Goodfellas (1990)
The Movie: Martin Scorsese's return to the mean streets of gangster chic, via Nick Pileggi's anthropological study of life as a Mob foot-soldier.
Why It Was Loved: "Ever since I was little, I always wanted to be a gangster." Via freeze-frames, voiceover, Steadicam, "funny how?" improvisation, fierce violence and a jukebox full of joy, so did everybody else.
Typical Online Review: "This is the Best film ever made, i know people will disagree but to me it is, just the whole acting from everyone, and just watching makes me want to be a gangsta lol." warby, Yahoo Answers
The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
The Movie: Dorothy is off to see the wizard with her friends. Watch out for flying monkeys.
Why It Was Loved: Surely the most referenced movie of them all, largely because everybody saw it as a kid and has it burned into their consciousness.
Typical Online Review: "the wizard of oz was, is, and forever will be my favorite movie and book series. by the time i was 3, i knew the film by heart. growing up, my room was a huge tribute to the land of oz. i had all sorts of cool stuff: plastic figures of the characters, posters, a stuffed toto, a glinda wand, and even a pair of ruby red slippers (which i never actually wore, just displayed)." runnagirl, Experience Project
The Lord Of The Rings (2001-2003)
The Movie: Middle Earth's in trouble. Quick, Frodo! You'd better carry this ring cross-country for three films while the rest of us enjoy some MASSIVE BATTLES.
Why It Was Loved: How many ways could this have gone wrong? Yet Peter Jackson's respect and ambition bettered the books with barn-storming spectacle and a real emotional grip.
Typical Online Review: "Just watched the special edition of The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy: I didn't know I missed 30 mins of AWE-someness.!!! Darn, have to watch it x times again. ( where x tends to 100)." Kapil Dalwani, Facebook
Blade Runner (1982)
The Movie: Ridley Scott's neon-soaked sci-fi noir dropped moral ambiguity and incredible design like tears in the rain.
Why It Was Loved: Initially for the visionary visuals. Ever since, because each new cut adds grist to the mill of fan debate.
Typical Online Review: "Every time I watch Bladerunner, I find something else that I "missed" the other times I watched it. It is a wonderful film just full of nuances." mudboy, arstechnica.com
Casablanca (1942)
The Movie: You must remember this. Bogart faces up to his wartime responsibilities when Bergman steps into his gin joint.
Why It Was Loved: The definitive film of Golden Age Hollywood, this one has it all - a quote-strewn screenplay, a raft of great character actors and oodles of atmosphere.
Typical Online Review: "Amazing cast, memorable dialogue, unforgettable story. Through this film, Casablanca will always live in my heart and I will think of its characters as family." Rob Stewart, IMDb
Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)
The Movie: Lucas and Spielberg's love letter to serial adventure chucked a giant boulder at Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones and watched him run.
Why It Was Loved: Whipsmart wit and non-stop action help, but really this one's down to Ford's sexy, sarcastic heroism. We simply can't imagine Tom Selleck in the role.
Typical Online Review: "If you don't enjoy this move even remotely you've got serious problems and need to see a neurologist. And if you haven't seen Raiders of the Lost Ark and you're currently ambulatory, what the hell are you waiting for?" Michael G, Rotten Tomatoes
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Movie: Frank Darabont's old-school, slow-burn fable about the power of hope to set you free.
Why It Was Loved: A late discovery for most people, untainted by hype, meaning they forged a personal connection - and were then surprised to discover that's how everybody felt.
Typical Online Review: "I have never yet found a film that tops shawshank, never get bored of watching it, still get totally hooked hoping he'll manage to get out. The scene where red goes to the wall breaks me down everytime and it really has made me realise that life does come down 2 a simple choice and i'd rather get busy living!" Rob Dale, shawshankredemption.net
Back To The Future (1985)
The Movie: Robert Zemeckis' time-travelling crowd-pleaser sees 80s kid Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) end up in 1955 when a customised DeLorean hits 88 miles per hour.
Why It Was Loved: An amazingly well organised screenplay gave multiplex audiences a bit of everything: romance, comedy, SFX and the existential terror of being fancied by your mum.
Typical Online Review: "I love this movie so much, I've watched it a billion times! If you haven't seen it please go rent it right away! This is THE movie of the 80s. It's got it all, comedy, sci-fi, action, suspense, adventure, and it's fun for the whole family too." AJV, Rotten Tomatoes
Star Wars (1977)
The Movie: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… etc, etc.
Why It Was Loved: George Lucas mainlined everything that ever excited us as kids - WW2 dogfights, samurai adventures, Westerns - and raised the bar by setting it IN SPACE and inventing modern FX to make it look like it was really happening.
Typical Online Review: "This movie does not rate a rating. Usually, when I say that, it is because the movie is so bad, or disappointing that I don't have the heart to rate it. But in this case, it far surpasses any 10/10 rating I could give it." Fiendish_Dramaturgy, IMDb
The Harry Potter Franchise (2001-2011)
The Movie(s): A film series that has inspired the same feverishly devoted following as JK Rowling’s loved-by-all-ages novels. While none of the individual movies are arguably 5-star standalone films, when viewed as a whole (seeing the characters grow, returning to Hogwarts term after term, relishing the stalwart supporting cast) the series takes on a, well, magical significance.
Why It Was Loved: There was something supremely comforting about the halls of Hogwarts, with the franchise offering fans a decade’s worth of classic escapist fare, and the faithful rendering of the source material meant the old faithful weren’t alienated.
Typical Online Review: “It is as beautiful a farewell as it can be, packed with visual spectacle on a scale never before seen in any of the other films and fused with the same powerful emotion as Part I and the Yates films before. All good- even great- things have to come to an end, so there is really no better way to bid adieu than with this grand and glorious final chapter.” Moviexclusive, IMDb
