1998 → 2007
Ranking Changes
All CollectionsA film-by-film comparison of the American Film Institute’s 1998 and 2007 Top 100 lists, showing how the published canon changed—which films climbed, fell, entered the list or disappeared between editions.
A positive change means a film climbed higher in the 2007 ranking.
Biggest risers
The Searchers#96 → #12 · +84City Lights#76 → #11 · +65Vertigo#61 → #9 · +52Unforgiven#98 → #68 · +30The Deer Hunter#79 → #53 · +26Duck Soup#85 → #60 · +25Shane#69 → #45 · +24Rocky#78 → #57 · +21Raging Bull#24 → #4 · +20The Gold Rush#74 → #58 · +16Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs#49 → #34 · +15The Sound of Music#55 → #40 · +15American Graffiti#77 → #62 · +15The Apartment#93 → #80 · +13To Kill a Mockingbird#34 → #25 · +9Biggest fallers
The African Queen#17 → #65 · -48Ben-Hur#72 → #100 · -28A Clockwork Orange#46 → #70 · -24The Bridge on the River Kwai#13 → #36 · -23Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid#50 → #73 · -23The French Connection#70 → #93 · -23Bonnie and Clyde#27 → #42 · -15North by Northwest#40 → #55 · -15One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest#20 → #33 · -13Dr. Strangelove#26 → #39 · -13All About Eve#16 → #28 · -12On the Waterfront#8 → #19 · -11It Happened One Night#35 → #46 · -11The Graduate#7 → #17 · -10West Side Story#41 → #51 · -10All matched films
77 matched · 23 added · 23 removed| Film | 1998 | 2007 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Searchers1956 · John Ford | #96 | #12 | ▲ +84 |
| City Lights1931 · Charlie Chaplin | #76 | #11 | ▲ +65 |
| Vertigo1958 · Alfred Hitchcock | #61 | #9 | ▲ +52 |
| The African Queen1951 · John Huston | #17 | #65 | ▼ -48 |
| Unforgiven1992 · Clint Eastwood | #98 | #68 | ▲ +30 |
| Ben-Hur1959 · William Wyler | #72 | #100 | ▼ -28 |
| The Deer Hunter1978 · Michael Cimino | #79 | #53 | ▲ +26 |
| Duck Soup1933 · Leo McCarey | #85 | #60 | ▲ +25 |
| A Clockwork Orange1971 · Stanley Kubrick | #46 | #70 | ▼ -24 |
| Shane1953 · George Stevens | #69 | #45 | ▲ +24 |
| The Bridge on the River Kwai1957 · David Lean | #13 | #36 | ▼ -23 |
| Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid1969 · George Roy Hill | #50 | #73 | ▼ -23 |
| The French Connection1971 · William Friedkin | #70 | #93 | ▼ -23 |
| Rocky1976 · John G. Avildsen | #78 | #57 | ▲ +21 |
| Raging Bull1980 · Martin Scorsese | #24 | #4 | ▲ +20 |
| The Gold Rush1925 · Charlie Chaplin | #74 | #58 | ▲ +16 |
| Bonnie and Clyde1967 · Arthur Penn | #27 | #42 | ▼ -15 |
| North by Northwest1959 · Alfred Hitchcock | #40 | #55 | ▼ -15 |
| Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs1937 · David Hand | #49 | #34 | ▲ +15 |
| The Sound of Music1965 · Robert Wise | #55 | #40 | ▲ +15 |
| American Graffiti1973 · George Lucas | #77 | #62 | ▲ +15 |
| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest1975 · Miloš Forman | #20 | #33 | ▼ -13 |
| Dr. Strangelove1964 · Stanley Kubrick | #26 | #39 | ▼ -13 |
| The Apartment1960 · Billy Wilder | #93 | #80 | ▲ +13 |
| All About Eve1950 · Joseph L. Mankiewicz | #16 | #28 | ▼ -12 |
| On the Waterfront1954 · Elia Kazan | #8 | #19 | ▼ -11 |
| It Happened One Night1934 · Frank Capra | #35 | #46 | ▼ -11 |
