50 Best Total Film Features of 2012

Classics from the 1990s

90 reasons the 1990s was arguably the greatest decade in the history of cinema.

The story behind Stars Wars Episode VII

The day after Star Wars Episode VII was announced, we compiled the complete history of a film that's been 35 years in the making.

Iron Man 3 questions

When the Iron Man 3 trailer finally made its debut in October, we examined it in fanboy detail, and found we had more than a few questions…

Best of Bond

In the build up to Skyfall 's release, we compiled all the brilliant Bond moments that have shaken, stirred and killed us over the past half-century.

Valiant women

50 of the most fearless females in cinema history.

Simpsons homages

From Reservoir Dogs to Raiders Of The Lost Ark and everything in between.

Superhero careers

What did our favourite superhero actors do before they pulled on their spandex suits?

Crazy credits

Did you know the credits for Dumb & Dumber are littered with typos? Or that Anchorman is based on actual events?

Skyfall analysis

Skyfall was the biggest film of the year, and a fitting celebration of Bond's 50th year anniversary.

Meddling studios

Studios have a bad rep for interfering with movies during production.

Expenda-girls

When the female Expendables was announced, we couldn't help but cast it, using the exact same template as the boys' version.

Liam Neeson on his own films

When Liam Neeson came into town to promote Taken 2 (and probably to rescue someone from a London-based terror cell), we sat him down to talk about his long a varied career… in four minutes.

Prometheus explained

We walked out of Prometheus with a lot of questions. Thankfully, Ridley Scott answered them for us, via his Blu-ray commentary...

From child stars to adult actors

Aw, look how they've grown…

Amazing auditions

Gerard Butler rocking ridiculous hair in his Dracula 2000 screen-test, Scarlett Johansson trying out for Jumanji , Harrison Ford bellowing some Han Solo lines that didn't make the final cut of Star Wars , plus loads more incredible footage can be found below.

Read 50 Greatest Movie Screentests

Dismal disappointments

The films we were at the front of the queue for, only to tear up our tickets when we came out of the cinema.

Bad ex-boyfriends

Way back in August, we stopped taking calls from this lot.

Tony Scott tribute

One of the saddest events of 2012 was the passing of Tony Scott, a director we've given four / five star reviews throughout his career. We looked back at his best films.

Lundgren looks back

To celebrate the release of The Expendables 2 , we sat down with Dolph Lundgren to discuss his own personal career highlights… in four minutes.

So bad they're hilarious

We celebrate all the truly ridiculous movies that were supposed to be delivered with a straight face.

Life after The Dark Knight Rises

With The Dark Knight Rises in cinemas, we decided to put together a list of all the projects coming soon from the people involved. If only to give us new stuff to look forward to.

Casting the He-Man movie

On 7 August, after hearing the news that a new He-Man movie was in the works, we put together a dream cast, based almost exclusively on how much the actors looked like the original actors.

Justice League movie advice

On 9 August, a Justice League film was announced for a 2015 release.

Batman reboot guide

As Chris Nolan's Batman trilogy wrapped up, we asked our resident Batman geek to explain how the series could carry on.

50 films you have to watch more than once

This feature's definitely worth a second look.

The Amazing Spider-Man best bits

We loved The Amazing Spider-Man , and we ran straight from the cinema to our laptop, to lay out all the best bits.

2012 half-time report

We've already announced our greatest film moments of the year, but if you want an in-depth look at the first 6 months (and why wouldn't you? Avengers , The Muppets , The Cabin In The Woods were all out in the first half of 2012) then check out our comprehensive guide.

Film characters we love

In March we collected all the movie characters we'd like to have as best mates.

Awesome cartoons

Biker Mice From Mars The Movie , anyone? No? How about Pixar's Animaniacs ?

Ultimate film facts

If you're the type of film fan who likes putting together Christmas movie quizzes, we've done the heavy lifting for you…

Stunning comic-book scenes

Kneel before Zod, Wolverine's beserker rage, Jessica Alba as a cowboy stripper, and enough iconic movie moments to make you want to pull on a spandex suit…

Jaw-dropping moments

Puppet sex, magic tricks and Vader's paternity test results…

Best of Lord Of The Rings

YOU SHALL NOT PASS… this link without clicking on it to have a little look at what we thought were the 50 Greatest Lord Of The Rings Moments.

Utterly awful movies

A movie list examining films so egregious that even The Phantom Menace didn't make the cut…

Best Of Star Wars

The force was strong with this one…

Insane in-jokes

In February we put together a collection of movie in-jokes so gloriously geeky that only true obsessives would have spotted them first time out.

Joss Whedon answers your questions

We knew all along that 2012 would be Joss Whedon's year, which is why we asked our social media followers to quiz him on his career.

Cool cameos

We celebrated the art of the movie cameo way back in January - hit the link to see what we think of Quentin Tarantino in Desperado , Stan Lee in Mallrats , Martin Freeman in Shaun Of The Dead , and many, many more.

Star Wars wish list

Before the director had even been announced, we decided to have fun casting Star Wars Episode VII .

Brad Pitt's hits and misses

Brad Pitt is one of the greatest actors of our lifetime, but he's sure made some stinkers along the way.

Incredible improvisations

You'll be surprised by how many iconic movie moments were completely made up on the spot.

The best bits of The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises was one of our favorite films of 2012, so it should come as no surprise that we stumbled straight out of the screening to write a 7,000 word analysis of all the best bits.

Tom Hiddleston answers your questions

Ever wondered who would win in a fight, Loki or Ernest Hemingway? And would Tom Hiddleston want to play Batman? Find out from The Hidds himself, in our social media interview.

Meeting The Muppets

One of our favorite interviews of 2012 came in February, when we sat down with Kermit The Frog and Miss Piggy.

Arnie one-liners

From "You're luggage" to "I'll be back," in August we compiled 50 of Arnie's coolest gags / threats / death celebrations.

Alan Partridge's review of the year

As the year started to wind down, we decided to drop our pal Alan Partridge an email (via his friend Steve Coogan), to find out what the master broadcaster thought of the year's biggest films.

The most hated movies of all time

Hell hath no fury like a fanboy scorned…

Potter fan art

Harry Potter has a gang of particularly dedicated fans. Fans so dedicated, they've drawn pictures of Potter and pals as My Little Ponies, Star Trek characters, and in a series of wildly inappropriate sexy scenarios.

The best films of our lifetime

As voted for by Total Film's writers, the greatest films of the past 15 years…

Incredible performances

Our most epic list, celebrating the most epic performances of all time.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.