Best Neo-noir Movies of All Time- Based on 15 Published Sources

Scene from L.A. Confidential (1997) ranked third neo-noir film of all time.

Welcome to our Reel Fives pre-launch movie rankings for the best neo-noir films of all time. Our Reel Fives team has found 15 published ranked lists of the top neo-noir movies published online and ended up with 32 movies that made the list. For each ranked list of greatest neo-noir films, we have taken the top five ranked films. The movie rankings of top neo-noirs that we aggregated are included at the bottom of this post and include rankings of the best movies in the neo-noir genre created by movie experts as well as rankings from polling sites, such as ranker.com.

Neo-noir films is derived from film noir. Film noir originated in the 1940s lasting through the 1950s as a style of crime dramas. The style includes black and white film as a means to reflect feelings of uncertainty and pessimism. Film Noir traces back to the German expressionist films of the 1920’s. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) uses light to depict evil and dread. After WWII, some in the film industry sought to capture the mixed feelings after WWII. While joy could be shared, society also realized that evil existed among them. Film noir emerged from the conflict between optimism and pessimism, good and evil, and innocence and experience. Neo-noir includes films made from 1960 onward that use the film noir style.

The films in the neo-noir genre give the genre depth and while most were not made in black and white, the films do reflect the feelings of uncertainty. In Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982), the all-time best neo-noir film, Rick Deckhard (Harrison Ford) questions humanity after meeting a replicant who has emotions. Deckhard’s current life in a dark Los Angeles questions everything he thought to be true. This theme is a commonality in other neo-noir films. Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974), ranked second, private detective J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) does not know who to trust after the man he thought he was working for is found dead. Gittes discovers a bundle of corruption, murder, and incest that affects the New York City water supply. In neo-noirs no one is purely benevolent often the dark side of characters are brought to light. Chinatown (1974) does just that and shows a hopeless world. Three types of cops unite to solve a series of murders in a 1950s Los Angeles in L.A. Confidential (1997), ranked third. Each officer must confront their own demons and work together to find the murder. The three types of cops reflect the neo-noir style. One cop goes by the book, follows his own rules in the name of justice, and a third cop is a corrupt force embedded among the ‘good guys’. In this sense, the neo-noir style shows how almost anyone can drift to the dark side when pushed hard enough to.

Neo-noir appeals to a specific audience and while this style may not please everyone, the cinematography and classic shots remain influential in other genres. For example, elements of neo-noir can be seen in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) and even in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight (2008). Neo-noir’s darker colors add depth and we enjoy those unspoken elements. The rankings showed that Neo Noir stayed true to the element of crime and that the genre has its own classics, such as Chinatown (1974). 

 

Top 32 neo-noir movies based on 15 published rankings
Percent of online top fives movies appear in shown
1 . Blade Runner (1982): 80%
2 . Chinatown (1974): 66.6%
3 . L.A. Confidential (1997): 46.6%
4 . Brick (2005): 40%
5 . Memento (2000): 33.3%
6 . Body Heat (1981): 33.3%
7 . Mulholland Drive (2001): 33.3%
8 . The Long Goodbye (1974): 26.6%
9 . The Last Seduction (1994): 20%
10 . A History of Violence (2005): 13.3%
11 . Se7en (1995): 13.3%
12 . Lost Highway (1997): 13.3%
13 (tied). Point Blank (1967): 13.3%
13 (tied). The Usual Suspects (1995): 13.3%
15 (tied). I Want You (1998): 6.66%
15 (tied). Taxi Driver (1976): 6.66%
15 (tied). After Dark, My Sweet (1990): 6.66%
15 (tied). Heat (1995): 6.66%
19 (tied). Miller’s Crossing (1990): 6.66%
19 (tied). Shaft (2000): 6.66%
19 (tied). The Silence of the Lambs (1991): 6.66%
19 (tied). Blow-Up (1966): 6.66%
23 (tied). Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): 6.66%
23 (tied). Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988): 6.66%
23 (tied). Blood Simple (1984): 6.66%
23 (tied). Blue Velvet (1986): 6.66%
23 (tied). Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005): 6.66%
28 (tied). No Country for Old Men (2007): 6.66%
28 (tied). Sin City (2005): 6.66%
30 (tied). Fight Club (1999): 6.66%
30 (tied). The Man Who Wasn't There (2001): 6.66%
30 (tied). Devil in a Blue Dress (1995): 6.66%
Neo-noir Movie Ranking Sources
AMC	List of top 10 (link)
CinemaNerdz	List of top 15 (link)
WatchMojo	List of top 10 (link)
PopCrunch	List of top 16 (link)
High Fidelity Notes	List of top 5 (link)
Pretty Clever Films	List of top 5 (link)
Filmspotting	List of top 5 (link)
Screen Junkies	List of top 10 (link)
The Script Lab	List of top 10 (link)
Reed Rothchild's Movies and other Epic Stuff Blog	List of top 25 (link)
In Frame	List of top 10 (link)
Rankopedia	List of top 25 (link)
Captive Balance	List of top 15 (link)
Canvas	List of top 10 (link)
Fandango	List of top 11 (link)

Identifying the top movies is our mission.
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