The 2000s were a transformative decade for cinema, marked by technological advancements, diverse storytelling, and a blend of genres that pushed the boundaries of filmmaking. From groundbreaking visual effects to compelling narratives and unforgettable characters, the films of this era left an indelible mark on the industry and audiences alike. It didn’t feel like it at the time but it was most certainly a mixture of the best elements of the previous two decades. Some of the best films of any genre were produced during this period and it was the last time movies felt like they were made by artists, not products cranked out by a money-hungry machine. This list celebrates the greatest movies of the 2000s, highlighting those that defined the decade and continue to influence the art of cinema today. Whether it’s epic blockbusters, poignant dramas, or innovative indies, these films represent the best of what the aughts had to offer.
These are the 100 Greatest Movies of the 2000s.
60. The Aviator (2004)
Scorsese and DiCaprio really hit their stride with this second of many collaborations. What makes The Aviator so special is that it follows a fairly conventional biopic format for much of the film before devolving into a weird psycho-thriller that matches the personal journey of its subject. Like so many other great Martin Scorsese biopics, this one follows the protagonist’s manic path – wherever it is that it may take us. Leo is absolutely magnetic in the lead role. He delivers one of the more captivating performances of his wildly stacked career. Speaking of careers with stacked performances, I wish we got more scenes of Cate Blanchett’s Katherine Hepburn because she’s absolutely dynamite in the role. Thelma Schoonmaker is a wizard, as always, in the editing room. She creates magic with some of the cuts she’s able to pull off here. It’s funny that Michael Mann was a producer on this. His version of The Aviator certainly would’ve been great, but it’s hard to imagine a world where anyone besides Marty is at the helm of this.
–Raf Stitt
59. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
In 1963, rodeo cowboy Jack Twist and ranch hand Ennis Del Mar are hired as sheep herders in Wyoming. One night on Brokeback Mountain, Jack makes a drunken pass at Ennis that is soon reciprocated. Despite marrying women, Ennis and Jack keep up their complex affair over the course of 20 years. When it was released, Brokeback Mountain was lauded by the LGBTQ+ community, and many critics, for its depiction of the tragic love affair between two men. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal are certainly the heart and soul of Brokeback Mountain. Their performances and chemistry are the reason behind the movie’s success, and I am not sure any other actors could have done the material justice. Should it have won the Best Picture Oscar over Crash? Maybe, maybe not, but the fact remains that it’s Brokeback Mountain that continues to garner discussion today, and its continuing influence on cinema and television cannot be disputed.
–Romona Comet
58. Apocalypto (2006)
Mel Gibson is an audacious artist. Never does he phone it in with a performance, nor does he half-ass it as a director. His action-packed Hero’s Journey Apocalypto perfectly illustrates this assertion. Set in roughly the 16th century Yucatan, Apocalypto follows Jaguar Paw and his rather affable tribe going about their lives when a rival Maya tribe waylays them. Blood flows and lives are cut down in brutal fashion. The film quickly shifts to a harrowing experience for Jaguar Paw as he races against time and brutal foes to rescue his pregnant wife.
As with Passion of the Christ and to a lesser extent Braveheart, Gibson imbues Apocalypto with a heavy dose of verisimilitude. Nothing on display seems even a tad doctored with Hollywood magic: no CG jungles (or ants); plenty of risk to the actors and stunt crew themselves; not a lick of English spoken; no restraint in the very gory details and practices of the antagonist tribe. The audience is put through the wringer right there along with Jaguar Paw, and the result is a masterful action movie that is all too rare these days.
–Nokoo
57. Dogville (2003)
I hardly ever agree with Quentin Tarantino about a movie. I love his passion but he’s recommended so many dogs, I no longer listen to his opinion. One of the few times we’ve ever been in lockstep agreement is on the film Dogville. He’s of the opinion, that if this was a play, Von Trier would’ve won a Pulitzer and he’s 100% correct. If you’ve turned it off before the ending, I get it. It’s a deliberately paced film (which is code for glacier slow) that has a very weird aesthetic but I promise you, of you stick with it, you’ll be rewarded with one of the greatest endings of recent memory.
Grace (Nicole Kidman) arrives in Dogville, a small, Depression-era American town, and is reluctantly accepted by its residents after some persuasion by Tom (Paul Bettany.) In exchange for shelter, Grace agrees to perform various tasks for the townspeople. Initially, the townspeople are kind and welcoming, but their true nature soon reveals itself as they begin to exploit and abuse Grace. To reveal anymore of the plot would be criminal, so just know it has layers and is always revealing new things in satisfying ways.
The acting is exceptionally good across the board but what separates this from every other film, is there set design. Or lack thereof. notable for its minimalist set design, which resembles a theater stage. The town is represented by an empty soundstage with chalk outlines marking buildings and streets, and minimal props. This stylized approach forces the audience to focus on the characters and the story rather than the setting. The use of theatrical techniques underscores the film’s exploration of human nature and societal constructs. Haters call it pretentious and self indulgent and I don’t disagree but it’s unique and I always respond to a big swing. I don’t like Von Trier as a human being but goddamn can he make art when he wants to.
–Sailor Monsoon
56. Collateral (2004)
Collateral is great because Jamie Foxx is one of the most magnetic stars to ever grace the screen and it’s one of the last times Tom Cruise challenged himself in a cool role for a brilliant auteur. It also features one of the most electric scenes in all of cinema. Michael Mann somehow makes an Audioslave needle drop extremely badass, as it plays after a wild coyote (an actual wild coyote; totally unplanned) wanders into the frame while our characters cooly drive to a nightclub where madness inevitably ensues. This is top-tier Michael Mann in his digital photography era.
