10 Essential Stanley Kubrick Movies, Ranked

The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut, and Barry Lyndon are all among the best and most essential Stanley Kubrick movies.

March 7, 2025 · 1 min · 62 words · Bradley Wagner

Here are the ten essential Stanley Kubrick films, ranked.

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2001- A Space Odyssey

Image via MGM

Kirk Douglas holding a sword in the air on the poster for Spartacus (1960)

Image via Universal International

Clown in The Killing

Image via United Artists

Kirk Douglas holding a gun and blowing a whistle on a poster for Paths of Glory (1958)

Image via United Artists

Dr. Strangelove smoking a cigarette and smiling in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove

Image via Columbia Pictures

Adam Baldwin and Matthew Modine as Animal Mother and Joker on a battlefield in Vietnam in Full Metal Jacket

Image via Warner Bros.

Malcolm McDowell’s Alex having his eyes pried open in A Clockwork Orange

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Barry Lyndon surrendering in Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon

Image via Warner Bros.

Nicole Kidman as Alice Harford looking up at the camera with a smile in Eyes Wide Shut

Image via Warner Bros

Danny Torrance, played by actor Danny Lloyd, riding his tricycle down a hallway in ‘The Shining’

Image via Warner Bros.

Space Station V, which resembles a four-spoke wheel, orbits above the Earth in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’

Image via MGM

Movie

2001: A Space Odyssey