Top Ten movies of the '70s

And a little further still, what does everybody consider to be the best/favorite movies from 1970 - 1979?

Mine...

1. Chinatown (1974 - Polanski)
2. Taxi Driver (1976 - Scorsese)
3. Nashville (1975 - Altman)
4. The Godfather (1972 - Coppola)
5. A Clockwork Orange (1971 - Kubrick)
6. Jaws (1975 - Spielberg)
7. Little Big Man (1970 - Arthur Penn)
8. The Man Who Would Be King (1975 - John Huston)
9. Breaking Away (1979 - Peter Yates)
10. Solaris (1972 - Tarkovsky)


Make your lists!

The 70s were the best decade in the history of film. I don't think I can choose just ten, but I'll try:

1. Mccabe & Mrs. Miller (Altman)
the rest:
Nashville (Altman)
Taxi Driver (Scorsese)
Carrie (De Palma)
The Godfather, and part II (Coppola)
Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
Jaws (Spielberg)
The Conformist (Bertolucci)
Days of Heaven (Malick)

But wait, there's more:

Thieves Like Us (Altman)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Spielberg)
The Fury (De Palma)
Straw Dogs (Peckinpah)
Chinatown (Polanski)


I can think of about 50 more.

__________________
**** the Lakers!

Sorry to be annoying, but The Conformist was released in 69, not 70. A fine film all the same.

__________________
Personality goes a long way...

No, I think Bertolucci's Il Conformista was released in 1970 over most of the world. It wasn't released in the U.S. until 1971, as Bertolucci received an adapted screenplay nomination at the '72 ceremonies (losing to Ernie Tidyman's work on The French Connection).

Anyway we can all agree it is an amazing film.

Great list, Steve! They'd all be on my Top Fifty or so too (except for maybe all the DePalma, as I'm not such a huge fan of his).

I could easily list fifty to one-hundred more too. Like you, the 1970s is my overall favorite decade for Film (at least American Film).

Amazing stuff going on, and with the likes of Altman, Scorsese, Coppola, DePalma, Spielberg, Milos Forman, Bogdanovich, Malick, Friedkin, Cronenberg, etc. all coming to the fore, and the established mavericks such as Kubrick, Cassavetes, Lumet, Bertolucci, etc. going strong, it was an amazing era of great movies coming basically from the mainstream (after the old Studio System finally collapsed).

And with the new generation of actors like Nicholson, DeNiro, Pacino, Hackman, Hoffman, Duvall, etc. for those visionaries to work through, it was just serendipity.


Anybody else care to throw up a list? Make it a top five, or even tell us your favorite movie from the decade (even if it is just Star Wars).

The '70s really was the last Golden Age (so far) of movies. There were so many really good stories told on screen. Anything from The Godfather (which I loved) to Dog Day Afternoon (which is one of my favorite movies) to Chinatown (another great one) to The French Connection to Serpico to great popcorn movies like Star Wars or Close Encounters or even Jaws. And a bunch more I'm forgetting to mention.

And there were plenty of movies I didn't like, too (such as anything by Kubrick), but all in all there were quite a few very good movies made. I don't think I could pick a favorite or even a top five.

i only have like 5 favs
Clockwork orange
Star wars
Close encounters of the third kind
The Godfather
and part 2

__________________
"Who comes at 12:00 on a Sunday night to rent Butch Cassady and the Sundance Kid?"
-Hollywood Video rental guy to me

Close Encounters
Jaws
Star Wars
The Jerk
Godfather
Kramer Vs Kramer(or was that an 80s release?)


Before my time, and I don't watch too many movies older than me. But thats a small list that should spark something. How can anyone not like The Jerk..LOL

__________________
"I was walking down the street with my friend and he said, "I hear music", as if there is any other way you can take it in. You're not special, that's how I receive it too. I tried to taste it but it did not work." - Mitch Hedberg

The Conformist was released in England in 1969. I had to search several sources, but Time Out London claim that it was released in the UK in 1969. Anyone who knows of Time Out, will know of their excellence in accuracy and attention to detail. For the sake of the U.S market it may be allowed to be considered a film of the 70's, but as far as British cinema goes it is considered a film of the 60's. I should have made this clearer in my post.

this all said, the 70's was the decade where Hollywood flirted heavily with the art-house. From the late 60's to the mid-70's brave young directors, influenced by the films and directors of the French Nouvelle Vague convinced out of touch studio execs, to throw money at projects that would never have been considered previously. Directors such as Hal Ashby, William Friedkin, Francis Ford Coppola, Dennis Hopper, Peter Bogdanovich, Brian De Palma and Martin Scorsese emerged from this period as auteurs, directors of vision and ultimatley excess and the contrast with the creators of the blockbuster George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. I'd recommend reading Peter Biskind's "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls", a great book about the rise and fall of the aforementioned group of directors during 1967 to 1982

I've read that book, i didn't like it, no offense.

I liked Harrold and Maude...Holden...quick,see if that was made between 70 & 79...not sure but I think it was.If it was then that's a choice for me.

No worries man, just thought it would be a good read for anyone intrested in finding out a little about all the **** that transpired during that era. I know the book's not for everyone, I think you either love it or hate it as they say.

Dawn of the Dead (George Romero, 1978) is my favourite film of the 70's. Most see this as an unfashionable choice, but like much of the cinema of the 70's it was very forward thinking in terms of its social critique. Many of my fellow Media Studies students at sixth form college (ages 16 to 18) laughed and took the piss out of this masterpiece when we watched it during a lesson on the horror genre. the depth of Romero's vision convinced me instantly that film was a career worth pursueing.

I'm no a huge fan of the Horror genre in general, but I really enjoyed Dawn of the Dead. I even like it more than the groundbreaking original - though it's not a fair comparison.

There's a shot in Scorsese's Casino taht I think has to be an hommage to Dawn of the Dead. I've never heard Marty confirm it, but it comes near the very end after Ace (DeNiro) in voice-over is describing what Vegas became in the '90s. There's a shot of the gamblers walking into one of the giant casinos that seems like a conscious nod to the Zombies at the Mall. Check it out sometime and see if you agree.


And I wasn't a big fan of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls either. I read it when it came out, and gleaned what facts I could (though I had picked much of it up over the years from various sources), but overall I didn't think it was very well-written.


[Edited by Holden Pike on 09-12-2001]

Sorry Mr Biskind, sir. No sales here. No food for me for a week! LOL

in no order

halloween
godfather
godfather 2
taxi driver
mean strets
the deer hunter
the graduate
jaws
star wars
dog day afternoon

I know I'm missing some!

1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
2. Star Wars
3. The Conversation
4. Chinatown
5. The Godfather
6. The Hospital
7. The Jerk
8. The Deer Hunter
9. A Dog Day Afternoon
10. They Might Be Giants

By the way, Harold and Maude was 1971, so you're all clear.
For now.

According to the American Film Institute's Vision's of Light, The Conformist is 1969. But I've seen other sources calling it 1971. This makes it a mystery to me but I'd trust it to be 1969.

As I said, The Conformist was released in the United States in 1971 - making it eligible for the Oscar ceremony in April of 1972.

Therefore, many American-based sources are going to list The Conformist as a '70s picture. Not much of a mystery, really.

Sorry, Holden
I didn't mean to comment.
Thank you for your divine knowledge.
I'll never do it again.