I have always been interested in lists and over the last two years I have become interested in film, specifically high-quality classic films. That being said, after seeing a good deal of movies I thought I would try my hand at making a list  of the best. This obviously is a monumental task and is always going to be up for debate . For this reason I will give the criteria I used in order to come up with the compilation and then give my list.

I thought of this as a list of the best films which I would give to a friend unfamiliar with cinematic history.

The list was meant to span the decades  and cover as many genres, actors, actresses, and directors as possible. That way someone could grasp a better understanding of the change in film after viewing a couple dozen movies. I also used five other criteria in order to help me decide which to pick. They were:

• Critical Response
• Cultural Impact
• Entertainment Level
•  Film Making Quality
• Historical Setting

Without further ado here is my list of 25 films:

I have created an alternative list of 25 essential films that keeps some films and adds other significant films.