Top 100 Inspiring Films/Series

by cyberknight | created - 10 Sep 2020 | updated - 24 Sep 2020 | Public

My list of top 100 inspiring films and series, in order of significance, impact and enjoyment.

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1. A Unicorn in the Garden (1953)

Passed | 7 min | Animation, Short, Comedy

A henpecked husband sees a unicorn outside his window--or does he?

Director: William T. Hurtz | Stars: John Brown, Colleen Collins

Votes: 769

In a way, my First Unicorn! This animated short film has many layers, and I love them all!

2. The Last Unicorn (1982)

G | 92 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama

70 Metascore

A beautiful unicorn sets out to learn if she truly is the last of her kind in this sparkling animated musical.

Directors: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr. | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury, Alan Arkin

Votes: 29,498 | Gross: $6.46M

I was a child when I first watched this. It changed my vision of Cinema. Years later, I read the book on which it is based, and it changed my vision of Humankind. There is true magic here!

3. Blade Runner (1982)

R | 117 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

84 Metascore

A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos

Votes: 822,315 | Gross: $32.87M

The director's cut is one of those rare artworks that defines the Cyberpunk genre.

4. Forbidden Planet (1956)

G | 98 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi

80 Metascore

A starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilization.

Director: Fred M. Wilcox | Stars: Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens

Votes: 53,130 | Gross: $3.00M

A technology so advanced may look like magic to us, or like demons!

5. Ultraseven (1967–1968)

TV-PG | 30 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

An alien superhero from M-78 protects Earth from extraterrestrial threats in this popular classic follow-up to the original "Ultraman" TV series.

Stars: Kôji Moritsugu, Yuriko Hishimi, Sandayû Dokumamushi, Shôji Nakayama

Votes: 504

My favourite superhero!

6. They Live (1988)

R | 94 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

55 Metascore

They influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.

Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George 'Buck' Flower

Votes: 145,262 | Gross: $13.01M

Have you ever had the feeling that good things only happen to the wrong people? Maybe luck or fate has nothing to do with it. Some times, there actually is a conspiracy going on...

7. Akira (1988)

R | 124 min | Animation, Action, Drama

68 Metascore

A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath who can only be stopped by a teenager, his gang of biker friends and a group of psychics.

Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo | Stars: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, Tesshô Genda

Votes: 204,965 | Gross: $0.55M

From a time when cinematic camera effects where literally hand-drawn, not computer generated, this masterpiece became the golden standard of anime.

8. The Matrix (1999)

R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi

73 Metascore

When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.

Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving

Votes: 2,050,420 | Gross: $171.48M

This film literally changed the way action films are made and thought out. Not an original story, but very well told, maybe not with enough Science, but with a hell lot of action!

9. Ladyhawke (1985)

PG-13 | 121 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama

64 Metascore

The thief Gaston escapes the dungeon of medieval Aquila through the latrine. Soldiers are about to kill him when Navarre saves him. Navarre, traveling with his spirited hawk, plans to kill the bishop of Aquila with help from Gaston.

Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Leo McKern

Votes: 50,896 | Gross: $18.43M

An outlaw is entangled in the story of a couple living together, but kept forever apart from each other by the curse of a jealous villain.

10. The Simpsons (1989– )

TV-14 | 22 min | Animation, Comedy

The satiric adventures of a working-class family in the misfit city of Springfield.

Stars: Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright, Harry Shearer, Julie Kavner

Votes: 435,400

11. Dungeons & Dragons (1983–1985)

TV-Y7 | 30 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

A group of kids are thrown into a fantasy world where they must search for a way home, armed with magic weapons that an evil tyrant wants.

Stars: Willie Aames, Don Most, Adam Rich, Peter Cullen

Votes: 6,148

Action, drama, comedy and some very deep philosophical themes make this one of the best series ever made.

12. Futurama (1999– )

TV-14 | 22 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy, is accidentally frozen in 1999 and thawed out on New Year's Eve 2999.

Stars: Billy West, John DiMaggio, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille

Votes: 260,662

13. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

G | 92 min | Drama, Sci-Fi

83 Metascore

An alien lands in Washington, D.C. and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.

Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe

Votes: 85,699

Amazing special effects and a story that is still thrilling today: what is the price of peace?

14. Probe (1988)

60 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery

An eccentric scientific prodigy and his secretary investigate mysteries.

Stars: Parker Stevenson, Ashley Crow, Jon Cypher, Clive Revill

Votes: 225

An eccentric scientist is hired to solve mysterious crimes that seemingly defy logic.

15. Dinosaurs (1991–1994)

TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy

This show follows the life of a family of dinosaurs, living in a modern world. They have televisions, refrigerators, et cetera. The only humans around are cavemen, who are viewed as pets and wild animals.

Stars: Stuart Pankin, Allan Trautman, Jessica Walter, Leif Tilden

Votes: 21,699

Still today, nobody can believe that this series was produced by the "squares" at Disney! Amazing social commentary, with enough space for comedy and a comment or two on social comment comedies. Confused? That's the best part of "Dinosaurs"!

16. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

G | 149 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi

84 Metascore

After uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter

Votes: 718,716 | Gross: $56.95M

A film that changed how space was depicted on the screen and how the viewers perceive it.

17. Kyatto Ninden Teyandee (1990–1991)

30 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

The series is set in Little Tokyo, a mechanical city which fuses feudal Japanese culture with contemporary culture, and is populated by cybernetic anthropomorphic animals. The city is ... See full summary »

Stars: Kappei Yamaguchi, Jûrôta Kosugi, Ai Orikasa, Ken'yû Horiuchi

Votes: 32

One of the best anime comedies ever!

18. Prince of Darkness (1987)

R | 102 min | Horror

50 Metascore

A group of graduate students and scientists uncover an ancient canister in an abandoned church, but when they open the container, they inadvertently unleash a strange liquid and an evil force on all humanity.

Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Donald Pleasence, Lisa Blount, Jameson Parker, Victor Wong

Votes: 49,897 | Gross: $14.18M

One of those (few) perfect mixes of horror and science fiction.

19. V for Vendetta (2005)

R | 132 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

62 Metascore

In a future British dystopian society, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of "V", plots to overthrow the tyrannical government - with the help of a young woman.

Director: James McTeigue | Stars: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Rupert Graves, Stephen Rea

Votes: 1,178,459 | Gross: $70.51M

Some times, the world doesn't need justice, it needs revenge!

20. Modern Times (1936)

G | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

96 Metascore

The Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.

Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford

Votes: 259,207 | Gross: $0.16M

21. Accel World (2012–2023)

TV-14 | 24 min | Animation, Action, Romance

Haruyuki is an overweight kid and at bottom of food chain at his middle school. Within sci-fi setting of real world he often seeks refuge in a virtual one.

Stars: Stephanie Sheh, Erik Scott Kimerer, Kira Buckland, Lucien Dodge

Votes: 2,365

By far, the best series about virtual reality. You die in the game, you DON'T die in real life! No, it's much worse: if you die in the game, you lose all the perks the game gave you, and you won't be able to ever play it again! That's much worse than a merciful death (for a serious player, at least...)

22. Zootopia (2016)

PG | 108 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

78 Metascore

In a city of anthropomorphic animals, a rookie bunny cop and a cynical con artist fox must work together to uncover a conspiracy.

Directors: Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush | Stars: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate

Votes: 545,549 | Gross: $341.27M

Action, comedy and some beautiful messages, all dressed up on fur and cuteness and served with a good soundtrack.

23. Ratatouille (2007)

G | 111 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

96 Metascore

A rat who can cook makes an unusual alliance with a young kitchen worker at a famous Paris restaurant.

Directors: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava | Stars: Brad Garrett, Lou Romano, Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm

Votes: 823,442 | Gross: $206.45M

Funny and touching, finally a film about food that doesn't make one lose its appetite.

24. Megamind (2010)

PG | 95 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

63 Metascore

Evil genius Megamind finally defeats his do-gooder nemesis, Metro Man, but is left without a purpose in a superhero-free world.

Director: Tom McGrath | Stars: Will Ferrell, Jonah Hill, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey

Votes: 295,368 | Gross: $148.42M

25. Alien (1979)

R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi

89 Metascore

The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright

Votes: 949,269 | Gross: $78.90M

This film changed the way space horror used to be told on the screen.

