Empire's 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time Empire's 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time


143
Cyrano De Bergerac (1991)
Director: Jean-Paul Rappeneau
There’s a moment in this sumptuous 17th century swashbuckler that sums up why the doughy-faced Gérard Depardieu is a star and a sex symbol. Blessed with a fierce talent for both war and words, his Cyrano is also cursed with a nose that precedes him by 15 minutes — so he dares not confess his love for the beautiful Roxane (Anne Brochet). After she asks his help to protect the gorgeous boy she loves, and commends his bravery in recently defeating 100 men, as she rushes out, he mutters, “Oh, I’ve been braver since then,” with such quiet heartbreak in his voice that it’d make a stone weep. The story’s been told many times — as Steve Martin’s Roxanne, The Truth About Cats & Dogs, even Ratatouille — but Rappeneau’s epic is the truest take on Edmond Rostand’s famous play. It may be melodrama, sweeping rather than creeping in its conclusions, but it’s a thing of brash, glorious, poignant emotion. Read Review

142
Almost Famous (2000)
Director: Cameron Crowe
A semi-autobiographical tale about sex, drugs and Rolling Stone based on Cameron Crowe’s teenage memories, this is to rock ’n’ roll what GoodFellas was to gangsters. Read Review


140
As Good As It Gets (1997)
Director: James L. Brooks
With a catalogue of misanthropes and psychopaths filling up his résumé, Jack Nicholson fits the role of brash obsessive-compulsive Melvin Udall like a glove, and it’s his winning depiction of a man fighting his own neurosis that actually humanises it.

141
Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Director: David Hand
Hollywood’s first full-length animated feature, Snow White still works and still whistles. Enough to make ol’ Uncle Walt proud. Read Review


139
Blow Out (1981)
Director: Brian De Palma
Playing like The Conversation with added sound effects, De Palma’s paranoia-packed piece finds John Travolta’s movie-effects technician accidentally capturing audio evidence of an assassination plot. Read Review
About The Poll
This poll was conducted in November 2008. The list was compiled using votes from Empire readers, Hollywood actors, actress and key film critics.
View All 100 Covers
In conjunction with the poll results, we produced 100 individual covers celebrating some of the key films in the list. View 100 Covers
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