Top 88 Ranked

Best Movies of 2005

Modern Classics and Award Winning Cinema Masterpieces

Explore the best films of the year with our definitive ranking of top rated dramas, thrillers, and award winners from a landmark era in film history.

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About Movies in 2005

The year 2005 stands as a curious, transformative bridge in the history of cinema. It was a point where the massive franchises of the early millennium reached their conclusions while a new, more somber wave of prestige filmmaking began to take root. If you look back at the box office charts and the awards season from eighteen years ago, you see an industry grappling with the end of an era and the dawn of a much more cynical, politically charged landscape.

The most obvious cultural marker of 2005 was the completion of the Star Wars prequel trilogy with Revenge of the Sith. After years of divisiveness, George Lucas delivered a finale that was uncharacteristically dark and operatic, finally connecting the dots to the original 1977 masterpiece. It felt like the closing of a massive book for a generation of fans. Yet, even as one titan of the industry bowed out, another was being reimagined. Christopher Nolan released Batman Begins that summer, stripping away the camp and neon of previous iterations to ground the superhero genre in grit and psychological realism. We did not know it then, but the blueprint for the next two decades of blockbuster filmmaking was being drawn in the shadows of Nolan's Gotham City.

Beyond the capes and lightsabers, 2005 was a year defined by a palpable sense of social unrest and introspection. The pulse of the mid-2000s was anxious, and the era's best films reflected a world dealing with the complexities of identity and the fallout of global conflict. Steven Spielberg gave us a double feature of anxiety with the terrifying visuals of War of the Worlds and the morally murky thriller Munich. Meanwhile, the independent scene pushed boundaries that felt genuinely radical for the time. Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain became a cultural phenomenon, challenging mainstream perceptions of the Western and the romance genre alike. It was a film that felt like a shift in the tectonic plates of Hollywood, even if the Academy ultimately famously pivoted to the ensemble drama Crash for the top prize.

International cinema also enjoyed a high-water mark in 2005. Film fans will always remember this as the year of Pan's Labyrinth, where Guillermo del Toro blended the horrors of the Spanish Civil War with haunting dark fantasy. It was a reminder that the most profound human truths are often best told through the lens of the imaginative and the macabre. At the same time, we saw the rise of the New French Extremity and a thriving South Korean scene with Park Chan-wook's Lady Vengeance, proving that global audiences were craving something visceral and uncompromising.

In the realm of pure entertainment, 2005 gave us the manic energy of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which fueled the tabloid industry for a decade, and the high-octane spectacle of King Kong. It was a year where digital effects were reaching a state of photorealistic maturity, yet the stories being told remained focused on deeply human, often tragic themes. Whether it was the heartbreaking silence of Brokeback Mountain or the fiery collapse of the Jedi Order, 2005 was the year movies stopped playing it safe and started reflecting the complicated, fractured world outside the theater doors. It remains a fascinating pivot point that proved cinema could be both a massive commercial machine and a stinging mirror to our own reality.

The Complete Rankings

Based on the top picks in drafts on SnakeDrafts

See Top Ten
88
2005 in Wolf Creek (2005)
Wolf Creek
2005

Three backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.

Horror
Thriller
1h 39m
Greg McLean
John Jarratt, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi, Nathan Phillips
87
2005 in Thumbsucker (2005)
Thumbsucker
2005

Justin Cobb, a teenager in suburban Oregon, copes with his thumb-sucking problem, romance, and his diagnosis with ADHD and subsequent experience using Ritalin.

Comedy
Drama
1h 36m
Mike Mills
86
2005 in Kinky Boots (2005)
Kinky Boots
2005

Charles Price may have grown up with his father in the family shoe business in Northampton, central England, but he never thought that he would take his father's place. Charles has a chance encounter with the flamboyant drag queen cabaret singer Lola and everything changes.

Comedy
Drama
1h 47m
Julian Jarrold
Joel Edgerton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sarah-Jane Potts, Nick Frost

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85
2005 in Bee Season (2005)
Bee Season
2005

Wife and mother Miriam begins a downward emotional spiral as her husband avoids their collapsing marriage by immersing himself in his 11-year-old daughter's quest to become a spelling-bee champion.

Drama
Family
1h 44m
Scott McGehee
Richard Gere, Juliette Binoche, Flora Cross, Max Minghella
84
2005 in The Fog (2005)
The Fog
2005

Trapped within an eerie mist, the residents of Antonio Bay have become the unwitting victims of a horrifying vengeance. One hundred years earlier, a ship carrying lepers was purposely lured onto the rocky coastline and sank, drowning all aboard. Now they're back – long-dead mariners who've waited a century for their revenge.

