Top 100 Men’s Movies: A Work in Progress

I’d think a top ten movie would be The Terminator.

And a top twenty would be the original Star Wars (the rest suck).

Tombstone (1993) should definitely be in the top ten. Not only is it a great action/drama but it’s imbued with many masculine themes like courage, sacrifice, honor and friendship.

Bernard-

how about:

The Deer Hunter (another De Niro pick)

A Beautiful Mind (with Russel Crowe).

The list looks good. I’ve seen almost all of these and I agree that they belong on the list.

Waking Ned Devine is fun but I’m not entirely sure that it rises to the level of being on the Top 100. Counting Heat, Ronin, Batman Begins, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, The Deer Hunter, and A Beautiful Mind, I could probably come up with at least a dozen more thus displacing WND-but I’ll leave that up to others.

Well well well, if it isn’t Johnny Ringo. Tombstone? How did I forget that? I’ve only seen it 15 times. Okay, The Deer Hunter, Tombstone, The Terminator, and Star Wars all added. Someone verify that A Beautiful Mind for me. Give us a second there.

Here’s a couple more in addition to your very good list.

The Pursuit of Happiness
Nobody’s Fool
Saving Private Ryan
Midway
The Matrix
One Eyed Jacks (a brother’s favorite)
Unforgiven (1992)
Bonny and Clyde (1967)
Bullet
The Magnificent Seven
True Grit
Young Guns
The Getaway
The Game (1997)
Scarface (1983)
Casino (1995)

I shouldn’t have gotten started with this.

The Matrix should easily be in the top 10.

Blood Simple

The Illustrated Man

THX-1138

Zardoz

Castaway

Dark City

The Maltese Falcon

Forbidden Planet

The (original) Wicker Man

Straw Dogs

Starship Troopers (Paul Verhoeven)

John Carpenter’s The Thing

Blade Runner (still relevant)

Titus

Momento**

Sin City

Woman of the Dunes — Black and white. Early 1960s Japanese existentialist answer to “No Exit“: An entomologist on an outing in an area of sand dunes misses the bus back, and is then forced to live inside of a sinking sand pit with a strange woman. Well worth seeing if you can find it.

(Also possibly, “A Boy and His Dog“, but I would need to look at it again to be sure. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it. )

Just a couple more …

Hunt for Red October
Crimson Tide
Enemy of the State
300
Forrest Gump
48 Hours
The Shining
One Flew over the Coo-Coo’s Nest
The Last Detail
The Exorcist
We were Soldiers
Platoon
The Patriot
Apocalypto
Crash (2005)
First Blood

Maybe it should be the top two hundred.

Saving Private Ryan!!!

Yes!

Damn!-wished I would have added that one. Good going merck!
….and Blade Runner (Yes!…another lone wolf/outsider film….another great pick!)

A Beautiful Mind is testament to male genius and the ability to persevere….especially with ones own demons. It’s based on a true story.

Do mini-series count here?:

How about Band of Brothers?:

A great series dedicated to the brave men of WWII. Ordinary men who did extraordinary things. True accounts of heroism, self-sacrifice, bravery, tenacity.

I gotta add Casablanca…Humphrey Bogart was great in this film.

This is a free plug for one of my websites, “Movies for MRAs”:

http://home.earthlink.net/~jamiranda/mramovies

I do reviews and recommendations of movies which have a generally pro-men message.

Sirs,

May i suggest “Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World” from 2003 and stars Russell Crowe?

Aside from being an excellent action film (with great cinematography and dramatic scenes of naval warfare) the story touches on themes of duty, friendship, courage, and perserverance.

The film highlights these positive aspects of masculinity chiefly through the character of Captain “Lucky” Jack Aubrey (Crowe), who never wavers in his commitment to pursuing and defeating a larger, faster and better armed enemy frigate.

The dialogue is also refreshing, none of the usual trash that passes for conversation in most movies nowadays…

Great topic…

Okay, some of what was suggested is already on the list. I’ve added Saving Private Ryan and yeah Pursuit of Happiness needs to be there. Quintessential dad beaten down by the system flick. Yeah, Denis I’m adding Blade Runner and Casablanca but Maltese Falcon is my favorite of that genre.

