31 THE SEARCHERS 1956 John Ford's masterpiece draws a bead on a key theme of the western: the gunfighter as necessary evil. John Wayne shows his true greatness here, a greatness that critics are just learning to appreciate. Fans like Martin Scorsese and George Lucas (who echoes Ford in Star Wars) were drawn to Wayne's character as much for his bitter dark side as for his laconic manliness -- traits, the film suggests, that may be inextricably linked. Key Scene Wayne shoots the eyes out of a corpse; this Indian will go sightless to the happy hunting ground. Best Line "That'll be the day."
32 PLATOON 1986 The Vietnam era's All Quiet on the Western Front captures the bone-deep hopelessness of being on the front lines of a lost cause. Oliver Stone's Oscar winner is sometimes overblown and self-important, but the emotional center is where it's always been in great war pictures: in the life-and-death bonds forged between individuals under fire. Key Scene Torching a village to the Adagio for Strings. Best Line "We've been kicking other peoples' asses for so long I figure it's time we got ours kicked."
33 ANIMAL HOUSE 1978 This smash-hit, pig-out, anarchy-loving comedy didn't so much reverse the post-sixties antifraternity trend as take it to the next level, focusing on a guerrilla enclave of losers and geeks who trash the system from within. It's either the first flatulent trumpet blast of the spring break generation or a profound look back at the essence of sixties politics. Either way, it's still the funniest college flick ever. Key Scene John Belushi kisses off phony folk singers once and for all by smashing one's guitar. Best Line "I'm a zit!"
34 THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY 1966 Sergio Leone cooks up the ultimate spaghetti western, so tickled by its own sun-baked amorality that we have to laugh. Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and a cackling Eli Wallach inventively double-cross each other for a chest of Confederate gold. Rent or buy only the restored director's cut DVD, which reinstates the film's narrative sweep. Key Scene The three men's final showdown in the cemetery: the definitive Mexican standoff. Best Line "When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk."
35 THE LONGEST YARD 1974 The best football-in-prison movie ever. Bone-crushing game sequences play as slapstick, and Burt Reynolds is perfect as the disgraced former pro quarterback, jailed for a point-shaving scandal and redeemed by leading a squad of convicts against a team of brutal guards. Key Scene Burt's "Gipper" speech. Best Line "You could've robbed banks, sold dope, stole your grandmother's pension check, and none of us would have minded. But shaving points off a football game? Man, that's un-American."
36 BLADE 1998 In a steel-cage death match between Blade and Wolverine, the smart money would be on Wesley the Vampire Slayer, the half-undead guy with the silver sword. This gothic gorefest is still the best attempt yet to duplicate the flamboyant dynamism of hard-action comic book mayhem on the big screen. Mr. Snipes always strikes the perfect heroic pose. Key Scene The grisly vampire nightclub episode. Best Line "Crosses and water don't do dick, so forget what you saw in the movies."
37 STRIPES 1981 What a relief! Shrugging off the antimilitary guilt of the post-Vietnam era, goof-off turned enlisted man Bill Murray tells sarcastic slackers it's cool to kick ass and wave the flag again. Along with Meatballs this may be Murray's most irresistible comedy. Plus, it's got John Candy mud-wrestling. Key Scene Costar Harold Ramis teaching his ESL class to sing "Da Doo Run Run." Best Line "Any of you guys call me Francis, and I'll kill ya."
38 NORTH DALLAS FORTY 1979 One of the toughest, funniest movies ever made about the big business of pro sports, with a surprisingly moving subplot about friendship and betrayal. Nick Nolte is a broken-down hulk of a wide receiver, bent and twisted by injuries, who continues in spite of the blinding pain. Key Scene Two players are goaded into a racially charged fistfight to get their blood up for a big game. Best Line "I love your legs. They got your feet at one end and your pussy at the other."
39 THE UNTOUCHABLES 1987 Hollywood's version of the guy trifecta -- Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, and Kevin Costner -- join forces in Prohibition-era Chicago to retell the story of lawman Elliot Ness and mobster Al Capone. Another tough guy, Chicagoan David Mamet, wrote the script, and his dialogue crackles and pops like a tommy gun. Key Scene The train station shootout, with a baby carriage right out of Battleship Potemkin. Best Line "He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way. And that's how you get Capone."
40 THE GREAT ESCAPE 1963 This true tale of Allied POWs outfoxing their German captors offers the irreplaceable pleasure of watching some top actors (James Garner, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, and above all Steve McQueen) exhibit unflappable coolness under pressure. The no-sweat heroism practiced here by gallant Brits and laconic Yanks is a refreshing alternative to the head-banging bluster of contemporary action films. Key Scene McQueen in solitary, bouncing that baseball. Best Line "It is the sworn duty of all officers to try to escape."