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The 10 Best Dog Movies, Ranked

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Since the early days of Hollywood, cinematic canines like Rin-Tin-Tin, Lassie, and Old Yeller have established man's best friend as a major box office draw. Today, there is an endless list of notable films about heroic dogs and humorous pups, including Disney's 101 Dalmatians , Hachi: A Dog's Tale , and Turner & Hooch , that have become beloved classics among film fans.

While some of these movies tug at the heartstrings or leave audiences with a bittersweet rush of emotion, they're still a vital part of the movie-going experience that has a lasting impact on many. With family comedies like Beethoven and My Dog Skip and animated adventures such as Wes Anderson 's Isle of Dogs and All Dogs Go to Heaven , these are ten of the best dog movies of all time, ranked!

10 'All Dogs Go to Heaven' (1989)

Directed by don bluth.

Charlie ( Burt Reynolds ) is a canine casino owner who is killed by a vicious gambler, Carface ( Vic Tayback ), but when Charlie finds a way to return to Earth from Heaven, he decides to take his revenge on his killer. As Charlie begins to execute his plan with the help of a young orphan girl, Anne-Marie ( Judith Barsi ), Charlie starts growing fond of the little girl, forcing Charlie to choose between exacting his revenge or helping her find a better life.

Like most of Don Bluth 's films, All Dogs Go to Heaven has a bit of a darker tone than most animated films, but it's still a must-see dog movie, featuring an array of memorable characters voiced by noteworthy names, which also includes Dom DeLuise , Loni Anderson , and Ken Page . Initially, t he movie earned mixed reviews and wasn't a massive success, but through the years, All Dogs Go to Heaven has become a cult classic, noted by many for its heartfelt story and visually stunning animation.

All Dogs Go to Heaven

A canine angel, Charlie, sneaks back to earth from heaven but ends up befriending an orphan girl who can speak to animals. In the process, Charlie learns that friendship is the most heavenly gift of all.

Watch on Tubi

9 'Beethoven' (1992)

Directed by brian levant.

When a St. Bernard puppy sneaks into the Newton family's backyard, George Newton (Charles Grodin) isn't as keen on the new visitor as his wife, Alice (Bonnie Hunt) and kids. Reluctantly, George agrees to let the puppy, which they name Beethoven, stay, but as the small pet grows into a sizable dog, George becomes more frustrated with the destructive Beethoven, who seems to spoil everything for the patriarch.

The 1992 movie Beethoven is a hilarious family film that spawned a popular film franchise and was also co-written by John Hughes under the pseudonym, Edmond Dantés. Despite earning mixed reviews, Beethoven was a surprise success at the box office, raking in over one hundred and forty million dollars worldwide. The movie does have a few far-fetched and over-the-top moments, but all in all, Beethoven is an essential dog movie that is guaranteed to generate plenty of laughs for any movie-goer.

The Newton family's life takes a lively turn when a St. Bernard puppy named Beethoven joins their household. As Beethoven grows into a giant dog, he brings joy and chaos to the family. However, a sinister local veterinarian secretly threatens Beethoven's safety with his unethical experiments.

Rent on Amazon Prime

8 'Isle of Dogs' (2018)

Directed by wes anderson.

In Wes Anderson's clever stop-motion animated film, Isle of Dogs , there is an outbreak of dog flu, forcing all the canines in Megasaki City, Japan, to be sent to a garbage dump known as Trash Island, where they are forced to live in exile. When Atari ( Koyu Rankin ), decides to find his dog, Spots, he flies to the island and ends up meeting a pack of pups who all agree to help him find his beloved pet. The movie features the voice talents of notable stars, including Bryan Cranston , Bill Murray , and Scarlett Johansson .

Isle of Dogs is the epitome of the bond between a person and their canine companions, told through a unique spectrum of animation and immense detail with a political backdrop. The film is considered to be one of Anderson's boldest cinematic creations and was well-received by audiences and critics, including Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times , who called the film, "smart, different and sometimes deliberately odd." Despite the ominous premise of Isle of Dogs , audiences can be reassured that it's full of plenty of laughs that all lead to a more than satisfying ending in this one-of-a-kind dog movie.

Isle of Dogs

Set in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy's odyssey in search of his lost dog.

Watch on Disney+

7 'Eight Below' (2006)

Directed by frank marshall.

Paul Walker stars as a guide for the National Science Foundation in Antarctica, Jerry Shepherd, who is asked to take a professor, Dr. Davis McClaren ( Bruce Greenwood ), out to collect fragments from a meteorite and, considering the icy weather conditions, the only way to travel is by sled dogs. When a storm forces the two to return to base camp, the weather becomes dangerous, forcing Shepherd to leave his dogs behind, but once back in the United States, he fights to get back to his pack and save them before it's too late.

