Wheel of Movies: 150 Films From 1923 to 2014

Spin 150 registry films at once, or cut the wheel down to one genre or one decade first. Every result comes with a one-line premise.

Wheel of Movies: 150 Films From 1923 to 2014

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Spin 1 · number 137

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

The hobbit Frodo Baggins and eight companions set out for Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring. Directed by Peter Jackson. Joined the registry in 2021.

Every spin uses the whole wheel.

150 films on the wheel.

Numbers on the wheel

  1. Safety Last! (1923)
  2. The Gold Rush (1925)
  3. The General (1926)
  4. Frankenstein (1931)
  5. King Kong (1933)
  6. It Happened One Night (1934)
  7. Modern Times (1936)
  8. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
  9. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
  10. Stagecoach (1939)
  11. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  12. Gone with the Wind (1939)
  13. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
  14. Fantasia (1940)
  15. Pinocchio (1940)
  16. Citizen Kane (1941)
  17. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
  18. Casablanca (1942)
  19. Double Indemnity (1944)
  20. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
  21. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
  22. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
  23. Cinderella (1950)
  24. High Noon (1952)
  25. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
  26. Roman Holiday (1953)
  27. Rear Window (1954)
  28. Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
  29. The Searchers (1956)
  30. 12 Angry Men (1957)
  31. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
  32. Vertigo (1958)
  33. North by Northwest (1959)
  34. Some Like It Hot (1959)
  35. The Apartment (1960)
  36. Psycho (1960)
  37. The Magnificent Seven (1960)
  38. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  39. West Side Story (1961)
  40. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
  41. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
  42. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
  43. Mary Poppins (1964)
  44. The Sound of Music (1965)
  45. The Graduate (1967)
  46. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
  47. Planet of the Apes (1968)
  48. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
  49. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
  50. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  51. M*A*S*H (1970)
  52. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
  53. The Godfather (1972)
  54. The Sting (1973)
  55. Enter the Dragon (1973)
  56. The Exorcist (1973)
  57. Blazing Saddles (1974)
  58. Young Frankenstein (1974)
  59. Chinatown (1974)
  60. The Godfather Part II (1974)
  61. Jaws (1975)
  62. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
  63. Rocky (1976)
  64. Taxi Driver (1976)
  65. Star Wars (1977)
  66. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
  67. Grease (1978)
  68. Superman (1978)
  69. Halloween (1978)
  70. National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)
  71. Alien (1979)
  72. Apocalypse Now (1979)
  73. The Muppet Movie (1979)
  74. Airplane! (1980)
  75. The Blues Brothers (1980)
  76. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
  77. The Shining (1980)
  78. Raging Bull (1980)
  79. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
  80. Blade Runner (1982)
  81. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
  82. Tootsie (1982)
  83. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
  84. A Christmas Story (1983)
  85. Return of the Jedi (1983)
  86. Ghostbusters (1984)
  87. The Karate Kid (1984)
  88. The Terminator (1984)
  89. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
  90. Amadeus (1984)
  91. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
  92. Back to the Future (1985)
  93. The Breakfast Club (1985)
  94. The Goonies (1985)
  95. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
  96. Top Gun (1986)
  97. Platoon (1986)
  98. The Princess Bride (1987)
  99. Dirty Dancing (1987)
  100. Die Hard (1988)
  101. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
  102. Do the Right Thing (1989)
  103. Field of Dreams (1989)
  104. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
  105. The Little Mermaid (1989)
  106. Glory (1989)
  107. Goodfellas (1990)
  108. Home Alone (1990)
  109. Dances With Wolves (1990)
  110. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  111. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  112. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
  113. Boyz n the Hood (1991)
  114. Thelma & Louise (1991)
  115. A League of Their Own (1992)
  116. Unforgiven (1992)
  117. Malcolm X (1992)
  118. Groundhog Day (1993)
  119. Jurassic Park (1993)
  120. Schindler's List (1993)
  121. Forrest Gump (1994)
  122. The Lion King (1994)
  123. Pulp Fiction (1994)
  124. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
  125. Toy Story (1995)
  126. Clueless (1995)
  127. Apollo 13 (1995)
  128. Before Sunrise (1995)
  129. Fargo (1996)
  130. Titanic (1997)
  131. L.A. Confidential (1997)
  132. The Big Lebowski (1998)
  133. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
  134. The Truman Show (1998)
  135. The Matrix (1999)
  136. Memento (2000)
  137. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
  138. Shrek (2001)
  139. Spy Kids (2001)
  140. The Incredibles (2004)
  141. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
  142. No Country for Old Men (2007)
  143. The Hurt Locker (2008)
  144. The Dark Knight (2008)
  145. Iron Man (2008)
  146. WALL-E (2008)
  147. Inception (2010)
  148. The Social Network (2010)
  149. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
  150. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Results

