Rotten Tomatoes names the most iconic films of the last 25 years

From the 3D hit Avatar to Netflix's controversial Red Notice.

The last two and a half decades have brought a lot of changes to the film industry: from 3D films to streaming services. In honor of its 25th anniversary, the Rotten Tomatoes portal has published a list of the most iconic films of this quarter century. And to make it look more authoritative, in some categories its authors considered only those films that received at least 500 critic reviews or 500,000 audience ratings.

The first film to receive a certificate of freshness

Still from the film “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”

Rotten Tomatoes differs from similar resources in assessing the freshness of films, TV series and games. This ranges from 1% to 100% based on critics' reviews. Since 2003, the best-scoring projects have been awarded Certified Fresh, a local mark of truly superior quality. And the first film to receive such a certificate was the drama “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” – it has 92% on the Tomatometer.

The most highly rated film with 500 reviews or more

< img src="http://life.teliahelp.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/77d3e3bdf3ddb37b0ed892327ed0ed71.jpg" class="aligncenter" alt="Rotten Tomatoes names the most iconic films of the last 25 years"/>< /p>Still from the film “Black Panther”

The crown in this category belongs to “Black Panther”, which has a 96% on the Tomatometer. The Marvel blockbuster managed to maintain a high bar even after more than 530 reviews.

There are films with higher ratings, such as The Adventures of Paddington 2 and Toy Story 2, but they have less than 300 reviews , so they are not eligible for rating in this category.

The highest rated movie is with 500,000 user ratings or more

Still from The Dark Knight

In many ways, the modern era of superhero cinema can be traced back to 2008, when a pair of comic book movies took the world by storm, the list's authors write. We're talking about Marvel's Iron Man and DC's The Dark Knight.

Both blockbusters received good reviews, but Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight ended up being the film with the highest audience rating (94%) among films with 500,000+ votes from viewers. It is noteworthy that he has the same amount on the “tomatometer”. This is a rare case when critics agree with the audience.

Most reviewed film

Still from the film “Joker”

The most-discussed film on Rotten Tomatoes is 2019's Joker (69%). Therefore, it is not surprising that it also collected a current record 597 reviews from critics. And their number continues to grow. It is also the only R-rated adult film to earn more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

Highest-grossing film

Still from the movie “Avatar”

This is the title of James Cameron's Avatar. The blockbuster grossed $2.9 billion in theaters. And before that, the title of the most successful at the box office was held for more than 10 years by “Titanic,” which he shot, but now the film ranks only 4th place.

The top five grossers also included “Avengers: Endgame” (2019 ), “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.

Longest rental

Still from My Big Fat Greek Wedding

My Big Fat Greek Wedding remained in theaters for a record 308 days. It is noteworthy that the romantic comedy was initially released in limited release.

Shakespeare in Love also retained audience interest for a long time – 261 days, Life is Beautiful – 252 days, American Beauty – 247 days and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – 247 days.

The largest number of Oscars

Still from the film “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”

This title is held by Peter Jackson's blockbuster “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” Not only is it the most awarded film at the Oscars in 25 years, but it is also the only project with 11 nominations to win all of them.

Slumdog Millionaire – 8 wins, Everything Everywhere at Once – 7 wins, Gravity – 7 wins and Shakespeare in Love – 7 wins also distinguished themselves in this category.

First streaming project nominated for “Best Picture”

Still from the film “Manchester by the Sea”

The pioneer was the drama “Manchester by the Sea” from Amazon Prime Video. The film failed to win the statuette for Best Picture, but it won in the categories of Best Actor (Casey Affleck) and Best Screenplay.

And the first film from streaming that still won the main Oscar award “, became “CODA: The Child of Deaf Parents”  from Apple TV+.

Netflix's Most Popular Movie

Still from the film “Red Notice”

According to the streaming service , is the spy action-comedy Red Notice starring Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot. The film scored 364,020,000 hours of viewing in the first 28 days, just a few million ahead of Don't Look Up with an even more star-studded cast.

The top five also included Bird Box, Knives Out: Glass onion” and “The Gray Man.”