← Apex Mountain

Papillon

1973 · directed by Franklin J. Schaffner · 151 min
23,420 feet · Prominence
1,170th of 24,106 films scored
Not coveredNo Rewatchables episode on file.

How this film scores

Draw68

Lifetime worldwide gross $53m, re-releases included; about $396m in 2026 money.

Rank841 of 11,051In 19735 of 48

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise69

Awards claim half the headroom above the critics' score.

Critics66 baseAwards15 signal → +3 lift

Oscars1 nominated Original Dramatic Score
Golden Globes1 nominated Lead acting
How Praise works

Critics set the score; a tiered award record, Picture and Directing carrying the most weight, claims half the headroom above it. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy48

Judged directly: McQueen-Hoffman prison epic, well remembered.

Verdict48 of 100IMDb8 from 145kWikipedia27k views a monthAge53 years

Scored beside it · 1,191 of 4,039 films judged

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 68 praise 69 legacy 48averages 62, placing it at23,420 ft
How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

Whose apex this is

▲ Don Gordon▲ Victor Jory

In these careers — elevation for this film

Steve McQueen20,252 ftDustin Hoffman19,353 ftDon Gordon17,982 ftVictor Jory17,787 ftRichard Farnsworth17,648 ft