Last updated March 2024
On the hunt for sensationally spectacular Best Movies 2003? We assembled 30 marvelous, universally beloved Best Movies 2003 handpicked by our experts for your immediate streaming enjoyment. With through the roof acclaim from revered IMDB critics and our own community of savvy users, these elite titles simply can't be matched for quality. Help other viewers find overlooked gems by voting for your personal favorites. We appreciate your help showcasing the finest titles available!
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Plot Summary:
Aragorn is revealed as the heir to the ancient kings as he, Gandalf and the other members of the broken fellowship struggle to save Gondor from Sauron's forces. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam bring the ring closer to the heart of Mordor, the dark lord's realm
Duration: 201 min
IMDB Rating: 9.0/10
IMDB Votes: 19000000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: New Zealand, USA
Plot tags: sword fight, wizard, magic, magical, battles, creature, courage, monster, friendship, sword and sorcery, good versus evil, medieval, sorcerer, ancient, middle earth, heroic mission, race against time, hobbit, imaginary kingdom, imaginary, journey, army, warrior, elf, save the world
Anbe Sivam (2003)
Plot Summary:
Nalla Sivam and Anbarasu meet under different circumstances and their lives are changed as they take the journey of their life
Duration: 160 min
IMDB Rating: 8.6/10
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: India
Plot tags: life changing experience, communism, atheism, odd couple, accident, self discovery, social differences, introspection, tragic love, terrorism, destiny, fall in love, social relations, capitalist, secret, disability, compassion, recovery, motivation, discovery, adventurer, slice of life, self awareness, innovation, airport
The Best of Youth (2003)
Plot Summary:
Spanning four decades, from the chaotic 1960s to the present, director Marco Tullio Giordana's passionate epic 'La Meglio Gioventu' follows two Italian brothers through some of the most tumultuous events of recent Italian history
Duration: 366 min
IMDB Rating: 8.5/10
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Italy
Plot tags: idealism, society, couples, cafe, sister in law sister in law relationship, dishonesty, friendship, mental illness, storytelling, musician, politics, protest, police brutality, character study, psychiatrist, political corruption, law enforcement, hopes, state affairs, couple relations, family life, human nature, unfulfillment, dream, loss of loved one
Oldboy (2003)
Plot Summary:
With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate businessman seeks revenge on his captors
Duration: 120 min
IMDB Rating: 8.4/10
IMDB Votes: 619000
Genere: Action, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Plot tags: revenge, incest, vengeance, older man younger woman relationship, psychopath, plot twist, hypnosis, mind game, psychological torture, kidnapping, confined, torture, loneliness, great ending, brother sister relationship, imprisonment, brother sister incest, sin, captive, father daughter incest, notebook, incestuous relationship, violence, humiliation, mysterious villain
Finding Nemo (2003)
Plot Summary:
Nemo, an adventurous young clownfish, is unexpectedly taken from his Great Barrier Reef home to a dentist's office aquarium. It's up to his worrisome father Marlin and a friendly but forgetful fish Dory to bring Nemo home -- meeting vegetarian sharks, surfer dude turtles, hypnotic jellyfish, hungry seagulls, and more along the way
Duration: 100 min
IMDB Rating: 8.2/10
IMDB Votes: 11000000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family
Country: USA, Japan
Plot tags: friendship, underwater, shark, memory loss, father son relationship, animal, freedom, courage, single father, rescue, odd couple, talking animal, fish, amnesia, escape attempt, parent child relationship, father son reunion, ocean, anthropomorphism, pelican, protective father, friends, sea, overprotective father, obstacle
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
Plot Summary:
An assassin is shot at the altar by her ruthless employer, Bill and other members of their assassination circle – but 'The Bride' lives to plot her vengeance. Setting out for some payback, she makes a death list and hunts down those who wronged her, saving Bill for last
Duration: 111 min
IMDB Rating: 8.2/10
IMDB Votes: 12000000
