The coolest films ever - in pictures

Smart, sassy and ice-cool, Pulp Fiction is Quentin Tarantino’s defining work. Brilliantly scripted and peppered with killer dialogue, it's an eminently quotable film. Add to that the genius casting of John Travolta as hitman Vincent, which resurrected his career.

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Photograph: Miramax /Buena Vista/
The Kobal Collection

Sharp suits! Gangsters! Michael Caine! One of the most influential British films, set in the unlikely location of Newcastle, combines a cracking soundtrack with a gripping story and some truly memorable lines.

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Bruce Lee is at the peak of his considerable powers in this epic martial-arts movie. Responsible for the 1970s kung-fu craze and the reason why so many schoolboys of that era went home with ripped trousers after a day spent practising scissor-kicks in the playground.

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Photograph: Concord/Warner Bros/
The Kobal Collection

This surprise box-office hit of 1969 paved the way for the new wave of American independent cinema and reflected the changing values of young people in the US. It also made a star of the eternally cool Jack Nicholson.

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Arguably the greatest mainstream surfing movie ever made. Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze are both at the top of their game, the surfing footage is astonishing, the soundtrack is rocking and there's a parachute freefall scene that's the last word in foolhardy machismo.

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