GREATEST MOVIE POSTERS

GREATEST MOVIE POSTERS

>> TC Candler’s List of the 100 Best Movie Posters of All Time <<

A great movie poster is a hard thing to find. Many posters are cut and paste jobs that don’t sell the movie very well at all. A great poster should intrigue, shock, inspire or excite. It should be aesthetically beautiful & original. Simplicity is a tremendously common theme on this list.  Sometimes, less really is more.  Above all, a movie poster should be so memorable that a single glance will render it instantly recognizable.

I will be tinkering with this list from time to time, adding old posters and new, as I become aware of them.  Please post a message with your suggestions at the bottom of this page.

I also want to thank the millions of people who have visited this list over the past few years.  Featured links from Digg.com, Stumble.com and thousands of other blogs and web pages have made this collection of great movie posters one of the most popular film related pages on the internet.  I also want to thank the many thousands of people who took the time to send in their suggestions and ideas — I tried to personally respond to as many as emails as I could before it became an impossible task.

So without further ado, ranked in reverse order, from 100 to 1, here is the elite list…

(click the images for a high resolution version)
(roll mouse over images for full descriptions)

#100 Nosferatu the Vampyre
#100 Nosferatu the Vampyre
#99 E.T.
#99 E.T.
#98 Boogie Nights
#98 Boogie Nights

#97 Barry Lyndon
#97 Barry Lyndon
#96 The Seven Year Itch
#96 The Seven Year Itch
#95 Angel-A
#95 Angel-A

#94 The 40-Year Old Virgin
#94 The 40-Year Old Virgin
#93 City Lights
#93 City Lights
#92 The Wrestler
#92 The Wrestler

#91 Amelie
#91 Amelie
#90 A Good Woman
#90 A Good Woman
#89 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
#89 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

#88 M.A.S.H.
#88 M.A.S.H.
#87 Brotherhood of the Wolf
#87 Brotherhood of the Wolf
#86 The Hunt for Red October
#86 The Hunt for Red October

#85 I Know Who Killed Me
#85 I Know Who Killed Me
#84 Irreversible
#84 Irreversible
#83 Kill Bill
#83 Kill Bill

#82 The Phantom Menace
#82 The Phantom Menace
#81 Le Divorce
#81 Le Divorce
#80 A Clockwork Orange
#80 A Clockwork Orange

#79 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
#79 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
#78 The Notorious Bettie Page
#78 The Notorious Bettie Page
#77 Office Space
#77 Office Space

#76 Pan's Labyrinth
#76 Pan’s Labyrinth
#75 Papillon
#75 Papillon
#74 Requiem for a Dream
#74 Requiem for a Dream

#73 The Last Detail
#73 The Last Detail
#72 Re-Animator
#72 Re-Animator
#71 Rear Window
#71 Rear Window

#70 Evil Dead 2
#70 Evil Dead 2
#69 Reservoir Dogs
#69 Reservoir Dogs
#68 Barbarella
#68 Barbarella

#67 1000 Convicts and a Woman
#67 1000 Convicts and a Woman
#66 The Exorcist
#66 The Exorcist
#65 Taxi Driver
#65 Taxi Driver

#64 Titanic
#64 Titanic
#63 Apocalypse Now
#63 Apocalypse Now
#62 The Truman Show
#62 The Truman Show

#61 Unfaithful
#61 Unfaithful
#60 Blade Runner
#60 Blade Runner
#59 A.I. Artificial Intelligence
#59 A.I. Artificial Intelligence

#58 The Stalker
#58 The Stalker
#57 Belle de Jour
#57 Belle de Jour
#56 Gun Crazy
#56 Gun Crazy

#55 Captivity
#55 Captivity
#54 Manhattan
#54 Manhattan
#53 The End of the Affair
#53 The End of the Affair

#52 Alien
#52 Alien
#51 Gilda
#51 Gilda
#50 The English Patient
#50 The English Patient

#49 The Descent
#49 The Descent
#48 The Silence of the Lambs
#48 The Silence of the Lambs
#47 Tristana
#47 Tristana

#46 Lolita
#46 Lolita
#45 Breakfast at Tiffany's
#45 Breakfast at Tiffany’s
#44 Perfume
#44 Perfume

