GREAT CINEMAMASTER LIST
Menu

24 films · 24 landmarks · 1924–2015

Films That Changed Editing

A curated history of films that transformed montage, continuity, chronology, rhythm, cross-cutting, and the expressive power of the cut.

This existing editorial selection follows twenty-four landmarks in montage, continuity, chronology, rhythm, and the expressive use of the cut. The films run from 1924 to 2015. Browse them here in GCML Master Rank order, or use Film Finder to change the viewing order.

How GCML scores and ranks films →

Refine this collection →Browse all 713 films A to Z →

Films in this collection

  1. Jaws (1975)

    Steven Spielberg · USA · 124 min

    Master Rank #2 · GCML Total 9.64

  2. Pulp Fiction (1994)

    Quentin Tarantino · USA · 154 min

    Master Rank #8 · GCML Total 9.52

  3. The Godfather (1972)

    Francis Ford Coppola · USA · 175 min

    Master Rank #11 · GCML Total 9.50

  4. Psycho (1960)

    Alfred Hitchcock · USA · 109 min

    Master Rank #12 · GCML Total 9.50

  5. Rear Window (1954)

    Alfred Hitchcock · USA · 112 min

    Master Rank #15 · GCML Total 9.48

  6. The Matrix (1999)

    Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski · USA · 136 min

    Master Rank #25 · GCML Total 9.42

  7. Sherlock Jr. (1924)

    Buster Keaton · USA · 49 min

    Master Rank #39 · GCML Total 9.36

  8. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

    George Miller · Australia / USA · 120 min

    Master Rank #45 · GCML Total 9.34

  9. Memento (2000)

    Christopher Nolan · USA · 113 min

    Master Rank #92 · GCML Total 9.20

  10. The Wild Bunch (1969)

    Sam Peckinpah · USA · 145 min

    Master Rank #133 · GCML Total 9.08

  11. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

    Arthur Penn · USA · 111 min

    Master Rank #134 · GCML Total 9.08

  12. Apocalypse Now (1979)

    Francis Ford Coppola · USA · 153 min

    Master Rank #143 · GCML Total 9.06

  13. Citizen Kane (1941)

    Orson Welles · USA · 119 min

    Master Rank #200 · GCML Total 8.96

  14. Raging Bull (1980)

    Martin Scorsese · USA · 129 min

    Master Rank #202 · GCML Total 8.96

  15. Rashomon (1950)

    Akira Kurosawa · Japan · 88 min

    Master Rank #290 · GCML Total 8.78

  16. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

    Carl Theodor Dreyer · France · 110 min

    Master Rank #300 · GCML Total 8.76

  17. The Red Shoes (1948)

    Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger · UK · 133 min

    Master Rank #320 · GCML Total 8.72

  18. Breathless (1960)

    Jean-Luc Godard · France · 90 min

    Master Rank #326 · GCML Total 8.72

  19. Battleship Potemkin (1925)

    Sergei M. Eisenstein · USSR · 75 min

    Master Rank #359 · GCML Total 8.68

  20. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

    Stanley Kubrick · USA / UK · 149 min

    Master Rank #401 · GCML Total 8.62

  21. Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

    Dziga Vertov · USSR · 68 min

    Master Rank #402 · GCML Total 8.62

  22. Persona (1966)

    Ingmar Bergman · Sweden · 85 min

    Master Rank #483 · GCML Total 8.42

  23. Don't Look Now (1973)

    Nicolas Roeg · UK / Italy · 110 min

    Master Rank #589 · GCML Total 7.96

  24. Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)

    Maya Deren, Alexander Hammid · USA · 14 min

    Master Rank #659 · GCML Total 7.40