You are young, you like cinema, you want to discover cinematographic nuggets, you want landmarks, but you do not know where to look. The easiest solution is of course to search the web for the famous "Tops", of which there are many. But which one to take? Who to trust? We will try to see all that, focusing mainly on the top ten. So, Allociné, what's your best?
Ah, Allociné. Any French viewer knows the logo on the yellow phone. When it was created in 1993, it was not a website but a telephone number to find out about cinema screenings, then to book them. Opening to Minitel and then to the web in 1997, the service is now a reference to know the schedules of the cinemas, see the trailers of the films. The site also has technical sheets and anecdotes. You have probably already seen at least one of their shows, such as "Faux Raccord" where Michel and Michel have fun finding the slightest shooting error. Recently, the site has come under a lot of criticism about its content and the way it highlights certain films, but that's another story.
As far as we are interested, the site lists reviews from the press by reducing the ratings to a 5-star system, and also allows its users to rate their favorite movies. It is therefore logical that Allociné has established a ranking of the best films distinct for the press and the public.
General analysis
Just like IMDb, movies are rated the average ratings given by users. The average is weighted. This means that if I am the only one who has seen a film and I put it 5, it will be better placed than a film seen by 1500 people and whose average score will be 4.5. It is for this reason that we did not take the Top Press, whose ratings are too few. On the other hand, we can see in the list that Allociné places side by side the Press note and the Spectators note. As a result, there is a permanent gap for films that are very popular but that critics do not like and vice versa. Everything is relative, therefore. We can also regret that the score is only out of 5. Thus, there are fewer nuances and distinctions between the films, so that the first films all peak at 4.5/5 without really being able to decide between them. Moreover, it should be noted that between the creation of the article and its publication, 12 Angry Men went up one place, just like Schindler's List, without understanding why.
As with IMDb, ten American films are at the top of the ranking, and they are often the same directors. We can see which film by the same director has touched which country the most.
#10 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by Peter Jackson (2003)
4.5/5 out of 79,938 votes.
(79% 5 stars, 12516 fans, 3.8/5 for press)
With Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen.
Worldwide release on December 17, 2003.
The film won 11 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Decoration, Best Costumes, Best Makeup, Best Music, Best Song, Best Mixing, and Best Special Effects.
From the same director in the Top Allociné: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) is 15th with 4.5/5, The Two Towers (2002) is 20th with 4.5/5, An Unexpected Journey (2012) is 136th with 4.3/5, The Desolation of Smaug (2013) is 142nd with 4.3/5.
The film is as we can imagine very popular with almost 80% of people who love it, and very popular because with more than 79,000 voters, The Return of the King is the most rated film of this top, and therefore the most seen.
This film is the one that closes the trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, adaptation of the eponymous literary work of J. A. R Tolkien. The success of The Return of the King, one of the highest-grossing films in the history of cinema, rests above all on its literary basis. Indeed, the books, published in the mid-1950s, met with real success, becoming, in the 1960s and 1970s, one of the symbols of the counterculture (a film adaptation was even considered with the Beatles). Tolkien develops a fantasy world, with his own vocabulary, his own languages, with teleological inspirations, English and German mythological inspirations, contemporary references, including the Second World War.
However, some literary works, although bestsellers, turn out, once adapted to the screen, quite disappointing. Indeed, for an adaptation to be successful, the vision of the writer and the director must become one. It is not enough to put the work in image, but to use the assets that cinema has at its disposal to enrich and transform the initial work. This is where the genius of the director comes in.
Surprisingly, Miramax films, at first, and New Line Cinema thereafter, bet on the adaptation project of a director who, with the exception of his drama Celestial Creatures (1994), is not yet taken seriously in the world of cinema. Indeed, he reveals himself to the general public with Braindead (1992) which leaves him a label: that of director of horror comedy or "gore comedy". That is to say, films that do not seek to shock (as the "gore" would have it) but push to such a degree the codes of the genre (blood, death, the traits of the villain, the hero) that it becomes ridiculous, burlesque.
