25 Definitively Best Movies EVER (According To Critics AND Fans)

2. 12 Angry Men (1957)

Score: 94

It doesn't have explosions or even any real active action, but Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men remains one of the most compelling dramas ever captured on film as well as being one of the most enduring examples of human propaganda.

Henry Fonda's Juror 8 is considered one of the greatest heroes in cinematic history simply because of his unflinching commitment to not throwing a potentially innocent young man under a bus and upholding the idea of reasonable doubt. It's his integrity and his unwillingness to accept bigotry, personal bias, ignorance and laziness in the face of choosing whether someone lives or dies and that message is incredibly compelling.

Ridiculously, the film didn't find an audience in the cinema and it took until it aired on TV for it to be really appreciated, but given its comparative subtleties next to the others at the top of this list, that feels almost fitting.

Rotten Tomatoes: 100 Audience: 97 IMDB: 89 Letterboxd: 90 Metascore: 96