1. Raiders of the Lost Ark

Is there a more enduring image of poster art? No, there isn't. That is why this brilliant piece is #1.

2. Return of the Jedi (Advance)

A simple, striking image. This poster teased you just enough for the movie EVERYBODY needed to see.

3. It

Clara Bow is the greatest comedianne of all time, but that goes on another list. I love this piece of lobby art from 1927. I think the image speaks for itself.

4. The Little Mermaid (Pre-release)

That Disney sure knows how to make a pre-release poster, huh? Just check out AG's "Beauty and the Beast" pick. What a great image of the film. Ariel, alone staring out above the sea. Seems pretty deep considering it's an ad for a cartoon.

5. Plan 9 From Outer Space

I love that 50's sci-fi poster look. So did Ed Wood. It may have been the only thing he ever did right.

1) Return of the Jedi (Pre-release)

Before some nerd wrote a thesis and sent it to George Lucas, Episode 6 was to have gone by this name. Before the nerd-written thesis, however, there was just enough time to print this awesome, striking poster (which was later redone with the "Return" moniker) in a limited enough quantity to make it an expensive-as-bejeezus collectors' item. Which I own. IN YER FACE!!!

2) Out of Sight (US)

One of the reasons cited for Out of Sight's poor box office performance was that people couldn't get enough of a sense of the movie off of the poster, which is a shame, because this is a gorgeous, retro-style poster which should've captured everybody's attention and imagination, and with their curiosity piqued, they should've marched en masse to see this kick-ass movie. But that didn't work, which says that maybe this poster didn't live up to its promise as a marketing tool. But still, a gorgeous poster.

3) The Empire Strikes Back (Original Release)

Blatantly stolen from the art for Gone with the Wind, this poster perfectly encapsulates the broader canvas onto which the saga was transposed with Empire, with vivid color and composition suggesting "You ain't seen nuthin' yet."

4) Beauty & the Beast (Pre-Release)

That Disney sure knows how to make a pre-release poster, huh? Just check out Jim's "Little Mermaid" pick. What a great image of the film. Belle and the Beast, dancing in an ethereal, colorful mist. Seems pretty deep considering it's an ad for a cartoon.

5) The Fifth Element (French)

Not just a stunning poster - which it is - but WAY better than the US art (three headshots, a spaceship, and a cryptic tagline, and yet the movie didn't sell here ...?!). This vibrant future cityscape gives a much clearer impression of the movie than the US one-sheet. I say praise to thee, Gaumont, and shame on you, Columbia/Tri-Star.

1. Friday the 13th part VIII:Jason Takes Manhattan

Paramount was sued by the New York tourism commission over this poster. God forbid it be implied a killer walks the streets of their fair city! I killed four people in the short year I lived there myself! Anyway, the poster is kinda funny, I think what they were going for with the movie. I think.

2. Jaws

Shark eats unsuspecting people. That's all you need going into this movie. I think three guys sitting on a boat discussing their fear of the sea would have been a crappy poster.

3. Frighteners

This poster is much cooler in moving 3-d. The demon face actually pushes its way out of the blank poster. So damn cool. I spent hours walking past this poster watching it, marveling at the poster technology, wondering what was in that Thai food I ate. Hmmmmm.

4. National Lampoon's Vacation

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick. Whoah-oh-ohhh-ohhh. Jack design a poster that's slick. Whoah-oh-ohhh-ohhh. I love these Hildebrandt style painted posters, and this one is such a great parody, the way Nation Lampoon used to be able to do it.

5. Strange Brew

The original theatrical poster rocks. It has taken many hours of searching to finally just scan the video box, which has a cropped version of the poster, but again it has that painted epic everything in the movie is here look. It's a poster some work and care went into.