What a turnaround for this New Zealander, fan of Tolkien, who found the only adaptation of the work incomplete (an animated film of 1978) has long wanted to bring it to the screen! What a turnaround for Peter Jackson who, after having used his talent in the use of special effects on behalf of the "ridiculous", the "burlesque" puts him at the service of a daring project that will take more than 8 years to materialize with the success we know him!
Because what is incredible about this trilogy, beyond its intoxicating music that devours our bowels at every fight scene, at every scene where Frodo Saquet risks his life; beyond the acting that makes each line a little more cult by their wisdom, their humor, their eloquence; It is this exhilarating journey that forms its body. Whether it is the journey of the Community, whose latest opus has the perilous task of putting an end to it; The emotional journey experienced by the spectators, or the journey of the realization that by incredible work and extreme meticulousness has built a monster of fantasy cinema, and cinema in a global way.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is neither better nor worse than the two previous opuses, it is the apotheosis of a monumental construction, or by euphemism: the icing on the cake. A cherry that sounds the end of a cycle and fills the viewer with melancholy. And although the universe was taken up again a decade later with the adaptation of The Hobbit, it does not equal the initial trilogy, as much from the point of view of the quality of its plans, as its music and poetry.
#9 12 Angry Men by Sydney Lumet (1957)
4.5/5 out of 8,123 votes
(62% of 5 stars, 1456 fans, 5/5 for the press)
With Henri Fonda.
Released in April 1957 in the United States and in October 1957 in France. The film won the Golden Bear in Berlin.
Unsurprisingly, Lumet's film is far less popular than the others, with just over 8,000 votes. Masterpiece for the press, even if it is only based on a few notes.
We often tend to speak of a masterpiece but we prefer here the name of founding film. 12 Angry Men succeeds in energizing an American cinema at half-mast since the advent of television but also to create a monument still in all memories. A raw pamphlet towards a most unequal America, Sidney Lumet develops serious and committed themes such as Justice, Equality and Tolerance of others. Sublimated by a simple but astonishing staging of efficiency and fluidity, the feature film becomes legendary thanks to the interpretation of the twelve jurors headed by an imperial Henry Fonda. A film of paramount importance in American cinema as it is a model of legal, political and social film. A monument that never loses its breath… even 60 years after its release in cinemas.
#8 Pulp Fiction by Quentin Tarantino (1994)
4.5/5 out of 64,926 votes
(73% of 5 stars, 11516 fans, 4.1/5 for the press).
With John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis.
Tarantino's second film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and at the Locarno Film Festival. It was released in the United States on October 14, 1994 and in France on October 26, 1994.
The film won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, as well as the Palme d'Or at Cannes.
From the same director in the Top Allociné: Django Unchained (2013) is 3rd with 4.5/5, Reservoir Dogs (1992) is 64th with 4.3/5, Inglourious Basterds (2009) is 131st with 4.3/5.
This film, which revived Travolta's career, offered his best role to a Samuel L Jackson with a gigantic career, and shows a Bruce Willis more badboy than ever, can boast a soundtrack as cult as unforgettable, and a cast as legendary.
If there is one film that stands out from the "Tarantino mania" lot, it is the Palme d'Or film at Cannes 1994. Second feature film of the new child prodigy of US cinema and pure masterpiece of the genre (of no genre), Pulp Fiction is undoubtedly the best film of one of the most adored directors of the 7th art. He, undoubtedly the most cinephile, cultured and passionate about cinema before making it his vocation. From its beginnings, it holds its references, its directors and its cult films.
Tarantino's genius in Pulp Fiction is to place violence, biblical lyrics, overdose, rape, masochism and comedy in a sketch film where all the disjointed parts come together. And in which appear these incredible characters played by confirmed actors, revived, at the top or revealed. His unique writing style places mythical reflections and dialogues on pop culture full of references and making the action thrilling. No one will dare to say that we are bored for a single second in these 2h30 of pure delirium.
Inimitable and engraved in the annals, Pulp Fiction marks the masterstroke of the first of the cinema buffs. The more you watch it, the more you see all its subtleties. Without aging over time, it will appeal to all generations.
#7 The Godfather by Francis Ford Coppola (1972)
4.6/5 out of 34,202 votes.
