Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer
Media of Hamburg based Bauer Media Group. From the first issue in July
1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer
purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008. It is the biggest selling film
magazine in the United Kingdom and is also published in the United States,
Australia, Turkey, Russia, and Portugal. Empire organises the annual Empire
Awards which were sponsored by Sony Ericsson, and from 2009 sponsored by
Jameson. The awards are voted for by readers of the magazine.
Regular features Empire is populist in both approach and
coverage. It reviews both mainstream films and art films, but feature
articles concentrate on the former. As well as film news, previews and
reviews, Empire has some other regular features. Each issue features a Classic
Scene, a transcript from a notable film scene. The first such classic scene to
be featured was the "I could have been a contender" scene from On the Waterfront.
The regular Top 10 feature lists Empire's choice of the top ten examples
of something film-related. For example, 10 Best Chase Scenes or 10 Best Movie
Gags in The Simpsons. The Re.View section covers Blu-ray and
DVD news and releases. Kim Newman's Movie Dungeon is a regular feature in
the Re.View section, in which critic Kim Newman reviews the most obscure
releases, mostly low budget horror movies.
How much Is Pint of Milk presents celebrities' answers to silly or unusual
questions, including the question "How much is a pint of milk?" This is
intended as a guide to the chosen celebrity's contact with reality, and as
such can be more informative than a direct interview by reporting some
surprising responses. Each magazine includes a "Spine Quote",
in which a relatively challenging quote is printed on the spine of the magazine.
There are usually some obvious and obscure links from the quote to the main
features of that month's edition. Readers are invited to identify the film
source and the links to win a prize. Celebrity Mastermind is another regular
in which a celebrity is given questions about the films they were in or they
directed. Celebrities range from Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Lee to John
Carpenter and Michael Keaton. = Masterpieces=
A regular feature since issue 167, the masterpiece feature is a two-page essay
on a film selected by Empire in the Re.View section. The selection of the
films seem to be quite random and follow no specific pattern. Only a few issues
since the first masterpiece feature have not featured one – 169, 179, 196, 197,
198 and 246. Also, 240 has director Frank Darabont select 223 masterpieces,
but it doesn't count in the magazine's Masterpiece numbering.
The films to feature in this section so far are:
Fifteenth anniversary Empire published a special 15th
anniversary issue in June 2004 by which time the magazine had reviewed 4,240
theatrical films. Nicole Kidman was named "actress of our lifetime" and
Kevin Spacey was named "actor of our lifetime". The 15 most influential films
of the preceding 15 years were considered to be:
Reservoir Dogs The Silence of the Lambs
Trainspotting Sex, Lies, and Videotape
The Matrix Jurassic Park
The Killer Toy Story
The Blair Witch Project Four Weddings and a Funeral
Batman New Jack City
Scream Gladiator
Dumb and Dumber Eighteenth anniversary
As part of its 18th birthday issue published in June 2007 Empire published
a list of top 18-rated moments in film. This list is as follows:
Alien – Dinner chestburster The Omen – Glass decapitation
An American Werewolf in London – Wolf transformation
The Exorcist – Crucifix abuse Risky Business – Ready Ralph?
Reservoir Dogs – Mr. Blonde slashing the face of Marvin the cop
Blue Velvet – Karaoke from Hell They also selected the 50 greatest films
rated with an 18 certificate. Readers' top films
Empire occasionally poll readers to find out what their favourite films are.
= The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time= The latest list was selected in
September 2008 by over 10,000 Empire readers, 150 film makers and 50 film
critics. The list was accompanied by many different covers, each of which
went on sale. The top 30 chosen films are listed below.
The Godfather Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Empire Strikes Back The Shawshank Redemption
Jaws Goodfellas
Apocalypse Now Singin' in the Rain
Pulp Fiction Fight Club
Raging Bull The Apartment
Chinatown Once Upon a Time in the West
The Dark Knight 2001: A Space Odyssey
Taxi Driver Casablanca
The Godfather Part II Blade Runner
The Third Man Star Wars
Back to the Future The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of
the Ring The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Some Like It Hot Citizen Kane
Die Hard Aliens
Most represented directors The list's most represented director was
Steven Spielberg, who had eleven films in the top 500. The top sixteen
directors are listed below. Their highest-ranked film is also provided, as
well as its position. Steven Spielberg: 11 films – Raiders of
the Lost Ark, 2 Martin Scorsese: 8 films – GoodFellas, 6
Stanley Kubrick: 7 films – 2001: A Space Odyssey, 16
Alfred Hitchcock: 7 films – Vertigo, 40 Akira Kurosawa: 6 films – The Seven
Samurai, 50 Tim Burton: 6 films – Edward
Scissorhands, 66 Woody Allen: 6 films – Annie Hall, 68
Francis Ford Coppola: 5 films – The Godfather, 1
Quentin Tarantino: 5 films – Pulp Fiction, 9
Billy Wilder: 5 films – The Apartment, 12
Peter Jackson: 5 films – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 24
Joel and Ethan Coen: 5 films – The Big Lebowski, 43
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger: 5 films – A Matter of Life and Death, 75
Brian De Palma: 5 films – Carrie, 86 The entire list can be found at Empire.
= Previous lists= A previous poll, The 201 Greatest Movies
of All Time, done by Empire readers solely, was a little different. It was
done in March 2006 and had this top 30: The Shawshank Redemption
The Empire Strikes Back The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of
the Ring Star Wars
The Godfather Pulp Fiction
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Fight Club Goodfellas
The Matrix Jaws
The Usual Suspects The Godfather Part II
Alien Raiders of the Lost Ark
Gladiator Aliens
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Casablanca
Back to the Future Seven
Heat L.A. Confidential
Apocalypse Now The Big Lebowski
Citizen Kane Reservoir Dogs
Die Hard Raging Bull
Some Like It Hot Another previous poll, also by Empire
readers solely, was done in September 2001 and had this top 30:
Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back
The Shawshank Redemption The Godfather
The Matrix Fight Club
Gladiator Goodfellas
Breakfast at Tiffany's Pulp Fiction
Raiders of the Lost Ark The Usual Suspects
Jaws American Beauty
Casablanca Blade Runner
The Godfather Part II Seven
Aliens Saving Private Ryan
The Silence of the Lambs Schindler's List
Alien Some Like It Hot
L.A. Confidential Apocalypse Now
Magnolia Citizen Kane
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon It's a Wonderful Life
Readers' top directors In June 2005, a poll of 10,000 readers
was asked to name the greatest film director of all time. In a list of forty
directors, Steven Spielberg was granted the honour of greatest director, while
the total list was: Steven Spielberg
Alfred Hitchcock Martin Scorsese
Stanley Kubrick Ridley Scott
Akira Kurosawa Peter Jackson
Quentin Tarantino Orson Welles
Woody Allen Clint Eastwood
David Lean Coen brothers
James Cameron Francis Ford Coppola
Oliver Stone Sergio Leone
John Ford Billy Wilder
Sam Peckinpah Editors
Empire has had ten editors. They are: Barry McIlheney
Phil Thomas Andrew Collins
Mark Salisbury Ian Nathan
Emma Cochrane Colin Kennedy
Mark Dinning. Dinning was formerly Associate Editor on the magazine leaving
to take up the position of Editor of Total Film for a period, he then
returned to take up the same role for Empire. He left the magazine in July
2014. Morgan Rees
Terri White Steven Spielberg guest-edited the
magazine's 20th Anniversary Issue in June 2009.
Sam Mendes guest-edited the magazine's Spectre special in September 2015.
References External links
Empireonline.com – the magazine's official web-site