November 17th, 2018 | Updated on August 8th, 2020
There are many movies that we should have seen but may have missed for some or the other reason. This list of Hollywood movies from the last century could well serve as a refresher on classic films.
It deserves to be on every Hollywood buff’s watch-list. We recommend you to check out these 50 Hollywood movies that should be on your watch list on Amazon Prime.
1. The Godfather
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This 1972 movie starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino is the Francis Coppola classic. It should be the top most essential on your list to enjoy the most memorable role by Brando and Pacino ever.
2. Ben-Hur
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This 1959 classic directed by William Wyler is an epic historical drama. The movie depicts war, slavery and revenge.
3. Psycho
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This is a 1960 Alfred Hitchcock psychological thriller. It depicts the psychopathic acts of a deranged character Norman Bates played by Anthony Perkins.
4. Citizen Kane
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This is a 1941 drama film directed by Orson Welles. It depicts the depraved life of a publishing tycoon that you simply cannot afford to miss.
5. Apocalypse Now
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This is a 1979 classic directed by Francis Ford Coppola that is probably the best feature film with Vietnam war as its background.
6. The Shining
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This 1980 horror classic is counted among the few best productions of Stanley Kubric. The film starring Jack Nicholson went to become researchers’ and critics’ favourite after getting bombed first time at the box office.
7. Pulp Fiction
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This 1994 film is directed by Quentin Tarantino. This is among the best movies directed by Tarantino and is reckoned among the all time best.
8. The Shawshank Redemption
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This 1994 film directed by Frank Darabont is based off Stephen King book. The story depicts Shawshank prison and Andy Dufresne’s prison break out played by Tim Robbins.
9. Reservoir Dogs
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This film is the 1992 directorial debut of Quentin Tarantino, who has also scripted the film. This crime thriller made him immensely popular with a huge fan following.
10. 2001: A Space Odyssey
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This is a 1968 science fiction work directed by Kubrik. This film is a complete mindbender that will blow you off.
11. A Clockwork Orange
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This 1971 dystopian crime thriller is yet another mind blowing work of Kubrik starring Malcolm McDowell. The grandeur attached to Kubrik probably owes much to this film.
12. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
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This 1975 film promises to engage the viewers with the antics of a prison convict and his attempts to break free of a psychiatric facility where he is eventually admitted. This Jack Nicholson starrer easily engages the viewers till the end.
13. Schindler’s List
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Steven Spielberg films are a sheer joy to watch. This 1993 work proves it once again. The film is based off the real story of Oskar Schindler, a Nazi Czech businessman who helped 1100 Jews escape the trauma of execution.
14. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
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This 1993 thriller starring Johnny Depp depicts the interesting dilemma of a young man caught between family and love.
15. Requiem For A Dream
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This is a 2000 movie directed by Darren Aronofsky show cases the struggles of a group of friends battling against drug addiction.
16. The Deer Hunter
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This 1978 epic war drama was directed and directed by Michael Cimino. Set in the backdrop of the Vietnam War, the movie characters include a host of excellent actors including Christopher Walken and Robert de Niro.
17. The Exorcist
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This 1973 movie is based off a novel written by William Peter Blatty and directed by William Friedkin. It is reckoned among the top horror films of all time.
18. Network
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This 1976 satirical film is directed by Sidney Lumet and written b Paddy Chayefsky. The film raises questions over the unethical ways of a television network company.
19. Raging Bull
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This is a 1980 biopic of a middle weight boxer directed by Martin Scorsese. This biographical black and white sports story poignantly brings out the life of the boxer whose character is played by Rober De Niro.
20. The Great Dictator
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This is a 1940 Charlie Chaplin film that hardly needs an introduction. It is a political satire and comedy film by Charlie Chaplin who has written, directed and produced it.
21. Birdman
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This film is a black comedy starring Michael Keaton that has been directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. The film is about an actor and his struggles to show a Broadway play.
22. The Guns of Navarone (1961)
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This is a 1961 adventure film based on war directed by J. Lee Thompson. It is the story of tough Greek soldiers assigned to an impossible mission on the Aegean island with the support of guerilla fighters.
23. The Grand Budapest Hotel
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This 2014 movie is a great work of art directed by Wes Anderson. This must be on any one’s watch-list for the sheer brilliance of acting and cinematography.
24. Life Is Beautiful
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Roberto Benigni has both directed and starred in this 1997 film. It is about the tragic comedy that a father and son undergo life as Jewish prisoners in the Nazi camps.
25. Fargo
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This is 1996 venture of Coen as its director. The storyline is interesting with the central character Jerry who gets his wife abducted to extract the ransom from his father-in-law. With several twists and turns, the plan doesn’t work.
26. To Kill A Mockingbird
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This 1962 film is a Gregory Peck starrer directed by Rober Mulligan. The movie showcases the fight against racial injustices.
