The first of the AFI 100 Years… series of cinematic milestones, AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies is a list of the 100 best American movies, as determined by the American Film Institute from a poll of more than 1,500 artists and leaders in the film industry who chose from a list of 400 nominated movies. The 100-best list was unveiled in 1998. A second list was unveiled in 2007.
| AFI Rank (1998) | AFI Rank (2007) | Change (since 1998) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Citizen Kane | 1. Citizen Kane | NO CHANGE |
| 2. Casablanca | 2. The Godfather | 1 |
| 3. The Godfather | 3. Casablanca | 1 |
| 4. Gone With the Wind | 4. Raging Bull | 20 |
| 5. Lawrence of Arabia | 5. Singin’ in the Rain | 5 |
| 6. The Wizard of Oz | 6. Gone With the Wind | 2 |
| 7. The Graduate | 7. Lawrence of Arabia | 2 |
| 8. On the Waterfront | 8. Schindler’s List | 1 |
| 9. Schindler’s List | 9. Vertigo | 52 |
| 10. Singin’ in the Rain | 10. The Wizard of Oz | 4 |
| 11. It’s a Wonderful Life | 11. City Lights | 65 |
| 12. Sunset Boulevard | 12. The Searchers | 84 |
| 13. The Bridge on the River Kwai | 13. Star Wars | 2 |
| 14. Some Like it Hot | 14. Psycho | 4 |
| 15. Star Wars | 15. 2001: A Space Odyssey | 7 |
| 16. All About Eve | 16. Sunset Boulevard | 4 |
| 17. The African Queen | 17. The Graduate | 10 |
| 18. Psycho | 18. The General | NEW |
| 19. Chinatown | 19. On the Waterfront | 11 |
| 20. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest | 20. It’s a Wonderful Life | 9 |
| 21. The Grapes of Wrath | 21. Chinatown | 2 |
| 22. 2001: A Space Odyssey | 22. Some Like it Hot | 8 |
| 23. The Maltese Falcon | 23. The Grapes of Wrath | 2 |
| 24. Raging Bull | 24. E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial | 1 |
| 25. E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial | 25. To Kill a Mockingbird | 9 |
| 26. Dr. Strangelove… | 26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | 3 |
| 27. Bonnie and Clyde | 27. High Noon | 6 |
| 28. Apocalypse Now | 28. All About Eve | 12 |
| 29. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | 29. Double Indemnity | 9 |
| 30. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre | 30. Apocalypse Now | 2 |
| 31. Annie Hall | 31. The Maltese Falcon | 8 |
| 32. The Godfather: Part II | 32. The Godfather: Part II | NO CHANGE |
| 33. High Noon | 33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest | 13 |
| 34. To Kill a Mockingbird | 34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves | 15 |
| 35. It Happened One Night | 35. Annie Hall | 4 |
| 36. Midnight Cowboy | 36. The Bridge on the River Kwai | 23 |
| 37. The Best Years of Our Lives | 37. The Best Years of our Lives | NO CHANGE |
| 38. Double Indemnity | 38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre | 8 |
| 39. Doctor Zhivago | 39. Dr. Strangelove… | 13 |
| 40. North by Northwest | 40. The Sound of Music | 15 |
| 41. West Side Story | 41. King Kong | 2 |
| 42. Rear Window | 42. Bonnie and Clyde | 15 |
| 43. King Kong | 43. Midnight Cowboy | 7 |
| 44. The Birth of a Nation | 44. The Philadelphia Story | 7 |
| 45. A Streetcar Named Desire | 45. Shane | 24 |
| 46. A Clockwork Orange | 46. It Happened One Night | 11 |
| 47. Taxi Driver | 47. A Streetcar Named Desire | 2 |
| 48. Jaws | 48. Rear Window | 6 |
| 49. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves | 49. Intolerance | NEW |
| 50. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | 50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | NEW |
| 51. The Philadelphia Story | 51. West Side Story | 10 |
| 52. From Here to Eternity | 52. Taxi Driver | 5 |
| 53. Amadeus | 53. The Deer Hunter | 26 |
| 54. All Quiet on the Western Front | 54. M*A*S*H | 2 |
| 55. The Sound of Music | 55. North by Northwest | 15 |
| 56. M*A*S*H | 56. Jaws | 8 |
| 57. The Third Man | 57. Rocky | 21 |
| 58. Fantasia | 58. The Gold Rush | 16 |
| 59. Rebel Without a Cause | 59. Nashville | NEW |
| 60. Raiders of the Lost Ark | 60. Duck Soup | 25 |
| 61. Vertigo | 61. Sullivan’s Travels | NEW |
| 62. Tootsie | 62. American Graffiti | 15 |
| 63. Stagecoach | 63. Cabaret | NEW |
| 64. Close Encounters of the Third Kind | 64. Network | 2 |
| 65. The Silence of the Lambs | 65. The African Queen | 48 |
| 66. Network | 66. Raiders of the Lost Ark | 6 |
| 67. The Manchurian Candidate | 67. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | NEW |
| 68. An American in Paris | 68. Unforgiven | 30 |
| 69. Shane | 69. Tootsie | 7 |
| 70. The French Connection | 70. A Clockwork Orange | 24 |
| 71. Forrest Gump | 71. Saving Private Ryan | NEW |
| 72. Ben-Hur | 72. The Shawshank Redemption | NEW |
| 73. Wuthering Heights | 73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | 23 |
| 74. The Gold Rush | 74. The Silence of the Lambs | 9 |
| 75. Dances with Wolves | 75. In the Heat of the Night | NEW |
| 76. City Lights | 76. Forrest Gump | 5 |
| 77. American Graffiti | 77. All the President’s Men | NEW |
| 78. Rocky | 78. Modern Times | 3 |
| 79. The Deer Hunter | 79. The Wild Bunch | 1 |
| 80. The Wild Bunch | 80. The Apartment | 13 |
| 81. Modern Times | 81. Spartacus | NEW |
| 82. Giant | 82. Sunrise | NEW |
| 83. Platoon | 83. Titanic | NEW |
| 84. Fargo | 84. Easy Rider | 4 |
| 85. Duck Soup | 85. A Night at the Opera | NEW |
| 86. Mutiny on the Bounty | 86. Platoon | 3 |
| 87. Frankenstein | 87. 12 Angry Men | NEW |
| 88. Easy Rider | 88. Bringing Up Baby | 9 |
| 89. Patton | 89. The Sixth Sense | NEW |
| 90. The Jazz Singer | 90. Swing Time | NEW |
| 91. My Fair Lady | 91. Sophie’s Choice | NEW |
| 92. A Place in the Sun | 92. Goodfellas | 2 |
| 93. The Apartment | 93. The French Connection | 23 |
| 94. Goodfellas | 94. Pulp Fiction | 1 |
| 95. Pulp Fiction | 95. The Last Picture Show | NEW |
| 96. The Searchers | 96. Do the Right Thing | NEW |
| 97. Bringing Up Baby | 97. Blade Runner | NEW |
| 98. Unforgiven | 98. Yankee Doodle Dandy | 2 |
| 99. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner | 99. Toy Story | NEW |
| 100. Yankee Doodle Dandy | 100. Ben-Hur | 28 |
