in the 70s - Top Ten Movies of the Seventies

Top Ten Movies of the Seventies

What are your top ten favorite movies from the 70s?

We also have pages on this topic devoted to the 80s and 90s

By: Justin

10. Dog Day Afternoon
9. Serpico
8. Barry Lyndon
7. Star Wars
6. Apocalypse Now
5. Taxi Driver
4. A Clockwork Orange
3. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
2. The Godfather Part II
1. The Godfather

By: Anthony Milano

10. Loren Burger
the shizznet!
9. The Search For Spock
8. The Matrix
7. The Fox And The Hound
6. The Exorsist Part Ii
5. Halloween
4. The 10 Commandments
3. Star Tours
2. The Last House On The Left
1. Babes In Toyland
this movie scared the shit out of me when i was little

By: Kim

10. Saturday Night Feaver
9. Exorcist
8. Jaws
7. Young Frankenstein
6. The Muppet Movie
5. Grease
4. Alien
3. Star Wars
2. Logan's Run
1. The Rockey Horror Picture Show

Honorable Mentions: The lord of the rings and the Hobbit and Superman

By: Clayton

10. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
Take me to your leader
9. The Exorcist
Close your eyes...
8. Grease
Lightning
7. Halloween
Watch over your shoulder scary
6. Blazing Saddles
on a horse with no name
5. One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest
cuckoo cuckoo...
4. Jaws
Stay out of the pool...
3. Rocky
Legend
2. Star Wars
Trilogy
1. Godfather
Wow

By: Ryan

10. Coming Home
9. Network
8. The Deer Hunter
7. Star Wars
6. Kramer Vs. Kramer
5. The Exorcist
4. The Godfather
3. Patton
2. Rocky
1. Apocalypse Now

By: Bob

10. Roller Boogie
9. Superman
8. Star Wars
7. Smokey And The Bandit
6. The Muppet Movie
5. The Excorsist
4. Jaws
3. Grease
2. Halloween
I saw this and peed my pants
1. The Godfather

By: Bo Dwyer

10. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
More AHHHHHHHHHHHH...AHHHHHHHHh!!!
9. Alien
AHHHHHHHHHHH!
8. Starwars
Best!
7. Superman
The Best super hero ever!
6. God Father
"Say hello to my little friend!"
5. Rocky
"AAAAAAADrian" I think he screamed that in a different one, but the first is always best.
4. The Exorcist
Changed my pants maybe...12 time I saw that!
3. Grease
Got me dancing!
2. The Shining
"Heeeeeeeeres Johnny" =)
1. M*A*S*H
Pretty funny if your not expecting any action.

Yep the best in the 70's Can't wait for them remakes!

