Mad Max: Fury Road Named Empire's Film Of The 21st Century So Far

To mark the passing of the first two decades of the 21st Century, Empire has revealed its top 10 films of the century thus far, as chosen by its staff and critics.

In at number one they've gone with Mad Max: Fury Road, the post-apocalyptic action film starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.

Warner Bros. Pictures

The process of making the movie was extremely protracted, with initial pre-production starting back in 1997. After numerous failed attempts to shoot it, the movie was at last released in 2015 - and if you ask the guys and girls at Empire, it was worth all the waiting.

Justifying its selection as the best film of the century, Empire said: "George Miller's movie is everything you want from a cinematic experience, and more - it's a bonkers action spectacle, a deranged arthouse movie on an epic scale, a thrilling feat of technical mastery, a film with one of the greatest female actions heroes of all time, and a baddie who looks like an irradiated not-so-far-future Donald Trump. All hail Fury Road."

Warner Bros

The film was hugely popular, with a rating of 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. However, many people may disagree with it pipping Empire's choice of number two: The Dark Knight.

The Christopher Nolan film, for which Heath Ledger posthumously received an Oscar, is revered by many as a modern day classic.

Empire said: "Nolan dropped the timeframe contortions of Batman Begins for a linear thriller, in which Christian Bale's Batman is confronted and confounded by Heath Ledger's never-to-be-bettered take on The Joker. It's easy now, with the likes of Logan and Joker, to forget how seismically Nolan shifted the comic book movie needle."

Warner Bros

The Social Network claimed the bronze medal, with writer Ben Travis saying that he 'struggles to think of any film that better reflects the 21st Century,' which I guess is a fair point.

The critically-acclaimed Moonlight was picked at number four and described as a film that 'stays in the heart forever'.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of the trilogy, was chosen at number five. The 'masterful adaptation' was deemed the best of the three, though it is only just eligible, having been released in 2001 - can you believe that?

As for the rest, There Will Be Blood claimed sixth, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind placed in seventh, Get Out landed eighth, Inception was ninth and Lost In Translation completed the top 10.

See you in 2100 to see if any of these still make the cut... I reckon Fast & Furious 34 will push at least one of them out.

Topics: TV and Film

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey