In 2006 the readers of Total Film magazine voted for their top 100 movies of all time, as compiled in this book. The difference between the readers of Total Film and Empire is never more clear than when comparing their top choices. For Empire it is the stone cold classic The Godfather, yet for Total Film it is The Empire Strikes Back, a much flawed film that, though good, few can claim to be perfect. There’s few surprises on this list, and in fact every film on here appears on at least one of the other lists, but had I stretched it to include the 20 that just missed out, I’d have found myself having to watch Life Is Beautiful, a film that no-one deemed worthy enough to appear anywhere else. For the record, I’ve seen it, and once was enough.

1             1980       Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
2             1999       Fight Club
3             1994       Pulp Fiction
4             2003       Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King
5             1994       The Shawshank Redemption
6             1990       Goodfellas
7             1974       The Godfather Part II
8             2001       The Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring
9             1975       Jaws
10           2001       Donnie Darko
11           1977       Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope
12           1995       The Usual Suspects
13           1999       The Matrix
14           1981       Raiders of the Lost Ark
15           1995       Seven
16           1972       The Godfather
17           2000       Gladiator
18           2004       Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
19           1986       Aliens
20           2005       Sin City
21           2002       The Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers
22           1997       L.A. Confidential
23           1976       Taxi Driver
24           1988       Die Hard
25           2005       Batman Begins
26           1985       Back to the Future
27           1993       Schindler’s List
28           2004       Spider Man 2
29           1998       The Big Lebowski
30           1995       Heat
31           1992       Reservoir Dogs
32           1982       Blade Runner
33           1991       Terminator 2: Judgement Day
34           1979       Alien
35           2003       X-Men 2
36           1977       Annie Hall
37           1994       Leon
38           1942       Casablanca
39           1979       Apocalypse Now
40           2000       Memento
41           1993       Jurassic Park
42           1946       It’s a Wonderful Life
43           1975       One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
44           1975       Monty Python and the Holy Grail
45           1949       The Third Man
46           1966       The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
47           1999       Toy Story 2
48           1971       A Clockwork Orange
49           2001       Moulin Rouge!
50           1960       The Apartment
51           1969       The Wild Bunch
52           1982       E.T. the Extra Terrestrial
53           1996       Trainspotting
54           1980       Raging Bull
55           2002       City of God
56           1986       Stand By Me
57           1982       The Thing
58           1983       Scarface
59           1980       Airplane!
60           1991       The Silence of the Lambs
61           1986       Blue Velvet
62           1954       Seven Samurai
63           1941       Citizen Kane
64           1968       2001: A Space Odyssey
65           2004       Shaun of the Dead
66           2003       Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
67           1977       Close Encounters of the Third Kind
68           1962       Lawrence of Arabia
69           1978       Halloween
70           1956       The Searchers
71           1976       Rocky
72           1968       Once Upon a Time in the West
73           1986       Platoon
74           2003       Kill Bill Vol. 1
75           1999       Magnolia
76           1978       The Deer Hunter
77           1980       The Shining
78           1999       American Beauty
79           1996       Fargo
80           1974       Chinatown
81           1998       Saving Private Ryan
82           1958       Vertigo
83           2005       King Kong
84           1964       Goldfinger
85           1939       The Wizard of Oz
86           1978       Dawn of the Dead
87           2000       Requiem for a Dream
88           1984       The Terminator
89           1960       Psycho
90           2005       Brokeback Mountain
91           1964       Dr. Strangelove
92           2004       The Bourne Supremacy
93           2004       The Incredibles
94           1959       Some Like It Hot
95           2001       Spirited Away
96           1954       Rear Window
97           1974       The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
98           1984       This is Spinal Tap
99           1994       Forrest Gump
100         1973       The Exorcist
101         1979       Monty Python’s Life Of Brian
102         1990       Edward Scissorhands
103         1994       Clerks
104         1959       North By Northwest
105         1957       12 Angry Men
106         1986       Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
107         2003       Lost In Translation
108         1990       Miller’s Crossing
109         1998       Life Is Beautiful
110         1987       Full Metal Jacket
111          1963      The Great Escape
112          1983      Once Upon A Time In America
113          1991      JFK
114          1939      Gone With The Wind
115          1996      Romeo + Juliet
116          1998      American History X
117          1988      Rain Man
118          1985      Brazil
119          1993      Duck Soup
120          1962      To Kill A Mockingbird