What is the greatest film of all time?

DeepSeek V3 Chat · picked Citizen Kane

“It's frequently cited for its innovative cinematography and narrative structure, though personal preference plays a large role in such rankings.”

Claude Opus 5 · picked Citizen Kane* (1941)

“There's no objective answer here — "greatest" depends on whether you weight influence, craft, emotional force, or historical significance — but if one film must be named, Kane has the strongest claim on aggregate: it topped the Sight & Sound critics' poll for fifty consecutive years and consolidated deep focus, nonlinear narrative, and sound design into a template later filmmakers kept borrowing from.”

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite · picked Citizen Kane

“Widely regarded by critics and filmmakers for decades, Orson Welles' 1941 masterpiece revolutionized cinema through its innovative narrative structure, groundbreaking deep-focus cinematography, and complex character study.”

GPT-5.6 Terra · picked Citizen Kane (1941)

“It is the most defensible single answer because of its enduring influence on cinematography, narrative structure, editing, and the modern auteur tradition.”