Top 50 Film Commentaries

by Brian Pierce • Nov 29th, 2008 at 1:55 pm • 2 comments
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With both Milk and Frost/Nixon opening nationwide this coming weekend, I thought it would be fitting to take a look back at some of the best social or political commentaries to appear on the big screen.

I started out just making a top 10 list, but then I kept thinking of more, until it inflated to a top 25, then finally a top 50. There are three eras that I think really stand out on this list: 1960’s Cold War cautionary tales like Dr. Strangelove and The Manchurian Candidate; 1970’s movies made in the wake of Watergate and Vietnam like The Conversation and Full Metal Jacket; and post-millenium movies made following 9/11 and the Iraq War like The Dark Knight and United 93. Also prevalent are films focusing on race, gender, and sexuality, like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Tootsie, and Brokeback Mountain. Then you’ve got a collection of other broader commentaries that don’t fit as neatly into a particular category, like The Graduate or Network or A Clockwork Orange or Fight Club.

I should also note I got a chance to see Milk a couple weeks ago at a pre-screening, allowing me to rank it in this list, where I’ve placed it at #24. I’ve yet to see Frost/Nixon, however, so that one does not appear here.

The list:

  1. Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
  2. Judgment at Nuremberg
  3. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
  4. The Manchurian Candidate
  5. The Battle of Algiers
  6. All the President’s Men
  7. Paths of Glory
  8. Network
  9. Brokeback Mountain
  10. Inherit the Wind
  11. 12 Angry Men
  12. The Graduate
  13. The Dark Knight
  14. To Kill a Mockingbird
  15. A Clockwork Orange
  16. The Conversation
  17. Tootsie
  18. The Grapes of Wrath
  19. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
  20. All Quiet on the Western Front
  21. The Bourne Ultimatum
  22. Gandhi
  23. The Contender
  24. Milk
  25. Kramer vs. Kramer
  26. Three Days of the Condor
  27. Primary Colors
  28. Good Night, and Good Luck
  29. Advise and Consent
  30. Full Metal Jacket
  31. United 93
  32. The Lives of Others
  33. Three Kings
  34. Apocalypse Now
  35. Planet of the Apes
  36. Wag the Dog
  37. Fail-Safe
  38. Thelma and Louise
  39. Philadelphia
  40. The Parallax View
  41. Traffic
  42. The Ugly American
  43. The Birdcage
  44. The Good Shepherd
  45. Fight Club
  46. Seven Days in May
  47. Election
  48. The American President
  49. Syriana
  50. Munich
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There Are 2 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by Joshua on 30 November 2008 at 11:16 am:

    First nit that comes to mind, I’d probably move the Grapes of Wrath up a few slots.

    Great list!

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