Best Movies of the Last 25 Years, as Picked by IMDb Users

Collider

IMDb Users Pick the Best Movies of the Last 25 Years

By Adam Chitwood

Published Oct 14, 2015

Spoiler alert: there's a lot of Christopher Nolan.

The Internet Movie Database, or IMDb for you cool acronym-using kids, has been an invaluable resource for cinephiles in the internet age. It’s where those obsessed with films and filmmaking could go to dive deep into a certain director’s filmography, count how many times Roger Deakins worked with the Coen Brothers, or find out that actor’s name that’s on the tip of your tongue. So as the site celebrates 25 years of existence, we celebrate 25 years of having a wealth of film knowledge at our fingertips.

However, as IMDb grew, it became not only a resource, but a community. Users began interacting with one another in forums and, of course, rating every movie from A to Z. The resulting “IMDb Top 250” became a place for film fans to see which beloved films they had missed and, in recent years, a gathering ground for Christopher Nolan acolytes to juke the stats of any and every Nolan film no matter its relative quality.

inglourious-basterds — Image via The Weinstein Company

In celebration of the site’s anniversary, IMDb provided Vanity Fair with a rundown of the top-rated film for each year of its existence, from 1990 onward. The results are actually a little surprising in places, with Sean Penn’s stark drama Into the Wild topping 2007 over There Will Be Blood or No Country for Old Men, and the French sensation Intouchables ruiling 2011.

There are also some unsurprising choices too, with five Christopher Nolan films appearing on the list, and Leonardo DiCaprio films factoring heavily into the voting. And the movie with the highest rating of the bunch? The Shawshank Redemption, of course. So take a look at the best films of the last 25 years as determined by IMDb voters below, and get to arguing in the comments section.

IMDB Top User-Rated Movies By Year

2014: Interstellar

2013: The Wolf of Wall Street

2012: Django Unchained

2011: Intouchables

2010: Inception

2009: Inglourious Basterds

2008: The Dark Knight

2007: Into the Wild

2006: The Departed

2005: Batman Begins