Horror
Mystery
1h 40m
Rupert Wainwright
Tom Welling, Maggie Grace, Selma Blair, DeRay Davis
83
2005 in The Weatherman’s Legacy (2005)
The Weatherman’s Legacy
2005

23m
Pema Tseden
82
2005 in Into the Blue (2005)
Into the Blue
2005

When they take some friends on an extreme sport adventure, the last thing Jared and Sam expect to see below the shark-infested waters is a legendary pirate ship rumored to contain millions of dollars in gold. But their good fortune is short-lived, as a ruthless gang of criminals gets word of what they have uncovered.

Action
Thriller
1h 50m
John Stockwell
81
2005 in The Jacket (2005)
The Jacket
2005

A military veteran goes on a journey into the future, where he can foresee his death and is left with questions that could save his life and those he loves.

80
2005 in The Island (2005)
The Island
2005

In 2019, Lincoln Six-Echo is a resident of a seemingly "Utopian" but contained facility. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully-controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to The Island — reportedly the last uncontaminated location on the planet. But Lincoln soon discovers that everything about his existence is a lie.

79
2005 in Millions (2005)
Millions
2005

Two boys, still grieving the death of their mother, find themselves the unwitting benefactors of a bag of bank robbery loot in the week before the United Kingdom switches its official currency to the Euro. What's a kid to do?

Comedy
Crime
1h 38m
Danny Boyle
Alex Etel, Lewis McGibbon, James Nesbitt, Daisy Donovan
78
2005 in Everything Is Illuminated (2005)
Everything Is Illuminated
2005

A young Jewish American man endeavors—with the help of eccentric, distant relatives—to find the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II—in a Ukrainian village which was ultimately razed by the Nazis.

Comedy
Drama
1h 45m
Liev Schreiber
Elijah Wood, Eugene Hutz, Boris Lyoskin, Jana Hrabětova
77
2005 in Mad Hot Ballroom (2005)
Mad Hot Ballroom
2005

Eleven-year-old New York City public school kids journey into the world of ballroom dancing and reveal pieces of themselves and their world along the way. Told from their candid, sometimes humorous perspectives, these kids are transformed, from reluctant participants to determined competitors, from typical urban kids to "ladies and gentlemen," on their way to try to compete in the final citywide competition.

Documentary
Family
1h 45m
Marilyn Agrelo
Heather Berman, Emma Therese Biegacki, Eva Carrozza, Evangelina Carrozzo
76

After losing an election to become chairman of the Wo Lin Shing triad, a gang leader lashes out and tries to seize the dragon-head baton, the official symbol of a chairman's authority.

Crime
Drama
1h 41m
Johnnie To
Simon Yam, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Louis Koo, Nick Cheung Ka-Fai
75
2005 in March of the Penguins (2005)
March of the Penguins
2005

Every year, thousands of Antarctica's emperor penguins make an astonishing journey to breed their young. They walk, marching day and night in single file 70 miles into the darkest, driest and coldest continent on Earth. This amazing, true-life tale is touched with humour and alive with thrills. Breathtaking photography captures the transcendent beauty and staggering drama of devoted parent penguins who, in the fierce polar winter, take turns guarding their egg and trekking to the ocean in search of food. Predators hunt them, storms lash them. But the safety of their adorable chicks makes it all worthwhile. So follow the leader... to adventure!!

Documentary
Family
1h 20m
Luc Jacquet
Charles Berling, Romane Bohringer, Jules Sitruk, Morgan Freeman
74
2005 in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (2005)
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl
2005

Everyone always knew that Max had a wild imagination, but no one believed that his wildest creations -- a boy raised by watchful great white sharks and a girl with the force of a volcano -- were real. Now, these two pint-sized action masters will show Max that even an ordinary kid has what it takes to be extraordinary.

Adventure
Family
Taylor Lautner, Taylor Dooley, Cayden Boyd, David Arquette
73
2005 in House of Wax (2005)
House of Wax
2005

A group of unwitting teens are stranded near a strange wax museum and soon must fight to survive and keep from becoming the next exhibit.

Horror
Thriller
1h 53m
Jaume Collet-Serra
Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Brian Van Holt, Paris Hilton
72
2005 in Just Like Heaven (2005)
Just Like Heaven
2005

Shortly after David Abbott moves into his new San Francisco digs, he has an unwelcome visitor on his hands: winsome Elizabeth Masterson, who asserts that the apartment is hers -- and promptly vanishes. When she starts appearing and disappearing at will, David thinks she's a ghost, while Elizabeth is convinced she's alive.

Drama
Comedy
1h 35m
Mark Waters
Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, Donal Logue, Dina Spybey-Waters
71
2005 in Bewitched (2005)
Bewitched
2005

Thinking he can overshadow an unknown actress in the part, an egocentric actor unknowingly gets a witch cast in an upcoming television remake of the classic show "Bewitched".