  1. 1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

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Wheel of Movies: 150 Films From 1923 to 2014: how it works

This wheel of movies holds 150 films from the United States National Film Registry, from a 1923 silent comedy to a 2014 release. Tap a genre or a decade to shrink the wheel, then spin. The line under the winner gives the premise in a sentence and says who made it. A shortlist of your own goes in My list.

Shrink the wheel before you spin

Left on All, the movie wheel spinner draws 150 slices: fair, but too thin to read. Tap one of the 11 genre chips or 9 decade chips first. Comedy is the largest group at 40 films; Westerns and Horror have 10 each and War 7. The 1980s is the fullest decade with 33. The 1920s has 3, all silent comedies.

A comedy movie wheel spin with nothing heavy on it

Tap Comedy and the wheel runs from Safety Last! (1923) to Shrek and Spy Kids (both 2001). Every comedy-drama is filed under Drama, so Forrest Gump (1994) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) cannot turn up on a comedy movie wheel spin. Genres follow the opening of each film's Wikipedia article, not our taste.

Tips

  • Children in the room? Tap Animation first: 11 films, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to WALL-E (2008). On All, the wheel can land on The Exorcist (1973).
  • Cannot agree? Filter to a small group such as War, switch to Tally and spin ten times. Most wins takes the night.
  • Working through the Westerns? Elimination drops each winner, so 10 spins cover all 10.

Questions and answers

Where do the 150 films come from?

All 150 are on the National Film Registry, the films the Librarian of Congress selects for preservation, at most 25 a year. We checked every title, release year and induction year against the table in Wikipedia's registry article on 19 September 2026, leaving out shorts, newsreels, home movies and documentaries. Each premise is our own sentence, checked against that film's article.

Why is there no family filter?

Neither source rates films by age, and sorting 150 titles by our own guess would not be a fact. Animation is the nearest group, with 11 films, but check the rating before you press play.

Why is my favorite film missing?

By law a film cannot join the registry until ten years after release, and the newest on it is from 2014. The wheel draws 150 slices at most, and the registry holds more than 900 films. Horror stops at 10 and Christmas at 5 because each has a bigger wheel of its own. For other titles, paste them into My list, one per line, up to 100: a separate wheel of only your films.

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All 150 films

1920s 3

  • The General (1926) In the American Civil War a Southern train engineer chases the Union spies who stole his beloved locomotive. Silent. Buster Keaton stars and co-directed. Joined the registry in 1989.
  • The Gold Rush (1925) Chaplin's Little Tramp joins the Klondike Gold Rush and rides out a blizzard in a cabin with a wanted man. Silent. Written and directed by Charlie Chaplin. Joined the registry in 1992.
  • Safety Last! (1923) A department store clerk out to make good in the big city ends up scaling a skyscraper and dangling from its clock. Silent, starring Harold Lloyd. Joined the registry in 1994.

War 7

  • Apocalypse Now (1979) During the Vietnam War a captain travels upriver into Cambodia on a secret mission to kill a renegade colonel. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Joined the registry in 2000.
  • The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) In 1943 British prisoners of war are made to build a railway bridge for their Japanese captors. Directed by David Lean. Joined the registry in 1997.
  • Glory (1989) The 54th Massachusetts, one of the Union Army's first African American regiments, up to its assault on Fort Wagner. Directed by Edward Zwick. Joined the registry in 2025.
  • The Hurt Locker (2008) A US Army bomb squad works the streets of Iraq, and the film watches what the job does to each of the men. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Joined the registry in 2020.
  • M*A*S*H (1970) Black comedy about the medical staff of a mobile army surgical hospital during the Korean War. Directed by Robert Altman. Joined the registry in 1996.
  • Platoon (1986) A new US Army volunteer in Vietnam is caught between two sergeants who disagree about the war. Written and directed by Oliver Stone. Joined the registry in 2019.
  • Saving Private Ryan (1998) In Normandy in 1944, soldiers are sent to find a private whose three brothers have been killed and bring him home. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Joined the registry in 2014.