26. Contact (1997)

PG | 150 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

62 Metascore

Dr. Ellie Arroway, after years of searching, finds conclusive radio proof of extraterrestrial intelligence, sending plans for a mysterious machine.

Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt

Votes: 292,866 | Gross: $100.92M

27. Open Your Eyes (1997)

R | 119 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

A very handsome man finds the love of his life, but he suffers an accident and needs to have his face rebuilt by surgery after it is severely disfigured.

Director: Alejandro Amenábar | Stars: Eduardo Noriega, Penélope Cruz, Chete Lera, Fele Martínez

Votes: 73,194 | Gross: $0.37M

Special effects are completely unnecessary when you have the right script for a good idea and the talent to put them together.

28. Groundhog Day (1993)

PG | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

72 Metascore

A narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.

Director: Harold Ramis | Stars: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott, Stephen Tobolowsky

Votes: 684,237 | Gross: $70.91M

The worst or the best day of his life... It's up to him, alone...!

29. Top Secret! (1984)

PG | 90 min | Comedy, Crime, Music

68 Metascore

An American rock and roll singer is invited to a cultural festival in East Germany in order to distract from a plot to destroy NATO submarines, but he accidentally becomes involved in a resistance plot to rescue an imprisoned scientist.

Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker | Stars: Val Kilmer, Omar Sharif, Jeremy Kemp, Warren Clarke

Votes: 72,955 | Gross: $20.50M

Maybe the best produced comedy, ever. The plot and script are ludicrous and the timings are perfect.

30. Singin' in the Rain (1952)

G | 103 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance

99 Metascore

A silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his delusionally jealous screen partner are trying to make the difficult transition to talking pictures in 1920s Hollywood.

Directors: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly | Stars: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen

Votes: 260,413 | Gross: $8.82M

The best musical, ever.

31. Big (1988)

PG | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

73 Metascore

After wishing to be made big, a teenage boy wakes the next morning to find himself mysteriously in the body of an adult.

Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard

Votes: 239,759 | Gross: $114.97M

This film created a genre, that's how good it is.

32. The Iron Giant (1999)

PG | 86 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

85 Metascore

A young boy befriends a giant robot from outer space that a paranoid government agent wants to destroy.

Director: Brad Bird | Stars: Eli Marienthal, Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Aniston, Vin Diesel

Votes: 227,058 | Gross: $23.16M

33. Dark City (1998)

R | 100 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi

66 Metascore

A man struggles with memories of his past, which include a wife he cannot remember and a nightmarish world no one else ever seems to wake up from.

Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt

Votes: 212,107 | Gross: $14.38M

The story takes a different path as "Blade Runner" (1982) does, that is, that people's memories don't define or make them what they are, or maybe they do...?

34. RoboCop (1987)

R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi

70 Metascore

In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.

Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox

Votes: 282,775 | Gross: $53.42M

Part Science Fiction, part action, all social commentary! Sure, there had been cyborgs before (like some million dollars man), but this titanium plated police officer defined a standard.

35. Brazil (1985)

R | 132 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

84 Metascore

A bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.

Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond

Votes: 211,093 | Gross: $9.93M

Asked why he entitled the film "Brazil", Terry Gilliam said he had no reason, or, maybe, because he found out that there is a "debureaucratisation bureau" in Brazil (yes, that does indeed exist!)

36. The Thing (1982)

R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi

57 Metascore

A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.

Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Masur

Votes: 465,977 | Gross: $13.78M

More a sequel than a remake of "The Thing from Another World" (1951), this film mixes thriller, horror and monsters with a perfect pace.

37. Time After Time (1979)

PG | 112 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi

69 Metascore

H.G. Wells pursues Jack the Ripper to the 20th Century when the serial murderer uses the future writer's time machine to escape his time period.

Director: Nicholas Meyer | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Mary Steenburgen, David Warner, Charles Cioffi

Votes: 20,613

Author H. G. Wells is turned into a character of his "The Time Machine" story in the plot of this film, taking him to an adventure on a strange and dangerous place: today's world!

38. Doctor Who (2005–2022)

TV-PG | 45 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi

The further adventures in time and space of the alien adventurer known as the Doctor and his companions from planet Earth.