Comedy
Fantasy
1h 42m
Nora Ephron
70
2005 in The Pacifier (2005)
The Pacifier
2005

Navy SEAL Shane Wolfe is handed a new assignment: Protect the five Plummer kids from enemies of their recently deceased father -- a government scientist whose top-secret experiment remains hidden in the kids' house.

Comedy
Family
1h 35m
Adam Shankman
Vin Diesel, Lauren Graham, Faith Ford, Brittany Snow
69
2005 in Constantine (2005)
Constantine
2005

John Constantine has literally been to Hell and back. When he teams up with a policewoman to solve the mysterious suicide of her twin sister, their investigation takes them through the world of demons and angels that exists beneath the landscape of contemporary Los Angeles.

Fantasy
Action
2h 1m
Francis Lawrence
68
2005 in Transporter 2 (2005)
Transporter 2
2005

Professional driver, and former Special Forces officer, Frank Martin is living in Miami, where he is temporarily filling in for a friend as the chauffeur for a government narcotics control policy director and his family. The young boy in the family is targeted for kidnapping, and Frank immediately becomes involved in protecting the child and exposing the kidnappers.

Action
Thriller
1h 28m
Louis Leterrier
Jason Statham, Amber Valletta, Alessandro Gassmann, Kate Nauta
67
2005 in Chicken Little (2005)
Chicken Little
2005

When the sky really is falling and sanity has flown the coop, who will rise to save the day? Together with his hysterical band of misfit friends, Chicken Little must hatch a plan to save the planet from alien invasion and prove that the world's biggest hero is a little chicken.

Animation
Family
1h 21m
Mark Dindal
Zach Braff, Garry Marshall, Don Knotts, Amy Sedaris
66
2005 in Domino (2005)
Domino
2005

The story of the life of Domino Harvey, who abandoned her career as a Ford model to become a bounty hunter.

Action
Crime
65
2005 in Sky High (2005)
Sky High
2005

Set in a world where superheroes are commonly known and accepted, young Will Stronghold, the son of the Commander and Jetstream, tries to find a balance between being a normal teenager and an extraordinary being.

Adventure
Comedy
1h 39m
Mike Mitchell
64
2005 in Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005)
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
2005

After her triumph at the Miss United States pageant, FBI agent Gracie Hart becomes an overnight sensation -- and the new "face of the FBI". But it's time to spring into action again when the pageant's winner, Cheryl, and emcee, Stan, are abducted.

Action
Comedy
1h 55m
John Pasquin
Sandra Bullock, Regina King, Enrique Murciano, Ernie Hudson
63
2005 in In The Mix (2005)
In The Mix
2005

A successful DJ named Darrel, managed to rescue a powerful mobster one night. In order to repay Darrell, the mobster, Frank Pacelli, gives him the task of protecting his daughter, Dolly.

Comedy
Drama
1h 35m
Ron Underwood
Usher, Chazz Palminteri, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Kevin Hart
62
2005 in Broken Flowers (2005)
Broken Flowers
2005

Introverted Don Johnston receives an anonymous letter from an ex-lover informing him that he has a son who may be looking for him. A freelance sleuth neighbor motivates Don to embark on a cross-country search for his past flames seeking answers.

61
2005 in Fantastic Four (2005)
Fantastic Four
2005

During a space voyage, four scientists are altered by cosmic rays: Reed Richards gains the ability to stretch his body; Sue Storm can become invisible; Johnny Storm controls fire; and Ben Grimm is turned into a super-strong … thing. Together, these "Fantastic Four" must now thwart the evil plans of Dr. Doom and save the world from certain destruction.

Action
Fantasy
1h 46m
Tim Story
Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis
60
2005 in Stay (2005)
Stay
2005

Psychiatrist Sam Foster has a new patient, Henry Letham, who claims to be suicidal. In trying to diagnose him, Sam visits Henry's prior therapist and also finds Henry's mother -- even though Henry has said that he murdered both of his parents. As reality starts to contradict fact, Sam spirals into an unstable mental state. Then he finds a clue as to how and when Henry may try to kill himself, and races to try to stop him.

Mystery
Thriller
1h 39m
Marc Forster
59
2005 in Hostage (2005)
Hostage
2005

When a mafia accountant is taken hostage on his beat, a police officer – wracked by guilt from a prior stint as a negotiator – must negotiate the standoff, even as his own family is held captive by the mob.

Action
Thriller
1h 53m
Florent-Emilio Siri
Bruce Willis, Ben Foster, Jonathan Tucker, Jimmy Bennett
58
2005 in The Ice Harvest (2005)
The Ice Harvest
2005

A shady lawyer attempts a Christmas Eve crime, hoping to swindle the local mob out of some money. But his partner, a strip club owner, might have different plans for the cash.

