Top 10 Best Films of the 2000s (One Movie From Each Year)

Do check out some of our other lists too:

• Ranking all the Star Wars films from worst to best.
• Ranking all the MCU movies from worst to best. 
• 10 crime films you have to watch before you die.

Both of our resident film writers (Sam and Dash) are back at it again with another cinematic ranking list. This time, they’ve decided to rank the Top 10 best films of the 2000s (2000 – 2009).

But we’re doing it with a fun twist — there can only be one movie representing each year. 

1. Dash and Sam go their separate ways and pick what they deem is the best movie from each year.
2. They then rank their individual picks from 1 to 10.
3. Once they have their individual rankings, Dash and Sam combine their lists (by discussing, debating, arguing and slamming each other’s heads against the wall) to form the ultimate, most badass ranking.
4. As far as the writing goes, if a film/ranking is agreed upon by both writers, then only one will dish out their thoughts. If so happens the decision on this list goes from contentious to a WWE cage match, both of them will be presenting views in the list.

So without further ado, here are the top 10 best films of the 2000s!

10. Serenity (2005)

Sam: 

Yes, yes I  can probably hear you yelling behind your screen “Where’s Batman Begins?” or maybe even “War of the World didn’t make it on this list?!”. 2005 was a truly a great year for the FX nerds and cinephiles everywhere. That being said, no other film had quite as much pluck, charm and jaw-dropping effects as Joss Whedon’s Serenity. If you’re a fan of Han Solo then you can’t get enough of Malcolm and his Firefly crew as they sail the free skies and galaxy, a band of ex-rebels turned smugglers. A sort of sequel to the series Firefly, the film has the crew trying to save a psychic assassin named River Tham from the clutches of the monolithic Alliance government. All while attempting to evade the Alliance’s most deadly agent, The Operative from tearing them a new butthole. Watch these bandits and turncoats bring the house down on the earthbound government or die trying.    

Forget the prequels! This film is the closest thing that comes to capturing the old Star Wars that we know and love. I don’t care what people think,  Nathan Fillion as Captain Malcolm Reynolds is the baddest, fastest gun in the whole wide universe! Chiwetel Ejiofor as the Operative is chilling and yet surprisingly empathetic. He truly believes he’s serving a good cause and his self-righteousness blinds him to the evils of the Emp- I mean Alliance. A truly great villain. If you’re a fan of Firefly, the whole crew is back from Tudyk’s nervous Pilot Wash to Adam Baldwin’s gruff mercenary Jayne Cobb. Seeing the ship Serenity sore through a space battle between the Alliance’s mega-fleet and the hyper-aggressive Reaver armada is a thing of beauty! You don’t have to be a fan of the original series to enjoy what’s on display here. There’s something here for everyone from romance to political drama to action! But most importantly it’s a film about family and freedom from what should have been a bygone era. For its ability to translate the nostalgia and magic of the original space western for a new generation so perfectly and for being so much damn fun, Serenity earns its spot on this list.

Dash:

Damn right people be yelling “Where’s Batman Begins?!” Look, I love the Firefly TV Series as much as the next geek. And its pseudo-series finale/movie Serenity, even more so. It’s the film that really lit a rocket under Joss Whedon’s ass. Without Serenity, Whedon wouldn’t have been given the chance to helm The Avengers and who knows what the world will be like today. Y’know who else changed the world? “Gandhi!” No! I mean yes, but no. I’m talking about Christopher Nolan.

We’ve seen superhero origin stories in the past. But with Batman Begins Nolan gave us a different kind of origin story — an exhausting journey filled with pain and suffering. Nolan showed the world that the key to making a great superhero movie is to not make a superhero movie, but to make a movie with superheroes in it. Batman Begins isn’t the first great superhero movie (that prize goes to Spider-Man 2), but it is the first one to really transcend its very genre. There’s a lot more to say about Batman Begins, like the performances and music yadda yadda yadda. But to avoid sounding like a broken record later on in this article, I shall stop here for now.

