The passage of time is the great adjudicator of all things artistic. Forms such as painting, sculpture, music, and literature have had centuries to evaluate what feats truly stand the test of time, not only as their intrinsic timelessness is put to the test, but as they are forced to compete with newer practitioners and their works as well. Such competition has enshrined names like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Michelangelo, and William Shakespeare in the annals of human greatness.
While film is a far younger form, and thus its triumphs are somewhat less defined, some pictures have already proven themselves to be masterpieces of such quality that they will be remembered for centuries to come. Ranging from pioneering triumphs of technological filmmaking to timeless masterpieces of visual storytelling, these classic pictures will still be discussed, analyzed, and adored a hundred years from now.
Operatic, original, and universally admired, the Star Wars movies—particularly the original trilogy—encompass the grandeur and greatness of blockbuster cinema. In fact, in many ways, the saga pioneered blockbuster spectacle, delivering a rousing sci-fi adventure full of action and awe that epitomizes the glory of a big cinema experience. 50 years have passed since the franchise’s debut premiered in theaters, and if anything, its legacy and reputation has only grown over that time.
Its foundation is built on a universal and timeless storytelling framework, archetypal ideas of good, evil, heroism, and oppression that is bolstered by infectious and awe-inspiring world-building and a litany of unforgettable characters. In many ways, Star Wars is to cinema what pieces like “Symphony No. 9” and “The Four Seasons” are to music, and what the likes of “Hamlet” and “Macbeth” are to theater, an ageless masterpiece that transcends generations and even centuries with its piercing purity and outstanding craftsmanship.
While many genres tend to fade in and out of relevance as cinematic eras evolve and audience appetites shift, musicals have always had a strong following, particularly ones that appeal to younger viewers and families. In this regard, there is no greater film than The Wizard of Oz, with the 1939 classic striking a faultless balance between fantasy splendor, adventurous awe, and rich thematic gravitas as it follows Dorothy’s (Judy Garland) voyage through the magical land of Oz as she searches for a way to return home while helping her friends achieve their goals as well.
Its allure has already proven itself to be timeless, with The Wizard of Oz perhaps even more transfixing today than when it was upon release in 1939, especially considering the legacy of innovation and greatness that now defines its prestigious place in cinematic history. This air of reverence and distinction will only be even more imposing 187 years from the movie’s release, making it all but certain that The Wizard of Oz will still be a must-see masterpiece of cinematic excellence in one-hundred years’ time.
There is no shortage of reasons as to why Casablanca will endure for hundreds of years to come as one of the greatest and most entertaining films ever made. Its screenplay features an utterly compelling romantic quarrel, a litany of beautifully-designed and complex characters, and several of the greatest lines of dialogue to have ever graced the silver screen. Even without that screenwriting genius, the Old Hollywood masterpiece will continue to age gracefully courtesy of its themes of anti-fascism, romantic sacrifice, and moral duty.
In essence, Casablanca flaunts all the agonizing drama and philosophical intrigue that defined cinema at its best, with its story, revolving around a nightclub owner in Nazi-occupied Casablanca who finds his apathy towards the war tested by the arrival of a former lover and her husband, striking at the heart of humanity’s interest in morality and selfishness in narrative. Besides, people will be dropping “Here’s looking at you, kid,” “Round up the usual suspects,” and “We’ll always have Paris” for centuries to come and, presumably, some will want to see where such iconic one-liners came from.
Image via Parufamet
Given it’s still so well regarded after 100 years, there is no reason to think Metropolis won’t be revered in another century as the ageless masterpiece of silent cinema that it is. A bleak dystopian sci-fi parable, it unfolds in a city where the divide between rich and poor has grown unsustainable. When the son of one of the city’s elites falls in love with a working-class teacher, his efforts to be with her frame him as a prophesied savior, even as a mad scientist’s manic scheme threatens to lead the city to ruin.
Metropolis will forever be the first true sci-fi masterpiece of the medium, a feat that will enshrine it in the annals of film history forever, but its ageless relevance is far more than congratulatory. The way in invests in issues of class disparity and the dehumanizing jeopardy of technology with viscerally powerful visual storytelling will ensure it remains a piercing and relevant movie for decades to come. It will forever be one of the greatest examples of cinematic expression, with its unique German Expressionist style giving it an allure that never goes out of vogue.
It is a wonderful thought that, 100 years from now, any and all notions of racism and discrimination are a thing of the past. Unfortunately, it is far from certain that that will be the case. For as long as such issues of prejudice and bigotry do afflict the human race, films like Get Out will be endlessly relevant. Directed by Jordan Peele, it follows a Black photographer whose weekend vacation at his girlfriend’s home estate quickly turns from being an awkward meet-up laced with social tension to a waking nightmare of predatory dehumanization.