Crime
Comedy
57
2005 in Fun with Dick and Jane (2005)
Fun with Dick and Jane
2005

After Dick Harper loses his job at Globodyne in an Enron-esque collapse, he and his wife, Jane, turn to crime in order to handle the massive debt they now face. Two intelligent people, Dick and Jane actually get pretty good at robbing people and even enjoy it -- but they have second thoughts when they're reminded that crime can hurt innocent people. When the couple hears that Globodyne boss Jack McCallister actually swindled the company, they plot revenge.

Comedy
Crime
1h 30m
Dean Parisot
56
2005 in Breakfast on Pluto (2005)
Breakfast on Pluto
2005

In the 1970s, a young transgender woman called “Kitten” leaves her small Irish town for London in search of love, acceptance, and her long-lost mother.

Drama
Comedy
2h 8m
Neil Jordan
55
2005 in Serenity (2005)
Serenity
2005

When the renegade crew of Serenity agrees to hide a fugitive on their ship, they find themselves in an action-packed battle between the relentless military might of a totalitarian regime who will destroy anything – or anyone – to get the girl back and the bloodthirsty creatures who roam the uncharted areas of space. But... the greatest danger of all may be on their ship.

Science Fiction
Action
1h 59m
Joss Whedon
Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk
54
2005 in Red Eye (2005)
Red Eye
2005

An overnight flight to Miami quickly becomes a battle for survival when Lisa realizes her seatmate plans to use her as part of a chilling assassination plot against the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. If she refuses to cooperate, her own father will be killed. As the miles tick by, she's in a race against time to find a way to warn the potential victims before it's too late.

Thriller
Mystery
53
2005 in Madagascar (2005)
Madagascar
2005

Four animal friends get a taste of the wild life when they break out of captivity at the Central Park Zoo and wash ashore on the island of Madagascar.

Family
Animation
1h 26m
Eric Darnell
52
2005 in The Family Stone (2005)
The Family Stone
2005

An uptight, conservative businesswoman accompanies her boyfriend to his eccentric and outgoing family's annual Christmas celebration and finds that she's a fish out of water in their free-spirited way of life.

Comedy
Drama
1h 43m
Thomas Bezucha
51
2005 in In Her Shoes (2005)
In Her Shoes
2005

Irresponsible party girl Maggie is kicked out of her father's and stepmother's home—where she lives for free—and is taken in by her hard-working sister, Philadelphia lawyer Rose. After Maggie's disruptive ways ruin her sister's love life, Rose turns her out as well. But when their grandmother, who they never knew existed, comes into their lives, the sisters face some complicated truths about themselves and their family.

Comedy
Drama
2h 10m
Curtis Hanson
50
2005 in The Matador (2005)
The Matador
2005

The life of Danny Wright, a salesman forever on the road, veers into dangerous and surreal territory when he wanders into a Mexican bar and meets a mysterious stranger, Julian, who's very likely a hit man. Their meeting sets off a chain of events that will change their lives forever, as Wright is suddenly thrust into a far-from-mundane existence that he takes to surprisingly well … once he gets acclimated to it.

Action
Comedy
1h 37m
Richard Shepard
Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis, Portia Dawson
49
2005 in Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005)
Mrs. Henderson Presents
2005

Recently widowed well-to-do Laura Henderson purchases the Windmill Theatre in London as a post-widowhood hobby. After starting an innovative continuous variety review, which is copied by other theaters, they begin to lose money. Mrs Henderson suggests they add risqué burlesque acts similar to the Moulin Rouge in Paris.

Comedy
Drama
1h 43m
Stephen Frears
Judi Dench, Bob Hoskins, Will Young, Christopher Guest
48
2005 in Waiting... (2005)
Waiting...
2005

Young employees at Shenaniganz restaurant collectively stave off boredom and adulthood with their antics.

Comedy
Romance
1h 34m
Rob McKittrick
Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, Justin Long, David Koechner
47
2005 in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2005

Mere seconds before the Earth is to be demolished by an alien construction crew, Arthur Dent is swept off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher penning a new edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

Adventure
Comedy
1h 49m
Garth Jennings
Martin Freeman, Yasiin Bey, Zooey Deschanel, Sam Rockwell
46
2005 in Lords of Dogtown (2005)
Lords of Dogtown
2005

The radical true story behind three teenage surfers from Venice Beach, California, who took skateboarding to the extreme and changed the world of sports forever. Stacy Peralta, Tony Alva and Jay Adams are the Z-Boys, a bunch of nobodies until they create a new style of skateboarding that becomes a worldwide phenomenon. But when their hobby becomes a business, the success shreds their friendship.

