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Best Good versus evil Movies

Ranked by how strongly each film carries the visual signature of good versus evil cinema — measured across 3,287 indexed frames from 36 films, against a 404,689-frame catalogue baseline. Not by box office, and not by vote.

Good versus evil films over-index on armor, fire and tunic — the objects that make the genre recognisable before a line is spoken.

  1. 1

    The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

    Peter JacksonDP Andrew LesnieIMDb 8.9TMDB 8.4See in full on FrameThrower →

    An ancient Ring thought lost for centuries has been found, and through a strange twist of fate has been given to a small Hobbit named Frodo. When Gandalf discovers the Ring is in fact the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron, Frodo must make an epic quest to Mount Doom in order to destroy it. However, he does not go alone. He is joined by Gandalf, Legolas the elf, Gimli the Dwarf, Aragorn, Boromir, and his three Hobbit friends Merry, Pippin, and Samwise. Through mountains, snow, darkness, forests, rivers and plains, facing evil and danger at every corner the Fellowship of the Ring must go. Their quest to destroy the One Ring is the only hope for the end of the Dark Lords reign.

  2. 2

    Conan The Barbarian (1982)

    John MiliusDP Duke CallaghanIMDb 6.9TMDB 6.8See in full on FrameThrower →

    Beyond the mists of time, having witnessed the brutal death of his blacksmith father and the massacre of the entire village by the murderous followers of Thulsa Doom, the undead evil wizard and servant of the serpent-god, Set, Conan, the orphaned young Cimmerian, is condemned to a life of slavery. Chained to the perpetual Wheel of Pain, the helpless boy grows into a man, and after years of rigorous training as a fierce gladiator, Conan, now an unstoppable mountain of muscle, regains his precious freedom. But, with the image of the blood-soaked raid etched on his mind, Conan teams up with Subotai, the Hyrkanian thief, and Valeria, the Queen of the Bandits, and embarks on a peril-laden journey to the mysterious Mountain of Power, and the impregnable Snake Cult Temple. Will Conan avenge his parents?

  3. 3

    The Mummy Returns (2001)

    Stephen SommersDP Adrian BiddleIMDb 6.4TMDB 6.4See in full on FrameThrower →

    Many years ago, in Ancient Egypt, the Scorpion King led a menacing army, but when he sold his soul to Anubis, he was erased from history. Now he is only a myth...or is he? Rick and Evelyn O'Connell are still discovering new artifacts, along with their 8 year old son Alex. They discover the Bracelet of Anubis. But someone else is after the bracelet. High Priest Imhotep has been brought back from the dead once again and wants the bracelet, to control the Scorpion King's army. That's not the only problem. Imhotep now has Alex and with the bracelet attached to him, doesn't have long to live.

  4. 4

    Mad Max 2 (1981)

    George MillerDP Dean SemlerIMDb 7.6TMDB 7.4See in full on FrameThrower →

    Wandering the deserted highways of an energy-starved dystopian Australia after eradicating the Night Rider's followers in Mad Max (1979), the former patrolman, Max Rockatansky, finds himself roaming the endless wasteland scavenging for food and precious petrol. Suddenly, in the scorched wilderness, the hungry for fuel Max chances upon a small oil refinery; however, the place is under siege by Lord Humungus' barbarian horde of biker warlords, hell-bent on destruction and mayhem. Now, to get his hands on as much gas as he can carry, "Mad" Max will have to provide the defenceless community with a powerful truck to transport the gasoline to safety; nevertheless, this is easier said than done. Is Max, the battle-scarred Road Warrior, up to the task?

  5. 5

    The Dark Crystal (1982)

    Jim Henson, Frank OzDP Oswald MorrisIMDb 7.1TMDB 7.1See in full on FrameThrower →

    Another planet, another time. One thousand years ago, the mysterious Dark Crystal was damaged by one of the Urskeks and an age of chaos has began. The evil race of grotesque birdlike lizards, the Skeksis, gnomish dragons who rule their fantastic planet with an iron claw. Meanwhile, orphan Jen, raised in solitude by a race of the peace-loving wizards called the Mystics, embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of the Dark Crystal which gives the Skeksis their power and restore the balance of the universe.

