Only true film fans will score top marks in this quick quiz | Films | Entertainment

We all rely on Rotten Tomatoes when it comes to deciphering whether a movie is worth watching. It’s the most popular film reviewing platform, it includes both a critic’s rating and an audience rating; these can differ quite vastly at times.

But here, the critics and audience have come together to rank the best movies of all time, deeming, firstly, that they are Certified Fresh, meaning they have received critical acclaim. Secondly, the movie reviewing platform applied its recommendation formula, which considers a movie’s Tomatometer rating with assistance from the public’s votes on the Popcornmeter, meaning each film has been considered on both sides, critics and audience. An editorial pass has also been considered when deciding what made the final list.

However, only true film fans have seen all 10 of these cinematic masterpieces – check your score out of ten below.

This 1993 classic, starring Liam Neeson is a story of a German industrialist who saved more than a thousand mostly Polish–Jewish refugees from the Holocaust during the Second World War. The critics give it 98% and state: “Schindler’s List blends the abject horror of the Holocaust with Steven Spielberg‘s signature tender humanism to create the director’s dramatic masterpiece.”

The synopsis reads: “Oscar Schindler, a successful and narcissistic German businessman, slowly starts worrying about the safety of his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution in Poland during World War II.”

The Battle of Algiers is an Italian-Algerian war film co-written and directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. The 1966 film is based on action undertaken by rebels during the Algerian War (1954–1962) against the French government in North Africa. The film’s synopsis reads: “Paratrooper commander Colonel Mathieu (Jean Martin), a former French Resistance fighter during World War II, is sent to 1950s Algeria to reinforce efforts to squelch the uprisings of the Algerian War. There, he faces Ali la Pointe (Brahim Haggiag), a former petty criminal who, as the leader of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale, directs terror strategies against the colonial French government occupation. As each side resorts to ever-increasing brutality, no violent act is too unthinkable.”

The critics said: “A documentary-like depiction of a nation’s real-life efforts to expel a colonising force, The Battle of Algiers puts viewers on the front lines with gripping realism.”

Modern Times is a 1936 American part-talkie comedy film produced, written and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film’s synopsis reads: “Charlot works at the modern factory where he is bored of the same mechanical gesture. One day out of clumsiness, he misses one component and disrupts the production line. How will he fix this mess now?” The critics’ consensus reads: “A slapstick skewering of industrialised America, Modern Times is as politically incisive as it is laugh-out-loud hilarious.”

Chinatown is a mystery from 1974 that the critics describe as “bruised and cynical as the decade that produced it, this noir classic benefits from Robert Towne’s brilliant screenplay, director Roman Polanski’s steady hand, and wonderful performances from Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway”. The film is widely considered one of the greats.

The plot reads: “When Los Angeles private eye J.J. Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is hired by Evelyn Mulwray to investigate her husband’s activities, he believes it’s a routine infidelity case. Jake’s investigation soon becomes anything but routine when he meets the real Mrs. Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) and realizes he was hired by an imposter. Mr. Mulwray’s sudden death sets Gittes on a tangled trail of corruption, deceit and sinister family secrets as Evelyn’s father (John Huston) becomes a suspect in the case.”

1954’s On the Waterfront is a classic drama meets gangster movie that stars Marlon Brando. The critics said: “With his electrifying performance in Elia Kazan’s thought-provoking, expertly constructed melodrama, Marlon Brando redefined the possibilities of acting for film and helped permanently alter the cinematic landscape.”

The film’s plot reads: “Dockworker Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) had been an up-and-coming boxer until powerful local mob boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) persuaded him to throw a fight. When a longshoreman is murdered before he can testify about Friendly’s control of the Hoboken waterfront, Terry teams up with the dead man’s sister Edie (Eva Marie Saint) and the streetwise priest Father Barry (Karl Malden) to testify himself, against the advice of Friendly’s lawyer, Terry’s older brother Charley (Rod Steiger).”

L.A. Confidential is highly recommended by the Rotten Tomatoes crowd. The story centres on three policeman, each dealing with their own motives and demons. With 99%, the critics think it’s “taut pacing, brilliantly dense writing and Oscar-worthy acting combine to produce a smart, popcorn-friendly thrill ride”. The plot states: “Three policemen, each with his own motives and obsessions, tackle the corruption surrounding an unsolved murder at a downtown Los Angeles coffee shop in the early 1950s. Detective Lieutenant Exley (Guy Pearce), the son of a murdered detective, is out to avenge his father’s killing. The ex-partner of Officer White (Russell Crowe), implicated in a scandal rooted out by Exley, was one of the victims. Sergeant Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) feeds classified information to a tabloid magnate (Danny DeVito).”

Rear Window is a 1954 American mystery psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on Cornell Woolrich’s 1942 short story It Had to Be Murder. It stars James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, and Raymond Burr. The film’s plot reads: “A newspaper photographer with a broken leg passes time recuperating by observing his neighbours through his window. He sees what he believes to be a murder, and decides to solve the crime himself. With the help of his nurse and wife, he tries to catch the murderer without being killed himself.”

The critics’ consensus states: “Hitchcock exerted the full potential of suspense in this masterpiece.”

Casablanca is a story of love and morals and was both filmed and set during the Second World War. The critics award it with 99% and say: “An undisputed masterpiece and perhaps Hollywood‘s quintessential statement on love and romance, Casablanca has only improved with age, boasting career-defining performances from Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.”

The plot is as follows: “Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), who owns a nightclub in Casablanca, discovers his old flame Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) is in town with her husband, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). Laszlo is a famed rebel, and with Germans on his tail, Ilsa knows Rick can help them get out of the country.”

1956’s Seven Samurai follows a samurai and six others who he trains to help defend themselves and their village. The critics rank it with a stellar 100% and say: “Arguably Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece, The Seven Samurai is an epic adventure classic with an engrossing story, memorable characters, and stunning action sequences that make it one of the most influential films ever made.”

The film’s synopsis reads: “A samurai answers a village’s request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food. A giant battle occurs when 40 bandits attack the village.”