My 101 Favorite Movies of All Time, 51-60

Just as it wasn't intentional that so many of the movies in the last list (61-70) were from Disney, I didn't set-out to make sure this list was made up of movies that were a part of a series, but 8 of the 10 are.

Nor does it say anything big that the only two movies that aren't part of a series are the two best of the ten.

51. UHF

It's one of the funniest movies ever made and so few people have ever seen it. Some because they never heard of it and othes because they thought it was just an extended “Weird Al” music video. While it does have one musical sequence, it's really an underdog story about how an average Joe with a Walter Mitty complex turns a bottom-of-the-dial local station into a channel we'd all want to watch.

Billy Barty as the camera man whose shots make everyone look ten feet tall is classic, as is the turn by a very young and pre-Seinfeld Michael Richards.

52. Galaxy Quest

Some have said this is the greatest spoof ever made (though, personally, I would say James Garner's “Support Your Local Sheriff” takes that honor [spoiler alert: it comes in at #40 on this list]). Riffing especially on the original “Star Trek” this Tim Allen vehicle also takes shots at tropes from many other sci-fi movies.

“Never give up! Never surrender!”

53. Star Wars – Return of the Jedi

Back in 1983, this was the movie, and it's still great. While some whiners complain about the Ewoks, let's remember that Lucas was making a] a family film and b] wanted the most unlikely, down-trodden, local warriors that could possibly be put on film. This movie wrapped up the “Star Wars” saga with a great, upbeat ending (that, when you think about it, has been totally negated by “The Force Awakens”) which is one of the reasons many people don't like it.

On YouTube you can find a video where-in all the space battle scenes of this movie have been stitched into one, 8-minute-plus cavalcade of explosions. It's fun to watch and—for a fan—a little tiring!

54. Star Wars – The Phantom Menace

What was the 6th-best “Star Wars” movie until “Rogue One” came out, this movie is way better than most people remember it to be. Taken in the context of the original-six, this movie is a table-setter for all that is to come. Yes, it changes some of our preconceived ideas about how the galaxy of SW worked, but it also brought us back to that galaxy in a spectacular and eye-opening way.

For those who complain that the dialogue in this and “Attack of the Clones” [#45] is clunky or “no one talks like that” remember: George wasn't writing about teenagers in California, it was supposed to sound other-worldly. For some people it works, for some it doesn't, but at least George was trying to be different (unlike “Force Awakens”, which was trying to be as familiar as possible).

55. National Treasure

How many of us went into this movie thinking, “The commercials look good but … Nicolas Cage? In a family film? Really?!?” only to discover that it was a wonderfully fun and inventive movie and Nic did a great job? No, there probably isn't a treasure trove under NYC, and maybe the Masons aren't really linear descendants of the Knights Templar, but I love the adventure of this movie and have watched it many times.

[For those of you who don't have this list memorized, “National Treasure 2” comes in at #97.]

The biggest mystery of this franchise, though, is why there was never a Part 3. Yes, it's possible they were out of ideas, but when has that ever stopped Hollywood?

56. Ghostbusters

If you look at the number of actual tickets sold, this is one of the most popular movies of all-time. (34^th all-time when you count tickets sold and not just money made.) It's easy to see why: great script, hilarious performances from everyone involved (though Bill Murray is rightly remembered as the best of the brightest), and special effects that are still pretty good even 30+ years on.

Why people were surprised that the remake wasn't as good as the original I'll never know. The only time I can think of in movie history where the remake was better than the original was when Cecil B. DeMille remade his own movie, The Ten Commandments, from a silent film to a color and sound spectacular.

57. Soul Surfer

Another movie that slipped under a lot of viewers' radar, maybe because they thought it was “just a faith movie”. It is a Christian movie, and it does have a lot to say about faith, but it's also a really good movie. Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt do good jobs as the parents, but the film's brightest light is (understandably) AnnaSophia Robb as Bethany Hamilton, a real-life surfer who lost an arm to a shark attack before becoming a chapionship surfer.

Carrie Underwood appears in this movie and proves that while being a great singer, as an actress, she's a great singer.

58. Captain America (Marvel)

I've enjoyed most of the Marvel movies, but this one is my favorite. I like the whole WW2 vibe as well as Captain America's character. (Not just that he's a good character, but that he has character.) Haley Atwell as Peggy Carter was a welcome breath of fresh air as she was neither a damsel in distress nor a sex-starved kitten.

There have been a lot of enjoyable super hero movies of late (most of the rest of the Marvel movies, DC's newest Superman and Batman), but after a while of cartoon violence, I kind of want one of the characters to say, “Wait! We're obviously not getting anywhere just punching each other endlessly. Why don't we just settle this with a nice game of Parchesee or something?”

59. The Hobbit – Desolation of Smaug (extended edition)

On this movie and the next one down, please take careful note that I am specifying the extended editions. The theatrical releases were OK—and it was good to see them on the big screen at least once—but, for this movie especially, the extended edition released on DVD and Blu-Ray is so much more rich and full (and closer to the book) as to almost be a completely different movie!

Now that we can sit down and watch the whole, 6-movie saga (extended editions all), I have come to have a much greater appreciation for The Hobbit Trilogy than I had at first. Now, I kind of wish Peter Jackson had made a 9-film edition of The Lord of the Rings.

60. The Hobbit – Battle of the Five Armies (extended edition)

The extended edition of this movie isn't as starkly (?) different from the theatrical edition as was “Smaug” but it's still better with the additional footage. Two things that really stand out for me is that the EE explains a] how the four dwarves got from the battle plain to Ravenhill and b] shows the dwarven funeral. A hundred other, smaller, touches make this movie a more worthy entrant in the saga than what we saw in the theater.

As good as the last song is (“The Last Farewell” by Billy Boyd), I still think there should have been at least one song during the final battle by The Eagles. If you don't know why, well, I can't imagine I could explain it to you without eye-rolls so severe I'd hurt myself.


To read the 61-70 section of the list, click here.
To see all of my list (published so far), click here.