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IMDb’s Top 25 Movies of the Decade

Posted on Saturday, December 26th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta

The Dark Knight mourns

A couple weeks ago we ran a listing of the best reviewed films of the decade as compiled by Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. We followed that up by the top 20 films of the decade, as voted on by the users of FlickChart.

Today I decided to compile the top 25 films of the decade, as voted by the users of the Internet Movie Database. While it is very easy to discount any of these lists (or any best of list in general), and while it might be easy for many of you to just write off the user ratings on IMDb as fanboy voting, it’s definitely the largest sampling of movie-going opinion that exists today.

# American Film Title (year) IMDb rating # of Votes # on Top 250 of all Time List

1. The Dark Knight (2008)    8.8    410,450    9
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)    8.8    329,852    11
3. City of God (2002)    8.7    148,073    16
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)    8.7    355,929    20
5. Avatar (2009)    8.6    69,101    24

6. Memento (2000)    8.6     245,089    27
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)    8.6    298,750    30
8. WALL·E (2008)    8.5    155,314    43
9. Amélie (2001)    8.5    163,472    44
10. The Departed (2006)    8.4    234,372    50
11. The Pianist (2002)    8.4    118,831    53
12. Spirited Away (2001)    8.4    89,403    55
13. The Lives of Others (2006)    8.4    64,311    56
14. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)    8.4    198,424    59
15. Requiem for a Dream (2000)    8.4    166,343    62
16. Inglourious Basterds (2009)    8.4    111,441    68
17. Up (2009)    8.4    68,206    69
18. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)    8.4    135,834    70
19. The Prestige (2006)    8.3    178,413    74
20. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)    8.3    149,605    77
21. Downfall (2004)    8.3    73,214    81
22. Gran Torino (2008)    8.3    101,124    83
23. Sin City (2005)    8.3    233,043    93
24. District 9 (2009)    8.3    101,868    97
25. Batman Begins (2005)    8.3    246,001

Notable tidbits:

Christopher Nolan is the only director to have four films on the above list, making him the director of the decade according to IMDb voters.
Peter Jackson has three films in the top 25, the Lord of the Rings trilogy
Only the two most recent Pixar releases of the seven released in the decade place in the top 25 films of the decade.
Only Three sequels made the list: The Return of the King, The Two Towers and The Dark Knight.
Avatar is riding high on the list at #5, #24 of all time with only 69,101 votes. As what often happens on IMDb, this film will float down the list as more votes come in, and probably won’t become stable until the home video release.

Comments

MovieLover

I suppose Avatar should top the list.
Though it could not manage to win Oscar, it has definitely got a good place in the heart of movie lovers.

free movie downloads

Glad to see Memento showing up on a lot of these year end and decade end lists. Just watched it again recently for first time since seeing it in theatre and still enjoyed it even though I havent totally figured it out...

Hatzi.

Good. But where is mr. Jason Bourne ?

Matt W

Am I the only person out there who thought Pan's Labrynth was bad? Maybe I missed something but I did not enjoy that movie in the slightest.

JSD

I've noticed a trend with IMDB voting. WHen a movie first comes out it tends to rate higher than after it it has been out for a couple of years. My theory on this is that people who are more intensely interested in the actors, genre, story, etc. are more likely to enjoy the movie and thus rate it higher. After a movie has come out on other media like DVD or shown on TV, more people less interested in it have seen it and are more likely to rate it lower. While it would still be purely a populist list, the voting would more accurately reflect 2000-2009 if we made the list in 2012.

Chip

I think that Pixar made the very best films of the decade, particularly with Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, WALL-E, and Up. Heck, even Cars and Ratatouille were good movies, just not the ones I enjoy the most. While films like The Dark Knight are good, it wasn't THAT good. The type of films that Pixar makes (even going back to the 90s with both Toy Story movies and even A Bug's Life) just endear to me more than almost any other films I've ever seen.

Hands down, there should be more than just two Pixar films on a best of the decade list. At least put Finding Nemo and The Incredibles on there. Then again, it's IMDB, where it is based solely on fan votes. Most fans of TDK went crazy and voted for it several times to ensure it as high of a spot as it has.

guest

Nefes has a rating of 8.6 and was released this year. Where is this on your list? I fear it is not as accurate as it should be

PizpotGargravarr

Your fear is unfounded as Nefes only has 6598 votes and it therefore doesn't qualify for the top 250 list. IMDb uses some strange algorithm to calculate the top 250 list, it's not just the mean voting average.

Jim H

I love the Dark Knight, but I think it is slightly overrated.

ZimMan2

It makes me very happy to see Inglourious Basterds on here. But that's just me. But Avatar being placed above it AND District 9? Just goes to show how no two people will have the exact same opinion on a film.

Peter K.

Now I really liked Inglorious Basterds. But Kill Bill was Tarantino's better work, it either KB1 or KB2 should have replaced the Basterds.