#43 Sahara
#43 Sahara
#42 La Dolce Vita
#42 La Dolce Vita
#41 Die Another Day
#41 Die Another Day

#40 The Poseidon Adventure
#40 The Poseidon Adventure
#39 Identity
#39 Identity
#38 L'Avventura
#38 L’Avventura

#37 Magnolia
#37 Magnolia
#36 Lost in Translation
#36 Lost in Translation
#35 Attack of the 50ft Woman
#35 Attack of the 50ft Woman

#34 Rosemary's Baby
#34 Rosemary’s Baby
#33 Rocky
#33 Rocky
#32 42nd Street
#32 42nd Street

#31 The Shawshank Redemption
#31 The Shawshank Redemption
#30 Emmanuelle
#30 Emmanuelle
#29 Raiders of the Lost Ark
#29 Raiders of the Lost Ark

#28 Scarface
#28 Scarface
#27 Sullivan's Travels
#27 Sullivan’s Travels
#26 Walk the Line
#26 Walk the Line

#25 Mean Streets
#25 Mean Streets
#24 The Rocketeer
#24 The Rocketeer
#23 Paris Je T'Aime
#23 Paris Je T’Aime

#22 Lawrence of Arabia
#22 Lawrence of Arabia
#21 Casablanca
#21 Casablanca
#20 The Cooler
#20 The Cooler

#19 Showgirls
#19 Showgirls
#18 Hard Candy
#18 Hard Candy
#17 Fargo
#17 Fargo

#16 Straw Dogs
#16 Straw Dogs
#15 Premonition
#15 Premonition
#14 City Lights
#14 City Lights

#13 Metropolis
#13 Metropolis
#12 Lord of War
#12 Lord of War
#11 Schindler's List
#11 Schindler’s List

#10 2001: A Space Odyssey
#10 2001: A Space Odyssey
#9 Vertigo
#9 Vertigo
#8 Secretary
#8 Secretary

#7 Jaws
#7 Jaws
#6 Anatomy of a Murder
#6 Anatomy of a Murder
#5 Gold Rush
#5 Gold Rush

#4 American Beauty
#4 American Beauty
#3 Pulp Fiction
#3 Pulp Fiction
#2 Chinatown
#2 Chinatown

#1 The Sin of Nora Moran
#1 The Sin of Nora Moran

Thank you to everyone who contributed ideas and links to this page!!!

To see the best and most comprehensive movie poster collection on the internet —
Please visit the IMPAwards!

31 Comments

  1. Jay
    March 20, 2011 at 10:45 pm

    As much as I like the poster to “I Know Who Killed Me”, it totally gave away who the killer is in the first five minutes.

  2. Alex
    February 27, 2011 at 10:48 pm

    FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS

  3. Kira
    February 13, 2011 at 3:57 am

    Did you just pick these at random? Almost none of these are noteworthy.

  4. simon
    February 12, 2011 at 12:05 am

    i like this list. the only glaring omission in my opinion is not having ‘the thing’ on here. Its classic struzan, and a truly iconic poster.

    Also i really like the V for Vendetta poster. But as someone else has mentioned, this is your baby, and i enjoyed browsing. Like the love for the cooler and identity. great posters.

    other posters i love not mention:
    jurassic park
    the good thief
    escape from new work
    the warriors
    they live
    the man who fell to earth
    Superman: the movie (1978)
    star wars
    solaris (1972)

  5. LNB
    February 10, 2011 at 10:14 pm

    These appear to be more genre related than based on artistic merit, e.g. Casablanca is just a composite of studio produced images from the film, nothing special about it. Likewise for The Attack of the 50 Foot Woman–the selection seems to be motivated by representing the style of oddball 50′s science-horror films, which is not particularly very good when compared to Lawrence of Arabia. If you had it to do over again rather than go for the top 100, maybe do it based on genre or type, but its your baby, and I did enjoy looking, even if I did not agree with everything.

  6. KC
    February 3, 2011 at 12:59 am

    I love the knowledge of film history that you have demonstrated with this list. “The Sin of Nora Moran” was a particularly brilliant choice. I also like how you acknowledged the great posters from some less-than-great flicks. Really nice work!

