criterion)
124. Yi Yi/A One & a Two (Yang/2000/Wellspring)


EDIT:
Complete List of Films Nominated for Sight & Sound 2002 Poll

More background: In 2002, 145 critics and 108 directors submitted unordered lists of their top ten films of all time. The top vote-getter, Citizen Kane appeared on 88 lists (35%). By contrast, those films tied for #124 appeared on only four lists.

Also, see post #3 in this thread, which lists the other films in the Top 124 which aren't yet available in R1.


EDIT (March 2004): I have updated the Region 1 availability for the 46 films which didn't make this list in this post. So, of the 155 "Best" Films from the Sight+Sound 2002 poll, 122 are now available in Region 1.

J-Dubya

15 currently, have owned a few others and traded them

FilmFanSea

For the curious, here is a list of the ranked films not yet available in Region 1--up to #124 & ties (note that quite a few of these are coming soon; many others are available in Region 2):

3. Rules of the Game/La Règle du jeu (Renoir/1939/Criterion)--due in early 2004; available in R2 (bfi)
6. Tokyo Story (Ozu/1953/Criterion)--due in October
16. La Dolce vita (Fellini/1960/Koch Lorber)--due September?? Available in R2 (Medusa, Italy)
28. Fanny & Alexander (Bergman/1983/MGM-UA)--not released yet; available in R2 (Artificial Eye)
37. Au Hasard Balthazar (Bresson/1966/Criterion)--due 2004??
37. Pather Panchali (S. Ray/1954/Columbia TriStar)--due in October; available in R2 (Artificial Eye)
43. Ugetsu (Mizoguchi/1954/Criterion)--due in 2004??
55. The Conformist (Bertolucci/1971/Paramount)--not available yet
55. La Strada (Fellini/1954/Criterion)--due in November
55. Persona (Bergman/1966/MGM-UA)--release TBA (2004??) Available in R2 (Tartan)
55. Story of the Late Chrysanthemums (Mizoguchi/1939/Criterion)--not available yet
65. The Battle of Algiers (Pontecorvo/1965/?)--not available
65. Greed (von Stroheim/1925/Warner)--not available yet
65. L'Age d'Or (Buñuel/1930/Kino)--due in 2004
65. The Magnificent Ambersons (Welles/1942/Warner)--not available yet (2004??)
65. Napoleon (Gance/1927/Universal)--not released yet
65. Once Upon a Time in the West (Leone/1968/Paramount)--due in November
65. Pickpocket (Bresson/1959/New Yorker)--not yet available
82. City of Sadness (Hou/1989/?)--not released yet
82. Ikiru/To Live (Kurosawa/1952/Criterion)--due in 2004?? Being released in R2 by bfi in September
82. The Leopard (Visconti/1963/Criterion)--not released yet
82. Sansho the Bailiff/Sansho Dayu (Mizoguchi/1954/Criterion)--not released yet
82. The Travelling Players (Angelopoulos/1975/New Yorker)--not released yet
82. Viaggio in Italia/Voyage to Italy/Strangers (Rossellini/1953/?)--not released yet
82. Viridiana (Buñuel/1961/?)--not released yet
95. Chimes at Midnight/Falstaff (Welles/1967/?)--not released yet
95. The Earrings of Madame de . . . (Ophuls/1953/Criterion)--not available yet
95. The Grapes of Wrath (Ford/1940/Fox)--due in 2004
95. L'Argent (Bresson/1983/New Yorker)--due in December
95. Letter from an Unknown Woman (Ophuls/1948/Artisan)--not released yet . Being released in R2 (Wild Side Video/France) in September
95. A Matter of Life & Death/Stairway to Heaven (Powell & Pressburger/1946/Columbia TriStar)--release date TBA. Available in R2 (Carlton)
95. My Darling Clementine (Ford/1946/Fox)--not available yet
95. Shoah (Lanzmann/1985/New Yorker)--due in September
95. Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Huston/1948/Warner)--due in September
95. Two or Three Things I Know About Her/2 ou 3 choses que je sais d'elle (Godard/1966/Criterion)--not released yet (2004??)
124. A Canterbury Tale (Powell & Pressburger/1944/?)--not available yet
124. The Eclipse/L'éclisse (Antonioni/1962/Criterion)--not released yet (2004??)
124. Floating Clouds/Ukigumo (Naruse/1955/?)--not available yet
124. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Akerman/1975/New Yorker)--not released yet
124. King Kong (Schoedsack & Cooper/1930/Warner)--due in 2004
124. Late Spring (Ozu/1949/?)--not available yet
124. A Man Escaped/Un Condamné à mort s'est échappé (Bresson/1957/New Yorker)--due in December
124. The Music Room (S. Ray/1958/?)--not available yet. Available in R2 (films sans frontières/France)
124. The Time to Live & the Time to Die (Hou/1985/?)--not available yet
124. Tristana (Buñuel/1970/Criterion)--not available yet
124. Un Chien Andalou (Buñuel/1928/?)--not available yet

