Genres or Media
Action
Mad Max 2 (1981) was voted the greatest action film of all time in a readers' poll by American magazine Rolling Stone in 2015.[34]
Die Hard (1988) was voted the best action film of all time with 21 votes in a 2014 poll of 50 directors, actors, critics, and experts conducted by Time Out New York.[35]
Animation (shorts and features)
Pinocchio (1940) was voted the best animated movie ever made in a 2014 poll of animators, filmmakers, critics, journalists, and experts conducted by Time Out.[36][37]
What's Opera, Doc? (1957), a Bugs Bunny cartoon, was selected as the greatest animated short film of all time by 1,000 animation professionals in the 1994 book The 50 Greatest Cartoons.[38]
Hedgehog in the Fog (1975) was ranked number 1 in a poll at the 2003 Laputa Animation Festival where 140 animators from around the world voted for the best animated films of all time.[39][40]
Tale of Tales (1979) was ranked number 1 with 17 votes in a poll at the Olympiad of Animation in 1984 where an international panel of 35 journalists, scholars, festival directors, and animation programmers voted for the best animated films.[41][42] It was also ranked number 1 in a poll organized by the Channel 4 animation magazine Dope Sheet in 1997, as well as a poll organized by the Zagreb International Animation Festival, which announced the results in 2002.[42]
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) was the highest-ranking film in a 2006 poll of the greatest animations conducted at the Japan Media Arts Festival, voted by 80,000 attendees.[43]
Castle in the Sky (1986) was voted first place in a 2008 animation audience poll conducted by Oricon in Japan.[44]
Toy Story (1995) was voted number 1 on the "Top 100 Animated Features of All Time" list by the Online Film Critics Society (published March 2003). Voters chose from a reminder list of more than 350 films.[45] It also topped a poll of 4000 film fans for "greatest animated film of all time" in 2009, when it was re-released in 3D.[46]
Christmas
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) was voted the greatest Christmas film by an audience poll conducted by Axios and SurveyMonkey in 2018.[47]
Die Hard (1988) was voted the greatest Christmas movie by British film magazine Empire readers in 2015.[48]
Comedy
Some Like It Hot (1959) was voted the best comedy film of all time in a poll of 253 film critics from 52 countries conducted by the BBC in 2017.[49]
Blazing Saddles (1974) was voted the funniest movie of all time in a 2014 readers' poll by American magazine Rolling Stone.[50]
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) was voted the greatest comedy of all time in a poll of over 22,000 people conducted by the British TV network Channel 4 in 2006.[51] It was also voted the greatest comedy film in polls conducted by British film magazine Total Film in 2000,[52] and British newspaper The Guardian in 2007.[53]
This Is Spinal Tap (1984) was voted the best comedy movie of all time in a poll of over 70 stand-up comedians, actors, writers, and directors conducted by Time Out London in 2016.[54][55]
Disaster
The Poseidon Adventure (1972) was voted best disaster movie in a poll of 500 members of the UCI Cinemas staff in May 2004.[56]
Documentary
Man with a Movie Camera (1929) was voted the greatest documentary film of all time with 125 votes (100 critics and 25 filmmakers) in a 2014 Sight and Sound poll of 238 critics, curators, and academics (including many documentary specialists) and 103 filmmakers.[57]
Hoop Dreams (1994) was ranked as the greatest documentary of all time by the International Documentary Association (IDA) in 2007. Voters selected from a list of over 700 films.[58]
Bowling for Columbine (2002) heads the list of 20 all-time favorite non-fiction films selected by members of the IDA in 2002.[59]
Fantasy
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) was voted the greatest fantasy movie of all time in a reader's poll conducted by American magazine Wired in 2012, with its sequels The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003) placing fourth and third respectively.[60]
Horror
The Exorcist (1973) was voted the best horror film of all time with 53 votes in a 2012 poll of 150 experts conducted by Time Out London.[61] It was also voted the best horror film with 67 votes in a 2015 poll of 104 horror professionals conducted by HitFix,[62][63] and topped a readers' poll by Rolling Stone magazine in 2014.[64]
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) was ranked number 1 on British film magazine Total Film's 2005 list of the greatest horror films.[65] In 2010 it was voted into first place in an additional Total Film poll of leading directors and stars of horror films.[66]
LGBT
Brokeback Mountain (2005) was ranked as the top LGBT film in a 2016 poll of 28 directors, actors, and screenwriters, conducted by Time Out London.[67][68]
Carol (2015) was ranked as the top LGBT film in a 2016 poll of more than 100 critics, filmmakers, programmers, writers, curators, and academics conducted by the British Film Institute.[69][70]
Musical
West Side Story (1961) was chosen as the best screen musical by readers of British newspaper The Observer in a 2007 poll.[71]
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) was voted the best movie musical by readers of Rolling Stone in a 2017 poll.[72]
Romance
Casablanca (1942) was voted the best romance film of all time with 56 votes in a 1996 poll of 100 experts organized by Spanish film magazine Nickel Odeon [es].[73]
Brief Encounter (1945) was voted the best romance film of all time with 25 votes in a 2013 poll of 101 experts conducted by Time Out London.[74]
Titanic (1997) was voted the most romantic film of all time in a poll conducted by Fandango in February 2011.[75]
Science fiction
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) was voted the best science fiction film of all time with 73 votes in a 2014 poll of 136 science fiction experts, filmmakers, science fiction writers, film critics, and scientists conducted by Time Out London.[76] It was voted the best science fiction film of all time by 115 members of the Online Film Critics Society in 2002.[77] It topped a readers' poll conducted by Rolling Stone magazine in 2014.[78]
Blade Runner (1982) was voted the best science fiction film by a panel of 56 scientists assembled by the British newspaper The Guardian in 2004.[79] In British magazine New Scientist, Blade Runner was voted "all-time favourite science fiction film" in the readers' poll in 2008, with 12 percent of thousands of votes.[80] It topped a 2011 poll by Total Film magazine.[81]
Serenity (2005) was voted the best science fiction movie in a 2007 poll of 3,000 people conducted by SFX magazine.[82]
Silent
Battleship Potemkin (1925) was voted the best silent film with 32 votes in a 1964 poll of 50 Swedish film professionals organized by Swedish film magazine Chaplin [sv].[13]
Sports
Rocky (1976) topped British website Digital Spy's "greatest ever sports movie" online poll in 2012, with 18.7% of the votes. Voters chose from a list of 25 films.[83] It was also voted the best sports movie of all time in a 2020 poll organized by The Athletic. They asked 120 panelists to nominate their favorite sports movies, and then to rate each nomination from 1 to 100. Movies with at least 10 ratings qualified for the final list. Rocky had the highest average rating, 91.04.[84]
Superhero
Superman (1978) was voted the greatest superhero movie in a poll of 1000 British adults conducted by Virgin Media in 2018.[85]
The Dark Knight (2008) was voted the greatest superhero movie in a reader's poll conducted by American magazine Rolling Stone in 2014.[86]
Time travel
Back to the Future (1985) was the most cited film in a 2012 poll, when IndieWire asked 53 critics "What is the best time travel movie ever made?"[87]
War
Saving Private Ryan (1998) was voted as the greatest war film in a 2008 Channel 4 poll of the 100 greatest war films.[88]
Western
Stagecoach (1939) was voted the best western film of all time with 54 votes in a 1996 poll of 100 experts organized by Spanish film magazine Nickel Odeon [es].[89]
Johnny Guitar (1954) was the most cited film in the "Ten Best Westerns" lists of 27 French critics in Le Western.