1930s 9

  • The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) With King Richard away, Robin Hood leads an outlaw band against Prince John. Errol Flynn stars. Directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley. Joined the registry in 1995.
  • Frankenstein (1931) An obsessed scientist assembles a living being from dead bodies. Boris Karloff plays the Monster. Directed by James Whale. Joined the registry in 1991.
  • Gone with the Wind (1939) Epic romance of the American South in and after the Civil War, with Scarlett O'Hara, a planter's strong-willed daughter. Directed by Victor Fleming. Joined the registry in 1989.
  • It Happened One Night (1934) A socialite running from her overbearing father falls for the reporter who tags along. Directed by Frank Capra. Joined the registry in 1993.
  • King Kong (1933) Adventure horror: a film crew on a remote island meets Kong, a giant gorilla who takes to their leading lady. Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. Joined the registry in 1991.
  • Modern Times (1936) Chaplin's Little Tramp, in his last outing, struggles to get by in a world of factories and machines. Written and directed by Charlie Chaplin. Joined the registry in 1989.
  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) A princess hides with seven dwarfs from her jealous stepmother, the Queen. The first animated feature made in the US. Produced by Walt Disney. Joined the registry in 1989.
  • Stagecoach (1939) An odd assortment of passengers share a stagecoach ride across dangerous Apache territory. John Wayne stars. Directed by John Ford. Joined the registry in 1995.
  • The Wizard of Oz (1939) A tornado carries Dorothy, a Kansas farm girl, and her dog Toto to the land of Oz. Judy Garland stars. Directed mainly by Victor Fleming. Joined the registry in 1989.

1940s 9

  • Casablanca (1942) Wartime romance: an American expatriate in Casablanca must choose between the woman he loves and helping her husband escape. Directed by Michael Curtiz. Joined the registry in 1989.
  • Citizen Kane (1941) A reporter pieces together the life of newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane, starting from his dying word. Orson Welles directs and stars. Joined the registry in 1989.
  • Double Indemnity (1944) An insurance salesman and a client's wife plot to kill her husband for the payout, and a claims manager grows suspicious. Directed by Billy Wilder. Joined the registry in 1992.
  • Fantasia (1940) Eight pieces of classical music, each given its own animated sequence; Leopold Stokowski conducts. Produced by Walt Disney Productions. Joined the registry in 1990.
  • It's a Wonderful Life (1946) On Christmas Eve a guardian angel shows a despairing George Bailey what his town would be like had he never been born. Directed by Frank Capra. Joined the registry in 1990.
  • The Maltese Falcon (1941) San Francisco private detective Sam Spade is drawn into the hunt for a jewel-encrusted falcon statuette. Written and directed by John Huston. Joined the registry in 1989.
  • Miracle on 34th Street (1947) A New York department store hires a Santa for the Christmas season who insists he is the real thing. Written and directed by George Seaton. Joined the registry in 2005.
  • The Philadelphia Story (1940) A socialite's wedding plans are upset when her ex-husband and a magazine journalist turn up together. Directed by George Cukor. Joined the registry in 1995.
  • Pinocchio (1940) A woodcarver's puppet is given life by a fairy and told he can become a real boy if he proves brave, truthful and unselfish. Produced by Walt Disney. Joined the registry in 1994.

Horror 8

  • Alien (1979) Science fiction horror: the crew of a commercial starship investigate a derelict vessel and are hunted by what they find. Directed by Ridley Scott. Joined the registry in 2002.
  • The Exorcist (1973) Two Catholic priests try to save a young girl who has been possessed by a demon. Directed by William Friedkin. Joined the registry in 2010.
  • Halloween (1978) Fifteen years after a killing on Halloween night, Michael Myers escapes and returns to his Illinois hometown. Directed by John Carpenter. Joined the registry in 2006.
  • Night of the Living Dead (1968) Strangers barricade themselves in a Pennsylvania farmhouse as the reanimated dead close in. Directed by George A. Romero. Joined the registry in 1999.
  • Psycho (1960) A woman on the run with embezzled money stops at a lonely motel kept by shy Norman Bates. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Joined the registry in 1992.
  • The Shining (1980) Hired to mind a remote mountain hotel over the winter, a would-be novelist comes apart; his wife and clairvoyant son are there with him. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Joined the registry in 2018.
  • The Silence of the Lambs (1991) An FBI trainee asks the imprisoned Hannibal Lecter for help in catching another serial killer. Jodie Foster stars. Directed by Jonathan Demme. Joined the registry in 2011.
  • Young Frankenstein (1974) A spoof of classic horror films, with Gene Wilder as a descendant of Victor Frankenstein and Peter Boyle as the monster. Directed by Mel Brooks. Joined the registry in 2003.

