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Source List · FilmMethodology

DGA 80 Greatest Directorial

DGA 80 Greatest Directorial is a ranked list published in 2016 — one of the 31 sources behind the film canon, weighted as critics' canon. 64 of its 78 entries appear in the aggregated canon. Its scope (1936–present) is calibrated against unrestricted lists before scoring.

  1. 1The Godfather (1972)Canon #2
  2. 2Citizen Kane (1941)Canon #1
  3. 3Lawrence of Arabia (1962)Canon #11
  4. 5Casablanca (1942)Canon #17
  5. 6The Godfather: Part II (1974)Canon #7
  6. 7Apocalypse Now (1979)Canon #6
  7. 8Schindler’s List (1993)
  8. 9Gone With the Wind (1939)Canon #37
  9. 10Goodfellas (1990)Canon #12
  10. 11Chinatown (1974)Canon #9
  11. 12The Wizard of Oz (1939)Canon #23
  12. 13Raging Bull (1980)Canon #32
  13. 14Jaws (1975)Canon #35
  14. 15It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
  15. 16Dr. Strangelove or: How I
  16. 17The Shawshank Redemption (1994)Canon #95
  17. 18The Graduate (1967)Canon #82
  18. 19Star Wars: Episode IV —
  19. 20Blade Runner (1982)Canon #45
  20. 21On the Waterfront (1954)Canon #64
  21. 22Pulp Fiction (1994)Canon #22
  22. 23E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)Canon #63
  23. 24Annie Hall (1977)Canon #38
  24. 25Saving Private Ryan (1998)Canon #118
  25. 26Seven Samurai (1954)Canon #5
  26. 27A Clockwork Orange (1971)Canon #119
  27. 28Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)Canon #54
  28. 29Vertigo (1958)Canon #3
  29. 30Sunset Boulevard (1950)Canon #33
  30. 31To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)Canon #132
  31. 32Psycho (1960)Canon #13
  32. 33The Searchers (1956)Canon #19
  33. 34Forrest Gump (1994)Canon #248
  34. 35Singin’ in the RainCanon #8
  35. 37The Third Man (1949)Canon #44
  36. 38The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)Canon #110
  37. 39Rear Window (1954)Canon #49
  38. 40The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)Canon #101
  39. 41North by Northwest (1959)Canon #26
  40. 42One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
  41. 43The Sound of Music (1965)Canon #123
  42. 44Taxi Driver (1976)Canon #14
  43. 45Titanic (1997)Canon #206
  44. 46The Shining (1980)Canon #71
  45. 47Amadeus (1984)Canon #115
  46. 48Doctor Zhivago (1965)
  47. 49West Side StoryCanon #141
  48. 50Some Like it Hot (1959)Canon #16
  49. 51Ben-Hur (1959)
  50. 52FargoCanon #92
  51. 53The Silence of the Lambs (1991)Canon #83
  52. 54The Apartment (1960)Canon #50
  53. 55Avatar (2009)
  54. 56The Hurt Locker (2008)Canon #216
  55. 57The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)Canon #134
  56. 58Birdman or
  57. 59All About Eve (1950)Canon #46
  58. 60The Deer Hunter (1978)Canon #150
  59. 61There Will Be Blood (2007)Canon #41
  60. 62The Sting (1973)Canon #211
  61. 63The Wild Bunch (1969)Canon #79
  62. 64Alien (1979)Canon #69
  63. 65Rocky (1976)
  64. 66The Conformist (1970)Canon #87
  65. 67Gandhi (1982)
  66. 68The Bicycle Thief (1948)
  67. 69Cinema Paradiso (1988)Canon #190
  68. 70Brazil (1985)
  69. 71The Grapes of Wrath (1940)Canon #168
  70. 72All the President’s Men (1976)
  71. 73Barry Lyndon (1975)Canon #51
  72. 74Touch of Evil (1958)Canon #48
  73. 75Once Upon a Time in America (1984)Canon #163
  74. 76Unforgiven (1992)Canon #122
  75. 77The Usual Suspects (1995)Canon #178
  76. 78Network (1976)Canon #72
  77. 79Rashomon (1950)Canon #29
  78. 80Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)Canon #65

List compiled and published by its original authors; positions shown as published. View the original at dga.org. Canon ranks link to each entry's full evidence page.