This is the Top 1000 Movies in our database. Several years back, we came up with an idea to create a mathematical equation that would create a numerical score for each movie. The first thing we had to come up with were factors for the equation. So we thought….if we were producing a movie what would we like to see our movie accomplish. The first thing we would want, would be for the movie to be successful at the box office. Secondly, we would like the critics and movie goers to enjoy our movie. And finally we would like our movie to receive award recognition through Golden Globe® and Oscar® ceremonies. So let’s look at the breakdown of the variables in the equation.
1. Box office results. We figure that box office is the most important factor, so it received the highest percentage (31%) of the equation. The ceiling was $200 million in adjusted box office dollars. Any movie that crossed $200 million maxed out the points in the category.
2. Critics and audience reception. We felt that critical reception was the second most important factor so it received the second highest percentage 47%) of the equation. So where do I find critics/audience reception? We use at least 6 different sources: RottenTomatoes, IMDB, Yahoo Movies, Roger Ebert, Leonard Maltin and Fandango. Put them all together and I get an average with 100% being the highest score possible.
3. Award Recognition. The final part of the equation is worth 22%. A movie gets points for Golden Globe® and Oscar® nominations and wins. The Golden Globes get 5% while the Oscars® get 13% of the equation. The last 4% goes to amount of Oscar® nominations and amount of Oscar® wins.
So far we have done Ultimate Movie Ranking Scores on 36,478 movies. Granted that is only a small percentage of films that were ever made but we have done all the big blockbusters and Oscar® winners. So the following table lists the current Top 100 movies that PERFORMED the best in ALL THREE CATEGORIES. In other words we are not saying these are the best movies just the ones that STATISTICALLY PERFORMED THE BEST.
Top 1000 Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Top 1000 Movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Top 1000 Movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Top 1000 movie received.
- Sort Top 1000 Movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
I’m way behind you and Steve, but of course I do not watch as many films that are currently out or in my lifetime, so that does not surprise me.
I have seen a total of 401 of the top 500 films. There are 99 I’ve not seen.
Here is how my viewing is broken up with the default chart:
5 of the top 10 50%
66 of the top 100 66%
140 of the top 200 70%
210 of the top 300 70%
249 of the top 400 62%
301 of the top 500. 60%
You’re not that far behind Flora, 401 seen is impressive. I’m guessing most of the 99 are modern movies. 🙂
Bruce if you’re reading, how many of the 500 from each decade? In other words which decade had the most high rated films from this list, and which has the least?
And if you’re up to it, which actor and director has the most entries from the 500?
Hey Steve Statsman…first of all..I really like that name….I think it is a keeper. Secondly…I agree 401 for Flora is pretty impressive…especially since almost a third of the movies are post 1976….which is her general rule of which movies to watch.
Thirdly…In The Shadows….actually broke down the decade stats….from his comment….” 1920s 8 movies, 1930s 58 movies, 1940s 81 movies, 1950s 64 movies, 1960s 57 movies, 1970s 51 movies, 1980s 40 movies, 1990s 40 movies, 2000s 47 movies and our current decade 54 movies.”
Fourthly….I know Spielberg has the most movies in the Top 500…with 13 directed movies…..while Christopher Nolan probably has the best percentage….currently at 50% of his movies…and Dunkirk is quickly moving it’s way to the Top 500…which would put his % at 60%.
As for actors….hmmm….In The Shadows was slacking…as he did not break that down….lol. James Stewart has 10….Humphrey Bogart has 11…..Gary Cooper has 10….Tom Hanks has 11 (sorry I know he is not your favorite)….Spencer Tracy has 10…..Cary Grant has 9….Gregory Peck has 8…..John Wayne has 9…..William Holden has 9….Leonardo Dicaprio has 7…..and our favorites…Bruce Willis has 3 and Charlton Heston has 5.
On the actress side….Katharine Hepburn has 6…..Elizabeth Taylor has 9….Joan Crawford has 3…..Bette Davis has 4….Myrna Loy has 5….Olivia de Havilland has 5…Meryl Streep has 4…..Grace Kelly has 3…which is incredible since she only made 11 movies…..Ingrid Bergman has 8….and Maureen O’Hara has 4.
So I think the answer is Tom Hanks and Humphrey Bogart on the actor side and Elizabeth Taylor on the actress side.
Thanks for the added stats on your top 500 Bruce, I missed In the Shadows post, apologies for that.
So the 1940s has the most entries on this list, mmm not my favorite movie decade I’m afraid, probably because there was very little SF and Horror movies during that decade. I suppose there was enough real life horror during WWII. The 1950s is my favorite classic movie decade, by a long shot.
