The original rating system, then known as the Hays Production Code, was started in the 1930s as a way to enforce self-censorship. It was used until 1966 when it was replaced by the Motion Picture Association of America’s newer rating system. The MPAA’s new system was established in 1968 to aid parents in making more knowledgeable movie choices for their families.
This voluntary rating system for films was classified as G, M, R, or X. G was general audiences, M meant parental guidance was advised, R restricted admission for those under 17 without an adult, and X barred under 17s. M was later changed to GP and in 1972 was changed again to PG. PG-13 was added in 1984 and X was changed to NC-17 in 1990.
The first R-rated movie ever made came out in 1968, called “The Split”, starring Gene Hackman and Jim Brown.
To determine the best R-rated movies of all time, 24/7 Tempo developed an index using average ratings on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, and a combination of audience scores and Tomatometer scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator, weighting all ratings equally. Only movies with at least 100,000 user votes on IMDb were considered. Cast and director credits are from IMDb.
The majority of top R-rated movies of all time have Rotten Tomatoes ratings of 90% or higher. Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola directed several of the movies on the list. Other famed directors represented include Sidney Lumet, Roman Polanski, Miloš Forman, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, and James Cameron. (Here’s a list of all Francis Ford Coppola movies, ranked worst to best.) The top R-rated films span many eras and genres but are accorded legendary status for their cinematic excellence and cultural impact.
Here are The Top R-rated movies of All Time
30. The Usual Suspects (1995)
- IMDb user rating: 8.5/10 (1,028,997 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 96% (435,145 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 88% (77 reviews)
- Starring: Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri
- Directed by: Bryan Singer
Is Roger ‘Verbal’ Kint (Kevin Spacey) a con artist with cerebral palsy, just a two-bit thief, or a fearsome murderous mobster known as Keyser Söze? The movie’s plot revolves around cocaine and a ship explosion. For his duplicitous performance, Spacey won an Academy Award.
29. The Departed (2006)
- IMDb user rating: 8.5/10 (1,241,061 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (738,191 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (283 reviews)
- Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson
- Directed by: Martin Scorsese
“The Departed” is director Martin Scorsese’s immersive look at Irish gangster life in Boston. The film took home four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. The film packs the star power of actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Martin Sheen, but it is Jack Nicholson’s menacing portrayal of the mob boss that dominates the movie.
28. Die Hard (1988)
- IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (820,820 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (574,298 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (79 reviews)
- Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia
- Directed by: John McTiernan
This film launched a successful action series starring Bruce Willis. In this first installment Willis, as a New York cop John McClane, tries to save the lives of his wife (Bonnie Bedelia) and other people taken hostage by terrorists in Los Angeles. The film catapulted Willis into the action film pantheon, and to this day fans continue to quote his character’s defiant “Yippee-ki-yay” line.
27. Spotlight (2015)
- IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (473,059 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (70,627 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (375 reviews)
- Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams
- Directed by: Tom McCarthy
Child molestation and cover-ups by the Catholic Church in Boston, as exposed by the Boston Globe, form the theme of this unsettling film, which the Sydney Morning Herald describes as possibly “the best newspaper film since All the President’s Men.”
26. Unforgiven (1992)
- IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (391,927 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (122,861 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (106 reviews)
- Starring: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman
- Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven” scored four Oscar wins in 1992 including best director and best picture. He both directed and starred in the film appearing as William Munny, a pig farmer-turned-bounty hunter. The film opened as a number-one box office smash and was one of Eastwood’s biggest financial successes.
25. Taxi Driver (1976)
- IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (761,825 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (260,919 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (94 reviews)
- Starring: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd
- Directed by: Martin Scorsese
After returning from service in Vietnam, Travis Bickle is unstable and adrift, working nights as a taxi driver on the decrepit streets of New York. Full of undirected rage, he decides to make the world a better place by rescuing a child prostitute from her pimp.
24. Memento (2000)
- IMDb user rating: 8.4/10 (1,169,429 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (381,352 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (181 reviews)
- Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
- Directed by: Christopher Nolan
In this neo-noir psychological thriller, a man without the ability to form new memories becomes obsessed with finding the people who murdered his wife and left him with anterograde amnesia.
23. Amadeus (1984)
- IMDb user rating: 8.4/10 (403,732 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (180,242 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (100 reviews)
- Starring: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge
- Directed by: Miloš Forman
Based on Peter Shaffer’s Tony Award-winning play of the same name, this account of the life and successes of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — told through the eyes of his rival, Antonio Salieri — dominated the 1985 Oscars. “Amadeus” won eight Academy Awards, including those for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director.
22. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- IMDb user rating: 8.5/10 (1,033,964 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (749,360 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (84 reviews)
- Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong
- Directed by: James Cameron
James Cameron’s “Terminator 2” excels in many of the aspects that action movie fans appreciate most, such as visual effects and tense action sequences. It stands apart from the average action flick thanks to its refined characters and philosophically intelligent storyline. The movie is a haunting tale of post-apocalyptic possibilities and a perfect popcorn action movie rolled in one.
21. Whiplash (2014)
- IMDb user rating: 8.5/10 (763,755 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (70,602 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (297 reviews)
- Starring: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist
- Directed by: Damien Chazelle
This “intense, inspiring, and well-acted” music-fueled drama (according to critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes) tells the story of an ambitious young would-be jazz drummer and his taskmaster teacher. The film won three Oscars, including a Best Actor statue for J.K. Simmons.
20. Before Sunrise (1995)
- IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (286,974 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (73,661 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (46 reviews)
- Starring: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Andrea Eckert
- Directed by: Richard Linklater
This romantic drama follows two young train travelers who connect on a trip from Budapest to Vienna and decide to spend a single night together before each goes his or her separate way in the morning.
19. Chinatown (1974)
- IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (309,557 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (78,076 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 99% (76 reviews)
- Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston
- Directed by: Roman Polanski
Arguably Roman Polanski’s greatest film, this stylish film-noir stars Jack Nicholson as a private detective who, while investigating a case of an extramarital affair, stumbles onto a murder plot that includes government corruption. The cynical tone of “Chinatown” reflects the mood of post-Vietnam America.
18. Aliens (1986)
- IMDb user rating: 8.3/10 (678,602 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (430,019 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (77 reviews)
- Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn
- Directed by: James Cameron
James Cameron’s powerful follow-up to director Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror film “Alien” was hailed as “the best monster movie of the year,” “state-of-the-art science fiction,” and “the rarest of sequels” — one that’s at least equal to the original. Sigourney Weaver is back as Lieutenant Ellen Ripley and once again must fend off some of the most vicious extraterrestrial beings ever imagined on film.
17. Parasite (2019)
- IMDb user rating: 8.5/10 (810,722 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (5,000 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 99% (475 reviews)
- Starring: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong
- Directed by: Bong Joon Ho
South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” surprised many by winning Best Picture at the 2020 Academy Awards despite being among the lesser seen nominees. Reception of the film has been nearly universally positive, however, especially among critics. The film tells the story of a lower-class family that dupes a wealthier family into employing them with unexpected results.
16. L.A. Confidential (1997)
- IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (551,824 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (150,890 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 99% (115 reviews)
- Starring: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce
- Directed by: Curtis Hanson
Based on James Ellroy’s novel of the same name, “L.A. Confidential” follows three detectives trying to solve a murder in 1950s Los Angeles. They must navigate the confluence of corrupt police, organized crime, and the era’s biggest celebrities.
15. Good Will Hunting (1997)
- IMDb user rating: 8.3/10 (900,884 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (365,042 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (83 reviews)
- Starring: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck
- Directed by: Gus Van Sant
“Good Will Hunting” is about a janitor who’s secretly a genius, his life rapidly changing once his talents are discovered by a university professor. However, along the way, he meets someone special and must decide what’s most important to him.
14. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
- IMDb user rating: 8.6/10 (1,292,307 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (993,591 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (143 reviews)
- Starring: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore
- Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg won the Oscar for Best Director (the film won four more, too) for this inspiring account of a group of GIs in WWII. The soldiers push into enemy territory to save a paratrooper whose three brothers have been killed in action. The critic consensus Rotten Tomatoes calls it an “unflinchingly realistic war film [that] virtually redefines the genre.”
13. Apocalypse Now (1979)
- IMDb user rating: 8.4/10 (629,925 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (286,235 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (96 reviews)
- Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall
- Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
The sprawling, visionary Vietnam War drama is based on Joseph Conrad’s book “Heart of Darkness” and shows how men descend into madness as a result of war. Though not fully embraced by audiences and critics when it was released in 1979, “Apocalypse Now” has gained more recognition.
12. Alien (1979)
- IMDb user rating: 8.4/10 (823,459 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (460,436 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (126 reviews)
- Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt
- Directed by: Ridley Scott
The tagline for the sci-fi horror film “Alien” states: “In space, no one can hear you scream.” Plenty of people could be heard screaming in theaters when the movie was released in 1979, however. Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror classic overcame wary studio executives and numerous rewrites on its way to the big screen, where it found immediate commercial success. The story follows crew members of the spaceship Nostromo as they’re picked off by an alien creature.
