List of films considered the best

While there is no general agreement upon the greatest film, many publications and organizations have tried to determine the films considered the best. Each film listed here has been mentioned in a notable survey, whether a popular poll, or a poll among film reviewers. Many of these sources focus on American films or were polls of English-speaking film-goers, but those considered the greatest within their respective countries are also included here. Many films are widely considered among the best ever made, whether they appear at #1 on each list or not. For example, many believe that Orson Welles' Citizen Kane is the best movie ever made, and it appears as #1 on AFI's Best Movies list, whereas The Empire Strikes Back is #1 on the Empire magazine's Top 301 List.

None of the surveys that produced these citations should be viewed as a scientific measurement of the opinions of film viewers. Each may suffer the effects of vote stacking or skewed demographics. Internet-based surveys have a self-selected audience of unknown participants. The methodology of some surveys may be questionable. Sometimes (as in the case of the American Film Institute) voters were asked to select films from a limited list of entries.