Top 20% of the 2000s (Based on RT Popcorn), a list by Adam McGready

9.3

/429288/

91

/23008/

88

/4626/

100

/23/

98

age 7+

In a war-torn world of elemental magic, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world.

90

IMDb 90

9.1

/3120631/

88

/87256/

85

/34978/

4.5

/3849185/

94

/341/

94

/173380/

85

/41/

4.0

age 15+

Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.

92

9.4

/233471/

91

/5156/

86

/1190/

4.6

/63117/

100

/21/

92

age 6+

David Attenborough celebrates the amazing variety of the natural world in this epic documentary series, filmed over four years across 64 different countries.

92

IMDb 11

9.5

/2463559/

92

/113474/

89

/16870/

96

/250/

97

87

/98/

age 17+

Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live. He becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting desire to secure his family's financial future at any cost as he enters the dangerous world of drugs and crime.

89

8.6

/861785/

85

/13747/

84

/7929/

4.6

/998306/

91

/162/

97

/15604/

79

/33/

4.0

age 18+

In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.

92

IMDb 57

9.3

/422897/

91

/17764/

86

/2530/

95

/149/

96

91

/95/

age 18+

Told from the points of view of both the Baltimore homicide and narcotics detectives and their targets, the series captures a universe in which the national war on drugs has become a permanent, self-sustaining bureaucracy, and distinctions between good and evil are routinely obliterated.

89

9.0

/2135972/

88

/54623/

84

/25863/

4.5

/1947051/

94

/304/

86

/2050091/

94

/41/

3.5

age 11+

As armies mass for a final battle that will decide the fate of the world--and powerful, ancient forces of Light and Dark compete to determine the outcome--one member of the Fellowship of the Ring is revealed as the noble heir to the throne of the Kings of Men. Yet, the sole hope for triumph over evil lies with a brave hobbit, Frodo, who, accompanied by his loyal friend Sam and the hideous, wretched Gollum, ventures deep into the very dark heart of Mordor on his seemingly impossible quest to destroy the Ring of Power.

91

9.1

/240205/

89

/10662/

87

/2322/

4.7

/154388/

100

/15/

93

9.1

/2267115/

age 14+

Disregard for alchemy’s laws ripped half of Edward Elric’s limbs from his body and left his brother Alphonse’s soul clinging to a suit of armor. To restore what was lost, the brothers seek the Philosopher’s Stone. Enemies and allies – the corrupt military, the Homunculi, and foreign alchemists – will alter the Elric brothers course, but their purpose will remain unchanged and their bond unbreakable.

89

8.4

/27371/

82

/460/

80

/592/

4.3

/17292/

94

/62/

98

/603/

89

/28/

4.0

After a fateful encounter in the summer of 1966, the lifepaths of two brothers from a middle-class Roman family diverge, intersecting with some of the most significant events of postwar Italian history in the following decades.

91

9.4

/584140/

91

/18794/

85

/3970/

4.7

/204891/

94

/34/

97

87

/28/

age 16+

Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as their journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men from paratrooper training in Georgia through the end of the war. As an elite rifle company parachuting into Normandy early on D-Day morning, participants in the Battle of the Bulge, and witness to the horrors of war, the men of Easy knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear - and became the stuff of legend. Based on Stephen E. Ambrose's acclaimed book of the same name.

88

8.5

/1534726/

83

/31310/

81

/15766/

4.3

/1398605/

91

/285/

94

/58086/

85

/39/

4.0

age 17+

To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.

88

8.2

/741150/

80

/18180/

77

/11194/

4.2

/916678/

95

/239/

91

/62195/

98

/37/

4.0

age 15+

In post–civil war Spain, 10-year-old Ofelia moves with her pregnant mother to live under the control of her cruel stepfather. Drawn into a mysterious labyrinth, she meets a faun who reveals that she may be a lost princess from an underground kingdom. To return to her true father, she must complete a series of surreal and perilous tasks that blur the line between reality and fantasy.

90

8.4

/22401/

84

/1102/

86

/875/

100

/9/

96

age 7+

Having spent the summer engaging common criminals with his new-found powers, not so typical 16-year-old Peter Parker must conceal his secret identity and battle super-villains in the real world as he enters his junior year of high school.

90

8.9

/462374/

86

/19793/

86

/4671/

4.4

/297998/

100

/14/

96

8.6

/2955356/

age 14+

Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects—and he’s bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But will Light succeed in his noble goal, or will the Death Note turn him into the very thing he fights against?

87

8.0

/104459/

79

/2457/

79

/2070/

4.2

/208467/

96

/163/

92

/7559/

90

/31/

4.0

age 15+

In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Satrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own.

89

8.7

/185366/

87

/14870/

82

/1702/

95

/90/

94

age 14+

When an old enemy, the Cylons, resurface and obliterate the 12 colonies, the crew of the aged Galactica protect a small civilian fleet - the last of humanity - as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony, Earth.

