Best films turning 50 in 2025
In the summer of 1975, a young director named Steven Spielberg released a thriller called “Jaws.” Amid an intensely troubled production, Spielberg hoped the film would do well enough with audiences that his career wouldn’t be over before it began. Spielberg later recalled to Vanity Fair that he was sure he’d be relegated to directing low-budget indie films as soon as the shoot wrapped. Little did he know, “Jaws” would be so successful it would change the landscape of Hollywood itself.
Not only was “Jaws” the first summer blockbuster, thanks to its aggressive marketing campaign, but it was also the first film to make over $100 million in ticket sales. Still, it wasn’t the only hugely influential project released in 1975. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” now regarded as an anti-establishment classic, became the second-ever film to win all five major Academy Awards, indicating a renewed interest in fresh perspectives in the industry. Meanwhile, more under-the-radar films like “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” began slowly accumulating their fan bases en route to becoming cult favorites, reminding studios that not everything had to be an instant hit to secure the status of a cultural touchstone.
Of course, these iconic movies weren’t the only enduring titles released in 1975. Here, Stacker has compiled a list of the 50 best films turning 50 in 2025. Using data from IMDb, the movies have been ranked by their user ratings, with ties broken by the number of user votes. To qualify for the list, each film had to have at least 2,500 IMDb user votes, be rated by the Motion Picture Association of America, and be theatrically released in 1975. For international films, the original, rather than the U.S. release date, was considered. Metascores have been included for critical context.
Read on to discover how many of these era-defining classics you’ve seen.
Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.