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1. 
Psycho (1960)
Marion Crane (Leigh) takes a shower. Lila Crane (Miles) meets Mrs. Bates
in the fruit cellar.
2.
Jaws (1975)
A woman skinny-dips at night in the ocean and feels a sudden, sharp
tug at her leg. After seeing the Great White Shark, Chief Martin Brody
(Scheider) gasps to Quint (Shaw), "You're gonna need a bigger boat."
3. The Exorcist
(1973)
A possessed Regan (Blair) spins her head around 360 degrees. Father
Damien (Miller) exits Regan's room through the window.
4.
North by Northwest (1959)
Roger Thornhill (Grant) is chased by a crop duster. Roger and Eve Kendall
(Saint) cling to the face of Mount Rushmore.
5. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Clarice Starling (Foster) meets Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins) in prison
for the first time, and he reveals his culinary peculiarities. Clarice
stalks serial killer Buffalo Bill (Levine) in his dark lair.
6. Alien (1979)
Engineer G. W. Kane (Hurt) hatches an alien. The alien's teeth distend
from its mouth in a shower of acidic saliva.
7. The Birds (1963)
Melanie (Hedren) runs inside a schoolhouse to warn the teacher (Pleshette)
of an ominous flock of crows gathering in the playground. Seagulls swoop
from high above to attack Bodega Bay citizens, causing a gas station
to be engulfed in flames.
8. The French Connection (1971)
Popeye Doyle (Hackman) commandeers a civilian car and chases an elevated
train through the city streets. Popeye, Buddy (Scheider) and a large
police back-up corner the members of a drug cartel in a warehouse on
Ward's Island.
9. Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Minnie (Gordon) presents Rosemary with a dessert that makes her dizzy.
Rosemary, armed with a butcher knife, finds her son in a black bassinet.
10. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Indiana Jones (Ford) escapes jungle booby traps, including a giant rolling
boulder. Indiana Jones lowers himself into a snake-infested Egyptian
tomb.
11.
The Godfather (1972)
A movie mogul wakes to find the severed head of a horse in his bed.
Michael Corleone (Pacino) rises to power as rival mob bosses are gunned
down while he celebrates his son's baptism.
12.
King Kong (1933)
Ann (Wray) is tied to a stake as a sacrifice to Kong. Kong clings to
the Empire State Building while being attacked by airplanes.
13.
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Police surround the Barrow gang's hideout, killing Buck (Hackman) and
blinding Blanche (Parsons). Bonnie (Dunaway) and Clyde (Beatty) are
killed in an ambush, their bodies riddled by hundreds of bullets.
14.
Rear Window (1954)
Lisa (Kelly) is almost caught by Lars (Burr) when she searches his apartment.
Lars breaks into Jeff's (Stewart) apartment and tries to kill him.
15. Deliverance (1972)
Drew (Cox) and a young local boy duel to the finish on a guitar and
a banjo. Bobby (Beatty) is raped in the woods.
16.
Chinatown (1974)
A thug (Polanski) strongly suggests that Jake Gittes (Nicholson) keep
his nose out of his affairs. Evelyn Mulwray (Dunaway) reveals her true
relationship with her father.
17. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Raymond (Harvey) reacts to the Queen of Diamonds. Under the spell of
his mother (Lansbury), Raymond takes a rifle to a political rally at
Madison Square Garden.
18.
Vertigo (1958)
While chasing after a suspect across San Francisco rooftops, Scottie
(Stewart) watches a fellow police officer (Fred Graham) fall to his
death. Scottie overcomes his vertigo, racing up the steps of the church
steeple after Madeleine (Novak).
19. The Great Escape (1963)
Hilts (McQueen) leads the Germans in a motorcycle
chase before crashing into a barbed-wire fence. A tunnel to freedom
caves in on claustrophobic Velinski (Bronson).
20.
High Noon (1952)
Sheriff Will Kane (Cooper) walks down the street of Hadleyville as a
gang of killers wait for a showdown gunfight. Kane's new wife (Kelly)
shoots a man from behind.
21. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Alex (McDowell) and his droogs torture a man and woman while Alex performs
Singin' in the Rain. The government tests an inhumane rehabilitation
device, ridding Alex of his desires for "tolchocking," "the
old in-out" and "Ludwig Van."
22.
Taxi Driver (1976)
Travis Bickle (De Niro) prepares to become an assassin with a look into
the mirror and the question, "You talkin' to me?" Bickle goes
on a murdering rampage to save Iris (Foster) from her life as a prostitute.
23.
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Lawrence (O'Toole) leads the charge on Aqaba. Lawrence detonates an
explosion that derails a train in the desert and signals a charge on
its valuables.
24.
Double Indemnity (1944)
Walter (MacMurray) hides in the back seat of Dietrichson's (Tom Powers)
car. Phyllis (Stanwyck) admits to Walter that she never loved him.
25. Titanic (1997)
Jack Dawson (DiCaprio) and Rose (Winslet) embrace on the Titanic
as the ill-fated ship begins to sink. The Titanic, half-submerged, snaps
in half--sending the stern of the boat crashing into the sea.
26.
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Brigid (Astor) sends Sam (Bogart) on a wild goose chase through San
Francisco. Joel Cairo (Lorre) offers Sam $5,000 to find a "black
figure of a bird," then pulls a gun on him.
