16 Amazing Movies That Changed the World

When most people go to the cinema or watch a movie at home, it’s done as a form of escapism. Flicking on a movie is a great way to forget about the real world and get lost for a few hours. But as the movie industry has evolved with society, there are more and more movies being released that have something to say. These films address social and political issues, highlight cultural differences, and discuss problems and themes audiences can relate to. Some are movies that changed the world due to their incredible achievements in storytelling and production. 

As most cinema lovers will know, movies have the ability to not only entertain but also make us think and question our beliefs. Throughout history there have been dozens of amazing movies that have left an impact on the world. Some are early black-and-white flicks with heavy themes or dynamic production values, while others are more modern fare with relatable storylines that hit on a cultural level. 

The films below have all made their mark in one way or another and are well worth seeing for any true movie fan. 

1. Jaws (1975)

Steven Spielberg’s Jaws turned the movie-going experience on its head when it hit cinemas in the summer of 1975. The film, about a killer shark terrorizing a small coastal town and the three men who set off to kill it, is two hours of non-stop suspense as the shark and the men (a marine biologist, a fisherman, and the chief of police) play a game of cat and mouse on the open sea. 

The film itself is incredible and widely considered a classic, but not only is Jaws a great watch, but it changed the face of movie marketing. At a time when films were slowly released around the country and spread through reviews and word of mouth, Universal Pictures went on the attack with their marketing campaign. Advertisements for the movie were everywhere and Jaws opened in thousands of cinemas on the same day instead of a few hundred like other films.

The tactic worked and mass marketing quickly became the way forward, with Jaws establishing the summer months as the new annual period when blockbuster movies would be released. It became the highest-grossing movie at the time of its release (it was overtaken by Star Wars: A New Hope two years later) and has made over $476 million at the worldwide box office. Jaws also brought about the end of the New Hollywood era as studios reasserted their control over the industry and turned Spielberg into the hottest director on the planet. 

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2. Citizen Kane (1941)

Often considered the greatest movie ever made, Citizen Kane was Orsen Wells’ magnum opus. Not only did he write, direct, and produce the movie, but Wells took the main role of Charles Foster Kane, a newspaper baron based on several real-life people. The movie revolves around Kane’s final words, “Rosebud,” and the reporter trying to decipher what it means as Kane’s life is told in a series of flashbacks. 

Citizen Kane bombed at the box office but was critically well-received. It influenced a long list of filmmakers, from John Huston to Paul Thomas Anderson, and has been praised for its cinematography, the introduction of flashbacks, and the overall structure of the film, with the movie starting with the main character’s death instead of ending with it. 

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3. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Not since The Evil Dead has an independent horror movie caused such a shift in the movie industry. Released in 1999, The Blair Witch Project focuses on three student filmmakers who head out into the woods looking for the fabled Blair Witch and find more than they bargained for. 

Not only is the movie scary as hell, but like Jaws, it relied on its market campaign to become a box office smash. The Blair Witch Project was presented as a real-life documentary, with the actors listed as missing and the filmmakers being some of the first to use the internet as a way to enhance the legend told in the film. You can still visit the website set up for the movie that makes everything in The Blair Witch Project appear real. 

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4. Super Size Me (2004)

You’ll never look at fast food the same way after watching this early 00s documentary. Hoping to shed some light on the damage fast food does to our bodies, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald’s for an entire month. As part of the experiment, whenever he was asked if he wanted to super size his meal, he had to say yes.

As expected, Spurlock gained a ton of weight (25 pounds), had increased cholesterol, suffered from mood swings and depression, and lost his libido. His goal of raising awareness around the growing issue of obesity in America came to fruition, as Super Size Me was the talk of Hollywood in 2004, winning several awards and gaining international exposure. McDonald’s would axe the super size me option six weeks after the doco premiered and shifted its marketing to emphasize salads and other healthy options on its menu. 

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5. The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Described as “the most controversial film ever made in the United States,” The Birth of a Nation is a 1915 silent film that paints the Ku Klux Klan as a shining force of goodness. Focusing on two families during and after the American Civil War, the movie shows the Klan as saviors of America and African Americans as the evil race that needs to be wiped out. 

As well as causing a divide due to the content of the film, The Birth of a Nation has been highly praised on the filmmaking side of things. It is the first American-made film to have a musical score and features many innovative filming tricks that had not been seen before, such as dramatic close-up, long tracking shots, and other editing methods. 

Unsurprisingly the movie was a smash hit upon release with white America and has been acknowledged as the reason for the revival of the Ku Klux Klan in the early 20th century. 

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6. Iron Man (2008)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe officially kicked off with this superhero blockbuster in 2008. Robert Downey Jr. took on the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man in Jon Favreau’s action-packed movie that laid the groundwork for superhero movies to come. An origin story, Iron Man introduced audiences to the lead Avenger and helped rejuvenate Downey Jr.’s career and turn him into a bankable star. 

Grossing over $585 million at the box office, Iron Man hit all the right notes and was added to the National Film Registry in 2022 for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” It spawned two sequels (neither of which live up to the original) and established the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is about to enter Phase Four. Without Iron Man, we would have no Avengers, Black Panther, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more. A true game-changer in the world of movies. 

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7. Blackfish (2013)

Documentary Blackfish exposes the conditions orca whales face while living in captivity, focusing on Tilikum, an orca whale held captive at SeaWorld who killed three people. The movie follows the life of Tilikum from his capture to the incident where he killed several trainers and shows how his behavior was a result of the treatment he received from humans. Blackfish points the blame at both SeaWorld and those who pay money to watch these captive animals. 

