In the September 2019 issue of Empire, we celebrate 30 years of being on your local newsstand by naming the 30 films that have defined the three decades of Empire’s lifetime – and we gave each one its own special cover. The one rule: there could only be one film from each year. It was a tough task whittling down the 30 list – so we thought we’d throw it over to you readers too, asking you to name one film for every year between 1989 and 2018 that you love, that has resonated with you, stayed with you, become a perennial favourite, or bowled you over with impeccable craft.
You responded in your thousands – and we trawled through the results to work out your top picks for each year. For half of those years, you chose the same films as Team Empire – but you also deviated across plenty of them too. Take a look through the gallery to see the full list of results, and read on for a breakdown of your choices.
The 30 Films That Define The Last 30 Years – Empire Readers’ Vote
1 of 301989: Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (Steven Spielberg)
The trilogy-capper that brought in Sean Connery as Indy's dear old dad.Empire's pick: BatmanBuy now on Amazon
2 of 301990: Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese)
The movie that, as far back as you can remember, made you want to be a gangster.Empire's pick: GoodfellasBuy now on Amazon
3 of 301991: TIED – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron) and Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow)
The time-traveling sci-fi saga is the immovable object that met the unstoppable force of the surfing crime favourite.Empire's pick: Terminator 2: Judgment DayBuy T2 now on Amazon. Buy Point Break now on Amazon.
4 of 301992: Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino)
The film that introduced the voice of QT – and inspired decades of cinema to come.Empire's pick: Reservoir DogsBuy now on Amazon
5 of 301993: Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg)
After careful consideration, you decided to endorse Spielberg's park.Empire's pick: Jurassic ParkBuy now on Amazon
6 of 301994: Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino)
The one where QT outdid himself – and for the second time in three years gave the medium an almighty (five dollar) shake.Empire's pick: The Shawshank RedemptionBuy now on Amazon
7 of 301995: Toy Story (John Lasseter)
The friendship between Woody, Buzz, and everyone who watches them will never die.Empire's pick: Toy StoryBuy now on Amazon
8 of 301996: Fargo (The Coen Brothers)
Warm and friendly characters meet ice-cold murders in the Coens' frosty favourite.Empire's pick: ScreamBuy now on Amazon
9 of 301997: L.A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson)
Your love of the James Ellroy adaptation was far from confidential – even beating out James Cameron's epic disaster movie.Empire's pick: TitanicBuy now on Amazon
10 of 3039) Saving Private Ryan
1998The sheer bludgeoning, blood-spilling, visceral power of its Omaha Beach, D-Day-landing opening act ensured that Spielberg's fourth World War II movie set the standard for all future battle depictions. Its shaky-staccato-desaturated style (courtesy of Janusz Kaminski's ingenious cinematography) — newsreel made cinema — has been oft-copied, but rarely bettered.Read Empire's review of Saving Private RyanBuy the film here
11 of 301999: The Matrix (The Wachowskis)
Fight Club put up a good, er, fight, but The Matrix dodged every punch thrown to take the top spot.Empire's pick: The MatrixBuy now on Amazon
12 of 302000: Gladiator (Ridley Scott)
Are you not entertained? Well, you obviously were by Ridley's swords-and-sandals behemoth. Empire's pick: American PsychoBuy now on Amazon
13 of 302001: The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (Peter Jackson)
The fellowship had Aragorn's sword, Legolas' bow, Gimli's axe – and your votes.Empire's pick: Fellowship Of The RingBuy now on Amazon
14 of 302002: The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (Peter Jackson)
The second Middle-earth instalment topped the list too – though we're still checking to see if Smeagol and Gollum voted separately.Empire's pick: Spirited AwayBuy now on Amazon
15 of 302003: The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (Peter Jackson)
Like Frodo, you finished the job and threw all three Rings films into the fires of Mount Of Doom. In a good way.Empire's pick: Lost In TranslationBuy now on Amazon
16 of 302004: Shaun of The Dead (Edgar Wright)
Instead of voting for your favourite film of 2004, you went to the Winchester, had a pint, and waited for all this to blow over.Empire's pick: Shaun Of The DeadBuy now on Amazon
17 of 302005: Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee)
Ang Lee's gorgeously tender cowboy romance triumphed in the reader vote.Empire's pick: Brokeback MountainBuy now on Amazon
18 of 303) Pan’s Labyrinth
Cinema is a banquet – and we picked Guillermo del Toro's astonishing gothic fantasy from the table, before being chased away by the Pale Man.Buy on Amazon
