Epitaxial thin-film growth of high-critical-temperature (Tc) superconductors has been intensively studied not only because it is one of the key technologies for electronic application but also because it provides suitable specimens for elucidating the superconducting mechanism. For simply making thick (>100 nm) epitaxial films, various deposition techniques such as sputtering, pulsed laser deposition (PLD), evaporation, including molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) have been verified as applicable. For instance, high-quality YBa2Cu3O7–δ (YBCO) films, in terms of superconducting properties (Tc and critical current Jc), can be made by adjusting the cationic composition and choosing the right deposition conditions, e.g., oxygen pressure and temperature close to the decomposition line in the phase diagram. The knowledge and techniques accumulated in the high Tc field have been successfully transferred for the film growth of such oxides as dielectric, ferroelectric, magnetic, and optically functional materials. Pulsed laser deposition, especially, is now widely used for those materials and was addressed in a previous issue of the MRS Bulletin. However, as the demand for film quality increases, allowing films to be used in complex heterostructures like Josephson tunnel junctions and in well-designed physics studies, the meaning of the term “highquality film” has been changing.