''50 Films to See Before You Die'' was a television programme first shown on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
on Saturday 22 July 2006, to celebrate the relaunch of
Film4
Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, i ...
as a
free-to-air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...
TV channel available to
digital terrestrial
Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' ...
homes in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. It consisted of a list of 50 films compiled by film critics and personalities. Each film was "chosen as a paragon of a particular genre or style". ''
Apocalypse Now
''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph ...
'' was chosen as the #1 film.
Recent movies dominate the list: nine are from the 2000s, twelve from the 1990s, nine from the 1980s, nine from the 1970s, and only eleven movies from all the years prior to 1970.
Three of the 50 films on the list were produced or distributed by Channel 4's own
Film4 Productions – ''
Trainspotting'' (#25), ''
Secrets & Lies'' (#49) and ''
Sexy Beast
''Sexy Beast'' is a 2000 British crime film directed by Jonathan Glazer (in his feature film directorial debut) and written by Louis Mellis and David Scinto. It stars Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, and Ian McShane. It follows Gary "Gal" Dove (Win ...
'' (#5).
See also
*''
50 Documentaries to See Before You Die
5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...
''
External links
* {{imdb title, id=0795328, title=50 Films to See Before You Die
Film 4's list of 50 films to see before you die
Top film lists