i unearthed a 2002 copy of entertainment weekly magazine. their cover issue was how to build the perfect collection. they listed the 100 dvds of all time from 1898 to 2000. i think this is very informative for dvd collectors.
heres the list:
SILENTS:
1. MELIES THE MAGICIAN (1898)
2. INTOLERANCE (1916)
3. NOSFERATU (1922)
4. BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (1925)
5. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925)
6. MAN WITH THE MOVIE CAMERA (1929)
1930's
1. the blue angel (1930)
2. m (1931)
3. bride of frankenstein (1935)
4. grand illusion (1937)
5. gone with the wind (1939)
6. stagecoach (1939)
7. the wizard of oz (1939)
1940's
1. his girl friday (1940)
2. the superman cartoons of max & dave fleisher (1941)
3. citizen kane (1941)
4. sullivan's travel (1941)
5. casablanca (1942)
6. henry v (1944)
7. the big sleep (1946)
8. la belle et la bete (1946)
9. its a wonderful life (1946)
10. the bicycle thief (1948)
11. the third man (1949)
50's
1. all about eve (1950)
2. singin in the rain (1952)
3. high noon (1952)
4. on the water front (1954)
5. seven samurai (1954)
6. rebel without a cause (1955)
7. the ten commandments (1956)
8. written on the wind (1956)
9. the searchers (1956)
10. the seventh seal (1957)
11. plan 9 from outer space (1959)
12. some like it hot (1959)
60's
1. breathless (1960)
2. to kill a mockingbird (1962)
3. lawrence of arabia (1962)
4. 8 1/2 (1963)
5. goldfinger (1964)
6. bonnie and clyde (1967)
7. in the heat of the night (1967)
8. the graduate (1967)
9. the good, the bad and the ugly (1968)
10. planet of the apes (1968)
11. the wild bunch (1969)
12. midnight cowboy (1969)
13. butch cassidy and the sundance kid (1969)
70's
1. the french connection (1971)
2. shaft (1971)
3. cabaret (1972)
4. the godfather dvd collection (1972-1990)
5. the exorcist (1973)
6. enter the dragon (1973)
7. blazing saddles (1974)
8. nashville (1975)
9. monty python and the holy grail (1975)
10. jaws (1975)
11. all the president's men (1976)
12. rocky (1976)
13. annie hall (1977)
14. halloween (1978)
15. national lampoon's animal house (1978)
16. apocalypse now (1979)
80's
1. ordinary people (1980)
2. airplane (1980)
3. the road warrior (1982)
4. fast times at ridgemont high (1982)
5. 48 hrs. (1982)
6. blade runner (1982)
7. the terminator (1984)
8. this is spinal tap (1984)
9. platoon (1986)
10. top gun (1986)
11. a room with a view (1986)
12. blue velvet (1986)
13. the decalogue (1988)
14. die hard (1988)
15. akira (1988)
16. women on the verge of nervous breakdown (1988)
17. do the right thing (1989)
18. when harry met sally (1989)
90's
1. pretty woman (1990)
2. the silence of the lambs (1991)
3. thelma and louise (1991)
4. pulp fiction (1994)
5. natural born killers (1994)
6. toy story (1995)
7. boogie nights (1997)
8. titanic (1997)
9. l.a. confidential (1997)
10. saving private ryan (1998)
11. the matrix (1999)
12. being john malkovich (1999)
13. the sixth sense (199)
00's
1. crouching tiger hidden dragon (2000)
2. requiem for a dream (2000)
3. gladiator (2000)
thats all folks!