Westerns 9

  • Blazing Saddles (1974) Western spoof: a corrupt official after a frontier town's land has a Black sheriff appointed, hoping the townspeople will leave. Directed by Mel Brooks. Joined the registry in 2006.
  • Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) Two Wild West outlaws rob one train too many and run for Bolivia with a posse behind them. Paul Newman and Robert Redford star. Directed by George Roy Hill. Joined the registry in 2003.
  • Dances With Wolves (1990) A Union army lieutenant posted to the frontier meets a band of Lakota. Kevin Costner directs and stars. Joined the registry in 2007.
  • High Noon (1952) Told in real time: a newly married marshal can ride away with his bride or stay and meet a gang of killers on his own. Directed by Fred Zinnemann. Joined the registry in 1989.
  • The Magnificent Seven (1960) Seven gunfighters are hired to protect a Mexican village from bandits, in a Western remake of Seven Samurai. Directed by John Sturges. Joined the registry in 2013.
  • No Country for Old Men (2007) In 1980 West Texas a welder finds a fortune in the desert; a hitman and a sheriff are soon on his trail. Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Joined the registry in 2024.
  • Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) A stranger with a harmonica, an outlaw and a newly widowed landowner are set against a ruthless gunman named Frank. Directed by Sergio Leone. Joined the registry in 2009.
  • The Searchers (1956) A Confederate Army veteran spends years searching for his abducted niece, with his adopted nephew at his side. John Wayne stars. Directed by John Ford. Joined the registry in 1989.
  • Unforgiven (1992) An ageing outlaw who turned to farming takes on one more job. Clint Eastwood directs and stars. Joined the registry in 2004.

Animation 8

  • Beauty and the Beast (1991) A fairy-tale romance: in 18th-century France a prince cursed to live as a beast must earn a young woman's love. Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise. Joined the registry in 2002.
  • Cinderella (1950) Kept as a servant by her stepmother, Cinderella gets a night at the royal ball from her fairy godmother. Produced by Walt Disney Productions. Joined the registry in 2018.
  • The Incredibles (2004) A superhero couple hiding their powers in the suburbs are pulled back into action with their three children. Written and directed by Brad Bird. Joined the registry in 2025.
  • The Lion King (1994) Simba, a young lion prince, is driven into exile after his uncle Scar kills his father to take the throne. Directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. Joined the registry in 2016.
  • The Little Mermaid (1989) Ariel, a mermaid who longs to live on land, trades her voice to a sea witch for legs and a chance with a prince. Written and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements. Joined the registry in 2022.
  • Shrek (2001) An ogre whose swamp is overrun by exiled fairy tale creatures agrees to rescue a princess to get it back. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson. Joined the registry in 2020.
  • Toy Story (1995) Toys come alive when people leave the room, and Woody the cowboy doll is jealous of the new favorite, a spaceman action figure. Directed by John Lasseter. Joined the registry in 2005.
  • WALL-E (2008) A lone robot left to clean up a deserted Earth in 2805 falls for a visiting robot, EVE, and follows her into space. Directed by Andrew Stanton. Joined the registry in 2021.

