The Best Films Ever Made - 1997
by dziwnytenswiat | created - 15 Nov 2017 | updated - 3 months ago | PublicThe rules: My rating x 3, 6 male/female rating ( 18, 30, 45), 1000 voters rating, US- and Non-US voters rating. Only films with a better rating than 7,00
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1. L.A. Confidential (1997)
R | 138 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
As corruption grows in 1950s Los Angeles, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice.
Director: Curtis Hanson | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger
Votes: 617,208 | Gross: $64.62M
8,67
2. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
Director: Roberto Benigni | Stars: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Giustino Durano
Votes: 742,480 | Gross: $57.60M
8,55
3. Good Will Hunting (1997)
R | 126 min | Drama, Romance
Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 1,066,327 | Gross: $138.43M
8,11
4. Children of Heaven (1997)
PG | 89 min | Drama, Family, Sport
After a boy loses his sister's pair of shoes, he goes on a series of adventures in order to find them. When he can't, he tries a new way to "win" a new pair.
Director: Majid Majidi | Stars: Mohammad Amir Naji, Amir Farrokh Hashemian, Bahare Seddiqi, Nafise Jafar-Mohammadi
Votes: 80,625 | Gross: $0.93M
8,06
5. The Ice Storm (1997)
R | 112 min | Drama
In suburban New Canaan, Connecticut, 1973, middle-class families experimenting with casual sex and substance abuse find their lives beyond their control.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Henry Czerny
Votes: 59,929 | Gross: $7.84M
8,04
6. Todesspiel (1997 TV Movie)
177 min | Documentary, Drama, Thriller
Docudrama in two parts, based on the abduction of the president of the employer's association of Germany, Hanns Martin Schleyer, by the Baader-Meinhof gang in the Autumn of '77.
Director: Heinrich Breloer | Stars: Hans Brenner, Robert Viktor Minich, Birol Ünel, Sebastian Koch
Votes: 558
7,98
7. The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
R | 112 min | Drama
A bus crash in a small town brings a lawyer to defend the families, but he discovers everything isn't what it seems.
Director: Atom Egoyan | Stars: Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Caerthan Banks, Tom McCamus
Votes: 36,720 | Gross: $3.25M
7,92
8. Gattaca (1997)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.
Director: Andrew Niccol | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Gore Vidal
Votes: 322,933 | Gross: $12.34M
7,79
9. As Good as It Gets (1997)
PG-13 | 139 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A single mother and waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.
Director: James L. Brooks | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr.
Votes: 318,150 | Gross: $148.48M
7,78
10. Brother (1997)
99 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ex-soldier with a personal honor code enters the family crime business in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Director: Aleksey Balabanov | Stars: Sergey Bodrov, Viktor Sukhorukov, Svetlana Pismichenko, Mariya Zhukova
Votes: 24,488
7,78
11. Open Your Eyes (1997)
R | 119 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A very handsome man finds the love of his life, but he suffers an accident and needs to have his face rebuilt by surgery after it is severely disfigured.
Director: Alejandro Amenábar | Stars: Eduardo Noriega, Penélope Cruz, Chete Lera, Fele Martínez
Votes: 73,194 | Gross: $0.37M
7,73
12. Character (1997)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Jacob Katadreuffe lives mute with his mother, has no contact with his father who only works against him and wants to become a lawyer, at all costs.
Director: Mike van Diem | Stars: Pavlik Jansen op de Haar, Jan Decleir, Fedja van Huêt, Betty Schuurman
Votes: 11,296 | Gross: $0.71M
7,72
13. Taste of Cherry (1997)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama
An Iranian man drives his car in search of someone who will quietly bury him under a cherry tree after he commits suicide.
Director: Abbas Kiarostami | Stars: Homayoun Ershadi, Abdolhosein Bagheri, Afshin Khorshid Bakhtiari, Safar Ali Moradi
Votes: 36,681 | Gross: $0.31M
7,63
14. Funny Games (1997)
Not Rated | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Two violent young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Mühe, Arno Frisch, Frank Giering
Votes: 83,930
7,61
15. The Long Way Home (1997)
Not Rated | 120 min | Documentary, History, War
The story of the post World War II Jewish refugee situation from liberation to the establishment of the modern state of Israel.
Director: Mark Jonathan Harris | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Israel Lau, Livia Shacter, Abraham Klausner
Votes: 1,270
7,59
16. In the Company of Men (1997)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
Two business executives--one an avowed misogynist, the other recently emotionally wounded by his love interest--set out to exact revenge on the female gender by seeking out the most innocent, uncorrupted girl they can find and ruining her life.
