22 Years Later, These Are the 10 Best Movies of 2004
Collider has revisited 2004, arguing it stands out as one of the strongest years in film history, and picked out ten movies that still hold up 22 years later. The list spans genres from romance and fantasy to superhero blockbusters and crime thrillers, reflecting the year's unusual depth of acclaimed releases.
Among the titles highlighted:
– Before Sunset (Richard Linklater) – praised for Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy's chemistry in this bittersweet Vienna-set romance.
– Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Alfonso Cuarón's darker, more mature take on the wizarding franchise.
– Spider-Man 2 (Sam Raimi) – widely regarded as one of the greatest superhero sequels, anchored by Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus.
– Kill Bill: Volume 2 (Quentin Tarantino) – singled out over Volume 1 for its slower pace and deeper character work.
– Several further entries make up the remainder of the ten-film ranking (full list beyond these was not available in the provided text).
- Collider names 2004 as an all-time great year for cinema.
- List includes Before Sunset, Spider-Man 2 and Kill Bill: Volume 2.
- Films praised for character depth, chemistry and genre-defining quality.
New here? Start with this
Before Sunset, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Spider-Man 2 and Kill Bill: Volume 2 all came out in 2004, a year that film outlet Collider argues produced an unusually deep crop of acclaimed movies across very different genres, from indie romance to studio blockbusters. Collider is a US-based entertainment website that covers film and television news, reviews and retrospective features.
The films named span a wide range of styles: Before Sunset is a low-budget dialogue-driven romance from director Richard Linklater, the Harry Potter instalment marked a tonal shift for the fantasy franchise under new director Alfonso Cuarón, Spider-Man 2 is a big-budget superhero sequel from Sam Raimi, and Kill Bill: Volume 2 is the concluding half of Quentin Tarantino's stylised revenge saga. Between them they represent mainstream franchise film-making, arthouse-adjacent drama and auteur-driven genre cinema.
This kind of retrospective ranking is a common feature in entertainment journalism, using the benefit of hindsight to assess which films from a given year have endured critically and with audiences over time. It matters mainly to film fans and industry watchers as a way of taking stock of 2004's legacy, rather than reflecting any new event or development.