A Countdown List of the Greatest Movie Posters Ever
So, a couple of days ago, I threw up the new Star Wars, The Force Awakens poster and proclaimed, in possibly the shortest post of all time, that it was the greatest movie poster of all time. So, yeah, I’m known for my hyperbolic pronouncements. That’s just how I roll. Deal. But instead of just whining about it, I figured I’d throw together a best posters list for you to argue with me about. So here, for your viewing (and swearing) pleasure, are my top 30 favorite movie posters of all time.
#30 Memento
Let’s kick this list off with a movie from my backyard – Memento. Polaroids are integral to the movie. As are the notes contained on them. So to have a movie poster made out of hand written Polaroids makes perfect sense. But to send them backwards in on top of themselves is something straight out of a psychosis. And yes, perfection.
#29 Fight Club
The trick here is to not give the trick away… and yet it is right here staring you in the face. Soap anyone? Pretty fantastic poster right here.
#28 American Beauty
It’s no secret that I’m in love with the movie American Beauty. Proves my flawed, and jacked-backwards way of thinking. This is one of the most morally bankrupt movies ever. And yet, here we have a poster hinting at the bathtube rose petal scene. Here we have love and beauty. Which actually has nothing to do with this movie whatsoever.
#27 Amadeus
The Academy Award winner for best picture in 1984 was it? This poster hangs on the hook, “The man, the music, the murder, the motion picture.” Which, as far as hooks go, is a pretty good one.
#26 Rocky
Because I’m not as big an idiot as I look. Obviously Rocky changed the face of movies made since it hit the theaters. Sports movies have been shaped by Rocky ever since it premiered. The poster is dark and gritty, and yet triumphant. Which, now that you mention it, is EXACTLY what Rocky is all about.
#25 – Gone With The Wind
I’m sorry, but I hate this poster. It isn’t ironic. It is actually the least ironic poster in this list, and yet, it should be. It’s more like the Blazing Saddles poster than anything else. But I figured I’d be boo’d off the planet if I didn’t include it in here somewhere. Hahah.
#24 Trainspotting
Is is possible to create a poster completely out of typography and make it to the list? Apparently, when you are trainspotting, and your typography is this particular rant. Really a fantastic poster. Definitely leaves a mark.
#23 The Shining
I’m a little biased on this one. I really enjoyed reading about the creation process of making this particular poster. And the complications involved in getting to this final look. But I think the trouble was really worth the result.
#22 Ghostbusters
There was no such thing as the NO-whatever sign before this poster took the world by storm. This poster was big big big back in the day. It became a meme before there were things called memes.
#21 The Dark Knight
Bruce Wayne in Nolan’s now classic movie The Dark Knight is a lonely tortured soul. He has everything anyone could ever want, and yet he is the epitome of unhappy. He wants justice. And this is clear. As he stands watch over Gotham…
#20 Reservoir Dogs
What a fantastic movie. 4 guys. Mr. White. Mr. Pink. Mr. Brown. And Mr. Blue. Four guys and a downward internal struggle that devolves like no other.
#19 Back To The Future
Iconic flames from the Delorian. Michael J. Fox looking at his watch. And voila, we have the movie in a nutshell. Great art, and we can wrap this movie up nicely in the 19th spot of our list.
#18 Titanic
Obviously we know now that Titanic is one of the single most successful movies of all time. But before we had the poster, we had no idea why we’d want to go see it. We all know how it ends! Hello! But it was because of the poster that we all realized we had a larger story on the boat than just a re-telling of the sinking.
#17 E.T.
Such a beautiful poster. The only problem I have is that we don’t get much idea for the type of movie we are in for. Is it all about a boy and an extra-terrestrial running around earth trying to eat as many Reeses Pieces as possible? Why yes. Yes it is. How’d you guess?
#16 King Kong
Such an iconic movie, of course it has to be on this list. But I’ll be honest, I can’t get the Peter Jackson reprisal out of my head to think about this particular movie. But the poster is great none the less.
#15 Goodfellas
The Mafia. A dead guy. Liotta. Pesci. De Niro. That’s a poster that is going to move movie tickets in a hurry.
