The 40 Most Iconoclastic Films Ever
I'm sure I'll miss some, and I haven't seen every film ever, but these are truly 40 films that you will find the utmost in iconoclastic style. "Iconoclastic" means the opposite of what some people may think, because it means knocking down "icons" and "myths". It is true "anti hero" and true "anti Hollywood".
List activity
3.8K views
• 1 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
40 titles
- DirectorChris ShadleyStarsMelissa Joan HartWilliam Lee ScottJohn TerryNine strangers are kidnapped and forced to figure out the connection they have to each other as one has to die every ten minutes.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsKlaus KinskiRuy GuerraHelena RojoIn the 16th century, the ruthless and insane Don Lope de Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado.
- DirectorLeslie NormanStarsRichard ToddLaurence HarveyRichard HarrisIn 1942, a group of British soldiers is sent on a mission in the Malaysian jungle and gets lost into the Japanese controlled zone.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsLew AyresLouis WolheimJohn WrayA German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsCharlie SheenTom BerengerWillem DafoeChris Taylor, a neophyte recruit in Vietnam, finds himself caught in a battle of wills between two sergeants, one good and the other evil. A shrewd examination of the brutality of war and the duality of man in conflict.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsDuane JonesJudith O'DeaKarl HardmanA ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the Northeast of the United States.
- DirectorJean-Pierre JeunetStarsSigourney WeaverWinona RyderDominique PinonTwo centuries after her death, a powerful human/alien hybrid clone of Ellen Ripley aids a crew of space pirates in stopping the aliens from reaching Earth.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsDon MurrayDiane VarsiChill WillsAfter ranch hand Tod Lohman accidentally kills the son of a powerful rancher, he panics and flees, but the rancher and his vengeful crew hunt Tod down.
- DirectorTroy DuffyStarsWillem DafoeSean Patrick FlaneryNorman ReedusTwo Irish Catholic brothers become vigilantes and wipe out Boston's criminal underworld in the name of God.
- DirectorJames FoleyStarsSean PennChristopher WalkenMary Stuart MastersonReunited with his career criminal father, tough teen Brad thinks he's found his ticket to an exciting life of crime, only to find out he's wrong.
- DirectorTed PostStarsClint EastwoodInger StevensPat HingleWhen an innocent man barely survives a lynching, he returns as a lawman determined to bring the vigilantes to justice.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsHenry FondaDana AndrewsMary Beth HughesWhen a posse captures three men suspected of killing a local farmer, they become strongly divided over whether or not to lynch the men.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKirk DouglasRalph MeekerAdolphe MenjouAfter a failed attack on a German position, a general orders three soldiers, chosen at random, court-martialed for cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsGregory PeckJoan CollinsStephen BoydA man is chasing four outlaws who killed his wife and finds them in a small town's jail, but they escape to Mexico.
- DirectorJesse HibbsStarsAudie MurphyAnne BancroftPat CrowleyAn agent sent from Washington in 1874 takes charge of an Apache reservation and has the oppressive US Army back off, which creates conflicts and causes the Indians to have great respect for him.
- DirectorMel BrooksStarsCleavon LittleGene WilderSlim PickensIn order to ruin a western town, a corrupt politician appoints a black Sheriff, who promptly becomes his most formidable adversary.
- DirectorStanislav GovorukhinStarsVladimir ZeldinTatyana DrubichAleksandr KaydanovskiyA psychological thriller based on the novel by Agatha Christie. Ten strangers are forced to come face to face with their dark pasts after receiving invitation to an isolated island off the coast of England.
- DirectorStuart RosenbergStarsPaul NewmanGeorge KennedyStrother MartinA laid-back Southern man is sentenced to two years in a rural prison, but refuses to conform.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
- DirectorTerry O. MorseStarsBruce KelloggOtto WaldisJim BannonScientists use a gigantic drilling machine for an expedition to the center of the earth.
