10. 1967
The world was changing in the sixties and the cinema of 1967 reflects that with anti-establishment sentiment pervading the films produced that year, including highlights inBonnie and Clyde,The Graduate,In the Heat of the Night,Cool Hand Luke, andTo Sir, With Love.
We were also rewarded with fun films such asThe ProducersandThe Jungle Book. Meanwhile, Martin Scorsese directed his first feature film inWho’s That Knocking on My Door?
However, the most resonant film of 1967 has to beGuess Who’s Coming to Dinner, featuring phenomenal performances from Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Houghton, and Spencer Tracy wearing his heart on his sleeve in every scene. It’s a bewitching drama that hasn’t aged a day.
Related:The Best Actors During Hollywood’s Golden Age, Ranked
9. 1998
The nineties gave us all kinds of great cinema, with 1998 among the best of the decade’s years. Just look at this list of legendary films:
And that doesn’t even include the standout comedies of 1998, including classics likeRushmore,The Big Lebowski, andThere’s Something About Mary.
But of all those films,The Thin Red Linerepresents the cream of the crop. Underrated to this day, it’s perhaps the best war film of all time, offering a philosophical look into human nature: love, violence, and loneliness.
Related:Masterpiece Films That Weren’t Appreciated Until Much Later
8. 1976
The anti-establishment theme from 1967 continued all the way into the mid-1970s with films likeNetworkandLogan’s Run.
It was an astonishing year during the now-called New Hollywood Era. Other great films that were released this year include:
WhileRockymay have won Best Picture,Taxi Driveris unquestionably the best film that was released in 1976. Moody, gritty, and incredibly important for the time, it features one of De Niro’s best performances with a confident Scorsese in top form.
7. 1982
Widely considered to be the best year for science fiction in the history of cinema, 1982 gave us films likeThe Thing,Tron,Poltergeist,andE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which all blew us away.
Not only did these films make good use of breath-taking practical and visual effects, butTronin particular showed off to the entire film industry what was possible with CGI.
And then there were dramas such asSophie’s Choice,An Officer and a Gentleman, andThe Verdict, which moved audiences to tears. Richard Attenborough’sGandhitook home Best Picture at the Oscars.
The King of Comedy,Fast Times at Ridgemont High, andTootsieall had the world in fits of laughter, with the sprawling epicFitzcarraldoacting as one of the best adventure movies of all time.
Other great films released in 1982 includeThe Plague Dogs, Sylvester Stallone’sFirst Blood, and the iconic children’s filmAnnie.
But above all,Blade Runnertakes the cake for best film released in 1982. A gritty science fiction masterpiece that wrote the book on how to create palpable dystopias, the film’s reflections on mortality and the human condition still remain as poignant as ever.
Related:The Best Film Adaptations That Totally Changed Their Source Material
6. 1999
1999 was a staggeringly successful year, and many of the year’s best films are still referenced in pop culture today. This was the year when:
Other greats that were released this year include:
Of these films, it’s Paul Thomas Anderson’sMagnoliathat tops the list in a truly competitive year.Magnoliais a sprawling epic that focuses on how we are all connected and yet desperately lonely.
It’s a film that was largely forgotten at the time, probably because it wasn’t as “fun” as his previous outing inBoogie Nights. However, it’s easily one of his best films to date—and definitely the best film of the year.
5. 2007
The 2000s kicked off a solid decade of films as new directors started coming to the fore in the digital age, but it wasn’t until 2007 that a whole wealth of gems from around the world started popping up.
New directors like Sean Penn and Ben Affleck released critically acclaimed films likeInto the WildandGone Baby Gone, while Quentin Tarantino released the underground hitDeath Proof.
We got many fantastic thrillers inThe Bourne Ultimatum,American Gangster,Zodiac,Eastern Promises, and3:10 to Yuma, plus cult classic comedies inSuperbad,Hot Fuzz,Juno, andThe Darjeeling Limited.
And while Seth Rogan and Edgar Wright were dominating the comedy scene, we were privy to gut-wrenching dramas inPersepolis,Atonement, andMichael Clayton. And that’s not to mention the jaw-dropping Spanish horror masterpiece that wasREC.
But even among these heavy-hitters, two films in particular stand above with their career-defining legacies:No Country for Old MenandThere Will Be Blood. These masterpieces are as enigmatic as they are breath-taking, and it’s impossible to choose between them.