#14 Attack of the 50ft. Woman
Honestly… never seen this movie, minus short clips on Youtube. I have a bit of a fear thing for tall women… so I’ve avoided it for years. Hahah. But this design is even better laid out and conceptualized than even King Kong. Definitely peaks your interest and makes the movie play out in your head in advance. Great poster.
#13 West Side Story
I’m a huge fan of Romeo and Juliet, and by absentia, must be a huge fan of West Side Story. Right? Nah, not really. But this poster is gritty, and tells the story in one fell swoop. We knew it already from Broadway, but this poster takes us back to the streets of New York all over again.
#12 Moon
Moon is such a good movie. So I could possibly be swayed by the movie as opposed to the actual poster. But this poster is an isolation nightmare which is what the movie is all about. Dark. Gritty. And disorienting. The concentric circles definitely throw you into a downward spiral. Great poster for a great movie.
#11 Apocalypse Now
Seriously? Apocalypse Now is a drug induced haze of a movie about two guys spiraling ever deeper into the heart of darkness. Could this synopsis have been better illustrated than the poster we have before us now? No. I think not.
#10 Pulp Fiction
To make the movie cover like the cover of a pulp fiction novel, with the actress holding a book entitled Pulp Fiction? Priceless. Really love the thrashed look of the design. And the design implemented here, from the 10 cent symbol, all the way out to the author title block is the stuff of design brilliance.
#9 – Social Network
We have Eisenberg and the enormous stamped lettering on top, which invokes a message of despair and angst. We have the Facebook running down the side. It’s all here. The only thing missing? An audio clip from Trent Reznor’s soundtrack. But otherwise? Perfect.
#8 Blade Runner
John Alvin was basically a design god. Like seriously amazing work. And the darkness of this futuristic poster just completely encapsulates this movie perfectly. The only thing I’m not a fan of is the “Man has made his match, now it’s his problem” tag line shoved up in the corner. But whatever you do, don’t drop it onto the art!
#7 – Usual Suspects
The story is all here. (Hopefully you’ve seen the movie, or I’m about to ruin it for you). There’s Verbal Kint, tucked away on the side, with his lame arm. There is Keyzer Söze. There is the whole band of cronies. And oh by the way… they are all fake, in Verbal’s head. This whole poster is inside Kint’s head. Brilliant.
#6 – 2001 – A Space Odyssey –
Possibly the greatest poster for setting the tone of a movie before hand. 2001 is such a stylized movie from beginning to end… and the poster completely launches you into that mood and experience without even seeing the film. Pretty impressive.
#5 – Star Wars A New Hope
Remember, this was back before science fiction was gritty. This was a whole new day for an old genre. Pretty fantastic poster for a pretty epic little movie.
#4 Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
So many different homages here. We are taken back to the classic Humphrey Bogart movie posters. Its all hand drawn and painted art that is out of this world by the ever-brilliant Amsel, who created the Sting poster that clocks in at #10 of this list. This is brilliance.
#3 – Silence of the Lambs
Silence of the lambs is possibly one of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen. And this poster absolutely rocks it out of the park. It has the death’s head hawk-moth covering Foster’s mouth. The darkness… just such a great representation of an amazing movie. This poster has it all.
#2 – The Force Awakens
There are a lot of reasons why I adore this poster. I have already posted about the dubiousness of the name. But this poster is mythological in scale. It has a ton of expectations riding on it’s back. We need a new bad guy. Check. We need new heroes. Check. We need a new Deathstar – CHECK! What else is there? We have the force struggling for survival again, we have the dark side storming back to life. And we have the ABSENCE of our key character… Luke. And once you see the movie you’ll understand. Promise. It’s brilliance. So I know I posted it was the greatest poster ever… but you can’t ever possibly beat number 1. Impossible.
#1 Jaws
Jaws. Enough said. Not only is it beautifully hand painted and illustrated by Roger Kastel (who also painted the Empire Strikes Back poster as well, which is money in the bank on this list as well.) This poster summarizes the movie up faster than any other movie on this list. Big fish, with LOTS of teeth, attacking innocent civilians, ALOT.
I will say that the typography of the hook in the J is a bit overdone… and almost campy for such a serious movie. But otherwise, this is a perfect movie poster. Absolutely perfect. Can’t imagine a poster ever beating this one… ever.