FOTR in the AFI Top 100 Movies!

[darth dypshyt]

Yep, there was always something about FOTR that set it above the other movies from the trilogy for me...But deserves to be there for sure, if not higher, even top 25.

 

[gideon]

LOTR was screwed in this survey. Consider that the criteria for the AFI is laid out on their webpage - and it includes both critical acclaim and winning of awards. Of all three LOTR films, ROKT received the most universal praise according to charts kept of professional film critics. It won all eleven Academy Awards it was nominated for tying it for most wins of all time. It is also #2 on the All Time Box Office revenue list.

FOTR was a rather slow film in parts with lots of exposition. TTT was heavy on action. ROTK had a blend of everything that turned out perfectly.

I did not want to clog up this thread talking about other films so started an AFI thread in the Other Discussion area if anybody is interested.

 

[Darth Madden]

In my opinion ROTK won all those awards to make up for the first 2 getting pretty much nothing. Empire Strikes Back and Toy Story 2 are better than the first ones so its pretty clear they like the "groundbreaking" first films rather than the better ones. Other than Godfather I don't think there was a sequal on the entire list.

 

[bumblebee]

FOTR would be in my top 10 for sure.

 

[Gruson]

I definitely don't share the love for Citizen Kane and would not feel bad one bit if it gets dropped down a notch or two when they do the 20th Anniversary list.

Amen.

I never cared for that movie.

 

[Boba Fett]

Yeah, that movie was a bore and I still don't understand why it still made #1.

Anyway, SW made it to #12 on the list.

 

[Captain Faramir]

Only #50? Hmm, I would have put it higher than that!

 

[Darth Caedus]

Some nice new additions and some surprising shifts in position--both up and down the list. I would like to see a list of the films that were knocked out of the top 100.

There you go...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI%27s_100_Years..._100_Movies_%2810th_Anniversary_Edition%29

 

[Batty]

I love Citizen Kane. The directing, acting and cinematography...It's not considered a masterpiece for nothing.

 

[gideon]

Regarding CITIZEN KANE - years ago in college I took a film class and most of it was using KANE to educate our eyes and brains to what a real film can be. The prof used films that were said to be great that were made before KANE and then films after KANE. He spent a great amount of time showing different camera angles and how they related to the story being told at the time on the screen and how this was revolutionary. He thought that the opening newsreel section was the greatest five minutes in the history of film (if thats how long it was).

To appreciate KANE you have to watch lots of films from the Thirties and understand the technical limitations and the storytelling approaches used. Only then can KANE jump out and you really appreciate what Orson Welles and Greg Toland did.

 

[Fel9]

Regarding CITIZEN KANE - years ago in college I took a film class and most of it was using KANE to educate our eyes and brains to what a real film can be. The prof used films that were said to be great that were made before KANE and then films after KANE. He spent a great amount of time showing different camera angles and how they related to the story being told at the time on the screen and how this was revolutionary. He thought that the opening newsreel section was the greatest five minutes in the history of film (if thats how long it was).

To appreciate KANE you have to watch lots of films from the Thirties and understand the technical limitations and the storytelling approaches used. Only then can KANE jump out and you really appreciate what Orson Welles and Greg Toland did.

Think of it like this. Kane was the first film of the "modern era" of films. A good analogy would be it is to all of film what Star Wars/Lucas was to the special effects industry. However you feel about the Star Wars films one has to admit the effect that they had on the special effects industry. Kane did the same thing with the entire movie industry...

 

[lcummins]

Twenty-three films from 1998's list were replaced:

1. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) (54)
2. Amadeus (1984) (53)
3. An American in Paris (1951) (68)
4. The Birth of a Nation (1915) (44)
5. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) (64)
6. Dances with Wolves (1990) (75)
7. Doctor Zhivago (1965) (39)
8. Fantasia (1940) (58)
9. Fargo (1996) (84)
10. Frankenstein (1931) (87)
11. From Here to Eternity (1953) (52)
12. Giant (1956) (82)
13. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) (99)
14. The Jazz Singer (1927) (90)
15. The Manchurian Candidate (1962) (67)
16. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) (86)
17. My Fair Lady (1964) (91)
18. Patton (1970) (89)
19. A Place in the Sun (1951) (92)
20. Rebel Without a Cause (1955) (59)
21. Stagecoach (1939) (63)
22. The Third Man (1949) (57)
23. Wuthering Heights (1939) (73)

I can't believe that Doctor Zhivago, Frankenstein, and about 2/3 of these films got dropped off the list!

 

[tomandshell]

Thanks for the list! I love several of those that are now MIA.

And I do appreciate the technique and craftsmanship and influence of Citizen Kane. I understand why it is so highly regarded, it just doesn't connect with me on any emotional level. My brain recognizes that it is an "important" film, but my heart says "yawn."

 

[Darth Madden]

Dang, some of those they got rid of are still better than what replaced them.

 

[EVILFACE]

No way FOTR is better than Frankenstein or Fantasia.

On the ones bumped, it is better than Fargo.

 

[pixletwin]

I would put Amadeus as number one. AQotWF is such a BORING MOVIE.

 

[puppet pusher]

I know it isn't realistic to expect this, but I would prefer that the 3 films be seen as a whole--which is how I think of them. So, although FOTR getting placed on AFI's best is great news, for me its as odd as seeing only the first third of Lawrence of Arabia on the list.

 

[gideon]

On the films missing in action ..... ZHIVAGO has not aged well and is coming to look like a Cecil B. DeMille film in places. And I think as Lean takes the stature of a demi-god, his film is viewed as too hopelessly romantic compared to his other two masterpieces. AMERICAN IN PARIS is now typed as a post-war 50's style film where substance took a back seat to style which is now out of favor. CE3K has the liability of being made by Spielberg at a time when he made half a dozen other masterpieces so they probably do not want one guy to dominate to that extent. James Dean has been replaced in the pantheon by Brando and others so both his films got the axe. FARGO was cool but is not in the same class with so many other truly great films. I love PLACE IN THE SUN but saw it recently and it does look really dated and does not hold up as well as films by directors such as Wyler, Ford and Capra.

 

[jason2885]

How could they drop off Dances with Wolves its such a good movie.

 

[Wetanut]

Of the 3, I've always been partial to FOTR as the superior film. Not a wasted frame; editing was flawless. TTT was the action one and ROTK was the tear-jerker, but FOTR set them both up. Those 11 Oscars for ROTK was actually for the trilogy I'm thinking.

Good to see Searchers and Shane get the love I've always felt they deserved.
Never understood the overappreciation Dances with Wolves has enjoyed, especially when Little Big Man told a very similar story much better. What I canNOT understand is Sound of Music even being in the top 100, let alone as high as it is on the list. And Annie Hall....pretty good flick, but again, way overappreciated IMO.
Sad to see Jazz Singer (original talkie) and Manchurian Candidate fall off the list. I have no doubt that Jazz Singer, at least, will climb back up there if nothing else for its groundbreaking contribution to cinema.

One of these days, They Shoot Horses, Don't They will get its berth on this list.