Shawshank Redemption 'best ever film'

Lord of the Rings favourite The Fellowship Of The Ring came third.

Star Wars came fourth and The Godfather fifth in the poll of 20,000 readers of Empire movie magazine.

Pulp Fiction is sixth, followed by Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Fight Club, Goodfellas and The Matrix.

The Shawshank Redemption was not a huge box office hit on its release.

But the heart-rending tale of a wrongly imprisoned man notched up seven Oscar nominations and its popularity spread through word of mouth.

Harrison Ford and Robert De Niro are the most popular actors. In the list of the 201 greatest films, each appeared five times.

Steven Spielberg maintains his position as the biggest-name director with five mentions for Jaws (11), Raiders Of The Lost Ark (15), Jurassic Park (34), E.T (35) and Schindler’s List (46).

Top actress is Cate Blanchett who has three mentions for each part of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

Toy Story is the favourite animated film, making the list at number 45.

Shawshank Redemption star Robbins told Empire: “It feels great to be top of the pile. The reason why it’s had a profound impact on people has a lot to do with its spirit and the hope within it – the idea that over a long period of time someone’s ambitions can come true, that resilience and persistence pay off.”

Colin Kennedy, Editor of Empire, said: “The triumph of Frank Darabont’s prison drama in what we like to think of as the definitive poll of UK film lovers completes the rehabilitation of a film that was ignored upon release in 1994 and seals its reputation as a modern classic.

“In a tightly-contested top 20 it certainly helped Shawshank’s cause that unlike the Star Wars saga, the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and the Godfather movies there was nothing to split the vote.

“But there is little doubt that 12 years after it was made Darabont’s movie has earned a permanent place in the hearts of all discerning film fans.”

The full list of the top 201 films is published in Empire’s 201st issue on sale on Friday.

Top 100

1. The Shawshank Redemption

2. The Empire Strikes Back

3. The Fellowship of the Ring

4. Star Wars

5. The Godfather

6. Pulp Fiction

7. The Return of the King

8. Fight Club

9. Goodfellas

10. The Matrix

11. Jaws

12. The Usual Suspects

13. The Godfather Part 2

14. Alien

15. Raiders of the Lost Ark

16. Gladiator

17. Aliens

18. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

19. Casablanca

20. Back to the Future

21. Se7en

22. Heat

23. L.A. Confidential

24. Apocalypse Now

25. The Big Lebowski

26. Citizen Kane

27. Reservoir Dogs

28. Die Hard

29. Raging Bull

30. Some Like it Hot

31. Lawrence of Arabia

32. Blade Runner

33. 2001: A Space Odyssey

34. Jurassic Park

35. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

36. Batman Begins

37. Terminator 2: Judgment Day

38. Lost in Translation

39. The Silence of the Lambs

40. Revenge of the Sith

41. Donnie Darko

42. Amelie

43. Taxi Driver

44. Magnolia

45. Toy Story

46. Schindler’s List

47. Pirates of the Caribbean

48. Return of the Jedi

49. Memento

50. Almost Famous

51. American Beauty

52. Chinatown

53. Rear Window

54. True Romance

55. The Shining

56. Ghostbusters

57. The Exorcist

58. Titanic

59. Dr. Strangelove

60. Grosse Pointe Blank

61. Moulin Rouge!

62. City of God

63. Vertigo

64. The Princess Bride

65. Scarface

66. Sin City

67. Once Upon a Time in the West

68. Gone with the Wind

69. Annie Hall

70. Seven Samurai

71. Saving Private Ryan

72. Rocky

73. The Wizard of Oz

74. Withnail & I

75. The Third Man

76. A Clockwork Orange

77. Cool Hand Luke

78. Toy Story 2

79. Kill Bill Vol. 1

80. Braveheart

81. It’s a Wonderful Life

82. Stand by Me

83. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

84. Evil Dead 2

85. Monty Python’s Life of Brian

86. Psycho

87. Garden State

88. Serenity

89. Double Indemnity

90. Clerks

91. Shaun of the Dead

92. This is Spinal Tap

93. The Searchers

94. Jerry Maguire

95. Edward Scissorhands

96. Leon

97. The Lion King

98. Superman

99. The Thing

100.The Terminator