    • TC Candler
      February 3, 2011 at 10:17 am

      Many thanks KC — It has been an ongoing process for years now. Tens of thousands of suggestions and comments. It all leaves this list. I think it is a nice representation of poster history. Thanks for commenting.

  7. Andrew K
    February 2, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    Great list. I loved looking through these. A little surprised that Star Wars New Hope wasn’t included, though I love the Episode I teaser. Also, a very recent one, but Buried where it’s all black except for a box at the bottom with Ryan Renolds, is one of my favorites.

  8. Rolland
    February 2, 2011 at 4:35 pm

    No love for the Empire Strikes Back or Star Wars?

  9. Iain Stewart
    February 2, 2011 at 2:30 pm

    I was surprised that the poster from the first Alien film was not included – they were all over the Paris metro – and the effect was electrifying “Dans l’espace, personne ne vous entend crier”….in space no-one can hear you cry! Chilling !!

  10. +l+
    February 2, 2011 at 7:00 am

    ET poster at 99? It is one of the most iconic and recognizable images from the 80′s. It is a freaking studio logo for god’s sake.

    Also, The Sin of Nora Moran at 1? What a pretentious fuck. What was mostly a good list ends up being shit because you decide you need to try hard to be an obscure douche.

    • TC Candler
      February 2, 2011 at 11:26 am

      The “E.T.” poster is an iconic image, but not particularly skillful in any way. The font is very disappointing — practically a Comic Sans 3rd grade photoshop attempt. And the tagline is dull and unoriginal. Consequently, it falls down the list somewhat.

      As for the choice at #1. It is hardly obscure. It is such a legendary poster. You are the first person to have labeled it as obscure. I grant that the FILM is obscure… but the poster is very famous.

      And I would rather be an obscure douche than an obvious tard.

  11. Ed
    February 2, 2011 at 6:08 am

    A nice collection, but you fail to include a single DREW STRUZAN.

    • TC Candler
      February 2, 2011 at 11:20 am

      I count two by Struzan… “Raiders” and “Blade Runner”.

      • Easyrider
        February 2, 2011 at 3:16 pm

        Struzan did neither of those. He did the promotional art for later releases, but the originals were done by others.

        Blade Runner was by John Alvin.
        Raiders of the Lost Ark was by Richard Amsel.

        I agree with Ed. It’s kind of a shame that Struzan was left off, considering he’s probably the most iconic poster illustrator of the last 50 years.

      • Callum
        February 2, 2011 at 5:45 pm

        Neither of those are by Struzan. Richard Amsel did the Raiders of the Lost Ark poster and John Alvin did the poster for Blade Runner. However, Struzan started doing posters for the Indiana Jones films with Temple of Doom and did a poster for the Blur-ray release of Blade Runner: Final Cut.

    • Struzan Posters
      February 14, 2011 at 12:38 am

      Sahara at #43 is a Struzan!!!

  12. Mel
    January 19, 2011 at 11:26 am

    #87 Brotherhood of the Wolf??

  13. Enrique
    December 22, 2010 at 12:39 pm

    What about Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange”?

    The spanish version is quite good: http://imagenes.estoescine.com/cartel/542.jpg

    (I don’t know if Warner has made a different one for my country and it’s different in the rest of the world)

  14. A Carter
    December 12, 2010 at 6:30 pm

    Great personal list!

    Having the ‘Die Another Day’ teaser one sheet in this list could be excused had it not been for the fact no other James Bond movie poster is included. How about the iconic art from the early Bonds, such as ‘Dr. No’, ‘From Russia With Love’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Thunderball’? Or even the teaser one sheet for ‘The World Is Not Enough’? Just a thought…

  15. ollywalk
    November 23, 2010 at 3:10 am

    This is one of the best lists ever. Very comprehensive. Great page Mr Candler! I would include the poster for “Renaissance” somewhere in that list. But still, this is brilliant stuff.

  16. TC Candler
    February 2, 2011 at 11:20 am

    “The Rocketeer” at #24 is a fantastic poster. Thanks for the mention!

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