12 Angry Men
Adapted from a TV play, the story takes place entirely in a New York City jury room where 12 men debate the fate of a young man facing a death sentence for stabbing his father to death. Eleven of the men (including characters played by E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, and Jack Warden) are convinced that the accused is guilty. But Mr. Davis (Henry Fonda), juror No. 8, believes the prosecution failed to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and thus is unwilling to convict. As he makes his case to the others, tempers flare, arguments ensue, and prejudices are revealed. Mr. Davis realizes that some jurors have more at stake and remain stubborn, while others are concerned only with getting back to their own lives, justice be damned. Gradually he seeks to get everyone into his "not guilty" corner.

Amadeus
Milos Forman's biopic of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce), told in flashbacks by envious rival Antonio Salieri (Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham), won the 1985 Academy Award for Best Picture and earned Forman Best Director honors. The lively story follows Mozart's rise from child prodigy to undeniable genius, which makes Salieri insane with envy. He can't comprehend why God has chosen a vulgar, childish man to be the instrument for such heavenly music, and he seeks revenge for such injustice. A director's cut, with 20 additional minutes, was released in 2002.

Apocalypse Now
Martin Sheen plays Captain Willard, an assassin assigned to lead a crew of men on a mission to terminate the elusive and mysterious Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando).

Braveheart
Braveheart, set in the late 13th century, is the story of William Wallace (Mel Gibson), who fought for Scotland's freedom against the forces of King Edward I (Patrick McGoohan), the British monarch who had declared himself king of Scotland.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
With the West becoming civilized, two aging outlaws, Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) and the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford), leave their Hole-in-the-Wall Gang to head for a better life in Bolivia, but they're trailed by thugs hired by the owner of a train they robbed one too many times.

Casablanca
A Czech woman (Ingrid Bergman) flees from the Nazis and arrives in Casablanca, only to find her ex-boyfriend, Rick (Humphrey Bogart), running a cafe there. Officials give her a brief refuge from her pursuers, but Rick holds the only two passports that guarantee a safe passage out of the area.

Chinatown
Private investigator Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is hired by Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) to tail her husband, who mysteriously winds up dead, launching Gittes into a case that involves corrupt authorities, water diversion, and even shadier dealings.

Citizen Kane
Routinely hailed as the greatest movie ever made, Orson Welles' masterpiece follows the life of fictional newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane (based on multimillionaire publisher William Randolph Hearst). At the start of the film, he's alone on his deathbed at his Xanadu mansion, where his last word is the cryptic "rosebud." The film then moves in flashbacks, as a reporter tracks down those who knew the man. Much is revealed, including how his greed and abuse of power led to his downfall, and finally, the meaning of the word uttered in his final breath.

A Clockwork Orange
Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange tells the futuristic story of Alex (Malcolm McDowell) and his pals, street punks who engage in "a little of the old ultraviolence" nightly. Alex gets nabbed by the cops for murder, though, and while in prison he signs up for aversion therapy, which leaves him incapacitatingly nauseated any time he thinks of violence or even his favorite piece of music, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

Dances With Wolves
In 1865, Civil War hero Lt. John Dunbar asks to be reassigned to the western frontier before it disappears. At his isolated post he develops a relationship with the peaceful Lakota Sioux and a white woman who lives among them, finding greater kinship with them than with his own people.

The Deer Hunter
The Deer Hunter is the story of three close friends Mike (Robert DeNiro), Nick (Christopher Walken), and Steve (John Savage). They are steelworkers in a small Pennsylvania town whose ordinary, blue-collar lives are changed forever after a devastating tour in Vietnam.

Do the Right Thing
Set in a mostly black neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., the film's action takes place during one long, sweltering summer day. The narrative, shifting between intermingled story lines and the characters that inhabit them, revolves around the daily life of this urban landscape and the undercurrents of race, resentment, and rage that boil beneath the surface.

Double Indemnity
An insurance representative becomes involved with a woman's scheme to kill her husband and collect on his life-insurance policy.

Easy Rider
In Easy Rider, two bikers, Wyatt (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Dennis Hopper) are on a journey from California to New Orleans. Along the way, they pick up a third man (Jack Nicholson) who joins them for a time as they head out on the highway looking for adventure and freedom.

