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britesparc · 7 years

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Some Thoughts on Empire Magazine’s 100 Greatest Movies

I’ve been reading through the list of 100 Greatest Movies in the latest issue of Empire Magazine. I love articles like this, primarily because I like voting for things (I even voted in that big bunfight we had a week ago. That was a lark, wasn’t it? How very amusing). I’ve also been reading Empire for a very long time, and voted in quite a few of these things by now, and whilst I’m not going to do any kind of deep-dive analysis, I did notice a few things and thought I’d just write about them.

Beats doing stuff, I suppose

Firstly, The Godfather. Obviously The Godfather is one of those films that is a frequent occupant of “Best Film of All Time” lists; but it’s probably fair to say that its popularity waxes and wanes over the years within a small margin of “excellent”. Put simply, I’m slightly surprised it’s number one, although not at all surprised it’s in the Top Ten. It’s not my favourite film (I don’t think it was in my Top Ten, to be honest) but it’s a masterpiece and I can’t argue with its victory. And I hope this settles once and for all whether Part I or Part II is the best…

Secondly, Star Wars. Quite frankly with the renewed love for Star Wars since the release of The Force Awakens 18 months ago, I was expecting The Empire Strikes Back to take the top spot. After all, Empire readers tend towards the geekier end of the film buff spectrum; it’s a mag for aficionados, but populist aficionados. So seeing both Episodes V and IV in the top ten is no surprise, although I kinda expected both The Force Awakens and Rogue One to secure spots.

And third: Spielberg. With Jaws and Raiders in the top ten, and very high positions for Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, and Saving Private Ryan, once again the tastes of the Empire readers echo my own. I think I ended up with three Spielberg films in my personal top ten. Which reminds me: where the hell is Close Encounters of the Third Kind? Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you? I’m willing to concede it’s not everybody’s favourite film, but come on. I wonder how many people, like me, had it as their number one? That film is seriously due a re-discovery. Perhaps the 4K screenings at Vue Cinemas this autumn will light a fire, or maybe we have to wait till the 50th anniversary in 2027.

And as for Jurassic Park, I mentioned it above, but at number 19, I wonder if it's the highest the film has ever ranked. And it’s symptomatic of something I’ve been noticing: the people who are writing and talking about film nowadays – the grown-ups in the room, the experts – they’re my age. I was 11 when Jurassic Park came out and it was my favourite film of all time until I saw Pulp Fiction a couple of years later. But although I do remember Empire giving it five stars, I don’t feel it’s had that “definitive classic” status that I always thought it deserved. Until recently, when the generation who grew up with it came of age, and were able to appreciate its value as, essentially, a bloody good family movie that, whilst being gripping and exciting for adults, also had that little extra kick of darkness – scary, bloody, with a dark sense of humour – that made the kids who watched it feel it wasn’t really for them, that they were opening a door into a world of freaky adult movies (having said that, by the time I saw Jurassic Park, I’d already seen two Terminators, two Aliens, and An American Werewolf in London, but you know what I mean). So the increasing love for Jurassic Park – and an even higher ranking for Back to the Future - kinda makes me feel I’ve come of age (although Ghostbusters is way too low).

And – finally – superhero movies. A common critique of modern Hollywood is that it's just one cape movie after another and one day soon we're all going to get sick of them (despite the fact that the three big comic book movies we've had so far this year have been a neo-Western, a sci-fi space odyssey, and a mythological war movie, which all seem fairly distinct genres to me). And how many "proper" comic book adaptations are represented? Four. And only one of those is really in the top end of the list (The Dark Knight, which really does seem to be securing "Citizen Kane of superhero movies" status). Unsurprisingly, film fans love good superhero stories, but also love good stories of extra-terrestrials, samurai, ghosts, gangsters, gladiators, and romantics – and loads more besides. Superheroes are no more likely to destroy Hollywood than adaptations of 1960s TV shows were back in the nineties.

So those are my big takeaways. I could have written more – the fact that Lord of the Rings endures, that Tarantino remains popular, that there are a pleasing number of classic films, that there aren't really many romcoms – but then I'd be here all day. I love the Empire lists because they straddle that awesome line between populism and artistry; Empire readers are unafraid to say that their favourite films include stuff like Jurassic Park, or Forrest Gump, or Return of the Jedi, but at the same time stuff like The Godfather, Seven Samurai, Casablanca, and The Shawshank Redemption are up there. Brand new films like La La Land and Arrival are recognised, but sufficiently far down the list that one suspects their popularity isn’t just based on proximity; they’re burning bright, but not suspiciously brightly. There are lots of 80s classics, because of the age of the audience. In short, it’s exactly what I’d expect a list voted for by Empire readers to look like. I’d seen 87 of the films – falling short mostly on a handful of classics I’ve not got round to, as well as the most recent films that I didn’t manage to catch at the cinema in the last year or so. I think I’ll try to see those remaining 13 films before Empire next has a Top 100.

#empire magazine #empire 100 greatest movies #films #movies #lists

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