| 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 ?