50 best movies from the 1970s
Lucasfilm Ltd.
50 best movies from the 1970s
Harrison Ford in a scene from “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope”.
The 1970s were a magical time for movies, with a whole new crop of stars and directors becoming household names, from Robert Redford and Al Pacino to Steven Spielberg and Woody Allen. After the tumultuous ’60s that included the civil rights movement, the sexual revolution, and the Vietnam War, America was a different place, and Hollywood reflected the changing culture like a cinematic mirror. Films started exploring new ground with evolving gender roles, political mistrust, and more subversive forms of comedy. The result was a new era, both in American cinema and around the world.
To celebrate the cinematic heyday of the 1970s, Stacker compiled a list to rank the 50 best movies of the decade by collecting data on all ’70s movies to come up with a Stacker score—a weighted index split evenly between IMDb and Metacritic scores. To qualify, the film had to have a premiere date between 1970 and 1979, have a Metascore, and have at least 1,000 IMDb user votes. Ties were broken by votes. All data is up-to-date as of January 2023.
This particular decade, part of the “New Hollywood” era of movies, was led by the film school generation. These filmmakers—which included George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese—challenged the traditional, stagnant perspective of Hollywood.
Some of the films on the list have all but been forgotten, with only the biggest cinephiles remembering their importance, while others, like “Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles”—which just earned the top spot in the prestigious 2022 Sight & Sound Greatest Films of All Time poll—remain more culturally relevant.
Keep reading to discover the Italian American films that cleaned up at the Oscars and find out which controversial director appeared on the list multiple times.
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BSB
#50. Being There (1979)
Peter Sellers and Melvyn Douglas in a scene from “Being There”.
– Director: Hal Ashby
– Stacker score: 84.9
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Metascore: 83
– Runtime: 130 minutes
Based on a novel by Jerzy Kosinski, “Being There” follows a sheltered gardener who, after the death of his longtime employer and the loss of the only home he’s ever known, finds himself accidentally in the position of being an advisor to a wealthy tycoon. Melvyn Douglas won an Academy Award for his work in the film, and the project took home a slew of other notable awards for its actors’ performances.
Warner Bros.
#49. All the President’s Men (1976)
– Director: Alan J. Pakula
– Stacker score: 84.9
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Metascore: 84
– Runtime: 138 minutes
The Watergate story gets the cinematic treatment in “All the President’s Men,” the heroic tale of two Washington Post journalists who expose one of the biggest scandals in American political history. Acting icons Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman teamed up to play Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the journalists at the center of the exposé, who wrote the book on which the film is based.
Rizzoli Film
#48. Deep Red (1975)
– Director: Dario Argento
– Stacker score: 85.42
– IMDb user rating: 7.5
– Metascore: 89
– Runtime: 127 minutes
Released at the height of giallo cinema (a mystery/thriller genre) in Italy, “Deep Red” has been deemed one of the style’s most definitive entries. The creepy film follows a musician who begins to investigate a series of murders committed by a perpetrator wearing leather gloves and finding himself seemingly foiled every step of the way. The New Yorker affectionately called the film “over the top,” while acknowledging the way it shaped the genre and many modern-day horror films.
Warner Bros.
#47. Dirty Harry (1971)
– Directors: Don Siegel, Clint Eastwood
– Stacker score: 85.42
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Metascore: 87
– Runtime: 102 minutes
While Westerns were his main genre, Clint Eastwood found new life as a tough San Francisco cop searching for a madman bomber in “Dirty Harry.” The film was so successful that it spawned four sequels and changed police films forever.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
#46. Network (1976)
– Director: Sidney Lumet
– Stacker score: 85.42
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Metascore: 83
– Runtime: 121 minutes
Iconic playwright Paddy Chayefsky penned the script and won the Academy Award for this satire of network news that shows an anchor vowing to take his own life on the next nightly news broadcast. Named one of the greatest American films of all time, “Network” cleaned up at the Oscars in 1977 with four victories from a grand total of 10 nominations, including five separate acting nods.
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Compass International Pictures
#45. Halloween (1978)
– Director: John Carpenter
– Stacker score: 85.42
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Metascore: 87
– Runtime: 91 minutes
Just the mention of this horror film can trigger the menacing theme music in someone’s head. Jamie Lee Curtis was the breakout star of “Halloween,” a horror movie classic about an escaped killer who returns home to continue his murderous ways. More than 10 additional “Halloween” movies have been made since the franchise’s inception, including sequels, reboots, and sequels to the reboots.
