Originally by Ranker FilmList RulesVote up and add all of your favorite movies that are geared towards and feature teenagers.
Need great teen movies to watch? Here's a list of the best teen movies and films about teenagers, adolescence, and high school. What are the best teen movies of all time? 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. What's the best teen movie ever? 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, popular 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. Some of these movies can even be considered teen adventure movies. With that being said, it's easy to see that this is far more that just a top 10 teenage movies list but all of them can be considered a must watch teen movie.
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 top teen movies 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 good teen movies that aren't on here, add them at the bottom of the page.
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15,2974,083Mean Girls
Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdamsReleased: 2004
Directed by: Mark Waters
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9,6622,576Clueless
Alicia Silverstone, Brittany MurphyReleased: 1995
Directed by: Amy Heckerling
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10,6872,65610 Things I Hate About You
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gabrielle UnionReleased: 1999
Directed by: Gil Junger
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12,8163,750The Breakfast Club
Judd Nelson, Molly RingwaldReleased: 1985
Directed by: John Hughes
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10,8433,496Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Charlie Sheen, Matthew BroderickReleased: 1986
Directed by: John Hughes
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9,8483,144Easy A
Emma Stone, Amanda BynesReleased: 2010
Directed by: Will Gluck
7
8,8483,162Back to the Future
Michael J. Fox, Christopher LloydReleased: 1985
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
8
9,6163,353Grease
John Travolta, Olivia Newton-JohnReleased: 1978
Directed by: Randal Kleiser
9
6,4621,937She's the Man
Amanda Bynes, Channing TatumReleased: 2006
Directed by: Andy Fickman
10
7,1431,892The Princess Diaries
Anne Hathaway, Mandy MooreReleased: 2001
Directed by: Garry Marshall
11
4,9691,576Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Emma Watson, Daniel RadcliffeReleased: 2004
Directed by: Alfonso Cuarón
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3,9081,282Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Emma Watson, Robert PattinsonReleased: 2005
Directed by: Mike Newell
13
2,977934Pitch Perfect
Anna Kendrick, Elizabeth BanksReleased: 2012
Directed by: Jason Moore
14
7,4472,886Sixteen Candles
John Cusack, Molly RingwaldReleased: 1984
Directed by: John Hughes
15
4,4701,639The Karate Kid
Elisabeth Shue, Ralph MacchioReleased: 1984
Directed by: John G. Avildsen
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3,9641,459Stand by Me
Kiefer Sutherland, Corey FeldmanReleased: 1986
Directed by: Rob Reiner
17
2,800817The Parent Trap
Lindsay Lohan, Dennis QuaidReleased: 1998
Directed by: Nancy Meyers
18
3,8901,392The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Emma Watson, Nina DobrevReleased: 2012
Directed by: Stephen Chbosky
19
5,1381,898Dirty Dancing
Patrick Swayze, Jennifer GreyReleased: 1987
Directed by: Emile Ardolino
20
4,0191,523The Outsiders
Tom Cruise, Nicolas CageReleased: 1983
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
21
6,2472,440The Goonies
Corey Feldman, Josh BrolinReleased: 1985
Directed by: Richard Donner
22
3,8711,278A Cinderella Story
Hilary Duff, Jennifer CoolidgeReleased: 2004
Directed by: Mark Rosman
23
3,2861,18013 Going on 30
Jennifer Garner, Ashley BensonReleased: 2004
Directed by: Gary Winick
24
4,7921,895Footloose
Sarah Jessica Parker, Kevin BaconReleased: 1984
Directed by: Herbert Ross
25
2,601906Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Emma Watson, Daniel RadcliffeReleased: 2011
Directed by: David Yates
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