(75% 5 stars, 5433 fans, 4.6/5 for the press)
With Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall.
The film was released in the United States on March 24, 1972 and in France on October 18, 1972.
It won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor for Marlon Brando and Best Adapted Screenplay.
From the same director in the Top Allociné: The Godfather, Part 2 (1974) is 34th with 4.4/5, Apocalypse Now (1979) is 84th with 4.3/5.
Even if it is very well rated, the film has few "fans" on Allociné. Very good score for the press, as high as for the spectators.
From The Sopranos to The Simpsons, The Godfather (released in 1972) is such an important film that it is cited in many works of popular culture. Everyone has seen it or at least heard of it. One might have feared that with all this mythology constantly being brought to the fore, Coppola's feature film would become less enjoyable to watch. It is not. This three-hour long film has stood the test of time with vigour. The Godfather deserves its place in the ranking of the best Allociné films. These are three good reasons to see The Godfather again.
The first is the performance of Marlon Brando who plays Don Corleone/the Godfather. He delivers a striking composition full of ambiguities, Corleone appears as a powerful father figure, protective and very attached to his family. However, his magnificent costumes and mannerisms only partially hide his murderous cruelty. This is evidenced by the footage at the beginning of the film, where in his office, Don Corleone orders murders to protect his "friends" with frightening routine composure.
The second good reason to review this feature film is that The Godfather is a real dive into the world of the mafia.We observe all their customs at work. Coppola posed codes and themes that would be widely used in subsequent gangster films. For example, the importance given to Catholic rituals, a kind of moral mask of the horrors committed by the mafiosi. Coppola illustrates this aspect through the use of alternating editing in Don Corleone's wedding and office scenes at the beginning of the film. We can also talk about the figure of the ultra virile man , protective to the extreme and hyper violent (Sonny who beats his sister's husband because he beats her, we find this dimension much later in another famous mafia movie The Freedmen by Martin Scorsese). Finally, let's talk about the highlighting of a paradox specific to the mafia: the tribal attachment to the family that is sometimes set aside for personal interests with Michael who, despite his attachment to the notion of family, has his own brother-in-law killed leaving his nephew orphaned (we find this pattern much later in The Sopranos).
The third good reason is that The Godfather has a unique atmosphere very different from other mafia films (compared to The Freedmen which will come twenty years later). Coppola chooses slowness and contrast effects to show horror. This is evidenced by the alternating editing at the end of the film where while Michael attends the baptism of his nephew, his men kill all his enemies one by one. The religious goodness compared with the mafia cruelty rightly shows the hypocrisy and abjection of this milieu.
#6 The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan (2008)
4.6/5 out of 61,299 votes.
(63% 5 stars, 12190 fans, 4/5 for the press)
With Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine.
Released in the USA on July 18, 2008 and in France on August 13, 2008.
He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger posthumously and Best Editing.
From the same director in the Top Allociné: Interstellar (2014) is 9th with 4.5/5, Inception (2010) is 23rd with 4.5/5, The Dark Knight Rises (2012) is 60th with 4.4/5, and The Prestige (2006) is 158th with 4.2/5.
Christopher Nolan's film is located in the Top Allociné between these two great directors that are Clint Eastwood and Francis Ford Coppola. Since Memento, the director of Inception is often nominated for Oscars. He attracts a lot of people in cinemas and his films are often very well received by the press. Especially with his latest film Interstellar. He manages to combine pure cinema with entertainment cinema while embarking us with him and making us travel in a dark and realistic world of superheroes, in a dream immersed in another or through black holes traversing the universe. This shows that today Nolan is recognized as one of the greatest directors of his generation. He managed to make a name for himself with his brother who co-wrote his films. Over the years, the Nolan brothers have managed to impose their own style that has marked current cinema and inspired many directors. And if the film is ranked in the top 10 by Allociné and IMBD, it is not a coincidence.