1950s 9

  • 12 Angry Men (1957) Twelve jurors argue over whether a teenager charged with murder is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Directed by Sidney Lumet. Joined the registry in 2007.
  • North by Northwest (1959) A New York ad man is mistaken for a government agent and hunted from Manhattan to Mount Rushmore. Cary Grant stars. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Joined the registry in 1995.
  • Rear Window (1954) A photojournalist stuck at home with his leg in a cast watches his neighbors and comes to suspect one of murder. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Joined the registry in 1997.
  • Rebel Without a Cause (1955) A drama about troubled middle-class suburban teenagers, starring James Dean and Natalie Wood. Directed by Nicholas Ray. Joined the registry in 1990.
  • Roman Holiday (1953) A one-day romance: a runaway princess explores Rome with a reporter who has worked out who she is. Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck star. Directed by William Wyler. Joined the registry in 1999.
  • Singin' in the Rain (1952) Three performers are caught up in late 1920s Hollywood's switch from silent films to talkies. Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. Joined the registry in 1989.
  • Some Like It Hot (1959) Two musicians who saw a mob killing hide from Chicago gangsters by dressing as women. Directed by Billy Wilder. Joined the registry in 1989.
  • Sunset Boulevard (1950) A struggling screenwriter is drawn into the fantasy world of a forgotten silent film star who dreams of a comeback. Directed by Billy Wilder. Joined the registry in 1989.
  • Vertigo (1958) A retired San Francisco detective with a fear of heights is hired to follow an acquaintance's wife. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Joined the registry in 1989.

2000s and 2010s 10

  • 12 Years a Slave (2013) From Solomon Northup's memoir: a free Black man is kidnapped in 1841 and held on Louisiana plantations for twelve years. Directed by Steve McQueen. Joined the registry in 2023.
  • Brokeback Mountain (2005) Two ranch hands, Ennis and Jack, meet herding sheep in Wyoming in 1963, and their romance carries on in secret for twenty years. Directed by Ang Lee. Joined the registry in 2018.
  • The Dark Knight (2008) Batman, a police lieutenant and a district attorney take on Gotham's organized crime until the Joker steps in. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Joined the registry in 2020.
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) Framed for murder, the concierge of a grand mountain hotel goes on the run with his young protégé, Zero. Written and directed by Wes Anderson. Joined the registry in 2025.
  • Inception (2010) A thief who steals secrets from people's minds is offered a clean slate if he can plant an idea instead. Written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Joined the registry in 2025.
  • Iron Man (2008) Industrialist Tony Stark builds an armored suit to escape captivity, then uses it to become a superhero. Directed by Jon Favreau. Joined the registry in 2022.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) The hobbit Frodo Baggins and eight companions set out for Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring. Directed by Peter Jackson. Joined the registry in 2021.
  • Memento (2000) A man who cannot form new memories uses photographs, notes and tattoos to hunt for his wife's killer. Written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Joined the registry in 2017.
  • The Social Network (2010) A drama about the founding of Facebook, written by Aaron Sorkin. Directed by David Fincher. Joined the registry in 2024.
  • Spy Kids (2001) When their parents, both spies, are captured, two children set out to rescue them. Written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. Joined the registry in 2024.

1960s 11

  • 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) A crewed voyage to Jupiter, with the sentient computer HAL 9000 aboard, goes to investigate an alien monolith. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Joined the registry in 1991.
  • The Apartment (1960) An office romance: an insurance clerk lends his apartment to his bosses, then falls for the elevator operator one of them is seeing. Directed by Billy Wilder. Joined the registry in 1994.
  • Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) A New York romance: Audrey Hepburn is Holly Golightly, a socialite who takes up with the struggling writer new to her building. Directed by Blake Edwards. Joined the registry in 2012.
  • Dr. Strangelove (1964) Cold War satire: an unhinged US general orders a nuclear strike. Peter Sellers plays three roles. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Joined the registry in 1989.
  • The Graduate (1967) Benjamin Braddock, fresh out of college, is seduced by Mrs. Robinson, who is older and married, then falls for her daughter Elaine. Directed by Mike Nichols. Joined the registry in 1996.
  • Lawrence of Arabia (1962) The First World War campaigns of T. E. Lawrence, a British officer torn between his country and the Arab desert tribes. Directed by David Lean. Joined the registry in 1991.
  • Mary Poppins (1964) A nanny with unusual methods arrives to set a troubled London family right. Julie Andrews stars. Directed by Robert Stevenson. Joined the registry in 2013.
  • Planet of the Apes (1968) Astronauts crash-land far in the future on a world where apes talk and rule, and humans are mute animals. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. Joined the registry in 2001.
  • The Sound of Music (1965) In Salzburg, Maria becomes governess to the seven von Trapp children. Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer star. Directed by Robert Wise. Joined the registry in 2001.
  • To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) In Depression-era Alabama, lawyer Atticus Finch defends a Black man who has been wrongly accused, as his children look on. Directed by Robert Mulligan. Joined the registry in 1995.
  • West Side Story (1961) Musical romance: Romeo and Juliet moved to 1950s New York and two rival teenage gangs. Directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. Joined the registry in 1997.

