Top 50 Movies of the 1970’s

I am not a film scholar. I know, that’s hard to stomach. But, we all have to get over it and move on. Now that is out of the way we can get down to business.

I am a movie lover. According to Letterboxd.com I’ve seen over three thousand two hundred and seventy films. That’s a lot. It’s my favorite hobby. I enjoy the behind the scenes stories and how ideas get made. I get a lot out of actors talking about process and how they do their job. I love almost every aspect of filmmaking. I fell in love later than most cinephiles. I feel weird even typing the word cinephile.

I didn’t go to the theaters much as a kid. My parents couldn’t care less about movies. I don’t remember going to a movie theater, although I definitely did, until I was eleven years old. It was to see Shark Tale. I didn’t like it much. I had already moved on from those types of movies and was fully in my Twister, The Mummy, The Patriot on AMC channel Saturday afternoon zone. My favorite movie as a small child was Toy Story. I had other favorites like The Iron Giant, Air Bud, The Lion King, A Bug’s Life, James and the Giant Peach, Babe, First Kid, and Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. I rented VHS tapes and had my mom buy me some when we went to the store. I didn’t even realize I could ask to go see movies in a theater for many years. No one around me was seeing movies. I grew up in a sheltered evangelical christian household. I watched a western kids show made by a mega church pastor from Oklahoma called Gospel Bill. He was a sheriff and caught bad guys and dealt out morality and bible verses. It was actually kind of violent and sad at times. It was like a PG rated Andy Griffith Show with more guns and god.

There’s more to this history but I’ll move on. I give this background just to say that I’ve been playing catch up seriously for a decade now. I am now twenty seven, still know very little about anything, but some of that very little is about what makes a good movie. When that crosses over with my taste it’s even better. If you haven’t seen any of these movies I hope you’ll seek them out. I only put a paragraph or so of thoughts with them so you can get through it quick.

Here’s my list of more than honorable mentions. Ten movies that would be in some people’s favorites of all time that I couldn’t even fit in my top 50 of one decade.

I put where these movies are streaming next to them. If they aren’t, go check Amazon and pay a buck or two for these great movies.

The Holy Mountain (1973)

The Deer Hunter (1978)

Kramer vs Kramer (1979)

Je, Tu, Il, Elle (1974) - Criterion Channel

The French Connection (1971)

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)- HBO GO

Lady Snowblood (1973) - Criterion Channel (original inspiration for Kill Bill)

What’s Up, Doc? (1972)

Close Encounters of a Third Kind (1977)

The Godfather: Part II (1974)

Now onto the list.

Video attached with my top 25 in the middle of this list. Consider it an intermission.

50. The Devil (1972. Directed by Andrzej Żuławski)

Zulawski is a master at maniacal hysteria in his movies. He challenged religious authority and fascism his entire career. He made a film called On the Silver Globe in the eighties that was shut down by the government and it took him 11 years to finish it. This film is about oppression of the soul, and it may not fully connect unless you know Polish history, which I certainly don’t, but you can also just appreciate it as a descent into a fever dream of madness. I love his movies and there’s nothing really like it when he does it right.

49. Rocky (1976. Directed by John G. Alvidson)

Not much to say here you don’t already know. It is both overrated as a sports movie, and underrated as a great one. The sequels, spin offs, and Stalloneness of everything that comes after makes it easy to forget how effective this movie is as an inspirational tale and a story about a marriage.

48. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974. Directed by Tobe Hooper) - Shudder

Another movie that gets lost in the lack of execution by the sequels, prequels, and everything the 21st century continuations have done to it. But, back in 74 it was a tiny budgeted, dangerous, problematically made film about a family of cannibals that is full of pathos and b-movie gore and silliness. It has the best of both worlds. You can look at it with your PhD hat, or just as a fun horror movie.

47. Stalker (1979. Directed by Andrey Tarkovsky) - Criterion Channel

I will mention slow cinema again, and Andrey Tarkovsky is maybe the most famous arbiter of it in the world. He creates a dreamlike droning atmosphere that could lull you to sleep, but just like Ambien, if you stay up for another 15 minutes you will be rewarded.