Both could be titled best film of the decade, they should’ve shared the stage at the 2008 Academy Awards.
4. 1975
What did we get in 1975? A classic, another classic, yet another classic… oh, so many classic films, all from the same year.
1975 wasn’t just a year for legends likeJawsandDog Day Afternoon. It also provided us with overlooked films (likeBarry Lyndon) and films that were heavily criticized at first only to be praised years later (likeShivers).
Most importantly, Monty Python burst onto the scene and changed the world of comedy forever. It’s hard to overestimate the impact thatMonty Python and the Holy Grailhad on the world at the time!
Similarly,The Rocky Horror Picture Showhad a radical impact on how people viewed both musicals and sexuality. Dario Argento’sDeep Red, Sydney Pollack’s3 Days of the Condor, and John Huston’sThe Man Who Would Be Kingall went on to receive critical acclaim.
And then you have Milos Forman’sOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nestand Andrei Tarkovsky’sMirror, two of the best movies ever made.
Both films were unique in their own right, and it’s impossible to claim one as better than the other because they’re such radically different experiences. The best you can do is watch both and decide on your own.
Related:The Most Popular Movies of the 1970s
3. 1994
While many of the other years on this list gave us plenty ofgreatfilms, 1994 is the year that gave us so manylovedfilms.
We’re talking instant classics that evoke nostalgia, likeForrest GumpandThe Lion King, which wowed audiences and dominated box offices.Forrest Gumpwent on to win Best Picture (and a few others) at the Oscars.
Other films—like Frank Darabont’sThe Shawshank Redemption—flew under the radar at the time and only resurfaced as fan favorites many years later. (Shawshanknow sits atopIMDb’s list of Top 250 Films.)
In 1975, Ang Lee’sEat Drink Man Womanand Tsai Ming-liang’sVive L’Amourhelped kick-start the Taiwanese New Wave; Krzysztof Kieślowski directed his famous Three Colours Trilogy; and Bela Tarr completed his seven-hour-long masterpieceSátántangó.
Other great films of the year include:
However, the best film of the year has to go to Quentin Tarantino’sPulp Fiction. Filled with quotable lines, philosophy, and one of the best executions of a non-linear narrative ever, it’s easily the best film of 1994.
Related:The Best Movies About Assassins and Hitmen, Ranked
2. 1959
1959 is a year frequently forgotten about, but it’s notable for giving us all of the classics they talk about in film school—and much more.
The year was one of the best for international cinema, with film movements emerging and auteur styles developing. Robert Bresson’sPickpocket, Satyajit Ray’sThe World of Apu, and Masaki Kobayashi’s breath-taking cinematic achievement with his first installment ofThe Human Conditionfranchise.
Alfred Hitchcock continued his excellence withNorth by Northwestand Hollywood delivered one of the best epic films ever made inBen-Hur.
Other brilliant works to come out this year includedSome Like It Hot,Black Orpheus,Shadows,Anatomy of a Murder,Rio Bravo,Good Morning,The Diary of Anne Frank,Pillow Talk, and Alain Resnais’sHiroshima, Mon Amour.
With all of these glorious films released in the same year, the competition is incredible. But if we had to pick one as best, it would be François Truffaut’sThe 400 Blows.
When Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Satyajit Ray, Wes Anderson, Woody Allen, Richard Linklater, and Tsai Ming-liang all cite it as one of their favorite films, it’s a no-brainer.
Related:The Best Classic Old Movies That Everyone Should See
1. 2016
To understand why 2016 tops our list of greatest years in cinema history, you only have to look at all the incredible films that were nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards:
That list is already stacked, but there are so many other top-tier movies that came out this year—including several in the horror genre. Seriously, take a look at these films and tell me they don’t deserve acclaim:
And it doesn’t stop there! Even after all of the above, there are dozens of incredible films that remain as memorable and influential today as when they first came out:
And while we’re at it, let’s highlight a few documentaries:
In hindsight, 2016 exceeded all expectations and remains underappreciated for how many great movies came out that year.
Of them all, the best has to be Barry Jenkins’sMoonlight. It’s an intimately personal film that excels on every level: direction, music, pacing, cinematography, writing, and acting. It justifiably won Best Picture and stands out as one of the best films released in the entire decade.
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