Dave Tompkins :: DVD Library :: AFI Series :: 100 Thrills


(text-only version)

1.  Psycho (1960)

A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother.

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2.  Jaws (1975)

When a gigantic great white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist and grizzled fisherman set out to stop it.

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3.  The Exorcist (1973)

When a teenager is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.

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4.  North by Northwest (1959)

A hapless New York advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pursued across the country while he looks for a way to survive.

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5.  The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

A young FBI cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims.

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6.  Alien (1979)

A mining ship, investigating a suspected SOS, lands on a distant planet. The crew discovers some strange creatures and investigates.

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7.  The Birds (1963)

A wealthy San Francisco playgirl pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people there in increasing numbers and with increasing viciousness.

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8.  The French Connection (1971)

A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection.

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9.  Rosemary's Baby (1968)

A young couple move into a new apartment, only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins controlling her life.

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10.  Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Archeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the US government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis.

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11.  The Godfather (1972)

The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.

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12.  King Kong (1933)

A film crew goes to a tropical island for an exotic location shoot and discovers a colossal giant gorilla who takes a shine to their female blonde star.

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13.  Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

A somewhat romantized account of the career of the notoriously violent bank robbing couple and their gang.

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14.  Rear Window (1954)

A wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

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15.  Deliverance (1972)

Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a river-rafting trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.

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16.  Chinatown (1974)

A private detective investigating an adultery case stumbles on to a scheme of murder that has something to do with water.

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17.  The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

A former Korean War POW is brainwashed by Communists into becoming a political assassin. But another former prisoner may know how to save him.

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18.  Vertigo (1958)

A San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.

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19.  The Great Escape (1963)

Several hundred Allied POWs plan a mass escape from a German POW camp.

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20.  High Noon (1952)

A marshall, personally compelled to face a returning deadly enemy, finds that his own town refuses to help him.

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21.  A Clockwork Orange (1971)

In future Britain, charismatic delinquent Alex DeLarge is jailed and later volunteers for an experimental aversion therapy developed by the government in an effort to solve society's crime problem... but not all goes to plan.

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22.  Taxi Driver (1976)

A mentally unstable Vietnam war veteran works as nighttime taxi driver in a city whose perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge to violently lash out, attempting to save a teenage prostitute in the process.

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23.  Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Epic rumination on a flamboyant and controversial British military figure and his conflicted loyalties during wartime service.

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24.  Double Indemnity (1944)

An insurance rep lets himself be talked into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses an insurance investigator's suspicions.

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25.  Titanic (1997)

Fictional romantic tale of a rich girl and poor boy who meet on the ill-fated voyage of the 'unsinkable' ship.

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26.  The Maltese Falcon (1941)

A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.

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27.  Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

Luke Skywalker leaves his home planet, teams up with other rebels, and tries to save Princess Leia from the evil clutches of Darth Vader.

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28.  Fatal Attraction (1987)

A married man's one night stand comes back to haunt him when that lover begins to stalk him and his family.

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29.  The Shining (1980)

A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.

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30.  The Deer Hunter (1978)

An in-depth examination of the way that the Vietnam war affects the lives of people in a small industrial town in the USA.

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31.  Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

A line worker, after a encounter with UFO's, feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.

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32.  Strangers on a Train (1951)

A psychotic socialite confronts a pro tennis star with a theory on how two complete strangers can get away with murder...a theory that he plans to implement.

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33.  The Fugitive (1993)

Dr. Richard Kimble, unjustly accused of killing his wife, must find the real one-armed killer while avoiding Marshal Sam Gerard.

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34.  The Night of the Hunter (1955)

A religious fanatic marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real daddy hid $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.

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35.  Jurassic Park (1993)

Scientists clone dinosaurs to populate a theme park which suffers a major security breakdown and releases the dinosaurs.

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36.  Bullitt (1968)

An all guts, no glory San Francisco cop becomes determined to find the underworld kingpin that killed the witness in his protection.

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37.  Casablanca (1942)

Set in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II: An American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.

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38.  Notorious (1946)

A woman is asked to spy on a group of Nazi friends in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?

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39.  Die Hard (1988)

New York cop John McClane gives terrorists a dose of their own medicine as they hold hostages in an LA office building.

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40.  2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Mankind finds a mysterious, obviously artificial, artifact buried on the moon and, with the intelligent computer HAL, sets off on a quest.

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41.  Dirty Harry (1971)

A San Francisco cop with little regard for rules (but who always gets results) tries to track down a serial killer who snipes at random victims.

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42.  The Terminator (1984)

A human-looking, apparently unstoppable cyborg is sent from the future to kill Sarah Connor; Kyle Reese is sent to stop it.

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43.  The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Dorothy Gale is swept away to a magical land in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return home.

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44.  E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

A group of Earth children help a stranded alien botanist return home.

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45.  Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Following the Normandy Landings, a group of US soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.

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46.  Carrie (1976)

A mousy and abused girl with telekinetic powers gets pushed too far on one special night.

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47.  Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.

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48.  Dial M for Murder (1954)

An ex-tennis pro carries out a plot to murder his wife. When things go wrong, he improvises a brilliant plan B.

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49.  Ben-Hur (1959)

When a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.

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50.  Marathon Man (1976)

A graduate history student is unwittingly caught in the middle of an international conspiracy involving stolen diamonds, an exiled Nazi war criminal, and a rogue government agent.

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51.  Raging Bull (1980)

An emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring, destroys his life outside it.

