Last Updated on 20 December 2025

I searched the Internet for lists of the best desert movies of all time. Criteria included the movies being ranked, not just listed, and generally created by groups, whether teams or committees or based on general public voting (like Ranker.com).

I was able to find 16 lists. I took the 16 lists and added all their content into a spreadsheet, noting the rank of every film. I ended up averaging the rankings each movie got and dividing that average by a factor of the number of lists that movie was on. There were 64 movies that were on at least 2 lists. The lowest score meant a high ranking average on many lists. The complete spreadsheet is attached at the bottom.

The movies that were on the most lists (out of 16) were:

  • Lawrence of Arabia (1962) – 14 lists
  • Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – 12 lists
  • The Mummy (1999) – 11 lists
  • The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) – 10 lists
  • The English Patient (1996) – 7 lists
  • The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) – 7 lists
  • Dune: Part One (2021) – 6 lists
  • Three Kings (1999) – 6 lists
  • Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) – 6 lists

Here are links to the lists I used along with dates the lists were created, followed by my complete spreadsheets.

Best Desert Movies RankedDownload

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