'Sight and Sound' announce their new list of the greatest films ever made

Criterion Cast ^ | 8/1/12 | JOSHUA BRUNSTING

[Borges]

So, it’s finally here.

Every decade, the team of critics and filmmakers selected by Sight And Sound come up with their new list of the ten greatest films of all time, and today that list has been announced. Rumors leading up to the announcement had pegged Hitchcock’s Vertigo as the newly minted “greatest film of all time” over the long-standing champion Citizen Kane, and shockingly, that has come true.

Kane falls to number two, followed by Ozu’s masterpiece Tokyo Story, and followed by Renoir’s The Rules Of The Game and Murnau’s silent stunner Sunrise rounding out the top five of the critics list. Directors? Well, they went a different route, giving Tokyo Story the top spot, with both Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey (number six on the critics’ list) and Kane tying for the second slot.

Now, I’m not exactly sure what this all means with regards to the beloved nature of Kane as time spans (it has not only become a slightly less regarded film in general, but most people this writer has chatted to find films like The Magnificent Ambersons to be superior within Welles’ canon) but you can’t find a better film to steal the top spot from the masterful debut of Orson Welles than Hitchcock’s best film.

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The Critics’ Top 10 Greatest Films of All Time

Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)

Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)

Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953)

La Règle du jeu (Renoir, 1939)

Sunrise: a Song for Two Humans (Murnau, 1927)

2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968)

The Searchers (Ford, 1956)

Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929)

The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer, 1927)

8 ½ (Fellini, 1963)

The Directors’ Top 10 Greatest Films of All Time

Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953)

=2 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968)

=2 Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)

8 ½ (Fellini, 1963)

Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1980)

Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979)

=7 The Godfather (Coppola, 1972)

=7 Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)

Mirror (Tarkovsky, 1974)

Bicycle Thieves (De Sica, 1948)

[Borges]

At least there is still no pandering (Star Wars...)

[Argus]

TOKYO STORY is indeed great, but I don’t know that it’s THE greatest. I don’t even know if there can be such a thing. But the movie that made the first and greatest impression on me in my little life was the original KING KONG.

[cuban leaf]

I saw The Seekers on a list several years ago and, being a fan of old westerns (I loved Shane) I got it from Netflicks and watched it. I was very disappointed.

I would have been even if it was not on the list. I guess I just don’t get it.

[steve8714]

Here’s mine;
The Quiet Man
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Searchers
Footlight Parade
Casablanca
Midway
Young Frankenstein
The King’s Speech (a drama worth theatre money)
Jaws
Airplane
in no particular order, but Quiet Man is probably the best.
Greatest cult movies;
The Boondock Saints
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
anything with a blind samurai in black and white
best foreign
Gojira
Slumdog Millionaire
Ran
The Road Warrior
Guilty pleasures
Battle beyond the Stars
Once upon a time in the West
Wedding Crashers
Caddyshack is so awesome it doesn’t even fit.
I go to be entertained.
I watch to be entertained.

[Tupelo]

I find it real interesting that the critic’s list include no films made after 1970 and the directors list include no films made after 1980.
That alone says volumes about the film industry.

[IYAS9YAS]

What? Easy Money didn't make the list? Dang.

[Argus]

Do you mean THE SEARCHERS starring John Wayne? Because THE SEEKERS is a cheap horror video made in 2003, so no wonder you were disappointed.

[cuban leaf]

Oops. No, I meant the John Wayne movie. And I like John Wayne movies.

[snoringbear]

My greatest western candidates are;
Modern era: Tombstone, Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer.
Early era; She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, great riding by a young Ben Johnson and great scenery.

[cuban leaf]

My two favorites are Shane and Silverado. The latter is just way too much fun, with things like Sheriff John Cleese saying “What’s all this, then?”

[DJlaysitup]

I would have to rank the greatest movies of all time as:

1. Gone With the Wind

2. Tremors

(in a photo finish)

[Revolting cat!]

There is a difference between greatest “movies” and the greatest “films”.

[Brookhaven]

If you want to see a surprise great film, watch the original Godzilla. Not the one with Raymond Burr (that one was made with pieces of the original cut with new scenes making a totally different story).

The original Godzilla was made not long after WWII ended and was an analogy for coming to grips with having an atomic bomb dropped on Japan. They talk about whether it is justified to commit a great evil that will cause great suffering (in this case, create and set off an underwater bomb that will destroy all life in the ocean for a wide area) in order to destroy a greater evil (Godzilla).

The scientist that creates the underwater bomb bluntly compares it to the American nuclear bomb, so there’s no doubt about the analogy.

And, the surprise conclusion (considering it was a Japanese film) is: it is justified.

[Brookhaven]

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is the best western.

Another John Wayne movie.

[cork]

Blazing Saddles
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
All Movies on MST 3000

[a fool in paradise]

Rear Window
Dr. Strangelove
Modern Times
Citizen Kane
Monkey Business
Mean Streets
The Party
The General
Animal House
Jazz on a Summer’s Day

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I don’t get Taxi Driver or even 2001 on these lists. And I’m not even a big fan of Mean Streets or Citizen Kane but at least recognize the impact on other movie making.

[dartuser]

Can’t believe Jabberwocky didn’t make it.

[dartuser]

Can’t believe Jabberwocky didn’t make it.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

My fave western - Seven Samurai.