Top 100 Movies Of The 1990's: #21 Schindler's List
Box Office: $96.9 Million
Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Steven Spielberg), Best Actor (Liam Neeson), Best Supporting Actor (Ralph Fiennes), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, Best Sound, Best Costume Design
Oscar Wins: Best Picture, Best Director (Steven Spielberg), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction
MovieRankings.Net: 96/100
Available To Stream: Apple TV ($4)
Steven Spielberg is such a great storyteller that it's easy to forget how great he is at the visual element of his craft. Think of the great shots in his movies. They are right up there with the most iconic you'll see in any movie.
Out of all of these, it's the shot of the little girl in the red dress that is the most memorable.
War is horrific and cruel. But having that little girl be highlighted was a reminder to us all the Holocaust was beyond war. It was right to the limits of how horrible humanity can treat themselves. They killed children. There are some crimes and actions that society should never forgive or understand even if a thousand years pass.
Schindler's List takes a measured approach for the movie. The story of how Liam Neeson's Oskar Schindler is at first only motivated by greed until he learns to care about the genocide that is happening right in front of him is such effective storytelling. We, as a modern audience, understand wanting to make money. The Holocaust is so horrific that anyone who wasn't alive then can't even begin to emotionally comprehend the situation but by having it start with a businessman allows us to at least process his mindset.
That's similar to 12 Years A Slave. Having a free man get kidnapped and become a slave is terrifying for anyone watching. Obviously, we feel horrible for a slave but we can't truly understand their perspective because we've never been owned. But we've all been free and having that taken away from us makes that incredible movie feel more understood.
Ralph Fiennes is exceptional and fearless playing about as evil a real person as you will see in a movie. He really is such a fantastic actor. Compare his work in this movie to his role in (#84) Quiz Show. As the the brutal killer Amon Goth, he is brutal killer without guilt. In Quiz Show, he is almost defined by guilt. He's so good in these movies, despite having a very nice career, I almost expected even more out of him.
Schindler's List captures the fear and helplessness so well especially with Ben Kingsley's performance as the accountant Itzhak Stern. His eyes say so much and not just in the big moments when he is stuck on a train heading to certain demise. But even during the everyday meetings with Schindler. What if this man who is helping us one day stops? What if something happens to him? What if he accepts a bribe? Imagine having you, your family and your friends lives all depend on one man for years?
It's not easy ranking this movie on a list like this. It could easily be number one but it's also a movie I don't want to watch again. I certainly will because it's important to remind myself of what Jewish people had to endure. This should be watched by every high school student. Steven Spielberg has been responsible for some of the greatest movies and moments of the last 50 years. But his most important work was making a movie that helps generations never forget the most heinous acts of the past century.
21. Schindler's List
22. Rushmore
23. Fight Club
24. Saving Private Ryan
25. True Romance
26. Dumb & Dumber
27. Kingpin
28. Donnie Brasco
29. Heat
30. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
31. Rounders
32. Unforgiven
33. Trainspotting
34. The Game
35. Out Of Sight
36. Carlito's Way
37. Seven
38. L.A. Confidential
39. Speed
40. Gattaca
41. Misery
42. Tombstone
43. Ransom
44. Wayne's World
45. The Insider
46. Back To The Future Part III
47. A Bronx Tale
48. The People Vs. Larry Flynt
49. Eyes Wide Shut
50. The Sandlot
51. Happy Gilmore
52. Contact
53. The Green Mile
54. Man On The Moon
55. Boyz N The Hood
56. Grosse Pointe Blank
57. Independence Day
58. The Rainmaker
59. Go
60. The Firm
61. Magnolia
62. The Talented Mr. Ripley
63. Tommy Boy
64. The Usual Suspects
65. In The Line Of Fire
66. My Cousin Vinny
67. Awakenings
68. JFK
69. Toy Story
70. Home Alone
71. Jerry Maguire
72. Titanic
73. Billy Madison
74. Apollo 13
75. Braveheart
76. Edward Scissorhands
77. Cape Fear
78. The River Wild
79. What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
80. 12 Monkeys
81. Stir Of Echoes
82. Mission: Impossible
83. Total Recall
84. Quiz Show
85. For Love Of The Game
86. Being John Malkovich
87. Men In Black
88. Scream
89. Alive
90. Three Kings
91. Glengarry Glen Ross
92. Die Hard With A Vengeance
93. The Blair Witch Project
94. Twister
95. Dirty Work
96. Election
97. Tremors
98. Any Given Sunday
99. The Wedding Singer
100. Clerks