Which of the IMDB Top 250 Movies are Available on Netflix Streaming?

Hello all,

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. I have a few posts in mind for the future (and I also intend to repost a few links that have gone down), so please bear with me.

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One of my on-going goals is to watch all films on the IMDB Top 250, a list of the top-rated films based on ratings from IMDB users. The Top 250 is calculated using a weighted average of user scores.

So far, I have seen about 58% of the films, so I still have quite a way to go. I’m 23, and I rarely watched movies growing up, so I’ve been kind of playing catch-up in the last few years. There are many iconic films (Forrest Gump, Rocky) that I have yet so see, but I intend to at some point.

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Anyway, for my own benefit and for that of anyone else who’s interested, I decided to make a list of films available for Instant Streaming with Netflix (a U.S. subscription streaming service). As anyone who has a Netflix subscription will know, the selection is often hit or miss, and can seem quite random at times. It also changes quite frequently.

For example, I distinctly remember having watched Hitchcock’s Dial M For Murder on Watch Instantly about a year ago, and I remember Coppola’s Apocalypse Now also being available (in both versions). Neither is now available.

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Alfred Hitchcock appears in the Top 250 nine times (the most of any director), followed by Stanley Kubrick with eight titles. However, only one Hitchcock film is available to watch instantly (The Lady Vanishes, which isn’t in the 250), and no Kubrick films are available.

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Without further ado, here’s the list of the films available for streaming on Netflix. In total, about 16% (40 films) of the Top 250 are available to Watch Instantly as of May 22, 2013. I went through one-by-one, so hopefully, I did not miss any.

Titles in red indicate films I haven't seen, while those in pink indicate films I have seen. 

The first number indicates ranking on the Top 250, while the second indicates ranking out of those available on Netflix. In parentheses after the title is the director, release year, and (weighted) average user score.
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UPDATE June 1st, 2013: Les Intouchables (#62) has been added to Netflix Instant, bringing the total to 41 films.
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UPDATE June 25th, 2013: Both versions of Apocalypse Now have been added to Netflix Instant.

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004, 01. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994, 8.9)

024, 02. Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968, 8.6)

034, 03. Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000, 8.5)

036, 04. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron, 1991, 8.5)

048, 05. The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002, 8.5)

049, 06. Life is Beautiful (Roberto Benigni, 1997, 8.4)

057, 07. Double Indemnity (Fritz Lang, 1944, 8.4)
062, 08. Les Intouchables (Olivier Nakache & Eric Toledano, 2011, 8.5)

071, 09. Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992, 8.4)

073, 10. Cinema Paradiso (Giussepe Tornatore, 1988, 8.4)

078, 11. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michael Gondry, 2004, 8.3)

083, 12. Braveheart (Mel Gibson, 1995, 8.3)

084, 13. Oldboy (Chan-wook Park, 2003, 8.3)

085, 14. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974, 8.3)

089, 15. Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio de Sica, 1948, 8.3)

090, 16. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927, 8.3)

101, 17. Witness for the Prosecution (Billy Wilder, 1957, 8.3)

111, 18. Downfall (Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2004, 8.2)

119, 19. The General (Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman, 1926, 8.2)

144, 20. The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982, 8.1)

145, 21. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill, 1969, 8.1)

146, 22. Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, 1996, 8.1)

147, 23. Good Will Hunting (Gus van Sant, 1997, 8.1)

151, 24. Hotel Rwanda (Terry George, 2004, 8.1)

153, 25. Warrior (Gavin O'Connor, 2011, 8.1)

158, 26. The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford, 1940, 8.1)

162, 27. Into the Wild (Sean Penn, 2007, 8.1)

167, 28. The King’s Speech (Tom Hooper, 2010, 8.1)

182, 29. Mary and Max (Adam Elliot, 2009, 8.1)

193, 30. 8-1/2 (Federico Fellini, 1963, 8.0)

206, 31. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, 1962, 8.0) 
210, 32. In The Name of the Father (Jim Sheridan, 1993, 8.0)

212, 33. The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius, 2011, 8.0)

213, 34. Roman Holiday (William Wyler, 1953, 8.0)

223, 35. Ip Man (Wilson Yip, 2008, 8.0)

231, 36. Like Stars on Earth - Taare Zameen Par (Amole Gupte & Aamir Khan, 2007, 8.0)

234, 37. Rain Man (Barry Levinson, 1988, 8.0)

237, 38. Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968, 8.0)

241, 39. Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979, 8.0)

242, 40. Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922, 7.9)

243, 41. The Untouchables (Brian De Palma, 1987, 7.9)

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A few notes:

- Metropolis is available in the “Restored” Version of 148 minutes (a 124 minute version is also available as a DVD).

- Netflix Instant doesn’t have the 1983 version of Scarface, which is ranked at #126 with a score of 8.2, but it does have the 1932 Scarface (7.8, but I actually prefer the ’32 version).

- Star Trek Into Darkness is ranked in the Top 250 (at #157), which confuses me, as it was just released in theatres. I had thought that there’s usually a wait period after release before a film can register in the Top 250. I guess not.
- Tim Burton's Big Fish (2003), a film I rather like that just recently fell out of the Top 250, is available on streaming.