I consider the vast majority of these films to be compulsive, essential and mandatory viewing for any true film lover:
'10s
Cabinet of Dr Caligari
'20s
Battleship Potemkin
Metropolis
Nosferatu
'30s
The 39 Steps
L'Age d'Or
City Lights
King Kong
Modern Times
'40s
The Bicycle Thief
Casablanca
Citizen Kane
It's a Wonderful Life
Fantasia
The Maltese Falcon
The Third Man
'50s
12 Angry Men
The African Queen
Ben-Hur
Breathless
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Les Diaboliques
High Noon
North by Northwest
Paths of Glory
Rashomon
Rear Window
Singin' in the Rain
The Seventh Seal
Vertigo
West Side Story
Wild Strawberries
'60s
8 1/2
2001: A Space Odyssey
L'Avventura
The Birds
From Russia With Love
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Lawrence of Arabia
Psycho
Rosemary's Baby
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Wild Bunch
'70s
Alien
Apocalypse Now
Chinatown
The Exorcist
Halloween
Jaws
Patton
Sleuth
Star Wars: A New Hope
Stalker
'80s
Aliens
Back to the Future
Blade Runner
Die Hard
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
The Elephant Man
The Little Mermaid
Platoon
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raging Bull
The Shining
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
'90s
Babe
Being John Malkovich
Beauty and the Beast
Braveheart
Dances with Wolves
Ed Wood
Fight Club
Forrest Gump
The Fugitive
Goodfellas
Magnolia
The Matrix
Nightmare Before Christmas
Pi
Il Postino
Pulp Fiction
Reservoir Dogs
Saving Private Ryan
Se7en
The Shawshank Redemption
The Silence of the Lambs
The Sixth Sense
Sleepy Hollow
The Straight Story
Titanic
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Trois Couleurs: Bleu
The Usual Suspects
'2000s
Big Fish
Catch Me If You Can
Cast Away
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Donnie Darko
Gladiator
In America
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Lost in Translation
The Man Without a Past
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Memento
Minority Report
Mulholland Dr.
The Pianist
Punch-Drunk Love
Requiem for a Dream
Road to Perdition
Signs
Solaris
Unbreakable
Wonder Boys
