Top 100 Movie Posters of All-Time

Posted by Sean on June 19th, 2008   Filed under: Lists, Posters and Marketing
Source: Kottke.org

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Here’s another somewhat arbitrary list that’s bound to generate some discussion. Film critic TC Candler has put together a collection of the Top 100 movie posters of all-time… no small task to be sure. While there are definitely some great ones included in the list, there are also a lot of rather mediocre ones thrown in with little justification. At least, that’s the way I see it anyway. Certainly there are many different ways to judge movie posters, but for instance, does Die Another Day really deserve the #5 spot? I have listed his top 10 picks here, but follow the link below to check out the full gallery. Do you agree with his choices? What are some of your favourite movie posters?

On a related note, check out Film Junk’s 10 Movies with Cool Posters and Bland DVD Artwork.

1. The Sin of Nora Moran
2. American Beauty
3. Pulp Fiction
4. The Gold Rush
5. Die Another Day
6. Lord of War
7. Secretary
8. Jaws
9. Straw Dogs
10. Hard Candy

» Related Link: TC Candler: 100 Greatest Movie Posters

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Comments (7)

  1. My favourite is the poster for Secretary. It sums up the movie perfectly and Maggie Gyllenhaal is the sexy woman working in cinema right now.

    Posted by Stephen on June 19th, 2008

  2. Sweet! Hard Candy and Lord of War in the top 10! Both posters I clearly recall! Will have to look up the rest.

    Posted by Marina on June 19th, 2008

  3. Fargo should be way higher, but Titanic and Gangs of New York don’t even belong.

    Posted by Wes on June 19th, 2008

  4. How can a list of the Top 100 movie posters of all time be so lacking in the works of Drew Struzan?! The only one on this guy’s list is Chinatown, and since that’s the only poster included by Struzan, I have to assume that TC Candler thinks it’s Struzan’s best work. What about the Indiana Jones posters?

    Personally, I would add Struzan’s poster for John Carpenter’s The Thing to the list:

    http://www.moviegoods.com/Assets/product_images/1020/268601.1020.A.jpg

    As well as the poster for David Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch:

    http://www.cinemasterpieces.com/nakedmar08.jpg

    Posted by Rian on June 19th, 2008

  5. This is a tough one. I guess we’re talking about adevertising. A limited space to convey what might be a complex intellectual/emotional narrative, etc. I’d have to say that for my money you can’t lose with simple minimalism and the proper use of negative space. It’s like with good comic book covers.

    Posted by Ian on June 19th, 2008

  6. At least this guy didn’t suck classic cock and just put really old movies on the list. Hard Candy is a good one and a pleasant surprise. The lack of giallo posters like those of Argento and so on is shitty though.

    Posted by Ryan on June 19th, 2008

  7. I think this is a good list but it leaves out many great examples of 1920’s and 30’s movie poster art. One of my favorites is this rare style A from Chaplin’s City Lights 1931

    http://www.ralphdeluca.com/web/node/83

    Ralph DeLuca

    Posted by Ralph DeLuca on March 7th, 2009

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