By: El Diablo

10. Point Of Terror
This entry from 1971 is a sexploitation crime melodrama of epic proportions, recently released to DVD by Rhino in a set called "Horrible Horrors". Well, it ain't no horror film, even though the title seems to indicate that, but it is pretty horrible (in a goooooood way, of course!). Hack lounge singer cum beach bum Tony Trelos (Peter Carpenter) sleeps around a lot, and thinks he's struck gold when he runs into Andrea (buxom Dyanne Thorne who would go on to make the infamous "Ilsa" movies), wife of a crippled record company mogul. She promises to advance his career, he promises to be available for stud service, and it all looks pretty cozy...until we find out Tony is in over his head with this particular vixen. It seems Andrea has issues...murder, blackmail, and alcoholism to name a few (not to mention wearing too many hairpieces), and when Tony meets and falls in love with Andrea's comely daughter Helayne, all hell breaks loose! Carpenter's lounge act apings are atrocious in a Tom Jones-ish sort of way, and his singing is merely adequate. The songs themselves are psychedelic eye-rollers. A pure slice of its time, POINT OF TERROR will cast a terrifying spell over you!
9. The Devil's Nightmare
This bit of eurosleaze is about a group of travellers stranded at a German castle that bears a terrifying curse. And the travellers are all knocked-off, one by one, by a gorgeous sexpot (Erika Blank) who runs around in groovy pant-suits and jumpers with holes cut out of provocative places. She's a succubus, and she's out to do her thing! A particularly hip and happening score (available on CD) accompanies Miss Blanc's voluptuous appearances, and the set-piece death scenes she orchestrates are alternately startling and laughable. Each "victim" it seems dies a death associated with one of the seven deadly sins (how clever...). Much more eccentric than you might imagine, this one will GIVE you nightmares, particularly when you reach the climax and start scratching your head over what all of it meant (as the ending is inexplicably contradictory). Daniel Emilfork as Satan himself is a delightfully creepy presence, all the characters are humorously wooden, and a salacious atmosphere of sinister glamour pervades this one. Sure, you could reach for THE EXORCIST, THE OMEN, CARRIE or any number of *good* horror movies from this decade, but why not treat yourself to a much tastier and offbeat treat from overseas?
8. Theater Of Blood
(See entry # 7). Another movie about revenge, in which the anti-hero (again played by Vincent Price), an actor, uses death scenes drawn from Shakespeare to do away with a group of critics whose harsh reviews drove him to attempted suicide. Everything about this film is a delicacy -- the cast, the set-piece deaths, Diana Rigg playing a gender-bending co-starring role, and the gorgeous score. A very dark, comically funny must-see!
7. The Abominable Dr. Phibes
Okay, now here's a really GOOD movie that is all about revenge, and wouldn't each of us like to exact revenge on a few people...? Well, let Vincent Price show you how it's REALLY done! Culty, dark, humorous, and campy to the bitter end, THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES is a colorfully intriguing fiilmic phenomenon. An oddity of sorts. No wonder it's got a cult following.
6. Lost Horizon
The era of movie-musicals had pretty much come to an end by the late 60s. Or so everyone thought. Then came along this Ross Hunter spectacular with an incredible cast (including a singing Liv Ullman -- who'd'a thunk???), and it bombed so big and bad the earth shook (and this was before Sensurround! You kids didn't live through that phenomenon, btw, the effects gimmick that accompanied Universal's cinematic catastrophes like EARTHQUAKE and MIDWAY into theaters, but I bet you wish you had!). Some really bad Burt Bachrach songs riddle the story of Shangri-La (where nobody grows old and everyone's blissfully happy all the time), so well lensed many years prior under the same title (and thankfully not set to music). LOST HORIZON is so ugly, so un-entertaining, and stupefyingly bad that you just can't believe it. Hence, it makes it to number 6 on my list!
5. The Big Bus
Okay, so I'm talking disaster movies here...(see entry #4), and a comedy disaster film that wasn't good enough to take audiences by storm (but gave me enough pleasure to list it here) was THE BIG BUS, which anticipated the success of the much zanier, quicker-witted, and popular AIRPLANE! which would follow in just a few years. Stockard Channing is in this film, which is enough reason to like it, along with Ruth Godon. It's the cinematic equivalent of a meal at Burger King, but that's soooooo 70s, how can you not love it??? The bus is, incidentally, a magnificent set, and there are some sickly giddy moments in "The Oriental Lounge" not to mention the captain's private Bicentennial dining room.
4. When Time Ran Out...
Irwin Allen's THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1972) kicked-off the Disaster Movie Era (sorry, it wasn't THE TOWERING INFERNO, which came years later). And WHEN TIME RAN OUT... (1979) put the last nail into the coffin. In between were a string of so-so or just plain lousy features including EARTHQUAKE, THE SWARM, and a string of animal-and-insect attack films (like FROGS, EMPIRE OF THE ANTS, FOOD OF THE GODS, and DAY OF THE ANIMALS). WHEN TIME RAN OUT... is on this list because of its utterly irredeemable badness, which (naturally) qualifies it as a great film! Every cliche from the past decade of Disaster-Moviedom is trotted out and re-worked in the most feeble of efforts. A luxury hotel on a tropical island is attacked by its next-door neighbor, a gigantic volcano that not only triggers earthquakes and massive tidal waves, but spews rivers of lava and gigantic fireballs with deadly accuracy. Caught in this contractual obligation of hell are Paul Newman and William Holden, holdovers from THE TOWERING INFERNO, and JACKIE BISSET is mercilessly exploited as well. Irwin Allen's wife, Sheila Allen (who played the mayor's wife in THE TOWERING INFERNO) is on hand to play a Shelley Winters-like knock-off. Other Irwin Allen movie veterans (Ernest Borgnine and Red Buttons) are tossed back into the salad as well. Purely embarrassing, illogical, and fatally funny from beginning to end.
3. Dolemite (and All Other 70s Rudy Ray Moore Films)
While we're on the subject of Blaxploitation (see entry #2), honorable mention must be made to entertainer Rudy Ray Moore for turning in some of the most bottom-of-the-barrel, yet jaw-droppingly funny entries in the Blaxploitation genre. Forget those highbrow entries like SHAFT, SUPERFLY, or FOXY BROWN (all actually "good" movies!) -- see any of the DOLOMITE films (including DISCO GODFATHER and THE HUMAN TORNADO) and *wallow* properly in Blaxploitation glamour!
2. Abby
The 1973 "Exorcist" blaxploitation rip-off that opened and closed theatrically in two weeks, not because it was a bad movie, but because it bore such a close resemblance to THE EXORCIST that costly litigation ensued and the film was shelved for decades. God, I love a scandal -- and since ABBY came out on bootleg VHS (and now bootleg DVD) it has proven itself to be one of the most hysterical "horror" films of its decade, boasting provocatively horrendous dialogue, inane performances, and a climactic showdown (the grande exorcisme spectaculaire) in a *discotheque* (where else?).
1. Starcrash
The worst and thereby the best of the STAR WARS rip-offs makes it to number 1 on my list simply because it *isn't* STAR WARS, yet captures the pure spirit of the Seventies in all its awkward, horrific glory. Sure, STAR WARS would be an easy claim as "best picture" of the decade for Sci-Fi fans, but see STARCRASH and learn to what depths the genre sank in barely over one year! Starring Marjoe Gortner (of EARTHQUAKE fame), gorgeous Caroline Munro as intergalactic heroine "Stella Starr", a very young and pretty David Hasselhof, and a very embarrassed looking Christopher Plummer. It doesn't get much better than this, folks!!!