Elías Querejeta Producciones Cinematográficas S.L.
#44. The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
– Director: Víctor Erice
– Stacker score: 85.94
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Metascore: 87
– Runtime: 98 minutes
Widely considered one of the best Spanish films of all time, “The Spirit of the Beehive” is set toward the end of Francisco Franco’s fascist regime and follows a young girl who becomes obsessed with the film “Frankenstein.” Roger Ebert described the film as a “poetic work about the imagination of children” and praised the way it demonstrates how imagination can both lead us to trouble and set us free from it.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
#43. The Passenger (1975)
– Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
– Stacker score: 85.94
– IMDb user rating: 7.5
– Metascore: 90
– Runtime: 126 minutes
In “The Passenger,” Jack Nicholson stars as a desperate journalist who steals another man’s identity, not knowing that the man in question is a wanted arms dealer. For years after its initial release, the film was unavailable to the public, as Nicholson (who owns the rights) kept it under lock and key until 2005 when it was rereleased in theaters and on DVD, much to the delight of fans.
The Coppola Company
#42. The Conversation (1974)
– Director: Francis Ford Coppola
– Stacker score: 85.94
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Metascore: 87
– Runtime: 113 minutes
Gene Hackman stars in this thriller about a surveillance expert who is morally conflicted after learning the couple he’s spying on is about to be killed. A huge hit with critics—Roger Ebert gave it four stars—the movie was a box office flop, bringing in about $4.7 million in ticket sales.
Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions
#41. Love and Death (1975)
– Director: Woody Allen
– Stacker score: 86.46
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Metascore: 89
– Runtime: 85 minutes
Woody Allen and Diane Keaton were among the most popular on-screen couples of the 1970s and this period satire saw them transported to Napoleonic-era Russia where they essentially became characters in a movie version of a classic Russian novel. Roger Ebert bestowed 3.5 stars upon the movie, which won a UNICRIT award at the 1975 Berlin International Film Festival.
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Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions
#40. Frenzy (1972)
– Director: Alfred Hitchcock
– Stacker score: 86.46
– IMDb user rating: 7.4
– Metascore: 92
– Runtime: 116 minutes
Legendary director Alfred Hitchcock’s penultimate film “Frenzy” is a return to his roots: a macabre, sometimes humorous thriller that follows a desperate Royal Air Force pilot who’s wrongfully suspected of being a serial killer. The only indicators that this movie wasn’t made during Hitchcock’s prime are the nudity and increased levels of on-screen violence.
Columbia Pictures
#39. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
– Director: Steven Spielberg
– Stacker score: 86.46
– IMDb user rating: 7.6
– Metascore: 90
– Runtime: 138 minutes
Considered a pinnacle of the science fiction genre, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” tells the story of a blue-collar worker who makes mankind’s first contact with extraterrestrial life. A passion project for director Steven Spielberg, the film faced several production obstacles, including running over schedule and over budget. Ultimately, the film ended up being a worthwhile endeavor, bringing in a stunning $116.4 million at the box office.
Warner Bros.
#38. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
– Director: Sidney Lumet
– Stacker score: 86.46
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Metascore: 86
– Runtime: 125 minutes
Al Pacino stars in a tale of a Brooklyn robbery gone awry that won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. “Dog Day Afternoon” was adapted from a Life magazine story about the true-life event that inspired the film. The movie was added to the National Film Registry in 2009.
Universal Pictures
#37. The Sting (1973)
– Director: George Roy Hill
– Stacker score: 86.46
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Metascore: 83
– Runtime: 129 minutes
Paul Newman and Robert Redford reunited with their “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” director George Roy Hill in this heist film about a pair of con men trying to run a grift on a mob boss (Robert Shaw). “The Sting” won Best Picture at the Oscars in 1974 and hauled a total of seven Academy Award wins. Producer Julia Phillips made Oscar history as the first female producer to win a Best Picture statuette.
StudioCanal
#36. Tristana (1970)
– Director: Luis Buñuel
– Stacker score: 86.98
– IMDb user rating: 7.4
– Metascore: 93
– Runtime: 99 minutes
An adaptation of an obscure novel by Benito Pérez Galdós, “Tristana” follows a young orphaned woman who is subject to the romantic advances of her older, wealthy guardian while trying to carve out a life of her own. The Spanish film was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1971.