Eight Below is a gut-wrenching but powerful survival film and a remake of the 1983 Japanese drama, Antarctica , which was inspired by the 1958 Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition. The movie features some highly emotional scenes and moments that are bound to make any viewer reach for the tissues, but Eight Below captures the immense loyalty and an unbreakable bond between a man and his dogs that is undeniable . Eight Below earned overall positive reviews and received three out of four stars from film critic, Roger Ebert , and is essentially an effective story about man's best friend.

Eight Below

6 'my dog skip' (2000), directed by jay russell.

Set in the 1940s, My Dog Skip stars Frankie Muniz as 9-year-old Willie Morris who receives a Smooth Fox Terrier puppy for his birthday and decides to name him Skip. As the bond between Willie and Skip grows, the pup begins to change various aspects of the boy's life, such as turning bullies into allies and even gaining the affection of the prettiest girl in school, changing both of their lives for the better.

My Dog Skip is a crucial canine flick that centers around the love between a boy and a dog and also stars Diane Lane , Kevin Bacon , and Luke Wilson . Based on the 1995 memoir by Morris, My Dog Skip is a timeless tale about how a furry friend can help a child grow, break free from their shell, and ultimately realize the power that lies deep within them . While the ending is inevitable and Willie must say goodbye to Skip, it ends on a hopeful note of gratitude and genuine appreciation for a special four-legged friend.

My Dog Skip

5 '101 dalmatians' (1961), directed by wolfgang reitherman, clyde geronimi, and hamilton luske.

When an aspiring songwriter, Roger ( Ben Wright ), and his dalmatian, Pongo ( Rod Taylor ) cross paths with a lovely woman, Anita ( Lisa Davis ), and her dalmatian, Perdita ( Cate Bauer ), it's love at first sight and Roger and Anita marry, ultimately bringing Pongo and Perdita together. When the dogs become proud parents of fifteen puppies, Antia's former fur-obsessed friend, Cruella De Vil ( Betty Lou Gerson ), offers to pay her for the puppies to use their fur, but Anita and Roger adamantly refuse, forcing DeVille to steal them.

Walt Disney's canine classic, 101 Dalmatians , is a beloved animated feature film based on the 1956 novel by the same name written by Dodie Smith . The film is encased in Disney's traditional frame of love between a family as well as the canine companion and was praised for its creative efforts and, as always, marvelous animation. While the Dalmatians are the focus of the film, Cruella De Vil is considered to be one of Disney's most intricate and clever villains and with a catchy sinister tune to go with her, it's easy to see why she remains at the forefront as one of Disney's most hated characters .

101 Dalmatians

The story of a family of Dalmatian puppies who are kidnapped by a terrible woman called Cruella De Vil, who is fascinated by fur coats and is determined to turn them into a coat.

4 'A Dog's Purpose' (2017)

Directed by lasse hallström.

Josh Gad provides the voice of a dog who wonders about the purpose of his existence and, in 1961, he is rescued by his first owner, Ethan Montgomery, a 9-year-old boy who loves him unconditionally for his entire life. When the dog dies, he is reincarnated each time and through the years, he bonds with a new owner and finally learns about the true meaning of his existence.

A Dog's Purpose is an intriguing take on the world from the perspective of a dog, giving audiences a touching glimpse into the influence and impact a dog can have on so many different lives. Even though the movie received mixed to negative reviews, it's impossible not to praise A Dog's Purpose and its sentimental value, heightened by a stunning musical score composed by Rachel Portman . Despite not being an everyday dog movie, A Dog's Purpose is still worth watching if not for the formula but for the heartwarming message it effortlessly conveys .

A Dog's Purpose

3 'turner & hooch' (1989), directed by roger spottiswoode.

Tom Hanks stars in Turner & Hooch as a by-the-book police detective, Scott Turner, who is preparing to be transferred from his small coastal California town to the big city where he can fight real crime. When a friend of Turner's, Amos Reed (J ohn McIntire ), is found murdered under mysterious circumstances, Turner is given custody of Amos' French Mastiff, Hooch, who is the only witness to the crime.

While the movie is both humorous and heartbreaking, Turner & Hooch is without question a quintessential dog movie that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. The film is essentially a canine twist on a dynamic similar to The Odd Couple, resulting in hilarious shenanigans and a relationship that mixes as well as water and vinegar, but through patience and understanding, it eventually finds its blend . The movie was a hit at the box office and aside from a few mixed reviews, Turner & Hooch was well received by audiences and critics, making it a top-tier canine classic.

Turner & Hooch

2 'marley & me' (2008), directed by david frankel.

Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston star in Marley & Me as newlyweds, John and Jenny Grogan, who decide to adopt a yellow labrador puppy who they name Marley. As the couple go through the stages of life such as kids, moving, and major milestones, Marley is there for every single one, ensuring there's never a dull moment for the Grogan family.

Warning: Marley & Me will require plenty of tissues and potentially a dog (or several) in proximity for cuddles because this is one movie ending that will start the waterworks. The movie is based on the 2005 memoir by the same name written by John Grogan and also stars Kathleen Turner , Alan Arkin , and Ann Dowd . Aside from an ending that will make anyone an emotional mess, Marley & Me captures the ups and downs, humor, and overall experience of having a dog in your life as well as the everlasting paw print they leave on your heart forever .

Marley & Me

1 'hachi: a dog's tale' (2009), directed by lasse hollström.

When a professor, Parker Wilson ( Richard Gere ) finds a young dog abandoned at the train station, he takes him in just temporarily. As time passes and no one comes to claim the dog, he and his wife, Cate ( Joan Allen ) begin to warm up the Akita dog, named Hachi, who soon becomes part of the family. Wilson and Hachi eventually develop a routine that involves Hachi waiting for his owner every day at the train station to greet him and walking home with him, proving to be the utter symbol of loyalty.

Hachi: A Dog's Tale is a remake of the 1987 Japanese film, Hachikō Monogatari, and based on the true story of an Akita dog named Hachikō. The movie earned positive reviews from critics, including Christopher Lloyd of the Sarasota Herald Tribune , who gave the movie three out of four stars, stating that it is "unapologetically a tearjerker." Hachi: A Dog's Tale is another bittersweet rendition of a loyal companion who teaches others about the true meaning of love and loyalty, which continues to be passed down through his incredible story that is still celebrated today .

KEEP READING: 17 Sad Movies That Will Make Want to Hug Your Dog

• Entertainment

7 of Roger Ebert’s Most Brutal Movie Reviews

T he long Fourth of July weekend is another kind of holiday for film lovers: The documentary about beloved film critic Roger Ebert, Life Itself , hits theaters and on-demand services Friday. Directed by Steve James ( Hoop Dreams ), the film began as a loose adaptation of Ebert’s 2011 memoir of the same name, but as Ebert’s health declined — he was diagnosed with cancer in 2002 — the documentary became a frank, revealing and sometimes hard-to-watch look at his final days before his death in 2013. “I think it’s so poetic that a man like Roger, who spent his whole life reviewing movies, ends up ending his life on the big screen,” Ebert’s wife, Chaz Ebert, told Flavorwire in a recent interview.

Some of those movies he reviewed over the years were great — others, not so much. Reading Ebert’s passionate praise of exemplary filmmaking was a treat for readers, but his take-downs of the very worst of box offices provided another kind of joy. Here are seven of his most entertaining negative reviews.

Valentine’s Day Giving it two stars, Ebert didn’t totally trash this star-studded rom-com from 2010, but he also concluded his review with some sage dating advice: “ Valentine’s Day is being marketed as a Date Movie. I think it’s more of a First-Date Movie. If your date likes it, do not date that person again. And if you like it, there may not be a second date.”

North Ebert disliked North so much, one of the collections of his most negative reviews, I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie , gets its name from his 1994 take: “I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it.”

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Nobody really watches Michael Bay films expecting critically acclaimed works of art, but Ebert’s review of the 2009 blockbuster is just as fun, if not more: “[The movie] is a horrible experience of unbearable length, briefly punctuated by three or four amusing moments. One of these involves a dog-like robot humping the leg of the heroine. Such are the meager joys.”

Caligula Ebert admitted he couldn’t even make it all the way through the film in his 1980 review: “ Caligula is sickening, utterly worthless, shameful trash. If it is not the worst film I have ever seen, that makes it all the more shameful: People with talent allowed themselves to participate in this travesty. Disgusted and unspeakably depressed, I walked out of the film after two hours of its 170-minute length … Caligula is not good art, it is not good cinema, and it is not good porn.”

Police Academy This 1984 attempt at poking fun at cop movies failed miserably: “It’s so bad, maybe you should pool your money and draw straws and send one of the guys off to rent it so that in the future, whenever you think you’re sitting through a bad comedy, he could shake his head, and chuckle tolerantly, and explain that you don’t know what bad is.”

Deuce Bigalo: European Gigalo This 2005 piece also inspired the title of Ebert’s second collection of reviews about the worst movies: “[ Deuce star Rob] Schneider retaliated by attacking [ex-Los Angeles Times columnist Patrick] Goldstein in full-page ads … ‘Maybe you didn’t win a Pulitzer Prize because they haven’t invented a category for Best Third-Rate, Unfunny Pompous Reporter Who’s Never Been Acknowledged by His Peers.’ … As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks.”

