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The 10 Greatest Movies of All Time, According to the AFI

Directors, critics and historians voted. These ten came out on top.

By Robson McQueen · Updated 7 Oct 2026 · 10 films · 5 min read

These are the greatest movies of all time, according to the AFI, and almost none of them had an easy road. Most of these films nearly didn't happen. They flopped, burned sets, fired directors and wrecked their stars before anyone called them classics. Stay for number one, because it still splits film lovers generation after generation.

Jump to a film
  1. 10The Wizard of Oz
  2. 9Vertigo
  3. 8Schindler’s List
  4. 7Lawrence of Arabia
  5. 6Gone with the Wind
  6. 5Singin’ in the Rain
  7. 4Raging Bull
  8. 3Casablanca
  9. 2The Godfather
  10. 1Citizen Kane

10

The Wizard of Oz (1939) poster
IMDb 8.1

The Wizard of Oz

1939 · Fantasy, Musical · 1h 42m

The ruby slippers now live in the Smithsonian.

The yellow brick road was brutal

Margaret Hamilton was burned in a stunt gone wrong and spent six weeks recovering. The original Tin Man had to be replaced after his makeup poisoned his lungs. And while the cast suffered, MGM quietly turned Dorothy's silver shoes ruby red, purely to show off Technicolor.

The Wizard of Oz stillImage via Warner Bros.

The flop that became a tradition

Half the budget went on painted skies, pop-up forests and a tornado rig built from scratch, and it still holds up. It flopped at first, then found its audience on television years later and became a family ritual. Few films have been rewatched more.

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Checked 15 Oct 2026

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9

Vertigo (1958) poster
IMDb 8.3

Vertigo

1958 · Thriller, Mystery · 2h 8m

In 2012, Sight and Sound ranked it the greatest film ever made, knocking Citizen Kane off the top.

The flop Hitchcock thought he had missed

Critics called it too slow, too weird and too cold for 1958, and it faded fast. Then the reappraisal began, quiet at first and then louder, until by the 1980s critics were calling it a masterpiece.

Vertigo still

The spiral that changed cinema

Saul Bass's spirals, Bernard Herrmann's obsessive score and the dolly zoom that changed how cinema shows fear. The coldness people once hated now feels deliberate: Stewart isn't the hero, he's unravelling. Vertigo is the rare film that got better after everyone stopped watching it.

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Checked 15 Oct 2026

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8

Schindler’s List (1993) poster
IMDb 9.0

Schindler’s List

1993 · Historical Drama · 3h 15m

The girl in the red coat was never in the script. That single splash of colour became the film's conscience.

Black and white, by design

Every studio wanted colour. Spielberg refused, and delayed the film for years because he didn't feel emotionally ready. When he finally shot it, he filmed in Kraków, on real locations, with survivors on set.

Schindler’s List still

A permanent record

Liam Neeson's quiet intensity, Ralph Fiennes at his coldest and John Williams's sparse solo violin. It won seven Oscars, and it never softens history or lets you look away. One of the greatest historical dramas ever made.

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Checked 15 Oct 2026

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7

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) poster
IMDb 8.3

Lawrence of Arabia

1962 · Epic, Adventure · 3h 38m

No green screen. The camels, soldiers and endless sand were all real.

The desert tried to stop it

A 70mm camera broke in the sand, storms flattened sets, the heat was relentless and Peter O'Toole collapsed during battle scenes. David Lean kept rolling. The shoot ran well over a year, with roads built just to drag cameras across the dunes.

Lawrence of Arabia still

Four hours, no shortcuts

Omar Sharif's entrance alone: Lean waited hours for exactly the right light, then made him ride in again and again. Maurice Jarre's theme became legendary. At nearly four hours with no quick cuts, Lean wanted you to feel every mile, and you do.

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Checked 15 Oct 2026

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6

Gone with the Wind (1939) poster
IMDb 8.2

Gone with the Wind

1939 · Romance, Epic · 3h 58m

It still holds the record for most tickets sold in US history.

Atlanta really burned

Old Hollywood backlots were torched in a single take to burn Atlanta for real. The shoot was chaos: directors were fired, pages rewritten daily, and the budget blew past $3 million, huge for the time. Over 400 women auditioned for Scarlett, and Vivien Leigh didn't arrive until production was already under way.

