The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, has been named the greatest movie ever by film fans. Charting the Corleone crime family’s rise to power in New York, the film was first released in 1972 and has long been regarded as one of cinema’s timeless classics. Seeing off the likes of Citizen Kane, Star Wars and numerous contemporary titles, this 45-year-old film was voted by Empire’s readership as the greatest movie ever made.

Nearly 5,000 film-lovers cast their votes in a poll conducted by Empire, the world’s biggest movie magazine, resulting in a definitive list of the 100 Greatest Movies which is published in this month’s issue.

Empire first asked its readers to vote for their favourite-ever movie 21 years ago, when Pulp Fiction landed the top spot, in 2008 the winner was The Godfather and a further poll in 2014 saw The Empire Strikes Back declared the most-loved film.

George Lucas’ epic The Empire Strikes Back takes second place in this latest poll, while Christopher Nolan’s 2008 hit The Dark Knight, featuring Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance as The Joker, appears at number three.

Fan-favourite The Shawshank Redemption is in fourth position, closely followed by Quentin Tarantino’s legendary black comedy,Pulp Fiction.

It’s a full house for Lord of the Rings with all three of the film’s trilogy appearing in the top 25. The Fellowship of the Ring is number ten, Return of the King is at 16 and The Two Towers is at 23.

The Godfather: Part II, staring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, appears at number 12 in the list and Star Wars ranked at number 9.

Recent titles have also managed to gain a foothold on the list, with 2016’s Captain America: Civil War at 79, 2016’s Arrival at 95 and this year’s La La Land establishing itself as an instant classic at 62.

Commenting on the results, Terri White, editor-in-chief of Empire, said: “Empire readers turned out in their thousands to vote and, forty-five years after release, it’s fantastic to see The Godfather continue to elicit such affection from movie lovers. In addition to such perennial favourites such as Star Wars and The Shawshank Redemption, it’s also encouraging to see a number of recent releases have already found a place among cinemagoers’ most cherished films. Last year’s Arrival and this year’s La La Land have emerged as firm favourites, while Captain America: Civil War is the latest of the recent comic book adaptations to strike a chord.”

Top Ten Greatest Movies Ever:
1. The Godfather
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. The Dark Knight
4. The Shawshank Redemption
5. Pulp Fiction
6. Goodfellas
7. Raiders of the Lost Ark
8. Jaws
9. Star Wars
10. The Fellowship of the Ring

Box Office Blockbusters:
o Jurassic Park (19)
o Forrest Gump (61)
o E.T. (59)
o Rocky (84)
o Titanic (97)

Recent Hits:
o Guardians Of The Galaxy (34)
o Mad Max: Fury Road (38)
o Drive (45)
o Interstellar (47)
o Whiplash (57)
o La La Land (62)
o Avengers Assemble (65)
o Captain America: Civil War (79)
o Arrival (95)

Old Favourites:
o Casablanca (28)
o One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (43)
o Citizen Kane (46)
o Lawrence of Arabia (50)
o It’s a Wonderful Life (51)
o Some Like it Hot (82)

The 100 Greatest Movies Ever appear in this month’s Empire magazine, on sale on Thursday, 15 June. Five collectors’ covers will be printed to celebrate the poll, featuring The Godfather, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pulp Fiction and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

The 100 Greatest Movies poll received 4481 respondents via the website www.empireonline.com

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