The 30 Best Movies For Men

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There was a time when a man’s entertainment consisted of a game of chess, reading a book, or drinking gratuitous amounts of gin. Years later, the television was invented, and with it came sitcoms, DVR, Netflix, and the motion picture. Movies have been around for a while, and while most movies — especially movies marketed towards men — provide an hour or two of solid entertainment, there are the select few that truly make an impact on your life. These are the movies you’ll watch over and over, consistently quote while you’re at the office, and probably never find on Netflix.

Whether you’re into comedies, dramas, gangster movies, or action-packed blockbuster movies, chances are good that you’ll something on this list of the 30 best movies for men to watch this weekend or next — because there is literally nothing worth watching on television this time of year — except maybe the Stanley Cup playoffs coming up.

Inception

Inception

Inception is arguably one of the best sci-fi movies about dreams inside of dreams. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a thief named Dom Cobb who enters people’s dreams to steal the secrets from their subconscious. To get back his family, he must do the reverse — plant an idea inside the mind of someone else. – Buy It


Step Brothers

Step Brothers

You’ll love it, your wife will probably hate it. Hands-down the funniest movie ever made, Will Ferrel and John C. Reilly play a pair of obnoxious step brothers in their late-thirties who still live at home with their parents. You’ll find yourself quoting this movie at work alongside your male co-workers. – Buy It

300

300

If you’ve never seen 300, you should go watch it immediately and then return to this list. This gory war film is based on the battles of the Persian War and follows the 300 Spartan warriors as they battle the insurmountable Persian army. – Buy It

The Departed

The Departed

With ample twists and turns throughout this movie, The Departed has developed somewhat of a cult following. Leonardo DiCaprio plays an undercover cop infiltrating the mob, while Matt Damon plays a criminal with ties to said mob who rises through the ranks of the police department. – Buy It

Full Metal Jacket

Full Metal Jacket

Split into two halves, this Vietnam-era Stanley Kubrick classic follows a group of marines as they first battle through basic training with a terrifying drill instructor and then when they head out into the Vietnamese jungle as indoctrinated marines. – Buy It

Terminator Salvation

Terminator Salvation

Although a purely subjective statement, Terminator Salvation remains the most underrated movie ever made, not to mention the best movie so far in the Terminator franchise. Christian Bale plays a grown John Connor preparing to lead the resistance in the final battle against Skynet. – Buy It

Goodfellas

Goodfellas

The best mob movie ever made, Goodfellas, follows a young man as he climbs through the ranks of a crime family, only to have it crash down on top of him thanks to a drug addiction. Joe Pesci and Robert DeNiro together in one film alone is reason enough to keep this movie on the shelf. – Buy It

Reservoir Dogs

Reservoir Dogs

Offering up a different angle on the classic mob movie, Reservoir Dogs is about a group of criminal thieves who attempt to execute a seamless diamond heist. Things go awry and the group gets ambushed when one of them turns out to be working with the police. – Buy It

Road House

Road House

The fact that your wife or girlfriend will more than likely never watch Road House more than once, and guilt you into never watching it again doesn’t make it any less of an awesome 80’s movie. Patrick Swayze plays the legendary bouncer Dalton who is hired to clean up the Double Deuce while making enemies with the town’s most powerful villain. – Buy It

Fight Club

Fight Club

Edward Norton and Brad Pitt star as an insomniac and a soap salesman who start a local underground fight club to release their aggression. The fight club concept catches on, with underground fight clubs popping up in towns across America until a major plot twist causes everything to spin out of control. – Buy It

The Matrix

The Matrix Trilogy

The Matrix portrays a future Earth controlled by machines by which most of humanity was either wiped out or used as a fuel source for the machines. A select few, including Neo, are unplugged from the machine’s simulated reality to fight the robots and free the rest of the humans from the Matrix. – Buy It

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith

In the third episode of the Star Wars series, Darth Sidious has revealed who he is and has begun to follow through on his final plan to rule the entire galaxy. Sidious trains his new apprentice, Lord Vader, to kill the remaining Jedi force. Vader, who is finally revealed, struggles to choose between the dark side and his wife who is loyal to the Jedi. – Buy It

Caddyshack

Caddyshack

A down-on-his-luck teenager works as a golf caddy as the Bushwood Country Club to raise money for his college tuition. Meanwhile, Bill Murray’s character fights to catch a gopher from vandalizing the Country Club’s golf course. – Buy It