Genere: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: revenge, vengeance, martial arts, mentor, one man army, mission, female protagonist, heroine, hitman, sword, dark hero, yakuza, fight, female warrior, katana, hate, rape and revenge, vigilante, violent, brutality, gore, organized crime, samurai, dark humor, tough girl
Memories of Murder (2003)
Plot Summary:
1986 Gyunggi Province. The body of a young woman is found brutally raped and murdered. Two months later, a series of rapes and murders commences under similar circumstances. And in a country that had never known such crimes, the dark whispers about a serial murderer grow louder. A special task force is set up in the area, with two local detectives Park Doo-Man and Jo Young-Goo joined by a detective from Seoul who requested to be assigned to the case
Duration: 131 min
IMDB Rating: 8.1/10
IMDB Votes: 208000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Plot tags: serial killer, police, twists and turns, rape, murder investigation, police investigation, murderer, murder, unsolved crime, investigation, murder mystery, true crime, police detective, suspicion, false accusation, violence, chase, killings, killer, police brutality, brutality, assassin, crime investigation, violent, obsession
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Plot Summary:
Jack Sparrow, a freewheeling 17th-century pirate, quarrels with a rival pirate bent on pillaging Port Royal. When the governor's daughter is kidnapped, Sparrow decides to help the girl's love save her
Duration: 143 min
IMDB Rating: 8.1/10
IMDB Votes: 12000000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Country: USA
Plot tags: pirate, treasure hunt, ship, fantasy world, treasure, captain, sword fight, pirate ship, pirate captain, swashbuckler, curses spells and rituals, boat, escapades, supernatural, tombs and skeletons, sailing, love, alcoholic, young woman, british empire, caribbean sea, theft, immortality, sea battle, weirdo
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003)
Plot Summary:
A gangster sets out to fulfill his father's dream of becoming a doctor
Duration: 156 min
IMDB Rating: 8.1/10
IMDB Votes: 87000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: India
Plot tags: hospital, mistaken identity, medical school, starting over, impersonating, misfit, parents and children, love and romance, ambition, lifestyle, hidden identity, disorder, pretense, family disapproval, dishonesty, love, abduction, criminal, cancer, doctor, pickpocket, deception, lie, surgery, medical student
Maqbool (2003)
Plot Summary:
Macbeth meets the Godfather in present-day Bombay. The Scottish tragedy set in the contemporary underworld of India's commercial capital; two corrupt, fortune telling policemen take the roles of the weird sisters, and "Duncan" is Abbaji, the head of a crime family
Duration: 132 min
IMDB Rating: 8.0/10
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: India
Plot tags: gangster, shakespeare, gang, dishonesty, law enforcement, godparent, right hand man, macbeth, betrayal, corrupt cop, friendship, organized crime, greed, muslim, death of protagonist, hindu, innovation, great escape, wedding, hooligan, wizards and magicians, love and romance, throne, aging, underworld
Big Fish (2003)
Plot Summary:
Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures
Duration: 125 min
IMDB Rating: 8.0/10
IMDB Votes: 454000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA
Plot tags: fish, journey, surrealism, father son relationship, fantasy world, storytelling, loneliness, mermaid, magic realism, death, magic, childhood, parents and children, hopes, small town, self discovery, witch, true love, cancer, imagination, on the road, relationships, death of father, heartwarming, human spirit
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)
Plot Summary:
This South Korean film takes place on an isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by
Duration: 103 min
IMDB Rating: 8.0/10
IMDB Votes: 86000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: South Korea, Germany
Plot tags: buddhism, life & death, coming of age, isolation, meditation, existentialism, buddhist monk, nature, monk, buddhist, solitude, beautiful scenery, human nature, life changing experience, guilt, temple, lust, life, lake, childhood, loneliness, fish, boy, melancholy, philosophy
Dogville (2003)
Plot Summary:
A barren soundstage is stylishly utilized to create a minimalist small-town setting in which a mysterious woman named Grace hides from the criminals who pursue her. The town is two-faced and offers to harbor Grace as long as she can make it worth their effort, so Grace works hard under the employ of various townspeople to win their favor. Tensions flare, however, and Grace's status as a helpless outsider provokes vicious contempt and abuse from the citizens of Dogville
Duration: 178 min
IMDB Rating: 8.0/10
IMDB Votes: 156000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, UK, France, Finland, Norway, Italy
Plot tags: rape, society, twists and turns, morality, female protagonist, rocky mountains, vengeance, haunted by the past, victim, brutality, storytelling, gangster, refugee, existentialism, revenge, art, great ending, sex scene, cruelty, women, feminism, moving, architecture, human rights, hipster
Mystic River (2003)
Plot Summary:
A story about friendship and loyalty, guilt and vengeance, and the fateful affect the past has on the present
Duration: 138 min
IMDB Rating: 7.9/10
IMDB Votes: 477000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Australia
Plot tags: vengeance, police investigation, murder, sexual abuse, murder mystery, investigation, death in the family, child abuse, loss of child, revenge, tragic event, grief, police, loss of daughter, pedophilia, violence, loss of loved one, underworld, kidnapping, child molester, childhood, tragedy, plot twist, innocence lost, abuse
The Return (2003)
Plot Summary:
A story of two Russian boys whose father suddenly returns home after a 12-year absence. He takes the boys on a holiday to a remote island on a lake that turns into a test of manhood of almost mythic proportions
Duration: 110 min
IMDB Rating: 7.9/10
IMDB Votes: 47000
Genere: Drama
Country: Russia
Plot tags: coming of age, brother, journey, survival, children, parents and children, father son relationship, existentialism, death, wilderness, childhood, on the road, character study, overbearing parent, abusive father, father, island, road trip, family relations, tragic event, brother brother relationship, european, youth, innocence lost, traumatic childhood
Tomorrow May Never Come (2003)
Plot Summary:
Naina is a very serious girl with a very serious life. But one day, her soul is awakened by the happy-go-lucky Aman, who teaches her that life is meant to be lived. Naturally, she falls in love with him. But Aman is harboring a secret that keeps him from reciprocating Naina's love. But he cannot stand having her live a life without love, so he sets off on a mission to fill her life with someone else's love - someone she already knows
Duration: 186 min
IMDB Rating: 7.9/10
IMDB Votes: 74000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Musical, Romance
Country: India, Canada
Plot tags: terminal illness, love triangle, neighbor, young woman, secret, diary, family life, best friend, unfulfilled love, tragic event, depression, family relations, parents and children, young man, family problems, starting over, family tradition, human nature, death in the family, character change, tragic love, urban, brother sister relationship, gay slur, hindu
The Last Samurai (2003)
Plot Summary:
Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist
Duration: 154 min
IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
IMDB Votes: 463000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA, New Zealand, Japan
Plot tags: samurai, sword fight, battles, war, military, courage, japanese history, warrior, katana, self discovery, pride and honor, human spirit, dignity, martial arts, emperor, japanese army, friendship, honor, army, leadership, loyalty, foreigner in japan, spirituality, glory, war hero
Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
Plot Summary:
One Christmas Eve three people, a middle-aged alcoholic named Gin, a former drag queen Hana and a dependent runaway girl Miyuki, discover an abandoned newborn while looking through the garbage
Duration: 92 min
IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
IMDB Votes: 45000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: Japan
Plot tags: holiday, christmas, homeless, transgender, baby, friends, parents and children, life is a bitch, friendship, gay, loneliness, lgbt, runaway, melancholy, lgbtq, snow, homelessness, society, new year, lgbtqi, humour, group of friends, help, uncover truth, mafia
Gangaajal (2003)
Plot Summary:
