| 1. The Passion of Joan of Arc | Carl Theodor Dreyer | 1928 |
| 2. Battleship Potemkin | Sergei Eisenstein | 1925 |
| 3. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans | F.W. Murnau | 1927 |
| 4. Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages | D.W. Griffith | 1916 |
| 5. Napoleon | Abel Gance | 1927 |
| 6. Metropolis | Fritz Lang | 1927 |
| 7. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari | Robert Wiene | 1920 |
| 8. The Last Laugh | F.W. Murnau | 1924 |
| 9. Die Nibelungen | Fritz Lang | 1924 |
| 10. Strike | Sergei Eisenstein | 1925 |
| 11. The Birth of a Nation | D.W. Griffith | 1915 |
| 12. The General | Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman | 1926 |
| 13. Sherlock Jr. | Buster Keaton | 1924 |
| 14. Nosferatu | F.W. Murnau | 1922 |
| 15. Destiny | F.W. Murnau | 1926 |
| 16. The Crowd | King Vidor | 1928 |
| 17. Faust | F.W. Murnau | 1926 |
| 18. Greed | Eric von Stroheim | 1924 |
| 19. The Gold Rush | Charlie Chaplin | 1925 |
| 20. The Wind | Victor Sjöström | 1928 |
| 21. Dr. Mabuse the Gambler | Fritz Lang | 1922 |
| 22. October: Ten Days That Shook the World | Sergei Eisenstein, Grigori Aleksandrov | 1928 |
| 23. La Roue | Abel Gance | 1923 |
| 24. The Big Parade | King Vidor | 1925 |
| 25. Wings | William A. Wellman | 1927 |
| 26. Les Vampires | Louis Feuillade | 1915 |
| 27. Steamboat Bill Jr. | Buster Keaton, Charles Reisner | 1928 |
| 28. The Circus | Charlie Chaplin | 1928 |
| 29. Pandora’s Box | G.W. Pabst | 1929 |
| 30. Our Hospitality | Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman | 1923 |
| 31. Seven Chances | Buster Keaton | 1925 |
| 32. Broken Blossoms | D.W. Griffith | 1919 |
| 33. Blackmail | Alfred Hitchcock | 1929 |
| 34. The Cameraman | Buster Keaton, Edward Sedgwick | 1928 |
| 35. Way Down East | D.W. Griffith | 1920 |
| 36. Mother | Vsevolod Pudovkin | 1926 |
| 37. The Unknown | Tod Browning | 1927 |
| 38. The Kid | Charlie Chaplin | 1921 |
| 39. Orphans of the Storm | D.W. Griffith | 1921 |
| 40. Safety Last | Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor | 1923 |
Interesting ! So we’re getting every decade updated before the “grand reveal” ? I’d actually be interested to see a 2010’s update seeing as we won’t be seeing every film from that decade in the top 500.
As for this list, I love it but man it hurts to see Sunrise fall even just a bit. Has it sunk a bit in your eyes, or did battleship Potemkin just improve furthermore upon revisiting ? I’ll admit that I’m right there with the The cinema archive’s opinion who has it at number 7 OAT (same spot on my list) I think it’s the greatest silent film, but I doubt you hold it in as high regard unless you have 3 silent films in your top 10.
Apart from that I’m surprised to see The General above Sherlock jr. I thought you’d also put it above The General, would you say consistency throughout a movie is an important factor (The General is more consistent with the always moving set piece but Sherlock jr has the most exceptional cinematic highs) when determining a spot in the ranking ?
Hi ANT /K, yep that’s the idea – I’ll be updating all my decade lists through to the 2020s (so far), and then I’ll drop my Top 500.
Sunrise hasn’t moved too much and remains safely in my top 20, but after my Eisenstein study last year Battleship Potemkin has risen. Maybe I’ll get there with Sunrise one day – I have nothing against it, but the competition that high up is tough.
It’s hard for me to separate The General and Sherlock Jr. They’ve actually moved closer together on my all time list with less than ten spots separating them now. It’s still the consistency of The General that wins out, but only by the tiniest of margins. I admire its narrative momentum a lot, plus those epic set pieces shouldn’t be underestimated.