An instant classic of cerebral horror, social commentary, and even dark humor, Get Out’s ability to approach the issue of casual racism in modern America with insight, grace, and conviction has already made it an instant classic of the era. It was a revolutionary, Oscar-winning triumph when it made an immediate impact in 2017, and there is every chance it will be viewed as a timeless masterpiece of social drama a century from now.
Citizen Kane is still revered 85 years after its release for its innovative brilliance, with Orson Welles pioneering a litany of revolutionary filmmaking techniques in what was his debut production that are still in use on every film made today. From the implementation of deep focus cinematography to the use of low-angle shots, the invention of new lighting techniques, and even the structure of its non-linear story, Citizen Kane will forever be remembered as a watershed moment for the medium.
More than just a milestone moment in cinematic history, Citizen Kane also presents a story of tremendous universality, dissecting the complex and lonely life of a media mogul through a series of reflective vignettes as a reporter tries to ascertain the meaning of Charles Foster’s Kane’s (Welles) dying word. With its thematic intrigue and its technical brilliance, Citizen Kane is sure to live on for as long as cinema is a celebrated and active art form as one of the medium’s most defining triumphs.
The early part of the 21st century has been a golden era for animated cinema, but within this age of greatness for the form, WALL-E looms as being a particularly exemplary masterpiece that will still be relevant in a century. The two primary reasons for this are its tone, with WALL-E thriving with its innocent, almost tragic sense of pathos that masters the charm of visual storytelling, and its thematic conviction, with its focus on environmentalism and the impact of corporate greed seeing it stand apart from many other animated movies of today.
In the film, humanity flees Earth in the year 2105 as Earth’s diminishing habitat becomes dangerously unsustainable. Audiences in 2126 will undoubtedly look at this detail and either scoff—much the way we do today when a movie is set in “the bleak future of 2018”—or, perhaps more worryingly, they’ll acknowledge the film’s dour prescience. Either way, with its infectious charms, wonderful characters, and the universality of its themes, WALL-E will be one of the most enduring movies of the 2000s for a long time to come.
So many of the grandest highlights of cinematic history are defined by the most ambitious and epic undertakings in the form. This ranges from mesmerizing epics of the silent era to the monumental period pieces of the 1950s and 60s, and, of course, it includes Peter Jackson’s phenomenal feat in the infectious adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings to the big screen.
Beautifully realized with a litany of astonishing special effects, it transports viewers into the magical realm of Middle Earth, using everything from camera trickery and miniature models to the stunning landscapes of New Zealand to present what is one of the most immersive and absorbing experiences cinema has ever seen. Furthermore, the emotional gravitas of its story of a small band of heroes standing against the tyrannical evil of Mordor is entirely universal. It’s rousing, triumphant, emotionally commanding, and visually outstanding, and it will be remembered for many decades to come as the pinnacle of fantasy cinema.
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
Sometimes, movies that defy comforting resolutions and detailed clarity become objects of obsession for audiences, challenging them with their enigmatic allure that provokes thought and poses unanswerable questions. That is certainly the case for Stanley Kubrick’s genre-defining sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, a cold and confounding epic that touches on everything from the very first steps of human evolution to the tumultuous future that awaits mankind as technology and A.I. become a more prevalent part of our lives.
It’s already been 58 years since 2001: A Space Odyssey was released, and it endures as one of the most fiercely debated movies of our time. There is no indication that its mystical appeal and perplexing might will subside at all in the next hundred years, while its emphasis on adhering to real scientific principles gives it a precision that lovers of the genre will always appreciate. It’s regarded by many as being one of cinema’s quintessential masterpieces, and one expects that reverence will remain intact when the 22nd century rolls around.
The Godfather is one of the most important movies of its time, and one of the most influential on the cinema we enjoy today. There is every chance it will still be held in such high regard a century from now. Released in 1972, the violent crime masterpiece helped usher in a new age of bold artistry and confronting realism in Hollywood, delivering an absorbing tale of power, corruption, and morality as it follows the Corleone crime family through a difficult transition of power.
Its core themes are timeless, with ideas of the burden of legacy, the corrosive nature of total power, and ugly truth beneath the lie of the American dream establishing The Godfather, and its equally spectacular sequel, The Godfather Part II, as an ageless triumph, with its messaging remaining relevant even as the time and culture it explores has gradually become a thing of the past. Additionally, the divine allure of its visual display—a gorgeous procession of muted colors, deep shadows, and precise framing—will be admired by those who love cinema for many years to come.
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