This summer marks 30 years since Empire first hit the newsstands of Britain and beyond in 1989. Those three decades have been packed with iconic movie masterpieces, spanning genres, emerging from diverse voices, and – most importantly – telling unforgettable stories. That’s 30 years of blockbuster behemoths, trailblazing independents, technological groundbreakers, instant genre classics, and emotionally resonant dramas.

To celebrate 30 years of Empire and 30 years of incredible movies, we put our heads together and debated a year-by-year breakdown of the 30 most iconic films of the last three decades. The one rule? Only one film could represent each year. After much in the way of debate, bust-ups, and impassioned pleas, Team Empire settled on a final list – and every single one of those films can be found across the 30 (yes, thirty) covers of our September 2019 issue. Find out which movies made the cut in the gallery of every cover below.

#1 – Batman (1989, Tim Burton)

#2 – GoodFellas (1990, Martin Scorsese)

#3 – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991, James Cameron)

#4 – Reservoir Dogs (1992, Quentin Tarantino)

#5 – Jurassic Park (1993, Steven Spielberg)

#6 – The Shawshank Redemption (1994, Frank Darabont)

#7 – Toy Story (1995, John Lasseter)

#8 – Scream (1996, Wes Craven)

#9 – Titanic (1997, James Cameron)

#10 – Blade (1998, Stephen Norrington)

#11 – The Matrix (1999, The Wachowskis)

#12 – American Psycho (2000, Mary Harron)

#13 – The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001, Peter Jackson)

#14 – Spirited Away (2002, Hayao Miyazaki)

#15 – Lost In Translation (2003, Sofia Coppola)

#16 – Shaun Of The Dead (2004, Edgar Wright)

#17 – Brokeback Mountain (2005, Ang Lee)

#18 – Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, Guillermo del Toro)

#19 – No Country For Old Men (2007, The Coen Brothers)

#20 – The Dark Knight (2008, Christopher Nolan)

#21 – Avatar (2009, James Cameron)

#22 – Inception (2010, Christopher Nolan)

#23 – Bridesmaids (2011, Paul Feig)

#24 – Avengers Assemble (2012, Joss Whedon)

#25 – Gravity (2013, Alfonso Cuaron)

#26 – Birdman (2014, Alejandro González Iñárritu)

#27 – Mad Max: Fury Road (2015, George Miller)

#28 – Moonlight (2016, Barry Jenkins)

#29 – Get Out (2017, Jordan Peele)

#30 – Black Panther (2018, Ryan Coogler)

As for the subscriber cover, we asked you to pick a film – and you voted overwhelmingly for The Shawshank Redemption, Frank Darabont’s beloved ode to the power of hope. The brilliant Paul Shipper illustrated the film’s most iconic moment exclusively for Empire’s subscriber edition – Andy Dufresne’s moment of escape, kneeling in the rain having broken himself out of the prison that claimed two decades of his life.

Inside the magazine, you’ll find 30 pages dedicated to the films on the list, from Empire archive material, to fresh tributes, interviews and more. Plus, online we’ll be paying tribute to the movies that just missed out, much to the dismay of certain members of the team – but more on that later. For now, scroll through the 30 covers, and work out which one you’ll be hunting down when the magazine hits newsstands on Thursday 8 August.

Want to beat the rush and secure your must-have cover early? You can pre-order the magazine online with free UK p&p here – and if you order five or more covers online, you’ll get 25% off. Thanks for reading – and here’s to 30 more years of Empire, and many more incredible movies still to come.