Best Teen Movies of All Time Films
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Best Teen Movies of All Time

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A list of the best teen movies and films about teenagers, adolescence and high school. Teenagers and young people have long been an ideal target market for film producers. They have more free time than adults, but can get themselves around and choose their own entertainment more easily than children. As well, they have disposable income, and typically spend more of their money on entertainment than their adult counterparts. As this has steadily been true for several decades, it has led to a glut of films designed with teenagers in mind during that time.

Though there is no set definition on what makes a film a ""teen movie,"" other than featuring teenagers (or at the very least, teenaged character) in significant roles, the genre has developed some defining features and common motifs over the years. Often, teen movies will explore high school as an environment, and specifically the high school community and the social cliques that form therein is a constant source of interest and observation. Much of the time, this is done with a snarky or cynical worldview, attempting to reflect the way that jaded teens often see the world of adults. Overwhelmingly popular recent entries in the high school movie sub-genre include ""Easy A"" and ""Mean Girls,"" while cult films such as ""Donnie Darko"" and ""Pump Up the Volume"" explore the same issues with an even darker or more subversive outlook.

Teens are also frequently cast as the leads in horror films, particularly the sub-genre known as ""slasher films."" In these films, attractive young people are typically placed in precarious situations with serial murderers, and audiences can then delight in seeing them ripped apart.

The teen films on this list span all of these sub-genres and more, including genre mash-ups combining several different storytelling modes into one film (such as the horror-comedy ""Scream"" franchise.) It's an Open list, so after you're done voting, if you see any great teen films that aren't on here, add them at the bottom of the page.