Director: Neil LaBute | Stars: Aaron Eckhart, Matt Malloy, Stacy Edwards, Michael Martin
Votes: 14,275 | Gross: $2.86M
7,55
17. Live Flesh (1997)
R | 103 min | Drama
After leaving jail, Víctor is still in love with Elena, but she's married to the former cop -now basketball player- who became paralysed by a shot from Víctor's gun...
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Liberto Rabal, Francesca Neri, Javier Bardem, Ángela Molina
Votes: 33,684 | Gross: $1.54M
7,53
18. The Devil's Advocate (1997)
R | 144 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
An exceptionally-adept Florida lawyer is offered a job at a high-end New York City law firm with a high-end boss--the biggest opportunity of his career to date.
Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron, Jeffrey Jones
Votes: 401,461 | Gross: $60.98M
7,52
19. Donnie Brasco (1997)
R | 127 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and finds himself identifying more with the Mafia life--at the expense of his regular one.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby
Votes: 331,903 | Gross: $41.91M
7,52
20. Buttoners (1997)
102 min | Comedy
Twist of fate and the twists of mind of the characters (mostly couples) combine in just the right twinkled absurd way in the interweaving episodes of this comedy. Each of the characters ... See full summary »
Director: Petr Zelenka | Stars: Pavel Zajicek, Jan Haubert, Seisuke Tsukahara, Motohiro Hosoya
Votes: 1,807
7,49
21. Life is All You Get (1997)
115 min | Comedy, Drama
After he loses his job, his father, and his girlfriend, Jan's life is a shambles. Then suddenly he meets freakish street musician Vera, and a bittersweet romance unfolds...
Director: Wolfgang Becker | Stars: Jürgen Vogel, Christiane Paul, Ricky Tomlinson, Hristina Papamihou
Votes: 1,968
7,42
22. Insomnia (1997)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
In a Norwegian city with a 24-hour daylight cycle a Swedish murder investigator has been brought in on a special case. Sleep deprived, he makes a horrible mistake which is discovered by the killer he has been hunting.
Director: Erik Skjoldbjærg | Stars: Stellan Skarsgård, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Maria Mathiesen, Gisken Armand
Votes: 15,569 | Gross: $0.22M
7,40
23. Bent (1997)
NC-17 | 105 min | Drama, History, Romance
In 1930s Berlin, a gay Jew is sent to a concentration camp under the Nazi regime.
Director: Sean Mathias | Stars: Lothaire Bluteau, Clive Owen, Mick Jagger, Brian Webber
Votes: 8,814 | Gross: $0.37M
7,38
24. Destiny (1997)
135 min | Comedy, Drama, History
The story is set in the 12th century in Arab-ruled Spanish province Andalusia, where famed philosopher Averroes is appointed grand judge by the caliph and his liberal court judgments are ... See full summary »
Director: Youssef Chahine | Stars: Nour El-Sherif, Layla Olwi, Mahmoud Hemida, Safia El Emari
Votes: 3,199
7,36
25. Martín (Hache) (1997)
123 min | Drama
19-year-old Argentina Martin has a nearly fatal drug overdose. After that his mother sends him to Madrid, where his film director father (also called Martin) lives with his new much younger lover Alicia and bisexual actor friend Dante.
Director: Adolfo Aristarain | Stars: Federico Luppi, Juan Diego Botto, Eusebio Poncela, Cecilia Roth
Votes: 4,749
7,33
26. Wag the Dog (1997)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Anne Heche, Woody Harrelson
Votes: 88,420 | Gross: $43.02M
7,32
27. Leila (I) (1997)
Not Rated | 102 min | Drama, Family, Romance
The story of a semi-modern Iranian couple, who are trying to fight the old beliefs and old generation, but is a failing battle because the man is not strong enough.
Director: Dariush Mehrjui | Stars: Leila Hatami, Ali Mosaffa, Jamileh Sheikhi, Mohammad Reza Sharifinia
Votes: 4,109 | Gross: $0.05M
7,31
28. The Mirror (1997)
95 min | Drama
When a young girl becomes lost in the hustle and bustle of Tehran, her journey turns into a dazzling exercise on the nature of film itself.
Director: Jafar Panahi | Stars: Mina Mohammad Khani, Kazem Mojdehi, Naser Omuni, M. Shirzad
Votes: 3,134 | Gross: $0.04M
7,31
29. Boogie Nights (1997)
R | 155 min | Drama
Back when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, an idealistic porn producer aspires to elevate his craft to an art when he discovers a hot young talent.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Luis Guzmán
Votes: 281,825 | Gross: $26.40M
7,31
30. The Thief (1997)
R | 96 min | Crime, Drama
A woman meets a man who isn't the right man for her - but she hasn't realised it yet...