87

8.1

/925632/

79

/37317/

78

/18060/

4.2

/3198103/

96

/251/

87

/79171/

96

/37/

4.0

age 6+

Remy, a resident of Paris, has quite a sophisticated palate. He would love to become a chef so he can create and enjoy culinary masterpieces to his heart's delight. The only problem is, Remy is a rat. When he winds up in the sewer beneath one of Paris' finest restaurants, Remy finds himself ideally placed to realize his dream. He forms an unusual alliance with the restaurants rookie employee, and together they work through challenges stemming from Head Chef Skinner, Remy’s colony, and renowned food critic Anton Ego, who strikes fear in the hearts of chefs all throughout France.

89

8.5

/65570/

84

/2289/

84

/859/

93

/35/

95

93

/7/

age 14+

A great warrior is displaced to the distant future by the evil shape-shifting wizard Aku. The world has become a bleak place under the rule of Aku, segregated into fantastic tribes and ruled by Aku's evil robot warlords. Jack travels this foreign landscape in search of a time portal that can return him to his home time so he can "undo the future that is Aku!".

87

8.8

/1929737/

87

/53331/

84

/23266/

4.4

/1885599/

95

/258/

95

/72895/

87

/39/

3.0

age 11+

Frodo Baggins and the other members of the Fellowship continue on their sacred quest to destroy the One Ring--but on separate paths. Their destinies lie at two towers--Orthanc Tower in Isengard, where the corrupt wizard Saruman awaits, and Sauron's fortress at Barad-dur, deep within the dark lands of Mordor. Frodo and Sam are trekking to Mordor to destroy the One Ring of Power while Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn search for the orc-captured Merry and Pippin. All along, nefarious wizard Saruman awaits the Fellowship members at the Orthanc Tower in Isengard.

87

8.4

/1302487/

84

/47828/

81

/19808/

4.2

/2385441/

95

/258/

90

/50436/

95

/39/

3.5

age 5+

What if mankind had to leave Earth and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off? After hundreds of years doing what he was built for, WALL•E discovers a new purpose in life when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL•E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to report to the humans. Meanwhile, WALL•E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most imaginative adventures ever brought to the big screen.

88

8.5

/84292/

83

/1320/

82

/927/

4.1

/13501/

95

/90/

94

89

/62/

A re-imagining of the original series in which a "rag-tag fugitive fleet" of the last remnants of mankind flees pursuing robots while simultaneously searching for their true home, Earth.

88

IMDb 47

8.7

/285026/

85

/13040/

81

/1408/

94

/279/

95

86

/199/

age 14+

Set in 1960-1970 New York, this sexy, stylized and provocative drama follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising.

87

IMDb 64

8.9

/2174568/

87

/63890/

84

/26809/

4.4

/2531333/

91

/235/

95

/80557/

92

/34/

3.0

age 11+

Young hobbit Frodo Baggins, after inheriting a mysterious ring from his uncle Bilbo, must leave his home in order to keep it from falling into the hands of its evil creator. Along the way, a fellowship is formed to protect the ringbearer and make sure that the ring arrives at its final destination: Mt. Doom, the only place where it can be destroyed.

87

8.2

/8852/

79

/206/

78

/89/

3.9

/2409/

96

/97/

94

/1228/

89

/28/

4.0

Chronological look at the fiasco in Iraq, especially decisions made in the spring of 2003 - and the backgrounds of those making decisions - immediately following the overthrow of Saddam: no occupation plan, an inadequate team to run the country, insufficient troops to keep order, and three edicts from the White House announced by Bremmer when he took over.

88

8.4

/23704/

83

/1297/

84

/444/

100

/13/

91

age 7+

Zim dreams of greatness. Unfortunately, though, he's hopelessly inept as a space invader. Desperate to be rid of the annoying Zim, his planet's leaders send him on a mission to infiltrate Earth, providing him with leftover, cobbled-together equipment. To their consternation, Zim succeeds in setting up a base on Earth and infiltrating human culture, posing as a human child as he plots the planet's downfall. Only Zim's archnemesis, Dib, recognizes that Zim is an alien, and of course, nobody believes Dib's claims.

87

7.9

/17593/

76

/351/

78

/361/

4.3

/37507/

98

/57/

90

/279/

93

/9/

4.0

A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.

88

8.7

/72814/

85

/2740/

80

/411/

96

/58/

93

age 17+

Peep Show follows the lives of two men from their twenties to thirties, Mark Corrigan, who has steady employment for most of the series, and Jeremy "Jez" Usbourne, an unemployed would-be musician.

87

7.9

/20544/

80

/600/

78

/420/

4.3

/58245/

100

/66/

90

/301/

89

/21/

4.0

A family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.

88

8.7

/96176/

86

/4896/

81

/815/

90

/121/

96

89

/46/

age 16+

The story of an inner-city Los Angeles police precinct where some of the cops aren't above breaking the rules or working against their associates to both keep the streets safe and their self-interests intact.

87

8.1

/33052/

81

/946/

79

/631/

4.5

/158869/

97

/91/

91

/517/

94

/25/

3.5

A Taipei family faces personal and moral uncertainty as everyday events test their relationships and sense of purpose.