Musicals 5

  • The Blues Brothers (1980) Jake and Elwood Blues reunite their band to raise $5,000 and save the orphanage where they grew up. Directed by John Landis. Joined the registry in 2020.
  • Dirty Dancing (1987) A summer romance in 1963: a young woman on a family holiday falls for the resort's dance instructor. Directed by Emile Ardolino. Joined the registry in 2024.
  • Grease (1978) A greaser and an Australian transfer student find their summer romance tested once school starts. Directed by Randal Kleiser. Joined the registry in 2020.
  • The Muppet Movie (1979) Kermit the Frog sets off across America for Los Angeles and meets the other Muppets on the way. Directed by James Frawley. Joined the registry in 2009.
  • Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) Charlie Bucket, a poor boy, finds a Golden Ticket and tours Willy Wonka's factory with four other children. Directed by Mel Stuart. Joined the registry in 2014.

Romance 5

  • Before Sunrise (1995) A one-night romance: two strangers meet on a train and get off together in Vienna. Directed by Richard Linklater. Joined the registry in 2025.
  • Groundhog Day (1993) A cynical TV weatherman is trapped in a time loop, living 2 February over and over in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Directed by Harold Ramis. Joined the registry in 2006.
  • Titanic (1997) An epic romance: two passengers from different social classes fall in love on the Titanic's 1912 maiden voyage. Written and directed by James Cameron. Joined the registry in 2017.
  • Tootsie (1982) A talented but difficult actor lands a job by posing as a woman, which tangles up his love life. Dustin Hoffman stars. Directed by Sydney Pollack. Joined the registry in 1998.
  • When Harry Met Sally... (1989) Harry and Sally keep meeting by chance over twelve years in New York; friendship comes first and romance much later. Directed by Rob Reiner. Joined the registry in 2022.

Action and adventure 13

  • Beverly Hills Cop (1984) Eddie Murphy is Axel Foley, a Detroit detective who follows the trail of his best friend's killer to Beverly Hills. Directed by Martin Brest. Joined the registry in 2024.
  • Die Hard (1988) New York cop John McClane is at his wife's office party on Christmas Eve when armed men seize the Los Angeles tower. Directed by John McTiernan. Joined the registry in 2017.
  • Enter the Dragon (1973) A Shaolin martial artist goes undercover at a tournament held on a suspected crime lord's island. Bruce Lee stars. Directed by Robert Clouse. Joined the registry in 2004.
  • The Goonies (1985) With their Oregon neighborhood facing foreclosure, a gang of kids follow an old treasure map toward a pirate's lost fortune. Directed by Richard Donner. Joined the registry in 2017.
  • Jurassic Park (1993) On a remote island a wildlife park of living dinosaurs loses power, and its visitors must survive. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Joined the registry in 2018.
  • The Karate Kid (1984) A bullied teenager new to Los Angeles learns karate from Mr. Miyagi, a handyman, and enters a tournament. Directed by John G. Avildsen. Joined the registry in 2025.
  • The Matrix (1999) A hacker called Neo finds out his whole world is a fake built by machines, and joins the humans fighting them. Written and directed by the Wachowskis. Joined the registry in 2012.
  • The Princess Bride (1987) A farmhand named Westley must rescue his true love, Princess Buttercup, from Prince Humperdinck. Directed by Rob Reiner. Joined the registry in 2016.
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) In 1936 archaeologist Indiana Jones tries to reach the biblical Ark of the Covenant before a Nazi expedition digs it up. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Joined the registry in 1999.
  • Superman (1978) Superman's origin, from Krypton and Smallville to Metropolis, where Clark Kent meets Lois Lane and fights Lex Luthor. Directed by Richard Donner. Joined the registry in 2017.
  • The Terminator (1984) A cyborg assassin is sent back from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, and a soldier follows to protect her. Directed by James Cameron. Joined the registry in 2008.
  • Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) A Terminator is sent back to 1995 to kill the young John Connor, and the resistance sends a protector. Directed by James Cameron. Joined the registry in 2023.
  • Top Gun (1986) A young naval aviator, Maverick, is sent to train at the US Navy's Fighter Weapons School. Tom Cruise stars. Directed by Tony Scott. Joined the registry in 2015.