Fargo
Rural cop Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) unravels a kidnapping gone awry while a car salesman named Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) tries desperately to cover his tracks.

Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) is a simple-minded southern man who manages to find himself in the middle of many of the Baby Boom generation's biggest moments: he meets Elvis and several presidents, he fights in Vietnam, he speaks at a Washington D.C. political rally, he reports the Watergate burglary. Despite unwittingly capturing fame and glory, Forrest is unable to to have the one thing he desires most: the love of his childhood friend Jenny (Robin Wright Penn).

From Here to Eternity
Based on James Jones' novel, the story is about the lives of soldiers and their women on the base at Pearl Harbor, days before the 1941 surprise Japanese attack propelled the United States into World War II. Montgomery Clift plays Prew, a former boxer and bugler who is transferred to a new regiment, run by Capt. Holmes (Philip Ober) and his right-hand man, Sgt. Warden (Burt Lancaster). Prew has no interest in boxing, despite the captain's pressure, and his decision to buck the system leads to harassment from the captain and other boxers. Only the scrappy Maggio (Frank Sinatra) sticks by Prew, who also finds comfort in the arms of a nightclub hostess (Donna Reed). Sgt. Warden, meanwhile, is having an affair with the captain's bored wife (Deborah Kerr). As these two romances evolve, the characters suddenly are thrown into war, and everything changes.

Giant
In James Dean's last film before his death, the Hollywood icon co-stars with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson. Giant is an epic drama, the story of a Texas cattle rancher, Bick Benedict (Hudson), and his romance with Leslie, the daughter of a Maryland farmer. Dean plays Jett Rink, an oil tycoon.

Gladiator
In the final days of Marcus Aurelius' reign, the aging emperor arouses his son Commodus' anger when he makes known his wish that Maximus be his successor. Power-hungry Commodus kills his father and orders the death of Maximus. But the latter flees and hides his identity by becoming slave and a gladiator. Eventually, Maximus journeys back to Rome to confront his arch-rival.

The Godfather
Francis Ford Coppola's epic tells the story of Don Vito Corleone, the head of a New York City Mafia family. He hates selling drugs and believes the extortion, protection, and gambling businesses that his family has traditionally run should be enough to support them. When a rival family pushes the drug trade in Corleone's section of New York, an attempt on his life is made to get him out of the way. The drug-dealing plan is ruined, however, when it's discovered that Don Vito is still alive … and very angry.

The Godfather: Part II
Telling parallel stories of the young Vito Corleone's rise to power in the early part of the 20th century and his son Michael's assumption of leadership of the family decades later, this sequel finds the Corleone's broadening their involvement in the entertainment industries in Las Vegas and Havana, Cuba. At the same time that Michael Corleone is fending off a federal indictment, his marriage is falling apart and his brother is betraying him.

Gone With the Wind
This epic love story takes place in Atlanta during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) is a beautiful, pampered Southern belle who schemes to be with Ashley (Leslie Howard), a married Conderate soldier. But when she meets the mysterious and dashing Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), they begin a passionate romance, which Scarlett's fickle ways may undo.

Goodfellas
Based on the book by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas offers a 30-year account of Mafia life through the eyes of a trio of gangsters — Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro), and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci).

The Graduate
New college grad Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) is seduced by family friend Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), who is old enough to be his mother. Shortly thereafter, Benjamin is encouraged by his parents and Mr. Robinson to date the Robinsons' daughter, Elaine.

The Grapes of Wrath
An ex-con (Henry Fonda) returns to his Oklahoma town to find that his family has been forced off their land and is moving to California in hopes of finding work.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Groundbreaking at the time for its portrayal of interracial romance, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner unfolds when the white daughter of Matt and Christina Drayton (played by real-life longtime couple Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn) brings home her new fiancé (Sidney Poitier), who happens to be black.

