5. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
A thoughtful, profound, slow-burning science-fiction tale with an incredible climax
4. Raiders of the Lost Ark
A rip-roaring homage to 40s-era serials with style, humor, romance, thrills, and chills to spare
3. Jaws
After Psycho, probably the best horror film ever made. A heady mixture of suspense, adventure, and terror, with one of the all-time great scenes in movie history (Robert Shaw's U.S.S. Indianapolis monologue)
2. E.T.
A beautiful, tear-jerking, thematically-rich fable
1. Schindler's List
A masterpiece that I'd rank as the best movie of the 90s. Extraordinary writing, acting, cinematography, editing, and production design.