Top 25 Movies of the 1970s

Harold and Maude
Deep End
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Murmur of the Heart
Duel
The Rose
Annie Hall
Quadrophenia
Shampoo
Carrie
Norma Rae
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Up in Smoke
Hard Labour
Steptoe and Son/Steptoe and Son Ride Again
The Likely Lads
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Cabaret
Family Life
Carry on Abroad
Halloween
Tales from the Crypt
Looking for Mr. Goodbar
Assault on Precinct 13
Silent Running

 

An amazing decade for film. In no particular order. Hard to narrow it to 25.


The Conformist

Barry Lyndon

Aguirre, The Wrath of God

Stroszek

A Clockwork Orange

Fellini’s Casanova

The Wicker Man

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

Apocalypse Now

Taxi Driver

The American Friend

The Exorcist

Last Tango In Paris

The Godfather

Day For Night

Don’t Look Now

That Obscure Object of Desire

Chinatown

The Marriage Of Maria Braun

Badlands

The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser

Murmur Of The Heart

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The Last Picture Show

The Ruling Class

 

Aguirre, The Wrath of God
Alien
American Graffiti
Animal House
Apocalypse Now
Badlands
Barry Lyndon
Breaking Away
Dawn of the Dead
Days of Heaven
The Deer Hunter
Eraserhead
The French Connection
The Godfather
Halloween
Jaws
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Phantasm
The Shootist
Slap Shot
Smokey and the Bandit
Star Wars
Suspiria
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

 

yes yes yes

 

My favorite decade for film. Everything came together for the blending of art and commerce. I could probably make lists by country and have plenty. It makes deciding on 25 all the more challenging, but I’ll try and pick the ones that moved, thrilled or impressed me the most.

Aguirre- Herzog and Kinski’s first masterpiece. An unforgettable final shot.

Don’t Look Now- Roeg’s brilliant examination of loss and grief as cinematic bravado

Performance- Donald Cammell and Nic Roeg’s trip into the skull of gangsters and a reclusive rock star. The editing alone is groundbreaking.

The American Friend- Dennis Hopper as amoral art dealer Tom Ripley and his friendship with Bruno Ganz’s German frame maker. Brilliantly acted and a love letter to gangster films and directors Sam Fuller and Nick Ray, who have cameos.

Five Easy Pieces- Jack Nicholson gives up a being a classical pianist to work the oil fields. His scene near the end with his father is one of Jack’s finest pieces of acting.

McCabe And Mrs. Miller- Altman, Beatty and Christie turn the screen into an old photograph. A beautiful mood piece.

The Conformist- Bertolucci’s stylish and beautiful study of Trintignant’s attempt to conform in fascist Italy. Sanda and Sandrelli are the perfect contrasts to Trintignant’s suppressed Clerici. A major stylistic influence on Coppola’s Godfather.

Oh Lucky Man! Brilliant allegory and one of Malcom McDowell’s best performances.

Apocalypse Now- Time has been kind to Coppola’s epic adaptation of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Brilliant and hallucinatory, with Michael Herr’s writing for Willard’s narration a perfect touch.

Alien- Everything works in Scott’s haunted house in space nightmare. The cast in particular is extraordinary.

Suspiria- Argento’s script may not make much sense, but the Technicolor orgy of color and cinematography makes up for any narrative shortcomings.

Jaws- The star doesn’t even need much actual visibility on screen to elicit maximum thrills. The technical problems actually improved the impact of the ultimate showdown between man and fish.

Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia- Peckinpah’s modern western has a staggering central performance by Warren Oates and is Sam’s final word on nihilism. Even Peckinpah’s demons couldn’t suppress his brilliance.

Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion- Gian Maria Volontè and Florinda Bolkan. Enough said.

