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20 comments
17 comments
Rank This Matchup or Comment/Reply Below
on 7/7/2009
Really a hard choice.
on 7/28/2009
Ah, there is the question...
on 10/19/2009
It's always been easier for me to admire Kane than to like it. Casablanca gets my vote.
on 12/4/2009
AFI's favorite film vs. my Grandfather's favorite film... Kane's the more important film technically.
on 12/10/2009
Citizen Kane is not simply influential. It's a great film. Casablanca, I just don't get. I respect it. Don't like it all that much, though.
Kane is the better film, in terms of craft and storytelling, but I enjoy Casablanca more.
on 12/23/2009
I must be a pretentious douchebag, because I actually enjoy Citizen Kane. And I think Casablanca is very overrated. The whole thing works based on the chemistry of the two stars and a couple of good supporting turns (Lorre, Rains). Kane is a masterpiece from every angle -- except as entertainment, I suppose. Still, I prefer other Orson Welles films (The Trial, Chimes at Midnight, Touch of Evil, Ambersons, F for Fake). I liked Casablanca, but it has no repeat value. I don't plan on ever seeing it again if I can help it.
on 2/22/2010
I watched Casablanca because I felt I 'should' - and I loved it. I can see why Kane is so great from a technical aspect, but it just didn't have the same effect on me...
I'd rather watch Casablanca over Citizen Kane, I can say that much. Orson Welles doesn't appeal to me as a screen presence, and I'm not that interested in Citizen Kane from a technical perspective. Casablanca is more entertaining by far. The dialogue is snappy and the characters are endearing.
on 4/22/2010
I found the character of Kane himself to be the most enduring and memorable of any in either of these films. Apart from that, Kane doesn't feel nearly as dated as Casablanca does - because the script is tighter, the dialogue leaner, the cinematography lightyears ahead of the stage-y look of Casablanca, and Welles is a ferocious on-screen force, far more magnetic and captivating than the well-acted-but-familiar turns Bogart and Bergman provide. I'd watch Kane another ten times before seeing Casablanca again.
on 4/27/2010
Citizen Kane is the definition of film masterpiece. Frame to frame excellence.
on 7/4/2010
I just don't think they hold up. I enjoy Kane more, but its only when I give it the credit of being influential and the credit of being made in 1941 do I like it. There are so many better films that have been made since. Lets move on.
I think they both hold up just fine and they have cherished positions in my top 100.
on 7/18/2010
OMG, two awesome classics against each other... I guess I prefer Casablanca because of Ingrid Bergman... I don't know... Citizen Kane is amazing too... Man, this one is hard...
on 7/29/2010
Two of the best movies ever made. Filmaking wise arguably equal as well as acting, writing, directing, cinematography goes to Kane, but that said Casablanca is more fun and I could sit through that film 100 times over. Kane not so much.
on 11/27/2010
This really hurts. I have to go with Kane because Welles really worked painstakingly to make it a masterpiece. Casablanca kind of accidentally ended up as one. Still, it pains me to choose between them.
on 1/9/2011
This is prehaps the single most geniunily classic showdown on this website. Casablanca, romance that has survived 68 yeras of change, and Citizen Kane, the alleged greatest movie ever made. In my book, Kane is the better film mainly on how inventive it was and how influential it is to me. Casablanca is great, but I enjoyed Citizen Kane more.
on 4/30/2011
Kane for sure. Casablanca was a fun trip, but Kane is an amazing film. I disagree with everyone here saying it's a nice piece of film making, but not entertaining. I found it very entertaining. And Orson Wells delivered a performance for the ages. No one was making films like this in 1941 and no one did for a long time.
Damn, I haven't seen Citizen Kane in some time, but I really enjoyed it as a teen. Maybe that's just because I was a pompous, elitist ass. Was it only fun because it was "pretentious" or is everyone just mad?
on 7/12/2011
Citizen Kane is the more "important" movie, and what it added to film can't be praised enough - but it doesn't have the watchablity of Casablana.
Casablanca by a mile here. Kane just doesn't have the rewatchability as Casablanca. Not close for me...
on 12/30/2011
Citizen Kane, despite its influence, is all style and no substance. Casablanca is quite possibly the best drama ever put on screen, and there's a strong argument to be made that it's the best film of all time. Certainly the more lyrical, heartfelt, and entertaining movie.
on 3/2/2012
An impossible choice- the two gems of 40s Hollywood. Kane is obviously the greater film, but I question if I really like it more than Casablanca. I suppose that will be decided by repeat viewings, but I'll choose Kane just because it seems to be the richer film; Casablanca will always be a familiar comfort, but there's something new to discover each time I watch Kane.
on 3/20/2012
Kane no question
on 4/11/2012
casablanca
on 5/28/2012
Just because you like Citizen Kane does not make you a pretentious douchebag. I love Citizen Kane and I love Casablanca, but Citizen Kane is better.
on 6/29/2012
Citizen Kane is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Casablanca by a huge margin
on 7/20/2012
Citizen Kane Is My Favorite Movie Of All Time.
on 7/23/2012
Kane is the better made film than Casablanca in every category. Casablanca's formulaic story deals with heartfelt romance and takes the imagination to a far off fantastical place of intrigue and mystery, while Kane is a cold and distant biopic of a simultaneously deep and shallow egocentric man. Objectively, what is actually on the Casablanca screen pales in comparison to what Citizen Kane did with light and shadow. Michael Curtiz (and all the people he had to answer to, making Casablanca feel like it was written and directed by a committee) lacked Orson Welles' singular vision. With all that said, Casablanca is a more welcoming film to revisit, if only in the mind's eye.
on 8/27/2012
Casablanca. It may not be as 'grand' as Citizen Kane, it may not be as brilliantly filmed as Citizen Kane and it may not be as important as Citizen Kane, but damnit; Casablanca is more entertaining and is more fun to watch. Less homework, more popcorn.
Casablanca every day and twice on Sunday. Not even a tough call for me.
on 2/7/2013
Absolutely easy NO CONTEST WHATSOEVER for me. Casablanca crushes Citizen Kane, which I believe is really overrated by now. Casablanca has far better characters, more touching story, better directing and writing and is far more quotable. "Here's looking at you kid!"
on Feb 28
What MysticSpoon said...
Casablanca is a great and obviously well crafted film but I never felt it the way most do. Citizen Kane is a masterpiece that never fails to amaze me. Citizen Kane for me and it's not even a competition.
Casablanca. It's my top movie of all time. I can't tell you how many times I've watched it. Kane may be the more important film and thus more highly touted, but from an enjoyability standpoint, I think Kane doesn't hold up for me. There's just a certain magic--a mystique, if you will--about Casablanca that's rare even among the elite movies.
on Mar 11
Casablanca all the way! I never had any interest in Citizen Kane but boy...Casablanca was such a beautiful and touching story! "Here's looking at you kid!" beats "Rosebud"
on Apr 3
I'm probably the only film fan on the planet who doesn't get Casablanca. It's just a love story. Welles's Kane on the other hand, I also didn't get. But as an aspiring screenwriter, I got to give it to Citizen Kane for its supreme screenplay.
I've only seen Casablanca once and I liked it more than I liked Kane after one watch, but I've seen Kane twice since the first watch and it's grown on me each time so it gets the win here.
I would choose to watch Casablanca over Citzen Kane every time. But I do respect Citizen Kane, I just don't find it as entertaining.
on Friday
I would say Casablanca, although Kane may be the more influential & technically perfect film out of the 2.