46. Suspiria (1977. Directed by Dario Argento)

The recent remake is also good and in some ways much better, but this original is worth your time. It’s only 90 minutes and packs so much in that time. The colors and eerie nature of everything from shot one took me into it’s own world and that’s what the best movies do.

45. Face to Face (1976. Directed by Ingmar Bergman)

One of the more emotionally upsetting movies for me. Liv Ullman is maybe my favorite actress of all time and it is her breaking down mentally for nearly two hours. Not one of Bergman’s most revered but I love it. A horror show of the fragility of the mind and how once it goes we are all bowing to it’s will.

44. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971. Directed by Mel Stuart) - Netflix

This is almost solely Gene Wilder’s doing. He has the nuance to be totally menacing and sweet within seconds. One of our great performers. This movie being as beloved as it is now is so great. It’s incredibly weird and villainous. It doesn’t get better than Wonka coming out with the cane, falling, and then being fine. But, it deepens from there.

43. Harlan County U.S.A. (1976. Directed by Barbara Kopple) - Criterion Channel

A great documentary about the coal miners strike in 1973 Kentucky. An important movie on unions, and how America fails its workers. Corporations will never care about you unless you’re worth something. Humans will be forgotten in capitalism.

42. Days of Heaven (1978. Directed by Terrance Malick)

Malick has been polarizing in recent years for his divisive star studded movies. They are usually love or hate type films. Early on Malick is my favorite. He will appear again on this list soon. This film is shot in Alberta, Canada and makes me want to go there right now. A quiet love triangle shot around a gorgeous farm.

41. The Wicker Man (1973. Directed by Robin Hardy) - Netflix

Although the Nicolas Cage remake is responsible for incredible memes, this original is a much better movie. It was a great companion to Midsommar last year. I love the setting, the investigation of a woman disappearing in a cult, and discovering how the island lives. Folk horror rules, and you should seek-out the genre if you like this kind of thing.

40. All The President’s Men (1976. Directed by Alan J. Pakula)

Just an actor’s movie. I love the performances and I love newspaper or police investigations. This being mostly accurate and always relevant just makes it better. It’s a reminder of when integrity mattered to most, and now isn’t even discussed. We are past that. We’ve never been innocent.

39. Badlands (1973. Directed by Terrance Malick)

Here is Malick again. His first film is a Bonnie & Clyde type story about a true couple who went on a spree in the 50’s. Starkweather & Fugate, a guy and a teenage girl left and killed people in the Dakota's. It’s Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek becoming stars and being so charismatic. It’s a pretty film that mainly taps into the small town angst and becomes much more than that.

38. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1974. Directed by Philip Kaufman) - Amazon Prime

Another one of those horror movies that you can watch with the metaphors and ideas swarming around in your head or just enjoy the paranoia and threatening tone. The problem is in plain sight the entire time and isn’t a surprise. Just a slow decline into oblivion and replacement. I think this movie gets better as I get older. Donald Sutherland rules.

37. Nashville (1975. Directed by Robert Altman)

A huge ensemble movie with politicians, artists, and so many types of people crossing paths in the music business in Tennessee. It’s such a specific experience and with everyone talking over each other. It’s annoying, exciting, funny, strange, and full of life. It could’ve been ten hours and still worked.

36. A Woman Under the Influence (1974. Directed by John Cassavetes) - HBO GO

A cringe experience that is rewarding and full of truth. That seems eye rolling to say, but Gena Rowlands is one of the best actors to exist and she is on another level here. Peter Falk, Columbo, is magnificent and so fun and heart wrenching to watch. A story of mental illness and marriage. Life in motion and constantly changing.

35. Cries and Whispers (1972. Directed by Ingmar Bergman) - Criterion Channel

This can be a confusing watch, but if you give yourself over to the emotion I believe you’ll be convinced. It is a group of sisters living in the same house and caring for one who is dying. So much unspoken pain and tragedy. Desires come out and feelings flow. It’s art but its beautiful to watch and see these actors work.

34. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975. Directed by Peter Weir) - Criterion Channel

It’s a methodical mystery that lets things happen. You won’t get explanation or closure. You will just be. Girls at a boarding school in the early 1900’s go missing near a beautiful place. It’s all there for you to project what you want on it. The movie grew on me months after I saw it. That’s the real good stuff.

33. Mikey and Nicky (1976. Directed by Elaine May) - Criterion Channel

The aforementioned director John Cassavetes stars here with Peter Falk as the old friend causes a night of problems for the more stable friend movie. It’s a small bookie steals money and needs to hide out. His friend helps him but along the way they have real conversations and experiences that show male friendship in every facet possible. May’s camera work is sensational and I wish she got to make more movies.

32. Eraserhead (1977. Directed by David Lynch) - Criterion Channel

A movie that probably would’ve been more effective as a short or TV show length, but damn is it infecting to me. A man with extreme fear of being a parent and working a job you hate. Its dream logic and images will cause you to lose interest or be sucked in. I was sucked in, clearly.

31. Mirror (1975. Directed by Andrey Tarkovsky) - Criterion Channel

Some of the best pictures put to screen are in this film. My favorite Tarkovsky movie, and it gave me so many feelings throughout I couldn’t even keep track of what was happening at times. A slow brain activator of a movie. A dying man reminiscing on his childhood. Mortality and memory.

30. The Conversation (1974. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola) - Amazon Prime

Gene Hackman is incredible. He never disappears into a role but he is always convincing. This paranoid thriller is one of his best. Coppola was in his peak coming off of the Godfather movies, and he makes a quiet drama about listening. The loneliness of this movie is fully realized. Hackman not making movies in twenty years has made him a forgotten figure in culture, but those who love movies know. He’s so great.

29. Chinatown (1974. Directed by Roman Polanski)

One of the most iconic films of the seventies still holds up. It’s problematic, relevant, smart, and very watchable. Jack Nicholson & Faye Dunaway are fantastic in it. Robert Towne is one of the greatest script writers in history and he made his name here. I’m not much of a noirman but this one hits the spot. The now disgraced director makes it likely I won’t revisit anytime soon though.

28. A Clockwork Orange (1971. Directed by Stanley Kubrick)

Kubrick is worshiped and revered enough, but there’s a reason for it. He had such clear vision and talent. He abused, manipulated, and exhausted most around him. This is the movie that can make or break your opinion of him. It creates it’s own world that isn’t pleasant, but if you see it at the right time it can be mesmerizing.

27. The Godfather (1972. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What is usually considered the greatest movie of the second half of the 20th century is down here at a measly 27. Young Pacino is great, Brando is legendary, and the way everything moves and coalesces in the Corleone family is masterful. It just never impacted me the way others have.

26. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971. Directed by Robert Altman)

The most idiosyncratic American western stars Warren Beatty in a huge fur coat and Julie Christie at maybe her most charming and badass. It’s about the dark cold depths of capitalism but it’s much too fun and weird to be dreary. On the right day this could be your favorite film.

If you prefer a video version of these next 25 movies here you go. If not, keep on scrolling.

25. Dog Day Afternoon (1975. Directed by Sydney Lumet)

Al Pacino’s best performance in his most progressive film about the true story of a bank robbery hostage situation with a few different things going on than most movies of this type do. If you like John Q or at least find movies like that interesting, this is the much better version of something like that.

24. Barry Lyndon (1975. Directed by Stanley Kubrick)

I know it’s a cliche for film lovers to say long boring movies that aren’t that funny are actually funny. But, I think this one really is. A great performance by Ryan O’Neal, and fantastic cinematography that was no doubt painstakingly created. It’s a spiritual predecessor to The Favourite and other costume period movies.

23. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975. Directed by Milos Forman)

My personal favorite Jack Nicholson performance. The Shining is the best movie he’s been in, but this is the one he dominates completely. An incredible supporting cast that includes Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Louise Fletcher, Scatman Crothers, and Brad Dourif. They surround and elevate Jack until the beautiful melancholy end. One of the best ensemble character movies.

