Total Film Five Star Collection

In 2022, Total Film celebrated 25 years since we issue. Through this quarter of a century, we’ve seen many revolutions in cinema, from how films are made (greenscreen, 3D, motion capture) to how they’re consumed (mega-multiplexes, home-cinema streaming). And Total Film has changed too. We’ve matured while staying true to the ethos of staying fun and accessible, we’ve seen stars rise, and indeed fall, and we’ve become more diverse in our coverage and representation too. One thing has never changed since our first issue, though: we’ve always aimed to bring you the best film reviews in any magazine around, to be a voice you can trust and believe in when it comes to the all-important decision on what to see at the cinema (or on streaming) tonight. And it’s always been hard to get a full score in Total Film. After 25 years and more than 320 issues, with over 30 cinema releases reviewed every issue on average, only 193 films have ever received that five-star stamp of ultimate approval. And in this special issue we’ve got them all, and nothing else! We’ve filtered out re-releases of films originally released before our first issue (sorry, Seven Samurai, GoodFellas, Metropolis and countless other classics), and new cuts of older films (so sorry, Alien: Director’s Cut and Blade Runner: The Final Cut), leaving only films from TF’s lifetime. We’ve edited some for length to fit them all on these 132 pages, but they’re all here, and (mostly) in alphabetical order, so you can retread four-quadrant hits (Avengers: Infinity War), admire modern classics (There Will Be Blood), discover hidden gems (Sicilian Ghost Story), and even wrinkle your brow at our judgement at times (Talladega Nights?)… Did your favourite movie make the cut? Are there gaps in your watchlist? Read on to find out – and if you manage to tick off every movie on our list, feel free to let us know so we can congratulate you personally! Enjoy this very special issue!