The Ten Best Hollywood Films Of All Time

10- The Elephant Man (1980)

Dir- David Lynch

It is a wonder how easily David Lynch fans forget ‘The Elephant Man’. While it is considered by many as a deeply affecting and humanely moving story of compassion and its various shades, not many hold it up to what the surrealist extraordinaire did in his later years. 

It is actually a shame since ‘The Elephant Man’- a loosely factual story of the real-life Joseph Merrick (Joseph becomes John in this film)- is every bit a Lynch masterwork- a film which shoves both the morbid horror of his life and physicality as well as the magnificent beauty of his eventual redemption at our face and on our senses. Visually too, this is wholly his world, filled with unrelenting dread and yet an overwhelming sense of gritty beauty. The 19th century London that it recreates- armed with master Freddie Francis’ beautifully grimy black and white visuals-is reeking of ugly truths about the nature of life and more. 

Yet, what makes ‘The Elephant Man’ so spectacularly beautiful is that rare thing in Lynch’s canon- hope. It is the cast of beautifully judged performances- including Anthony Hopkins as the well-meaning Dr. Treves and a phenomenal John Hurt as a tortured yet dignified Merrick- that creates characters both truly good and terribly evil and makes sure that this will remain a profound meditation on morality, deformity and death.

9- Apocalypse Now (1979)

Dir- Francis Ford Coppola

Till ‘Apocalypse Now’, war films taught us only two things. War could be glorious and worth the sacrifices. Or it could be real hell, damaging not only people but also their lives for once and for all. And then, Francis Ford Coppola’s epic, dystopian and hard-hitting take on Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart Of Darkness’ nudges open the door to a far disturbing truth- that war creates monsters out of men. 

Few films- actually, no film of this genre- have the power to shock and stun, to both enthral with its epic qualities yet sober with its grave meditations. The odyssey of Captain Willard (a superb Martin Sheen) into the literal heart of darkness amidst the raging Vietnam War is a tale of heart-pounding dread and danger; the world around him and his rag-tag crew is one of violence and death- napalm incinerates jungles, villages are set aflame, women and children are gunned down and the hapless troops themselves are left defending without purpose and direction. Yet, it is only when they reach the end of their journey- to the abode of the deranged Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando, unforgettable) that the real horrors of war begin to surface. 

Shot with the eye of both a poet and an artist by Vittorio Storaro, scored to the chopping blades of helicopter and ‘The Doors’ Oedipal ‘The End’ playing stealthily, ‘Apocalypse Now’ is as thrilling as war dramas can get, even as it busts all the genre rules and emerges as something deeper.

8- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Dir- Steven Spielberg

So much of Spielberg’s career is built upon bringing to life the child inside us, that we almost forget how he brought out the adventure-loving boy inside us all when he kick-started the swashbuckling ‘Indiana Jones’ franchise with this whip-cracking, bullet-paced action romp that remains a classic for ages. 

This is a wonder, since how much ‘Raiders’ actually recycles the firmly entrenched action movie tropes of the past. The exotic locations- Peru, Tibet and Egypt- and the occasional innuendo reek of James Bond, the creepy crawlies and fantastical elements have all the whimsy of Ray Harryhausen while the 1930s setting and the Nazi villains are reminiscent of those enjoyable WW2 yarns of the 60s. But on its own, this remains a spectacularly ripping yarn that harnesses all its energies on a rubber tight, witty plot enlivened by exciting action and stunning effects that have aged equally well along with its hero. In Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones, we also get an action hero of both rippling machismo yet a vulnerable, tender core that makes him so endearingly heroic and worth rooting for. 

The sequels are all good in their outrageous ways (though the last one is pretty weak) but there is no beating the sheer energy of storytelling that Spielberg brought to the gem of that first film.

7- Pulp Fiction (1994)

Dir- Quentin Tarantino

Has any American film given us more cultural touchstones, more memorable quotes, more extraordinary characters than Quentin Tarantino’s endlessly enjoyable gangster caper? The answer will be a resolute ‘No’ (yes, even ‘The Godfather’ can’t beat it). 

With a narrative that is actually made up of nearly half a dozen smaller plots with their own sub-plots and teeming with quirky people, ‘Pulp Fiction’ is too eclectic and avant-garde a piece of entertainment to be called either a gangster thriller or a comedy of manners- hell, it is all that and more. The plot structure is all messed up, the characters are all a bunch of goofs in some way or the other and the conversations they have go on for darn too long. And yet, all this is what drives ‘Pulp Fiction’s pulpy tropes. The dialogue is exceptionally punchy and quote-worthy (yes, you can quote that ‘Ezeikel 25:17’ monologue over and over again), the situations a crazy blend of romantic, outrageous- an adrenalin shot for an overdose- violent and ultimately hilarious. 

