RWN’s John Hawkins polled his roster of conservative bloggers on their favorite movies of all time. Only two flicks from this millennium made the top dozen, although several others made the larger list:
8) The Godfather II: 6 (1974)
8) Jaws: 6 (1975)
8) Raiders of the Lost Ark: 6 (1981)
8) Pulp Fiction: 6 (1994)
8) Braveheart: 6 (1995)
6) The Shawshank Redemption: 7 (1994)
6) The Princess Bride: 7 (1987)
5) The Incredibles: 8 (2004)
4) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: 9 (2001)
3) Star Wars: 11 (1977)
2) Casablanca: 13 (1942)
1) The Godfather: 14 (1972)
Only two of my own non-ordered top 10 submissions made the list:
Pulp Fiction
Big Jake
O Brother Where Art Thou
Top Gun
Shawshank Redemption
Die Hard
Cool Hand Luke
Monty Python’s Life of Brian
Rio Bravo
Oddly, both “Pulp Fiction” and “Shawshank Redemption” were released in 1994. I’m not sure whether that’s purely coincidental or whether that represents some sweet spot in the age overlap of the polled bloggers.
It occurs to me that I left “Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan” off my list. But it’s not really a fair inclusion, in that it’s only great because of how it fits into the very long arc of the series, including the television series that preceded it.
Otherwise, Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” and “Reservoir Dogs” are easily my favorite films of the gangster genre. While the Godfather flicks had some great lines, I actually find them rather tedious. And I never got the allure of “Goodfellas,” which seems to always make the “great guy movies” lists.
I don’t think “Jaws” has held up all that well. I still like “Star Wars,” although not as much as I once did; and it’s not even the best film in its own trilogy. “The Incredibles” was fine but wouldn’t make my top 100. “Princess Bride” is quite good — maybe even in my top 25 — but it’s merely clever on the tenth viewing, while “O Brother” remains hilarious and “Life of Brian” remains fresh and brilliant satire despite the passage of decades.
Feel free to submit your own favorites in the comments.