Director: Pavel Chukhray | Stars: Vladimir Mashkov, Yekaterina Rednikova, Mikhail Filipchuk, Dima Chigaryov
Votes: 5,616 | Gross: $1.13M
7,28
31. The Eel (1997)
Not Rated | 117 min | Drama
A businessman kills his adulterous wife and is sent to prison. After the release, he opens a barbershop and meets new people, talking almost to no one except an eel he befriended while in prison.
Director: Shôhei Imamura | Stars: Koji Yakusho, Misa Shimizu, Mitsuko Baishô, Akira Emoto
Votes: 6,394 | Gross: $0.41M
7,26
32. Face/Off (1997)
R | 138 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
To foil a terrorist plot, FBI agent Sean Archer assumes the identity of the criminal Castor Troy who murdered his son through facial transplant surgery, but the crook wakes up prematurely and vows revenge.
Director: John Woo | Stars: John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola
Votes: 400,521 | Gross: $112.23M
7,24
33. The Fifth Element (1997)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the colorful future, a cab driver unwittingly becomes the central figure in the search for a legendary cosmic weapon to keep Evil and Mr. Zorg at bay.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm
Votes: 505,598 | Gross: $63.54M
7,24
34. Men in Black (1997)
PG-13 | 98 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
James, an NYC cop, is hired by Agent K of a secret government agency that monitors extraterrestrial life on Earth. Together, they must recover an item that has been stolen by an intergalactic villain.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D'Onofrio
Votes: 612,317 | Gross: $250.69M
7,23
35. Welcome to Sarajevo (1997)
R | 103 min | Drama, War
American and British journalists Flynn and Michael Henderson, along with their respective news teams, meet at the beginning of the Bosnian war in Sarajevo. During their reports, the group ... See full summary »
Director: Michael Winterbottom | Stars: Stephen Dillane, Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, Emira Nusevic
Votes: 7,832 | Gross: $0.34M
7,22
36. Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
PG-13 | 136 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian climber, breaks out of prison and travels to the holy city of Lhasa. He is employed as an instructor to the 14th Dalai Lama and soon becomes his close confidante.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, BD Wong, Mako
Votes: 155,800 | Gross: $37.96M
7,21
37. Four Days in September (1997)
R | 110 min | Action, Drama, History
Brazillian urban guerrilla fighters kidnap the American Ambassador. Now, the diplomat's life hangs in the balance - helplessly caught between a government unwilling to cooperate - and his fear of the captors themselves.
Director: Bruno Barreto | Stars: Alan Arkin, Pedro Cardoso, Fernanda Torres, Luiz Fernando Guimarães
Votes: 5,353 | Gross: $0.31M
7,21
38. The Full Monty (1997)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Drama
Six unemployed steel workers form a male striptease act. The women cheer them on to go for "the full monty" - total nudity.
Director: Peter Cattaneo | Stars: Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Addy, Wim Snape
Votes: 114,043 | Gross: $45.95M
7,19
39. The Small Town (1997)
85 min | Drama
The story of a family living in a small godforsaken town in Turkey seen through the eyes of children and dealing with the growing complexity when one becomes an adult.
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan | Stars: Mehmet Emin Toprak, Havva Saglam, Cihat Bütün, Fatma Ceylan
Votes: 6,593
7,18
40. Cop Land (1997)
R | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The Sheriff of a suburban New Jersey community, populated by New York City police officers, slowly discovers the town is a front for mob connections and corruption.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro
Votes: 106,246 | Gross: $44.89M
7,18
41. Kiler (1997)
104 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
An innocent cab driver Jurek Kiler is mistaken for a contract killer and imprisoned. Soon, he is sprung by a mob boss who needs "Killer" for a few more jobs.
Director: Juliusz Machulski | Stars: Cezary Pazura, Malgorzata Kozuchowska, Jerzy Stuhr, Janusz Rewinski
Votes: 7,789
7,17
42. The Island on Bird Street (1997)
PG-13 | 107 min | Biography, Drama, War
During World War II a Jewish boy is left on his own for months in a ruined house in the Warsaw Ghetto, where he must learn all the tricks of survival under constantly life-threatening conditions.
Director: Søren Kragh-Jacobsen | Stars: Patrick Bergin, Jordan Kiziuk, Jack Warden, James Bolam
Votes: 1,895
7,15
43. Cure (1997)
Not Rated | 111 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
A frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Stars: Masato Hagiwara, Koji Yakusho, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Anna Nakagawa
Votes: 22,938 | Gross: $0.09M
7,14
44. Jackie Brown (1997)
R | 154 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A flight attendant with a criminal past gets nabbed by the ATF for smuggling. Under pressure to become an informant against the illegal arms dealer she works for, she must find a way to secure her future without getting killed.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda
Votes: 374,518 | Gross: $39.67M
7,14
45. The Wings of the Dove (1997)
R | 102 min | Drama, Romance
An impoverished woman who has been forced to choose between a privileged life with her wealthy aunt and her journalist lover, befriends an American heiress. When she discovers the heiress is attracted to her own lover and is dying, she sees a chance to have both the privileged life she cannot give up and the lover she cannot live without.
