100 best British films: the full list

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Time Out counts down the best British films, as chosen by the film industry

What's your favourite British film? Here's the 100 best British films as chosen by a panel of 150 film industry experts, including directors Sam Mendes, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach and Wes Anderson, actors David Morrissey, Sally Hawkins and Thandie Newton, newspaper and magazine critics and the heads of the UK's major cultural organisations.

By Dave Calhoun, Tom Huddleston and David Jenkins, with Derek Adams, Geoff Andrew, Adam Lee Davies, Gareth Evans, Paul Fairclough and Wally Hammond.

100 - 81 | 80 - 61 | 60 - 41 | 40 - 21 | 20 - 1

100

In This World (2002)

Dir Michael Winterbottom (Jamal Udin Torabi, Enayatullah)

The Railway Children (1970)

Dir Lionel Jeffries (Dinah Sheridan, William Mervyn, Jenny Agutter)

School for Scoundrels (1960)

Dir Robert Hamer (Ian Carmichael, Alastair Sim, Terry-Thomas)

28 Days Later… (2002)

Dir Danny Boyle (Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson)

Theatre of Blood (1973)

Dir Douglas Hickox (Vincent Price, Diana Rigg, Ian Hendry)

London to Brighton (2006)

Dir Paul Andrew Williams (Lorraine Stanley, Johnny Harris, Georgia Groome)

24 Hour Party People (2002)

Dir Michael Winterbottom (Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Ron Cook)

Zulu (1964)

Dir Cy Endfield (Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Michael Caine)

Dead Man's Shoes (2004)

Dir Shane Meadows (Paddy Considine, Gary Stretch, Toby Kebbell)

Land and Freedom (1995)

Dir Ken Loach (Ian Hart, Icíar Bollaín, Tom Gilroy)

Blue (1993)

Dir Derek Jarman (voices of Tilda Swinton, John Quentin, Nigel Terry)

The Go Between (1970)

Dir Joseph Losey (Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Dominic Guard)

This Is England (2006)

Dir Shane Meadows (Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley)

Night and the City (1950)

Dir Jules Dassin (Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers)

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Dir David Lean (Alec Guinness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins)

I'm Alright Jack (1959)

Dir John Boulting (Peter Sellers, Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas)

Fish Tank (2009)

Dir Andrea Arnold (Katie Jarvis, Kierston Wareing, Michael Fassbender)

A Cottage on Dartmoor (1929)

Dir Anthony Asquith (Hans Adalbert von Schlettow, Uno Henning, Norah Baring)

Tilda cross-dresses in Sally Potter's sublime, gender-bending 'Orlando' (1992)

Orlando (1993)

Dir Sally Potter (Tilda Swinton, Billy Zane, John Wood)

Dr No (1962)

Dir Terence Young (Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman)

100 - 81 | 80 - 61 | 60 - 41 | 40 - 21 | 20 - 1

Under the Skin (1997)

Dir Carine Adler (Samantha Morton, Claire Rushbrook, Rita Tushingham)

The Offence (1972)

Dir Sidney Lumet (Sean Connery, Trevor Howard, Vivien Merchant)

Billy Liar (1963)

Dir John Schlesinger (Tom Courtenay, Julie Christie, Wilfred Pickles)

Piccadilly (1929)

Dir EA Dupont (Anna May Wong, Gilda Gray, Jameson Thomas)

Penda's Fen (1974)

Dir Alan Clarke (Spencer Banks, John Atkinson, Ian Hogg)

A Room for Romeo Brass (1999)

Dir Shane Meadows (Paddy Considine, Andrew Shim, Ben Marshall)

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

Dir Mike Newell (Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, Kristin Scott Thomas)

The Man in the White Suit (1951)

Dir Alexander Mackendrick (Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker)

The Long Day Closes (1992)

Dir Terence Davies (Marjorie Yates, Leigh McCormack, Anthony Watson)

Edvard Munch (1974)

Dir Peter Watkins (Geir Westby, Gro Fraas, Iselin von Hanno Bart)

Bad Timing (1980)

Dir Nicolas Roeg (Art Garfunkel, Theresa Russell, Harvey Keitel)

Oliver! (1968)

Dir Carol Reed (Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Oliver Reed)

Dead of Night (1945)

Dirs Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer (Mervyn Johns, Michael Redgrave, Roland Culver)

Whisky Galore! (1949)

Dir Alexander Mackendrick (Basil Radford, Joan Greenwood, Jean Cadell)