1970s 11

  • Chinatown (1974) In 1937 Los Angeles a private eye hired to tail a water engineer uncovers something far bigger. Jack Nicholson stars. Directed by Roman Polanski. Joined the registry in 1991.
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) An Indiana worker's life is upended by an encounter with a UFO. Written and directed by Steven Spielberg. Joined the registry in 2007.
  • The Godfather (1972) The Corleone crime family under Vito Corleone, and his youngest son Michael's turn from outsider to Mafia boss. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Joined the registry in 1990.
  • The Godfather Part II (1974) Two stories in parallel: Michael Corleone guarding the family business in 1958, and his father Vito's early years. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Joined the registry in 1993.
  • Jaws (1975) A police chief, a marine biologist and a shark hunter go after the great white attacking swimmers at a New England resort. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Joined the registry in 2001.
  • National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) A trouble-making fraternity takes on the dean of its college. John Belushi stars. Directed by John Landis. Joined the registry in 2001.
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) Randle McMurphy arrives on a psychiatric ward and goes to war with its head nurse. Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher star. Directed by Miloš Forman. Joined the registry in 1993.
  • Rocky (1976) A small-time Philadelphia club fighter gets a shot at the world heavyweight title. Sylvester Stallone wrote it and stars. Directed by John G. Avildsen. Joined the registry in 2006.
  • Star Wars (1977) Luke Skywalker sets out to rescue Princess Leia and help the Rebel Alliance destroy the Empire's Death Star. Written and directed by George Lucas. Joined the registry in 1989.
  • The Sting (1973) In 1936 two professional grifters set up an elaborate con on a mob boss. Paul Newman and Robert Redford star. Directed by George Roy Hill. Joined the registry in 2005.
  • Taxi Driver (1976) A New York taxi driver working nights comes apart and turns vigilante. Robert De Niro stars. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Joined the registry in 1994.

Crime and thrillers 6

  • The Big Lebowski (1998) A Los Angeles slacker and keen bowler, the Dude, is mistaken for a millionaire with the same name. Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Joined the registry in 2014.
  • Boyz n the Hood (1991) Tre moves in with his father in South Central Los Angeles and grows up among friends pulled toward the gangs. Written and directed by John Singleton. Joined the registry in 2002.
  • Fargo (1996) A pregnant police chief investigates after a car salesman hires two crooks to kidnap his own wife. Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Joined the registry in 2006.
  • Goodfellas (1990) Brooklyn teenager Henry Hill falls in with the local Mafia in 1955; the film follows him up the ranks and back down until 1980. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Joined the registry in 2000.
  • L.A. Confidential (1997) A group of Los Angeles police officers in 1953, where police corruption meets Hollywood celebrity. Directed by Curtis Hanson. Joined the registry in 2015.
  • Pulp Fiction (1994) Four interlocking tales of crime in Los Angeles. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Joined the registry in 2013.

1990s 10

  • A League of Their Own (1992) A fictionalized story of the real All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Directed by Penny Marshall. Joined the registry in 2012.
  • Apollo 13 (1995) After an explosion on the way to the Moon in 1970, three astronauts and mission control improvise a way home. Directed by Ron Howard. Joined the registry in 2023.
  • Clueless (1995) A popular high school student plays matchmaker, in a loose update of Jane Austen's Emma. Written and directed by Amy Heckerling. Joined the registry in 2025.
  • Forrest Gump (1994) Forrest Gump, from small-town Alabama, keeps turning up at the big moments of 20th-century America. Tom Hanks stars. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Joined the registry in 2011.
  • Home Alone (1990) Eight-year-old Kevin is left behind when his family flies to Paris for Christmas, and defends the house from two burglars. Directed by Chris Columbus. Joined the registry in 2023.
  • Malcolm X (1992) The life of the activist Malcolm X, through prison, his conversion to Islam and his ministry. Denzel Washington stars. Directed by Spike Lee. Joined the registry in 2010.
  • Schindler's List (1993) German industrialist Oskar Schindler saves over a thousand Jewish refugees in the Holocaust by giving them factory jobs. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Joined the registry in 2004.
  • The Shawshank Redemption (1994) A banker given a life sentence insists he is innocent and befriends a fellow prisoner over two decades. Written and directed by Frank Darabont. Joined the registry in 2015.
  • Thelma & Louise (1991) Two friends set out on a road trip that goes badly wrong. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon star. Directed by Ridley Scott. Joined the registry in 2016.
  • The Truman Show (1998) Truman Burbank has no idea that he lives on a vast set and that his life is a television show. Jim Carrey stars. Directed by Peter Weir. Joined the registry in 2025.