22. Halloween (1978. Directed by John Carpenter) - Shudder

I love simple movies. Ones with few settings and plot. Not much simpler than this. Michael Myers has become a massive part of our culture and the original is the best thing he will ever be in. It’s underrated now I think.

21. Mean Streets (1973. Directed by Martin Scorsese)

The great director Martin Scorsese made movies before this but this is the one that defined what would come from then on. He has never fully shook the catholic guilt and male friendship portrayed in this movie. They say the best filmmakers keep making the same movies in different ways and that’s certainly true here.

20. Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974. Directed by Michael Cimino) - HBO GO

The director of The Deer Hunter made a movie I think is better, fun, and with surprising emotional depth. Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges being stars, and traveling across some of the most beautiful land the U.S. has to offer. A good car movie too. The unlikely pair team up and rob a bank. It’s well worth a watch.

19. California Split (1974. Directed by Robert Altman) - Amazon Prime

Probably my favorite gambling movie. Elliot Gould is a one of a kind actor. I could watch him be desperate and charismatic all day. George Segal is a perfect straight man to the carefree Gould. The calming despair of losing what you don’t have and the elation of winning.

18, 3 Women (1977. Directed by Robert Altman)

Altman’s fourth movie on this list and it’s maybe his strangest one. Shelley Duvall and Sissy Spacek are perfect in a lyrical dream logic film about identity. It’s funny, odd, eerie, and a good hangout movie. You may not understand it, but you will be taken somewhere you can’t go yourself.

17. Wake In Fright (1971. Directed by Ted Kotcheff) - Amazon Prime & Shudder

My favorite Australian movie ever, after Mad Max: Fury Road, comes in the form of a descent into the madness of the beautiful drunken desert. A normal schoolteacher gambles and drinks away his summer break and he may never come back. There is graphic Kangaroo violence. It’s a wild ride. I can’t recommend it enough.

16. Sorcerer (1977. Directed by William Friedkin)

Four men with nothing to lose agree to transfer a bunch of volatile dynamite across South American jungle. It’s sweaty, tense, and fully entertaining from minute one. Roy Scheider is maybe my favorite seventies leading man and he is great here.

15. Vanishing Point (1971. Directed by Richard C. Sarafian)

My absolute favorite car movie. A car delivery driver makes a bet he will get from Colorado to San Francisco in less than 15 hours. Cops, a blind mystical radio DJ, naked motorcycle riders, and many others cross his path and he keeps on driving.

14. Blazing Saddles (1974. Directed by Mel Brooks) - Hulu

One of the funniest movies of all time. They say it couldn’t be made now and I think of that as a criticism of our times more than any indictment of the movie itself. I will be watching this one again soon.

13. Jaws (1975. Directed by Steven Spielberg) - HBO GO

A true classic from it’s first day or release and it’s never been anything else. It’s got the character work of a stage play, the local community politics of a town hall meeting, and the tension of a theme park ride. The thing rules.

12. Don’t Look Now (1973. Directed by Nicolas Roeg)

When a couple is grieving they go to Venice and meet a woman who gives them a message from beyond the grave. It’s the most devastating and creepy movie to also be sexy I can think of right now. Mystery and grief abound here. Watch late at night and just let it be.

11. The Exorcist (1973. Directed by William Friedkin) Shudder

This is probably ranked too low honestly. I’m due a rewatch. Right up there with Jaws, but way more terrifying and nuanced. I will always prefer Friedkin over Spielberg. The performances and eerie design are next to none.

10. Network (1976. Directed by Sidney Lumet)

A movie that will always be relevant and is more now than it was even then. Sensationalist news and corporate take over spouted by a loud angry white man on the TV. It’s not all vegetables. It moves fast and is fun. It is a little dated just because it thought it was a good enough warning. Looking back they didn’t go far enough.