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Paramount Pictures
#35. Don’t Look Now (1973)
– Director: Nicolas Roeg
– Stacker score: 86.98
– IMDb user rating: 7.2
– Metascore: 95
– Runtime: 110 minutes
Based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier, “Don’t Look Now” follows a couple who, while grieving the death of their young daughter, moves to Venice and encounters two women who bring warnings from “the beyond.” A classic horror film, the movie is renowned for its unique editing style as well as the way it masterfully builds up tension, dread, and uncertainty on its way toward a truly creepy ending.
Universal Pictures
#34. The Deer Hunter (1978)
– Director: Michael Cimino
– Stacker score: 86.98
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Metascore: 86
– Runtime: 183 minutes
Meryl Streep’s first Oscar nomination came for her work in “The Deer Hunter,” which also won Best Picture, Best Director, and a number of other awards. The film made the after-effects of the Vietnam War real for audiences everywhere with a story about three friends (Robert De Niro, John Savage, and Christopher Walken) who go off to war and return as broken men.
Milesstone Film
#33. Killer of Sheep (1978)
– Director: Charles Burnett
– Stacker score: 87.5
– IMDb user rating: 7.2
– Metascore: 96
– Runtime: 80 minutes
Charles Burnett made “Killer of Sheep” for $10,000 as his UCLA film school master’s thesis project. The movie, which never earned a wide release, is a collection of vignettes centering on a poor family in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. While it contains no central narrative, its near-perfect depiction of what life is like for Black Americans living in the rough community earned the film legions of devoted fans.
Twentieth Century Fox
#32. Breaking Away (1979)
– Director: Peter Yates
– Stacker score: 87.5
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Metascore: 91
– Runtime: 101 minutes
In “Breaking Away,” Dennis Christopher stars as Dave, a working-class kid from Bloomington, Indiana, who is so obsessed with the Italian cycling team that he “transforms” himself into an Italian exchange student and diligently trains for an upcoming race against his idols. The sunny, feel-good flick was nominated for several Academy Awards (taking home the trophy for Best Original Screenplay) as well as several Golden Globes (winning Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical).
Warner Bros.
#31. Mean Streets (1973)
– Director: Martin Scorsese
– Stacker score: 87.5
– IMDb user rating: 7.2
– Metascore: 96
– Runtime: 112 minutes
Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel star in this gangster flick about a small-time mobster who’s torn between love, his higher morals, and devotion to his childhood friend who’s indebted to a number of violent creditors. While “Mean Streets” is, in many ways, a classic genre film, it stands apart thanks to its focus on sin, absolution, and redemption.
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Universal Pictures
#30. Jaws (1975)
– Director: Steven Spielberg
– Stacker score: 87.5
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Metascore: 87
– Runtime: 124 minutes
Steven Spielberg scored the first big hit of his career with this tale of a great white shark haunting a New England beach town. “Jaws” was a massive success and basically created the notion of a summer blockbuster, earning $100 million in less than 60 days after its release. Its impact was so large that people are still afraid to go swimming in the ocean.
Les Artistes Associés
#29. The Wild Child (1970)
– Director: François Truffaut
– Stacker score: 88.02
– IMDb user rating: 7.5
– Metascore: 94
– Runtime: 83 minutes
Based on the story of Victor of Aveyron, “The Wild Child” is about a young French boy who is found in the woods, having had no human contact for the first few years of his life, and the doctor who attempts to civilize him. Truffaut’s ninth feature film, the movie has been described as moving, lovely, and pure.
Vera Films S.p.a
#28. Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)
– Director: Elio Petri
– Stacker score: 88.02
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Metascore: 89
– Runtime: 115 minutes
A commentary on corruption, “Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion” follows a high-level homicide detective who kills his own mistress, then deliberately plants evidence that should lead to his conviction. The Italian crime flick won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Warner Bros.
#27. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
– Director: Robert Altman
– Stacker score: 88.02
– IMDb user rating: 7.6
– Metascore: 93
– Runtime: 120 minutes
Film critic Roger Ebert called Robert Altman’s “McCabe & Mrs. Miller” a “perfect film.” The anti-Western, which subverts many of the classic Western tropes and conventions, follows a gambler and a prostitute as they become business partners, fall in love, and eventually square up against a larger corporation that is hell-bent on taking them and their thriving businesses out.
