The 67 Most Influential Films Ever Made
From 1895-1999. The flicks that taught Hollywood its tricks...
BY Mar 20th 2009 8:08AMFILED UNDER: Features
User Comments (13)
1. Exiting The Factory (1895)
Influential, how? Cinema arrives!
Citizen Kane. Top Gun. The Hottie & The Nottie. The common thread? They’re all descendents of cine-pioneer Louis Lumière’s La Sortie Des Usines Lumière - no less than the first motion picture ever made.
Fifty seconds long, it captures in real time workers spilling from the gates of Lyon’s Lumiere Factory.
A precursor to everything, it particularly anticipates the work of George Lucas: there are three versions in existence – you can tell ’em apart by the number of horses (one, two or none).
Money shot: The bit where men enter the factory. Plot hole!
2. L'assassination Du Duc De Guise (1908)
Influential, how? First movie with a score.
A notorious event in French history, a 15-minute costume drama directed by André Calmettes – and, to provide the first ever specially composed orchestral movie score, the 73-year-old doyen of composers, Camille Saint-Saëns.
Money shot: De Guise is stabbed by thugs as Saint-Saëns’ music rises to a frenzy.
3. Gertie The Dinosaur (1914)
Influential, how? Movies get animated.
"The two most important people in animation are Winsor McCay and Walt Disney," said legendary Warner Bros. animation director Chuck Jones. "I'm not sure who should go first."
Put it this way: Walt was just eight when McCay's lovable dinosaur called Gertie was born. Mickey, Bugs and Nemo are evolution's children...
Money Shot: Check it out on YouTube and pick your own...
Influential, how? Movies get big.
Even in our CG age of copy’n’paste armies, Cabiria is staggering. Shot across six months, the three-hour Italian silent set the benchmark for epic filmmaking.
DW Griffith saw it a year after he made The Birth Of A Nation - which suddenly didn’t seem so big and clever.
Money shot: Innovative camera-dollies over huge sets, dubbed “Cabiria movements”.
Print Comments (13)
1: avoidz says
Great article; one of your best. Thanks!
Posted: Apr 3rd 2009 // 2:41PMAlert a moderator
2: filmgeek27 says
Great feature. I have to admit to not buying the magazine for a few months now (I've just been clicking on to the website) but after that I'm going to go out and get this issue
Posted: Apr 5th 2009 // 10:58AMAlert a moderator
3: waldolydecker says
Oops! Your "Room at the Top" still is in fact a scene from Clouzot's "Les Diaboliques", starring Simone Signoret and Vera Clouzot - another influential film, no doubt. How could you forget "Rebecca", "Laura", "Singin' in the Rain", etc. Your list is interesting however, but quite a few of the contemporary titles quoted are worthless and will be forgotten in 10 years from now. Wanna bet? See you in 2019!
Posted: Apr 17th 2009 // 9:44AMAlert a moderator
4: WisdomPersona says
For the most part, a great list.
However, why choose "Mean Streets" as the film that 'plugged in the jukebox'?
"American Graffiti" had far more pre-recorded songs, and was released three months earlier.
What gives?
Posted: Apr 17th 2009 // 2:40PMAlert a moderator
5: horrorfilmx says
Interesting article, but you mention that "Star Wars revolutionised CG visual effects". Star Wars had no CG visual effects, at least not until Lucas redid it decades later. That's why the original Star Wars looks so much more real than all the CGI junk that followed it, and why a generation raised on video games considers it "dated" and "cheesy" --- because they have to grounding in reality any more.
Posted: Apr 17th 2009 // 5:43PMAlert a moderator
6: futureman says
Good article but s didn't Superman bring about synergy? They completed a whole series of movies before the first Batman. I was also surprised there was no mention of the movies that influenced the sequel.
Posted: Apr 18th 2009 // 4:02AMAlert a moderator
7: Apathygrrl says
I'm actually surprised to find that the original King Kong isn't on your list.
Posted: Apr 18th 2009 // 6:11PMAlert a moderator
8: daveman14 says
Great list but I'm surprised you left off Trip to the Moon by Melies as it is the first narrative film in history.
Posted: Apr 19th 2009 // 2:02AMAlert a moderator
9: Asterix says
Awesome article, but.....
Why "Cableguy" (1996) and not "Back to the Future" (1985) (a family movie - the most influential travel time movie)?
Why "Batman" (1989) and not "Superman - the movie" (1978) (You can believe a man can fly!...perfectly - the first comic book adaptation of all time)?
And, where's the Godfather?????????
Posted: Apr 19th 2009 // 3:03AMAlert a moderator
10: grantmccall says
I'm quite surprised that the first feature film ever made isn't in this list: The story of the kelly gang - It's an Australian film, 60 minutes in length.It precedes "Birth of a nation" by 9 years.
Oh well, us Aussies usually get left out of most important lists.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_the_Kelly_Gang
Posted: Apr 19th 2009 // 4:14AMAlert a moderator
11: grantmccall says
I'm quite surprised that the first feature film ever made isn't in this list: The story of the kelly gang - It's an Australian film, 60 minutes in length.It precedes "Birth of a nation" by 9 years.
Oh well, us Aussies usually get left out of most important lists.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_the_Kelly_Gang
Posted: Apr 19th 2009 // 4:15AMAlert a moderator
12: heidavey says
You're first film is 7 years too late - "Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge" is widely regarded as the first film, that was followed by "Roundhay garden scene" both in 1888 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343112/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0392728/
Posted: Apr 19th 2009 // 8:08PMAlert a moderator
13: Jawsphobia says
In the Blade Runner blurb, neon noir, looks more like a typo of the proper term neo-noir than a play on words. And although Blade Runner has some neon in it it is not wall-to-wall at all.
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