Mad Dog Time The first line of this 1996 review doesn’t hold back: “ Mad Dog Time is the first movie I have seen that does not improve on the sight of a blank screen viewed for the same length of time. Oh, I’ve seen bad movies before. But they usually made me care about how bad they were. Watching Mad Dog Time is like waiting for the bus in a city where you’re not sure they have a bus line.”

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Write to Nolan Feeney at [email protected]

In "Dog Gone," Rob Lowe plays a businessman who joins his son to search the Appalachian Trail for a lost dog. At one point, he describes his expertise as making "predictive assumptions." It does not take much expertise to make the predictive assumption that this movie, a heartwarming fact-based story of John Marshall and his son, Fielding ( Johnny Berchtold ) reconciling to find a beloved pet, will have some sweet dog-bonding montages to indie music (Freebridge, VANYO, Easy Tiger), human and canine health crises and tender moments of connection, a little comic relief, photos of the filmmakers hugging their own dogs over the end credits, and some happy tears from the audience. The movie is based on a book of the same name by journalist Pauls Toutonghi , son-in-law of John Marshall and brother-in-law of Fielding. The screenplay by Nick Santora skillfully smooths out the story, with strong control of tone by director Stephen Herek , a fine score by Emily Bear , and cinematographer Michael Martinez making the best possible use of the beautiful Georgia landscape that stands in for a Virginia setting.  

Fielding is a senior in college when he decides to cure a broken heart by going to the pound, where he instantly falls in love with a beautiful, cream-colored puppy he names Gonker. They have a blissful school year together until Fielding realizes the day before graduation that everyone else in his class has a good job lined up, while he is still trying to figure out what kind of job he can do. After missing graduation, because he and Gonker overslept, Fielding moves back home. 

John is crisp, focused, professional, and sometimes sarcastic. "I'm sure it's worth the six-hour round trip just to see 4,000 strangers dressed in the same outfit," he says when Fielding shows up after the ceremony. He tells Fielding he does not have the time or responsibility for a pet, and when Fielding insists, John tries to put Gonker in a shock collar to keep him from leaving their property.  

Fielding does yoga and loves to wander around the outdoors. He wears shorts and a shell necklace. He turns down his father's offers to set him up for job interviews. He is devastated when he overhears his father describing the contrast between them. "I always knew he was disappointed in me, but this time he seemed embarrassed," he admits. Meanwhile, he does not tell anyone about some troubling symptoms he is experiencing. 

On the Appalachian Trail, Fielding and his best friend Nate (the endearingly wry Nick Peine of "A.P. Bio") let Gonker run after a fox and they become separated. John drops everything and promises they will find Gonker and bring him home. Fielding's mother, Ginny ( Kimberly Williams-Paisley ), sets up a command center at the house with fax machines and phone books ("I'm analog!" she says), fliers, and one of those maps with red yarn connecting the various locations. For morale, she posts a "hero list" of all the people helping. The search is especially urgent because there are only 19 days until Gonker must have medication for Addison's disease. 

As aww-inspiring as the human and dog moments in the movie are, it is the human encounters along the search that are the heart of the film. For Ginny, helping to find Gonker is a way to help resolve the pain she still feels over the Akita she lost as a child. For John and Fielding, it is a way to learn what they have to learn from one another, to discover what they have in common, partly through the encounters they have along the way. Over and over again, they get unexpected support from people they would never otherwise meet, from a man at a gas station who sells them a figure of the patron saint of lost souls to a group of bikers and a sympathetic reporter, many who also have dogs they love. John and Ginny demonstrate what "hard work and calculated, deliberate decisions"—and the kind of resources that pay for a big house and enable the family to take a month off—can accomplish. Most important, as it usually is, is what John communicates simply by being there, showing Fielding what responsibility and commitment means to a father. "You worry about Gonker because you love him, and he's lost. That's why I worry about you." 

Lowe, who also produced, is ideally cast as a man who loves his son even though he does not fully understand him. He brings some low-key sardonic humor to the story, especially when he's breaking a rule by referring to the ancient caravans on the Silk Road or reminding Fielding that Caesar did not thank the generals until they won. Williams brings warmth to the role as the "analog" Ginny tackles new technology and even social media to help the search. And Berchtold reminds us that "calculated, deliberate decisions" are important, but so are devoted friends, human and otherwise, who love us without conditions.

Now playing on Netflix.

Nell Minow is the Contributing Editor at RogerEbert.com.

• Rob Lowe as
• Johnny Berchtold as
• Kimberly Williams-Paisley as
• Nick Peine as
• Amy McGrath
• Nick Santora

Writer (based on the book by)

• Pauls Toutonghi
• Stephen Herek

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