# AFI's 10 Top 10

AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute (AFI), the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008. In the special, various actors and directors, among them Clint Eastwood, Quentin Tarantino, Kirk Douglas, Harrison Ford, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Roman Polanski, and Jane Fonda, discussed their admiration for and personal contributions to the films cited.
The entire list of 500 nominated films is available on the American Film Institute website.
To date, this is the final program in AFI's countdown specials.

## Animation

AFI defines "animation" as a genre where the film's images are primarily created by computer or hand and the characters are voiced by actors. Nine of the films are Disney properties, including two collaborative works with Pixar; the non-Disney selection is DreamWorks Animation's Shrek.
| # | Film | Year |
| 1 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | 1937 |
| 2 | Pinocchio | 1940 |
| 3 | Bambi | 1942 |
| 4 | The Lion King | 1994 |
| 5 | Fantasia | 1940 |
| 6 | Toy Story | 1995 |
| 7 | Beauty and the Beast | 1991 |
| 8 | Shrek | 2001 |
| 9 | Cinderella | 1950 |
| 10 | Finding Nemo | 2003 |

## Courtroom drama

AFI defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice plays a critical role in the film's narrative.
| # | Film | Year |
| 1 | To Kill a Mockingbird | 1962 |
| 2 | 12 Angry Men | 1957 |
| 3 | Kramer vs. Kramer | 1979 |
| 4 | The Verdict | 1982 |
| 5 | A Few Good Men | 1992 |
| 6 | Witness for the Prosecution | 1957 |
| 7 | Anatomy of a Murder | 1959 |
| 8 | In Cold Blood | 1967 |
| 9 | A Cry in the Dark (a.k.a. Evil Angels) | 1988 |
| 10 | Judgment at Nuremberg | 1961 |

## Epic

AFI defines "epic" as a genre of large-scale films set in a cinematic interpretation of the past.
| # | Film | Year |
| 1 | Lawrence of Arabia | 1962 |
| 2 | Ben-Hur | 1959 |
| 3 | Schindler's List | 1993 |
| 4 | Gone with the Wind | 1939 |
| 5 | Spartacus | 1960 |
| 6 | Titanic | 1997 |
| 7 | All Quiet on the Western Front | 1930 |
| 8 | Saving Private Ryan | 1998 |
| 9 | Reds | 1981 |
| 10 | The Ten Commandments | 1956 |

## Fantasy

AFI defines "fantasy" as a genre in which live-action characters inhabit imagined settings and/or experience situations that transcend the rules of the natural world.
| # | Film | Year |
| 1 | The Wizard of Oz | 1939 |
| 2 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | 2001 |
| 3 | It's a Wonderful Life | 1946 |
| 4 | King Kong | 1933 |
| 5 | Miracle on 34th Street | 1947 |
| 6 | Field of Dreams | 1989 |
| 7 | Harvey | 1950 |
| 8 | Groundhog Day | 1993 |
| 9 | The Thief of Bagdad | 1924 |
| 10 | Big | 1988 |

## Gangster

AFI defines the "gangster film" as a genre that centers on organized crime or maverick criminals in a modern setting.
| # | Film | Year |
| 1 | The Godfather | 1972 |
| 2 | Goodfellas | 1990 |
| 3 | The Godfather Part II | 1974 |
| 4 | White Heat | 1949 |
| 5 | Bonnie and Clyde | 1967 |
| 6 | Scarface | 1932 |
| 7 | Pulp Fiction | 1994 |
| 8 | The Public Enemy | 1931 |
| 9 | Little Caesar | 1931 |
| 10 | Scarface | 1983 |

## Mystery

AFI defines "mystery" as a genre that revolves around the solution of a crime. Four of the films were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
| # | Film | Year |
| 1 | Vertigo | 1958 |
| 2 | Chinatown | 1974 |
| 3 | Rear Window | 1954 |
| 4 | Laura | 1944 |
| 5 | The Third Man | 1949 |
| 6 | The Maltese Falcon | 1941 |
| 7 | North by Northwest | 1959 |
| 8 | Blue Velvet | 1986 |
| 9 | Dial M for Murder | 1954 |
| 10 | The Usual Suspects | 1995 |

## Romantic comedy

AFI defines "romantic comedy" as a genre in which the development of a romance leads to comic situations.
| # | Film | Year |
| 1 | City Lights | 1931 |
| 2 | Annie Hall | 1977 |
| 3 | It Happened One Night | 1934 |
| 4 | Roman Holiday | 1953 |
| 5 | The Philadelphia Story | 1940 |
| 6 | When Harry Met Sally... | 1989 |
| 7 | Adam's Rib | 1949 |
| 8 | Moonstruck | 1987 |
| 9 | Harold and Maude | 1971 |
| 10 | Sleepless in Seattle | 1993 |

## Science fiction

AFI defines "science fiction" as a genre that marries a scientific or technological premise with imaginative speculation.
| # | Film | Year |
| 1 | 2001: A Space Odyssey | 1968 |
| 2 | Star Wars | 1977 |
| 3 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | 1982 |
| 4 | A Clockwork Orange | 1971 |
| 5 | The Day the Earth Stood Still | 1951 |
| 6 | Blade Runner | 1982 |
| 7 | Alien | 1979 |
| 8 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day | 1991 |
| 9 | Invasion of the Body Snatchers | 1956 |
| 10 | Back to the Future | 1985 |

## Sports

AFI defines "sports" as a genre of films with protagonists who play athletics or other games of competition.
| # | Film | Year |
| 1 | Raging Bull | 1980 |
| 2 | Rocky | 1976 |
| 3 | The Pride of the Yankees | 1942 |
| 4 | Hoosiers | 1986 |
| 5 | Bull Durham | 1988 |
| 6 | The Hustler | 1961 |
| 7 | Caddyshack | 1980 |
| 8 | Breaking Away | 1979 |
| 9 | National Velvet | 1944 |
| 10 | Jerry Maguire | 1996 |

## Western

AFI defines "western" as a genre of films set in the American West that embodies the spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier. Actor John Wayne has lead roles in three of the ten films.
| # | Film | Year |
| 1 | The Searchers | 1956 |
| 2 | High Noon | 1952 |
| 3 | Shane | 1953 |
| 4 | Unforgiven | 1992 |
| 5 | Red River | 1948 |
| 6 | The Wild Bunch | 1969 |
| 7 | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | 1969 |
| 8 | McCabe & Mrs. Miller | 1971 |
| 9 | Stagecoach | 1939 |
| 10 | Cat Ballou | 1965 |