Yesterday I wrote a list regarding the twenty-five best films of the seventies decade, and inevitably, so many great films got left off it because they didn’t make the cut, or in some cases, I forgot about them. Not this time. I want you to disregard the last list and focus on this one: a new list of the one-hundred best films of the seventies decade. This time I’m doing my best to cover everything – every genre, every truly great film – made between 1970 and 1979, because it is a hell of a decade and perhaps cinema’s greatest time. I was foolish to cut the list down to 25, so here’s a fuller one. This time, I have not ranked all one hundred films in order from best to worst or anything like that. Only the top 25 films are ranked, and they feature at the bottom of this post after the initial 75. The initial 75 are simply in alphabetical order. Please let me know what you think.
Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972)
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)
Alien (1979)
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
American Graffiti (1973)
And Now For Something Completely Different (1971)
Animal House (1979)
Annie Hall (1977)
Badlands (1973)
Being There (1979)
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
Camera Buff (1979)
Carrie (1976)
Chinatown (1974)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
The Conversation (1974)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (1972)
Every Which Way But Loose (1978)
The Exorcist (1973)
Face to Face (1976)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
The French Connection (1972)
Four Nights of a Dreamer (1971)
Gates of Heaven (1978)
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Harold and Maude (1971)
High Plains Drifter (1973)
The Holy Mountain (1973)
In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
Jaws (1975)
The Jerk (1979)
Kramer vs Kramer (1979)
Lacombe Lucien (1974)
La Grande Bouffe (1971)
Lancelot du Lac (1974)
Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
Life of Brian (1979)
Mad Max (1979)
Manhattan (1979)
Midnight Express (1978)
The Mirror (1975)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
The Muppet Movie (1979)
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Murmur of the Heart (1972)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
Papillon (1973)
The Passenger (1975)
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)
Patton (1970)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1974)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
The Scar (1976)
Soldier of Orange (1978)
The Sorrow and the Pity (1971)
Stalker (1979)
The Sting (1973)
Straw Dogs (1971)
Suspiria (1977)
That Obscure Object of Desire (1977)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
The Towering Inferno (1974)
Tristana (1970)
Turkish Delight (1973)
W.R. Mysteries of the Organism (1972)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
Woodstock (1970)
Woyzeck (1979)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
——————————————————————————————-
The Top 25
25: The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
24: Eraserhead (1976)
23: El Topo (1970)
22: Amarcord (1973)
21: Barry Lyndon (1975)
20: Autumn Sonata (1976)
19: Deliverance (1972)
18: Network (1976)
17: The Phantom of Liberty (1974)
16: Stroszek (1977)
15: Scenes from a Marriage (1973)
14: Last Tango in Paris (1972)
13: Taxi Driver (1976)
12: Blazing Saddles (1973)
11: Days of Heaven (1978)
10: Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974)
9: The Godfather (1972)
8: Cries and Whispers (1972)
7: Solaris (1972)
6: Apocalypse Now (1979)
5: Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
4: Day for Night (1973)
3: The Last Picture Show (1971)
2: Grin Without a Cat (1977)
1: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
posted on 20 February at 15:55
I love the Seventies and enjoy the diversity of this list but you miss some gems (one of my personal favorites is Night Moves). Interesting to me that you do include Stroszeck and Woyzeck but not the Enigma of Kaspar Hauser and Heart of Glass. And no Mean Streets? What I love about these lists is that I invariably spot films that I have not seen and your list directs me towards three films: Camera Buff, Four Nights of a Dreamer, The Scar. Thanks for the list.