Stars: Jodie Whittaker, Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie, Matt Smith

Votes: 246,260

An ancient alien travels through spacetime in its TARDIS ship, making improbable friends and fighting impossible enemies.

39. Torchwood (2006–2011)

TV-MA | 50 min | Action, Drama, Mystery

The members of the Torchwood Institute, a secret organization founded by the British Crown, fight to protect the Earth from extraterrestrial and supernatural threats.

Stars: John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Kai Owen, Gareth David-Lloyd

Votes: 43,422

A mysterious man leads a group of very much humans in their secret mission to protect Earth from outer worldly menaces, coming from all places and times.

40. Back to the Future (1985)

PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi

87 Metascore

Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.

Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover

Votes: 1,305,248 | Gross: $210.61M

Who needs Science when one has a time travelling Delorean?

41. Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2009)

PG-13 | 83 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi

While drinking at their local pub, three social outcasts attempt to navigate a time-travel conundrum.

Director: Gareth Carrivick | Stars: Chris O'Dowd, Marc Wootton, Dean Lennox Kelly, Anna Faris

Votes: 36,543

Travelling through time is a complex matter, but it can be made a lot more complicated!

42. Tron (1982)

PG | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

58 Metascore

A computer hacker is abducted into the digital world and forced to participate in gladiatorial games where his only chance of escape is with the help of a heroic security program.

Director: Steven Lisberger | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan

Votes: 129,169 | Gross: $33.00M

Fantasy film with a layer of Science Fiction to make it glow in neon lights. Amazing designs by Moebius and psychedelic imagery by the director Lisberger.

43. The Evil Dead (1981)

NC-17 | 85 min | Horror

71 Metascore

Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.

Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker

Votes: 232,210 | Gross: $2.40M

Low budget, some amazing ideas and the right protagonist can make a scarier film than big money, tested and safe cinematography and shining stars.

44. Samurai Jack (2001–2017)

TV-MA | 23 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

A samurai, sent through time, fights to return home and save the world.

Stars: Phil LaMarr, Mako, Kevin Michael Richardson, Jeff Bennett

Votes: 59,499

45. Cosmos (1980)

TV-PG | 60 min | Documentary

Astronomer Carl Sagan leads us on an engaging guided tour of the various elements and cosmological theories of the universe.

Stars: Carl Sagan, Jaromír Hanzlík, Jonathan Fahn, Jean Charney

Votes: 43,889

46. Beakman's World (1992–1997)

TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy, Family

A wacky scientist and his companions answer viewer questions about science.

Stars: Paul Zaloom, Mark Ritts, Eliza Schneider, Alanna Ubach

Votes: 2,977

47. Eyewitness (1994– )

29 min | Documentary

Natural history series based on the Dorling Kindersley children's books.

Stars: Martin Sheen, Andrew Sachs

Votes: 182

48. Alien Nation (1989–1990)

TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi

In the near future, a human cop and his alien partner fight crime and discrimination in Los Angeles.

Stars: Gary Graham, Eric Pierpoint, Michele Scarabelli, Lauren Woodland

Votes: 5,504

Aliens arrive Earth, but they are not here to invade it, they are here to live with us...

49. Gattaca (1997)

PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

64 Metascore

A genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.

Director: Andrew Niccol | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Gore Vidal

Votes: 322,933 | Gross: $12.34M

How much the genes can define who people are and what one can do?

50. Short Circuit (1986)

PG | 98 min | Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi

50 Metascore

Number 5 of a group of experimental robots in a lab is electrocuted, suddenly becomes intelligent, and escapes.

Director: John Badham | Stars: Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg, Fisher Stevens, Austin Pendleton

Votes: 66,272 | Gross: $40.70M

A non-humanoid robot is damaged and gets a serious bug in its program: life!

51. WALL·E (2008)

G | 98 min | Animation, Adventure, Family

95 Metascore

In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.

Director: Andrew Stanton | Stars: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard

Votes: 1,199,069 | Gross: $223.81M

Twenty-two years after "Short Circuit", another thread-mill footed robot would journey through space!

52. The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

R | 100 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller

36 Metascore

A computer scientist running a virtual reality simulation of 1937 becomes the primary suspect when his colleague and mentor is murdered.