I like Tom Hanks but he’s not one of my favorites, not even sure I have any favorites any more. [wipes tears] If the film is interesting I’ll go and see it but there’s no actor out there I’ll go out of my way to see whatever they’re in. My ‘fanboy’ days are over.
Hey Steve….yep the 1940s lead the way…but the 1950s are in second place. I think the fact that the 1940’s were the pinnacle of weekly attendance has helped the cause. As for Tom Hanks…..that is a slight change on him….I remember years ago when the Toms (Hanks and Cruise) and Julia were far from your favorites. Maybe one day they will remaked The Three Amigos….and you can get Cruise, Hanks and Roberts in the same movie…lol.
I think you still have a few “fanboy” days left…..if only to keep the Heston fire burning….lol. Good feedback as always.
Hey Flora….401 is pretty impressive…especially since almost a third of the movies are made after 1976. I amazed that your percentage went up after the Top 100….and maintained at 70% all the way through 300. Of the Top 200…I am only missing two movies…Wuthering Heights and Cavalcade…and it is possible I have seen that Wuthering Heights…just with so many versions and so many Pride and Prejudice movies out there…they are getting mixed up in my head…lol.
Thanks for taking the time to count all of these movies….it is greatly appreciated.
Lots of great movies here. Pretty sir Alfred Hitchcock directed Spellbound. Good job.
Hey SteinHOF….thanks for the kind words and the lack of Hitch notice..that has been fixed.
500 films? Whoa! Impressive stuff Bruce.
The Godfather and Casablanca tops your critics chart and I had a similar result when I checked my top 20 highest rated on my video charts (so far).
The much lauded Citizen Kane did not even crack your top 30, which is a bit odd, supposedly the greatest film ever made (for some).
I’ve seen 408 of the 500. 92 not seen. I’ve watched all the top 50 from the critics chart and the top 20 of the UMR chart.
The box office gross chart needs more work it has Mister Roberts topping the chart instead of Gone With the Wind, and Cinderella (1950) is listed twice.
Good to see Ben-Hur in the UMR top 10 and somewhere in the top 100 critics chart. I can’t see The Omega Man or Enter the Dragon on the page, mmm oh well… 🙂
An fascinating look at the best rated movies on your UMR database Bruce, but it is slanted towards English language films. Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu and Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai are not up there. Box office info on those must be almost impossible to find, but you can still rate them. A special page on the foreign language greats might be interesting.
Vote Up!
Hey Steve.
1. I have gone from a Top 100 list….to a Top 400 list…..back down to Top 100…..and now this massive Top 500.
2. Bob C. (not Belfast Bob) requested this list….so I figured it would be an easy one to create….boy was I wrong….from database issues on WoC’s side of things…..to database output issues….to have to manually fix 1500 lines on data on the table.
3. Thanks for the headsup on the two box office issues and the Cinderella double issue.
4. Those errors have been fixed….which was good news for James Stewart’s The Glenn Miller Story….which moved into the Top 500…as one of the Cinderllas left.
5. Wow….408 watched or 81.60%….can I top that…..counting….be back in a little while….lol. I am at 465…having not seen 35…including both of Belfast Bob’s Deanna Durbin movies that made the table. That is 93% of the movies listed.
6. Citizen Kane did not do well at the box office…if you sort by critic audience score…then Kane has a nice spot at 36th.
7. I can not see Ben-Hur ever dropping out of the Top 10……actually with WoC working on making this site “dynamic” a change in the UMR formula is in the works….and those changes are going to help Ben-Hur’s score even more.
8. Yes…I agree English language movies have an advantage….especially since domestic box office gross is such a huge part of the equation……this is the best statistically speaking best movies of all-time.
Thanks for the suggestion and the kind words.
Just got through studying this list. I congratulate you on having a list that looks at all decades. The breakdown by decade. 1920s 8 movies, 1930s 58 movies, 1940s 81 movies, 1950s 64 movies, 1960s 57 movies, 1970s 51 movies, 1980s 40 movies, 1990s 40 movies, 2000s 47 movies and our current decade 54 movies. Nice job!
Hey In The Shadows…..good to see you again. Thanks for the breakdown on the movies listed here. Hmmm…so the 1940s and 1950s have 145 of the movies listed….that is 29% of all the movies listed here. Thanks for doing that breakdown. 54 movies already for the 2010s….that seems kind of high…I might have to look into that. Thanks for the visit and the nice words.
This massive page was requested by Bob Cox. Sadly our database is behaving badly….so we were unable to pull out all the information we wanted (stars of the movie, yearly rank and worldwide grosses). Also we were unable to “clean” up the table as much as we wanted….so yes there are some decimal issues, no $ signs and no decimals at all. So sorry in advance.
I will keep adding in stars as I get a chance…..turns out it takes a little time to add in stars for 500 movies.
Done…..four hours later….sure there are some mistakes…but at least the table looks better.