Mike, yeah I love Mememento, an excellent flick, as is The Matrix. Got it on there. I am you agree on Straw Dogs but I’m not sure anyone else does, lol. I’ve added The Wild Bunch too. Yes, yes, Blood Simple has been added. I’ve taken off the WWar documentaries as they were technically a TV show to make more room. Some of the movies you mentioned I had never heard of. I just added 10 to my Netflix queue. Castaway, fine. Is it okay with everyone if we add that Wicker Man? I had to look it up.

Hi Merck, I’m with you on 300–majorly underrated, added, as is Apocalypto and Platoon. Okay with everyone if I add The Patriot? Let me know. Go ahead and criticize the list if you don’t like something.

Do you think we should do a TOP 150 or would that sound less marketable and more silly?

At this point, everyone, if you make suggestion please explain why it’s better than what we have up there. It may be I need to purge La Dolce Vita and Come and See to make space.

Hello Bernard n’ all

I put Nobody’s Fool on there.

I suspect most people haven’t seen this movie. It stars Paul Newman (a personal favorite) with Bruce Willis, Jessica Tandy (her last movie) and Melanie Griffith.

It takes place in a small New York town and is about a working-class father who had abandoned his family as a young man, (certainly no “father of the year” candidate) yet was still an important and caring member of the community, who ends up having a relationship with his son, who is now married and has two children of his own.

I can’t put my finger on exactly why I like this movie so much. Maybe that’s what makes it so good.

BTW,

Nobody’s Fool takes place during Thanksgiving so it’s a good holiday movie.

I also give two thumbs up for Castaway. Great movie. I love the part at the end when he talks about his deep despair on the island, especially after his failed suicide attempt, but felt the need to keep going, because ultimately, (in retrospect) you never know what the tide will bring.

Hey Bernard – make sure you note that it’s the original Wicker Man from 1973, with Christopher Lee. I haven’t seen the remake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicker_Man_(1973_film)

I dunno, guys, but Hoosiers sits very high on my list. It’s all about redemption, and the values men can and do convey to young people, even if they’re deeply flawed themselves.

Thanks for the list, Bernard et al.

My list of movies that I want to see someday just got a lot longer. I hope you’ll keep conversation on this list around for some time; it’ll be weeks or months before I have the time to create a ranking for me to make any helpful contribution.

From a cursory look, I’d recommend adding “Gattaca,” which is among my favorite movies but not yet on your list.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The War of the Worlds (1953)
The Thing from Another World
When Worlds Collide
First Men in the Moon
Andromeda Strain
Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control
Logan’s Run
Red Planet Mars
Things to Come
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (BBC 1981)
Slaughterhouse Five
Soylent Green
Logan’s Run
Star Wars
Superman: The Movie
Alien
The Empire Strikes Back
Superman 2
E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial
Return of the Jedi
The Terminator
Alien Nation
Total Recall
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country
Jurassic Park
Stargate
Independence Day
Men in Black
Armageddon
Dark City
The Matrix
X-Men
A.I. Artificial Intellegence
Minority Report
X2: X-Men United
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Children of Men

Big aggreement with #86: The Pursuit of Happyness
(You misspelled it btw.)

The Matrix – agreed
I, Robot

Mission Impossible

Continue criticizing what’s up there so we can establish consensus and configure the order. Remember, apart from three, at this point, something must be taken off for any additions to be made. Okay, Nobody’s Fool was just added and La Dolce Vita, Swan’s Way, and Come and See were purged, but not 8½! Now that’s a man’s movie. I think Hoosiers is a solid addition, Rastus. I do not know Gattica, Scott. Who agrees with him about that one? Roger’s given us a ton of suggestions. Who backs him up on his selections? Roger, can you narrow down your suggestions to a couple? Who agrees on Total Recall?