- DirectorKurt MaetzigStarsYôko TaniOldrich LukesIgnacy MachowskiWhen an alien artifact discovered on Earth is found to have come from Venus, an international team of astronauts embarks to investigate its origins.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsPeter WellerNancy AllenDan O'HerlihyIn a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsRoddy PiperKeith DavidMeg FosterThey influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.
- DirectorBarbara PeetersStarsDixie PeabodyTerry MaceClyde VenturaTautly directed biker film, told from the woman's point of view. The heroine sets out on the road to avenge her brother's murder, toting a shotgun and meaning business.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsSigourney WeaverTom SkerrittJohn HurtThe crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsPaul NewmanFredric MarchRichard BooneJohn Russell, disdained by his "respectable" fellow stagecoach passengers because he was raised by Native Americans, becomes their only hope for survival when they are set upon by outlaws.
- DirectorMichael CiminoStarsRobert De NiroChristopher WalkenJohn CazaleAn in-depth examination of the ways in which the Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of several friends in a small steel mill town in Pennsylvania.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJeffrey HunterVera MilesAn American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.
- DirectorWilliam HaleStarsJames CaanMichael SarrazinBrenda ScottAt the beginning of the Civil War, seven friends embark on a cross-country journey in order to join the Confederate army.
- DirectorBryan ForbesStarsKatharine HepburnCharles BoyerClaude DauphinNice, eccentric, idealistic and slightly mad Countess Aurelia, who believes that the good must prevail over evil, decides to stand up to corrupt powerful leaders of Paris by putting them on trial with 'unwashed masses' as the jury.
- DirectorArmando CrispinoStarsLee Van CleefJack KellyGiampiero AlbertiniDuring World War II, an Italian-American commando outfit disguised as an Italian Army unit is parachuted behind Axis lines in North Africa.
- DirectorFerde Grofé Jr.StarsGeorge MontgomeryTom DrakeConrad ParhamAt the end of World War Two, a reporter follows a Colonel and his men searching for small groups of Japanese soldiers hiding in the jungle.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko TsushimaFarmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
- DirectorWilliam A. GrahamStarsDon MurrayAnne FrancisEdmond O'BrienThe James and Younger outlaw gangs ride into town, and it is up to the local marshal, who has lost both his nerve and his gun skills, to stop them.
- DirectorJim AbrahamsDavid ZuckerJerry ZuckerStarsRobert HaysJulie HagertyLeslie NielsenAfter the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must safely land a commercial airplane full of passengers.
- DirectorTerry GilliamTerry JonesStarsGraham ChapmanJohn CleeseEric IdleKing Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles.
- DirectorRobby HensonStarsChris CooperPatricia ClarksonKris KristoffersonDuring the American Civil War, a Union Army captain leads his rag-tag cavalry troop up a misty creek to a remote farm to appropriate enemy (Confederate) livestock. The farm is worked by Sarah Anders, whose husband is away fighting for the Confederate Army. Far from the great armies and battlefields, a very private civil war erupts. The Captain and Sarah are pulled apart by the war's undertow into choices they can not fully control or understand. Each character in this drama must decide whether loyalty will be paid in blood. This story has a relevance to current partisan conflicts. Armies are not filled with murdering psychopaths. Good people can be driven to do bad things. The story chronicles the pathology of war, how escalating events can trigger unasked-for tragedy. Based on a true story about a southern child who shot and killed a union soldier during the Civil War.
- DirectorNathan FrankowskiStarsBen SteinLili AsvarPeter AtkinsBen Stein examines the issue of academic freedom and decides that there is none when it comes to the debate over intelligent design.
- DirectorAndrew AdamsonStarsTilda SwintonGeorgie HenleyWilliam MoseleyWhile playing, Lucy and her siblings find a wardrobe that lands them in a mystical place called Narnia. Here they realize that it was fated and they must now unite with Aslan to defeat an evil queen.
- DirectorKevin CostnerStarsKevin CostnerWill PattonLarenz TateA nameless drifter dons a postman's uniform and bag of mail as he begins a quest to inspire hope to the survivors living in post-apocalyptic America.