Lawrence of Arabia
David Lean's sprawling epic tells the biography of T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole), a World War I British officer who requests a transfer to Arabia, where he proves his worth to Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif) and helps lead his Arab tribesmen into battle against the Turks. Because he's smart and brave, Lawrence is viewed as a leader and possible messiah by the Arabs. He becomes allies with Prince Feisal (Alec Guinness) and Auda Abu Tayi during his trials and tribulations in the desert, and his superiors grow concerned that Lawrence's allegiances are with Arabia, not England.

M*A*S*H
Set at a military hospital during the Korean War, M*A*S*H follows surgeons Hawkeye Pierce, John McIntyre, Duke Forrest, and others as they commit all manner of practical jokes to distract themselves from the horrors taking place around them.

The Maltese Falcon
John Huston made his directorial debut with this classic film noir, based on the Dashiell Hammett novel. Private dick Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) gets involved in a deadly case when he's hired by Brigid O'Shaughnessy (Mary Astor) to protect her. After Spade's partner is shot and killed while tailing O'Shaughnessy, things get personal, and Spade uncovers a web of intrigue involving Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre), Kaspar Gutman (Sidney Greenstreet), and a jewel-covered statue of a falcon.

The Manchurian Candidate
Former infantryman Bennet Marco (Frank Sinatra) is haunted by nightmares about his platoon having been captured and brainwashed in Korea. Gradually, he comes to believe that Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey), who served with him in the war, has been brainwashed and plans to assassinate a presidential candidate.

Midnight Cowboy
An aspiring hustler moves from Texas to New York City, only to find that hustling isn't as easy as he expected. He teams with a sickly man living in an abandoned building, and together they set out to make a better lot in life for each other.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Jefferson Smith (Jimmy Stewart), the bumpkin leader of his local Boy Rangers, is appointed by the state's governor to serve in the senate, under the assumption that he can be molded and influenced by the state's older, more experienced senator, Joseph Paine (Claude Rains). But Smith proves to be an upbeat idealist who's unwilling to conform to the cynical, shady ways of Washington, D.C., including a crooked plan to finance a new dam. Smith's unusual outlook impresses his skeptical secretary (Jean Arthur), but it also leads to a nasty conflict with Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold), the state political boss. When Smith can't be bought, Taylor tries to smear his name. Will Smith's morals win out in the end?

Mystic River
Three childhood friends, Sean (Kevin Bacon), Dave (Tim Robbins), and Jimmy (Sean Penn), are reunited after 25 years by a police investigation into the murder of Jimmy's oldest daughter. Sean and his partner (Laurence Fishburne) are assigned to the case and discover that Dave, through a series of circumstances and secrets from his past, may be connected. Meanwhile, ex-con Jimmy wants to take the law into his own hands.

On the Waterfront
Marlon Brando plays Terry Malloy, a longshoreman who testifies against his union, in this 1954 Elia Kazan film that's as famous for its controversial back story (Kazan agreed to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee prior to the flick's production) as it is for the performance of its star.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Jack Nicholson plays Randall Patrick McMurphy, an ex-con who avoids doing more hard time for his latest indiscretions by pretending to be crazy. He's sent to a mental hospital, where he charms the patients and tries to liven up the place. But he never anticipated dealing with the wretched Nurse Ratched (Louis Fletcher), who may be more dangerous than any of the patients (who include Christopher Lloyd and Danny DeVito).

A Place in the Sun
George Eastman (Montgomery Clift) seems to have everything going for him: a job with his uncle, and the eye of Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor), an upper-class woman. But George's former dalliances with factory worker Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters) come back to haunt him and ultimately result in tragedy.

Platoon
Charlie Sheen plays a 1968 college dropout who enlists in the Army and is sent to fight in the Vietnam War. From his innocent perspective, we are introduced to a platoon of American soldiers and the veteran sergeants (Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe) who lead them. The gritty drama follows the platoon members and their polarized sergeants through the jungles and battles of Vietnam in what is generally considered a realistic depiction of the moral challenges faced by soldiers.

Pulp Fiction
Various stories interweave in this drama, which put Quentin Tarantino squarely in the mainstream and revived John Travolta's career. The story includes petty criminals, erudite hit men, a boxer and his French girlfriend, two inbred rapists, and a suitcase full of mysterious, glowing valuables.