Director: Iain Softley | Stars: Helena Bonham Carter, Linus Roache, Alex Jennings, Charlotte Rampling
Votes: 13,047 | Gross: $13.72M
7,13
46. Absolute Power (1997)
R | 121 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Career thief Luther Whitney (Clint Eastwood) witnesses a horrific crime involving U.S. President Alan Richmond (Gene Hackman).
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris, Laura Linney
Votes: 60,016 | Gross: $50.01M
7,10
47. The Rainmaker (1997)
PG-13 | 135 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
An underdog lawyer takes on a fraudulent insurance company.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Claire Danes, Jon Voight
Votes: 82,798 | Gross: $45.86M
7,10
48. Hardboiled Egg (1997)
100 min | Comedy, Drama
The story of Piero from childhood to fatherhood, over the background of Livorno's neighborhood Ovosodo.
Director: Paolo Virzì | Stars: Edoardo Gabbriellini, Malcolm Lunghi, Regina Orioli, Alessio Fantozzi
Votes: 3,945
7,10
49. East Side Story (1997)
78 min | Documentary, Music
A look at Communist musicals that strove to be ideologically correct - and entertaining, besides.
Director: Dana Ranga | Stars: Margarita Andrushkovich, Chris Doerk, Erich Gusko, Helmut Hanke
Votes: 242
7,10
50. Mrs. Brown (1997)
PG | 101 min | Biography, Drama, History
When Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert dies, she finds solace in her trusted servant, Mr. John Brown, but their relationship also brings scandal and turmoil.
Director: John Madden | Stars: Judi Dench, Billy Connolly, Geoffrey Palmer, Antony Sher
Votes: 15,571 | Gross: $9.22M
7,09
51. The River (1997)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama, Romance
A young man develops severe neck pain after swimming in a polluted river; his dysfunctional parents are unable to provide any relief for him or themselves.
Director: Tsai Ming-liang | Stars: Miao Tien, Kang-sheng Lee, Yi-ching Lu, Ann Hui
Votes: 3,323
7,09
52. True Women (1997)
PG-13 | 183 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
Covering nearly fifty years of mid-19th-century turmoil, from the tumultuous Texas Revolution to the early women's suffrage movement, "True Women" is a gripping tale of endurance, love, and above all, gritty female determination.
Stars: Dana Delany, Annabeth Gish, Angelina Jolie, Michael York
Votes: 2,500
7,08
53. The Butcher Boy (1997)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
The antisocial son of an alcoholic father and a bipolar mother grows up in 1960s Ireland.
Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Stephen Rea, Fiona Shaw, Eamonn Owens, Alan Boyle
Votes: 11,456 | Gross: $1.82M
7,03
54. The Boxer (1997)
R | 113 min | Drama, Romance, Sport
Young Danny Flynn is released from prison 14 years after "taking the rap" for the IRA and tries to rebuild his life in his old Belfast neighborhood.
Director: Jim Sheridan | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Emily Watson, Daragh Donnelly, Frank Coughlan
Votes: 22,292 | Gross: $5.80M
7,03
55. The Life of Jesus (1997)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Romance
A social movie about current life in the north of France. Freddy and his friends are all unemployed. They pass away time by wandering around on their motorcycles and by directing their ... See full summary »
Director: Bruno Dumont | Stars: David Douche, Marjorie Cottreel, Kader Chaatouf, Sébastien Delbaere
Votes: 3,507
7,03
56. Ulee's Gold (1997)
R | 113 min | Drama
A reclusive beekeeper slowly pulls his dysfunctional family back together, but not without having to fight his son's previous dastardly cohorts.
Director: Victor Nunez | Stars: Peter Fonda, Patricia Richardson, Christine Dunford, Tom Wood
Votes: 7,583 | Gross: $9.05M
7,02
57. The Apostle (1997)
PG-13 | 134 min | Drama
After his happy life spins out of control, a preacher from Texas changes his name, goes to Louisiana and starts preaching on the radio.
Director: Robert Duvall | Stars: Robert Duvall, Todd Allen, Paul Bagget, Lenore Banks
Votes: 14,890 | Gross: $20.73M
7,00
58. The Game (1997)
R | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
After a wealthy San Francisco banker is given an opportunity to participate in a mysterious game, his life is turned upside down as he begins to question if it might really be a concealed conspiracy to destroy him.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Michael Douglas, Deborah Kara Unger, Sean Penn, James Rebhorn
Votes: 428,734 | Gross: $48.32M
7,00
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