I picked up this months copy of Total film today and saw that Shaun of the Dead placed number 49 in the top 50 Brit Flicks ever.
Not bad i guess but surely deserves to be placed higher than the likes of 'Quadrophenia', 'Billy Elliot', or even in my opinion, the vastly overrated 'The Wicker Man' which placed no.6!!

I thought it could have done with being placed a few places higher as well. Especially as there were some fairly dire entries in the top 50 (lock stock for example). It's probably just a reflection of how recent it is. It's hard to place new films high in these lists as we've yet to see their influence on cinema or how they're remembered by people.

Aye, I'm sure somewhere down the line it's influence will be more apparent. I think it's actually quite remarkable it's made it in at all being so new! So I'm confident it'll notch up a few more places in years to come.

Should be in top 3 in my opinion It is my second fav of all time though. (Not just British films, all films)

out of interest what is number one?

my moneys on "fievel goes west"

i think that's taken for granted as everyones favourite film

S'definitely one of mine

alright, Quadrophenia and Billy Elliot are shit but you don't like the Wicker Man??? What's not to like?

It's not that i hate it or anything. But it's nowhere near as good as the 6th best British film ever made.
It's probably more to do with having to study it til i was sick of it.

The Blues Brothers!!!

Seriously. "We're on a mission from God"

1. Blues Brothers
2. SOTD
3. Empire Strikes Back
4. Aliens
5. Back to the Future
6. Bubba Ho-Tep
7. Kill Bill
8. Eternal Sunshine
9. Jackie Brown
10. Battle Royale

Top 10 Best Ever

That's a pretty good top 10. Only a couple would make mine but quite a few would only just miss out. I haven't gotten around to eteranl sunshine yet though. i'm looking foward to that.

One of the guys at my work resigned - yesterday was his last day - apparently he was leaving to become a Church Minister!!

I couldn't help thinking of Elwood when I heard this! hahahaha

Cheers
AC

Is the list available online anywhere?
I'd be curious to check it out.



You don't like Lock Stock?
I thought it was cool. I think I like Snatch better though.

Cheers
AC

Lock Stock and Snatch were both fun to watch, but definitely a triumph of style (and gimmickry) over content - it's shown Ritchie to be a one trick pony, and not a very good trick at that.

i don't think so. it's not on the total film site anyway.
but it goes like this
1. get carter
2 a matter of life and death
3 the third man
4 trainspotting
5 life of brian
6 the wicker man
7 kind hearts and coronets
8 lawrence of arabia
9 from russia with love
10 naked
11 a clockwork orange
12 billy liar
13 withnail & i
14 great expectations
15 sexy beast
16 if...
17 kes
18 brighton rock
19 don't look now
20 brazil
21 blow-up
22 the 39 steps
23 the servant
24 peeping tom
25 made in britain
26 a room with a view
27 the italian job
28 witchfinder general
29 wonderland
30 dracula
31 the long good friday
32 performance
33 scandal
34 4 weddings and a funeral
35 quadrophenia
36 touching the void
37 zulu
38 lock stock
39 billy elliott
40 carry on up the khyber
41 a fish called wanda
42 a hard day's night
43 the dam busters
44 brief encounter
45 my beautiful laundrette
46 the railway children
47 watership down
48 alfie
49 shaun of the dead

phew

The Third Man is easily the best film on there and I liked Sexy Beast but it isn't that good. Also Carry On Up The Khyber isn't as good as Carry On Screaming.

Shaun should definitely be higher. They probably didn't want to be over enthusiastic about it because it's quite new and because their magazine is staffed by idiots. If they do another one of these in five years time it will have shot up about forty places.

I hate film journalists. Has anyone seen the documentary on the Donnie Darko Idiot's Cut? There's an interview with this guy who is labelled a film critic and he admits to buying Donnie Darko on DVD having never heard of it. Surely it's his job to know about films before we do. Not years later than us. [/angry tangent]

I think trainspotting is (one of) the best, and i guess they were only allowed one python film, as theres no mention of holy grail. i dont know what billy elliot's doing there. i think the 39 steps and italian job should be up a bit higher, and of course SotD. i haven't seen a lot of them, including third man, a matter of life and death and the wicker man. any must-sees you can reccomend?

Let's not get over hasty here, there are some great classics in that list. A lot I haven't seen but are known classics depending what you like oif course, but as osmeone else said Shaun did well to even get in the top 50 it's a bit early to say it should be higher up as most of these films got loved over the years. In about 20 years time it will be well up the list but you have to remember the rest are loved by generations. shaun at the moment may only be loved by one.

We are yet to see if it will gain 'classic' status although it definitely going to become a cult film.

To be honest most of them I would expect to rank higher than shaun. but trainspotting, life of brian, the wicker man, kind hearts and coronets, a clockwork orange, withnail, kes, don't look now, peeping tom, the italian job, the witchfinder general, quadrophenia, lock stock, billy elliott, a hard day's night inparticular and most of them I would even rank higher than it!

If you loved Shaun then that's fair enough you want it to do well, but you have to remember people are going to vote for things that they have loved for years.

ok, i really liked get carter but im really suprised its number one. i never knew it was so popular.

Thank goodness. I love SotD but lets be fair, this is a thread on a site where we're all - pretty much - fans of the film. I think there may be some bias in this... Also, does anyone know how they come up with this? If its a public vote then you can't really say its wrong cause surely, the amount a film affects its viewers (and makes them vote for it) is a measure of how great it is.