9. There Will Be Blood (2007)

Dash:

I love an emotionally exhausting character piece and There Will Be Blood is the very definition of that. Here we follow Lewis’ character Daniel Plainview, who’s an oil man — “I’m an oil man,” he repeatedly tells us. But this movie isn’t about oil. That would be boring. This movie is about a man. It is about greed. It’s about obsession. It’s about a man’s hunger to win, but not just win. To make sure everyone else loses. There is hardly any happiness to be found in the film. But it isn’t depressing the same way Blue Valentine is. This is more of a villain story. We see him lose himself more and more with each victory until he becomes completely mad. With each victory, our stomach sinks a little.

Daniel Day-Lewis is considered by many to be the best *insert French accent* ACTEUR of all time. Whether it’s Gangs of New York or Lincoln or The Last of the Mohicans, his performances are always transformative. But here he’s something else altogether. If you love films where characters and performances take centre stage, then do yourself a favour and watch this one. His “I’m an oil man” speech is to this day one of the best line deliveries you’ll ever witness on screen.

But there can’t be line deliveries without the lines. There Will Be Blood isn’t just Lewis’ Magnus Opus, it’s Paul Thomas Anderson’s as well. Paul Thomas Anderson isn’t a writer-director for everybody. He’s not a Christopher Nolan or a Steven Spielberg. There are some who find his films plain loony tunes. I for one really enjoy his work. Whether it’s Boogie Nights or Magnolia (want to see Tom Cruise PERFORM?), Punch-Drunk Love or Phantom Thread, there is something about PT Anderson’s films that just feels special. So I don’t mean it lightly when I say There Will Be Blood is one of if not his absolute best work.

Sam:

Don’t get me wrong here, I love me some Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day-Lewis mud wrestling as much as the next guy but I believe 2007 belonged to the Coens with No Country for Old Men! Both are excellent films that represent clashes of ideology. There Will Be Blood pits the might industrial capitalism epitomized in Daniel Plainview against the Little America of tradition that the Weasley Eli Sunday (played by Paul Dano) represents. No Country for Old Men puts Southern order and old Western ideas of justice against the overwhelming, unfeeling reality of a meaningless universe, personified in its most deadly agent, Anton Chigurh. I believe Bardem’s performance as the cold and calculated killer far exceeds the careless caprice of Lewis’ Plainview. And I found that the existential struggle of No Country for Old Men was just a hair more focused and potent than the sound and fury of There Will Be Blood. Still, if No Country ought to be bested by anyone, I’m glad it’s at least this film. Well played, Dash.  

8. Minority Report (2002)

Sam:

There were some pretty big heavy hitters in 2002: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Chamber of Secrets, Attack of the Clones. But one film that doesn’t get nearly enough love is Spielberg’s noir science fiction masterpiece Minority Report. Based on renowned sci-fi writer Phillip K. Dick short story of the same name, the film follows the story of John Anderton who is the captain of  PreCrime, a homicide division in DC’s law enforcement that uses prophetic psychics (Precogs) to predict murders and stop it from happening. Under his leadership, the division has managed to exponentially reduce the rate of murders in the city. But when Anderton himself is predicted to be a future murderer, he must take the law into his own hands to clear his name, uncover a shadowy conspiracy and to truly see whether the future is set in stone.  

Tom Cruise, much like his other action-star contemporaries, is often pegged as stoic, one-liner throwing macho men in films. Here, however, we see him at his most his most emotionally vocal and vulnerable. Anderton is a broken man trying to make sense of the tragedies in his life, namely the death of his child. He uses PreCrime as a means to project his anger and guilt due to him failing as a father to prevent others from ever going through his experience. He is a man of rationality, using the new data to uncover the unknown. A perfect foil to his sceptical Anderton, expertly played by Colin Farrell, is Danny Witwer, a DOJ agent and devout Catholic who frowns upon John’s department. Their rivalry and exchange, however, is devoid of any of the cheeseball dialogue expected in action films. In fact, both of them make valid and interesting points to back up their views. And that goes for the rest of film! What I love about this film is its ability to balance its more inquisitive nature on questions of free will and predestination with its more action orientated scenes. The effects used for the technology in this film is inspired, especially in a scene when John is pursued by mouse-like spider drones. And as much as I wanted to have the whole LOTR gang on board here, Minority Report does just enough to etch Two Towers out. A riveting sci-fi crime film full of action, philosophy and heart, Minority Report is one of the best sci-fi films of all time and the 2000’s’ Blade Runner!

7. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Sam:

The year 2000 was a unique time for the film industry and the world at large. Like an albatross to a sea-battered ship, new ground was around the corner and people couldn’t wait to see what new and bold ethos would mark this era. Would it be a return historical majesty with Scott’s Gladiator? A newfound appreciation for the action genre with Mission: Impossible 2? Or would the beginning of this era be marked with a more soulful reflection of the self with Castaway? It would be all three and more with Ang Lee’s wuxia masterpiece Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Helmed by magnificent performances by legendary Hong Kong actor Chow Yun Fatt and Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, the plot here is absolute poetry. It mostly follows the perspective of two, forlorn lovers Yu Shu Lien, played by Yeoh and Li Mu Bai by Fatt. Unable to truly express their love for one another in honour of a covenant long passed and for loyalty sake. All will be tested for the couple when Bai tasks Shu Lien to deliver a powerful weapon, the Green Destiny to a mutual friend, Sir Te. Bai wants nothing more than to bury the past and leave his warrior ways behind but fate has other plans for him. When the sword is stolen, Bai and Shu Lien will go on an epic journey to catch the thief, avenge a fallen master and find a resolution to an inconceivable love.  

There are many reasons why Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon deserves a spot on this list, the strongest being the incredible cinematography and choreography that goes into the film. Nigh-Kubrickesque in execution, Lee makes almost every single frame a painting. From dances of blades on tranquil rivers to elaborate sword fights atop a bamboo ridden forest. At no time does it ever descend into the absurd or campy, every stroke of the sword and every wave of the arm is never in vain. The action as dazzling as it as spectacle also connotes emotion and serves as a sort of window into the psyche of the combatants. By far the best example being the surreal calm and focus of Shu Lien when she fights against a brasher and more impatient opponent, Jen. At first, Shu Lien manages to gain the upper hand of Jen, putting her on the defensive. That is before Jen has had enough and proceeds to show Lien the full power of the Green Destiny. Breaking every weapon and effortlessly parrying every move Shu Lien throws at her. But just when we think Jen victorious, Lien expertly uses the greater weapon Jen wields to reveal how Shu Lien is the better combatant. The message is crystal: the weapon is only as good as the wielder. Lee manages to make battles and martial confrontations more than just an idiosyncratic break from the drama on screen, he makes it idiosyncratic! Till this day, few have ever reached the transcendent heights of Lee’s shining example of show not tell. For its elevation of action into art, we give it the honour of appearing on this list.   

6) Children of Men (2006)

Sam:

I’m not sure if Dash can’t appreciate how beautiful Children of Men is or if he just hates babies, but this film does not deserve to be this far down on the list. You hear me! In the not so distant future, the human race is dying and all civilization is collapsing due to global sterilization. The UK is one of the last bastions of a working government left in the world, albeit quickly descending into an ever authoritarian one, arresting immigrants and undesirables. Former activist Theo Faron’s life will take a turn for the worse when he meet Kee, the first pregnant woman in 18 years. In a world gone mad, Theo must a find to save the humanity’s last hope for a future. Gritty and so utterly gloomy in its tone, Children of Men is a sombre exploration of the miracle of childbirth and yet also a critical look into the power of religious significance we ascribe to the natural. There’s a scene in Children of Men when the rebels and the British Army are battling their hearts out in a ruined city, there are explosions going off in the background. Needless to say the scene is intense. Then suddenly it all stops, both insurgents and loyalists cease their battle halfway, in awe of what they’re witnessing, a woman carrying life. Some even bow at her feet. In that moment in time, both sides saw their shared humanity and allowed Theo and Kee to leave before resuming back to their conflict. It left me in tears.

