1966 Film Ranked the 'Top Movie Masterpiece' of the Last Century

Since the start of cinema, audiences have been treated to several films that have continued to delight and astound. In February 2026, the publication Collidercompiled a list of the top 20 movie masterpieces released after 1926. The list featured acclaimed films, such as Metropolis from 1927, 1966's Persona, Citizen Kane from 1941, and 1994's Pulp Fiction. The top five ranking included Lawrence of Arabia from 1962, 1985's Ran, 2001: A Space Odyssey from 1968, and The Godfather from 1972.

Andrei Rublev, released in 1966, topped Collider's list. The publication explained that iconic director Andrei Tarkovsky's second film should be recognized as the top masterpiece because of the movie's striking aesthetic and transformative nature.

Andrei Rublev, which has a 2-hour and 45-minute runtime, has a score of 96 on Rotten Tomatoes.

Tarkovsky discussed Andrei Rublevin a 1967 interview with Russian film critic Aleksandr Lipkov. He noted that the film follows Russian artist Andrei Rublev, who lived in the medieval period. Tarkovsky explained he and his Andrei Rublev co-writer, Andrei Konchalovsky, "were able to construct our story freely to imagine Rublev's biography without fear of complicating our relationships with historians and art historians" because there is a "lack of any firm information about our protagonist."

"They can't prove to us their objections to our depiction of Andrei. And, by contrast, if the facts of his life were known in detail, no one would forgive us the violation of historical truth," said Tarkovsky.

During the interview, Lipkov asked Tarkovsky to comment on how future viewers, specifically from "the year 2200," should "approach the film." Tarkovsky replied that he and his crew attempted "in 1966 to make a picture as close as possible to history, as accurate as possible in terms of costumes and other such accessories of the age, with the sole exception of the dialogue."

"I hope that intelligent and educated people will live then, they will understand that this is a work of art, and will not make the kind of demands that we are subjected to today," said the director, who died in 1986 when he was 54.

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This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 1:48 PM.