Faces
#26. A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
– Director: John Cassavetes
– Stacker score: 88.02
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Metascore: 88
– Runtime: 155 minutes
This film was the fifth collaboration between actor-writer-director John Cassavetes and perpetual muse Gena Rowlands. Rowlands plays a woman committed to a psychiatric institution; the film explores the impact on her and her family. The film was added to the National Film Registry in 1990.
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Columbia Pictures
#25. The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
– Director: John Huston
– Stacker score: 88.02
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Metascore: 91
– Runtime: 129 minutes
Legendary writer and director John Huston adapted Rudyard Kipling’s story about two British ex-soldiers in 1880s India who attempt to become royalty in a Middle Eastern nation. Sean Connery and Michael Caine starred in the film, and Huston earned an Oscar nomination for the script. The film was received extremely well by critics and audiences alike.
Paradise Films
#24. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
Delphine Seyrig in a scene from “Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles”.
– Director: Chantal Akerman
– Stacker score: 88.54
– IMDb user rating: 7.6
– Metascore: 94
– Runtime: 202 minutes
What some consider a perfect example of “slow cinema,” “Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” is a slice-of-life film that follows a middle-aged Belgian widow over the course of three ordinary days. While it received mixed critical and commercial reviews at the time of its release, it has since become a cult classic, especially amongst audiences who appreciate feminist films.
Rialto Pictures
#23. Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
– Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
– Stacker score: 88.54
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Metascore: 91
– Runtime: 140 minutes
In this crime caper, a recently released thief, a prison escapee, and an alcoholic former cop team up to pull off an elaborate jewelry heist while being pursued by the mob. The film’s climactic scene, which lasts almost half an hour and contains almost no dialogue, is an iconic piece of modern filmmaking, establishing “Le Cercle Rouge” as a piece of classic cinema.
Warner Bros.
#22. Badlands (1973)
– Director: Terrence Malick
– Stacker score: 88.54
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Metascore: 93
– Runtime: 94 minutes
One of two Malick films to make the list, “Badlands” is about a murderous duo in South Dakota, with Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek playing the killer pair. The movie was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1993.
Twentieth Century Fox
#21. Patton (1970)
– Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
– Stacker score: 88.54
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Metascore: 86
– Runtime: 172 minutes
For nearly three hours, viewers became engrossed in the life of one of America’s greatest generals while watching “Patton.” George C. Scott won (but refused to accept) the Academy Award for his role as the hero leader of the film, while the picture claimed seven total Oscars—including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay for Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North’s writing.
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Warner Bros.
#20. Barry Lyndon (1975)
– Director: Stanley Kubrick
– Stacker score: 88.54
– IMDb user rating: 8.1
– Metascore: 89
– Runtime: 185 minutes
Adapted from an 1844 William Makepeace Thackeray novel, Stanley Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon” details the rise of an Irish outlaw who falls in love with a rich widow and assumes the station of her husband, an aristocrat, in 18th-century England. Kubrick was Oscar-nominated for a trifecta of writing, directing, and producing but failed to win any of the awards.
Greenwich Film Productions
#19. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
– Director: Luis Buñuel
– Stacker score: 89.06
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Metascore: 93
– Runtime: 102 minutes
A surrealist and satirical film, “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” is a collection of scenes, some of which are dreams, that center around a group of six upper-class friends who are attempting to partake in a meal together. Luis Buñuel’s most successful film, the 1972 release took home the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Paramount Pictures
#18. Days of Heaven (1978)
– Director: Terrence Malick
– Stacker score: 89.06
– IMDb user rating: 7.8
– Metascore: 93
– Runtime: 94 minutes
Richard Gere took on one of his first major starring roles in “Days of Heaven,” the Terrence Malick film about a farm laborer who convinces his girlfriend to marry a wealthy but ill farm owner to inherit his fortune. The film won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, tallied a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture – Drama, and the BBC named it one of the greatest American films of all time.
