The 10 Greatest Dad Movies of All Time

It’s 8:30 pm. Do you know where your dad is? Probably asleep on the living room sofa while one of these films plays in the background. The ultimate list of fatherly comfort films, these dad-friendly titles are a staple of any Father’s Day gathering. Epic historical dramas, pun-filled comedies, thrillers that your dad is certain he could survive were he the hero — each of these films is catnip for the paternal figure in your life. And while none of these films will convince your father to chill out on red meat, ask for directions when lost, or go to therapy, they’ll work wonders on his health and well-being regardless. Here they are, the greatest dad movies of all time, for the proud papa in your life.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Historical drama? Maritime setting? Russell Crowe? These three ingredients make for a triple-decker dad movie sandwich. Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World captures every dad’s secret dream: to buy a boat and sail the globe as proof of his resourcefulness, grit, and manly power. But this seafaring epic is far more, well, epic, than tooling around on a modern-day motorized dingy; this boat is the cannon-firing, mainsail-hoisting, seconds-away-from-capsizing real-deal dad fantasy. Fathers get a particular kick putting themselves in the British Navy-issue boots of Jack Aubrey, a rough-and-tumble ship’s captain in hot pursuit of the enemy French frigate Acheron. Fatherly thrills abound, including: self-surgery, hand-to-hand combat, and a surprising amount of bird-watching. Even hard Navy men can appreciate the beauty of the flightless cormorant, and so does your dad.

The Martian

While many of the greatest dad movies were made at the turn of the millennium or before, The Martian is a 2015 exception. Mark my words: Ridley Scott’s man-lost-in-space odyssey is set to become a dad movie classic. How do I know? Because Ridley Scott may be the greatest dad film filmmaker of all time. Gladiator. Blade Runner. The Duelists. The dad-approved list goes on. The Martian is a paternal hit because it preaches all the same values your dad does: self-reliance, grit, and tinkering with weird little hobby projects in the garage. In this film’s case, the garage is the remains of a crashed spaceship, and the hobby projects are hardcore science experiments like growing potatoes on Martian soil and turning rocket fuel into water. I’m sure whenever your dad fantasizes about getting lost on an alien planet, he’d like to think he’d come up with some similar survival strategies.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

While some dads would call this blasphemy, I think others would solemnly agree that The Lord of the Rings is the greatest dad movie trilogy, better than The Godfather. Sure, The Godfather has “father” in the title, along with gunfights, cool cars, and other things dads love, but The Lord of the Rings captures many a dad’s inner desire to be a hero. What dad could resist going on an epic, self-sacrificing quest to protect the people he loves from evil? What dad doesn’t dream of his name being recorded in the annals of history as a brave warrior or a wise sovereign? What dad isn’t stirred by the badass way that Aragorn opens those double doors to Théoden’s hall? While the dadly desire to be a respected mob boss is strong, his desire to protect and preserve in the face of impossible odds is stronger. Dads hope to be an Aragorn in the eyes of the children, a Gandalf to their grandkids, a Samwise Gamgee to their friends, and a weird Uncle Gimli to the cousins, as he should.

The Untouchables

Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables lacks the clout of The Godfather or Goodfellas, but dads agree this crime drama is peak paternal cinema. It’s one of those movies that doesn’t always make “greatest of all time” lists, but your dad whispers its title in reverent tones regardless. Like many quintessential dad movies, it’s based on a dad-friendly book of the same name, and follows a fictionalized account of a group of Prohibition agents working to take down Al Capone. The cast is made up of dad movie all-stars: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, and Robert De Niro as Capone himself. It’s a hard-boiled caper about manly men with matching outfits and shotguns taking the law into their own hands in pursuit of justice — the stuff that dadly daydreams are made of.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Steven Spielberg had a vision when he was crafting Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: to make one of the most fatherly films of all time. After all, what’s more dadly than an Indiana Jones film? An Indiana Jones film featuring Indiana Jones’s dad. Any history-loving dad not already won over by Jones’s artifact-nabbing, Nazi-punching antics was sure to be spellbound by the introduction of the treasure hunter’s father, played by dad film all-star Sean Connery. While Harrison Ford is a dad-approved actor in his own right, no father figure can resist the animal dad-mastism of the original James Bond himself. A heartwarming father/son bonding experience disguised as a historical action-adventure, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade proves that the joy of parenthood is an even greater treasure than the Holy Grail.

Saving Private Ryan

World War II was one of the most devastating tragedies in human history, and dads just can’t get enough of it. The war film to end all war films, Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan is required viewing for fathers everywhere. It’s one of the most genuinely frightening films ever, so traumatizingly accurate that it caused actual WWII veterans to walk out of movie theatre screenings — a historical fact your dad is certain to tell you while watching, along with countless others. He’ll be saying, “Look, that’s a German Tiger tank!” or “Let me explain what ‘FUBAR’ means” while you’re trying not to avert your eyes in terror; it’s a quintessential father/child bonding experience.

Gladiator

Ridley Scott’s Gladiator is many a dad’s Roman Empire, literally. It’s the story of a Roman general and dad who suffers the Dad’s Worst Nightmare: having his beloved family murdered by the main villain. Sold into slavery as a gladiator, Maximus Decimus Meridius must now use his tactical intellect and middle-aged grit to fight his way out of the Colosseum and have his revenge. I’m not sure what the test audiences looked like when they were assembling the final cut of this film, but something tells me that that theater was full of fathers. “Are you not entertained?” asks Maximus to a crowd of spectators in one of the film’s most-quoted scenes. Every dad in the audience silently answered: “Yes, we are.”

Deliverance

The Deer Hunter, Predator, if there’s anything dads love, it’s a gritty survival movie. John Boorman’s Deliverance is gritty as it gets. The story of four adventurers fighting to survive an onslaught of mountain men, this movie has the ingredients necessary for dad movie greatness: rugged wilderness and the rugged good looks of Burt Reynolds. The film was marketed as the pinnacle of cinematic manliness, with its main actors risking life and limb to canoe down whitewater rapids and scale cliffsides without the help of stunt doubles. Your dad will be thrilled to tell you all the gory details of the filmmaking process — broken bones, near-drownings, and an alcohol-fueled fist fight between the director and the author of the original Deliverance novel. Peak dad drama.

The Shawshank Redemption

While many dads who love Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption have probably never gone to prison, I’m sure plenty of them think that if they did, it would go something like this. This film is about a wrongfully convicted man (a dad-favorite stock character) who, through his own cleverness and resilience, not only escapes Shawshank State Penitentiary but also uncovers a corruption scandal that goes to the very top. And while there aren’t any father figures in the film per se, the film’s central lesson, “never give up without a fight,” is a quintessential piece of dad advice. After all, the film was based on a book by Stephen King — a dad-favorite literary figure who’s famously a dad himself.

Monty Python and The Holy Grail

The Holy Grail of Dad Movies, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, is many a father’s most-quoted film. A cinematic masterpiece from Britain’s most famous comedy group, this movie has contributed more vocal stims to the dad lexicon than any other. How many times have I heard my dad mutter “Ni!” to himself while puttering around the kitchen? Too many to count. And while the Knights of Ni’s trademark phrase is a favorite of fathers everywhere, this film is also responsible for other dad greatest hits like “‘Tis but a scratch!” and “I fart in your general direction!” The Holy Grail might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but we can all appreciate the sheer joy it gives dads around the world.

(featured Image: Paramount Pictures)

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