GREAT CINEMAMASTER LIST
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great film.

Search 713 spoiler-free recommendations from 1916 to 2026. Filter by the night you want—not the list you’re supposed to finish.

Direct film viewShowing master rank #511 on its own—not above the ranking.
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Artwork
DirectorAll directors

Most represented · 6+ films

More recurring directors · 3–5 films54
All directors · surname A–Z438
ActorAll actors

Most represented actors

Big Three membership
Major award winners

1 selected film

Master Rank balances Greatness, Engagement, and Ease. Sort by Greatness for the artistic-canon view.

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View Once Upon a Time in America film page
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List

Spoiler-free premise

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

In 1968, former Lower East Side gangster David 'Noodles' Aaronson returns to New York after decades away and confronts memories of Max, Deborah, childhood crime, Prohibition power, and betrayal. Past and present blur around an unexplained invitation.

Why it belongs

Sergio Leone transforms gangster history into an opium-hazed memory palace through temporal drift, monumental close-ups, and Morricone's mournful themes.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Phone rings, lockers, peepholes, Lower East Side streets, cream cakes, smoke, mirrors, and Ennio Morricone's score connect decades associatively. De Niro's aging Noodles remains trapped inside memories he may have reshaped.

Major award record

Metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
BAFTA2 wins1985 · official BAFTA 1985 Film Awards results ↗

Plus 2 additional wins

No headline-category win to name

Totals include every recorded competitive win. Only Picture or top-film honors, Direction, Screenplay, and lead or supporting performances are named.

Good for
Film Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.

Institutional reference ranks

Sight & Sound157IMDb Top 25090AFI 100—
Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score

Great Cinema Master List scores

Greatness9.1
Engagement8.9
Ease5.8

English · R
Narrative Feature
Mood: Tense & Absorbing