This is ranked number 1?
You people need to watch more films, lol.
shareAgreed 100%
The reason for this very ordinary little film's popularity will forever elude me.
There's another Transformers movie on the way for you.
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MovieChat Forums > The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Discussion > This is ranked number 1?
What is your number 1 ? Transformer dark of the moon
shareExactly... To me this is deserving as the #1 film of all time... Everybody who knocks it or complains about it being #1 NEVER says what they think #1 should be... Always just a, "lol, this number 1?" "Ha what a joke that this is number 1" "why's this crap film rated the best?" Then they move on never to be heard from again.
I rank "Shawshank" #809 (out of 1,683 total films I have logged). It's a 7/10. Good movie, but #1 is ridiculous. My #1 film is the Sidney Lumet film "Network", with an Oscar-winning screenplay by the legendary Paddy Cheyevsky.
sharethat #1 sounds very cerebral , want to share your top 10?
hopefully I'll have seen some of the others
Sure, always enjoy sharing lists. BTW, although "Network" was nominated for nine Oscars and won four, it's not some dry, boring "homework" type film. Wikipedia describes it as a "satirical black comedy-drama" and it's loads of fun, along with being brilliant and thought provoking. The only one on my list that I could definitely see a lot of people finding kind of dry (although I obviously love it) is "Un coeur en hiver". Maybe "Magnolia" as well, although there is some crazy stuff that happens in that movie and the Tom Cruise character is pretty intense.
1. Network 1976 Sidney Lumet
2. Her 2013 Spike Jonze
3. Un coeur en hiver (A Heart in Winter) 1992 Claude Sautet
4. Miller's Crossing 1990 Joel & Ethan Coen
5. No Country for Old Men 2007 Joel & Ethan Coen
6. Double Indemnity 1944 Billy Wilder
7. Magnolia 1999 Paul Thomas Anderson
8. Blue Velvet 1986 David Lynch
9. Naked 1993 Mike Leigh
10. The Godfather Part II 1974 Francis Ford Coppola
Care to share yours as well?
Well , I dont really keep lists and rankings , and If someone says favorite film i always reply "what genre?"
but seeing as you've shown me yours ...
I also i no longer do multiple viewings of films as much as I used to in my teens and 20s , (i still know many 80s movies off by heart) but theres a few that I keep going back to , I guess its not my definitaive top 10 , but its todays :
The Man from Earth
The Dish
The Worlds Fastest Indain
Two Hands
Serenity
The Abyss
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
Big Trouble In Little China
Danny Deckchair
Empire Records
My Cousin Vinny
I actually haven't seen most of those, but I love "Serenity"!
shareThis was voted number one because of infamous troll campaign on the part of Dark Knight fans in the 2000s. Nolan fanboys hated the fact that The Godfather had claimed the #1 spot at the IMDB for so long, so started vote bombing it and other movies with fake up/downvotes to make TDK #1. But what wound up happening is that The Shawshank Redemption somehow slipped past TDK and became #1 instead.
I can't find official news articles about this because it happened so long ago, but here's a Reddit post that talks about it: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/7n01jl/why_is_the_shawshank_redemption_the_highest_rated/
Lol, I remember that. I'm a huge Tgf fan and remember TDK fans going over the boards trolling and downvoting it.
shareAmerican Beauty is #1. To me, a #1 film has to be one you want to watch over and over again. While it was a good movie, I can't say I want to watch Shawshank over and over again.
shareThat’s why it’s all just a matter of opinion and there’ll never be a true answer. Because to me, I DO watch Shawshank over and over again. Whereas i watched American Beauty once and that’s it.
shareAccording to 'Sight and Sound' which mixes it ratings 50% top critics opinions with 50% directors. The magazine publishes it's ratings only once per decade.
This is considered the go to list of ratings for movie snobs.
The top ranked film is now....
Vertigo (1958) which overtook Citizen Kane #1 spot.
Shawshank was not on the list of the top 10.
I agree. There are at least a few hundred films better than Shawshank Redemption.
shareTSR is a great movie but it's #1 status is a little bit questionable. It does in fact borrow from other prison films. It's shining moment is the end of course. It is one of the best endings in a movie. Although, I do like many aspects of this film there are several movies out there I would say are better and no, Godfather is not one of them. Godfather is overrated too....
However, in case you're wondering, as an example, I would say 12 Angry Men (original only), Magnolia, Citizen Kane, 2001: A Space Odyssey, American Beauty, Psycho and many others are better films. But Shawshank is a fun movie to watch, no doubt about that.
This is a great explanation; sure I agree that TSR is great and arguably deserving to be on the top 100 list; but placing it in the top 10 is just insulting; it is just to derivative of other films (especially prison films) and themes like the corrupt bible thumping villain has been done to death and arguably better in other films. I would argue TSR is not much better than a film liked Locked up (1989) or Escape from Alcatraz; but those films had Stallone and Eastwood in them; and they were never taken 'seriously' like Freeman and Robbins. So they got overlooked.
Note: I think the more annoying thing about this film; how the 'it deserves to be #1' crowd venomously defend its spot. Escape from Alcatraz is objectively a better movie (more original, better pacing, doesn't rely on narration to move the plot forward, no cliche villains); but tell them that and they go nuts on you.
Note#2: your list of films I would agree are all much better films that TSR; with the exception of 2001 (I would argue is Kubrick's worse film) Dr. Stangelove is Kubrick's best (IMO).
Escape From Alcatraz is a far inferior film to Shawshank in my opinion. It plods along, it jumps around, and then it ends. I don't agree that Shawshank is by any means the best film of all, but I found it far more enjoyable than Escape From Alcatraz.
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I disagree Alcatraz plods along - I think it's far more gripping than Shawshank. I like and watch them both, but at this point, I like Shawshank better for repeatability.
Personally, I rank them about even, and neither in my top 100. But to say anyone's opinion about which film they think is superior is laughable doesn't make sense. I'll bet it's close to 50/50 with critics.
It's all opinion, but Escape From Alcatraz isn't as good to me. It's something of a dud from an otherwise reliable team of Siegel and Eastwood, and came at a point in both of their careers where a downturn began. Eastwood later recovered, and made some masterpieces. Siegel made two more not-very-good films, then retired.
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I certainly won't dispute anyone's rankings for films, yours included. You may certainly objectively rank Shawshank above Alcatraz - no one will question your opinion including myself. My only dispute was the use of the word laughable to describe someone else's opinion of the two films.