Because The Dark Knight is probably the most successful and mastered superhero movie. Whether in terms of writing, directing or acting, the film reaches new heights. It is the best of the saga but also the best film about the character of Batman. Nolan was able to impose a certain realism on the most emblematic character of superheroes. It made Batman more pragmatic, darker, more serious and above all more human. And if The Dark Knight has become the best superhero film it is because it is neither a superhero film nor an action film, because it is above all a political thriller that questions our relationship to corruption and especially terrorism. The film is part of a post-September 11 cinema that creates constant chaos in an iconic American city, in this case in the fictional city of Gotham.
More than just a superhero movie, The Dark Knight has influenced a whole generation but also the films that followed it by trying somehow to seize the Nolanian leg. If the film is so successful, it is thanks to the genius of Nolan who offers us great entertainment cinema. He will film these sequences of tension as great thriller scenes. Especially during the scene of the interrogation between Batman and the Joker which is a pure jewel of staging. He plays both on the lighting by overexposing the scene, but also on the framing that tightens more and more with each dialogue, and with the dazzling arrival of a shoulder camera in a scene that was waiting for one thing: to explode. The success of the scene is also due to the performance of one of the greatest villains in the history of cinema. Heath Leger literally bursts the screen, his Joker character being one of the most complex characters ever created for a superhero movie. He will (unfortunately) posthumously get the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. This is the first time an actor has won an Oscar for a role in a superhero movie, which proves that The Dark Knight has given its nobility to the genre.
As time passes, the film becomes a major work of cinema today. All these factors show that Christopher Nolan's film did not deserve its place in 6th position in Allociné's Top Spectators.
#5 Gran Torino by Clint Eastwood (2009)
4.6/5 out of 48,015 votes.
(64% 5 stars, 7226 fans, 4.7/5 for the press)
With Clint Eastwood
Released in the US on January 9, 2009 and in France on February 25, 2009.
It won the César for Best Foreign Film in 2010.
From the same director in the Top Allociné: Million Dollar Baby (2005) is 50th with 4.4/5, Mystic River (2003) is 215th with 4.2/5, Ruthless (1992) is 223rd with 4.2/5, The Exchange (2008) is 237th with 4.2/5.
Here again, the press praised the film by even giving it a higher rating than that of the spectators. In the public, only 64% are completely satisfied.
How can we explain a masterpiece that starts as a good racist joke (or bad joke, depending on how humorous you are) and ends up making us wonder about human nature? We will avoid making the summary of the film, so as not to spoil this magnificent story to those who have not seen it, and let's rather worry about the place of this film in the ranking.
Clint Eastwood is a regular in films that mark the spirits (Million Dollar Baby, The Master of War, Found Guilty, Ruthless, Mystic River, On the Road to Madison, etc …) In this feature film, he focuses on the Asian community and the racism it experiences (whereas we are usually only told about anti-black racism). This in itself is a big risk and could have made the public doubt because of a topic that did not make the headlines. But by portraying the role of the American beauf in all its glory, Eastwood shows us two things: that he is a great actor, but also a great director/producer who is not afraid of challenges. The story is funny, touching, but also very serious and makes us go from laughter (thanks to funny secondary characters like the old lady on her porch or the hairdresser) to deeper reflections (gangs in American society, what does it mean to be a man?). Some might say that this is not enough to make a masterpiece. And yet, it is precisely the mastery of these elements throughout the story coupled with an excellent editing that make this film cannot go unnoticed.
The direction is clean, the actors are directed properly, and the dialogues fit perfectly with the situations (the visits to the hairdresser are an excellent example). The end may surprise but it is precisely it that makes us aware on the one hand what it is to be a man, but especially that any man can change.
#4 Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List (1994)
4.6/5 out of 39,045 votes.
(75% 5 stars, 4246 fans, 4.2/5 for the press)
With Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes.
Released in the United States on February 4, 1994 and in France on March 2, 1994.
It won 7 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adaptation, Best Picture, Best Set Design, Best Editing, Best Music.
From the same director in the Top Allociné: The Last Crusade (1989) is 70th with 4.3/5, Saving Private Ryan (1998) is 82nd with 4.3/5, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) is 87th with 4.3/5, and E.T. (1982) is 217th with 4.2/5.