The performances here are something else man. Clive Owen as the everyman trying to do some good serves an active and surprisingly compassionate conduit for the audience. And Claire-Hope Ashitey as Kee had so much depth and you can see the heavy burden she bears as the mother of man. I would be remiss, if not a complete idiot if I failed to talk about the cinematography in this film. One scene that stands out, in particular, is when Theo and the immigrant rights group led by Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Luke are escorting Kee to Canterbury via car before being attacked by an armed gang in the woods. Their entire harrowing escape was all captured in one take! That is some G.Ignaritu stuff right there! Children of Men thought hard to watch at times is one of those rare films you can’t turn away from. Magnetic in its presence and deftly in its execution, Children of Men could not be more relevant in the post 9/11 era of the 2000’s.  

5) Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (2004)

Sam:

In an age before manic-pixie dream girls leapt out of YA novels onto our screens and when Apatow was in his prime, there was Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind. Imagine if Before Sunrise and Memento had a baby and he had the voice of a really sad Ace Ventura and you’d get one of the most endearing romantic films of the decade, if not THE. Jim Carrey’s Joel Barrish and Kate Winslet’s Clementine have a complicated relationship, to say the least. One’s an emotionally repressed stoic and ones to quote the lady herself “just a f**cked up girl to find my[her] own peace of mind”. Things become particularly interesting when the both of them at certain points in their life decide to erase each other from their minds for the sake of a clean slate. And yet they keep finding themselves inextricably bound to one another despite their flaws. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, unlike films like The Fault in our Stars and Me Before You, is an earnest and often painful diagnosis of the human condition and it’s actually good.

Ironically enough, the film does not romanticize the idea of ‘relationships’. The anxiety and frustration of being a relationship with either of these characters are quite relatable, along with the joys of it as well. The film never tethers into the realm of the sickeningly sweet or terminally tragic. It’s its own sort of perfection really. Absurdly awkward, repulsively realistic and yet impossibly romantic. And while Carrey inhabits a far more dramatic role here, he does not suffer the cognitive dissonance of being someone else. He works comfortably and strenuously at being himself, himself at his most introspective. So sure, there’s bound to be laughs. It certainly helps that Winslet is a graceful participant, willing to throw herself into the role. Ultimately it makes for great and often reactive chemistry. Normally, I would disapprove of contrived plot devices like timebomb sicknesses, divided houses or suicide pacts but the whole amnesiac angle works to great effect here. Exacerbating an already volatile situation and forcing meaningful confrontation. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind stands tall above the lesser B-grade shlock of the what passes for 21st-century romances along with its more competent competition. Both heartwrenching and warming, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a film that a generation cannot forget.

4) Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Sam:

Widely acclaimed and even subtly implied within the film as Tarantino’s personal masterpiece, Inglourious Basterds makes cinematic history by revising it for a modern audience. Here all of his Tarantinoisms are on display: his non-linear style of storytelling, multiple character perspectives, iconic one-liners and uberviolence cranked up to 11! This alternate take on history follows French Jewish cinema owner Shosanna Dreyfeus and Brad Pitt’s Aldo Raine and his band of Nazi-scalping Israelites. Hell, just talking about the premise is giving me goosebumps. By far his largest film in terms of scale and vision, Basterds is brutally brilliant and ridiculously fun. First of all, everyone here is just having such a good time. Brad Pitt is relishing every second he gets as the “Apache” leader of his crack team of saboteurs and assassins. Fassbender as a World War 2 parody of James Bond will have you just as charmed as you are confused when he spits his long-winded catchphrases. Hey man, all I need to know is that he is one smooth operator. And then there’s Hans Landa, played by the ever classy Christoph Waltz. I’m telling you, man, this SS colonel is both equal part perfect dinner party guest and a ruthless, efficient killer.

