Thumbing Through Cinema's Greatest Thumbs Up

A few days back some friends and I watched the abridged version of Gladiator. As we fast-forwarded to the Battle of Carthage scene, I lamented how more movies should be released as abridged, not extended, versions. Really, who needs to watch the incestuous subplot of Commodus trying to nail his sister more than once?

Anyway, after some satisfactory asskicking we beheld Commodus flaunt one of cinema's most epic thumbs up, allowing his enemy, Maximus, to live at the behest of the mob. This got me thinking: What are the best cinematic thumbs up?

It's a maneuver closely associated with movies, thanks to Siskel & Ebert. And yet, to my surprise, I've been unable to locate any sort of Top Thumbs Up lists on the Internet. So, without further ado, I present to you the greatest lo-fi thumbs up videos that I could find.

Coming in at No. 8 is this Carlin-primed bit of approval from Kevin Smith’s religious epic, Dogma. Doesn’t it just pop?

Here’s an exhausted Bruce Lee assuring his cohort that he’s alright after whooping innumerable asses at the close of Enter the Dragon.

This from the moody and often surreal Twin Peaks. Leave it to David Lynch, master of confusion, “what the fuck just happened?” moments, and wacko clown music video akin to “intense psychotic bakyard craziness, fueled by beer”, to drop this doozy.

A classic from my childhood. Smalls, play me out.

It doesn’t get much grittier than Tim Burton’s second take on my favorite comic book character, the Batman.

This colossal and life-affirming thumbs up is from the aforementioned Gladiator. Pro tip: Kill the volume on this one, unless you’re fixing for some Aimee Mann. Thumbs up drops at 2:13.

This one could not be edited down due to hilarity. Please take a minute and fully appreciate the set-up to this epic thumbs up. Excellent.

How do you top an emotionless, cybernetic android sacrificing itself in a pit of molten lead via slow-wench-descent, only to use his last bits of electronic impulse to squeeze off the most epic thumbs up in the history of man?

You don't, but that doesn't mean I didn't miss some. So lay ’em on me. What am I missing?

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-by Tim Chamberlain