--- title: Best Movies of 2015: Mad Max Highest Ranked Overall description: Based on 45 'best movies of the year' lists. canonical: https://time.com/4163289/best-movies-of-2015-mad-max/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-29T19:46:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:48.125Z og:title: Here's the Surprising Movie Critics Liked Most in 2015 og:description: Based on 45 'best movies of the year' lists og:url: https://time.com/4163289/best-movies-of-2015-mad-max/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte662b97b0740ce57/698877178e06012fc4463ef0/mad-max-fury-road_ui9lll.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4256 og:image:height: 2394 og:image:alt: mad-max-fury-road_UI9lll og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's the Surprising Movie Critics Liked Most in 2015 twitter:description: Based on 45 'best movies of the year' lists twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte662b97b0740ce57/698877178e06012fc4463ef0/mad-max-fury-road_ui9lll.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's the Surprising Movie Critics Liked Most in 2015 > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far) [Watch (HLS stream): The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far)](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/S3M25t5U.m3u8) (4:16)  _Published 2012-05-17. TIME movie critic, Richard Corliss lists his top films of the millennium (Thus Far). For the full, list go to time.com/entertainment_ by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Dec 29, 2015 7:46 PM UTC  Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road Warner Bros. by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Dec 29, 2015 7:46 PM UTC It wouldn’t be December without lists ranking the best movies (and, well, the best [everything](http://time.com/collection/top-10-everything-of-2015/)) of the year. The [Tastebud blog](http://blog.tastebudapp.co/post/136045692404/the-ultimate-list-of-the-88-best-movies-of-2015) decided to gather data from 45 of these best movie lists to create one big, comprehensive ranking. Some of the publications represented included the New York _Times_, BuzzFeed, [TIME](http://time.com/4134913/top-10-best-movies/), ScreenCrush and Business Insider. Here’s the methodology behind the list, according to Tastebud: --- > “” --- After tallying the scores, these were the year’s top 10 most acclaimed films: 1. _Mad Max: Fury Road_ 2. _Spotlight_ 3. _Carol_ 4. _Inside Out_ 5. _Room_ 6. _Brooklyn_ 7. _The Big Short_ 8. _Ex Machina_ 9. _Anomalisa_ 10. _Sicario_ See the full list of movies — along with all 45 source publications — [at Tastebud](http://blog.tastebudapp.co/post/136045692404/the-ultimate-list-of-the-88-best-movies-of-2015). ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Hi I'm Richard Corliss, Time Magazine movie critic, to show you my infallible or highly debatable selection of the movies of the millennium. [ MUSIC ] [ INAUDIBLE ] Stronger. In a way, these movies, made in the last 12 years, cover the whole history of movies. [ SOUND ] You'll also find a few films that look forward to the stories and techniques of the next hundred years. The fellowship awaits the ring bearer. [ MUSIC ] The Artist. It's a movie set in Hollywood's silent era and it's virtually wordless. Is that a gimmick? Nope. A sustained cinematic inspiration. Deserving of every prize it received, including the Academy Award for Best Picture. This tres French film was also the most classically American picture of its time. [ SOUND ] Found something. The Hurt Locker. US soldiers coming to Iraq knew what to expect: 130 degree heat. And streets full of men, women, and kids, [ CROSSTALK ] any one of whom could detonate a bomb that would blow Americans and Iraqis to bits. What's the best way to, to go about disarming one of these things? The [ INAUDIBLE ]. [ LAUGH ] That's a good one. Determined to get the facts straight, not to score political points. Kathryn Bigelow made an honest, searing war film that fully deserved its Oscar for Best Picture. It's just 39 days. 38 if we survive today. [ SOUND ] Avatar. James Cameron's science fiction 3D film does what fantasy is supposed to do. Create a total environmental experience. Viewers don't just visit the Pandora rainforest, like the movie's paraplegic hero Jake, they find their legs and quickly their home there. To become [ UNKNOWN ]. Hunter, you must choose you're own ikran, and he must choose you. [ NOISE ]. For a sensational, seductive movie immersion, Avatar has it all over Cameron's previous blockbuster. This film is truly titanic. [ SOUND ] The lord of the rings trilogy. Two forms are daring on display here, Peter Jackson's for synopsizing tokens novels into three spectacular three hour films. And the commercial daring of new lines cinema which financed a $ 300 million three part telling of the token saga. Before a single frame had been shot. Will you look into the mirror? What will I see? Even the wisest cannot tell, for the mirror shows many things. [ SOUND ] The movies of the past dozen years, will be remembered for their technical wizardry and digital sheen. Wall- E has all that. [ SOUND ] Plus a toy- meets- girl love story as pure as any in the cinema's first 100 years. This Pixar animated feature, designed as family entertainment, had a bold vision both in story and in sound. [ SOUND ] There's plenty of space out in space, female star liners leaving each day. We'll clean up the mess while you're away. And when Wall E meets his sleek robot Eve, they inhabit a sci fi cyborg romance for the ages. 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