The 1960s were a motion picture rollercoaster—imagine it as the decade where films shed their square-bout tie, let their hair down, and began to break all the rules. The Golden Age of Hollywood was on its way out, the studio system was in shambles, and a generation of new filmmakers was primed to shake things up. From the emergence of international auteurs to the blowout of new genres and the inception of contemporary horror, the sixties were a free-for-all of wild creativity. Let’s number down the 10 greatest films of the 1960s, in reverse, and observe how this decade redefined the language of film.
10. The Sound of Music (1965)
You can’t discuss the sixties without referring to this musical behemoth. The Sound of Music is a film that has you leaping to your feet and spinning on top of a mountaintop, singing off-key even if you have no voice. At Collider, it’s “undoubtedly one of the most popular and highly acclaimed musicals of the 1960s,” and it’s not hard to understand why. Julie Andrews, those legendary tunes, and the majestic landscapes of Austria all come together in a film that’s as sweeping as it is sentimental. Even if you’re not a musical person, this one’s hard to resist.
9. Peeping Tom (1960)
Before slasher flicks became a staple, Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom was already making audiences squirm. This British psychological horror didn’t just push boundaries—it bulldozed them. The film’s voyeuristic killer, Mark Lewis, turns the camera (and the audience) into accomplices, making us question our fascination with watching. As Rotten Tomatoes reminds us, “Peeping Tom is a chilling, methodical examination of the psychology of a killer, and a classic work of voyeuristic film.” It was so scandalous it almost ended Powell’s career, but today it is a horror landmark.
8. Yojimbo (1961)
Samurai swagger meets spaghetti western style with Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo. Toshiro Mifune’s solitary drifter walks into a town ravaged by gang wars and goes on to manipulate both factions like a chess grandmaster. The impact of the film is huge—ask Sergio Leone, whose A Fistful of Dollars is effectively a Yojimbo remix. According to Collider, Yojimbo is “one of the best movies in this genre directed by Akira Kurosawa,” and its DNA can be found in everything from westerns to modern action flicks.
7. Breathless (1960)
If you’ve ever watched a movie that felt like it was making up the rules as it went along, thank Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless. This French New Wave classic is all jump cuts, cool criminals, and existential ennui. Godard didn’t merely destroy the fourth wall—he shattered it and danced over the remains. As Collider describes it, “Breathless was one of the first French New Wave films and thus ended up being irrepressibly influential, as well as unapologetically boundary-pushing.” Its aesthetic is still being copied by directors today.
6. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Glamour, violence, and antiheroes—Bonnie and Clyde was the shot heard ’round Hollywood. Arthur Penn’s crime saga did more than simply relate the tale of two star-crossed lovers; it opened the doors wide enough for a new American film, one that was raw and stylish and unwilling to tiptoe around controversy. The editing, performances, and outrageous climax of the film established the tone for the New Hollywood era. As Collider puts it, Bonnie and Clyde’s “abrasive but confident editing, its jolting bursts of violence, and its willingness to make the eponymous bank robbers/criminals pretty likable and sympathetic” made it revolutionary.
5. Psycho (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is the grandfather of contemporary horror. That shower sequence? Still iconic. And yet, it’s not only about the frights—Hitchcock’s control of suspense, form, and audience manipulation redefined how films were constructed. As Rotten Tomatoes puts it, “Hitchcock didn’t just create modern horror, he validated it.” Psycho permeates every genre from slasher flicks to psychological thrillers.
4. 8½ (1963)
Federico Fellini’s 8½ is what happens when a director turns the camera on himself—and then lets his imagination run wild. This surreal, introspective masterpiece is about a filmmaker struggling with creative block, but it’s also about dreams, memories, and the chaos of inspiration. According to Collider, it’s “a movie that provides personal drama in its story and a level of inventive surrealism with its presentation, making it overall unique and capable of leaving quite the impression.” If you’ve ever felt stuck, this film is your fever dream.
3. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby took horror out of the haunted house and into the apartment next door. Mia Farrow’s dainty Rosemary is manipulated, gaslit, and betrayed by all those around her in a slow-burning story of paranoia and satanic conspiracy. Rotten Tomatoes describes it as a chilling story of Satanism and pregnancy, more unsettling than the story sounds due to strong and dedicated performances from Mia Farrow and Ruth Gordon.” It’s psychological horror of the most insidious kind.
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is not so much a film as a cosmic event. With its innovative special effects, mysterious storytelling, and that indelible HAL 9000, it revolutionized what science fiction—and filmmaking itself—could do. The film’s impact on visual effects, narrative design, and even how we envision the future cannot be exaggerated. It’s the sort of film that has you sitting in front of the screen with your mouth agape, asking yourself what just occurred, and yet adoring every second of it.
1. Persona (1966)
Coming in first is Ingmar Bergman’s Persona, a movie that not only defies the rules, it also challenges whether the rules (or the very film itself) even exist. As Films Fatale describes, “Persona is a mainstream (enough) film that keeps audiences so far removed from their viewing experience; it’s like an experimental director was granted the funds that popular directors typically make.” Bergman’s psychological drama concerning a nurse and her silent patient is a postmodern puzzle box—broken, eerie, and endlessly argued. It’s the epitome of the 1960s’ risk-taking art, and a movie that remains ahead of its time.
The sixties were not merely a decade—rather, they were a revolution, and these movies are the evidence. Die-hard film buff or a newcomer to classic cinema, these ten classics are a must-watch.