–Raf Stitt
55. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
It’s hard to remember when there was just one Spider-Man movie that had ever graced the silver screen, but until Spider-Man 2, that’s all we had. Now there are endless debates between Spidey buffs about who is the best Spider-Man, who’s the best Peter Parker, and which movie just hits the nail on the head. But Spider-Man 2 has held the line all these years as among the top 3 for most people (with Into the Spider-Verse and either of the Tom Holland films). Although Willem Dafoe was great as a hammed-up Green Goblin in the franchise opener, Alfred Molina’s portrayal of Doc Ock really took this film to the next level. Peter’s struggle handling life as Spider-Man and Peter Parker also gave the film a great pace as you really sympathize with the choice of Peter doing what’s best for himself and what’s best for others. If Iron Man put the MCU on the map and The Dark Knight made DC a force to be reckoned with, Spider-Man 2 arguably busted the door open for all of superhero filmdom as we know it, building even on the success of the original.
–Jacob Holmes
54. Shrek (2001)
When Lord Farquaad exiles a group of fairy tale creatures to his swamp, anti-social ogre Shrek is forced to rescue Princess Fiona from a dragon in exchange for getting his home back. It’s a simple story at its core, isn’t it? Grumpy loner roped into a heroic quest; finds friendship, love, and self-acceptance along the way. Not exactly earth-shattering cinema when you put it like that. But Shrek takes that simple concept and layers it with hilariously creative reimaginings of nearly every fairy tale trope known to modern storytelling. Combined with some spectacular voice acting (particularly Mike Myers’ glorious Scottish accent and Eddie Murphy doing what Eddie Murphy does, minus the profanity) and you get an animated movie that children and adults can both enjoy.
–R.J. Mathews
53. Let the Right One In (2008)
The story focuses on an outcast and disturbed 12-year-old boy Oskar, who bonds with his new neighbor, Eli, an enchanting immortal in a child’s body with an unquenchable thirst for human blood. The oddball duo learns to trust and love each other over macabre obsessions and sharing deep secrets. With this devotion comes complications and its beauty comes from the emotions it evokes between tenderness and horror.
The adaptation from John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel is a mature and intellectual spin on immortality, bloodlust, and the need to belong. Directed by Thomas Alfredson, Let the Right One In is a masterpiece of a vampire film unlike any before it, and is one of those rare horror movies that push the boundaries of genre, escalating it to new heights. The movie is gorgeous as we see shots of snow-covered Stockholm with incredible performances from the young leads Kåre Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson. Be sure to check out Matt Reeves’ 2011 remake if you haven’t already. It’s a surprisingly great adaptation of the story too.
–Vincent Kane
52. Unbreakable (2000)
ears before the caped-crusader boom took over Hollywood, Shyamalan proved that not only could superhero movies be taken seriously but could do so without adapting a pre-existing comic. As wonderful as they are and as much as they still provide a fertile ground for movie adaptations, more filmmakers need to take a cue from this movie and stop making nostalgia-filled toy commercials and take a chance on something original. While it may tap into some familiar story beats and tropes, Unbreakable most definitely qualifies as original.
An anomaly within the genre, the film focuses more on the reality of being a super powerful being and not on the punchy punch action. It’s a clever reworking of the Superman mythos in that Superman is a real person but has no idea that they’re Superman. It’s an ingenious deconstruction and reinterpretation of a story we all know so well executed flawlessly. Unlike every other Superman origin story ever told, the revelation that the protagonist has superpowers isn’t a cause for celebration. He doesn’t immediately don a cape and go out and fight crime. Quite the opposite, in fact, it’s a burden.
It’s ruining his marriage and is making his life hell. His son believes in his powers so fervently, that he almost kills him and his wife is trying her hardest to understand the situation. She isn’t a nagging shrew, and although she’s estranged from her husband, she’s tenderly making an effort to repair their marriage. Both the son and the wife react realistically and their performances help ground the movie in reality. They help sell the universe, as does Samuel L Jackson, but in a much different way. He’s the most comic book thing about it and even he is believable. It’s a fantastic performance as is Bruce Willis in the lead role. Since he’s phoned in every performance for the last few years, it’s easy to forget how good an actor he used to be. He, with the help of Shyamalan, makes you believe that superheroes could actually exist.
–Sailor Monsoon
51. Team America: World Police (2004)
Trey Parker and Matt Stone gave us South Park, but South Park turned right back around and gave the world Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Their irreverent nature, and South Park’s, was so thick and heavy that no studio or industry was ever going to be rid of the pair even if they wished for it. Though they were no strangers to movies (Cannibal the Musical and Orgzamo are equally deserving of attention), the aforementioned duo would test themselves and audiences with Team America World Police, a puppet movie…
With their irreverence guiding them, it should not have been any wonder that they would continue to do so with a studio film. Luckily for them, and us, it worked out just swell. More than swell. Fantastically swell. We got from this movie alone: a new American theme song, a Matt Damon meme, a total dressing down of both Hollywood and the military-industrial war complex that works even today; and we got the single best cinematic sex scene. And that’s only a few things to note. We got a Bill Pope framed action movie on top of it all, with actual set pieces and action beats and payoffs and fun violence and deaths. And we got it all with only some strings attached.
–Nokoo
70-61 | 50-41
What do you think of the selection so far? What are some of your favorite movies from the 2000s? Maybe they will show up further on the list!