9. Alien (1979. Directed by Ridley Scott) HBO GO

I used to feel strange I never had a movie franchise that meant as much to me as the Star Wars, Marvel movies, or Batman movies. I have always been someone who loved the side stuff. Twister, Speed, The Fugitive. I loved The Mummy but don’t care about the sequels. All this is to say, I love the Alien franchise. I really thought about it and I like to love all 6 of the canon movies. The Alien vs Predator movies don’t count. The one that started it was the first modern huge franchise movie to have a female badass lead like this. Each movie has it’s own flavor and I haven’t heard anyone else liking all the movies. It’s a dark, cynical, fun, and gooey series of movies. Questioning human existence and our place in the universe while also being good horror movies.

8. Harold and Maude (1971. Directed by Hal Ashby) Amazon Prime

A young miserable kid and an 80 year old care free wise woman meet up and become best friends. It’s darkly funny, and one of the sweetest films you’ll ever see. The director Hal Ashby is unfortunately a blind spot for me besides this film and I plan on changing that this year. Bless this film.

7. Taxi Driver (1976. Directed by Martin Scorsese) - Netflix

A litmus test of a movie. It goes in that list of A Clockwork Orange, Fight Club, American Psycho, and others that if someone identifies too much without asking why it could say a lot about a person. I love this movie, and I think it’s one of the best character studies of all time. It’s very, very dark and full of warnings for the lonely man.

6. House (1977. Directed by Nobuhiko Ōbayashi) - Criterion Channel

Maybe the most obscure movie on my list is also the silliest and most fun. Partly written by the director’s ten year old daughter, and full of old fashioned refreshing bad on purpose special effects along with some really cool ones as well. It’s basically a kid’s ghost story with a lot of creepy images and gore. It also has maybe my favorite cover art of all time.

5. Scenes from a Marriage (1974. Directed by Ingmar Bergman) - Criterion Channel

A four part mini series cut to be a film about the ups and downs of a relationship between a couple. Imagine Marriage Story but Swedish and darker. That’s reductive to both movies, but it is the easiest way to explain it I think. It’s got some of the most vicious and loving discussions you’ll be able to see.

4. Apocalypse Now (1979. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola) - HBO GO

As I get older this is becoming my favorite war film. It’s got the wild feeling that the behind the scenes stories portray, but also feels complete and unifying by the end. It could stop no other way. Vietnam was confusing and strange and messed up. So is this film. It caused so many problems and overall was worth it. The Heart of Darkness, indeed.

3. Opening Night (1977. Directed by John Cassavetes) - HBO GO

John Cassavetes said this was the greatest film he ever had a part in making and I agree with him. His wife and creative partner Gena Rowlands gives what is my personal favorite performance of hers. It’s a great movie about getting older, theater, being a woman in a egocentric profession, and functioning alcoholism. It has a lot of soul searching and amazing long takes. This is comfort food for me.

2. All That Jazz (1979. Directed by Bob Fosse)

One of the biggest intentional self owns in history comes in the form of a semi-autobiographical dance movie about being a dick and dying and regretting so much. I never have been attracted to choreographed dancing or musical theater but this movie made me much more interested in both. Bob Fosse was a complete jackass but he also knew it and seemed to try to change before he died. I don’t know if he did or if that matters in terms of talking about his movies and plays. But I know it makes me like it more that he was so self aware and that he was a damn good director. Maybe the most personal film I’ve ever seen.

1. Autumn Sonata (1978. Directed by Ingmar Bergman) - Criterion Channel

I can feel the underwhelmed sigh coming from you that if you read all this or just scrolled straight down here to get to a fairly unknown art film by a Swedish director who is considered one of the best to ever live but overall isn’t well known. This movie knocked me out the first time I saw it. It stars Liv Ullman, like all his best movies do, and instead of an immature man yelling back and forth with her this a quiet film about a sad house coming to grips with death, troubled mother relationship, and reopening all those old wounds they tried to let heal. I let out an audible sigh at points in this. I was captivated by subtitles and the emotion on screen. It’s a rare thing.

I hope you’ll give some of these a chance. If reading short choppy thoughts of movies isn’t your thing I hope you just watch the video attached. If you do both, thank you, and if you just skimmed, thank you too.