It was almost impossible that the friend Spielberg was not in the top. It has indeed a lot of other successes not very far behind. He is known as the king of entertainment. The film is therefore a batch of Oscars (I talked about it a little earlier about that), three very good actors that are Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley and especially Ralph Fiennes, and three hours in the daily life of the 2nd World War. But I can't tell you about this film without telling you about the controversy surrounding it. Some intellectuals (this word is not an insult) criticize the film for several things, including the use of pathos in the film. Indeed, the main quality of the film is to make you draw tears and to give you the bumblebee.What is reproached (by Kubrick for example) is the detour of the subject. Even worse, it is the effects of emotion that distort the reality of the camps, such as the famous shower scene. I'll describe it to you [Spoil, highlight to see] we follow a group of Jews going to the gas chambers. They cry in fear, the tension rises, and finally, water comes out of the pipes. Big relief for the prisoners and for the spectator. One may wonder what relevance there is in manipulating the spectator in this way so that he is happy with the fate of the characters in such a situation and in an event that appears very exceptional. [End of Spoiler]. In short, a film to see, but do not hesitate to keep in mind these paradoxes during your next viewing of the film.
#3 Django Unchained by Quentin Tarantino (2012)
4.6/5 out of 44,481 votes.
(44% 5 stars, 10613 fans, 4.6/5 for the press)
With Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo Dicaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson.
Released in the United States on December 25, 2012 and in France on January 16, 2013.
He won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Christoph Waltz.
From the same director in the Top Allociné: Pulp Fiction (1994) is 8th with 4.5/5, Reservoir Dogs (1992) is 64th with 4.3/5, Inglourious Basterds (2009) is 131st with 4.3/5.
Less than half of the voters gave this film 5 stars. The question of why and how this film comes in third place in this ranking is legitimate.
Django Unchained released in 2012, not to be confused with Django by Sergio Corbucci, is directed by Quentin Tarantino, the father of Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. The story tells how a German bounty hunter and a black man will team up, to find the wife of the latter held in slavery by the owner of a plantation.
Django Unchained is Tarantino's first total foray into the western world. While Kill Bill volume 2 and Death Boulevard already included influences of the genre, it is with Django Unchained that QT takes the plunge and signs its first western (soon followed by The 8 Bastards). But his feature film is no ordinary western. The director is inspired by his predecessors, Sergio Leone or Corbucci while infusing his own universe. 
Django Unchained therefore appears as a symbiote film that mixes genres. Action film, western, comedy, drama, Tarantino plays with the knowledge of his viewer to create a constant emotional elevator. Pouring out an uninhibited violence where hemoglobin fuses to excess, presenting colorful and very funny characters like the hilarious interpretation of Samuel L Jackson, staging absurd situations like Jonah Hill's short intervention on this strange case of masks, QT does not omit a dramatic historical dimension to highlight the years of torture suffered by the African people subjected to slavery. This will also attract the wrath of Spike Lee, criticizing his unreasonable violence. Django Unchained also expresses itself through a new and unexpected sound mix. This is the first time that the viewer is confronted with 2Pac in a western. A situation on which Ennio Moricone, legendary composer, returned, criticizing the musical choices of Quentin Tarantino.
In short, Django Unchained is an enjoyable and fun film, entertaining as much as possible thanks to constant twists and turns. His first-rate cast gives another dimension to the characters written by the artist, like Leonardo DiCaprio who made a big impression in his role as a plantation owner. Without being the best work of Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained is part of the best achievements of the atypical filmmaker. But from there to place the feature film in third place in the top ahead of iconic works such as 12 Angry Men, Schindler's List or Pulp Fiction, it does not seem justified. Django Unchained, although terribly jubilant, lacks the textual depth, the pushy analysis of a feature film like Schindler's List.It also lacks the critical depth, nor the subtle analysis of racial tensions of Gran Torino, nor does it have the status of a cult film like The Godfather or Pulp Fiction. A third place stolen from more deserving feature films.
#2 The Green Line by Frank Darabont (1999)
4.6/5 out of 64,509 votes
(65% of 5 stars, 7791 fans, 2.8/5 for the press)
With Tom Hanks, Michael C. Duncan.