An SP Amit Kumar who is given charge of Tezpur police station in Bihar. The area is full of corruption, inefficiency, bribery, nepotism, favoritism and crime with help from the local police. Gradually Amit realizes that the local politician Sadhu Yadav is the one who benefits the most out of it. Amit arrests Sunder Yadav
Duration: 157 min
IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama
Country: India
Plot tags: police station, dishonesty, law enforcement, fighting crime, vigilantism, rivalry, bribery, police corruption, police brutality, criminal's revenge, honest law enforcer, confession, police, police officer, social issues, cop, gory, society, tough law enforcer, corrupt law enforcer, right and wrong, violent content, rape, torture, criminal
Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003)
Plot Summary:
A sci-fi anime House-musical movie collaboration between Daft Punk--and their music--and designer Leiji Matsumoto. During the recording of their DISCOVERY album and using the themes of sci-fi celebrity, decadence and space travel, Daft Punk--with help from Cedric Hervet--wrote the story and inspired seasoned Japanese animators to symbiotically create this stunning space musical
Duration: 68 min
IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Music, Sci-Fi
Country: Japan, France
Plot tags: music, space and aliens, self discovery, music business, space travel, musician's life, rising to stardom, rescue, space, music band, escapades, ambition, lifestyle, dishonesty, benign alien, heroic mission, dancing, trippy, space opera, clubbing, stoner, migration, worship, nemesis, generation y
The Classic (2003)
Plot Summary:
Shy Ji-hae's friend is having problems expressing her feelings to the boy she loves, so she asks Ji-hae to write e-mails to him in her name. As the boy falls in love with her letters, Ji-hae discovers the story of her mother's romance which is remarkably similar to her own circumstances
Duration: 127 min
IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: South Korea
Plot tags: love triangle, fall in love, forbidden love, social differences, youth, family relations, love affair, young lovers, society, parents and children, diary, love, asian, coming of age, love story, tragedy, in love, tragic love, entertainment, ends with death, plot twist, love at first sight, village, love and romance, arranged marriage
Good Bye Lenin! (2003)
Plot Summary:
An affectionate and refreshing East/West-Germany comedy about a boy who’s mother was in a coma while the Berlin wall fell and when she wakes up he must try to keep her from learning what happen (since she was an avid communist supporter) to avoid shocking her which could lead to another heart attack
Duration: 121 min
IMDB Rating: 7.7/10
IMDB Votes: 151000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Germany
Plot tags: berlin wall, coma, politics, capitalism, idealism, communism, society, cold war, culture clash, amnesia, childhood, doctor, german reunification, revolution, family relations, parents and children, social differences, protecting from truth, international relations, family secret, young man, secret, political unrest, dishonesty, waking up from a coma
Lost in Translation (2003)
Plot Summary:
Two lost souls visiting Tokyo -- the young, neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie star shooting a TV commercial -- find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company, away from their lives in America
Duration: 102 min
IMDB Rating: 7.7/10
IMDB Votes: 480000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, Japan
Plot tags: loneliness, midlife crisis, age difference, friendship, older man younger woman relationship, alienation, melancholy, fish out of water, love story, unlikely couple, couples, self discovery, relationships, adultery, culture clash, character study, dull life, hotel room, photographer, unlikely friendships, hotel, bittersweet, advertising, housewife, love and romance
The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
Plot Summary:
When her grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza and her beloved pooch Bruno team up with the Belleville Sisters--an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire--to rescue him
Duration: 80 min
IMDB Rating: 7.7/10
IMDB Votes: 56000
Genere: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Music, Sport
Country: France, Belgium, Canada, UK, Latvia, USA
Plot tags: dog, cycling, tour de france, very little dialogue, bicycle, dream, chase, mafia, boy, friendship, rescue, escapades, danger, old woman, friends, championship, melancholy, eccentricity, boat, sister sister relationship, grandmother grandson relationship, journey, darkness, rivalry, european
