Star Wars voted best film ever

Star Wars has become a cultural icon

Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back have been voted the greatest films of all time by a Channel 4 poll.

George Lucas' space epics easily beat more established classics including Casablanca, Lawrence of Arabia and Gone With the Wind to take the title.

Star Wars, first released in 1977, has won some of the most dedicated fans in cinema history and has topped similar polls in the past.

Top 10 Greatest Films

1) Star Wars / Empire Strikes Back

2) The Godfather / Godfather II

3) The Shawshank Redemption

4) Pulp Fiction

5) Some Like it Hot

6) Gladiator

7) It's a Wonderful Life

8) Blade Runner

9) Schindler's List

10) Goodfellas

The Godfather and the Godfather II took second place, with The Shawshank Redemption third, Pulp Fiction fourth and Some Like it Hot fifth.

The poll was based on tens of thousands of votes cast by Channel 4 viewers from a list and is described as a true reflection of public taste rather than that of film buffs.

Blockbusters

Recent blockbusters featured heavily in the top 100.

Gladiator was one of the recent films to make the Top 10

Gladiator and Schindler's List both make the top 10 and the full chart is peppered with titles from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to Titanic, Trainspotting and Terminator.

Of the more traditional classics It's a Wonderful Life earned a place in the top 10, while Psycho, Casablanca and Citizen Kane all received high rankings.

Nick Jones, head of film programming for Channel 4, said: "We believe that this list represents what the public really like and is not the usual film buffs list of titles most people have never heard.

"The list is bound to stir debate but hopefully will encourage people to see more films that they don't yet know."

Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw said of the result: "It depresses me.

"When people are asked for their favourite film, they tend to go for something they view as a classic, and it's disturbing that people now think Star Wars is a classic."