Drama
Action
1h 47m
Catherine Hardwicke
John Robinson, Emile Hirsch, Rebecca De Mornay, William Mapother
45
2005 in Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
Zathura: A Space Adventure
2005

After their father is called into work, two young boys, Walter and Danny, are left in the care of their teenage sister, Lisa, and told they must stay inside. Walter and Danny, who anticipate a boring day, are shocked when they begin playing Zathura, a space-themed board game, which they realize has mystical powers when their house is shot into space. With the help of an astronaut, the boys attempt to return home.

Science Fiction
Adventure
Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo, Dax Shepard, Kristen Stewart
44
2005 in Land of the Dead (2005)
Land of the Dead
2005

The living dead have taken over the world, and the remaining humans live in a walled city to protect themselves as they cope with the situation.

Horror
Science Fiction
Simon Baker, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento
43
2005 in Rent (2005)
Rent
2005

In New York City's gritty East Village, a group of bohemians strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic.

Drama
Romance
2h 15m
Chris Columbus
Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Rosario Dawson, Jesse L. Martin
42
2005 in Proof (2005)
Proof
2005

Catherine is a woman in her late twenties who is strongly devoted to her father, Robert, a brilliant and well-known mathematician whose grip on reality is beginning to slip away. As Robert descends into madness, Catherine begins to wonder if she may have inherited her father's mental illness along with his mathematical genius.

Drama
Mystery
1h 40m
John Madden
41

After his wife dies, a blacksmith named Balian is thrust into royalty, political intrigue and bloody holy wars during the Crusades.

40
2005 in Flightplan (2005)
Flightplan
2005

Flying at 40,000 feet in a state-of-the art aircraft that she helped design, Kyle Pratt's 6-year-old daughter Julia vanishes without a trace. Or did she? No one on the plane believes Julia was ever onboard. And now Kyle, desperate and alone, can only count on her own wits to unravel the mystery and save her daughter.

Thriller
Drama
1h 38m
Robert Schwentke
Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Erika Christensen, Kate Beahan
39
2005 in Caché (2005)
Caché
2005

George, host of a television show focusing on literature, receives videos shot on the sly that feature his family, along with disturbing drawings that are difficult to interpret. He has no idea who has made and sent him the videos. Progressively, the contents of the videos become more personal, indicating that the sender has known George for a long time.

Mystery
Drama
1h 58m
Michael Haneke
Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche, Annie Girardot, Bernard Le Coq
38
2005 in North Country (2005)
North Country
2005

A fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States — Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines, where a woman who endured a range of abuse while working as a miner filed and won the landmark 1984 lawsuit.

Drama
2h 6m
Niki Caro
37
2005 in The Upside of Anger (2005)
The Upside of Anger
2005

After her husband runs off with his secretary, Terry Wolfmeyer is left to fend for herself -- and her four daughters. As she hits rock bottom, Terry finds a friend and drinking buddy in next-door neighbor Denny, a former baseball player. As the two grow closer, and her daughters increasingly rely on Denny, Terry starts to have reservations about where their relationship is headed.

Comedy
Drama
1h 58m
Mike Binder
Joan Allen, Kevin Costner, Erika Christensen, Keri Russell
36
2005 in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
2005

When brash Texas border officer Mike Norton wrongfully kills and buries the friend and ranch hand of Pete Perkins, the latter is reminded of a promise he made to bury his friend, Melquiades Estrada, in his Mexican home town. He kidnaps Norton and exhumes Estrada's corpse, and the odd caravan sets out on horseback for Mexico.

Adventure
Crime
35
2005 in Murderball (2005)
Murderball
2005

Quadriplegics, who play full-contact rugby in wheelchairs, overcome unimaginable obstacles to compete in the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Documentary
1h 28m
Henry Alex Rubin
Joe Bishop, Keith Cavill, Andy Cohn, Scott Hogsett
34
2005 in Darwin's Nightmare (2005)
Darwin's Nightmare
2005

Africa in the sixties. The Nile perch, a ravenous predator, is introduced into Lake Victoria as a scientific experiment, causing the extinction of many native species. Its meat is exported everywhere in exchange for weapons, creating a globalized evil alliance on the lake shores. An infernal nightmare in the real world that wipes out Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

Documentary
1h 47m
Hubert Sauper
Elizabeth 'Eliza' Maganga Nsese, Raphael Tukiko Wagara, Dimond Remtulia, Marcus Nyoni
33
2005 in Paradise Now (2005)
Paradise Now
2005

Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.

Crime
Thriller
1h 30m
Hany Abu-Assad
Qais Nashif, Ali Suliman, Lubna Azabal, Amer Hlehel
32
2005 in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
2005

Cheese-loving eccentric Wallace and his cunning canine pal Gromit run a business ridding the town of garden pests. Using only humane methods, which turns their home into a halfway house for evicted vermin, the pair stumble upon a mystery involving a voracious vegetarian monster that threatens to ruin the annual veggie-growing contest.