I think Gattaca is an excellent film, though recognize that there are many to whom it won’t appeal, owing mainly to its subtlety and near total lack of action. It’s an intellectual tour de force, IMHO, and is a member of my personal collection, but I’m not sure I’d call it a “men’s movie” specifically. I’d have to think about that a bit more.

Total Recall is a good choice, though, and also in my personal collection. It’s also more of a “traditional” men’s movie, in that it’s got lots of action, coupled with the need to make moral choices that may not serve the main character’s personal interests.

BTW, I notice that you’ve got Gods and Generals up there, but not its more popular predecessor, Gettysburg. I’m curious: what was your thinking behind that?

Gattaca definitely belongs on the list.

Gattaca was shot at the Marin Civic Center, the last major building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. (I got married there in 1998, in the roof garden on the second floor.)

The film takes place in a future where most people in the society have been genetically engineered as perfect physical and mental specimens. Only a few people are normals — ordinary people with no particular gifts — and these typically take menial positions in society.

The story is about a man who is born ordinary, but who decides to enter the world of the elite by becoming the captain of a scheduled space flight. Using genetic materials supplied by his crippled but genetically enhanced brother, the protagonist manages to convince his co-workers that he is one of the them.

The film is about what makes us excel in life: is birth also destiny (as Charles Murray would have us believe)? Or can human *will* overcome genetic determinism?

Definitely a great film. I wish I had thought to put it in my list.

On Total Recall: I have a copy of the movie here at home, and I do watch it from time to time. It’s great fun — though a lot of bad language keeps it off-limits to kids. I thought of putting it on the list, but didn’t because, besides being a very fun flick, I can’t argue that it’s particularly meaningful in any way.

BTW, if you’re going to mention Total Recall, you have to include The Fifth Element.

Roger’s list is good. I also thought of The Day the Earth Stood Still, and agree that it belongs on the list. Also Alien Nation, Slaughterhouse Five, Soylent Green, and The Terminator (the first one).

And don’t forget the original Planet of the Apes.

I did mention the brilliant Dark City in my first list. Definitely one of my favorites — top 10 material in my book.

Just one more …

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Needs more sci-fi.

here’s a few I think less essential:

The Lord of the Rings
Chariots of Fire
Gladiator
Das Boot
A Clockwork Orange
Miller’s Crossing
Superbad
Blazing Saddles
300
Divorce Italian Style
Donnie Brasco
LA Confidential
Taxi Driver
Gangs of New York
Pumping Iron
Apocalypto
Conan the Barbarian

Some of the others I haven’t seen. My Life as a Dog? You mean the Swedish film, Mitt Liv Som Hund?

My Life as a Dog — I remember it vaguely. I think I saw it in the early to mid 1980s. In one scene, a sculptor is modeling a woman on her back, holding a new baby in the air. A wry joke, I think, about the comforts and mediocrity of wealthy Sweden.

I’m recalling that it sequences the respective life paths of two friends, one alpha, one beta.

A powerful film, but that’s from memory. I would have to see it again to pass final judgment about whether it belongs in the top 100.

Apocalypto strikes me as relevant. As does Taxi Driver, Gangs of New York, and 300.

Some of the films may not stand up to time. Eg., I liked Gladiator, but not sure why it’s there but Ben Hur is absent.

Clockwork Orange, while revolutionary for its time, has lost some of its zing as social commentary. But it is brilliantly filmed and acted, and so should probably be in the top 100.

As for the other films on Roger’s 86-list, I think they are all good flicks, but when you’re talking about the Top 100, you are talking about films that you would not mind seeing more than once.

How many times can you watch LA Confidential or The Sting and still feel that it’s interesting?

But I could probably watch The Sixth Sense more than once and still get something out of it.

And Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a Top 100 for me, so I second the motion.

Oh — and Memento needs to be much higher on the list. While I have not seen it since it came out, I found the film extremely relevant and descriptive of the human soul as a pawn of itself.

The protagonist is a man afflicted by a condition in which he is only able to remember events only to about an hour into the past. He does remember who he is, but he can’t quite piece together what happened to him, or what is doing now.

