Top 16 Courtroom Thriller Movies of All Time

Blistering cross-examinations, last-minute confessions, and verdicts that hang by a thread — justice has never felt this tense. Which one wins its case?

1. 1
   12 Angry Men

   Sidney Lumet's taut 1957 classic confined to a jury room as one holdout juror challenges a rush to convict.
   1000pts
2. 2
   The Lincoln Lawyer

   The 2011 thriller following a slick defense attorney who works from his car and stumbles onto a deadly case.
   631pts
3. 3
   A Time to Kill

   The 1996 Grisham adaptation about a young lawyer defending a father who killed his daughter's attackers.
   609pts
4. 4
   The Verdict

   Sidney Lumet's 1982 drama with Paul Newman as a washed-up lawyer chasing redemption in a medical malpractice case.
   609pts
5. 5
   Primal Fear

   The 1996 thriller in which a defense attorney's altar-boy client may not be as innocent as he seems.
   473pts
6. 6
   In the Name of the Father

   The 1993 drama about the wrongful conviction of the Guildford Four and the fight to clear their names.
   473pts
7. 7
   A Few Good Men

   Rob Reiner's 1992 military courtroom drama building to Jack Nicholson's explosive 'You can't handle the truth' showdown.
   473pts
8. 8
   Fracture

   The 2007 thriller pitting a cocky prosecutor against Anthony Hopkins's coldly brilliant would-be killer.
   387pts
9. 9
   Reversal of Fortune

   The 1990 drama recounting the appeal of Claus von Bülow, convicted of attempting to murder his wife.
   387pts
10. 10
    Witness for the Prosecution

    Billy Wilder's 1957 adaptation of Agatha Christie, a murder trial packed with sensational twists.
    387pts
11. 11
    Anatomy of a Murder

    Otto Preminger's frank 1959 trial drama about a defense lawyer arguing a soldier's temporary-insanity plea.
    284pts
12. 12
    Presumed Innocent

    The 1990 thriller with Harrison Ford as a prosecutor accused of murdering his colleague and lover.
    284pts
13. 13
    Judgment at Nuremberg

    Stanley Kramer's 1961 epic dramatizing the post-war trials of Nazi judges for crimes against humanity.
    284pts
14. 14
    ...And Justice for All

    The 1979 drama featuring Al Pacino's righteous lawyer railing against a corrupt legal system.
    284pts
15. 15
    The Rainmaker

    Francis Ford Coppola's 1997 Grisham adaptation about a rookie lawyer taking on a corrupt insurance giant.
    284pts
16. 16
    Runaway Jury

    The 2003 Grisham thriller centered on a juror and a mysterious woman manipulating a high-stakes verdict.
    158pts