11. The Pianist (2002)
- IMDb user rating: 8.5/10 (836,046 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 96% (253,429 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (184 reviews)
- Starring: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay
- Directed by: Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist” is based on the autobiography of Polish composer, Wladyslaw Szpilman, during World War II. The film earned Polanski — currently a U.S. fugitive — an Academy Award for Best Director.
10. Psycho (1960)
- IMDb user rating: 8.5/10 (630,728 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (240,418 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (104 reviews)
- Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles
- Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
The murder scene in the shower in “Psycho” almost instantly became a cultural landmark and is among the most famous in movie history. Adding to the tension of this taut thriller that starred Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh was the music by Bernard Herrmann that projected impending doom. “Psycho” is Hitchcock at his suspenseful best.
9. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
- IMDb user rating: 8.6/10 (1,332,128 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (847,443 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (104 reviews)
- Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Lawrence A. Bonney
- Directed by: Jonathan Demme
One of the greatest thrillers ever made puts F.B.I. cadet Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) on the trail of a dangerous serial killer. Seeking help, she turns to a devious psychopath by the name of Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
8. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
- IMDb user rating: 8.7/10 (954,220 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 96% (279,963 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (83 reviews)
- Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman
- Directed by: Miloš Forman
Based on Ken Kesey’s timeless novel, this blockbuster dramedy follows a rebellious soul (Jack Nicholson) into a mental institution. It won five Academy Awards and yielded a series spin-off called “Nurse Ratched.”
7. Pulp Fiction (1994)
- IMDb user rating: 8.9/10 (1,909,111 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 96% (1,128,444 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (108 reviews)
- Starring: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson
- Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
“Pulp Fiction,” Quentin Tarantino’s follow-up to “Reservoir Dogs,” is among the 1990s’ most definitive films. A wildly inventive mix of crime, film-noir, and comedy, the movie scored the Palme d’Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. Its reputation has held up well over the past 25 years, with 96% of audiences giving the film a positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
6. Goodfellas (1990)
- IMDb user rating: 8.7/10 (1,165,874 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97% (430,048 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (103 reviews)
- Starring: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci
- Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Real-life New York mobster Henry Hill is the subject of this biographical crime drama based on the book “Wiseguy” by Nicolas Pileggi. “Goodfellas” portrays the story of Hill’s rise through the ranks of the organized crime world and his descent into drug addiction and unsanctioned dealing.
5. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
- IMDb user rating: 8.8/10 (718,036 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97% (239,989 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (77 reviews)
- Starring: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef
- Directed by: Sergio Leone
The poster child of the Spaghetti Western, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” tells the story of a tenuous alliance of gunslingers, among them the iconically laconic Clint Eastwood, who are looking for Confederate gold. The film was directed by Sergio Leone, with an unforgettable movie score from Ennio Morricone.
4. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
- IMDb user rating: 9.3/10 (2,465,102 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 98% (887,061 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 91% (77 reviews)
- Starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton
- Directed by: Frank Darabont
Based on a Stephen King novella, this historical prison drama about two imprisoned men was trounced at the box office by the likes of “Pulp Fiction” and “Forrest Gump.” It was then re-released in theaters after receiving seven Oscar nominations, which helped recoup some of the loss.
3. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
- IMDb user rating: 9.0/10 (1,183,912 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97% (411,793 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (114 reviews)
- Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall
- Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
Nevermind sequels, “The Godfather: Part II” is widely hailed as one of the greatest films of all time. The film chronicles Vito Coreleone’s (Robert De Niro) rise to power in the Mafia along with the struggle of his son (Al Pacino) to maintain power decades later. The film won six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for De Niro, and Best Director for Francis Ford Coppola.
2. Schindler’s List (1993)
- IMDb user rating: 9.0/10 (1,359,268 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97% (411,879 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (128 reviews)
- Starring: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley
- Directed by: Steven Spielberg
This black-and-white drama tells the story of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a German industrialist who saved the lives of over 1,000 Jews during WWII. A passion project for Steven Spielberg, it won seven Academy Awards. The director redirected both his personal salary and some of the film’s profits to create the USC Shoah Foundation, which is dedicated to Holocaust survivors.
1. The Godfather (1972)
- IMDb user rating: 9.2/10 (1,704,373 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 98% (734,439 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (133 reviews)
- Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan
- Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
One of the greatest and most influential films ever made launched several high-profile careers and took home three Oscars. It was also a critical and commercial smash, reportedly sitting on top of the domestic box office for 23 weeks in a row. Behold the story of the Corleone crime family, whose power is threatened by a new foe.