Over the years, Tarantino has done different genres and delivered more incredible stuff but ‘Pulp Fiction’ lives on. Even today, you can feel the taste of that hamburger, ‘the cornerstone of every nutritious breakfast’, as Jules Whitfield would say.

6- Taxi Driver (1976)

Dir- Martin Scorsese

Look back 40 decades ago and you will find the sourcebook for any of the recent vigilante movies you might have watched. Except for the fact that ‘Taxi Driver, unlike any of the recent films, never sought to coat Travis Bickle with the air of hero-worship. Rather, it showed us what it was to be lonely and defeated in a chaotic world which seemed to look uglier and meaner at night. 

Its themes of urban decay and loss of innocence are still resonant today but don’t miss the power of Scorsese’s tense, sweltering yet elegiac direction as it gazes solely at its desolate protagonist with a blend of pity and unblinking dread. Travis Bickle, forever immortalized in Robert De Niro’s compulsive, hypnotic and ad-libbed (that mirror scene was his improvised creation) performance, is not just a loner in need of love. He is also a damaged soul back from the war, fighting his own battle with insanity and nihilism in a city that is growing crazy. ‘Taxi Driver’ mirrors the hideous demons of grime, racism and seedy prostitution against the raging terrors of Bickle’s mind. All it takes is Cybil Shepherd’s Betsy and her spurning of his not-so-friendly advances to plunge him down a heart-breaking path of misplaced rage at the world.

Yet, even with the doom all around, Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader also hand our unlikely vigilante a lifeline- in the form of child hooker Iris (Jodie Foster), who brings back his conscience. To see whether he survives the storm is one of the other unforgettable experiences of watching ‘Taxi Driver’- you just can’t look away from how real it is.

5- Psycho (1960)

Dir- Alfred Hitchcock

Some movies leave their imprints a bit too distinctly in almost every second film that comes along. So, if you thought that it was only westerns and ‘The Godfather’ whose elements are recycled in both Hollywood and Bollywood outings, think again. Have not we discovered bloody corpses behind bathroom curtains, time and again in movies?

So, ‘Psycho’ was from where it all started. And that is the deceptive part. Essentially, the initial part of Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece plays out like trademark Hitchcock formula. A blonde office secretary (Janet Leigh) elopes with a stash of cash and hits the road. All the time, Bernard Hermann’s score is playing its menacing beats fiendishly- a cop is tailing her too. Then, she hits upon the desolate Bates Motel for refuge and everything changes, transforming this into something really special.

I would hate to reveal more of what follows. Plot is not what makes ‘Psycho’ so perfect; what makes it so fresh to our senses even today is how it pushed the boundaries of its own formula. It is a plain old murder mystery but is armed with possibly the best, nastiest twist in film history. It is as much about frenzied screams as about Freud. It is as exciting as it is artful and flawlessly crafted.

There is so much detailing to marvel at (the stuffed birds on the walls of Norman Bates’ room), so much horror to gasp at (yes, chocolate sauce does feel like blood) and that climax (can you forget that smile?) still has the power to bring an unearthly chill down the spine. To sum it up, of all classics, there will be none like ‘Psycho’. It is a movie that feels fresh as ever and remains a truly terrifying horror classic for ages. 

4- Schindler’s List (1993)

Dir- Steven Spielberg

Tragedies make us cry. Massacres make us flinch. It is rare to see a film that does a little of both, without ever losing its precision, without ever blowing it out of proportion. In short, it is rare to see an intelligent portrayal of a truly horrific time in history.

And it is rare to see that a director, whom critics would only fault for sentimentalism, outdoes himself with a film that stays so remarkably unsentimental yet totally compassionate. ‘Schindler’s List’ is not just the only- and I am not counting Roman Polanski’s ‘The Pianist’- mainstream portrayal of the horrors of Holocaust that never shies from showing us the dark truth. It is also, most crucially, a stunning story of real-life disaster, death, defeat, despair and ultimately hope- hope coming in the form of the unlikely saviour Oskar Schindler ( a brilliant Liam Neeson) who made many a dirty deal to save Jews from certain death at hands of Nazis.

But there is more to the film that it would suggest for Spielberg admirably never glorifies Schindler or his exploits but rather makes him an enigmatic character whose true motives are never known. It is this that makes ‘Schindler’s List’ so intelligent as a character study- its protagonists are men of both good and evil means but there might not be much of a difference in the way they take their desperate measures to make ends meet.

Let’s not forget-the film’s raw and powerful indictment of the atrocities and horrors of the pogrom (shot grittily in black-and-white for impact) is what also gives a throbbing heart to a brainy film like this. That is its beauty- ‘Schindler’s List’ is razor-sharp intelligent yet accessible, a film which never overstates its emotions yet also remains often shocking and visceral yet endowed with hope for survival and life against all odds. 

3= There Will Be Blood (2007)

Dir- Paul Thomas Anderson

Certain films are more than just limited to their narratives. They tell us more than that. They tell us about the world around us, the truths that we might have left out of our brains but truths we cannot ignore. Truths which matter.