27.
Star Wars (1977)
Ben "Obi-Wan" Kenobi (Guinness) faces his former pupil, Darth
Vader (Prowse/Jones), in a light saber battle. Han Solo (Ford) swoops
back in The Millennium Falcon to save the day.
28. Fatal Attraction (1987)
Beth Gallagher (Archer) is horrified to discover what's cooking on her
stove. Dan Gallagher (Douglas) attempts to drown Alex Forrest (Close)
in the bathtub.
29. The Shining (1980)
The meaning of "redrum" is revealed in the reflection of a
mirror. Jack Torrance (Nicholson) shoves his head through a door he's
splintered with an ax and yells, "Here's Johnny!"
30. The Deer Hunter (1978)
Michael (De Niro), Nick (Walken) and Steven (Savage) are forced by their
Vietnamese captors to play a brutal game of Russian roulette. At the
movie's end, a brain-washed, drug-addicted Nick holds a pistol to his
head while Michael pleads with him to reconsider.
31. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Roy Neary (Dreyfuss) seeks the cause of a power outage in rural Indiana,
but finds much more. The mother ship makes its entrance over Devil's
Tower.
32. Strangers on a Train (1951)
At a society cocktail party, Bruno (Walker) jokingly demonstrates how
simple it would be to murder someone, but ends up actually choking one
of the guests (Norma Varden). When a merry-go-round operator has a heart
attack and falls onto the controls.
33. The Fugitive (1993)
Convicted killer Richard Kimble (Ford) flees a prison bus seconds before
its destruction by an approaching train. Kimble jumps from a giant dam
to escape Deputy US Marshal Samuel Gerard (Jones).
34.
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Willa (Winters) finds a watery grave. In a dark basement, Preacher (Mitchum)
stalks the children.
35. Jurassic Park (1993)
The ground shakes as a tyrannosaurus rex makes
its entrance. A pair of velociraptors hunt the children (Joseph Mazzello,
Ariana Richards) in the kitchen.
36. Bullitt (1968)
Bullitt (McQueen) follows the killers in a dizzying car chase through
the streets of San Francisco. Bullitt tracks down mob boss Ross (Pat
Renella) at the San Francisco Airport.
37.
Casablanca (1942)
Strasser (Conrad Veidt) and Victor (Henreid) rouse their supporters
with opposing national anthems. At the airport, Strasser tries to stop
Ilsa (Bergman) and Victor from leaving Casablanca.
38.
Notorious (1946)
Alicia (Bergman) reports that Nazi Sebastian (Rains) has proposed to
her. Devlin (Grant) and Alicia make a discovery in the wine cellar.
39. Die Hard (1988)
Detective John McClane (Willis) uses a fireman's hose for a safety line
as he leaps from the exploding Nakatomi Building. International terrorist
Hans Gruber (Rickman), dangles high above the Los Angeles streets from
Holly McClane's (Bedelia) wrist.
40.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
At the dawn of mankind, a colony of peaceful apes awaken to find a black
monolith at the entrance to their cave. HAL (Rain) closes the pod entry
doors and terminates the life functions of three hibernating astronauts.
41. Dirty Harry (1971)
Harry Callahan (Eastwood), from behind the barrel of a .44 Magnum: "You've
got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?"
The killer (Robinson) takes school bus passengers as hostages.
42. The Terminator (1984)
The Terminator (Schwarzenegger) leaves a police station with the words:
"I'll be back." Sara (Hamilton) traps the Terminator in a
hydraulic press.
43.
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
A cyclone hits Kansas, knocking Dorothy (Garland) unconscious. The winged
monkeys are unleashed by the Wicked Witch of the West (Hamilton).
44.
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Elliot (Thomas) discovers something unusual in
his backyard. Elliot and his friends elude the police in an effort to
return E.T. to the spaceship that will take him home.
45. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
The Allies storm Omaha Beach in a cacophony of gunfire, explosions and
carnage. Captain John H. Miller (Hanks) leads his unit in defense of
a bridge in the French countryside.
46. Carrie (1976)
The victim of a cruel prank, newly-elected prom queen Carrie (Spacek)
is doused in pig's blood. Carrie's revenge comes from beyond the grave.
47. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Miles (McCarthy), Becky (Wynter) and friends
make a discovery in the greenhouse. Miles turns to the camera and screams,
"They're already here. You're next!"
48. Dial M for Murder (1954)
When Margot (Kelly) is attacked from behind by her would-be strangler,
she kills him with scissors. Tony (Milland) makes the mistake of using
a lost key to enter the apartment.
49.
Ben-Hur (1959)
Quintus Arrius (Hawkins) drives his galley slaves toward a sea victory.
Ben-Hur (Heston) and Messala (Boyd) compete in a deadly chariot race.
50. Marathon Man (1976)
Dr. Szell (Olivier) attempts to extract information from Babe Levy (Hoffman)
by asking, "Is it safe?" A horrified older woman on the streets
of New York City recognizes Szell as a Nazi.
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The
American Film Institute in Los Angeles, California, in mid-June
2001 made a definitive selection of the 100 greatest American "heart-pounding"
and "adrenaline-inducing" films of all time, as determined
by more than 1,800 actors, directors, screenwriters, historians, studio
executives, critics, and others from the American film community, from