Best films of the 1970s

James

Been watching some 70s movies this week... mainly the usual suspects.

I have to revise my top 10:

Apocalypse Now
Rocky
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Godfather
Network
Black Christmas
Escape from Alcatraz
Foul Play
The Conversation
Dog Day Afternoon

TCM doesn't really deserve that high ranking if I'm honest...I have a soft spot for it. It's an amazing film almost ruined during the final act.

Marathon Man no longer on the list although it deserves to be.

jimmythegent

Agree with a lot especially Apocalypse Now which I'd just about rate as the greatest film ever made.

Here's a few more:

One flew over the cuckoos nest
Taxi Driver
The Deer Hunter
Carrie
Chinatown
The last detail
Manhatten
Annie Hall
Jaws
The Exorcist

polluxlm

70s was very experimental. Some great movies but also many that didn't quite work. Stuff like Taxi Driver and McCabe & Mrs Miller are okay, just not making the cut I think. Network I used to love, now it feels a bit dated. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest is undoubtedly great, yet I don't feel like including it. Perhaps the social commentary style is no longer to my liking, despite the great script and acting. It's depressing and it seems I no longer care for that.

I'm not able to make a full 10.

Star Wars
Alien
Godfather
Godfather II
Halloween
THX 1138
Carrie
American Graffiti

James

now it feels a bit dated

A lot of 20th century film/TV is starting to look/feel dated due to the glossy, shiny look of HD/4k today. I can't stand how new movies look...they have an artificial feel to them.

I need to watch Taxi Driver again...never really liked it all that much. Haven't watched it in decades.

Manhatten
Annie Hall

Almost made my list... especially Manhattan. Might be his best film... although Broadway Danny Rose is right up there with it.

Also need to watch The Deer Hunter.

monkeychow

I thought the Joker film the other year was a shameless remake of Taxi Driver but within a DC lense.

It's a mix with old movies, I feel the look of the movie is more realistic than modern ones in some ways, and the pacing of old films I quite like, and that they are less predictable in terms of structure. On the other hand - they start to depict a world that doesn't exist anymore - which is charming for people like us - but when they go to 1970s NYC it's hard not to notice the passage of 50 years so everything seems very nostalgic all of a sudden even things that were contemporary when the film is made.

It's amazing though to think movies like Starwars and Alien date from the late 70s. It's hard to imagine someone inventing such an important property in our current era.

slashsfro

I'll try to not put titles on this that have already been included:

The Godfather
Network
The Driver
Charley Varrick
Prime Cut
Sorcerer
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Three Days of the Condor
The Red Circle (aka Le Cercle Rouge)
Hardcore

I had a hard time with the last one almost went with Hickey and Boggs (really underrated Bill Cosby film), also almost went with Suspiria, and Across 110th Street (deals with both race and post Vietnam war issues). Also for cultural significance almost went with All the President's Men but the fact that they don't mention at the end that Nixon re-signed /impeached etc. bugs me a lot.

Marathon Man and Three Days of the Condor are kind of interchangable. French Connection and maybe Exorcist are probably more popular but I like watching Sorcerer more because the scenes in the forest look beautful and the colors pop.

Also almost put Black Christmas on there because it works as both a slasher and sort of a psycho character examintion.

Obligatory they don't make movies like that anymore and never will. Forget the US, it was a very creative time for World Cinema.

James

On the other hand - they start to depict a world that doesn't exist anymore

I say it every time I watch an old movie.. especially if there's someone watching with me...

This isn't even the same world anymore!

It kinda creeps me out sometimes....it's like the world stepped into an alternate timeline/universe and we just get old documents/archives of what the world is really supposed to be.

I first started noticing it 10-15 years ago. I can watch a movie filmed in Frisco like Foul Play, Dirty Harry, or Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and the Frisco of the 20th century does not feel like the Frisco of today.

Also for cultural significance almost went with All the President's Men but the fact that they don't mention at the end that Nixon re-signed /impeached etc. bugs me a lot.

It's almost a perfect film...until it's time to wrap it up. They condense a bunch of stuff into the final two minutes... ridiculous. Like you point out, they left crucial things out.

Marathon Man

Such an amazing film. It's probably Hoffman's best.

I really wish they could find all the lost footage and release a directors cut. Roy Scheider's character has a more prominent role, his assassination more graphic, and of course the uncut version of the torture scene.

I hate how filmmakers/studios back then didn't realize how valuable extra/cut footage would be further down the line.

This even impacted the Friday the 13th series. Part 7 was initially really graphic...they cut a bunch for the censors, and now we'll never get to see the original vision. A few shit quality scenes survive from a degraded work print but it's not good enough to include in the film.

Also almost put Black Christmas on there because it works as both a slasher and sort of a psycho character examintion.

THE perfect slasher...only slasher truly deserving of being on a greatest films ever made list. Should've made it to the Oscars...

Best Picture nom...knock out Lenny or Towering Inferno.

Best Director nom...knock out Fosse or maybe Cassavetes.

Best Supporting actress nom...knock out Talia Shire. Margot Kidder as the drunk sorority girl blows her away.

Deserved not just a nom but the Oscar for best cinematography.

Unfortunately horror...more specifically slashers...have never been respected by the industry.

Everyone including slasher fanatics like to credit Halloween with starting the slasher craze and that it's the creme de la creme of slashers. Bullshit...it's Black Christmas. Halloween is just Carpenter taking Clark's idea for a sequel he had no plans of doing (Halloween setting) and actually showing the killer.

Obligatory they don't make movies like that anymore and never will.

Yeah...it's sad when you realize all the best films that will ever be made reside in the past.

We all took it for granted back in the day. If I could go back, I would've went to the theaters and drive ins a hell of a lot more than I did. I went quite a bit... especially during certain years...but not enough.

Yamcha

Halloween

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

A Clockwork Orange

The Godfather

Phantom of the Paradise

Black Christmas

Star Wars

The Deer Hunter

Jaws

and the lesser known

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls - I love everything about this movie.

Dolemite

Suspiria

I Spit on your grave

The Last House on the left

James

I haven't seen A Clockwork Orange since I was probably 5-6. I gotta put that on my list of movies to watch.

I just realized I left Deliverance off my list. It has to be there. Incredible.

Yamcha

The movie is alright. The book is amazing, read it a couple times.

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