87

8.3

/25483/

83

/2565/

81

/564/

4.3

/24390/

100

/17/

91

8.6

/961530/

When a young laborer escapes to the world aboveground, he discovers a violent land in which humans battle robots controlled by a power-hungry noble.

87

8.6

/21154/

88

/1279/

84

/1197/

4.2

/117710/

94

/106/

The lively João Grilo and the sly Chicó are poor guys living in the hinterland who cheat a bunch of people in a small town in Northeastern Brazil. When they die, they have to be judged by Christ, the Devil and the Virgin Mary before they are admitted to paradise.

87

8.7

/78287/

85

/3238/

80

/303/

97

/130/

93

83

/88/

age 14+

The trials and triumphs of life in the small town of Dillon, Texas, where high school football is everything.

87

8.4

/52927/

80

/1372/

79

/646/

4.0

/19131/

95

/133/

94

/2288/

84

/26/

4.0

age 14+

The Cove tells the amazing true story of how an elite team of individuals, films makers and free divers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate the hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The shocking discoveries were only the tip of the iceberg.

87

8.6

/29991/

85

/1697/

78

/228/

92

/55/

95

age 16+

Hank and Dean Venture, with their father Doctor Venture and faithful bodyguard Brock Samson, go on wild adventures facing megalomaniacs, zombies, and suspicious ninjas, all for the glory of adventure. Or something like that.

87

8.1

/259118/

80

/7538/

80

/4355/

4.4

/860281/

95

/80/

92

/1039/

82

/18/

4.0

age 16+

A sadistic serial rapist and murderer of young women terrorizes a small province in 1980s South Korea. To prevent further crimes, three increasingly desperate detectives with conflicting methods race against time to unravel the violent mind of the killer in a futile effort to solve the case.

87

8.6

/127079/

86

/5606/

81

/895/

92

/103/

95

85

/61/

age 18+

The story of the early days of Deadwood, South Dakota; woven around actual historic events with most of the main characters based on real people. Deadwood starts as a gold mining camp and gradually turns from a lawless wild-west community into an organized wild-west civilized town. The story focuses on the real-life characters Seth Bullock and Al Swearengen.

87

8.4

/439787/

82

/6441/

80

/3974/

4.3

/184644/

92

/162/

96

/11153/

89

/39/

3.5

age 17+

In 1984 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler begins spying on a famous playwright and his actress-lover Christa-Maria. Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, and faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria.

86

8.4

/25172/

80

/809/

76

/151/

100

/19/

92

age 16+

A British comic fantasy containing humour and pop-culture references. Episodes often featured elaborate musical numbers in different genres, such as electro, heavy metal, funk, and rap. The show has been known for popularising a style called "crimping"; short acappella songs which are present throughout all three series.

87

8.5

/999876/

84

/15728/

84

/9833/

4.4

/1109428/

95

/186/

96

/10818/

85

/40/

3.5

age 15+

The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

86

8.5

/62470/

84

/3330/

82

/734/

4.5

/45147/

89

/9/

93

8.5

/676115/

Break-dancing but fierce warrior Mugen has to deal with the cold-blooded and conceited Jin, a samurai who believes he is above all. These sworn enemies are brought together by Fuu for a special task.

87

8.2

/1168834/

79

/25828/

79

/12900/

4.3

/1921536/

93

/291/

86

/60250/

92

/39/

4.0

age 17+

Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell hot on his trail. The roles of prey and predator blur as the violent pursuit of money and justice collide.

86

8.4

/61846/

82

/3911/

78

/443/

96

/46/

95

85

/44/

age 14+

A pie-maker, with the power to bring dead people back to life, solves murder mysteries with his alive-again childhood sweetheart, a cynical private investigator, and a lovesick waitress.

87

8.3

/1218772/

82

/44967/

79

/21215/

4.1

/2684689/

98

/291/

90

/42244/

88

/37/

4.0

age 6+

Carl Fredricksen spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life.

86

8.4

/64049/

84

/3042/

80

/570/

93

/13/

91

age 15+

Black Books centres around the foul tempered and wildly eccentric bookshop owner Bernard Black. Bernard’s devotion to the twin pleasures of drunkenness and wilful antagonism deepens and enriches both his life and that of Manny, his assistant. Bearded, sweet and good, Manny is everything that Bernard isn’t and is punished by Bernard relentlessly just for the crime of existing. They depend on each other for meaning as Fran, their oldest friend, depends on them for distraction. Black Books is a haven of books, wine and conversation, the only threat to the group’s peace and prosperity is their own limitless stupidity.

87

8.2

/1192976/

81

/44271/

78

/20170/

4.0

/2132468/

99

/266/

86

/1434748/

90

/38/

4.0

age 5+

Nemo, an adventurous young clownfish, is unexpectedly taken from his Great Barrier Reef home to a dentist's office aquarium. It's up to his worrisome father Marlin and a friendly but forgetful fish Dory to bring Nemo home -- meeting vegetarian sharks, surfer dude turtles, hypnotic jellyfish, hungry seagulls, and more along the way.

86

8.8

/164553/

85

/5827/

81

/876/

92

/258/

90