AFI's 10 Top 10

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AFI 100 Years... series
1998 100 Movies
1999 100 Stars
2000 100 Laughs
2001 100 Thrills
2002 100 Passions
2003 100 Heroes & Villains
2004 100 Songs
2005 100 Movie Quotes
2005 25 Scores
2006 100 Cheers
2006 25 Musicals
2007 100 Movies (Updated)
2008 AFI's 10 Top 10

AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. [1] Presented by the American Film Institute (AFI), the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008. In the special, various actors and directors, among them Clint Eastwood, Quentin Tarantino, Kirk Douglas, Harrison Ford, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Roman Polanski, and Jane Fonda, discussed their admiration for and personal contributions to the films cited.

Contents

The entire list of 500 nominated films is available on the American Film Institute website.

To date, this is the final program in AFI's countdown specials. [2]

Animation

AFI defines "animation" as a genre where the film's images are primarily created by computer or hand and the characters are voiced by actors. Nine of the films are Disney properties, including two collaborative works with Pixar; the non-Disney selection is DreamWorks Animation's Shrek.

#FilmYear
1 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937
2 Pinocchio 1940
3 Bambi 1942
4 The Lion King 1994
5 Fantasia 1940
6 Toy Story 1995
7 Beauty and the Beast 1991
8 Shrek 2001
9 Cinderella 1950
10 Finding Nemo 2003

Courtroom drama

AFI defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice plays a critical role in the film's narrative.

#FilmYear
1 To Kill a Mockingbird 1962
2 12 Angry Men 1957
3 Kramer vs. Kramer 1979
4 The Verdict 1982
5 A Few Good Men 1992
6 Witness for the Prosecution 1957
7 Anatomy of a Murder 1959
8 In Cold Blood 1967
9 A Cry in the Dark (a.k.a. Evil Angels) 1988
10 Judgment at Nuremberg 1961

Epic

AFI defines "epic" as a genre of large-scale films set in a cinematic interpretation of the past.

#FilmYear
1 Lawrence of Arabia 1962
2 Ben-Hur 1959
3 Schindler's List 1993
4 Gone with the Wind 1939
5 Spartacus 1960
6 Titanic 1997
7 All Quiet on the Western Front 1930
8 Saving Private Ryan 1998
9 Reds 1981
10 The Ten Commandments 1956

Fantasy

AFI defines "fantasy" as a genre in which live-action characters inhabit imagined settings and/or experience situations that transcend the rules of the natural world.

#FilmYear
1 The Wizard of Oz 1939
2 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001
3 It's a Wonderful Life 1946
4 King Kong 1933
5 Miracle on 34th Street 1947
6 Field of Dreams 1989
7 Harvey 1950
8 Groundhog Day 1993
9 The Thief of Bagdad 1924
10 Big 1988

Gangster

AFI defines the "gangster film" as a genre that centers on organized crime or maverick criminals in a modern setting.

#FilmYear
1 The Godfather 1972
2 Goodfellas 1990
3 The Godfather Part II 1974
4 White Heat 1949
5 Bonnie and Clyde 1967
6 Scarface 1932
7 Pulp Fiction 1994
8 The Public Enemy 1931
9 Little Caesar 1931
10 Scarface 1983

Mystery

AFI defines "mystery" as a genre that revolves around the solution of a crime. Four of the films were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

#FilmYear
1 Vertigo 1958
2 Chinatown 1974
3 Rear Window 1954
4 Laura 1944
5 The Third Man 1949
6 The Maltese Falcon 1941
7 North by Northwest 1959
8 Blue Velvet 1986
9 Dial M for Murder 1954
10 The Usual Suspects 1995

Romantic comedy

AFI defines "romantic comedy" as a genre in which the development of a romance leads to comic situations.

#FilmYear
1 City Lights 1931
2 Annie Hall 1977
3 It Happened One Night 1934
4 Roman Holiday 1953
5 The Philadelphia Story 1940
6 When Harry Met Sally... 1989
7 Adam's Rib 1949
8 Moonstruck 1987
9 Harold and Maude 1971
10 Sleepless in Seattle 1993

Science fiction

AFI defines "science fiction" as a genre that marries a scientific or technological premise with imaginative speculation.

#FilmYear
1 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968
2 Star Wars 1977
3 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1982
4 A Clockwork Orange 1971
5 The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951
6 Blade Runner 1982
7 Alien 1979
8 Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991
9 Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956
10 Back to the Future 1985

Sports

AFI defines "sports" as a genre of films with protagonists who play athletics or other games of competition.

#FilmYear
1 Raging Bull 1980
2 Rocky 1976
3 The Pride of the Yankees 1942
4 Hoosiers 1986
5 Bull Durham 1988
6 The Hustler 1961
7 Caddyshack 1980
8 Breaking Away 1979
9 National Velvet 1944
10 Jerry Maguire 1996

Western

AFI defines "western" as a genre of films set in the American West that embodies the spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier. Actor John Wayne has lead roles in three of the ten films.

