The Films I Rated A 10
by Sproketer | created - 21 Apr 2011 | updated - 12 May 2020 | PublicAll the films I rated a 10 on the IMDb rating scale listed in no particular order.
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1. The Burmese Harp (1956)
Not Rated | 116 min | Drama, Music, War
A conscience-driven Japanese soldier traumatized by the events of WWII adopts the lifestyle of a Buddhist monk.
Director: Kon Ichikawa | Stars: Rentarô Mikuni, Shôji Yasui, Tatsuya Mihashi, Jun Hamamura
Votes: 6,459
Deeply moving, haunting, unforgetable.
2. Sons of the Desert (1933)
Passed | 68 min | Comedy, Family
When Stan and Ollie trick their wives into thinking that they are taking a medicinal cruise while they're actually going to a convention, the wives find out the truth the hard way.
Director: William A. Seiter | Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase, Mae Busch
Votes: 9,583
The best feature film of Laurel & Hardy, funny, and don't forget, "Honesty is the best policy."
3. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Not Rated | 75 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Mary Shelley reveals the main characters of her novel survived: Baron Henry Frankenstein, goaded by an even madder scientist, builds his monster a mate.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson
Votes: 53,219 | Gross: $4.36M
James Whale directs with humor, flair and abandon, the actors (Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Ernest Thesiger, Elsa Lanchester, Dwight Frye, and the very funny Una O'Connor) delightfully chew up the scenery, and the music by Franz Waxman is magnificent. The best Universal horror movie ever made.
4. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
PG | 129 min | Drama, Family, Romance
Encouraged by her idealistic if luckless father, a bright and imaginative young woman comes of age in a Brooklyn tenement during the early 1900s.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, James Dunn, Lloyd Nolan
Votes: 8,406
Heartbreaking story of a family. Very moving performances.
5. A Christmas Carol (1951)
TV-PG | 86 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Ebenezer Scrooge, a curmudgeonly, miserly businessman, has no time for sentimentality and largely views Christmas as a waste of time. However, this Christmas Eve, he will be visited by three spirits who will show him the error of his ways.
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst | Stars: Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns
Votes: 25,723
The best version of the Dickens classic. You will want to watch it every year. Alastair Sim is wonderful, and the screenplay adaptation adds to a rich story. The music by Richard Addinsell is perfect, start to finish.
6. A Man for All Seasons (1966)
G | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of Sir Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarry.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw, Leo McKern
Votes: 37,143 | Gross: $28.35M
Tremendous adaptation of the play, with excellent writing, and a splendid cast, chief among them Paul Scofield, who is perfect.
7. A Hard Day's Night (1964)
G | 87 min | Comedy, Musical
Over two "typical" days in the life of The Beatles, the boys struggle to keep themselves and Sir Paul McCartney's mischievous grandfather in check while preparing for a live TV performance.
Director: Richard Lester | Stars: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
Votes: 48,060 | Gross: $13.78M
The Beatles!!! This was the perfect film to recreate BEATLEMANIA, with humor, excellent black and white, hand-held camera cinematography, and the songs, and John, Paul, George, and Ringo. The director, Richard Lester's, filmmaking style was very influential.
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
PG-13 | 178 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A meek Hobbit from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean
Votes: 2,005,879 | Gross: $315.54M
An adventure epic in the truest sense, and an adaptation that works on almost every level. Great all around, and deserves many viewings.
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
PG-13 | 201 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom
Votes: 1,977,967 | Gross: $377.85M
The grand finale to the greatest adventure story ever filmed.
10. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
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: 1,448,891 | Gross: $322.74M
After this film opened it was a whole new day for science fiction/ fantasy/ special effects filmmaking. I went in feeling negative towards it, and came out transformed, elated, and in love with it. Greatly, greatly helped by the glorious music of John Williams which gives it all of its heart, soul, and excitement.
11. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
G | 149 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
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: 719,063 | Gross: $56.95M
Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, from Arthur C. Clarke's story, there has never been a science fiction movie so ambitious and wide in its scope, and so facinating, and so debated. For some it's a big bore, for myself it's brilliant. As with all these films, see it on the biggest screen with the best sound you can get.