| The Graduate1967 · Mike Nichols | #7 | #17 | ▼ -10 |
| West Side Story1961 · Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins | #41 | #51 | ▼ -10 |
| It's a Wonderful Life1946 · Frank Capra | #11 | #20 | ▼ -9 |
| To Kill a Mockingbird1962 · Robert Mulligan | #34 | #25 | ▲ +9 |
| Double Indemnity1944 · Billy Wilder | #38 | #29 | ▲ +9 |
| The Silence of the Lambs1991 · Jonathan Demme | #65 | #74 | ▼ -9 |
| Bringing Up Baby1938 · Howard Hawks | #97 | #88 | ▲ +9 |
| Some Like It Hot1959 · Billy Wilder | #14 | #22 | ▼ -8 |
| The Maltese Falcon1941 · John Huston | #23 | #31 | ▼ -8 |
| The Treasure of the Sierra Madre1948 · John Huston | #30 | #38 | ▼ -8 |
| Jaws1975 · Steven Spielberg | #48 | #56 | ▼ -8 |
| 2001: A Space Odyssey1968 · Stanley Kubrick | #22 | #15 | ▲ +7 |
| Midnight Cowboy1969 · John Schlesinger | #36 | #43 | ▼ -7 |
| The Philadelphia Story1940 · George Cukor | #51 | #44 | ▲ +7 |
| Tootsie1982 · Sydney Pollack | #62 | #69 | ▼ -7 |
| High Noon1952 · Fred Zinnemann | #33 | #27 | ▲ +6 |
| Rear Window1954 · Alfred Hitchcock | #42 | #48 | ▼ -6 |
| Raiders of the Lost Ark1981 · Steven Spielberg | #60 | #66 | ▼ -6 |
| Singin' in the Rain1952 · Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen | #10 | #5 | ▲ +5 |
| Taxi Driver1976 · Martin Scorsese | #47 | #52 | ▼ -5 |
| Forrest Gump1994 · Robert Zemeckis | #71 | #76 | ▼ -5 |
| The Wizard of Oz1939 · Victor Fleming | #6 | #10 | ▼ -4 |
| Sunset Blvd.1950 · Billy Wilder | #12 | #16 | ▼ -4 |
| Psycho1960 · Alfred Hitchcock | #18 | #14 | ▲ +4 |
| Annie Hall1977 · Woody Allen | #31 | #35 | ▼ -4 |
| Easy Rider1969 · Dennis Hopper | #88 | #84 | ▲ +4 |
| Mr. Smith Goes to Washington1939 · Frank Capra | #29 | #26 | ▲ +3 |
| Modern Times1936 · Charlie Chaplin | #81 | #78 | ▲ +3 |
| Platoon1986 · Oliver Stone | #83 | #86 | ▼ -3 |
| Gone with the Wind1939 · Victor Fleming | #4 | #6 | ▼ -2 |
| Lawrence of Arabia1962 · David Lean | #5 | #7 | ▼ -2 |
| Star Wars1977 · George Lucas | #15 | #13 | ▲ +2 |
| Chinatown1974 · Roman Polanski | #19 | #21 | ▼ -2 |
| The Grapes of Wrath1940 · John Ford | #21 | #23 | ▼ -2 |
| Apocalypse Now1979 · Francis Ford Coppola | #28 | #30 | ▼ -2 |
| King Kong1933 · Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack | #43 | #41 | ▲ +2 |
| A Streetcar Named Desire1951 · Elia Kazan | #45 | #47 | ▼ -2 |
| M*A*S*H1970 · Robert Altman | #56 | #54 | ▲ +2 |
| Network1976 · Sidney Lumet | #66 | #64 | ▲ +2 |
| Goodfellas1990 · Martin Scorsese | #94 | #92 | ▲ +2 |
| Yankee Doodle Dandy1942 · Michael Curtiz | #100 | #98 | ▲ +2 |
| Casablanca1942 · Michael Curtiz | #2 | #3 | ▼ -1 |
| The Godfather1972 · Francis Ford Coppola | #3 | #2 | ▲ +1 |
| Schindler's List1993 · Steven Spielberg | #9 | #8 | ▲ +1 |
| E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial1982 · Steven Spielberg | #25 | #24 | ▲ +1 |
| The Wild Bunch1969 · Sam Peckinpah | #80 | #79 | ▲ +1 |
| Pulp Fiction1994 · Quentin Tarantino | #95 | #94 | ▲ +1 |
| Citizen Kane1941 · Orson Welles | #1 | #1 | — |
| The Godfather Part II1974 · Francis Ford Coppola | #32 | #32 | — |
| The Best Years of Our Lives1946 · William Wyler | #37 | #37 | — |