Universal Pictures
#17. American Graffiti (1973)
– Director: George Lucas
– Stacker score: 89.06
– IMDb user rating: 7.4
– Metascore: 97
– Runtime: 110 minutes
George Lucas’ second feature film, “American Graffiti” is a coming-of-age story told through a series of vignettes set in Lucas’ hometown of Modesto, California. Over the course of one evening, four teenagers cruise around town, engaging in one last night of revelry before making decisions that will forever alter the course of their lives. The movie was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar at the 1974 Academy Awards.
Twentieth Century Fox
#16. The French Connection (1971)
– Director: William Friedkin
– Stacker score: 89.06
– IMDb user rating: 7.7
– Metascore: 94
– Runtime: 104 minutes
Another crime story, this film features Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider as New York narcotics cops who discover a massive cocaine smuggling ring by way of France. “The French Connection” was awarded the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1972, and the film picked up four more Oscar victories out of a total of eight nominations.
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Warner Bros.
#15. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
– Director: Milos Forman
– Stacker score: 89.06
– IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Metascore: 84
– Runtime: 133 minutes
Jack Nicholson cemented his place in 1970s movie history with his Oscar-winning starring role in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” the film adaptation of the Ken Kesey novel about a group of patients at an oppressive mental health facility. The movie took home an impressive slew of awards, including the “Big Five” Oscars—Best Picture, Director, Lead Actor for Nicholson, Lead Actress fur Louise Fletcher, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Paramount Pictures
#14. Nashville (1975)
– Director: Robert Altman
– Stacker score: 89.58
– IMDb user rating: 7.6
– Metascore: 96
– Runtime: 160 minutes
With 24 main characters, “Nashville” is a perfect example of director Robert Altman’s propensity for large ensemble casts and complex storylines in his pictures. The musical dramedy follows a group of people involved in the gospel and country music industries as they prepare for a concert that will benefit a populist outsider campaigning for president. Written in the direct aftermath of the Watergate scandal, the film is heavily political and perfectly depicts the country’s wary attitude toward all things political.
Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions
#13. Annie Hall (1977)
– Director: Woody Allen
– Stacker score: 89.58
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Metascore: 92
– Runtime: 93 minutes
Woody Allen’s only film to score a Best Picture win at the Academy Awards was “Annie Hall,” the story of an unconventional love pairing that explores not only the relationship between Woody Allen and Diane Keaton’s characters but also the true nature of love itself. The movie has earned nearly perfect scores from critics and grossed nearly 10 times the film’s budget.
Action Films
#12. Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974)
Juliet Berto, Bulle Ogier, Marie-France Pisier, and Barbet Schroeder in “Celine and Julie Go Boating”.
– Director: Jacques Rivette
– Stacker score: 90.1
– IMDb user rating: 7.3
– Metascore: 100
– Runtime: 193 minutes
Described as an enchanting example of French New Wave cinema, “Céline and Julie Go Boating” is a playful story about a librarian and magician who become fast friends, traipsing around Paris, solving a haunted house murder mystery, and embarking on all sorts of otherworldly adventures. With themes taken from other fantastical tales like “Alice in Wonderland,” the movie explores just how far stories can take us.
Columbia Pictures
#11. The Last Picture Show (1971)
– Director: Peter Bogdanovich
– Stacker score: 90.1
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Metascore: 93
– Runtime: 118 minutes
Director Peter Bogdanovich makes the list for the second time with “The Last Picture Show,” a black-and-white coming-of-age story of high schoolers in a small Texas town, featuring a cast of future all-stars. Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn, and Randy Quaid all have roles in the film. The movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and took home prizes for Best Supporting Actor for Ben Johnson and Best Supporting Actress for Leachman.
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Mosfilm
#10. Solaris (1972)
– Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
– Stacker score: 90.1
– IMDb user rating: 8.0
– Metascore: 93
– Runtime: 167 minutes
Remade in 2002, “Solaris” is often included on lists as one of the greatest science fiction films of all time. The slow-moving picture follows a psychologist who sets out to understand what’s happening on a Soviet space station where several astronauts have died, and others are experiencing emotional distress. Through a series of (spoiler-y!) twists, the film explores our individual grasp on “reality” as well as the implications of virtual reality that were beginning to be discussed at the time.
Python (Monty) Pictures
#9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
– Directors: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
– Stacker score: 90.1
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Metascore: 91
– Runtime: 91 minutes
Upon its premiere, The New York Times called “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” a “marvelously particular kind of lunatic endeavor,” a phrase that seems to perfectly define this British comedy film. Written, performed, and directed by the Monty Python comedy troupe, the film is a parody of the King Arthur and Holy Grail legends, chock-full of laugh-out-loud jokes that have become permanent fixtures in our pop culture lexicon. In 2005, the cult classic was turned into an award-winning Broadway show called “Spamalot.”