Adventure
Animation
1h 25m
Steve Box
Peter Sallis, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Peter Kay
31
2005 in The Proposition (2005)
The Proposition
2005

In 1880s Australia, a lawman offers renegade Charlie Burns a difficult choice. In order to save his younger brother from the gallows, Charlie must hunt down and kill his older brother, who is wanted for rape and murder. Venturing into one of the Outback's most inhospitable regions, Charlie faces a terrible moral dilemma that can end only in violence.

Action
Adventure
1h 44m
John Hillcoat
Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Emily Watson
30
2005 in War of the Worlds (2005)
War of the Worlds
2005

Ray Ferrier is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife and her new husband drop off his teenage son and young daughter for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm touches down.

Adventure
Thriller
Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, Miranda Otto
29
2005 in Jarhead (2005)
Jarhead
2005

Jarhead is a film about a US Marine Anthony Swofford’s experience in the Gulf War. After putting up with an arduous boot camp, Swofford and his unit are sent to the Persian Gulf where they are eager to fight, but are forced to stay back from the action. Swofford struggles with the possibility of his girlfriend cheating on him, and as his mental state deteriorates, his desire to kill increases.

Drama
War
Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Peter Sarsgaard, Scott MacDonald
28
2005 in Corpse Bride (2005)
Corpse Bride
2005

In a 19th-century European village, a young man about to be married is whisked away to the underworld and wed to a mysterious corpse bride, while his real bride waits bereft in the land of the living.

Romance
Fantasy
1h 17m
Mike Johnson
Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Tracey Ullman
27
2005 in Transamerica (2005)
Transamerica
2005

A transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she had a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.

Drama
Adventure
1h 43m
Duncan Tucker
Felicity Huffman, Kevin Zegers, Fionnula Flanagan, Burt Young
26

When the sinister Sith unveil a thousand-year-old plot to rule the galaxy, the Republic crumbles and from its ashes rises the evil Galactic Empire. Jedi hero Anakin Skywalker must choose a side.

Adventure
Action
25
2005 in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
2005

A young boy wins a tour through the most magnificent chocolate factory in the world, led by the world's most unusual candy maker.

Adventure
Comedy
Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter
24
2005 in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
2005

Siblings Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter step through a magical wardrobe and find the land of Narnia. There, they discover a charming, once peaceful kingdom that has been plunged into eternal winter by the evil White Witch, Jadis. Aided by the wise and magnificent lion, Aslan, the children lead Narnia into a spectacular, climactic battle to be free of the Witch's glacial powers forever.

Adventure
Family
2h 23m
Andrew Adamson
William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley
23
2005 in Hustle & Flow (2005)
Hustle & Flow
2005

With help from his friends, a Memphis pimp in a mid-life crisis attempts to become a successful hip-hop emcee.

Crime
Drama
1h 56m
Craig Brewer
Terrence Howard, Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning, Taraji P. Henson
22

When his name emerges from the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter becomes a competitor in a grueling battle for glory among three wizarding schools—the Triwizard Tournament. But since Harry never submitted his name for the Tournament, who did? Now Harry must confront a deadly dragon, fierce water demons, and an enchanted maze only to find himself in the cruel grasp of He Who Must Not Be Named.

Adventure
Fantasy
2h 37m
Mike Newell
21
2005 in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
2005

A petty thief posing as an actor is brought to Los Angeles for an unlikely audition and finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation along with his high school dream girl and a detective who's been training him for his upcoming role...

Comedy
Crime
1h 42m
Shane Black
20
2005 in Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
Memoirs of a Geisha
2005

In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.

Drama
Romance
2h 26m
Rob Marshall
Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Ken Watanabe
19
2005 in The Squid and the Whale (2005)
The Squid and the Whale
2005

Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.

Comedy
Drama
1h 21m
Noah Baumbach
18
2005 in Syriana (2005)
Syriana
2005

The Middle Eastern oil industry is the backdrop of this tense drama, which weaves together numerous story lines. Bennett Holiday is an American lawyer in charge of facilitating a dubious merger of oil companies, while Bryan Woodman, a Switzerland-based energy analyst, experiences both personal tragedy and opportunity during a visit with Arabian royalty. Meanwhile, veteran CIA agent Bob Barnes uncovers an assassination plot with unsettling origins.

Drama
Thriller
2h 8m
Stephen Gaghan
17
2005 in Match Point (2005)
Match Point
2005

Chris, a former tennis pro, takes a job as an instructor and befriends his wealthy young student, Tom. After being introduced to his family, Chris is soon engaged to Tom's sister, Chloe. Despite the professional and financial advantages that this relationship affords him, Chris becomes obsessed with Tom's fiancee, American actress Nola.

