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Top 10 movie posters
Glen Chapman
Glen chooses the publicity artwork that almost became more iconic than the films they advertised...
Published on Jun 17, 2009
Everyone has their own opinion of what makes a great poster. In my opinion, a good movie poster should be simple, iconic and instantly recognisable. Here are my top ten (minus Betty Blue, The Blues Brothers and The Big Blue and Blue Velvet, of course);
10. Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Pulp Fiction features prominently in similar lists, but for me it's the poster for Reservoir Dogs that's the better of the two.
9. Office Space (1999)

With the man covered in Post-its, this poster perfectly captures the feel of the movie. And there's also Milton peering out from behind him for good measure. Plus the tagline effectively sums up what so many of us feel.
8. Ghostbusters (1984)

An iconic and simple design. Remove any text from the poster and show it to anyone and I'm almost certain that they'll know what film it belongs to.
7. Metropolis (1927)

To say that the poster for Fritz Lang's SF classic is iconic would be something of an understatement. The beautiful sepia tones and the menacing, jagged font for the title help this no end.
6. The Descent (2005)

A poster that at first glance appears to be one thing, but on closer inspection is something else. At a distance this is a simple picture of an illuminated skull, but look closer and you can see that the image is made up of the women who embarked on the perilous spelunking trip.
5. Hard Candy (2005)

One of the best posters in recent memory. The reference to Little Red Riding Hood is an obvious one and the combination with this and the trap is very effective in creating a sense of terror. Although on closer inspection, it shows that the girl isn't in the trap.
4. Burn After Reading (2008)

The Coen Brothers' darkly comic caper has the feel and similar themes to great movies of the past. So it's fitting that the poster effectively captures this by mimicking Saul Bass' style that was attributed to so many great posters. Speaking of Saul Bass...
3. Vertigo (1958)

Saul Bass has been responsible for many fine posters over the years, but I'd say that this is perhaps his finest. The poster brilliantly captures the feelings attributed to the condition of the title of the movie.
2. Alien (1979)

I can remember this poster intriguing and terrifying me equal measure when I was younger. As with many of the others on the list, simplicity is the key here, along with a killer tagline.
1. The Truman Show(1998)

At first glance, this is just a picture of the star of the show, but then you look closer you see that the image is made up of hundreds of smaller images of Truman. Truly a great poster that captures the feel of the movie.
So there's my list of the top ten movie posters of all time. I'm certain that not one of you will agree with the list in its entirety (I'm sure some of you won't agree with any of the entries) as I haven't seen one list to date that I've agreed with...
So what are your top ten posters of all time?
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