Library of Congress Enshrines ‘Ghostbusters,’ ‘Top Gun’ and Other Cinematic Masterpieces in National Film Registry

The United States government does a whole lot of unsavory things, things like starting wars on questionable grounds or defunding organizations that provide vital public services or playing it fast and loose with gun laws. But from time to time, the government also does wonderful things that make us very happy, and that is where the National Registry of Film comes in. Devoted specifically to the preservation of “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films,” the NRF is the Library of Congress’ way of securing the future of countless important films for generations to come. Better still, the Library will allow anyone who wishes to waltz in (from 9 to 5 on weekdays, the D.C. resident grumbled) to sample the many films of the registry at their pleasure.

Every year, the Library of Congress elects to induct up to twenty-five new selections for the National Registry of Film, usually a combination of noteworthy shorts or technical films, high-art obscurities or foreign imports, and blockbusters with enough social influence to merit inclusion as well. This year was a characteristic mixed bag, with crowd-pleasers of yesteryear intermingling with glimpses of the birth of the film form itself.

We’ve reproduced the full list of this year’s inductees below, but we’ll warn you now that a handful of very familiar faces show up in this prestigious company. The extremely ‘80s Tom Cruise vehicle Top Gun, the classic sci-fi comedy Ghostbusters, every boring person’s favorite movie The Shawshank Redemption, and neo-noir gem L.A. Confidential are all among the class of 2015, receiving eternal life from the good folks with the Library of Congress. Take a gander below:

Being There, 1979
Black and Tan, 1929
Dracula, 1931 (Spanish language version)
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend, 1906
Eadweard Muybridge, Zoopraxographer, 1975
Edison’s Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, 1894
A Fool There Was, 1915
Ghostbusters, 1984
Hail the Conquering Hero, 1944
Humoresque, 1920
Imitation of Life, 1959
The Inner World of Aphasia, 1968
John Henry and the Inky-Poo, 1946
L.A. Confidential, 1997
The Mark of Zorro, 1920
The Old Mill, 1937
Our Daily Bread, 1934
Portrait of Jason, 1967
Seconds, 1966
The Shawshank Redemption, 1994
Sink or Swim, 1990
The Story of Menstruation, 1946
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One, 1968
Top Gun, 1986
Winchester ‘73, 1950