19 of 302007: No Country For Old Men (The Coen Brothers)
Further proof that, deep down, everyone loves Anton Chigurgh's awful bowl haircut.Empire's pick: No Country For Old MenBuy now on Amazon
20 of 302008: The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)
The most popular film on the list, Nolan's epic Gotham crime story gave us a better class of criminal in Heath Ledger's iconic Joker.Empire's pick: The Dark KnightBuy now on Amazon
21 of 302009: Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
That's a bingo! Tarantino's third appearance on the list comes via his revisionist World War II flick. Attendez la crème de la crème.Empire's pick: AvatarBuy now on Amazon
22 of 302010: Inception (Christopher Nolan)
A cerebral action extravaganza so good, it's dreamy. Those of you not trapped in multiple levels of Cillian Murphy's subconscious voted in your droves.Empire's pick: InceptionBuy now on Amazon
23 of 302011: The Raid (Gareth Evans)
The one where a filmmaker from Wales reinvigorated the action genre with a cast of astonishing Indonesian martial artists. Empire's pick: BridesmaidsBuy now on Amazon
24 of 302012: Avengers Assemble (Joss Whedon)
There was an idea. An idea to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. It turned out to be a very, very good idea.Empire's pick: Avengers AssembleBuy now on Amazon
25 of 302013: 12 Years A Slave (Steve McQueen)
Steve McQueen's triple Oscar-winning adaptation of Solomon Northup's harrowing, haunting slave memoir has lost none of its power.Empire's pick: GravityBuy now on Amazon
26 of 302014: TIED – Whiplash (Damien Chazelle) and Guardians Of The Galaxy (James Gunn)
A dead heat between the jazz-thriller, and the proggy comic-book odyssey. Two brilliant films, equally beloved for entirely different reasons.Empire's pick: BirdmanBuy Whiplash now on Amazon. Buy Guardians now on Amazon.
27 of 302015: Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)
What a day! What a lovely day! To watch this action masterpiece all over again!Empire's pick: Mad Max: Fury RoadBuy now on Amazon
28 of 302016: Captain America: Civil War (Anthony and Joe Russo)
Longing. Rusted. Furnace. Daybreak. Seventeen. Benign. Nine. Homecoming. One. Freight Car. Now that the Winter Soldier has been activated, it's time to celebrate Marvel's emotional clash of the titans all over again.Empire's pick: MoonlightBuy now on Amazon
29 of 302017: Get Out (Jordan Peele)
The razor-sharp racial satire that announced a brand new voice in horror – and remains a rollocking genre ride from beginning to end.Empire's pick: Get OutBuy now on Amazon
30 of 302018: Avengers: Infinity War (Anthony and Joe Russo)
Dread it, run from it, Thanos' mighty power grab hits the top spot all the same.Empire's pick: Black PantherBuy now on Amazon
Across the list, three filmmakers emerged as your favourites. First up, Steven Spielberg – you chose The Last Crusade over Empire’s pick of Batman for 1989, you agreed with us that Jurassic Park wins 1993, and voted for Saving Private Ryan over Empire’s pick of Blade for 1998. Also with three films on the list was Quentin Tarantino, winning out in 1992 for Reservoir Dogs, again in 1994 for Pulp Fiction, and for a final time in 2009 with Inglourious Basterds. Finally, Peter Jackson topped the list on three consecutive years – with every Lord Of The Rings film winning out between 2001 and 2003. Of the trilogy, Fellowship proved the most popular and received the most votes.
The most popular film overall was The Dark Knight – which received over 60% of the votes for 2008. If that was a victory for DC movies, Marvel proved the most popular franchise overall – with four MCU movies featuring on the list: Avengers Assemble for 2012, Guardians Of The Galaxy (tied with Whiplash) for 2014, Captain America: Civil War for 2016, and Avengers: Infinity War for 2018. It wasn’t just franchises that won out, though – with visionary original movies and literary adaptations like Fargo, Get Out, Pan’s Labyrinth, Brokeback Mountain, and 12 Years A Slave making the list.
There were two bang-on dead heats – first up, an almighty action clash in 1991, where James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day came up against Kathryn Bigelow’s Point Break. In the battle between Arnie and Keanu, everyone’s a winner. Secondly, James Gunn’s Guardians Of The Galaxy and Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash both received the same number of votes for 2014 – a musical mash-up of frantic jazz drumming and soft-rock jams in one Awesome Mix.
Thanks for taking part and sending us your lists – and here’s to the next 30 years of future classic movies. Head this way to read Empire’s list of the 30 films that have defined the last 30 years.
Empire’s special 30th anniversary edition is on sale now. Take a look through all 30 covers here, and order your favourite cover online here, with free P&P within the UK.