I grew up in Brooklyn when that was released, and it was very true to the world it depicted. Several of the guys I went to school with used to go to the 2001 odyssey disco way before the film came out
Not '70s, but how about The Incident (1967)? The Hot Rock (1972) has some good scenery from around the city, including the WTC as it was being built.
"Jeremy" with Robbie Benson and Glynnis O'Connor. No, it's not gritty but all that grit gets in your teeth..
I don't get why they remake classics. Well I get it, but you know.. Walter Matthau is fantastic of course, as was Frank Costanza!
Nighthawks (1981) was filmed on location in NYC in 1980 but it definitely has a very gritty 70's feel about it. The story was originally planned as The French Connection III by screenwriter David Shaber at Twentieth Century Fox, with Gene Hackman reprising his role as 'Popeye Doyle'. The idea was eventually scrapped when Hackman decided he didn't want to make a third film as Doyle. Universal Pictures ended up acquiring the rights to the storyline & Shaber then reworked the project into Nighthawks.
The Driller Killer God Told Me To Hi Mom After Hours Bad Trash Fingers The Education Of Sonny Carson Mondo New York Bad Lieutenant Heavy Traffic Willie Dynamite The Story of a Junkie Basket Case Liquid Sky Badge 373 Black Caesar Hell Up in Harlem Street Trash
NYC in the 70's? Saturday Night Fever immediately comes to mind - discos, tight shirts, graffiti-covered subways, gang turf wars, and mid-70's "Ford to NY - Drop Dead" recession economic woes ("One pork chop!!"). Death Wish. If you can buy Charles Bronson as an uptight New York architect (the vigilante part was never a stretch) this was to NYC what Jaws was to beaches. Central Park at night was a haven for muggers, riding the subways was risky, and violent crime lurked around every corner. A good time to buy real estate cheap. Super Fly. Harlem...way before the Renaissance. Pimpmobiles, cool clothes, underground clubs, rat-infested slums, and everyone's just tryin' ta get over. Love that gritty early 70's film stock, too. Bananas. Woody Allen's always been synonymous with New York City, but post-Annie Hall his NYC went upscale. In Bananas, Woody loves the New York that wasn't so lovable - riding the grubby subways, buying porn right off the magazine rack at a local newsstand, even living in a typically cramped apartment (with a thousand door locks). The French Connection. Even today, who doesn't want to floor it when driving under elevated train tracks? Superman: The Movie. "Metropolis" was still Manhattan - and Superman turned up right when the city needed him most. As Clark Kent, he's even mugged at gunpoint first day on the new job! The New York location work has terrific energy and from the constant city bustle to the crowds assembling at the Daily Planet to see Superman save Lois Lane, everything feels so...real.
Amazing performances from Keitel and Michael Gazzo (who played Frank Pentangeli in The Godfather II). Danny Aiello, Ed Marinaro, Dominic Chianese (Junior Soprano), Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts in The Sopranos), and Lenny Montana (Luca Brasi in The Godfather) are also in the cast. It's a low budget, but fascinating psychological gangster film.
I love gritty NYC 70s films! It's my favorite sub genre! Taking Pelham 123 is high on my list. As is Three Days of the Condor. Midnight Cowboy is my all time favorite film, though granted that was '69. French Connection, Seven Ups, Taxi Driver, Death Wish.... so many great films.
Already mentioned, but definitely, definitely Across 110th Street Anthony Quinn Yaphet Kotto Anthony Franciosa Nothing but grit and corruption