Steven Davis

I love it when people make lists like this and make absurd unrelated conclusions from it like Nolan is the Director of the decade, and yes I realize Peter didn't make this list but the conclusions are his.

First, the list says nothing about directors, people voted that they liked these films the best, but no one knows why they liked it, direction could be the reason but it may well not be.

Second, Nolan has 4 films in the Top 25, so he wins. But wait Jackson has 2 in the Top 4 (to Nolan's 1) and 3 in the Top 7 (to Nolan's 2). See how making completely arbitrary cutoffs on these types of lists changes the results?

The IMDb Top 25 is the IMDb readers Top 25 favourite films, nothing more. It doesn't mean the users like Nolan better than Jackson, it doesn't mean all the users are fanboys, and it doesn't mean the like Coke more than Pepsi.

Anon

Oh boy now you've done it here comes all the Pepsi fanboys.

Matthew

I agree about Nolan for director of the decade. He's proven time and time again he can make a completely different film enjoyable. He cares about his storytelling and knows how to cast well. Sure The Dark Knight isn't perfect but did he not create something no one has experienced with a superhero movie? He made a fictional story and world completely believable. Memento is easily one of the most interesting storytelling devices in the past decade. I don't want t blab about him, but I agree with the statement. Peter Jackson doesn't do it for me, I don't believe everything he touches is gold because it isn't, LOTR is nothing but a snooze fest. Given that the story already had a big fan base doesn't mean that he's amazing. He did a good job and making a very well rounded trilogy and each film was good, but I didn't leave the theatre urged to watch more and more. He has pacing issues and always has. I'm also not 100% with District 9 being on there, I really enjoyed that film but top of the decade? I'd put Moon or Timecrimes over that. Maybe I'm just into more thought provoking films and I shouldn't nail every film for their faults.

zoey

irreversible should be on that list.

SamEw

Solid list though it's more than a bit unfair to put TDK over ROTK because films tend to slide down over time and TDK is a year and a half old whereas ROTK is 6 years old. There's no way in 2 years TDK will be over ROTK.

Debunker

So you are saying they should wait until 2015 to check out the best films from the 2000-2009 decade?

SamEw

I am saying that if both film's were released in 2003 ROTK would be ranked higher. Maybe we shouldn't wait till 2015 but the fact is that the top 250 changes continually especially for newer films and a list of the top films of the decade can't be understood without understanding this. ROTK was ranked in the top 5 two years after its release. TDK is number 9 two years after its release.

Delta_Assault

ROTK wasn't that great. It's not bad, but uh... the most memorable part was when the Regent was eating his dinner in that really disgusting manner. Seriously, did Peter Jackson have to gross me the hell out with that tomato breaking and squirting everywhere? Yuck.

SamEw

Argh maybe it's right or maybe it's wrong but regardless my point is the long term IMDB consensus will most likely be that ROTK was the best film of the decade.

Mattikus

Not a bad list except the inclusion of every single Lord Of The Rings film. That always bugs me. Good to see Memento up there. That is a fantastic indie film. City of God so high too. Brilliant.

Debunker

Well Two Towers and Return of the King are justified as both were very good, but Fellowship should probably not be on there, as most of the movie was a lead up to the next two movies...

ChigurhFrosted

Is it me, or do people just think Batman Begins was brilliant because of The Dark Knight?
It seemed to me like an good film, but a fairly conventional one that wasn't that much better than all the other superhero flicks released up to that point.

mchops

Nah, batman begins was awesome!

sumanth

Avatar will not stay there for long.
Other movies which i think should be there on the list
1)Gladiator
2)Black Hawk down
3)Thank You for Smoking
4)Lord of War
5)Munich

Glad There Will be Blood is not on the list. It sucked big time

R Jones

Agree with sentiment about City of God. Where is Children of Men, though? Also, Adaptation should be up there instead of Eternal Sunshine. Not that it wasn't a good movie, but Adaptation was definitely better.

FriedGold

I'm cool with Dark Knight, Return of the King and City of God. But Fellowship and Avatar can fuck the right off.

sam

and dark knight is so overrated, batman begins is a better movie, the joker just really kicked ass

Debunker

Good point, I feel in a lot of ways Batman Begins is often overlooked as it was a damn good movie too.
BUT I think this goes to the argument that Joker is so wildly popular that he will always make The Dark Knight win in a popularity contest, even though Liam kicked ass in Batman Begins...

sam

children of men

Angora

I'm so happy City of God made that list :'] Epic win!

mangoshakes

can we stop saying "fanboy hype". does anybody here talk to anyone besides these fanboys?? non-fanboys loved this movie too. it should be noted that Dark Knight also has the most votes of any flick up there.

and is it really just fanboys on imdb. if so, can somebody lead me to all the shawshank redemption fanboys. cause that's really annoying.