One thing that I feel that is often overlooked in this film is the soundtrack. The way the sound sways from gentle folk music to convey a sense of tranquillity before scenes of violence are blasted in with orchestral bombast is a testament to Tarantino’s dedication to creating a truly unique experience. One thing you’ll also notice about this film is that comedy plays a big part in this film, whether its Nazis being battered to death or Nazis being shot in the balls, Tarantino’s pacing and the cast’s energetic delivery makes for some gut-busting moments. I dare you not to laugh when Aldo headbutts Landa after the officer catches Raine flinching. I do however think that there are some more worthy spots that should be higher on this list but hey I’m still glad that Basterds made it here. It is a lot of things: comedy, war-film, satire, spy thriller. If it has done anything, it shows us why Tarantino is one of the brainiest and ballsiest director working in the business today. Some people call this exploitation of a tragedy, Dash and I call this art!   

3) The Dark Knight (2008)

Dash:

Look mafaka! The Dark Knight placing third on this list is a crime. A crime against geekdom. A crime against cinema. A crime against humanity. The Dark Knight should be numero uno on this list. It IS the TRUE greatest film of the 2000s. It is the Citizen Kane of modern cinema.

If Nolan got people talking with Batman Begins, he changed the game altogether with The Dark Knight. The reason why we have up to 10 best picture Oscar nominations these days is because TDK didn’t get a best Oscar nom back in 2009 and people lost their collective shits. The reason why everyone is obsessed with making dark and gritty comic book movies is because of The Dark Knight. TDK, changed the landscape of popular culture, for better or worse.

isn’t a superhero movie. It’s a psychological crime-thriller/mobster-drama in the vein of Se7en and Scarface that just so happens to have a protagonist in a bat costume and an antagonist who wears clown makeup. The opening bank heist sequence is jaw-dropping and the movie only gets better and better from that point on. The drama, the tension, the gradually escalating conflict. What’s also great about the movie is the fact that despite it being a Batman movie; despite it titled The Dark Knight, I was genuinely convinced throughout, that Batman might actually lose. That’s a testament to Nolan’s writing and directing.

There are scenes in the movie that are shocking — Joker smashing a man’s head on a pencil. And there are scenes that are saddening — the (presumed) death of Jim Gordon. And then there’s the interrogation sequence that leads to Rachel’s death. A harrowing ordeal. A brutal gut-punch. Every single sequence, every single line of dialogue, every lick of performance, perfect.

Speaking of performances, we can’t have a TDK discussion without mentioning Heath Ledger’s eccentric yet nuanced work in this movie. Heath Ledger (RIP) may not be the greatest actor of all time, but right before his passing, he blessed us with the greatest piece of transformative performance in the history of cinema. In The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger is a thespian so focused, so intuned with his character that William Shakespeare himself takes a bow. Just thinking about it gives me the chills.

But it isn’t just him. It’s everyone else too both on and off camera. The cinematography (Wally Pfister). The music — oh what a heart-pounding score by Hans Zimmer. The writing by the Nolan brothers and David S. Goyer. The directorial efforts by Christopher Nolan.

Best movie of the 2000s? HELL YES!

That said, since it did lose (ridiculous!), I’m glad it lost to the second and third best movies of that decade.

Sam:

The Dark Knight is without a doubt one of the most influential films of the last decade and personally the last truly great superhero film before the age of Disney mergers and DC’s dark wave. That being said, I simply cannot concede that this film is more influential than the next two picks on this list. I won’t! And at the risk of sounding blasphemous, The Dark Knight feels like the film that ended the 2000’s. Though this decade bore witnessed to truly some of the most shocking and world-shattering events in the history of mankind, the magic of an optimistic pre-internet era still lingered on. In many ways, The Dark Knight is a film that was ahead of its time. Heath Ledger’s wickedly, nihilistic Joker spent more time terrifying a generation to come than he did in defining the cinematic epoch of the time. It was bold, exciting and, for many of us a perfect film that was more predictive than it was definitive. This film is many things. It was Nolan’s magnum opus. It was a revolutionary piece of media that would inspire a wave of more grounded comic book films. And it was the death of a dream and the end of an era. While it may never take the top spot for me in the 2000’s, know that I looked upon my childhood killer fondly.        

