10 Most Surprising Movies On Rotten Tomatoes' Best Movies Of All Time List

Rotten Tomatoes’ list of the 300 best movies of all time includes some surprising choices. The Rotten Tomatoes team behind this list would likely have wanted to include movies based on true quality, rather than just what movies are supposedly the best, based on their status in the cultural zeitgeist. However, movies like this are so highly regarded for a reason, and the fact that some recently popular movies would rank above them is still surprising.

Additionally, some movies on the Rotten Tomatoes best of all time list were likely chosen due to the massive movie events that accompanied their releases; this is understandable, as there must be something to the movie itself to have inspired this kind of following. However, some of the selected movies’ strengths are obviously more in spectacle than substance. Additionally, with some indisputable classics missing from the list, it is hard to justify all the titles that are included.

10 Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Ranked #61 By Rotten Tomatoes

The formula of the Mission Impossible movies has not changed much since the midway point of the series (midway as of the time of writing), with a new global espionage threat and Tom Cruise accomplishing a more dangerous stunt than last time. However, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is still evidently one of the best Mission Impossible movies. Yet the movie’s critical acclaim stood in stark contrast to its profits; Dead Reckoning was a surprise box office bomb due to unreachable expectations and stiff competition in the summer of 2023.

Fans are likely to have their own opinions about which movie deserves the most praise; Mission: Impossible – Fallout is ranked at #71 while Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation is at #269. Yet these action movies don’t offer much discourse on life as the audience knows it, with their biggest draw being intensity. Mission: Impossible is pure espionage entertainment that may occasionally touch upon real-world threats, which isn’t enough to rank as high on this list as Dead Reckoning does. It would make more sense if all the movies were at least below #100.

9 Air (2023)

Ranked #208 By Rotten Tomatoes

Depicting Nike executives’ mission to sign on Michael Jordan in the 1980s reenacted by a cast of A-listers, Air is a sports drama that’s solid premise brought it critical success, but no major awards.Air fails to tell the true story of Jordan’s deal with Nike for the sake of its dramatization. Jordan himself isn’t in Air as a character, which demonstrates the movie’s tendency to play it safe. The reasoning behind this was that Jordan is too big of a figure to capture on screen in a movie that focuses on the business of it all.

However, if Air had attempted a scene with Jordan, it may have been much more effective in conveying the impact on the world of sports of the events taking place. Air is a straightforward semi-fictional biopic about a business deal that was much less movie-worthy in real life. Ultimately, there isn’t much takeaway to justify it being on the list.

8 Zootopia (2016)

Ranked #32 By Rotten Tomatoes

Zootopia offers a strong message about prejudice through the kid-friendly lens of a zoo-themed city with various anthropomorphic residents. However, its themes are stronger than its actual plot. Zootopia’s story is based around overeager characters who aren’t as funny as the movie acts like they are uncovering a conspiracy, with an obvious twist villain. It is a good movie, but it is favored over other animated movies that deserve it more.

Zootopia won Best Animated Feature at the Oscars over Kubo and the Two Strings and is ranked within the same caliber as Toy Story 3 and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It gets an odd amount of attention for a movie that gave away its best jokes in the trailers with world-building that is best suited to merchandising. Zootopia is a worthy addition to Disney’s repertoire, but the premise is too simplified to be considered one of the best movies of all time, let alone rank at #32.

7 A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (2019)

Ranked #164 By Rotten Tomatoes

The pitch for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is everything a producer would want it to be: the story behind a TV icon with Tom Hanks playing the child-like protagonist and several seasoned filmmakers on board. It is another biopic that is formulaically what the Academy of Motion Pictures wants to see, in the same vein as Maestro. Yet it only achieved a token Oscar nomination for Hanks’ performance.

While critics agree that it is a heartwarming movie, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood probably would have languished in obscurity if Hanks were not involved with it. The actor alone is not enough to merit the movie’s place on the best of all time list. Toy Story lands at #12, which can be justified by the combination of its story, acting, and impact on cinema. However, Forrest Gump isn’t on the list at all, making A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’s inclusion ludicrous.

