IMDb’s Top 250 and the Oscar nominees for Best Picture are both great ways to find some of the best movies of all time. Many high-ranked movies on IMDb were also Best Picture nominees, but plenty of non-nominees are ranked high as well. This shows that movie fans and the Academy don’t think exactly alike.
Some of these non-nominees are classic films that were surprisingly snubbed at the Oscars. Others are films that were loved by audiences but weren’t typical Oscar-fare. A few of the movies did get some Awards season attention, just not Best Picture.
Spirited Away (2001) – 8.5
Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away follows a girl named Chihiro who discovers a bathhouse for spirits after her parents are turned into pigs. She then must figure out how to get home and help her parents return to normal.
The film ranks 28th all-time on IMDb. It’s the highest-ranked animated film on the site, less than 10 spots ahead of The Lion King. It also won Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards. It’s often considered one of Studio Ghibli’s best by fans, and the character No Face has become one of Ghibli’s most recognizable. Spirited Away is the highest-rated animated film on HBO Max, according to IMDb.
Interstellar (2014) – 8.5
Interstellar was Christopher Nolan’s first movie after the completion of his Dark Knight Trilogy. It stars Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway as astronauts who must search for a new planet for humans when Earth is used up.
The film ranks 27th all-time on IMDb. While it didn’t receive a Best Picture nomination, it still had five nominations at the 87th Academy Awards, winning for Best Visual Effects. While not as highly regarded as Nolan’s films The Dark Knight or Inception, it’s still thought of by many as another Nolan classic. Jessica Chastain’s character Murphy is also considered the best character of the film.
City Of God (2002) – 8.6
City of God is the second-highest-ranked international feature on IMDb. The Brazilian film was directed by Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund. It follows a young man named Rocket who lives in the Rio de Janeiro favela known as the City of God. Navigating the drugs and crime of the area, Rocket becomes a photographer, taking rare inside-look photos for a journalist.
The film ranks 22nd in the Top 250. Future Hollywood star Alice Braga plays the supporter role of Angelica in the movie. City of God was nominated for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing. Despite the director and screenplay nominations, it surprisingly didn’t receive a nomination for Best International Feature.
Se7en (1995) – 8.6
David Fincher’s gritty crime thriller Se7en stars Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt as two detectives tracking down a serial killer. Freeman’s character is a veteran on the verge of retirement, while Pitt’s character is the brash, younger detective. Their suspect, John Doe, plans seven murders based on sloth, greed, gluttony, lust, pride, rage, and envy.
The film ranks 20th on IMDb. Despite a push for Oscar attention, the film only received one nomination at the Academy Awards. The film is well known for its shocking ending, and for Brad Pitt’s line, “What’s in the box?”
Seven Samurai (1954) – 8.6
Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is the highest-ranked international feature in the Top 250. After a village of mostly farmers overhears a group of bandits planning to return and attack, the villagers hire seven samurai warriors to defend them. The samurai also train the villagers how to fight back.
The film is 19th all-time on IMDb. Kurosawa’s story has been remade or referenced in other works, most notably The Magnificent Seven. It also influenced many filmmakers, George Lucas among them. Both The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian featured Seven Samurai-inspired episodes.
The Matrix (1999) – 8.7
Lana and Lilly Wachowski’s The Matrix is often celebrated as one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time. The film follows Neo, a computer hacker who discovers that his world isn’t real, but it is just a computer program called the Matrix. He then joins with the survivors of humanity to fight back against the machines who seek to destroy them.
The movie ranks 16th on IMDb. The movie was nominated for Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects, winning all four awards. It also spawned three sequels, numerous video games, and a collection of animated shorts.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) – 8.7
The Empire Strikes Back is often chosen as the best Star Wars film, and IMDb’s rankings are no exception. Directed by Irvin Kershner, the film follows Luke Skywalker as he seeks out further training from Yoda, while Han Solo and Princess Leia try to evade capture by the Empire.
The movie ranks 15th on IMDb. Darth Vader is ranked third on AFI’s Top 100 Villains for his appearance in this movie. The movie received two Oscars and was nominated for two more.
Fight Club (1999) – 8.7
Se7en is not David Fincher’s highest-ranked movie on IMDb, that honor belongs to Fight Club. The film follows a nameless narrator who meets Tyler Durden and starts a fight club with him. Tyler is among the best characters in David Fincher’s films.
The ranks 11th on IMDb. It’s widely known for its twist ending, as well as the line, “The first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club. The second rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club.”
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (1966) – 8.8
The third part of Sergio Leone’s Man with No Name trilogy is The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, which actually takes place before the other two. The movie portrays a square-off between a bounty hunter, a mercenary, and a bandit.
The film ranks 9th on IMDb, with the second film For a Few Dollars More ranked 122nd. The film wasn’t as well-received upon its release, earning no Oscar nominations. Since then, it’s become known as one of the greatest westerns of all time. It also features an amazing score by Ennio Morricone, and it’s the highest-ranked movie on IMDb with music by Morricone.
The Dark Knight (2008) – 9.0
The Dark Knight is the highest-ranked of the seven Christopher Nolan films in IMDb’s Top 250. The sequel to Batman Begins, the film portrays Batman, Commissioner Jim Gordon, and D.A. Harvey Dent all trying to reign in the terror coming from the Joker.
The film sits 4th on IMDb, behind only The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, and The Godfather: Part II. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning for Supporting Actor (Heath Ledger) and Sound Editing. It’s widely considered one of the greatest comic book movies of all time.