The Seventies is an important era in filmmaking, much moreso than people often realize. It was during the Seventies that a couple very influential genres were born: the Blaxploitation film and the XXX Porno Movie. Sci-Fi came into its own (effects-wise) during the 70s and the success of films like STAR WARS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (among others) dictated a filmmaking style that is followed to this day (by Lucas himself and myriad imitators). This was the era of Disco, also -- undeniably one of the hugest influences on entertainment and popular culture EVER. It weaseled its way into every strata of society and into most movies during the decade, whether it was played up as a glamorous or hip trend or played down as something to be reviled (particularly by the end of the decade). Few films made in the 70s could be made the way they were today, given the themes that were sometimes addressed (see a film by Brian DePalma called HI, MOM! for a prime example of this), and there was still an awkward innocence (or ignorance) prevalent during this time that is reflected in many movies that now appear charming in our post-political-correctness beleagured era. The best thing about the 70s is that the deeper you dig, the more fun you have unearthing crazy, wacky, silly, oftentimes BAD films that you will say, "how could they have made that??" and yet they did. These were different, not always better, times when hedonism reigned supreme, corporations didn't quite rule America (or we simply hadn't quite figured it out yet), and you could walk around in saucy cut-offs and a halter top and seem fashionable (today that's just what ho's wear). It was the era of Qiana and herpes. It was terrifically ugly. It was a brilliant time for film.

By: mike

10. Grease
9. Jaws
8. Saturday Night Fever
7. Apocalypse Now
6. Taxi Driver
5. Godfather 2
4. Rocky
3. Scarface
2. Star Wars
1. Godfather

By: shaun

10. Star Wars
30 years later and the shit is still going strong
9. Superman
i should played him
8. The Godfather
classic mafioso movie
7. One Flew Over The Coo Coos Nest
great movie about the system and mans weaknesses and down falls
6. Apocalypse Now
classic war movie and the effects of war on man
5. Exorcist
Scared everyone off, ugh, satan, yeah...
4. Jaws
Scared everyone off of swimming
3. Grease
Musicals are cool, huh huh
2. Rocky Horror Picture Show
Who doesn't like sweet transvestites?
1. Clockwork Orange
Classicc...twisted, but a classic