Raging Bull
In Raging Bull, Robert De Niro stars as boxer Jake LaMotta, whose personal life outside the ring was marred by a violent temper that he couldn't understand or control.

Rebel Without a Cause
Teen Jimmy Stark (James Dean) struggles to find an identity in the face of a nagging mother and a spineless father, getting into knife fights and other trouble. After a tragic, lethal car race, he meets up with generally good girl Judy (Natalie Wood) and geeky, needy Plato (Sal Mineo) and the three form a surrogate family of sorts. Of course, the bad boys are still after them, and the evening ends in tragedy.

Rocky
Rocky is about a two-bit boxer named Rocky Balboa, a perennial loser who gets a chance to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world and prove to himself and the girl he loves that he's a winner.

Schindler's List
In Schindler's List, Liam Neeson plays Oskar Schindler, a German factory owner during War World II. The film follows Schindler as he, with the help of a Jewish accountant (Ben Kingsley), tries to save concentration camp prisoners by employing them in his factory.

The Shawshank Redemption
Set between 1947 and 1966, the story is about Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a man wrongly accused of murder. He's sentenced to two life terms and soon discovers the horror of prison. His life is made worse, then slightly better, by the corrupt warden (Bob Gunton). Only his friendship with a connected prisoner (Morgan Freeman, who narrates the film) keeps Andy believing in hope and freedom.

The Silence of the Lambs
Jonathan Demme's frightening psychological thriller, based on Thomas Harris's bestseller, is about an FBI agent (Jodie Foster) who tries picking the brain of an intelligent psychopath/cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) in hopes of solving a series of grisly murders. A critical and commercial success, Lambs is one of the most superbly-crafted, suspenseful films ever, and became just the third film in the history of the Oscars to sweep the top five major awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay (Ted Tally).

A Streetcar Named Desire
This adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play stars Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois, who moves in with her sister, Stella (Kim Hunter), and her husband, Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando), in New Orleans. Blanche is desperately trying to cling to her sanity and forget her unwholesome past, but Stanley's lack of sympathy and suspicion of her motives don't make it easy. Things build to a final, brutal run-in between Stanley and Blanche.

Sunset Boulevard
Billy Wilder's film noir classic won an Academy Award for best screenplay in 1951 and was nominated for 10 other Oscars. William Holden plays Joe Gillis, a broke, down-on-his-luck screenwriter whose fortunes change when fate leads him to the Sunset Boulevard mansion of retired silent screen star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). When she learns Joe's a writer, she invites him to live with her and help rewrite her "comeback" script. Joe begins to feel trapped, and his friendship with a script reader who wants to collaborate makes him realize he's wasting his time. But Norma is borderline delusional in how she sees herself and her relationship with Joe, and her possessiveness leads to tragedy.

Taxi Driver
Robert De Niro plays Travis Bickle, a lonely, mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran who drives a New York City cab at night, disgusted by what he sees as a rotting Big Apple. After wooing a senator's campaign worker (Cybill Shepherd), Travis is spurned after taking her to a porn theater on their first date. Bickle's social ineptitude, continued isolation, and anger aimed at cleaning up the city's "scum" lead to violence.

Thelma & Louise
A road-trip buddy movie told from a decidedly feminist angle, this deceptively sharp film directed by Ridley Scott stars Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis as two friends looking to escape from their suffocating lives, if only for a weekend. After a mishap at a roadside bar, the two go on the lam from the cops, gradually becoming closer friends as they flee police pursuit together.

To Kill a Mockingbird
Based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, this Depression-era story is set in a small town in Alabama, where a black man is falsely accused of raping a white woman. The climate of the time is seen through the eyes of 8-year-old Scout Finch, whose widower father, Atticus (Gregory Peck), is a principled attorney who makes the controversial decision to defend the accused man. The story takes place over two summers, and Scout and her brother, Jem, learn valuable lessons from their father about principles, honor, pride, and prejudice. Even their views of the local bogeyman, Boo Radley (Robert Duvall), change upon further examination.

The Wild Bunch
Just before World War I, a group of outlaws tries to rob a bank, intent on using the money to retire. But the job goes awry, and the gang flees to Mexico in the aftermath. Once there, they agree to steal a shipment of guns.