Ask any 10 different geeks what their top dozen or so geeky movies are, and you’ll get ten different answers. While there are certain titles that top everyone’s lists, the totality of what can broadly be considered “geek canon” is terrifyingly huge. These fifty films barely scratch the surface of what’s out there, but you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t believe they all belong.
50. Akira
For much of the world, Akira was when anime first became something worth taking note of. Prior to its release, only the most hardcore of geeks had any sort of knowledge of japanese animation, but then along came Akira, and blew everyone’s socks off. This movie arrived with tumultuous applause, a brilliant and dark take on a future filled with secrets and powers beyond the understanding of its everyman hero Tetsuo. While much of the original manga had to be cut for screen time, the resulting movie was nonetheless a stroke of brilliance, and did much to push anime into the mainstream.
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