Please don't burn me as a heretic

*burns you as a heretic*

*realises I agree with you as your corpse turns to ash*

Yeah I'd agree that he only has one trick. But I quite like that trick. I think it's kinda funny.
That's just my taste though.

Cheers
AC

1. get carter
2 a matter of life and death

I haven't even seen those two films. Should I??


3 the third man
4 trainspotting
5 life of brian

All brilliant.


11 a clockwork orange

Good but horrible but good.


14 great expectations

Which version?


20 brazil

Classic! Love Jonathan Pryce.


26 a room with a view

hmmmm yeah if you like that sort of thing...


27 the italian job

I assume they mean the original of this - which is sooo fab!


30 dracula

Again I wonder which version


34 4 weddings and a funeral

Yeah it was pretty good.


37 zulu

Had this out on DVD last week but I fell asleep. No reflection on the film I was just knackered.

38 lock stock

like it, like it.


41 a fish called wanda

Fantastic!

42 a hard day's night

Cool, but Help was better.


49 shaun of the dead

Yay!!

I still think it's pretty cool that it made it into the list.
Mind you, I'd never seen about two thirds of the films on that list, and I would normally consider myself a movie fan!

Cheers
AC

Many in there are true to me. SOTD, ESB, Kill Bill and Battle royal are in my top films
Others include Forest Gump, Sleeper, Ameile, Rocky horror and Labyrinth

As for British films, I 'll have to think about it, SOTD being top. with the monty python films

Always thought Get Carter was overrated and Holy Grail is better than Life of Brian, but not a bad list. I would also add Dead Man's Shoes in the recent great British film list...but I still feel on the whole British films lack originality (not that Hollywood's better).

trainspotting is brillant, ad I reckon a clockwork orange should have been higher.

steph x

I think SotD should be over the moon that it's even in the top 50.

Be honest gang, it's pretty funny, but it's not got classic written all over it.

It's not even got it written once. In crayon. With backwards S's. And drool and rusk crumbs all over it.

dirty bleeder.

i think it was just picked by the magazine staff. reading how they picked the list, it says they couldn't get less than 79 and had to come up with some rules to get rid of more. like just one bond film, one ealing comedy etc..
and they picked some for cultural influence so i guess something like lock stock could be considered a greater film than SotD in that sense.
Still just going on personal taste i still think SotD should be much higher.

Ditto.

Ah well, popular success isn't the same as critical acclaim.

Pour example; On The Buses was the most successful film made by Hammer.

Makes you think.

...makes me think... how much I hate the 70's...

but no Gregory's Girl (an inexcusable omission), Passport to Pimlico, The Man In The White Suit, The Titfield Thunderbolt, Oh Mr Porter, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, Colonel Blimp - I could go on but I won't

Oh yes I'm surprised about Gregory's Girl, loved that. They also missed out Nuts In May.. also I hope I'm not being thick and just not spotting it but The Full Monty?? I thought that was THE archetypal 'it's grim up north' brit film. Not that I like it cause I don't particularly but I'm surprised it's not even there!! Mind you Notting Hill and Love Actually aren't there either! There is hope yet I do think Theatre of Blood and Dr Phibes should be there though but that's just me. At least Witchfinder General is up there for the Vince Price side Actually not many Hammer there... oh god I have to stop analysing this list!

and never forget ONE OF OUR DINOSAURS IS MISSING...

Nuts in May was a TV play for the BBC - Mike Leigh didn't start making films until High Hopes in 1988, apart from Bleak Moments which came out in the early 70's.

The Full Monty is about as gritty as Dale Winton - Brassed Off was far superior, and for true northern grit I would recommend Ken Loach's Raining Stones.

Phil said...

...and he's right, you know.

No Local Hero either . . .

i've thought of another one - which seems to have fallen through the cracks - Chicken Run

And the people who compiled this list work on a movie mag?

(cue "but it was financed by Dreamworks") -

I suppose the problem is how you define a British movie - if A Clockwork Orange is a "British Movie" why isn't 2001?

A movie mag that fell the fuck off.
They gave the remake of Alfie four stars when it's blatantly the biggest piece of shit to hit cinemas since Human Traffic, and, like, totally dissed Bad Santa which is the funniest film I've seen this year.

i like the mag. you're never gonna find one where you agree with all the reviews.

In my opinion Total Film is the weakest of the mainstream UK movie mags. Hotodog seems to sit right on a level with me, and I'll buy Empire if I have spare cash, but Total Film bores me, it thinks it's funny when it's blatantly not.

each to his own, though i agree HotDog and Empire are both good reads.

Also true. It used to be good and a bit funny, now it's always wrong and tries too hard to be funny. Empire went shit ten years ago and still hasn't come back. Hotdog is a bit too lad's mag for a film mag. Bring back Neon.

Everyone talks about Neon, but sadly it's a little before my time as a movie geek. I agree that sometimes, on the face of it, Hotdog can be a bit lads mag, but when it comes down to it, it's written by a bunch of horny geeks, not "lads", and I'm a horny geek, so I can relate.

I think total film can be (read: is) a bit boring but it has opinions and is good for the average film-goer who wants reviews of whats good at the cinema at the moment. theres a bit of trivia too but i dont think it's THAT hardcore.

I just have to add my five pence here...



Humman Traffic was one of the biggest piles of shite I have ever seen....I would have to place it on my shite films list alongside the likes of Turbo a power ranges movie, and Gigli...oh God I said it again...I feel so unclean.