100 best British films: the full list

This list includes some great movies, but has some glaring omissions, many of which have already been noted. Kinky Boots could be added...

No Greenaway?

I'm glad 'fires were started' is on the list and i probably have included 'millions like us' but then we are all different. I should think most people will be surprised and given the time we could all make our own list

Missing:
Scum (should be number 1 on this list)
Made in Britain (should be number 2)

East is East, Rita sue n bob too, proper british movies that you connect to in some way

bit dissapointed, good list but could of been better

Great top one hundred, so many brilliant films. Good to see so many by Powell and Pressburger

Good list, lots of titles worth investigating. Shame there's only one Alan Clarke film tho. Surely Contact or The Firm belong here? Still, kudos in general.

A pretty bloody impeccable list.

Children of Men. None of the films on this list capture the British landscape as it really looks in such an immediate way. Why isn't it on this list when so many of these films aren't set in Britain?

Excuse me but where is the Full Monty!!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 is nothing but breathtaking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You should take it into account!!!!!

Millions by Danny Boyle :)

Ummmm......... A Fish called Wanda???

I don't want to know who you use, as long as they're not complete muppets.

No "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels"?

"Chariots of Fire" and " A Man for all Seasons" won Best Picture Oscars yet neither is included in the list of 100 Best British films?

Can't understand it?

Kes is number four seriously! There is nothing innovative about the film, the main protagonist is dull and we just see him used as a punching bag from start to finish. The acting is mediocre as I've seen far better in plenty of films. There are no redeeming qualities. Billy's longing for his absent father (an important plot point in the book) is ignored. The ending was changed from the book leaving no effort to make an impact with the viewer. Just not a good film and not a very good novel either. Liked to have seen 28 Days Later higher though.

I have a set-theoretic problem with this list: since The 39 Steps is (together with the 7th Seal) the greatest film ever made, and since the set of British films is a proper subset of the set of all films, how can The 39 Steps be only the 13th greatest British film? And, as an aside, why is the sometime distasteful, entirely 'imagined' (i.e. credibility-lacking) 'Naked' two positions above it? (When it comes to characterisation: is Naked's Porsche-driving yuppy to anyone's taste?)

I felt the list left off quite a few good movies, and how is The Bridge on the River Kwai that far down on the list? Also where is Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, Snatch, The King's Speech (Too new?), Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Straw Dogs (Just to throw out a borderline british film.)

A very good selection. None of the films mentioned in the comments is better than the films in the list.
If I could suggest an omission it would be Betrayal, a filmed play I know but one with superlative performances from an all-star cast.

I searched in vain for "Love Actually"...

Imagine running up that Century! Nothing by Maurice Elvey, who dominated British film for twenty years. Has any one on your roster even seen his HINDLE WAKES, The LODGER or LIFE OF DAVID LLOYD GEORGE? Well Alex Korda, who was the next key contributor, gets a similar black out. ROOM AT THE TOP, KING SOLOMON'S MINES, TOM JONES, MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, JOURNEY'S END, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO WHATS'IS NAME. or for that matter THE KING'S SPEECH?

Another shovel of dirt on the business of serious film.

Is Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels a British film..if so a shocking omission.

Slumdog Millionaire is not there? What a joke. By the way, old films with their stilted scripts, stage-style acting, procrastinating plots and crap special effects stink. There, I said it. I'm not gonna sit here and pretend that films haven't improved in the last 80 years like most critics like to do. My Blu-Ray collection doesn't extend beyond the 80s and there're probably only a few 70s films that I'd have in there.

Look out... Aussie whinge alert.... Safzoro, I think you'll find it was British money and production that was behind Walkabout... Just because it was filmed in the Northern Territory doesn't mean it's an Aussie film... Similarly, Bridge On The River Kwai is not a Burmese film and 2001:A Space Odyssey is not a Jupiterian production.... Alvin Purple however is an Australian film and a belter to boot.

Quite incredible some of the selections....2001 : A Space Odyssey at no.57 !!! One of the greatest films ever beaten by Humphrey Jennings war films.... Are you havin' a laugh...???...No sign of The Cook, The Thief etc. by Greenaway and The Hill with Sean Connery in one of his best roles.... The original Sleuth is another that should be in the top 100... Not a very well thought out list methinks.. No sign of The Italian Job either.... oh dear oh dear...

not a bad list but come on no Greenaway, tut.

Where are : Brighton Rock (1947), Hell is a City (1960), When the Earth Caught Fire (1961), The Plank (1967), The Family Way (1966); Whistle Down the Wind (1961), Scrooge (1951) and Taste of Honey (1961)?