12. Psycho (1960)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin
Votes: 717,897 | Gross: $32.00M
One of Alfred Hitchcock's best, a deeply disturbing tale of murder, with composer Bernard Herrmann giving a brilliant, atmospheric, creepy score that makes the film unforgettable.
13. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
Directors: Victor Fleming, King Vidor | Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr
Votes: 428,421 | Gross: $2.08M
The classic. A wonderful film, with great songs, a creat cast, great score, great art direction, great sets, and a great script.
14. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
PG | 130 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 498,931
Sentimental, but by the end you may be bawling like a baby. Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart. Need I say more?
15. Citizen Kane (1941)
PG | 119 min | Drama, Mystery
Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead
Votes: 465,773 | Gross: $1.59M
Orson Welles directs his first film and hits a home run. Again, a brilliant score by Bernard Herrmann,
16. The Sound of Music (1965)
G | 172 min | Biography, Drama, Family
A young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn
Votes: 260,889 | Gross: $163.21M
Great songs, great direction, beautiful scenery, a wonderful adaptation of the original Broadway musical, and Julie Andrews. A true classic.
17. North by Northwest (1959)
Approved | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
A New York City advertising executive goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and falls for a woman whose loyalties he begins to doubt.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis
Votes: 345,968 | Gross: $13.28M
Start to finish, this is a delightful film. Hitchcock pulls out the stops and Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, Martin Landau, and James Mason, head the cast. Bernard Herrmann's score is terrific.
18. Pinocchio (1940)
G | 88 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A living puppet, with the help of a cricket as his conscience, must prove himself worthy to become a real boy.
Directors: Norman Ferguson, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Ben Sharpsteen | Stars: Dickie Jones, Christian Rub, Mel Blanc, Don Brodie
Votes: 159,767 | Gross: $84.25M
Disney's best animated film from the classic era, and some great songs, and a good score. Excellent!
19. Duck Soup (1933)
Not Rated | 69 min | Comedy, Musical
Rufus T. Firefly is named the dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of his wealthy backer Mrs. Teasdale, contending with two inept spies who can't seem to keep straight which side they're on.
Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx
Votes: 62,718
Supreme comedy satire. So many great comedy bits, and a few great musical numbers.
20. Horse Feathers (1932)
Approved | 68 min | Comedy, Family, Musical
Quincy Adams Wagstaff, Huxley University's new president, accidentally hires bumblers Baravelli and Pinky to help his school win the big football game against their rival, Darwin University.
Director: Norman Z. McLeod | Stars: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, The Marx Brothers
Votes: 13,390
A very funny movie with great musical numbers, it's a MUST SEE every couple of years.
21. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Approved | 129 min | Crime, Drama
Atticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
Director: Robert Mulligan | Stars: Gregory Peck, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy
Votes: 332,731
Brilliant, heartfelt, moving, sad, inspiring...
22. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Passed | 129 min | Drama
An Oklahoma family, driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl, joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
Director: John Ford | Stars: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Charley Grapewin
Votes: 99,907 | Gross: $0.06M
Heartbreaking, moving, dark, desolate, amazing cinematography, fine performances.
23. Room (I) (2015)
R | 118 min | Drama, Thriller
A little boy is held captive in a room with his mother since his birth, so he has never known the world outside.
Director: Lenny Abrahamson | Stars: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers, Wendy Crewson
Votes: 450,272 | Gross: $14.68M
The deeply felt script, the wonderful performances by all, and the direction, all make it a profoundly moving experience, and highly memorable.
24. Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018)
R | 128 min | Documentary
Filmmaker Michael Moore examines the current state of American politics, particularly the Donald Trump presidency and gun violence, while highlighting the power of grassroots democratic movements.
Director: Michael Moore | Stars: Jim Acosta, Roger Ailes, Brooke Baldwin, Ashleigh Banfield
Votes: 20,390 | Gross: $6.35M
25. Apollo 11 (I) (2019)
G | 93 min | Documentary, History
A look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilots Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins.
Director: Todd Douglas Miller | Stars: Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Deke Slayton
Votes: 27,201 | Gross: $9.04M
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