Drama
Romance
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Matthew Goode
16
2005 in Cinderella Man (2005)
Cinderella Man
2005

The true story of boxer Jim Braddock who, following his retirement in the 1930s, makes a surprise comeback in order to lift his family out of poverty.

Romance
Drama
15
2005 in The New World (2005)
The New World
2005

A drama about explorer John Smith and the clash between Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century.

Drama
History
2h 31m
Terrence Malick
14
2005 in King Kong (2005)
King Kong
2005

In 1933 New York, an overly ambitious movie producer coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island, where they encounter Kong, a giant ape who is immediately smitten with the leading lady.

13
2005 in Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Pride & Prejudice
2005

A story of love and life among the landed English gentry during the Georgian era. Mr. Bennet is a gentleman living in Hertfordshire with his overbearing wife and five daughters, but if he dies their house will be inherited by a distant cousin whom they have never met, so the family's future happiness and security is dependent on the daughters making good marriages.

Drama
Romance
2h 8m
Joe Wright
Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn, Rosamund Pike
Why it ranks

Joe Wright breathes muddy, tactile life into the period drama by opting for naturalistic grit over stiff theatricality. This adaptation feels remarkably modern, driven by a kinetic camera and a palpable sense of yearning that transcends its 19th-century setting.

12

An average family is thrust into the spotlight after the father commits a seemingly self-defense murder at his diner.

Drama
Thriller
Why it ranks

David Cronenberg deconstructs the myth of the peaceful patriarch through a clinical, jarring examination of the human capacity for cruelty. The film operates as a subversively lean thriller that interrogates whether identity is innate or merely a performance.

11
2005 in The Constant Gardener (2005)
The Constant Gardener
2005

Justin Quayle is a low-level British diplomat who has always gone about his work very quietly, not causing any problems. But after his radical wife Tessa is killed he becomes determined to find out why, thrusting himself into the middle of a very dangerous conspiracy.

Drama
Mystery
2h 9m
Fernando Meirelles
Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Danny Huston, Bill Nighy
Why it ranks

Fernando Meirelles brings a frantic, saturated visual energy to this global thriller, exposing the cold machinery of corporate greed. It is a rare hybrid that balances a tender, ghost-haunted romance with a blistering indictment of pharmaceutical exploitation.

10

Welcome to Sin City. This town beckons to the tough, the corrupt, the brokenhearted. Some call it dark… Hard-boiled. Then there are those who call it home — Crooked cops, sexy dames, desperate vigilantes. Some are seeking revenge, others lust after redemption, and then there are those hoping for a little of both. A universe of unlikely and reluctant heroes still trying to do the right thing in a city that refuses to care.

Why it ranks

Mickey Rourke delivers a career-resurrecting turn as Marv, disappearing beneath layers of prosthetic grit to find the soulful, bruising heart of a noir monster. He eschews caricature for a gravelly, kinetic intensity that reminded Hollywood exactly how much screen presence he could command when given the right shadows to inhabit.

9

Andy Stitzer has a pleasant life with a nice apartment and a job stamping invoices at an electronics store. But at age 40, there's one thing Andy hasn't done, and it's really bothering his sex-obsessed male co-workers: Andy is still a virgin. Determined to help Andy get laid, the guys make it their mission to de-virginize him. But it all seems hopeless until Andy meets small business owner Trish, a single mom.

Comedy
Romance
1h 56m
Judd Apatow
Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco
Why it ranks

Steve Carell delivers a masterclass in cringing vulnerability, balancing a cartoonish naivety with a grounded soul that prevents the character from becoming a mere caricature. It was the definitive breakout that proved he could anchor a major studio comedy through pure, frantic desperation. His ability to play the lovable loser with such infectious sincerity instantly transformed him from a supporting player into a foundational comedic leading man.

8
2005 in Walk the Line (2005)
Walk the Line
2005

A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.

Drama
Music
2h 16m
James Mangold
Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick
Why it ranks

This biopic avoids the typical traps of its genre by leaning into the raw, crackling chemistry of its leads to fuel a gritty narrative of redemption. It succeeds through sheer musical authenticity and a grounded focus on the cyclical struggle between addiction and grace.

7
2005 in Capote (2005)
Capote
2005

A biopic of writer Truman Capote and his assignment for The New Yorker to write the non-fiction book "In Cold Blood".

Crime
Drama
1h 54m
Bennett Miller
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins Jr., Bruce Greenwood
Why it ranks

Philip Seymour Hoffman provides an exacting masterclass in transformative performance, capturing the chilling distance between an artist and his subject. The film excels as a frigid autopsy of the creative process and the parasitic nature of the true-crime genre.