6 Star Trek (2009)

Ranked #120 By Rotten Tomatoes

J. J. Abrams’ Stark Trek is easily the best Stark Trek movie of the 2000s, which accomplished a miracle in recasting the iconic characters with actors who could live up to the fandom. The overall pacing and story are good, but handling a property this beloved is difficult. Abrams and his team introduced some new plot points to Star Trek that would inevitably disappoint fans because they weren’t in keeping with the tone of the original show.

Veryfew movies from major modern blockbuster franchises can be counted among the best movies of all time. They inherently come from an industry that is turning out empty entertainment for profits. Stark Trek comes from slightly before the overuse of IP really took off and is far from the worst example of a legacy sequel, but it isn’t noteworthy enough to merit this consideration.

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5 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011)

Ranked #83 By Rotten Tomatoes

The Harry Potter movies always assume that most of the audience has read the books. There are far too many characters for everyone to be given a complete arc or even the barest explanation of what is going on in their lives. Expositions about how and why magic does certain things in the Wizarding World are also rushed for the sake of time; if people want to know exactly how Harry survives a killing curse (again), they can read the books.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 has some truly gut-wrenching moments where the emotions of the final battle and the 10-year franchise coming to an end hit hard. However, without a certain emotional attachment to the series and the context of the past seven movies, these moments may fall flat. The final Harry Potter movie can’t be considered a landmark movie in its own right — it’s hardly even the best Harry Potter movie.

4 ​​​​How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

Ranked #15 By Rotten Tomatoes

How to Train Your Dragon is a great movie that probably deserves to be in the top 300, but the top 20 is a stretch. Some of the movie’s strongest points are in the technical aspects rather than the story. For instance, John Powell’s “Test Drive” score is breathtaking, while the landscapes are stunning. The premise demonstrates relevant themes of misconceptions and friendships overcoming all, albeit under specific supernatural circumstances that might be hard to relate to.

However, some of How to Train Your Dragon’s world-building is too wacky to be taken seriously, and the plot features some contrived moments that are justified by thematics rather than logic. Picking which animated movies deserve to be on a list of the best movies of all time is tricky because of the inherent preference for live-action in Hollywood. However, there are certainly more than 14 movies that are better than this one.

3 The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)

Ranked #160 By Rotten Tomatoes

The Peanut Butter Falcon is an off-beat, under-the-radar drama that achieved considerable praise despite this. The movie makes some unusual casting choices in Shia LaBeouf and Dakota Johnson, but both deliver commendable performances. However, some of the supporting characters aren’t given their due and the plot is standard; it is described as a “modern Mark Twain style adventure” and inherently comprises a story many people are familiar with.

A different director and/or writer might have been able to turn The Peanut Butter Falcon into an Oscar-winning movie. There might have been a better way for Johnson’s character to be roped into the adventure, and for the story to have a more nuanced ending. Despite critics’ praise, The Peanut Butter Falcon is generally labeled as good but not quite great, largely due to its simplicity.

2 Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Ranked #128 By Rotten Tomatoes

Spider-Man: No Way Home is a fan service movie. The plot might be contrived and derail the anonymity that Spider-Man is known for, but the sheer number of returning actors makes it worthwhile. There is no other movie like it that reconciles several different reboots for the ultimate mash-up. It is complemented by a grounded story that moves forward the character development of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker with some clever nods to previous versions.

However, once again, No Way Home’s acclaim is at least partially based on a dedicated fanbase rather than being good on its own. The problems Peter and Dr. Strange cause are swiftly resolved before Spider-Man is sent slinging into a new adventure. No Way Home’s unprecedented amount of Easter Eggs served it well in the climate of growing superhero fatigue, but this doesn’t make it a fantastic movie.

1 Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Ranked #7 By Rotten Tomatoes

Top Gun: Maverick is also, more than likely, on the list of the top 300 movies of all time. It is possibly even within the top 50. However, there are definitely more than 10 movies that are better and have a more important story to tell. Both Top Gun movies convey themes of friendship and endurance; however, the setting of a military flight school is primarily used for thrills — and in the case of the legacy sequel, for Cruise to demonstrate once again how committed he is to authenticity.

Top Gun: Maverick’s plot is a solid but typical legacy story about the previous student becoming the mentor, with the twist that he is pulled into the final action sequence. Some of the beats and characters are derivative of the first movie, while the entire cast is amazing. Top Gun: Maverick is doubtlessly a great movie, but Rotten Tomatoes calling it one of the 10 best movies of all time is still surprising.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes