Scorsese and Spielberg Named the Most Influential Movie of All Time
Two of Hollywood’s biggest directors, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, agree on a movie they consider the most influential ever made: John Ford’s 1956 Western, The Searchers.
According to both filmmakers, the film is more than just a classic—it’s a blueprint for understanding American cinema.
Speaking to AFI, Scorsese described the movie as striking and unsettling. “He literally acts out the worst aspects of racism in our country,” Scorsese said of John Wayne’s character, Ethan Edwards. “It’s right there. You can see the hate. And you can also see how he could go that way.”
For Scorsese, the movie captured the changing mood of the 1950s. “It was 1956, the repression of the ‘50s and things were changing. The movie business was changing, and what you could say in a movie too… These films are coming out and they’re showing this underbelly of the American psyche at that time,” he added.
Spielberg has said he often watches The Searchers before starting his own films. “I turn on a John Ford film—one or two—before every movie, simply because he inspires me. He is like a classic painter. He celebrates the frame, not just what happens inside of it. I have to look at The Searchers. I have to—almost every time,” he told GQ’s Iconic Characters series.
The Searchers stars John Wayne as Ethan Edwards, a Civil War veteran on a mission to rescue his niece after she is kidnapped by Comanches.
What starts as a rescue mission quickly turns darker, revealing Ethan’s intense anger and obsession with revenge. The movie also explores the harsh treatment of Native Americans by white settlers, a topic that was daring for its time. Film critic Roger Ebert noted that Ford tried to show “racism that justified genocide.”
Despite the controversial subject matter, The Searchers has earned widespread acclaim. The American Film Institute named it the greatest American Western in 2008, and it ranked 12th on AFI’s 100 greatest American movies list in 2007. Sight and Sound magazine placed it seventh in a survey of the greatest films ever, and Cahiers du Cinéma ranked it tenth in 2008.
The film was also recognized for its historical and cultural importance by the United States Library of Congress in 1989, becoming one of the first 25 movies selected for the National Film Registry.
John Ford himself defended the film’s portrayal of Native Americans in a 1964 interview, saying that historical prejudice and real-life conflicts influenced the story.
Cultural critic Greil Marcus described Ethan Edwards as “the good American hero driving himself past all known limits and into madness, his commitment to honor and decency burned down to a core of vengeance.”
The Searchers remains a powerful and influential work, admired by generations of filmmakers and audiences alike. Scorsese and Spielberg’s admiration shows just how lasting its impact has been on cinema.
It’s clear why two of the greatest directors of all time consider The Searchers essential viewing. It not only shaped modern filmmaking but also holds up as a story with depth and emotional power. What do you think, does The Searchers deserve its place as the most influential movie? Share your thoughts in the comments.