The Great Movies

Roger Ebert

The Great Movies is the name of several publications, both online and in print, from the film critic Roger Ebert. The object was, as Ebert put it, to "make a tour of the landmarks of the first century of cinema."^[1]

One of the gifts a movie lover can give another is the title of a wonderful film they have not yet discovered. Here are more than 300 reconsiderations and appreciations of movies from the distant past to the recent past, all of movies that I consider worthy of being called "great."

–Roger Ebert^[2]

The Great Movies was published as three books:

• The Great Movies, published in November 2003 (544 pages, Three Rivers Press, ISBN 978-0767910385)
• The Great Movies II published in February 2006 (517 pages, Three Rivers Press, ISBN 978-0767919869)
• The Great Movies III, published in October 2011 (440 pages, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-0226182094)

Additionally, before his death in April 2013, Ebert added 61 additional entries to The Great Movies on his website that have yet to be included in a publication.^[2]

Ultimately, Ebert recommended 383 films he designated as "Great Movies."^{[3][lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]}

See also

• 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, a similar-themed book with essays from 70 different critics, released in 2003
• List of films considered the best

References

Explanatory notes

1. This number includes individual installments of series he recommended (like the Up Series, The Apu Trilogy, The Three Colors Trilogy, etc.).
2. The list on this citation counts 409, but ICheckMovies counted 26 additional films by Buster Keaton because Ebert had written a career retrospective on Keaton's cinematic work and legacy in The Great Movies II, and they made the decision that meant he meant to include every directorial work Keaton completed as "Great Movies." For the sake of this article, those 26 films do not count as official selections of The Great Movies.

Citations

1. Ebert, Roger (November 2003). The Great Movies. New York: Three Rivers Press. p. xvi. ISBN 978-0767910385.
2. Roger Ebert. "Great Movies - Roger Ebert". rogerebert.com.
3. "Roger Ebert: The Great Movies" on the iCheckMovies website

External links

• The Great Movies- official listing on Roger Ebert's website
• Roger Ebert's Top 10 by year