Science fiction and fantasy 7

  • Back to the Future (1985) A DeLorean time machine strands teenager Marty McFly in 1955, where he must get his future parents to fall in love. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Joined the registry in 2007.
  • Blade Runner (1982) In a dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, a former cop is recalled to hunt down a group of fugitive replicants. Directed by Ridley Scott. Joined the registry in 1993.
  • E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) A boy named Elliott befriends an alien stranded on Earth and tries to help him get home. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Joined the registry in 1994.
  • The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Darth Vader hunts the scattered Rebels while Luke Skywalker studies the Force under Yoda. Directed by Irvin Kershner. Joined the registry in 2010.
  • Return of the Jedi (1983) The Rebels move against a second Death Star while Luke Skywalker tries to turn Darth Vader from the dark side. Directed by Richard Marquand. Joined the registry in 2021.
  • Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) Admiral Kirk and the Enterprise crew face Khan, a tyrant back from 15 years of exile and out for revenge. Directed by Nicholas Meyer. Joined the registry in 2024.
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) In a 1947 Hollywood where humans and cartoon characters live side by side, a private eye must clear Roger of murder. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Joined the registry in 2016.

1980s 10

  • A Christmas Story (1983) A young boy and his family stumble through the run-up to Christmas in 1940. Directed by Bob Clark. Joined the registry in 2012.
  • Airplane! (1980) A spoof of disaster films, set aboard a passenger flight in trouble. Written and directed by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker. Joined the registry in 2010.
  • Amadeus (1984) In 18th-century Vienna the composer Salieri admires Mozart's music and is consumed by jealousy of the man. Directed by Miloš Forman. Joined the registry in 2019.
  • The Breakfast Club (1985) Five teenagers from different school cliques spend a Saturday in detention together. Written and directed by John Hughes. Joined the registry in 2016.
  • Do the Right Thing (1989) On a hot summer day, tension builds between a Brooklyn neighborhood's residents and the owners of the local pizzeria. Written and directed by Spike Lee. Joined the registry in 1999.
  • Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) A Chicago high school slacker skips school for a day with his girlfriend and his best friend. Written and directed by John Hughes. Joined the registry in 2014.
  • Field of Dreams (1989) An Iowa farmer plows under his corn to build a baseball diamond, and long-dead players turn up to use it. Written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson. Joined the registry in 2017.
  • Ghostbusters (1984) Three parapsychologists lose their university posts and set up as ghost catchers for hire in New York. Directed by Ivan Reitman. Joined the registry in 2015.
  • Raging Bull (1980) Robert De Niro plays Jake LaMotta, a middleweight boxing champion undone by rage and jealousy. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Joined the registry in 1990.
  • This Is Spinal Tap (1984) A mock documentary follows the heavy metal band Spinal Tap on tour. Directed by Rob Reiner. Joined the registry in 2002.

How this list was compiled: Every film, its release year and the year it joined the registry is a row of the table in Wikipedia's National Film Registry article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Film_Registry, read on 2026-09-18 and checked row by row again on 2026-09-19. The article counts 925 films in the registry as of the 2025 listing. That 2025 class was announced late, on 29 January 2026; the table files its films under 2025, and so do the eight lines here that say 2025. The registry's rules (the Librarian of Congress selects at most 25 films a year, and none until 10 years after its release) are in 2 U.S.C. 179m, https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title2-section179m, read on 2026-09-19. We chose 150 feature films from the table, released from 1923 to 2014, and left out shorts, newsreels, home movies and documentaries. Each description is a sentence we wrote ourselves and then checked against the opening or the plot section of that film's own Wikipedia article, read on 2026-09-19: the story facts and the credit are the article's, the wording is ours. The genre groups follow the opening of each film's article (Jurassic Park's opening names no genre, so it is grouped by the article's category). A film sits in every genre group its article names, so many are in two; a comedy-drama is filed under Drama only. There is no family group: neither source rates films by age. Licence: own work