Debunker

HAH.
Shawshank Redemption is such a good movie it should be on this Decade list too (even though it was made in 1994)
(YES I KNOW it was made in 94)

Dom

I feel as though some people don't know how long a "decade" actually is... Ok, some of the movies on this list shouldn't be there, but that's just a matter of opinion.. Some of the films on this list deserve to be there. Plain and simple...
I'm, overall, quite happy with the list. However, in my opinion, 'Pan's Labyrinth" should be higher...

freemachine

I thought I was the only one who noticed that these films don't span a "decade". Only 9 years are represented. Apparently, being able to count to ten is not a prerequisite for running a website... The list needs some films from 1999 (The Matrix, Fight Club, for example).

Peter Sciretta

If you count 2000 as the start of a decade, than 2000-2009 is 10 years.

freemachine

Yeah, I'm an idiot. Sorry.

Some Guy

Ha, I was just in the middle of writing a post making fun of freemachine's counting skills when you replied. Gotta love it when people make fun of somebody else because they themselves made a mistake.

Interestingly though, only 9 years are actually represented- 2007 has no entries on the list (No Country For Old Men would have been number 12 after Gladiator).

Citizen M

Like all lists, I definitely object to inclusion of several films. But I will say this about the IMDB list: I've seen 20 of the top 25 films on the list. I can also honestly say that 12 of the films on that list are my personal favorites of the decade. I can decry the inclusion of Gran Torino, Sin City and Inglorious Basterds on that list, but compared to 99% of the lists out there, the IMDB definitely pleases more than it bothers me.

henrik4075

The Dark Knight went up to #1 on Imdb on its first day of release. Im not saying it has some crazy ass fanboys who woted long before they ever saw the film or anything.... Well, that is what im saying. The movies is way overrated, boring and it drags on forever. Hah, that one should have been called Batman Forever! I just made that joke up right now...

Chip

While I like the movie, I agree that it's VERY overrated. It really hasn't gotten any better for me after repeated viewings, and most of the action scenes suck. Nolan just moves the camera around too much for me. I think it is good, but not all that good. I'm one of the people who thought WALL-E was a better movie.

freemachine

Actually, it took about 1 week for TDK to hit #1 on the IMDb.

Joshua Laplap

disappointed with the fact that Dark Knight is up there. i think it's a pretty good film, but certainly isn't the best of the decade.

Jon

no 40 year old virgin, knocked up, gladiator, or finding nemo?!? this list is crap

ERoBB

Your list would have 40 Year Old Virgin, and Knocked Up? I cant imagine your list being much better.

Jon

your dam right it would... who didnt like those 2 movies? they were great... if you didnt like them then you must not be a fan of comedy

Debunker

Liked 40 yr old Virgin, HATED Knocked up.. Sorry, but did not see what was so funny about an unplanned pregnancy with a moron as a father... The jokes seems to be forced upon the audience whereas 40 Year Old Virgin seemed to flow better and not be so forced.
Plus Jonah hill had more than two lines in it, which automatically drops it in the crapper.
To say you are not a fan of comedy if you do not like both of those movies is probably the most Idiotic statement of the Decade.
It also means you have not seen alot of comedies either, at least older ones (from at least the 70's) so, go to a video store and rent all of Mel Brooks Movies(namely History of the World Part I, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety and-later- Space Balls) and Zucker brothers movies (Airplane, Naked Gun, and Kentucky Fried Movie) and tell me what is funnier, you say Knocked up I weep for the future.

Raw Rodrigo

HAH!

This has to be the most rage-inducing list ever put on the internet. Im surprised Transformers 2 wasnt at the top of this. And the fact the /Film is endorsing this and giving it exposure is even worse. This goes to prove that fanboys will praise and chew on anything the Hollywood Mainstream shits out on them. Not only am I never visiting IMDB again, but the fact that /Film is supporting this, and the majority of the folks commenting here are okay with this list? /Film just got alot worse. This is not good, not good at all for the film industry.

Some Guy

And another thing: "Not only am I never visiting IMDB again"- what, so you were only using imdb for the user ratings? Or are you just vehemently opposed to people expressing their opinion?
I go on imdb all the time and the only reason I would look at the user ratings is out of mild curiosity. If that was what imdb was about then I would never use it. The user rating is one small part of one section out of about 50 different sections on any given movie. That's why it's called the internet movie database, not the internet movie opinion poll. Your self-righteous indignation is frankly ridiculous.

Some Guy

Wtf are you on about? "/film just got alot worse"? Point me to the place in the article where it said these actually are the best films of the decade. How is this article "endorsing" the list? And in any case, why is it bad to inform people of popular opinion, or at least the opinions of imdb users. Nothing in the article implied that this is definitive, only that it is the largest available "sampling of moviegoing opinion". You might notice that most of these films have hundreds of thousands of votes.
To another point, why is the list itself so bad? Yes a lot of great films are missing and a bunch of them that are on the list don't deserve to be there but I can't see any objectively bad movies on there. Seriously, "the most rage-inducing list ever put on the internet"? That sounds like a particularly moronic piece of hyperbole to me.

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