It turns out he’s involved in criminal relationships with two or three other characters — all of whom know him, and know what happened to him.

In the end, he learns enough about his condition that he is able to manipulate himself into committing a murder by sending himself notes and photographs from the past.

A very great movie on many levels.

Here’s the wiki lead paragraph:

Memento is a psychological thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, adapted from his brother Jonathan’s short story “Memento Mori.” It stars Guy Pearce as Leonard Shelby, a former insurance fraud investigator searching for the man he believes raped and killed his wife during a burglary. Leonard suffers from anterograde amnesia, which he contracted from severe head trauma during the attack on his wife. This renders his brain unable to store new memories. To cope with his condition, he maintains a system of notes, photographs, and tattoos to record information about himself and others, including his wife’s killer. He is aided in his investigation by Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) and Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss), neither of whom he can trust.

Continue criticizing what’s up there so we can establish consensus and configure the order. Remember, at this point, something must be taken off for any additions to be made. Okay, Nobody’s Fool, Gattaca, Planet of the Apes, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were just added and Local Hero, La Dolce Vita, Swan’s Way, and Come and See were purged, but not 8½! Now that’s a man’s movie. I think Hoosiers is a solid addition, Rastus. Roger, I cannot agree with you and The Lord of the Rings should be on every list, in my humble opinion. Even if it’s just the Top Five Men’s Movies. Ben Hur is on the list by the way. My Life as a Dog is superb. Oh yeah, I loved Memento.

Two more: The Conversation, and Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston).

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (the classic western with Clint Eastwood)

Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone’s classic with Robert De Niro)

Lonesome Dove (a western with Robert Duvall)

Band of Brothers

Falling Down (with Michael Douglas-divorced father recently laid off wants to see his daughter on her birthday)

Basic Instinct (with Michael Douglas)

Mike,

My Life as a Dog (Mitt Liv Som Hund) is one of several Swedish films that I bought in the early days of trying to learn the language. It was on tape back then so I don’t have it anymore. I watched it many times. Yes – there was a guy doing a sculpture and 12-year old Ingemar was watching through a window in the roof – then it broke and he fell in. It was both funny and sad. Ingemar was living with an uncle in a small rurual town in southern Sweden because his mother is terminally ill. She dies.

I have a few:
The Longest Yard
The Longest Day
Office Space (too many truths in this one)
Shawshank Redemption
GettysBurg
Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail
Excalibur
Pale Rider
Ice Pirates (”our ship has Herpes” line is classic)
Field of Dreams
The Fifth Element
Heavy Metal
Kelly’s Heros

And Roger, while I wholeheartedly agree on 95% of your list…Stargate was terrible. That and Golden Eye were the only 2 movies I have almost become physically ill watching.
My two cents.
MTV

Luc Besson’s comic masterpiece, The Fifth Element, has been seconded!

I second “Kelly’s Hero’s” as another great action-comedy. (Also, Field of Dreams is still memorable — witness MND.)

Paul Verhoven’s Starship Troopers was another masterpiece that has not yet been seconded. It was expertly conceived as a tongue-in-cheek play on post-war American militarism, and the modern separation of civilian and military life. (i.e., “You Shop, We’ll Fight”)

Continue criticizing what’s up there so we can establish consensus and configure the order. Remember, at this point, something must be taken off for any additions to be made. Okay, Nobody’s Fool, Gattaca, Planet of the Apes, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were just added and Local Hero, La Dolce Vita, Swan’s Way, and Come and See were purged, but not 8½! Now that’s a man’s movie.

The Fifth Element and Shawshank Redemption just added. Downfall and East of Eden removed.