The film was released in the United States on December 10, 1999 and in France on March 1, 2000
. From the same director in the Top Allociné: Les Evadés (1994) is 12th with 4.5/5.
Despite a good overall rating, the film completely satisfies only 65% of voters, while being disappointing for the press who give it only a little more than half of the rating.
It's hard to forget a film of this magnitude. Confirming Frank Darabont 's talent for filming prisons and their inhabitants (whether they are residents or guards), The Green Line is one of those works that have become timeless as its story is touching.
Sometimes cynical, sometimes moving, the mastery with which Darabont walks us from one emotion to another allows us not to take a moment off the film, while letting us become attached to the many characters. And it must be emphasized: not to make the spectator drop out despite 3h09 of film is a feat of realization. It takes the time to sit down and present us with the issues, while providing us with enough elements not to fall into unnecessary overexposure.
But beyond the story itself and the careful direction, the strength of the film lies in the masterful performances of each of the actors. Headlined by Tom Hanks at the top of his game and a freshly discovered Michael Clarke Duncan , we are served by dialogues with small onions and a rare complicity between the different characters. To these two giants (literally and figuratively) are added supporting roles just as mastered by their interpreters, giving an additional cachet to the story.
If a flaw were to be found at The Green Line though, it would probably be for some of the supporting roles. Although beautifully interpreted, some secondary characters might have deserved to be a little less caricatured, in order to give them all the subtlety that we find in many characters and especially that of Edgecombe.
In the end, there would be a lot to say about The Green Line. Most spectators will praise you, a few will tell you badly. But whether you liked the film or not, whether you are touched by its story or not, it is undeniable that it is a work to see imperatively, as it has become cult for both moviegoers and the general public. So I do not tell you more and let you discover it as soon as possible in catch-up session.
#1 Forrest Gump by Robert Zemeckis (1994)
4.6/5 out of 68,622 votes.
(73% 5 stars, 8904 fans, 2.6/5 for the press)
With Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, Robin Wright
Released in the United States on July 6, 1994 and in France on October 5, 1994.
It won 6 Oscars: Best Picture, but also Best Director, Best Adaptation, Best Actor for Tom Hanks, Best Editing and Best Visual Effects.
From the same director in the Top Allociné: Back to the Future (1985) is 47th with 4.4/5, Back to the Future II (1989) is 166th with 4.2/5.
As popular as The Green Line with the same Tom Hanks, the film is also exhausted by the press, even getting a lower rating. At the top of this ranking, there are two films that are not as appreciated by the public as by critics.
Forrest Gump is the movie that (almost) everyone knows and has already seen several times. Adapted from Winston Groom's novel, it is a description of the history and culture of the United States between the 50s and the 80s through the story of Forrest, a young man with a big heart, just a little different and that's what makes him endearing. The fact that he asks himself personal questions, invites the viewer to access his feelings but also to immerse himself in his world.
Despite himself, Forrest arouses hilarity and is not taken seriously by the people he meets. His determination to fight for what he believes in is surely one of the factors for which we find him in this ranking.
Forrest Gump is a palette of feelings where we can go from laughter to tears, especially by his reactions during his reunion with Jodie, his childhood love, or facing the death of his mother. The immersion in his life, through his disability but also the hardships he has been going through since his childhood, allow this film to the 6 Oscars to raise public awareness. He feels empathy or rejects Forrest. And this is precisely what makes its success: it is the fact that the spectator is not indifferent to this type of film where the hero is in spite of himself.
The director's intention is laudable but the succession of dialogues sometimes elementary, contribute to weigh down the film and therefore to make it sometimes slow. However, the simplicity of Forrest and the setting of Alabama in South Carolina in the 50s, leave room for history to unfold without visual interference.
Does it deserve its place in the top 10? Surely. The first? That remains to be debated.
And you, your opinion on this top?
Participated in this aricle : LBB, Louis Verdoux, Damien Santurde, Florian, Lucas Renaudot, Mistico, Too'N, Aubin, Robin Uzan and Sarah. Under the coordination of Alexandre Léaud.