 

Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Annie Hall
Apocalypse Now
Badlands
Barry Lyndon
Chinatown
The Conversation
Deep End
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Don’t Look Now
Eraserhead
Get Carter
The Godfather
The Godfather : Part II
The Harder They Come
The Long Goodbye
Manhattan
McCabe and Mrs Miller
Mean Streets
Nashville
Performance
Taxi Driver
Two-Lane Blacktop
Walkabout
The Wicker Man

 

Amazing! Another user who loves this overlooked gem

 

1- Chinatown
2- The French Connection
3- The Seven Ups
4- The Sting
5- 3 Days Of The Condor
6- The Driver
7- Silent Partner
8- All The President's Men
9- The In-Laws
10- Marathon Man
11- Paper Moon
12- Serpico
13- Dirty Harry
14- Foul Play
15- Straight Time
16- Un Flic
17- Five Easy Pieces
18- The Friends Of Eddie Coyle
19- The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
20- The Godfather
21- Hickey & Boggs
22- Charley Varrick
23- Get Carter
24- The Hot Rock
25- Monty Python's Life of Brian

 

[QUOTE="SBurke, post: 22318360, member: 24069"
Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico (when did Pacino ever not overact?)
[/QUOTE]

The answer is none. None did he ever not over act.
"ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA!"

 

So many good ones...…

The Conversation
The French Connection
Charlie Varick
The Outfit
Star Wars
Dog Day Afternoon
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
The Godfather
The Godfather: Part II
Serpico
Kramer vs Kramer
Papillion
Alien
All The Presidents Men
The Sting
The Parallax View
American Graffiti
Marathon Man
Network
Patton
Dirty Harry
The Friends Of Eddie Coyle
Halloween
Three Days Of The Condor
Chinatown

Honorable Mention: The Mechanic

 

01. The Godfather Part II
02. The Godfather
03. Apocalypse Now
04. Taxi Driver
05. American Graffiti

06. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
07. The Last Picture Show
08. Chinatown
09. Saint Jack
10. Five Easy Pieces

11. Raging Bull
12. Annie Hall
13. The Long Goodbye
14. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
15. Cooley High

16. Two-Lane Blacktop
17. The Holy Mountain
18. M*A*S*H
19. The Exorcist
20. A Woman Under the Influence

21. Eraserhead
22. Looking for Mr. Goodbar
23. Joe
24. Dog Day Afternoon
25. The Deer Hunter

 

Sorry, regarding my previous post ^^, I forgot that Raging Bull actually came out in '80. so I'll substitute Killing of a Chinese Bookie in it's place.

 

Taxi Driver
Mean Streets
The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
The Conversation
Jaws
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
The Long Goodbye
Nashville
The Black Stallion
Sounder
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
The Story of Adele H.
Dog Day Afternoon
Young Frankenstein
Deliverance
Carrie
The Fury
Saturday Night Fever
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Man Who Would Be King
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
Straw Dogs
Breaking Away

Followed by:
Shampoo
Murmur of the Heart
The Conformist
The Last Picture Show
The French Connection
Animal House
Eraserhead
Going Places
Get Out Your Handkerchiefs
Phantom of the Paradise
Serpico
The Deer Hunter
The Silent Partner
American Graffiti
The Heartbreak Kid
M*A*S*H
Cabaret
Fiddler on the Roof
The Last Waltz
The Emigrants
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
Richard Pryor Live in Concert
Sleeper
Annie Hall
Rocky

What a decade!

 

The top fifteen were pretty easy, the rest are a bit more arbitrary:

Star Wars
The Godfather
Monty Python And The Holy Grail
The Godfather, Part II
Animal House

Blazing Saddles
The Bad News Bears
Patton
Apocalypse Now
M*A*S*H

Midway
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory
The Jerk
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Chinatown

Diamonds Are Forever
The Man With The Golden Gun
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Alien
A Bridge Too Far

Annie Hall
Young Frankenstein
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Rocky
Grease

 

1. A Clockwork Orange
2. The Godfather
3. The Godfather II
4. Jaws
5. Apocalypse Now
6. Rocky
7. Duck You Sucker
8. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
9. Barry Lyndon
10. American Graffiti
11. Taxi Driver
12. Warriors
13. Star Wars
14. Saturday Night Fever
15. All The Presidents Men
16. Deer Hunter
17. Young Frankenstein
18. Rocky II
19. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
20. Grease
21. Robin Hood
22. Fiddler on the Roof
23. Outlaw Josey Wales
24. Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex
25. Eraserhead

 

Damn I completely forgot about Chinatown and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest!! Sorry Jack!