Wonderland (1999)

Dir Michael Winterbottom (Gina McKee, Shirley Henderson, Molly Parker, John Simm)

Dracula (1958)

Dir Terence Fisher (Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough)

Topsy-Turvy (1999)

Dir Mike Leigh (Jim Broadbent, Allan Corduner, Timothy Spall)

Nuts In May (1976)

Dir Mike Leigh (Roger Sloman, Alison Steadman)

Deep End (1970)

Dir Jerzy Skolimowski (Jane Asher, John Moulder-Brown, Diana Dors)

Walkabout (1971)

Dir Nicolas Roeg (Jenny Agutter, David Gulpilil, Lucien John)

100 - 81 | 80 - 61 | 60 - 41 | 40 - 21 | 20 - 1

The Long Good Friday (1980)

Dir John Mackenzie (Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Derek Thompson)

Blackmail (1929)

Dir Alfred Hitchcock (Anny Ondra, Sara Allgood, John Longden)

Gregory's Girl (1981)

Dir Bill Forsyth (John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn, Claire Grogan)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Dir Stanley Kubrick (Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester)

Caravaggio (1986)

Dir Derek Jarman (Nigel Terry, Sean Bean, Tilda Swinton)

Radio-On (1980)

Dir Chris Petit (David Beames, Lisa Kreuzer, Sandy Ratcliff)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974)

Dirs Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones (Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, John Cleese, Eric Idle et al)

This Sporting Life (1963)

Dir Lindsay Anderson (Richard Harris, Rachel Roberts)

Robinson in Space (1997)

Dir Patrick Keiller (Paul Scofield (voice))

Local Hero (1983)

Dir Bill Forsyth (Burt Lancaster, Peter Riegert, Denis Lawson)

Culloden (1964)

Dir Peter Watkins (George McBean, Alan Pope, the people of Inverness)

Gallivant (1996)

Dir Andrew Kötting (Andrew Kötting, Eden Kötting, Gladys Morris)

Hunger (2008)

Dir Steve McQueen (Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham)

Blow-Up (1966)

Dir Michelangelo Antonioni (David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Paul Bowles)

The Fallen Idol (1948)

Dir Carol Reed (Ralph Richardson, Michèle Morgan, Bobby Henrey)

Repulsion (1965)

Dir Roman Polanski (Catherine Deneuve, Yvonne Furneaux)

Sabotage (1936)

Dir Alfred Hitchcock (Oscar Homolka, Sylvia Sidney, John Loder)

Fires Were Started (1941)

Dir Humphrey Jennings

Listen to Britain (1942)

Dir Humphrey Jennings

Witchfinder General (1968)

Dir Michael Reeves (Vincent Price, Patrick Wymark, Ian Ogilvy)

100 - 81 | 80 - 61 | 60 - 41 | 40 - 21 | 20 - 1

Ratcatcher (1999)

Dir Lynne Ramsay (William Eadie, Tommy Flanagan, Mandy Matthews)

London (1994)

Dir Patrick Keiller (voice of Paul Scofield)

Went the Day Well? (1942)

Dir Alberto Cavalcanti (Leslie Banks, Elizabeth Allan, Frank Lawton)

It Always Rains on Sunday (1947)

Dir Robert Hamer (Googie Withers, Edward Chapman, John McCallum)

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)

Dir Tony Richardson (Tom Courtenay, James Bolam, Julia Foster)

The Servant (1963)

Dir Joseph Losey (James Fox, Dirk Bogarde, Sarah Miles, Wendy Craig)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Dir Stanley Kubrick (Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates)

Secrets and Lies (1996)

Dir Mike Leigh (Brenda Blethyn, Timothy Spall, Marianne Jean-Baptiste)

Get Carter (1971)

Dir Mike Hodges (Michael Caine, Britt Ekland, John Osborne)

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Dir Alfred Hitchcock (Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave)

The Ladykillers (1955)

Dir Alexander Mackendrick (Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Katie Johnson)

Peeping Tom (1960)

Dir Michael Powell (Karl Böhm, Anna Massey, Maxine Audley)

The Wicker Man (1973)

Dir Robin Hardy (Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland)

The Bill Douglas Trilogy (1972, 1973, 1978)

Dir Bill Douglas (Stephen Archibald, Hughie Restorick, Jean Taylor-Smith)

I Know Where I'm Going! (1945)

Dirs Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger (Wendy Hiller, Roger Livesey)