  6. 6

    Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)

    John R. LeonettiDP Matthew F. LeonettiIMDb 3.6TMDB 4.5See in full on FrameThrower →

    Mortal Kombat is an ancient tournament where the Earth Realm warriors battle against the forces of Outworld. Liu Kang and a few chosen fighters fought and defeated the powerful sorcerer Shang Tsung, their victory would preserve the peace on Earth for one more generation. Taking place now where the first movie left off, the Earth realm warriors live a short period of peace when evil forces from another dimension come to invade and wreak havoc on Earth. They are guided by the forces of Outworld leader, Shao Kahn and his generals such as: Motaro, Rain, Ermac, Sheeva and Sindel. Now Liu Kang, Raiden, Jax, Sonya and Kitana must defeat Shao Kahn in six days before the Earth realm merges with the Outworld.

  7. 7

    Highlander (1986)

    Russell MulcahyDP Gerry FisherIMDb 7.0TMDB 6.9See in full on FrameThrower →

    In New York City, the owner of a sophisticated antique shop Russell Edwin Nash is challenged to a sword fight in the parking lot of the Madison Square Garden by a man called Iman Fasil that is beheaded by Russell. He hides his sword and is arrested by the police while leaving the stadium. Russell recalls his life in the sixteenth century in Scotland, when he is Connor MacLeod, and is fatally wounded in a battle against another Clan. However, he surprisingly survives and his Clan believes he has a pact with the devil and expels him from their lands. Then he meets Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez, who explains that he is immortal unless he is beheaded. Further, the immortals dispute a game killing each other and in the end only one survives receiving a prize with the power of the other immortals. Russell is released by the police, but the snoopy forensic agent Brenda J. Wyatt is attracted by the case since she found fragments of an ancient Katana and follows Russell. But the also immortal Kurgan is hunting down MacLeod, and Brenda is in the middle of their battle.

  8. 8

    Aladdin (1992)

    John Musker, Ron ClementsIMDb 8.0TMDB 7.7See in full on FrameThrower →

    Aladdin is a poor street urchin who spends his time stealing food from the marketplace in the city of Agrabah. His adventures begin when he meets a young girl who happens to be Princess Jasmine, who is forced to be married by her wacky yet estranged father. Aladdin's luck suddenly changes when he retrieves a magical lamp from the Cave of Wonders. What he unwittingly gets is a fun-loving genie who only wishes to have his freedom. Little do they know is that the Sultan's sinister advisor Jafar has his own plans for both Aladdin and the lamp.

  9. 9

    Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

    Joss WhedonDP Ben DavisIMDb 7.3TMDB 7.3See in full on FrameThrower →

    When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure.

  10. 10

    Batman & Robin (1997)

    Joel SchumacherDP Stephen GoldblattIMDb 3.8TMDB 4.4See in full on FrameThrower →

    Batman and his sidekick Robin attempt to the foil the sinister schemes of a deranged set of new villains, most notably the melancholy Mr. Freeze, who wants to make Gotham City into an arctic region, and the sultry Poison Ivy, a botanical femme fatale. As the Dynamic Duo contend with these bad guys, a third hero, Batgirl, joins the ranks of the city's crime-fighters.

What good versus evil films are made of

How much more often each element appears in a good versus evil frame than in an average frame from the catalogue. A ratio, not a share — armor is not in most frames, it is simply far more common here than anywhere else.

  • armor6.1×
  • fire2.9×
  • tunic2.8×
  • smoke2.7×
  • rock2.6×
  • mountain2.6×
  • sand2.5×
  • fedora2.5×

How good versus evil films are shot

Weaker signals than the objects above, and worth saying so: most dramatic genres skew dark and night-heavy, so these numbers separate good versus evil from the catalogue far more than they separate it from its neighbours.

  • 12%low anglevs 5% baseline
  • 10%high anglevs 6% baseline
  • 30%dayvs 43% baseline
  • 54%low keyvs 39% baseline
  • 32%naturalvs 44% baseline

What breaks the pattern

Suspiria (2018) is the least typical film here — it carries the least of what the rest of this list is made of. Which is either a failure of the genre label, or the most interesting film on the page.

Method

Every frame in the FrameThrower catalogue is tagged for shot size, lighting, time of day, camera angle, colour and the objects visible in it. This page aggregates those tags across 3,287 frames from 36 films carrying the good versus evil label, and compares each figure to the same measurement across the whole catalogue (404,689 frames). Films are ranked by how closely they match the theme’s over-indexed elements, weighted by how distinctive each element is; one film per series. Only films with at least 20 indexed frames and 500 TMDB votes are listed.

Machine-readable: /api/list/good-versus-evil

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These are real movie frames, shown at reduced resolution. All rights remain with their respective owners; they appear here for study, commentary and education under fair-use principles. How these are meant to be used