Director: Josef Rusnak | Stars: Craig Bierko, Gretchen Mol, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Vincent D'Onofrio

Votes: 77,214 | Gross: $15.50M

What happens on the thirteenth floor may not stay in the thirteenth floor!

53. The X-Files (1993–2018)

TV-14 | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

Two F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.

Stars: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, William B. Davis

Votes: 249,447

Sure, there were some alien conspiracy films and series before this, but it's not every day that one manages to create a mythology.

54. The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (1986)

TV-MA | 30 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

Four elite Galaxy Rangers with unique abilities defend law & order among the space colonies and protect humanity from the evil Crown Empire.

Stars: Jerry Orbach, Bob Bottone, Laura Dean, Doug Preis

Votes: 1,399

Cowboys in space...! And with superpowers! Come on, they even have robotic horses to ride!

55. Liar Liar (1997)

PG-13 | 86 min | Comedy, Fantasy

70 Metascore

A pathological liar-lawyer finds his career turned upside down when he inexplicably cannot physically lie for 24 whole hours.

Director: Tom Shadyac | Stars: Jim Carrey, Maura Tierney, Amanda Donohoe, Jennifer Tilly

Votes: 332,998 | Gross: $181.41M

56. Cracking Up (1983)

PG | 89 min | Comedy

Suicidal nerd seeks help from psychiatrist, runs into various nutty characters.

Director: Jerry Lewis | Stars: Jerry Lewis, Milton Berle, Sammy Davis Jr., Herb Edelman

Votes: 1,035

A series of more or less unrelated sketches in the life of a man with a problem of bad luck...

57. Star Trek (1966–1969)

TV-PG | 50 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols

Votes: 92,783

These are the adventures of the crew of USS Enterprise, boldly going where many series went afterwards.

58. Galaxy Quest (1999)

PG | 102 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi

70 Metascore

The alumni cast of a space opera television series have to play their roles as the real thing when an alien race needs their help. However, they also have to defend both Earth and the alien race from a reptilian warlord.

Director: Dean Parisot | Stars: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub

Votes: 177,953 | Gross: $71.58M

Like noted by George Takei, this is an excellent "documentary" of a certain Science Fiction television series of the 1960's, smartly going where no actors had gone before!

59. Screamers (1995)

R | 108 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

A military commander stationed off planet during an interplanetary war travels through the devastated landscape to negotiate a peace treaty, but discovers that the primitive robots they built to kill enemy combatants have gained sentience.

Director: Christian Duguay | Stars: Peter Weller, Roy Dupuis, Jennifer Rubin, Andy Lauer

Votes: 29,426 | Gross: $5.78M

Frankenstein Syndrome to the extreme, and screaming!

60. 12 Monkeys (1995)

R | 129 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller

75 Metascore

In a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.

Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Joseph Melito

Votes: 646,260 | Gross: $57.14M

Time travelling may mess with the traveller's mind, and of those watching it!

61. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

PG | 115 min | Horror, Sci-Fi

75 Metascore

When strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, replicating the city's residents one body at a time.

Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright

Votes: 69,756 | Gross: $24.95M

Unlike the first "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956), this film does bring a sense of doom and hopelessness.

62. Bicentennial Man (1999)

PG | 132 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi

42 Metascore

An android endeavors to become human as he gradually acquires emotions.

Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Robin Williams, Embeth Davidtz, Sam Neill, Oliver Platt

Votes: 124,580 | Gross: $58.22M

There's a price for freedom, and equality, and acceptance, and some can take extreme measures for them.

63. Frequency (2000)

PG-13 | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

67 Metascore

An accidental cross-time radio link connects father and son across 30 years. The son tries to save his father's life, but then must fix the consequences.

Director: Gregory Hoblit | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Jim Caviezel, Shawn Doyle, Elizabeth Mitchell

Votes: 115,666 | Gross: $45.01M

A fantastical meteorological phenomenon connects the events of two impossibly separated worlds.

64. Young Frankenstein (1974)

PG | 106 min | Comedy

83 Metascore

An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.

Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle

Votes: 168,788 | Gross: $86.30M

65. Blazing Saddles (1974)

R | 93 min | Comedy, Western

73 Metascore

In order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black Sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.

Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman

Votes: 152,323 | Gross: $119.50M

66. High Anxiety (1977)

PG | 94 min | Comedy, Mystery, Thriller

55 Metascore

A psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep.

Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman

Votes: 23,852 | Gross: $31.06M

67. Scanners (1981)

R | 103 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

60 Metascore

A scientist trains a man with an advanced telepathic ability called "scanning" to stop a dangerous Scanner with extraordinary psychic powers from waging war against non scanners.

Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane

Votes: 61,678 | Gross: $14.23M

Drugs can reconfigure the brain in unpredictable and dangerous ways.

68. Heavy Metal (1981)

R | 86 min | Animation, Adventure, Fantasy

51 Metascore

A glowing green orb that embodies ultimate evil terrorizes a young girl with an anthology of bizarre and fantastic stories.

Directors: Gerald Potterton, John Bruno, John Halas, Julian Harris, Jimmy T. Murakami, Barrie Nelson, Paul Sabella, Jack Stokes, Pino Van Lamsweerde, Harold Whitaker | Stars: Richard Romanus, John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Don Francks

Votes: 38,108

Several different stories sawn together by an evil alien force.

69. Starship Troopers (1997)

R | 129 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

52 Metascore

Humans, in a fascist militaristic future, wage war with giant alien bugs.

Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, Jake Busey

Votes: 320,777 | Gross: $54.81M

70. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

PG-13 | 86 min | Comedy

37 Metascore

A goofy detective specializing in animals goes in search of the missing mascot of the Miami Dolphins.

Director: Tom Shadyac | Stars: Jim Carrey, Courteney Cox, Sean Young, Tone Loc

Votes: 324,794 | Gross: $72.22M

71. Shrek (2001)

PG | 90 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

84 Metascore

A mean lord exiles fairytale creatures to the swamp of a grumpy ogre, who must go on a quest and rescue a princess for the lord in order to get his land back.

Directors: Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson | Stars: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow

Votes: 733,314 | Gross: $267.67M

There's a saying in my country, "what would have been of the green, if everybody would only like the yellow?" Well, Shrek is green!

72. Madagascar (2005)

PG | 86 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

57 Metascore

A group of animals who have spent all their life in a New York zoo end up in the jungles of Madagascar, and must adjust to living in the wild.

Directors: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath | Stars: Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith

Votes: 437,056 | Gross: $193.60M

73. Murder by Death (1976)

PG | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery

62 Metascore

Five famous literary detective characters and their sidekicks are invited to a bizarre mansion to solve an even stranger mystery.

Director: Robert Moore | Stars: Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Eileen Brennan

Votes: 41,627

74. Clue (1985)

PG | 94 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery

41 Metascore

Six guests are anonymously invited to a strange mansion for dinner, but after their host is killed, they must cooperate with the staff to identify the murderer as the bodies pile up.

Director: Jonathan Lynn | Stars: Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd

Votes: 109,154 | Gross: $14.64M

75. Deadpool (2016)

R | 108 min | Action, Comedy

65 Metascore

A wisecracking mercenary gets experimented on and becomes immortal yet hideously scarred, and sets out to track down the man who ruined his looks.

Director: Tim Miller | Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller, Ed Skrein

Votes: 1,124,136 | Gross: $363.07M

A plot that exploits the superpowers of a(n) (anti)hero in the most unusual ways.

76. The Angry Birds Movie (2016)

PG | 97 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

43 Metascore

When an island populated by happy, flightless birds is visited by mysterious green pigs, it's up to three unlikely outcasts to figure out what the pigs are up to.

Directors: Clay Kaytis, Fergal Reilly | Stars: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph

Votes: 103,664 | Gross: $107.51M

77. A Dog's Will (1999–2025)

38 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

The adventures of friends João Grilo, a poor man a liar, and Chicó, the most cowardly of men. Both struggle for daily bread in the Northeast of Brazil and crossing for several episodes ... See full summary »

Stars: Matheus Nachtergaele, Selton Mello, Virginia Cavendish, Enrique Diaz

Votes: 5,203

"History is written by the winners", people use to say. What if the winners are total losers? Pure comedy material!

79. Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)

R | 93 min | Comedy, Drama

72 Metascore

A Chicago advertising man must struggle to travel home from New York for Thanksgiving, with a lovable oaf of a shower-curtain-ring salesman as his only companion.

Director: John Hughes | Stars: Steve Martin, John Candy, Laila Robins, Michael McKean

Votes: 160,083 | Gross: $49.53M

80. Die Hard (1988)

R | 132 min | Action, Thriller

72 Metascore

A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.

Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson

Votes: 944,508 | Gross: $83.01M

American cop in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Action? You bet!

81. Bolt (2008)

PG | 96 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

67 Metascore

The canine star of a fictional sci-fi/action show that believes his powers are real embarks on a cross country trek to save his co-star from a threat he believes is just as real.

Directors: Byron Howard, Chris Williams | Stars: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton

Votes: 228,712 | Gross: $114.05M

Interesting concept (although a bit naïve, that non-human animals could be so easy to deceive) with wonderful characters, an engaging plot and an amazing soundtrack.

82. Léon: The Professional (1994)

R | 110 min | Action, Crime, Drama

64 Metascore

12-year-old Mathilda is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. An unusual relationship forms as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade.

Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello

Votes: 1,244,223 | Gross: $19.50M

The life of a hitman is changed when he decides to save someone else.

83. La Femme Nikita (1990)

R | 117 min | Action, Crime, Drama

65 Metascore

Convicted felon Nikita isn't going to jail; she's given a new identity and trained, stylishly, as a top secret spy/assassin.

Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Anne Parillaud, Marc Duret, Patrick Fontana, Alain Lathière

Votes: 76,363 | Gross: $5.02M

When the government needs a hitman, they make one, though this time, it's a woman.

84. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

G | 86 min | Animation, Comedy, Family

86 Metascore

When two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wondrous forest spirits who live nearby.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Hitoshi Takagi, Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, Shigesato Itoi

Votes: 379,598 | Gross: $1.11M

When the kids start seeing magical creatures, it's as cute as it can be... But what if those creatures are for real, not just their imagination...?

85. The Cat Returns (2002)

G | 75 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

70 Metascore

After helping a cat, a seventeen-year-old girl finds herself involuntarily engaged to a cat Prince in a magical world where her only hope of freedom lies with a dapper cat statuette come to life.

Director: Hiroyuki Morita | Stars: Chizuru Ikewaki, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Aki Maeda, Takayuki Yamada

Votes: 64,381

Some times, a good deed is repaid by more than thanks and a handshake... Making one really wish it got just thanks and a handshake...

86. Elite Squad (2007)

R | 115 min | Action, Crime, Drama

33 Metascore

In 1997 Rio de Janeiro, Captain Nascimento has to find a substitute for his position while trying to take down drug dealers and criminals before the Pope visits.

Director: José Padilha | Stars: Wagner Moura, André Ramiro, Caio Junqueira, Milhem Cortaz

Votes: 110,094 | Gross: $0.01M

To fight violence, more violence... That doesn't sound right? You can bet!

87. Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

Approved | 97 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi

A mysterious artifact is unearthed in London, and famous scientist Bernard Quatermass is called in to divine its origins and explain its strange effects on people.

Director: Roy Ward Baker | Stars: James Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley, Julian Glover

Votes: 11,500

This film brought me nightmares at night... I loved it!

88. Jetter Mars (1977)

25 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

Mars is a boy robot named as the god of war, created to be a military weapon, but adopted as a human child. In a distant future, when people and androids live together, he ventures to discover his true nature.

Stars: Hisashi Katsuta, Mari Shimizu, Yoshiko Matsuo, Fuyumi Shiraishi

Votes: 37

Like a revisited version of "Tetsuwan ATOM", with a more polished story line, better animation and an excellent soundtrack (I catch myself sing the theme song even today!)

89. Hi no tori: Hôô-hen (1986)

60 min | Animation, Fantasy

The story of two men - sculptor genius Akanemaru, and former bandit Gao. Discover how the lives of the two men cross repeatedly throughout their lives, how they struggle with their own fate... See full summary »

Director: Rintarô | Stars: Katsunosuke Hori, Masako Ikeda, Toshio Furukawa, Mami Koyama

Votes: 142

90. Trading Places (1983)

R | 116 min | Comedy

69 Metascore

A snobbish investor and a wily street con artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.

