The Best Movie That Came Out the Year You Graduated, According to Critics
Based on Rotten Tomatoes scores, these are the greatest movies from 1950 to 2019.
We all have our personal favorites when it comes to the movies we grew up with, and we might not always agree with the critics. After all, sometimes a movie with great reviews just isn't for you, and other times you find that a critically reviled movie is close to your heart. Still, review aggregator sites like Rotten Tomatoes offer a general consensus, and with their annual breakdown of top-rated movies, we can discover the best movie every year, at least according to critics.
To compile our list, we narrowed it down to the years 1950 through 2019. It's important to note that the top-rated movie for any given year on Rotten Tomatoes may not be the movie with the highest score overall; these scores are weighted by the number of reviews a film received, and the critics who wrote them. We also limited our list to movies that got a wide release in U.S. theaters that year.
With that in mind, take a look at what critics decided was the best movie of the year when you graduated high school—and every year before and after. See if any of your favorites made the cut. And for a look at how more beloved films stack up, we're Ranking Every Disney Animated Movie, From Worst Reviewed to Best.
1950: All About Eve
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99 percent
And for movies the critics weren't as kind to, These Are the Movies on Rotten Tomatoes With 0 Percent Ratings.
1951: A Streetcar Named Desire
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
1952: Singin' in the Rain
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100 percent
And to see how more modern movies got scored, we're Ranking Every Marvel Movie, From Worst Reviewed to Best.
1953: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
1954: Rear Window
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99 percent
And for more classic films that capture the season, these are The 20 Best Summer Movies of All Time.
1955: The Night of the Hunter
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99 percent
1956: Seven Samurai
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100 percent
1957: 12 Angry Men
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100 percent
And for another walk down memory lane, revisit these 40 Movies Turning 40 This Year.
1958: Touch of Evil
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95 percent
1959: North by Northwest
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99 percent
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1960: Psycho
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96 percent
1961: Breathless
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97 percent
1962: Lawrence of Arabia
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
1963: 8 1/2
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
1964: A Hard Day's Night
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
1965: Repulsion
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95 percent
1966: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95 percent
1967: The Battle of Algiers
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99 percent
1968: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Rotten Tomatoes score: 92 percent
1969: Midnight Cowboy
Rotten Tomatoes score: 89 percent
1970: Patton
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94 percent
1971: The Last Picture Show
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100 percent
1972: The Godfather
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
1973: Playtime
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
1974: Chinatown
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99 percent
1975: Jaws
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
1976: Taxi Driver
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96 percent
1977: Annie Hall
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
1978: Halloween
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96 percent
1979: Alien
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
1980: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94 percent
1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95 percent
1982: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
1983: The Right Stuff
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96 percent
1984: The Terminator
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100 percent
1985: Ran
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97 percent
1986: Aliens
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97 percent
1987: The Princess Bride
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97 percent
1988: Big
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97 percent
1989: Henry V
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100 percent
1990: Goodfellas
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96 percent
1991: The Silence of the Lambs
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96 percent
1992: Unforgiven
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96 percent
1993: Schindler's List
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97 percent
1994: Three Colors: Red
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100 percent
1995: Toy Story
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100 percent
1996: Fargo
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94 percent
1997: L.A. Confidential
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99 percent
1998: The Truman Show
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95 percent
1999: Toy Story 2
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100 percent
2000: Chicken Run
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97 percent
2001: Monsters, Inc.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96 percent
2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95 percent
2003: Finding Nemo
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99 percent
2004: The Incredibles
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97 percent
2005: Murderball
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
2006: Casino Royale
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95 percent
2007: Ratatouille
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96 percent
2008: The Dark Knight
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94 percent
2009: Up
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
2010: Toy Story 3
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
2011: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96 percent
2012: Argo
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96 percent
2013: Gravity
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96 percent
2014: Boyhood
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97 percent
2015: Mad Max: Fury Road
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97 percent
2016: Moonlight
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
2017: Lady Bird
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99 percent
2018: Black Panther
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98 percent
2019: Parasite
Rotten Tomatoes score: 99 percent