The full monty, East is east to name a 2 comedies. Our comedies are the best, and yet few are in this list.

A list like this is there to provoke discussion, I would have added Ice Cold in Alex, Dunkirk, In Which We Serve, The Hill and that's just the war films I can think of. Don't Look Now is a great film but never liked the Third Man P.S. A Matter of Life and Death was on TV 2 weeks ago.

Several omissions surprised me. The main one is non-appearance of Peter Watkins' Punishment Park. This would be my top British film of all-time. More relevant today than it has ever been. A work of brilliance.

Others I would have included include Gandhi, Carry On Cleo, Village of the Damned, The Devil Rides Out, The Battle of the River Plate, The Flying Scotsman, and Never Let Me Go.

I made an error as Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) Director: Robert Hamer is on the list.

I can also add;

A Man for All Seasons (1966) Director: Fred Zinnemann

This Time Out best British films list is totally bogus. Here is a list of omissions, starting with what is probably the greatest of all British films:

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) Director: Robert Hamer

The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) Director: Tony Richardson

East Is East (1999) Director: Damien O'Donnell

The Cruel Sea (1953) Director: Charles Frend

Hobson's Choice (1954) Director: David Lean

The League of Gentlemen (1960) Director: Basil Dearden

It Happened Here (1965) Kevin Brownlow & Andrew Mollo

A Fish Called Wanda (1988) Director: Charles Crichton

Tunes of Glory (1960) Director: Ronald Neame

Sid and Nancy (1986) Director: Alex Cox

The Draughtsman's Contract (1982) Director: Peter Greenaway

Tom Jones (1963) Director: Tony Richardson

Prick Up Your Ears (1987) Director: Stephen Frears

About a Boy (2002) - Directors: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz

The Man Who Would Be King (1975) Director: John Huston

The Italian Job (1969) Director: Peter Collinson

once again a list voted for by muppets who think because they got a piece of paper from uni for media studies qualifies them to tell the rest of the world what we should like in films, what a joke!! how about a list compiled from the peoples votes

once again a list voted for by muppets who think because they got a piece of paper from uni for media studies qualifies them to tell the rest of the world what we should like in films, what a joke!! how about a list compiled from the peoples votes

My all time favourite British film is not even in !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Hill (1965) Sean Connery
Flawless ensemble acting,with a marvellous script

I like the list. It's good to see respect for filmmakers like Bill Douglas, Terence Davies and Patrick Keiller, as well as less conventional films like Theatre of Blood and The Witchfinder General.

That said, completely ignoring talented filmmakers like Neil Jordan (representing Ireland) and Peter Greenaway in favour of several films by the American Stanley Kubrick is unacceptable. Kubrick's work is already recognised by the American Film Institute; the same cannot be said for films like Angel, Mona Lisa, Ondine, The Falls and The Draughtsman's Contract.

Walkabout is a British film. It was shot in Australia, but it's a British production made primarily with British money. It's also based on an English book by an English writer, is directed and shot by an English filmmaker and has an English actress in the lead role. Even IMDb classifies it as a UK production.

Edvard Munch on the other hand is a Swedish film, produced for Swedish television, and with no financial involvement from the UK.

In what way exactly is 'Walkabout' British? Or do you still count Australia as part of Britain?

What about "Rattle of a Simple Man?"

What about "Rattle of a Simple Man?"

A taste of honey -- not in the top 100 and not even mentioned by any one of the "experts". I assumed I was just wrong till I looked at the imdbase just in case. It gets very high billing there so I cheered up.

No, "The Devils" or "Mona Lisa"? No to Sam Mendes doing the next Bond film- it'll be like a theatre stage play of the franchise complete with cliched intellectual musings. Bond will be a troubled man in the hands of the dull and overrated Mendes.

Where's "The Devil's" or "Mona Lisa"?

Only 2 women out of 17 Timeout film reviewers ? What's going on? I'd like to know the percentage of female to male contributors. I'm guessing not very equal, as the list would have a somewhat different complexion.

A very masculine list. I bet a survey of women in the film industry would have produced a very different list. My personal favourite is Hobson's Choice.

The Lion in Winter?! How can this film not be on any world list never mind British. Who made this list anyway? They're 'avin' a larf.

What about All Night Long?
\Surely it ranks as one of Britain's most powerful films?

miles :)

I agree about the Lavender Hill Mob. It was my mother's favorite.