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52.  Rocky (1976)

A small time boxer gets a once in a lifetime chance to fight the heavyweight champ in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.

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53.  Pulp Fiction (1994)

The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

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54.  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Two Western bank/train robbers flee to Bolivia when the law gets too close.

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55.  Wait Until Dark (1967)

A recently blinded woman is terrorized by a trio of thugs while they search for a heroin stuffed doll they believe is in her apartment.

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56.  Frankenstein (1931)

Horror classic in which an obsessed scientist assembles a living being from parts of exhumed corpses.

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57.  All the President's Men (1976)

Reporters Woodward and Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Nixon's resignation.

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58.  The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.

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59.  Planet of the Apes (1968)

An astronaut crew crash lands on a planet in the distant future where intelligent talking apes are the dominant species, and humans are the oppressed and enslaved.

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60.  The Sixth Sense (1999)

A boy who communicates with spirits that don't know they're dead seeks the help of a disheartened child psychologist.

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61.  Cape Fear (1962)

A lawyer's family is stalked by a man he once helped put in jail.

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62.  Spartacus (1960)

The slave Spartacus leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman empire.

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63.  What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

In a decaying Hollywood mansion, Jane Hudson, a former child star, and her sister Blanche, a movie queen forced into retirement after a crippling accident, live in virtual isolation.

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64.  Touch of Evil (1958)

Stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping, and police corruption in Mexican border town.

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65.  The Dirty Dozen (1967)

A US Army Major is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers in World War II.

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66.  The Matrix (1999)

A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against the controllers of it.

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67.  The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

Fred C. Dobbs and Bob Curtin, both down on their luck in Tampico, Mexico in 1925, meet up with a grizzled...

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68.  Halloween (1978)

A psychotic murderer institutionalized since childhood escapes on a mindless rampage while his doctor chases him through the streets.

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69.  The Wild Bunch (1969)

An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the ''traditional'' American West is disappearing around them.

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70.  Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

A man robs a bank to pay for his lover's operation; it turns into a hostage situation and a media circus.

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71.  Goldfinger (1964)

Investigating a gold magnate's gold smuggling, James Bond uncovers a plot to contaminate the Fort Knox gold reserve.

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72.  Platoon (1986)

A young recruit in Vietnam faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.

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73.  Laura (1944)

A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.

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74.  Blade Runner (1982)

Deckard, a blade runner, has to track down and terminate 4 replicants who hijacked a ship in space and have returned to earth seeking their maker.

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75.  The Third Man (1949)

Arriving in Vienna, Holly Martins learns that his friend Harry Lime, who has invited him, recently died in a car accident.

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76.  Thelma & Louise (1991)

An Arkansas waitress and a housewife shoot a rapist and take off in a '66 Thunderbird.

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77.  Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

The cyborg who once tried to kill Sarah Connor must now protect her teenager son, John Connor, from an even more powerful and advanced cyborg.

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78.  Gaslight (1944)

Years after her aunt was murdered in her home, a young woman moves back into the house with her new husband. However, he has a secret which he will do anything to protect, even if that means driving his wife insane.

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79.  The Magnificent Seven (1960)

An oppressed Mexican peasant village assembles seven gunfighters to help defend their homes.

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80.  Rebecca (1940)

When a naive young woman marries a rich widower and settles in his gigantic mansion, she finds the memory of the first wife maintaining a grip on her husband and the servants.

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81.  The Omen (1976)

An American ambassador learns to his horror that his son is actually the literal Antichrist.

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82.  The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

An alien lands and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.

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83.  The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

A mad, disfigured composer seeks love with a lovely young opera singer.

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84.  Poltergeist (1982)

A family's home is haunted by a host of ghosts.

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85.  Dracula (1931)

The ancient vampire Count Dracula arrives in England and begins to prey upon the virtuous young Mina.

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86.The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
87.  The Thing from Another World! (1951)

Scientists and American Air Force officials fend off a blood-thirsty alien organism while at a remote arctic outpost.

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88.  12 Angry Men (1957)

A dissenting juror in a murder trial slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court.

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89.  The Guns of Navarone (1961)

A British team is sent to cross occupied Greek territory and destroy the massive German gun emplacement that commands a key sea channel.

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90.  The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

A group of passengers struggle to survive and escape, when their ocean liner completely capsizes at sea.

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91.  Braveheart (1995)

William Wallace, a commoner, unites the 13th Century Scots in their battle to overthrow English rule.

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92.  Body Heat (1981)

In the midst of a searing Florida heat wave, a woman convinces her lover, a small-town lawyer, to murder her rich husband.

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93.  Night of the Living Dead (1968)

A group of people hide from bloodthirsty zombies in a farmhouse.

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94.  The China Syndrome (1979)

A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant.

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95.  Full Metal Jacket (1987)

A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow Marine recruits from their brutal basic training to the bloody street fighting set in 1968 Hue, Vietnam.

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96.  Blue Velvet (1986)

After finding a severed human ear in a field, a young man soon discovers a sinister underworld lying just beneath his idyllic suburban home town.

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97.  Safety Last! (1923)

When a store clerk organizes a contest to climb the outside of a tall building, circumstances force him to make the perilous climb himself.

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98.  Blood Simple (1984)

A rich but jealous man hires a private investigator to kill his cheating wife and her new man. But, when blood is involved, nothing is simple.

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99.  Speed (1994)

A young cop must save the passengers of a bus that has a bomb set to explode if the bus goes below 50 MPH.

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100.  The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

When Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a rebel guerrilla army.

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Count: 99 / 100