Great Expectations (1946)

Dir David Lean (John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Martita Hunt)

Brazil (1985)

Dir Terry Gilliam (Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Dir David Lean (Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness)

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960)

Dir Karel Reisz (Albert Finney, Rachel Roberts, Shirley Anne Field)

Nil by Mouth (1997)

Dir Gary Oldman (Kathy Burke, Ray Winstone)

100 - 81 | 80 - 61 | 60 - 41 | 40 - 21 | 20 - 1

Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)

Dir Terry Jones (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle et al)

Barry Lyndon (1975)

Dir Stanley Kubrick (Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee)

The Innocents (1961)

Dir Jack Clayton (Deborah Kerr, Michael Redgrave)

A Canterbury Tale (1944)

Dirs Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger (Eric Portman, Sheila Sim, John Sweet, Dennis Price)

Black Narcissus (1947)

Dirs Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger (Deborah Kerr, Sabu, David Farrar)

Withnail and I (1987)

Dir Bruce Robinson (Richard E Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths)

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

Dirs Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger (Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr)

The 39 Steps (1935)

Dir Alfred Hitchcock (Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Godfrey Tearle)

Brief Encounter (1945)

Dir David Lean (Trevor Howard, Celia Johnson)

Naked (1993)

Dir Mike Leigh (David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp, Karin Cartlidge)

Trainspotting (1996)

Dir Danny Boyle (Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller)

If... (1968)

Dir Lindsay Anderson (Malcom McDowell, David Wood, Richard Warwick)

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

Dir Robert Hamer (Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood)

Performance (1970)

Dirs Nicolas Roeg, Donald Cammell (James Fox, Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg)

A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

Dirs Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger (David Niven, Kim Hunter, Roger Livesey, Raymond Massey)

The Red Shoes (1948)

Dirs Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger (Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring)

Kes (1969)

Dir Ken Loach (David Bradley, Lynne Perrie, Freddie Fletcher)

Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)

Dir Terence Davies (Pete Postlethwaite, Freda Dowie)

The Third Man (1949)

Dir Carol Reed (Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Alide Valli)

Don't Look Now (1973)

Dir Nicolas Roeg (Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland)

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Soooooo many good British movies missing from this list, the top 10 is largly unheard of "the 3rd man"? a movie made in the 1940's got ahead of Harry Brown? or 4 weddings and a funeral? really? the person who wrote this list must of been smoking some real strong crack.

Ray About 3 days ago
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very good

Mohammad About 8 days ago
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Where are The Killing Fields, Hope and Glory, or Sleuth?

Birchjonathan About 8 days ago
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Where is Lock, Stock. Two Smoking Barrels? Full Monty? Ghandi? Who makes these awful lists?!

Jonathan About 8 days ago
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British Cinema is a rather desperate if this is a sampling of the best of it. There are a lot of films on this list that wouldn't even come close to making a Top 100 greatest list if they had come from America, France or Japan. Apart from some of the films from a handful of really unique British filmmakers such as Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, why does it feel like modern British movies (since the 70s or so) really shine mainly when they are comedies? There are no David Leans or Michael Powells anymore -- no British filmmakers (working in Britain) with that true feel for cinema -- for the epic and the grand anymore. They couldn't have all gone to America or to teevee, could they have? Distant Voices Still Lives is borrowed claptrap in the style of a continental art film. The attempts at controversy and shock-value in films like If... and Walkabout just aren't memorable compared to the more cinematic, original and biting comparisons from 60s France or 70s America. British films of the 70s in particular have the feel of a Cambridge graduate trying to audition for a punk band. And what is with the sentiment that British gangster "dramas" like the Long Good Friday and Get Carter are great films? Tthese films are very rich in style and not much else. Some modern British films are really good -- This is England, which is on the list, is one of the first to come to mind. But there are some great British classics that for some reason failed to make this list. The Horse's Mouth, Pygmalion, Sabotage all should be here. And you want a great modern British gangster drama? Try The Krays or Bronson.

Ed Sun Apr 28
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Is "A fish called Wanda" not British enough?

Adriaan Tue Apr 9
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Good list! But I suspected "chariots of fire" might of made the list?

James Wed Feb 13
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My favorite is *Things to Come" with Ralph Richardson

An American Friend Mon Jan 14
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bridge on the river kwai, 86 -- yeah right? the list and people behind it lose all credibility. shameful.

barry Thu Oct 11 2012
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Taste of honey???

George Sat Sep 29 2012
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