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Rank     Name Release Directed by Genre(s)
  1. 1
    Up 513
    Down 95
    1986
    John Hughes
    Drama, Comedy, Teen, Cult, Coming of age
  2. 2
    Up 456
    Down 94
    1985
    John Hughes
    Drama, Comedy
    Most Listed
  3. 3
    Up 280
    Down 81
    1985
    Robert Zemeckis
    Comedy, Family, Science Fiction, Adventure, Time travel, Humour
    added by: KirkSaw
  4. 4
    Up 587
    Down 135
    Mark Waters
    Comedy, LGBT, Teen, Comedy-drama, Coming of age
  5. 5
    Up 318
    Down 111
    1984
    John Hughes
    Comedy, Romance Film, Romantic comedy, Teen, Cult, Coming of age
  6. 6
    Up 372
    Down 117
    1978
    Randal Kleiser
    Comedy, Musical, LGBT, Romance Film, Romantic comedy, Teen
  7. 7
    Up 341
    Down 113
    2007
    Greg Mottola
    Comedy, Teen, Cult, Coming of age, Sex comedy, Buddy film
  8. 8
    Up 276
    Down 126
    1995
    Amy Heckerling
    Comedy, LGBT, Romance Film, Romantic comedy, Teen
  9. 9
    Up 339
    Down 112
    1999
    Gil Junger
    Comedy, Romance Film, Romantic comedy, Teen, Coming of age
  10. 10
    Up 223
    Down 112
    1982
    Amy Heckerling
    Comedy, Romance Film, Teen, Drama Film, Screwball comedy, Cult, Coming of age, Sex comedy, Stoner film More
  11. 11
    Up 175
    Down 107
    1993
    Richard Linklater
    Drama, Comedy, High school, Indie, Cult, Coming of age, Stoner film
    Controversial
  12. 12
    Up 385
    Down 104
    1999
    Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
    Comedy, Romance Film, Romantic comedy, Teen, Coming of age, Sex comedy
  13. 13
    Up 341
    Down 104
    2007
    Jason Reitman
    Drama, Comedy, Romance Film, Teen, Indie, Comedy-drama, Coming of age
  14. 14
    Up 229
    Down 105
    1984
    Herbert Ross
    Drama, Family, Musical, Romance Film, Teen, Coming of age, Dance
  15. 15
    Up 212
    Down 102
    1984
    John G. Avildsen
    Drama, Family, Martial arts, Action, Adventure, Action/Adventure, Sports, Romance Film, Teen, Family Drama, Coming of age More
  16. 16
    Up 193
    Down 86
    1983
    Francis Ford Coppola
    Drama, Period piece, Teen, Film adaptation, Coming of age
  17. 17
    Up 255
    Down 105
    2000
    Peyton Reed
    Comedy, Sports, Teen
  18. 18
    Up 200
    Down 101
    1986
    Howard Deutch
    Drama, Comedy, Romance Film, Romantic comedy, Teen, Romantic drama, Comedy-drama, Coming of age More
  19. 19
    Up 95
    Down 76
    1989
    Peter Weir
    Drama, Period piece, Coming of age, School story
    added by: KirkSaw
  20. 20
    Up 172
    Down 108
    1996
    Wes Craven
    Crime, Mystery, Horror
  21. 21
    Up 253
    Down 94
    1985
    Richard Donner
    Comedy, Family, Adventure, Children's, Teen
    Controversial
  22. 22
    Up 127
    Down 74
    1984
    Wes Craven
    Mystery, Horror, Teen, Supernatural, Slasher, Indie, Cult
  23. 23
    Up 50
    Down 62
    Michael Lehmann
    Comedy
    added by: KirkSaw
  24. 24
    Up 77
    Down 91
    1989
    Cameron Crowe
    Drama, Comedy, Romance Film, Romantic comedy, Teen, Romantic drama, Comedy-drama, Coming of age More
  25. 25
    Up 502
    Down 113
    2010
    Will Gluck
    Comedy, Romance Film, Romantic comedy, Teen, Black comedy
  26. 26
    Up 117
    Down 86
    2001
    Richard Kelly
    Drama, Fantasy, Period piece, Psychological thriller, Mystery, Thriller, Science Fiction, Time travel, Teen, Indie, Coming of age, Doomsday film, Satire, Tragedy More
    Controversial
  27. 27
    Up 159
    Down 101
    1987
    Joel Schumacher
    Comedy, Horror, Teen, Cult, Coming of age
  28. 28
    Up 147
    Down 82
    1985
    John Hughes
    Comedy, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance Film, Teen, Cult, Buddy film
  29. 29
    Up 65
    Down 69
    1955
    Nicholas Ray
    Drama, Romance Film, Teen, Short Film, Family Drama
  30. 30
    Up 54
    Down 54
    2000
    Cameron Crowe
    Drama, Comedy, Period piece, Musical, Comedy-drama, Coming of age
    added by: KirkSaw
  31. 31
    Up 157
    Down 65
    1976
    Gary Nelson
    Drama, Comedy, Fantasy, Family
    added by: KirkSaw
  32. 32
    Up 184
    Down 88
    1986
    Rob Reiner
    Drama, Period piece, Adventure, Teen, Film adaptation, Coming of age
  33. 33
    Up 109
    Down 77
    2000
    James Wong
    Thriller, Horror, Teen, Supernatural, Slasher, Cult
  34. 34
    Up 187
    Down 86
    1987
    Emile Ardolino
    Drama, Period piece, Musical, Romance Film, Teen, Indie, Romantic drama, Coming of age, Dance More
  35. 35
    Up 57
    Down 55
    1983
    Paul Brickman
    Comedy, Comedy-drama, Satire, Sex comedy
    added by: KirkSaw
  36. 36
    Up 126
    Down 53
    2002
    Sam Raimi
    Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Action/Adventure, Superhero movie, Coming of age More
    added by: KirkSaw
  37. 37
    Up 229
    Down 97
    2004
    Jared Hess
    Drama, Comedy, Romance Film, Teen, Indie, Cult, Coming of age
  38. 38
    Up 58
    Down 47
    2004
    Peter Berg, Josh Pate
    Drama, Period piece, Action, Sports, Sports, Film adaptation
    added by: KirkSaw
  39. 39
    Up 138
    Down 37
    2012
    Gary Ross
    Drama, Science Fiction, Action, Action/Adventure
    added by: seane797
  40. 40
    Up 203
    Down 83
    2003
    Garry Marshall
    Drama, Comedy, Family, Romance Film, Comedy-drama
  41. 41
    Up 70
    Down 63
    1982
    Bob Clark
    Comedy, Sex comedy
    added by: Pallknowing1
  42. 42
    Up 113
    Down 101
    1983
    Martin Brest, John Badham
    Drama, Thriller, Science Fiction, Action, Action/Adventure, Cold War, War, Suspense, Political thriller More
  43. 43
    Up 107
    Down 81
    1985
    Rod Daniel
    Comedy, Fantasy, Family, Horror, Teen, Cult
  44. 44
    Up 73
    Down 76
    1976
    Brian De Palma
    Drama, Horror
  45. 45
    Up 69
    Down 68
    1999
    Brian Robbins
    Drama, Comedy, Sports, Teen, Coming of age
  46. 46
    Up 94
    Down 64
    1978
    John Carpenter
    Thriller, Horror, Teen, Slasher, Indie, Cult
  47. 47
    Up 48
    Down 48
    1999
    Joe Johnston
    Drama, Period piece, Biography, Family, Biographical film, Film adaptation, Family Drama More
    added by: KirkSaw
  48. 48
    Up 99
    Down 83
    1973
    George Lucas
    Drama, Comedy, Period piece, Romance Film, Comedy-drama, Coming of age, New Hollywood More
  49. 49
    Up 21
    1989
    Stephen Herek
    Comedy, Fantasy, Family, Science Fiction, Adventure, Time travel, Teen, Buddy film More
  50. 50
    Up 65
    Down 50
    2007
    Julie Taymor
    Drama, Period piece, Musical, LGBT, Romance Film, Romantic drama, Jukebox musical More
    added by: KirkSaw
  51. +Add New Item

Showing items 1 - 50 of 114

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    1. AyllaSousa
      Best Teen Movies of All Time at 4/16/2012 5:16 AM
      Amazing list! I've watched 95% of the movies on it :D
    2. Pallknowing1
      Best Teen Movies of All Time at 2/10/2012 6:43 PM
      Great
    3. bhanuchander
      Best Teen Movies of All Time at 1/11/2012 3:36 AM
      Good list.

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