The film’s release had a major impact on the company, with attendance lower than ever before and the share price dropping 50%. SeaWorld tried to save face by pointing out several errors in the doco but it was too late and the damage was done. By 2016 the park had announced that “the current generation of killer whales will be the last orcas housed in captivity.”

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8. The Jazz Singer (1927)

The silent film era was done and dusted with the release of The Jazz Singer in 1927. The movie was the first to feature synchronized audio in a film, with Al Jolson’s first line, “Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!” a momentous moment in film history. 

The Alan Crosland-directed movie contains six songs sung by Jolson and is about a Jewish man who becomes an entertainer who struggles with becoming a successful singer while navigating his heritage. The addition of sound meant title cards were no longer necessary, helping with the flow of the movie. While most critics rate The Jazz Singer, its use of blackface has caused controversy over the years, with the movie lambasted by some for its racial comedy stereotypes. 

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9. Philadelphia (1993)

The AIDS epidemic of the 80s was still fresh in people’s minds when Philadelphia hit cinemas in 1993. The movie stars Tom Hanks as a gay man working at one of New York’s big law firms. When they discover he has AIDS and sack him, Hanks seeks out Denzel Washington’s rival lawyer to help him sue his employees for wrongful dismissal. 

The subject matter is heavy but handled well, with both Hanks and Washington in fine form. Despite being about AIDS, a disease many people still feared in the early 90s, the movie was both a box office and commercial hit and helped people understand what AIDS was all about. It’s one of the first major Hollywood movies to deal with AIDS and show homosexuality in a positive light. 

Hanks won the Academy Award for Best Actor while Bruce Springsteen won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the chart-topping “Streets of Philadelphia.” 

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10. Bambi (1942)

Bambi is a classic award-winning Disney flick about a young fawn and the journey he takes on the road to adulthood. Unlike so many other animated movies at that time, which were often comedies and light-hearted, Bambi kicks you right in the guts when the title character’s mother is shot and killed by a hunter. It’s an unforgettable scene that had a major impact on the world of hunting. 

The movie’s release led to the “Bambi effect,” which is basically an objection to killing cute animals, while also helping raise the profile of anti-hunting groups and those looking out for the welfare of animals. 

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11. La Passion De Jeanne D’Arc (1928)

Unless you are a mega film buff you’ve probably never seen La Passion De Jeanne D’Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc). The French masterpiece centers on Joan of Arc after she is captured by the English, showing her trial and eventual death by burning at the stake.

The movie, based on the actual records of the trial, was a huge success when released and received widespread acclaim. French actress Renée Jeanne Falconetti was particularly praised for her portrayal of Joan of Arc while the production values of the movie for that time period are exceptional.

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12. Jurassic Park (1993)

Steven Spielberg did it again in 1993 with the summer blockbuster Jurassic Park. Based on the novel by Michael Crichton, the movie is about scientists genetically engineering dinosaurs as theme park attractions. As is often the case, things go wrong when the electric fences keeping the dinosaurs away from people go down, allowing the dinos to wander freely about the park causing all sorts of mayhem.

This movie would have been a complete failure if not for the jaw-dropping special effects of George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic and Stan Winston’s team of puppet creators. The dinosaurs are incredibly life-like and the first reveal of the T-Rex is still one of the great cinematic scenes in movie history. 

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13. Night Of the Living Dead (1968)

George Romero’s zombie classic is much more than a movie about the dead rising from the Earth. The black-and-white horror movie about seven people trapped in a farmhouse as brain-eating zombies approach is also an analogy for the Vietnam War and the social and political climate of America. The themes run deep throughout the movie and Romero’s decision to have an African American play the hero also took many by surprise. Then there is that ending, which we won’t spoil, but will leave you shaken. 

The success of Night of the Living Dead led to five sequels and several spin-offs and reboots, although nothing beats the original movie.  

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14. The Truman Show (1998)

Jim Carrey plays it straight as Truman Burbank, a man who believes he is living an ordinary life, when in fact, he is the star of his own reality show. He just doesn’t know it. Slowly but surely Burbank begins to realize all is not as it seems and attempts to escape from the show. 

The Truman Show is not only a fantastic drama but one that predicted the rise of reality TV just before it exploded in the early 00s. As director Peter Weir said on the “making of” DVD featurette, “This was a dangerous film to make because it couldn’t happen. How ironic.”

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15. The Gold Rush (1925)

Arguably Charlie Chaplin’s greatest achievement, The Gold Rush is a silent film starring Chaplin as his Little Tramp persona. In the movie, Chaplin joins the gold rush and experiences all the highs and lows that came with searching for gold. Featuring some of the most iconic scenes Chaplin ever filmed, Variety called The Gold Rush “the greatest and most elaborate comedy ever filmed.”

It’s universally recognized as one of Chaplin’s greatest works and has been a constant in most American Film Institute’s top 100 film lists. The Gold Rush is the movie “for which Chaplin wanted to be remembered,” and he got his wish, as it still provides plenty of laughs today, almost 100 years since it was first released. 

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16. Deep Throat (1972)

Porn went mainstream in 1972. The release of Deep Throat caused an uproar but also demonstrated that sex was a commodity people were willing to pay for and wanted more of in their movies. Deep Throat went on to make somewhere between $30-$50 million, which might not seem like much these days, but back then was unheard of for an adult movie. 

Starring Linda Lovelace, the movie revolves around her character discovering her clitoris is located in the back of her throat. The only way she can be brought to orgasm is by performing oral sex. As ludicrous as that sounds, Deep Throat is one of the first pornographic movies to have an actual plot and characters. This would soon become the norm for porn movies as the genre crossed over into the mainstream and became one of the most successful forms of entertainment.