Numanoid

15 for me too.

RobCA

I own six:

Citizen Kane
Sunset Blvd.
The Wizard of Oz
Blue Velvet
All About Eve
Crimes & Misdemeanors

William Fuld

50

Of the ones unavailable I'd buy 20.

The ranked list is meaningless to me, I own the films because I genuinely like them.

MasterCXtreme

One, just one. Pulp Fiction. Would be 2, but I can't find "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" on there. I thought it would be.

JonTurner

48... but there are at least 20 others that I've owned at some point but decided weren't worth keeping once I'd seen them.

FilmFanSea

Tied for #157. I stopped my list at #124 (each film ranked at 124 received four votes total).


Complete List of Films Nominated for Sight & Sound 2002 Poll

rockinghorse

A measly 19. Shame on me.

Bronkster

22

gutwrencher

51...and growing.

cruzness

Only 10 for me

1. Citizen Kane (Welles/1941/Warner)
7. The Godfather Part II (Coppola/1974/Paramount)
14. Lawrence of Arabia (Lean/1962/Columbia TriStar)
15. The Godfather (Coppola/1972/Paramount)
37. Apocalypse Now (Coppola/1979/Paramount)
64. The Wizard of Oz (Fleming/1939/Warner)
65. Blade Runner (Scott/1982/Warner)
65. Pulp Fiction (Tarantino/1994/Miramax)
82. A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick/1971/Warner)
82. Goodfellas (Scorsese/1990/Warner)

I feel like I need a little diversity in my collection. There's alot of great movies I just haven't gotten a chance to pick up.

MBoyd

Own 43. Seen 61.

explosivej

20

eedoon

15 for me. Not bad considering that I only have 80 or so DVD.

Citizen Kane (Welles/1941/Warner)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick/1968/Warner)
The Godfather Part II (Coppola/1974/Paramount)
Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein/1925/Image)
Lawrence of Arabia (Lean/1962/Columbia TriStar)
The Godfather (Coppola/1972/Paramount)
Dr. Strangelove (Kubrick/1964/Columbia TriStar)
Children of Paradise/Les Enfants du paradis (Carné/1944/Criterion)
Casablanca (Curtiz/1942/Warner)
Third Man (Reed/1949/Criterion)
Metropolis (Lang/1926/Kino) --> I have the Madacy version. Definitely wants an upgrade
Barry Lyndon (Kubrick/1975/Warner)
A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick/1971/Warner)
Nosferatu (Murnau/1922/Image or Kino)
Cries & Whispers (Bergman/1972/Criterion)

Decker

21. But I've bought Casablanca twice, so does that count as 22 yet?

And as soon as they put out a decent copy of Goodfellas, I'll buy it that very day. I've waited six years, I can wait a little longer.

PatrickMcCart

A lot of those on the big list I plan on eventually getting.

movielib

32

Ergyu

17 of them.

JoeyOhhhh

1. Citizen Kane (Welles/1941/Warner)
5. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick/1968/Warner)
7. The Godfather Part II (Coppola/1974/Paramount)
15. The Godfather (Coppola/1972/Paramount)
43. Casablanca (Curtiz/1942/Warner)
64. The Wizard of Oz (Fleming/1939/Warner)
65. Pulp Fiction (Tarantino/1994/Miramax)
82. Goodfellas (Scorsese/1990/Warner)
95. Gone with the Wind (Fleming/1939/Warner)

There are a few I'd like to pick up though.

ScottyWH

3... I guess I like crappy movies.

Joel

None.

ryuryu2949

only10 for me also.

Ginwen

51.

Excellent list. Quite a few on my "to buy" list. In fact, I'd love to own just about every movie on it (with the possible exception of Nashville)