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight

Christian Bale plays alongside the late Heath Ledger in what would eventually be praised as Ledger’s best performance ever on screen. The Dark Knight works with Gotham’s District Attorney and a police lieutenant to prevent the joker from turning the town into complete chaos. – Buy It

The Bourne Trilogy

The Bourne Trilogy

In the Bourne Trilogy, Matt Damon plays Jason Bourne, an elite government agent and CIA assassin with amnesia who stops at nothing to outmaneuver anyone who stands in the way of his mission to uncover the dark secrets of his mysterious past. – Buy It

First Blood

First Blood

The first of the Rambo movies, Sylvester Stallone plays John Rambo, a green beret Vietnam veteran who drifts into a small Washington town, only to be severely harassed by the town’s sheriff and deputies. Rambo begins having flashbacks to his experiences as a Vietnam POW and begins to unleash his fury upon the small town’s police force. – Buy It

Tombstone

Tombstone

Tombstone follows Kurt Russel, Sam Elliot, and Val Kilmer play retired peace officer Wyatt Earp, his brother Virgil, and friend Doc Holliday as they settle down into the small mining town of Tombstone — ridding it of the miscreants in the process. – Buy It

Die Hard

Die Hard

In this classic 80’s movie, Bruce Willis plays NYPD officer John McClane who plays a game of cat and mouse with a group of terrorists who take over the Japanese-owned hi-rise office building his wife works in. – Buy It

Worth a read: Is Die Hard A Christmas Movie?

Braveheart

Braveheart

Braveheart is a 1995 American war film directed by Mel Gibson also starring Gibson as patriot William Wallace of Scotland — a 13th-century warrior who led the first battle for Scottish independence against King Edward I of England. – Buy It

Rocky

Rocky

Rocky is the story of a local underdog boxer from the tough streets of Philadelphia who is given the opportunity of a lifetime — a shot at the heavyweight boxing title against the reigning champion Apollo Creed. – Buy It

The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption

Featuring one of the best prison escapes in motion picture history, The Shawshank Redemption follows a banker named Andy who is falsely imprisoned for nearly 30 years in the corrupt Shawshank Prison for the murder of his wife. While passing the time with his best friend Red — played by Morgan Freeman — Andy executes the ultimate escape. – Buy It

The Expendables

The Expendables

Cool fight scenes, lots of fire power, and a lot of action. The Expendables follows a team of mercenaries on a nearly impossible covert mission to overthrow the dictator of a small country in South America. – Buy It

Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan

Tom Hank stars as Captain John Miller in this action-packed world war II movie about a team of soldiers on a special mission to find and bring home a private whose three brothers have already perished in the war. – Buy It

Lord Of The Rings Trilogy

Lord Of The Rings Trilogy

The fate of the future depends on a single ring — a ring that was once lost for centuries but suddenly placed in the hands of a noble Hobbit named Frodo Baggins. Baggins must make a long and dangerous journey to destroy the ring once and for all. – Buy It

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Indiana Jones is a legend, and any one of the movies in the series could have easily made it onto this list. In the third installment, Jones rescues his father from the hands of the nazis. The father and son must then reach the holy grail of archeology before the nazis get their hands on it. – Buy It

Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Ron Burgundy

Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy

In perhaps his greatest comedic role yet, Will Ferrel plays self-absorbed news anchor Ron Burgundy opposite of Christina Applegate’s Veronica Corningstone. The two begin an on-air bitter feud that costs Burgundy his job until a breaking story allows him to redeem himself. – Buy It

Iron Man

Iron Man

Sure, several sequels have been released since the original Iron Man, but, like most good movies, the first one is much better than the sequels. Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark, a billionaire playboy and genius who creates the iron man suit to combat crime and worldwide terrorists. – Buy It

Inglorius Basterds

Inglorious Basterds

Brad Pitt plays Lt. Aldo Raine in this intense action and drama movie set during the World War II occupation of France. Raine leads a team of jewish soldiers on a mission to take down the leaders of the Third Reich with the help of a German undercover agent. – Buy It

Top Gun

Top Gun

Welcome to Top Gun, where the best of the best naval aviators sharpen their flying and aerial combat skills. Enter Maverick, who, with his RIO Goose, battle Iceman and the other program’s pilots for first place. – Buy It

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

You don’t have to wait until the holidays to enjoy every man’s favorite Christmas movie. Chevy Chase plays the infamous Clark Griswold in his best screenplay yet. When he invites his entire family over for the holidays, things go downhill fast as he tries to maintain the Christmas spirit in spite of his cousin Eddie, numerous pratfalls, and a greedy boss. – Buy It

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