And that has been the practice of Paul Thomas Anderson, a wunderkind who gave us a rollicking party in ‘Boogie Nights’ and a thrillingly epic multi-character drama in ‘Magnolia’ while lamenting the sorry state of relationships, morals and life in a filthy-rich America. In this searing, stunning adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s ‘Oil!’, he goes a step further and exposes the demons that created this ‘get filthy rich’ dictum- essentially the nascent spectre of capitalism that has built the bones of the America we know today.

But then came along master actor Daniel Day-Lewis who took that ghost and brought it to life in larger-than-life fashion, creating a power-hungry oilman who is as much a businessman as much as a bully. Out he goes, his unforgettable Daniel Plainview, to seize everything that is not his, his often amoral exploits giving the edge of a terse, thudding thriller to this extraordinary period piece that turns phenomenally intense with each turn.

Even as it speaks volumes of the obsessions with both money and religion (Plainview’s arch rival is false prophet Eli, played chillingly by Paul Dano), let’s not forget how dramatic ‘Blood’ actually is. We see Plainview as an impenetrable wall of solid, cold-blooded resolve that breaks apart when his only shred of morality has to be ripped apart by his own ambition. Anderson lets it rip from here, making this gritty epic reach an orgasmic conclusion that comes only from a heady dose of life-altering cinema.

2- Goodfellas (1990)

Dir- Martin Scorsese

Some might be wondering: where the hell is ‘The Godfather’ in this list? And I answer you with a simple suggestion. Watch ‘Goodfellas’ and then try telling me if I missed the greatest gangster film of all time.

The truth is that I did not miss it. Whereas Coppola’s soap opera adaptation of Mario Puzo’s bestseller is as stunning as it can be in its faith to the material, Marty’s ‘Goodfellas’ is stunning in its own right. Whereas ‘The Godfather’ is shackled to the source material in every way possible, ‘Goodfellas’ breaks free recklessly and gleefully, even as it stays true to Nicholas Pileggi’s book on Henry Hill and his fellow wiseguys. Whereas ‘The Godfather’ is mostly a tragedy on parenting, family matters and the American Dream, this is a swinging party with everything- roaring comedy, fiery violence and yes, unexpected emotional drama.

But comparisons aside, this is one hell of a triumph of American cinema, a film that sees Marty at the peak of his powers- currying together all his trademark elements along with a searing streak of social commentary that thickens his portrait of Italian-American underworld to a stew of violence, false allegiances and false vanity that constantly spills over. 

Even with these weighty considerations, it is also a hefty, purely hedonistic slice of entertainment. Edited with plastic agility by Thelma Schoonmaker and punctuated with a soundtrack full of classic rock moments, the film revels in its orgies of gore and gab- the deliciously irreverent humour enlivening what is mainly a grim and often dark portrait of crime and criminals. And that cast only makes things more incredible- Ray Liotta as Henry Hill, Robert De Niro as Jimmy Conway and Joe Pesci as an unpredictable Tommy De Vito.

1- Mulholland Drive (2001)

Dir- David Lynch

What defines a good film? Aside from all narrative and histrionic considerations, the main purpose of film has been to astound. A good film is designed to shock, to stun, to amaze, to satiate our hungry senses and to evoke a reaction. By that measure, David Lynch, a true master of light and sound, of image and spoken word, crafted the ultimate sensory experience of all time in this twisted neo-noir set in Hollywood. Gushingly sensuous colors pop at the eye, textures and lights immerse you into an ethereal world and the contrast between ugliness and beauty- between smooth contours and dirty edges- is often surreally stunning.

So much for the sheer sensory pleasures that 'Mulholland Drive' offers. Add to that Angelo Badalamenti's sombre score and a labryrinthine plot of murder and guilt, of love and lust, of the dark and the bright and you get a cinematic experience unlike any other. 

There have been many attempts to decipher the beautifully convoluted narrative- of an attempted murder in the eponymous location and the subsequent romance between Rita (Laura Harring) and aspiring actress Betty (Naomi Watts) even as a cast of disturbingly intriguing characters are plotting something. Mid-way, Lynch twirls the template and foxily turns the narrative on its own head and by now, we are entranced, as much as by the exquisite storytelling as by how much the film tries to tell us on every single viewing.

What is it, really then? Is it a dark portrait of dreams crushed and compromised in   a not-so-glitzy Hollywood? Is it the fevered, wish-fulfillment fantasy of a starlet who has lost more than her innocence? Or is it a horror story full of the demons that plague our better selves? Lynch asks us the questions even as he constantly stuns us to silence, his craft at its finest and most transcendent ever.

What makes a great film? That, in the darkness of the theater, it lets us discover ourselves. 'Mulholland Drive' does that and more. No wonder it tops my list.