Director: John Landis | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche

Votes: 165,615 | Gross: $90.40M

91. Ghostbusters (1984)

PG | 105 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy

71 Metascore

Three parapsychologists forced out of their university funding set up shop as a unique ghost removal service in New York City, attracting frightened yet skeptical customers.

Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis

Votes: 449,168 | Gross: $238.63M

92. Hellraiser (1987)

R | 94 min | Horror, Thriller

56 Metascore

A woman discovers the newly resurrected, partially formed, body of her brother-in-law and lover. She starts killing for him to revitalize his body and escape the demonic beings that are pursuing him after he escaped their underworld.

Director: Clive Barker | Stars: Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Sean Chapman

Votes: 140,356 | Gross: $14.56M

93. Monk (2002–2009)

TV-PG | 44 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

The series follows Adrian Monk, a brilliant former San Francisco detective, who now consults the police as a private consultant whilst battling with an obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Stars: Tony Shalhoub, Jason Gray-Stanford, Ted Levine, Traylor Howard

Votes: 87,737

94. House M.D. (2004–2012)

TV-14 | 45 min | Drama, Mystery

Using a crack team of doctors and his wits, an antisocial maverick doctor specializing in diagnostic medicine does whatever it takes to solve puzzling cases that come his way.

Stars: Hugh Laurie, Omar Epps, Robert Sean Leonard, Jesse Spencer

Votes: 512,181

95. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

90 Metascore

Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.

Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness

Votes: 1,448,269 | Gross: $322.74M

An apprentice knight in forced by circumstances to engage in a quest to rescue a princess and defeat a dark warrior and his deadly weapon. How unoriginal is that? Now, replace swords by laser blades, bows and arrows by energy blasters, horses by space fighters, rogues by space smugglers, and a catapult by a huge planet destroying laser. Still not original enough? So, instead of placing all that in the future, set it in the past of a very far away galaxy, and play some awesome orchestral soundtrack on the background for "great success"!

96. Thundercats (1985–1989)

TV-Y7 | 30 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

A team of humanoid cats fight evil in their adopted home world.

Stars: Bob McFadden, Larry Kenney, Earl Hammond, Lynne Lipton

Votes: 19,025

Episode 1 is a total rip-off of "Star Wars", the voice acting is terrible, but who can't enjoy catpeople fighting ancient evil mummies wielding magical swords and shooting energy cannons?!

97. Lo (2009)

80 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror

A man uses a demon to save his girlfriend but the demon has a nefarious plan.

Director: Travis Betz | Stars: Jeremiah Birkett, Sarah Lassez, Ward Roberts, Devin Barry

Votes: 2,833

The storytelling is low budget, the makeup is low budget, the effects are low budget... Yes, pretty much everything on it is low budget, but it gets the most out of what it has! The story is very good, the acting perfectly matches the mood, it's fun, it's funny at times, it's engaging and it's touching, because, well, love can take many forms...!

98. Bingo (1991)

PG | 89 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family

A runaway circus dog befriends a young boy who has trouble fitting in with his friends.

Director: Matthew Robbins | Stars: Cindy Williams, David Rasche, Robert J. Steinmiller Jr., David French

Votes: 3,118 | Gross: $8.67M

This is actually two films in one: one is for little kids, who only see the sparkles and hear the happy laughs, the other is a deep story for the adults with a twisted ending (wicked, even). There are not many perfect films out there, but this is one of them...

99. Lifeforce (1985)

R | 101 min | Action, Horror, Mystery

50 Metascore

A race of space vampires arrives in London and infects the populace, beginning an apocalyptic descent into chaos.

Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Steve Railsback, Mathilda May, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay

Votes: 29,425 | Gross: $11.60M

The Halley Comets was coming for another pass near Earth, and with it came an ancient myth, a deadly myth. Good approach to old ideas (actually, recalling ancient ideas from Asian mythology into modern space age).

100. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

Approved | 178 min | Adventure, Western

90 Metascore

A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.

Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè

Votes: 810,344 | Gross: $6.10M



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