The Godfather remains one of the most celebrated films in cinema history. Released in 1972, Francis Ford Coppola’s gangster epic won Best Picture, Best Actor for Marlon Brando, and Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars. It holds a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score and a 98% audience score, and sits at 9.2 out of 10 on IMDb.
The film was added to the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress and appears on nearly every major list of the greatest movies ever made. However, it is not the only great movie in cinema history. Several films released before and after it have earned equal or greater praise from critics, audiences, and awards bodies. A Screen Rant ranking by writer Shawn S. Lealos lists 10 movies that it argues are even better than Coppola’s masterpiece.
Schindler’s List: A Holocaust Story That Won Seven Oscars
Steven Spielberg released two very different films in 1993. One was Jurassic Park, a box office giant that launched a franchise still running today. The other was Schindler’s List, a harrowing World War II drama about Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust.
Liam Neeson starred as Oskar Schindler, the man who employed Jewish workers in his factory to hide and protect them. Ralph Fiennes played the SS officer hunting them down. The film holds a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score and won seven Oscars from 12 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest: One of Only Three Films to Sweep Major Oscars
Based on Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest tells the story of Randle McMurphy, played by Jack Nicholson, a man who feigns mental illness to serve his sentence in a mental health facility instead of jail. He meets other patients and tries to stand up for them against the terrifying Nurse Ratched.
The film swept the top five Oscar categories in 1976, joining It Happened One Night (1934) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991) as the only films to achieve this feat. Nurse Ratched remains one of cinema’s greatest villains.
Goodfellas: Roger Ebert Said It Was Better Than The Godfather
The Godfather is often called the best gangster movie of all time, but Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas offers a different view of the mafia. While Coppola’s film showed the inner workings of a crime family, Goodfellas followed a lower-level mobster who eventually betrays the family.
Legendary critic Roger Ebert gave the film a perfect review in the Chicago Sun-Times, writing:
“No finer film has ever been made about organized crime – not even The Godfather.”
The film earned six Oscar nominations and holds a 94% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Once Upon A Time In The West: Sergio Leone’s Western Masterpiece
Sergio Leone directed this 1968 Western about a mysterious man known as Harmonica, played by Charles Bronson, who seeks revenge on an outlaw named Frank, played by Henry Fonda.
The film initially received mixed reviews, partly because the American version was heavily edited. Over time, its reputation grew, and it now holds a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score. It is widely considered one of the greatest Westerns ever made. The BFI calls it Leone’s “operatic, elegiac” masterpiece.
No Country For Old Men: The Best Crime Thriller of the Century
Joel and Ethan Coen directed this 2007 neo-Western crime thriller about a man who takes money from a drug deal gone wrong. Javier Bardem played Anton Chigurh, a relentless killer sent to retrieve the money. The film won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor for Bardem at the Oscars.
When the New York Times released its list of the best movies of the 21st century, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood were the only two Westerns included.
Casablanca: A 99 Percent Rotten Tomatoes Classic
Released in 1942, Casablanca stars Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine, an expatriate who owns a nightclub in Casablanca during World War II. He is convinced to help his former lover, Ilsa Lund, played by Ingrid Bergman, smuggle her husband out of the country before the Nazis find him.
The film holds a 99% Rotten Tomatoes score and won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, with five other nominations. It was added to the National Film Registry in its inaugural class in 1989.
Unforgiven: Clint Eastwood’s Revisionist Western
Clint Eastwood directed and starred in this 1992 Western as William Munny, a retired gunslinger who comes out of retirement after one of his oldest friends is killed. Gene Hackman played the lawman Little Bill Daggett. The film offers a more realistic look at the Western genre than anything that came before.
Unforgiven won four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor for Hackman. It holds a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Chinatown: Often Called the Best Screenplay Ever Written
Roman Polanski directed this 1974 neo-noir film written by Robert Towne. Jack Nicholson starred as private investigator Jake Gittes, who is pulled into a case involving water rights in California that leads to political corruption and dark secrets.
Chinatown is frequently cited as having the best screenplay in film history. Robert Towne won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and the Writers Guild of America rated his script as one of the greatest ever written. The line “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown” remains iconic.
The Shawshank Redemption: The Only Movie Audiences Rank Above The Godfather
On IMDb’s Top 250 list, The Godfather sits at number two with a 9.2 rating. The only film ranked above it is The Shawshank Redemption, which holds a 9.3 rating based on over 3.2 million votes.
Based on a Stephen King novella, the 1994 film follows a man wrongfully imprisoned for his wife’s murder and his time in prison before his escape. The Godfather is a movie about decaying morals, while Shawshank is a movie about hope.
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The Godfather Part II: The Sequel That Many Critics Call Better
Many critics and audiences argue that The Godfather Part II is the better film in every way. The 1974 sequel has better pacing and features a perfect pair of contrasting stories: Michael Corleone’s continued downward spiral and flashback scenes of his father’s rise.
Robert De Niro won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for playing a young Vito Corleone. The film also won Best Picture, becoming the first sequel to win the top prize, along with Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. It holds a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score and a 9.0 rating on IMDb.
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