Paramount Pictures
#8. Chinatown (1974)
– Director: Roman Polanski
– Stacker score: 90.63
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Metascore: 92
– Runtime: 130 minutes
A film noir story of murder, intrigue, and water rights captured the attention of America in 1974 when Jack Nicholson played private detective Jake Gittes in Roman Polanski’s period piece set in early 20th-century Los Angeles. A critical and commercial success, the film garnered Nicholson his fourth Oscar nomination and wound up on a number of AFI’s lists of best American films.
Twentieth Century Fox
#7. Alien (1979)
– Director: Ridley Scott
– Stacker score: 90.63
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Metascore: 89
– Runtime: 117 minutes
As cinema advanced throughout the ’70s, so did the special effects, and “Alien” took advantage of that with a story of a space vessel crew with an unexpected passenger. Director Ridley Scott had his first major box office hit, and the film’s visual effects team took home the Oscar for their innovative work.
Columbia/TriStar
#6. Taxi Driver (1976)
– Director: Martin Scorsese
– Stacker score: 91.67
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Metascore: 94
– Runtime: 114 minutes
Cinephiles everywhere left theaters saying, “You talkin’ to me?” after seeing “Taxi Driver” for the first time. Robert De Niro stars as an unstable cab driver who plots two assassinations that he believes will make him a hero to two women to whom he’s grown attached. It was the second De Niro-Scorsese collaboration, and the movie garnered a Best Picture nomination at the 1977 Academy Awards.
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Lucasfilm Ltd.
#5. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
– Director: George Lucas
– Stacker score: 91.67
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Metascore: 90
– Runtime: 121 minutes
Another triumph of special effects, “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope”—originally titled “Star Wars”—blazed a new trail in science fiction filmmaking. The story of a futuristic world where good and evil are decided in space has earned legions of fans, several Oscars, and launched an entire galaxy of sequels and spinoffs.
Mars Film
#4. The Conformist (1970)
– Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
– Stacker score: 93.23
– IMDb user rating: 7.9
– Metascore: 100
– Runtime: 113 minutes
Legendary filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, and the Coen brothers frequently cite Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Conformist” as having a significant impact on their own work, thanks to its distinctive techniques, arresting visuals, and unique storytelling methods. In the political thriller, audiences follow a young fascist tasked with assassinating his former professor (a party enemy). It’s a story about the ease of sinking into a morally bankrupt ideology that remains all too relevant to today’s world.
United Artists
#3. Apocalypse Now (1979)
– Director: Francis Ford Coppola
– Stacker score: 93.23
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Metascore: 94
– Runtime: 147 minutes
In the 1970s, it appeared that Francis Ford Coppola could do no wrong—”Apocalypse Now” is another example of that. Adapted from Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” the 1979 film updates the setting from the Congo to the Vietnam War and focuses on a rogue American military officer who tries to become a god to a Southeast Asian village. Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, and Robert Duvall starred in the Best Picture nominee.
Paramount Pictures
#2. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
– Director: Francis Ford Coppola
– Stacker score: 93.75
– IMDb user rating: 9.0
– Metascore: 90
– Runtime: 202 minutes
The mafia sequel based on Mario Puzo’s book went back in time to show a younger Don Vito Corleone—with Robert De Niro playing the role Marlon Brando made famous—back in Italy, while his son Michael (Al Pacino) tightens his grip on his family in the present. The film is the rare sequel to earn the same level of accolades as the original, with an astounding six Academy Awards going to Coppola’s film, including Best Picture.
Paramount Pictures
#1. The Godfather (1972)
– Director: Francis Ford Coppola
– Stacker score: 100
– IMDb user rating: 9.2
– Metascore: 100
– Runtime: 175 minutes
The most popular film of the 1970s is also considered one of the greatest crime movies of all time. “The Godfather” tracks New York’s Corleone crime family as Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) cedes power to his son, played by Al Pacino. In 1973, the film was named Best Picture, and its impact went far beyond awards season. The movie has created its own subculture, with university classes, books, and more all following the massive success of the mob movie.
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