# What is the best Werner Herzog movie of all time?

> From haunting jungle epics to unflinching documentaries about obsession and nature, this lineup spans five decades of uncompromising filmmaking. Which vision wins?

*By YPB Team · Published September 6, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-werner-herzog-movie-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Aguirre, the Wrath of God** — score 1000/1000
   Herzog's 1972 epic starring Klaus Kinski as a conquistador descending into madness on the Amazon.
2. **Rescue Dawn** — score 622/1000
   A 2006 war drama starring Christian Bale as a pilot who escapes a Laotian POW camp during the Vietnam War.
3. **Fata Morgana** — score 551/1000
   A 1971 experimental documentary of mirage-like desert landscapes across the Sahara.
4. **Nosferatu the Vampyre** — score 551/1000
   Herzog's 1979 gothic remake of the silent classic, starring Klaus Kinski as Count Dracula.
5. **Fitzcarraldo** — score 466/1000
   A 1982 epic about an obsessive dreamer who hauls a steamship over a mountain to build an opera house in the jungle.
6. **Stroszek** — score 466/1000
   A 1977 drama following a Berlin street musician's doomed attempt at the American dream.
7. **Encounters at the End of the World** — score 466/1000
   A 2007 documentary exploring the lives of scientists and workers stationed in Antarctica.
8. **Heart of Glass** — score 466/1000
   A 1976 drama about a Bavarian glassblowing village's collapse after losing the secret of its ruby glass.
9. **Woyzeck** — score 363/1000
   A 1979 adaptation of Georg Büchner's play about a downtrodden soldier's descent into violence, starring Klaus Kinski.
10. **The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser** — score 363/1000
   A 1974 drama based on the true story of a young man who appeared mysteriously in 19th-century Nuremberg.
11. **My Best Fiend** — score 363/1000
   A 1999 documentary about Herzog's turbulent creative partnership with actor Klaus Kinski.
12. **Into the Abyss** — score 363/1000
   A 2011 documentary examining a death-row murder case in Texas and its lasting impact.
13. **Grizzly Man** — score 233/1000
   A 2005 documentary chronicling bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell's life and death among Alaskan grizzlies.
14. **Cave of Forgotten Dreams** — score 233/1000
   A 2010 3D documentary exploring the prehistoric cave paintings of the Chauvet Cave in France.
15. **Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans** — score 233/1000
   A 2009 crime drama starring Nicolas Cage as a corrupt, drug-addicted police detective.
16. **Little Dieter Needs to Fly** — score 233/1000
   A 1997 documentary profiling pilot Dieter Dengler's escape from a Vietnam War prison camp.

Tags: movies, directors, germany, werner herzog