#FilmYear
1 The Searchers 1956
2 High Noon 1952
3 Shane 1953
4 Unforgiven 1992
5 Red River 1948
6 The Wild Bunch 1969
7 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969
8 McCabe & Mrs. Miller 1971
9 Stagecoach 1939
10 Cat Ballou 1965

[3]

Related Research Articles

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<i>King Kong</i> (1933 film) 1933 film directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack

King Kong is a 1933 American pre-Code adventure horror monster film directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, with special effects by Willis H. O'Brien. Produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, it is the first film in the King Kong franchise. The film stars Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot. In the film, a giant ape dubbed King Kong captured from Skull Island attempts to possess a beautiful young woman.

<i>Toy Story</i> 1995 Pixar film

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<i>Song of the South</i> 1946 American live-action animated film

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<i>The Public Enemy</i> 1931 film

The Public Enemy is a 1931 American pre-Code gangster film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The film was directed by William A. Wellman and stars James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Donald Cook and Joan Blondell. The film relates the story of a young man's rise in the criminal underworld in Prohibition-era urban America. The supporting players include Beryl Mercer, Murray Kinnell, and Mae Clarke. The screenplay is based on an unpublished novel—Beer and Blood by two former newspapermen, John Bright and Kubec Glasmon—who had witnessed some of Al Capone's murderous gang rivalries in Chicago.

<i>Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs</i> (1937 film) Animated Disney film

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<i>Pinocchio</i> (1940 film) American animated musical fantasy film

Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Based on Carlo Collodi's 1883 Italian children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, it is the studio's second animated feature film, as well as the third animated film overall produced by an American film studio, after Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Fleischer Studios' Gulliver's Travels (1939). With the voices of Cliff Edwards, Dickie Jones, Christian Rub, Walter Catlett, Charles Judels, Evelyn Venable, and Frankie Darro, the film follows a wooden puppet, Pinocchio, who is created by an old woodcarver, Geppetto, and brought to life by a blue fairy. Wishing to become a real boy, Pinocchio must prove himself to be "brave, truthful, and unselfish." Along his journey, Pinocchio encounters several characters representing the temptations and consequences of wrongdoing, as a cricket named Jiminy, who takes the role of Pinocchio's conscience, attempts to guide him in matters of right and wrong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Live action</span> Cinematography, videography not produced using animation

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<i>Cinderella</i> (1950 film) 1950 Disney animated feature film

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1996 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is loosely based on the 1831 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The film was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise and produced by Don Hahn, from a screenplay written by Tab Murphy, Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and the writing team of Bob Tzudiker and Noni White. Featuring the voices of Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Tony Jay, and Kevin Kline, the film follows Quasimodo, the deformed and confined bell-ringer of Notre Dame, and his yearning to explore the outside world and be accepted by society, against the wishes of his cruel, puritanical foster father Claude Frollo, who also wants to exterminate Paris' Roma population.

<i>Bambi</i> 1942 American animated film

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<i>Robin Hood</i> (1973 film) Disney film

Robin Hood is a 1973 American animated musical adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. Produced and directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, it is based on the English folktale "Robin Hood". The story follows the adventures of Robin Hood, Little John, and the inhabitants of Nottingham as they fight against the excessive taxation of Prince John, and Robin Hood wins the hand of Maid Marian. The film features the voices of Brian Bedford, Phil Harris, Peter Ustinov, Pat Buttram, Monica Evans, Terry-Thomas, Roger Miller, and Carole Shelley.

<i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i> (film) 1962 film by Robert Mulligan

To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American coming-of-age legal drama crime film directed by Robert Mulligan. The screenplay by Horton Foote is based on Harper Lee's 1960 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of the same name. The film stars Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Scout. It marked the film debut of Robert Duvall, William Windom, and Alice Ghostley.

<i>The Hustler</i> 1961 gambling film by Robert Rossen

The Hustler is a 1961 drama film, directed by Robert Rossen. It tells the story of small-time pool hustler "Fast Eddie" Felson, who challenges legendary pool player "Minnesota Fats".

<i>Shrek</i> 2001 DreamWorks Animation film

Shrek is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book of the same name by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, it is the first installment in the Shrek film series. The film stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. In the film, an embittered ogre named Shrek (Myers) finds his home in the swamp overrun by fairy tale creatures banished by the obsessive ruler Lord Farquaad (Lithgow). With the help of Donkey (Murphy), Shrek makes a pact with Farquaad to rescue Princess Fiona (Diaz) in exchange for regaining control of his swamp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gangster film</span> Film genre

A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The genre is differentiated from Westerns and the gangs of that genre.

References

  1. "AFI's 10 Top 10". American Film Institute.
  2. "Home". aficatalog.afi.com.
  3. AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Film Genres - ComingSoon.net