Now that the list is refining itself to some damn good flicks (and very memorable ones) I would add these:

Die Hard, Rudy and I Robot

Superbad was kinda funny but I could do without watching it again. Same with Chariots of Fire.
For some reason though if channel-surfing and Die Hard is on I will always watch the rest. Same with most others on the list.
Pursuit of Happiness I thought was more geared toward chick-flick genre. While is was ok for Will Smith I would much rather watch MIB, MIB2, I Robot, or I am Legend again. Again we are talking Men’s FLicks so action, comedy, or suspense is paramount.
Starship Troopers was the biggest let down for me EVER. That is litterally my favorite book (read it about 40 times) and the movie was nothing like it.

Also Blade Runner, Deer Hunter, and and Private Ryan should move up on the list by at least 20 spots.

Am I the only one here to see Band of Brothers? This had gritty battle realism, self-sacrifice, incredible heroism. Seriously, has anyone seen this? I’ve seen this ~6 x’s.

As far as this genre goes this one is up there with Saving Private Ryan. By my calculation that removes Bridge On The River Kwai and Stalag 17 (easily).

But I guess I’m gonna have to wait for a second vote.

Any takers?

If we’re really opening this up to Swedish films then the list could get very long. Perhaps there should be a foreign films category and films by country. Of course, only a few countries would be represented – depends on participants creating the list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Swedish_films

Denis:

I haven’t seen “Band of Brothers”. If I’m not mistaken it’s a mini-series like “Rich Man – Poor Man” and “Roots”. I usually don’t have access to cable or satellite so I seldom get to watch HBO. I’ve never seen an episode of the “Soprano’s” either and I’ve heard that’s pretty good also. I looked it up on utube and it looks like a long running mini series. I’m going to watch them but it may take me a while.

BTW

If anyone hasn’t seen “Crash” I would highly recommend it. It’s right up there with “Pulp Fiction” in my book, maybe even better. Like Pulp Fiction, I can’t say for sure that it’s a “man’s movie”, but it’s one of the absolute best I’ve ever seen. Don’t judge the movie until you’ve seen the whole thing. It’s full of unexpected twists and turns.

You can watch it on utube. Search “Crash the movie pt. 1” and enjoy. It’s in 12 parts and takes about 90 minutes to watch.

Dead Poets Society

Celebrating dead white guys, male bonding, sexual conquest, and f the system attitude.

Band of Brothers is the best war series ever. However, it is a miniseris not a movie. It is 10 hours of pure perfection in cinema. Crash was a great flick too. If we were adding miniseries I also suggest Shogun with Chamberlain. Great series.

My 2 best man positive flicks are a couple of oldies.

The first is ABANDON SHIP starring Tyrone Power. It is about a boat load of survivors of a cruise ship sinking and the tough choices Tyrone Power has to make in order for the others to survive. A really touching movie even though it has been around for awhile.

The other stars Jack Lemon in DAYS OF WINE AS ROSES about a successful advertising exec who battles alcoholism.

Two great oldies with positive male roles. See them if you can find them. You will not be disappointed.

Denis, with the Band of Brothers I think they’re right we probably shouldn’t include mini-series on this one. It’s on my wish list as is Crash now.

Okay Bernard. Makes sense. I think every guy should see this mini-series….I believe it’s out on DVD.

How can you have a Men’s Movie list without Fight Club?

Is this the OPRAH Men’s Movie list?

Fight Club: mass market Hollywood psychobabble.

Breaking Away

It’s from the 70s, but it’s probably the most genuine coming-of-age flick ever made. It’s about four local boys in Bloomington, IN trying to find themselves after graduating from high school.

Also, Dead Poets Society

This is just a classic for men.

I note that you included Dr. Strangelove, I myself found that film very disappointing as it was far too short and Dr. Strangelove had very little input until the very end.

My suggestion would be Escape from New York. This is the ultimate ‘man’ film and is the story of a very butch man rescuing the president from the prison island of New York. Simple premise, simple film, comes out brilliantly. Snake Pliskin is a good old fashioned hero, no talking, no falling in love, no feelings.

The Great Escape
Papillion
The Dirty Dozen
Deathwish
High Plains Drifter
Predator
Dumb & Dumber
The Jerk
Austin Powers I
Stand By Me
Planes, Trains, & Automobiles
Cape Fear (original)