Evil (2003)
Plot Summary:
Stockholm, the fifties. Though academically bright, violent pupil Erik Ponti is expelled from his state school with the headmaster’s words “there’s only one word for people like you – evil… what you need is a good thrashing, and more”. In fact already Erik frequently receives a ‘good’ thrashing at the hands of his sadistic stepfather – so he is packed off by his mother to boardingschool
Duration: 113 min
IMDB Rating: 7.7/10
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden, Denmark
Plot tags: rebellion, coming of age, private school, rebelliousness, corporal punishment, humiliation, friendship, life is a bitch, high school, bully, bullying, boarding school, violence, boy, swedish, boarding school life, youth, lifestyle, school, revenge, teacher, society, human nature, hardcase students, rebel
Carandiru (2003)
Plot Summary:
Carandiru, a story based on real facts and on the book written by the doctor Drauzio Varella, starts when he decides to carry out an AIDS prevention program inside Latin America’s largest prison: the Casa de Detenção de São Paulo, Carandiru, the victim of one of the darkest days in Brazilian History, when the State of São Paulo’s Military Police, with the excuse for law enforcement, shot to death 111 people
Duration: 145 min
IMDB Rating: 7.6/10
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: Brazil, Argentina, Italy
Plot tags: prison, aids, doctor, police brutality, prison escape, prison life, fighting the system, life is a bitch, confined, protest, fighting illness, regret, human nature, lgbt, injustice, solitary, jail, prison sex, gay, prison riot, survival, hiv, attempted murder, murder, mafia
The Man Who Copied (2003)
Plot Summary:
André, 19, lives in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and works as a photocopier operator. He likes to see his neighbor Sílvia with a pair of binoculars. She works selling clothes. Becoming attracted to her, he tries to get nearer, and goes to her shop to buy something, but finds out that he can't afford it. So he puts the photocopier to other uses, and begins to envisage fishy schemes to earn some money
Duration: 123 min
IMDB Rating: 7.6/10
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Brazil
Plot tags: love and romance, voyeurism, neighbor, society, shyness, cons and scams, poverty, sex, stalking, moral ambiguity, dream, deception, sexual perversion, painting, heist, explosions, intrigue, samba, troubled, blaxploitation, robbery, interracial romance, fall in love, deadend life, perversion
The Station Agent (2003)
Plot Summary:
When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude, only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a woman dealing with her own personal loss
Duration: 89 min
IMDB Rating: 7.6/10
IMDB Votes: 73000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Plot tags: loneliness, bittersweet, solitude, friendship, depression, small town, melancholy, society, loss, death, prejudice, grief, railway, eccentricity, lifestyle, friends, journey, social misfits, loss of child, human nature, small town life, antisocial behavior, unfulfillment, troubled, mail
Control (2003)
Plot Summary:
A tale about a strange young man, Bulcsú, his fellow inspectors, who are all without exception likeable characters, a rival ticket inspection team, and racing along the tracks... And a tale about love
Duration: 111 min
IMDB Rating: 7.6/10
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: Hungary
Plot tags: subway, train, workplace, serial killer, social misfits, dark humor, european, underground, love, musician, chess, angel, death, claustrophobia, chase, surrealism, redemption, drinking, distopia, artist, time loop, obsession, misfit, railway, architecture
Love Actually (2003)
Plot Summary:
Follows seemingly unrelated people as their lives begin to intertwine while they fall in – and out – of love. Affections languish and develop as Christmas draws near
Duration: 135 min
IMDB Rating: 7.6/10
IMDB Votes: 515000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France, USA
Plot tags: christmas, love, holiday, relationships, love story, love and romance, multiple storylines, marriage, fall in love, couples, first love, couple relations, looking for love, infidelity, winter, unrequited love, marital problem, adultery, bittersweet, family relations, love at first sight, wedding, workplace romance, lovers, flirting