Which decade produced the best films?

From the silent film era of the 1920s to the 3D digital of today, which decade do you think produced the best films? I think it's a toss up between the 1950s and the 1990s.

Ooooooh, now that's a tough one to answer, every decade (up till now anyway) had its perks.

20's, The Bat, The Phantom of the Opera, Metropolis, The Gold Rush, Sherlock Jr., Cops, Our Hospitality, The Cat and the Canary, Nosferatu, The Headless Horseman.
30's, The Bat Whispers, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Mr. Deeds goes to Town, You Can't Take it With You, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, Holiday, Bringing up Baby, All Quiet on the Western Front.
40's, The Wolf Man, The Third Man, the Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, The Man who Came to Dinner, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, Dumbo, Shadow of a Doubt, White Heat, The Ox-Bow Incident.
50's, The Bat, House on Haunted Hill, The Blob, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Titanic, The Member of the Wedding, Invaders from Mars, Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, The Tingler, Singin' in the Rain, Rear Window, The Trouble with Harry, The Thing From Another World, They Came from Outer Space, Tarantula, Them!, Blackboard Jungle, Rebel Without a Cause, Anatomy of a Murder, The Wild One, On the Waterfront, Suddenly, 12 Angry Men, Harvey.
60's, The man who Shot Liberty Valance, The Hustler, Fail Safe, 13 Ghosts, Strait-Jacket, Homicidal, Mr. Sardonicus, Psycho, Fahrenheit 451, Easy Rider, Targets, Night of the Living Dead, Mary Poppins, That Darn Cat, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, El Dorado, Cape Fear.
70's, The Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, Jaws, The Stepford Wives, The Sugarland Express, Smokey and the Bandit, Harold and Maude, Soylent Green, The Godfather, Coffy, Foxy Brown, When a Stranger Calls, Godspell, And Justice For All, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
80's, Scarface, War Games, The Blob, Shag, Footloose, Ferris Bueller's Day off, The Legend of Billie Jean, The Burbs, Stand Alone, Summer School, Big Man on Campus, Beetlejuice, Return of the Living Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street, Ernest Goes to Camp, First Blood, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Real Genius, Revenge of the Nerds, The Great Outdoors, Space Balls, Ghostbusters, The Dream Team.
90's, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, Dennis the Menace, Night of the Living Dead, Good Burger, Volcano, Thelma & Louise, Crazy in Alabama, Fried Green Tomatoes, Matilda, Jurassic Park, Independence Day, Pump up the Volume, Small Soldiers, Ernest Goes to Jail, Double Dragons, Problem Child, Heavyweights, Bushwhacked, the Jerky Boys, Patch Adams.

Hmmmm, I see what you mean, but going by what I can remember at the moment, it would seem rather it's a toss up between the 50's and the 80's.

I'm a fan of more modern movies.

I like 1970s movies. The fashion, lingo, hairstyles, score, etc. Also like the more scrubbed/faded "film" look.

I would say either the '40's or '50's.

RobbieFTW wrote:I like 1970s movies. The fashion, lingo, hairstyles, score, etc. Also like the more scrubbed/faded "film" look.

70s and 80s.

Can't comment so well on the 1900s or 1910s but the 20s thru now are chock full of the good & bad. No decade is classic poor.

My own personal bias is for the 70s, somehow even a bad 70s movie is watchable because they were trying to break the old Hollywood mode or were some of the wackiest foreign films ever.

The 60s comes off weak for the US but is made up for on the international scene. The last 2 decades have produced lots of tripe IMO but even they have their moments. The 30s, 40s, 50s are the Golden Age, I think I like the 40s best of those although the early (pre-Code) 30s were excellent.

adamwarlock wrote:Can't comment so well on the 1900s or 1910s but the 20s thru now are chock full of the good & bad. No decade is classic poor.

My own personal bias is for the 70s, somehow even a bad 70s movie is watchable because they were trying to break the old Hollywood mode or were some of the wackiest foreign films ever.

The 60s comes off weak for the US but is made up for on the international scene. The last 2 decades have produced lots of tripe IMO but even they have their moments. The 30s, 40s, 50s are the Golden Age, I think I like the 40s best of those although the early (pre-Code) 30s were excellent.

I agree that 1970s movies were some of the best. They have this edgy, vintage, last of the "old school" production quality to them, but at the same time you can see modern film technology starting to permeate too.

This is a hard one, but I would have to say the 90s. This is the only decade where I think the acting (technique and ability), the quality, and everything else adds up to a great movie experience. Of course I enjoy films from the other decades and especially love seeing older films just for the historical value (history of film, not actual history). The current decade seems to have too much "Oscar bait" acting, which is fine and can sometimes turn out a great film, but not if it's too obvious.