6
2005 in Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)
Good Night, and Good Luck.
2005

The story of journalist Edward R. Murrow's stand against Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist witch-hunts in the early 1950s.

Drama
History
David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, George Clooney, Jeff Daniels
Why it ranks

George Clooney utilizes a sharp, smoky monochrome aesthetic to capture the moral clarity of broadcast journalism at its most vital. This is an urgent study of institutional integrity and the terrifying power of the televised word.

5
2005 in Crash (2005)
Crash
2005

In post-Sept. 11 Los Angeles, tensions erupt when the lives of a Brentwood housewife, her district attorney husband, a Persian shopkeeper, two cops, a pair of carjackers and a Korean couple converge during a 36-hour period.

Why it ranks

Paul Haggis constructs a high-friction mosaic of urban tension that forces an uncomfortable confrontation with systemic prejudice. The film functions as a visceral, kinetic provocation, stripping away the veneer of polite society in modern Los Angeles.

4

John and his buddy Jeremy are emotional criminals who know how to use a woman's hopes and dreams for their own carnal gain. Their modus operandi: crashing weddings. Normally, they meet guests who want to toast the romantic day with a random hook-up. But when John meets Claire, he discovers what true love – and heartache – feels like.

Comedy
Romance
1h 59m
David Dobkin
Why it ranks

Vince Vaughn weaponizes a relentless, caffeinated delivery that turned his fast-talking neuroticism into the gold standard for R-rated comedy. This was the moment he graduated from indie darling to a definitive box office anchor, proving he could carry a massive studio hit through sheer improvisational stamina and manic charisma. He transforms what could have been a thin archetype into a symphony of rhythmic rambling and perfectly timed sarcasm.

3

Driven by tragedy, billionaire Bruce Wayne dedicates his life to uncovering and defeating the corruption that plagues his home, Gotham City. Unable to work within the system, he instead creates a new identity, a symbol of fear for the criminal underworld - The Batman.

Why it ranks

Christopher Nolan rescues the superhero genre from camp by grounding the legend in psychological realism and tactile noir. By prioritizing character philosophy over mindless spectacle, the film redefines the cinematic potential of the masked vigilante.

2

In 1960s Wyoming, two men develop a strong emotional and sexual relationship that endures as a lifelong connection complicating their lives as they get married and start families of their own.

Why it ranks

Ang Lee shatters the iconography of the American West with a devastatingly quiet intimacy that lingers long after the credits roll. It is a monumental achievement in restraint, transforming a specific romance into a universal elegy for lost time.

1
2005 in Munich (2005)
Munich
2005

During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and murdered by a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September. In retaliation, the Israeli government recruits a group of Mossad agents to track down and execute those responsible for the attack.

Drama
Action
Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciarán Hinds, Mathieu Kassovitz
Why it ranks

Steven Spielberg delivers a haunting, morally complex procedural that swaps traditional cinematic heroism for the hollow ache of perpetual vengeance. It stands as a masterful exercise in tension, questioning the soul-eroding cost of political retribution.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about this list and SnakeDrafts

The best movies of 2005 showcased a strong presence of drama, thriller, and romance genres, highlighting films like "Munich" for thriller and history, "Brokeback Mountain" for drama and romance, and "Crash" for pure drama. This mix illustrates 2005's cinematic depth and thematic diversity in storytelling.

Movies like "Munich," "Good Night, and Good Luck.", and "The New World" reflect the year’s focus on historical and political narratives. These films explore complex historical events and social issues, marking 2005 as a year with socially conscious and reflective cinema.

2005’s top movies skillfully balanced blockbuster appeal and critical acclaim, with films like "Batman Begins" reinventing a major franchise while also offering a dark, psychological depth. Simultaneously, films such as "Brokeback Mountain" and "Capote" earned widespread praise for their artistic and narrative sophistication.

Romance was a significant theme woven into many acclaimed 2005 films, including "Brokeback Mountain," "Pride & Prejudice," and "Walk the Line." These films blend romantic narratives with drama, elevating emotional depth and human connection in the year’s cinema.

Yes, "Wedding Crashers" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin" stand out as notable comedies that achieved both box office success and cultural impact. These comedies provided a lighter counterbalance to the year’s more serious dramatic and thriller films.

"Sin City" is renowned for its groundbreaking visual style, utilizing a distinct noir aesthetic that blends comic book artistry with live-action footage. This innovation set it apart as a visually arresting and genre-defining thriller of 2005.

Filmmakers in 2005 employed intricate and thought-provoking storytelling techniques in dramas such as "Crash" and "Capote," focusing on complex character studies and interwoven social themes. This approach enriched the films’ narrative impact and garnered critical acclaim for their depth and nuance.
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