Like any other year, a casual stroll through the 2002 movie release schedule reveals a treasure trove of blockbusters, indie darlings, and the occasional box office bomb. The first Sam Raimi Spider-Man and Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones were both released that year, but so were anticipated releases that turned out to be disappointments, like Windtalkers and City by the Sea.

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Among the stars in 2002's cinematic sky, however, a handful continues to shine not just as the best films of that year, but great films, period. Even two decades later, they resonate with viewers and demand repeat viewings because of the quality of the storytelling and the cinematography.

Monster's Ball

Billy Bob Thornton & Halle Berry sit on a porch in Monsters Ball

It's a redemption story, but Monster's Ball rides a rough road to get there. A film that showcases two actors at the top of their game — Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry in one of her best films, a role that would win an Oscar for her turn as a struggling black woman whose affections change the heart of a prejudiced prison guard — few films in 2002 captured both sorrow and beauty in equal measure.

As if their roles weren't enough, Peter Boyle is both sorrowful and despicable as Thornton's character's father, and Heath Ledger's turn as the son is breathtaking in its tragedy. Monster's Ball may have been made in 2002, but it possesses a timeless quality that makes the story just as resonant two decades later.

Ice Age

Manny, Sid, and Diego walking on ice in Ice Age.

Not only was Ice Age a box office smash, becoming the eighth highest-grossing film of 2002 and spawning four sequels, it also became an animated classic that's held up over the past 20 years. Credit much of that to the voice actors: Ray Romano as Manny the woolly mammoth, John Leguizamo as Sid the ground sloth, and Denis Leary as Diego the saber-tooth tiger, who bring the characters to life.

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Like all animated films that become classic, Ice Age stands tall for its winning combination: a story that balances heart and humor; gentle comedy that's perfect for kids; high-brow humor that makes adults grin; and the artwork itself, which doesn't seem dated even by 2022 standards.

Panic Room

A woman grasps her child in fear in Panic Room.

On the surface, it's a simple heist film with a heroine (Jodie Foster) determined to protect her daughter (Kristen Stewart) from home invaders (Jared Leto, Dwight Yoakam, and Forest Whitaker). Panic Room remains relevant after all these years, however, because of the subtle themes of feminism and mortality wound throughout the thrilling plot.

Foster balanced both terror and grit as Meg Altman, who takes advantage of the film's titular plot device to both stymie and infuriate the burglars who want the bearer bonds within. As her three foils, Whitaker, Leto, and Yoakam are — respectively — conflicted, jittery, and downright psychopathic, each of them tapping into traits that make the fascinating Panic Room a must-watch whenever it's on, even after all these years.

Frailty

Dad Meiks holds ax in Frailty

Few films were more of a mind-bending blend of thriller and horror like Frailty, and in a year that also saw the release of The Ring, it says a great deal about the performances and the plot that Frailty takes the trophy as the year's best genre film.

What begins as a long flashback of what seems to be a troubled father (played brilliantly by the late Bill Paxton), the movie shifts gears into something else entirely midway through, as Matthew McConaughey gives a performance that's as disturbing as it is understated. At the time, Frailty almost demanded repeat viewings, and that still holds true two decades after the fact.

Road to Perdition

Tom Hanks holding gun in the rain in Road to Perdition

Tom Hanks notched two great films in 2002: Catch Me If You Can, with co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, ranks up there as one of his best, but his turn in Road to Perdition as a mob assassin bent on vengeance is almost tender, given the circumstances. With Sam Mendes in the director's chair and the source material a graphic novel by Max Allan Collins, Hanks tapped into the emotional devastation that is a father whose work can't help but shape his son.

While it's true that a number of films set in the past outlive the year in which they're made, Road to Perdition owes its longevity to the care Mendes and Hanks took to elevate it beyond a simple revenge drama. Special mention needs to be given as well to Tyler Hoechlin as the son of Hanks' character. Although he would go on to star as Superman in the Arrowverse, his film debut was grounded in gritty realism.

Signs

A man sits with 2 children on a couch in Signs.

M. Night Shyamalan had delivered dark, atmospheric, and cerebral works in The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, but while there were some bigger themes at play in Signs, it's pretty much a straightforward alien invasion movie as told from one family's perspective, albeit one with plenty of scary scenes. The smaller scale and the performances by Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix bring the story to life, and Shyamalan's signature tension is on point throughout.

Of all the films released in 2002, Signs is comfort fare in the way comfort food is: It's familiar, and even though viewers know exactly what's going to happen, changing the channel isn't an option, or even a thought, once it's on. Even 20 years later, the story — a big, on-the-nose examination of the nature of faith — still entertains in a way that makes it one of Shyamalan's best.

The Ring

Naomi Watts looks at a TV screen in The Ring.

Hideo Nakata's Japanese original version, released four years earlier, left big shoes to fill, but Gore Verbinski, who directed the 2002 American treatment of The Ring with star Naomi Watts, does so admirably. Verbinski succeeds in retaining the unease that permeates the supernatural horror thriller, about a possessed videotape that causes the deaths of those who view it through the actions of a dead girl named Samara.

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There's nothing particularly gory or violent in The Ring. In fact, everything that makes it such a timeless film is left to the imagination, elevated by a tone of sheer wrongness: Samara's origins, the way she manifests in the real world, the utter madness her victims experience before they die. Viewers feel it as much as they see it, and for this reason alone, The Ring remains a horror classic.

8 Mile

Jimmy rides a bus in 8 Mile

Maybe it's because the story itself is timeless that 8 Mile holds up: a restless young man with preternatural talent pushes against the home life and community bonds that keep him trapped in unsuccessful cycles. With Eminem in his movie debut and plenty of scenes that allow the rapper to do what he does best, it becomes a hip-hop fable that retains its potency 20 years later.

If Marshall Mathers had stumbled as an actor, it would have been a very different experience, but in drawing on his own origins, from his romantic relationships to the troubled dynamic between himself and his mother, Eminem carries the film. In doing so, he makes 8 Mile worthy of repeat viewings, and a visceral experience to this day.

25th Hour

Edward Norton talks to his 2 friends outside in The 25th Hour.

Last fall, Rolling Stone named the Spike Lee-directed, Edward Norton vehicle 25th Hour as "the only 9/11 movie that still matters," and said the film "captures the vibe of the city in the aftermath of that horrific event in a way that feels more compelling, more wounding (and wounded), more spot-on than any recreations of that day’s tragedy possibly could."

It's not overtly mentioned — in fact, it's the story about a drug dealer's last day of freedom before he turns himself in for a seven-year sentence — but the characters, like the city around them, are broken, flawed human beings. Shot throughout is a gossamer thread of hope, but like those early days, it's left up to viewers to decide if it's attainable.

Gangs of New York

Daniel Day Lewis wearing an American flag in Gangs of New York

As 2002 came to a close, director Martin Scorsese took viewers back in time to 1846, when Protestant and Catholic gangs warred with one another over the Five Points neighborhood in New York. It's a period piece, but those need strong actors to anchor them, and between the chops of Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Cameron Diaz, Gangs of New York is held firm.

Without a contemporary setting to date it, Gangs of New York might very well have been made in 1992, or 2022. And certainly, the message still resonates, brought to life by the brutal massacre in Paradise Square by indiscriminate military guns: those in power set those who have none against one another, and in the end, their blood and sweat helps build the next layer of an empire.

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