27. Taxi Driver
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This is a 1976 Robert De Niro starrer film shows the strong character of a taxi driver, who is a Vietnam veteran and ex-Marine. He comes as a savior for a young prostitute who is rescued from her pimp.
28. The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (1920)
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This is a 1920 film from the silent film era directed by Robert Wiene. This creepy film depicts strange events surrounding Dr Caligari.
29. There Will Be Blood
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This is a 2007 film starring Daniel Day-Lewis. The movie depicts the huge ambitions of an oil tycoon towards monopoly.
30. Interview With A Vampire
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This 1994 film is based off Anne Rice novel. It depicts an amazing story of a vampire. The vampire eventually comes to terms with the fate he is destined with.
31. American Beauty
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This 1999 film is directed by Sam Mendes. The protagonist of the story is a sexually deviant suburban father of a girl who undergoes midlife crisis as a result of an infatuation he experiences with his daughter’s best friend.
32. Mystic River
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This amazing 2003 film directed by Clint Eastwood highlights the karmic links through a groups of childhood friends who experience several tragic events but eventually reunite after the fate throws them in myriad directions.
33. The Pianist
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This 2002 film starring Adrien Brody is directed by Rman Polanski. The protagonist is a gifted pianist who tries to survive the holocaust.
34. Rosemary’s Baby
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This is a 1968 film directed by Roman Polansky. The protagonist (Mia Farrow) is a pregnant woman. She is surrounded by her satanic neighbors who want the baby to be Anti-Christ. Her husband (John Cassavetes) is a partner in crime in collusion with the neighbors.
35. 12 Angry Men
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This is a 1957 classic directed by Sidney Lumet. The film depicts a 12 member jury that decides the murder case involving a young boy at a time when racial prejudice was high.
36. Gladiator
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Gladiator is a 2000 film directed by Ridley Scott. Russell Crowe performs the role of a Roman general turned gladiator, whose fight for freedom is the crux of the story.
37. Eternal Sunshine Of A Spotless Mind
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This 2004 science-fiction comedy drama is directed by Michel Gondry. The story revolves around a couple who have their memories erased clinically. Eventually they reunite.
38. Star Wars Series
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Beginning 1977, Star Wars films have been released at frequent intervals. The saga owes its production to George Lucas. Here’s the correct order to watch them. Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983), The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002), Revenge of the Sith (2005), The Clone Wars Movie (2008), The Force Awakens (2015) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016).
39. Forrest Gump
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This is a 1994 movie depicting the extraordinary journey through love, life, and war of a low IQ person named Forrest played by Tom Hanks.
40. Nil By Mouth
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This 1997 film is the directorial debut of Gary Oldman, who has also scripted the film. The film depicts the life of a family in London.
41. Chinatown
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This 1974 film is another directorial venture from Roman Polanski. This is the story of detective with special interest in matrimonial cases. He’s assigned to spy on the builder of the city’s water system by his wife, Mrs. Mulwray. When Mr. Mulwray dies, the detective finds himself distraught.
42. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
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This is a 1966 suspense thriller directed by Sergio Leone. The film revolves around the story of two hunters joining in an unholy alliance pitched against the third. All of them are after a treasure trove of gold buried in a remote location.
43. The Lord OF The Rings Series
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Based off high fantasy novel series by J. R. R. Tolkien, the series consists of three films beginning 2001. They are The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). Produced by WingNut films, they are a New Zealand-American venture.
44. Dog Day Afternoon
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This 1975 film is an American crime drama. The writer is Frank Pierson while it is directed by sidney Lumet. The story is about a man who robs a bank to pay for the operation of his beloved based off a real story. The robber’s role is played by Al Pacino.
45. Burn After Reading
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This 2008 black comedy film is Ethan Coen directed, written and produced work. The story will have you in splits when you learn how two unscrupulous friends attempt to blackmail a CIA agent having discovered a mysterious disk having information on the agent.
46. No Country For Old Men
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This is a 2007 neo-Western thriller co-directed and scripted by Joel and Ethan Coen. The story has several twists and turns following a drug deal having gone wrong.
47. Fight Club
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This 1999 film starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Meat Loaf is directed by David Fincher. The story surrounds and insomniac office worker who forms an underground fight club in collusion with a soap maker.
48. The Wrestler
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This is a 2008, Darren Aronofsky directed film. Mickey Rourke plays the central character of the wrestler, who finds the struggle after retirement real tough.
49. Donnie Darko
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This 2001 American science fiction thriller is Richard Kelly directed and written. The story revolves around a troubled teenager who sights through visions a man in a large rabbit suit. Although he escapes a strange accident, he is led to commit a series of crimes.
50. Rear Window
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This 1954 thriller is Alfred Hitchcock directed film starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly. The story follows a wheel-chair bound photographer, who is convinced one of his neighbors has committed the crime of murder after he spies them from his window.
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