Gone with the Wind still

Unmatched, and still debated

It won eight Oscars, and Hattie McDaniel became the first Black actor to win one, though she had to sit at a segregated table at the ceremony. Its portrayal of the South is still debated, but for scale and impact it was unmatched. Every studio tried to top it.

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Checked 15 Oct 2026

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The story behind it, why it is worth your night, and where to watch it. Two minutes to read.

5

Singin’ in the Rain (1952) poster
IMDb 8.3

Singin’ in the Rain

1952 · Musical, Comedy · 1h 43m

Donald O'Connor's Make 'Em Laugh routine put him in the hospital.

103 degrees in the rain

Gene Kelly danced through real rain with a fever of 103°. The studio wanted the scene cut as too much hassle, and Kelly pushed back. Debbie Reynolds was 19 and had never danced before; her feet bled through the takes.

Singin’ in the Rain still

Joy squeezed out of chaos

The sets were leftovers and the budget was tight, yet on screen it's pure energy. It's a comedy about failure, with silent stars tanking as Hollywood switches to sound. The AFI eventually named it the greatest musical ever, and it still feels fresh.

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4

Raging Bull (1980) poster
IMDb 8.1

Raging Bull

1980 · Sports, Drama · 2h 9m

It set a new bar for every sports movie that followed.

Sixty pounds for the role

De Niro gained the weight after the fight scenes were done, which is how far he went. Scorsese shot every round in tight, with blood, sweat and broken faces, so the ring feels claustrophobic. Scorsese was out of movies and his health was failing, but De Niro kept pressing until he agreed.

Raging Bull still

The film nobody wanted to see

Black and white, part budget, part style, all grit. The first reviews were mixed, audiences stayed away and the studio nearly shelved it. The ending gives you no song, just La Motta alone, staring at himself in the mirror. It grew in stature every year.

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Checked 15 Oct 2026

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3

Casablanca (1942) poster
IMDb 8.5

Casablanca

1942 · Romance, War · 1h 42m

Many of the cast were real European refugees. The bar singing wasn't acting.

Shot without a finished script

Warner Brothers treated it as a routine mid-budget job: recycled sets, pages changing daily, a filler for the wartime release calendar. Nobody expected it to matter. Then Allied troops landed in North Africa, the studio rushed it into wide release, and the timing was perfect.

Casablanca still

Why every line lands

Bogart and Bergman barely rehearsed, on purpose, because they wanted the tension. It won best picture, best director and best screenplay, and became the blueprint for romantic drama under pressure.

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Checked 16 Oct 2026

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2

The Godfather (1972) poster
IMDb 9.2

The Godfather

1972 · Crime, Drama · 2h 55m

It brought Brando back from exile.

Nearly fired, twice

The studio thought Pacino was too small and too quiet, and Brando too risky. Executives complained that Gordon Willis shot everything too dark. Crew members quit, and even Paramount expected a flop. Coppola held his ground.

The Godfather still

The quietest threat in cinema

Pacino played it stone cold, barely raising his voice, and it all started to work. The restaurant scene, almost silent and pure nerves, changed what a suspense scene could be. It won best picture and made Pacino a star. It should never have worked.

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Checked 15 Oct 2026

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1

Citizen Kane (1941) poster
IMDb 8.3

Citizen Kane

1941 · Drama, Mystery · 1h 59m

Hearst even tried to buy the negative and burn it.

The man who tried to burn it

Orson Welles was 25, a radio troublemaker with too much talent, and RKO gave him full control. The story was a barely disguised takedown of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, who banned ads, blocked reviews and threatened theaters. It backfired: trying to bury Kane guaranteed its legacy.

Citizen Kane still

Everything he did first

Welles shot from the floor, used deep focus in every frame, jumped through time and layered voices, techniques we now take for granted. Rosebud is still argued over and still iconic. It bombed in 1941, but critics wouldn't let it die.

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Checked 16 Oct 2026

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Every Friday

One great film, every Friday.

The story behind it, why it is worth your night, and where to watch it. Two minutes to read.

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