2) The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Sam:

It’s difficult for me to not remember the first time watching Fellowship of the Ring. It’s near impossible to sever the ties I have the characters of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin. It’s a challenge for me not to think of the wise and loving Gandalf when it comes to actor Sir Ian McKellen. Few films ever had the privilege of defining a generation, and every now and then a generation has the privilege of being there to witness a truly groundbreaking film. For me and a lot of people out there, it’s the Lord of the Rings franchise that first awakened our love for films and Fellowship was the introduction. If you haven’t seen the film or know virtually nothing about the plot it’s pretty much the journey of Hobbit Frodo Baggins setting with warriors and friends to destroy the One Ring that the Dark Lord Sauron had his soul bounded to. To say the performances in this film were great would be to do you and the cast a disservice. Everyone stands out here! From Billy Boyd’s playful and often oblivious Pippin to the Viggo’s layered performance as the self-exiled prince Aragorn to the wizard himself! Unlike other blockbuster films, Jackson allows the audience to familiarize with the world he’s created. He isn’t concerned about rushing you from one battle scene to the next, which there are plenty of, mind you. Rather lovingly takes time to set up character and atmosphere before introducing us to the dangers of this world. That’s the hallmark of a memorable storyteller.

The level of detail that went into the design of this film is insane. From the elaborate battle at the beginning of the film with life-like Orcs to the legendary duel between Gandalf and the fiery Balrog of Morgoth! It’s all so fantastical and yet believable because of Jackson’s decision to rely more on practical effects over CGI. Until today, these effects are the standards that few films and TV shows can only dream of living up to. Game of Thrones comes close, barely though! The score is an orchestral orgasm to the auditory senses. There are entire videos and texts dedicated to breaking down how Howard Shore uses the musical element of The Lord of the Rings to tell a story in itself. The Shire theme and the Fellowship theme are both distinctly different from one another. At no point does Shore lazily interchange the two or recycle them for a scene unless it absolutely has something to do with the subject matter the themes were first introduced in. That’s dedication right there, friend! What amazes me still is how grand and yet personal Fellowship is to me, even 12 years after watching it. I still shed a tear when Sam chases after Frodo. Fellowship of the Ring is one of the few films I’ve given a perfect score in my book and is second only to another on this list.

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Dash:

And here we are, at number 1. While I would’ve personally preferred The Dark Knight to top the list, you won’t hear me complaining that Return of the King clinched the top spot, instead. It’s been 15 years and not a single movie has even come close to beating the scope, grandeur and majesty of The Lord of the Rings franchise. And Return of the King (also known as the most fist pump worthy film in the history of mankind) is the best of the three. It sends our heroes to their destinies with such elegance that just thinking about it gives me the chills.

But it isn’t just the scale of the movie. It isn’t just the large epic battle sequences with its sweeping shots by cinematographer Andrew Lesnie. It just merely the heart-pounding, hair-raising score by Howard Shore. It’s the whole package envisioned by a director (Peter Jackson), who for whatever reason was given the opportunity to bring Tolkien’s books to life having come from a the indie-horror scene. Jackson was so focused, so intuned to what he was doing with this franchise that he seemingly left every last drop of creative juice that his body could produce on the table and then some.

This movie carries the emotional depth and weight of a masterpiece. I go on a Lord of the Rings marathon every year. And every year, I tear up with my fist clenched tight when Elrond tells Aragorn “Put aside the Ranger… become who you were born to be,” and I straight up start bawling my eyes out when Aragorn tells the Hobbits, “My friends, you bow to no one.” 

It’s not easy to get people to watch these films today. Most of my peers get frightened by its 11 hours and 23 minutes runtime (pfft, of course, I’m talking about the extended edition. There’s no other way to consume this franchise). But trust me when I say, if you can find the time to sit down and watch em (if not together, then separately), you won’t regret it. The Lord of the Rings is a journey unlike any other.

Hey you! Yes you, hot stuff. Now it’s your turn! Leave a comment below and let us know what you think of our ranking? Do you agree with it or do you think it’s hot garbage? Share with us your ranking of these movies!

Also, if you’d like to follow Dashran and Sam on social media, check em out here: 
@dashtalksmovies
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