70's Top Movies
by skipcyoung | created - 10 Feb 2011 | updated - 4 months ago | PublicThis list is updated regularly. It doesn't include documentaries.
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1. The Godfather (1972)
R | 175 min | Crime, Drama
The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton
Votes: 2,009,119 | Gross: $134.97M
43 critics and 31 directors put this in their top 10 lists of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
2. Barry Lyndon (1975)
PG | 185 min | Adventure, Drama, War
An Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's aristocratic position in 18th-century England.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger
Votes: 182,829
25 critics and 19 directors listed this in their top 10 of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. Nominated for 7 Oscars; won 4.
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
R | 133 min | Drama
In the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco
Votes: 1,071,179 | Gross: $112.00M
2nd highest grossing movie of 1975. 4 critics and 11 directors put this on their top ten list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
4. Chinatown (1974)
R | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez
Votes: 349,447
21 critics and 7 directors put this on their top ten list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
5. Paper Moon (1973)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, John Hillerman
Votes: 52,382 | Gross: $30.93M
Currently holds a 90 percent approval rating from critics, based on 22 reviews, at Rotten Tomatoes. Tatum O'Neal remains the youngest competitive winner in the history of the Academy Awards.
6. The Sting (1973)
PG | 129 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Two grifters team up to pull off the ultimate con.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning
Votes: 279,570 | Gross: $159.60M
1 director put this in his top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. 2nd highest grossing film of '73.
7. Deliverance (1972)
R | 109 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's dammed and turned into a lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a canoeing trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox
Votes: 119,111 | Gross: $7.06M
1 critic and 1 director put this on their top ten list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. 3rd highest grossing movie of '72
8. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,448,055 | Gross: $322.74M
The highest grossing movie of 1977. 10 critics and 3 directors put this on their top ten list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
9. Rocky (1976)
PG | 120 min | Drama, Sport
A small-time Philadelphia boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight the world heavyweight champion in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers
Votes: 627,706 | Gross: $117.24M
The highest grossing movie of 1976. Deserved the best picture Oscar it received. One director put this on his top ten list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
10. Jaws (1975)
PG | 124 min | Adventure, Mystery, Thriller
When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary
Votes: 658,654 | Gross: $260.00M
The first movie to gross $100 million in North America. 5 critics and 8 directors, including Tarantino, put this on their top ten list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
11. Taxi Driver (1976)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama
A mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks
Votes: 919,201 | Gross: $28.26M
38 critics and 34 directors, including Tarantino, put this on their top ten list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
12. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
PG | 91 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles.
Directors: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones | Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam
Votes: 569,699 | Gross: $1.23M
13. The Godfather Part II (1974)
R | 202 min | Crime, Drama
The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
Votes: 1,362,390 | Gross: $57.30M
6th highest grossing movie of 1974. 38 critics and 14 directors put this in their top 10 lists of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
14. The French Connection (1971)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A pair of NYPD detectives in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a heroin smuggling ring based in Marseilles, but stopping them and capturing their leaders proves an elusive goal.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco
Votes: 135,485 | Gross: $15.63M
4th highest grossing movie of 1971. 1 critic and 3 directors put this in their top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
15. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
R | 136 min | Crime, Sci-Fi
In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke
Votes: 880,442 | Gross: $6.21M
7 critics and 8 directors put this in their top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. 8th highest grossing movie of 1971.
16. The Conversation (1974)
PG | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 121,684 | Gross: $4.42M
Directed by Francis Coppola between Godfather movies. 9 critics and 3 directors put this in their top 10 lists of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. On both Siskel & Ebert's top 10 lists for 1974. Siskel also put it on his list of 10 best films of the decade. Nominated for best picture, original screenplay and sound.
17. Manhattan (1979)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Michael Murphy
Votes: 147,106 | Gross: $45.70M
Deserved best picture of 1979, but wasn't nominated. 8 critics and 6 directors put this in their top 10 lists of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
18. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
R | 125 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Three amateur bank robbers plan to hold up a bank. A nice simple robbery: Walk in, take the money, and run. Unfortunately, the supposedly uncomplicated heist suddenly becomes a bizarre nightmare as everything that could go wrong does.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Penelope Allen, Sully Boyar
Votes: 272,824 | Gross: $50.00M
4th highest grossing movie of 1975. 1 critic and 4 directors put this on their all-time top-10 list in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. On both Siskel & Ebert's top-10 for 1975. Won Oscar for original screenplay. Nominated for best picture, director, actor, supporting actor and editing.
19. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Not Rated | 95 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
In the 16th century, the ruthless and insane Don Lope de Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Klaus Kinski, Ruy Guerra, Helena Rojo, Del Negro
Votes: 62,192
18 critics and 10 directors put this in their top 10 lists of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
20. Mean Streets (1973)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In New York City's Little Italy, a devoutly Catholic mobster must reconcile his desire for power, his feelings for his epileptic lover, and his devotion to his troublesome friend.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval, Amy Robinson
Votes: 119,476 | Gross: $3.13M
3 critics put this in their top 10 lists of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. On both Siskel & Ebert's top 10 lists for 1974. Siskel also put it on his list of 10 best films of the decade.
21. The Exorcist (1973)
R | 122 min | Horror
When a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb
Votes: 454,353 | Gross: $232.91M
2 critics and 1 director put this in their top 10 lists of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. Highest grossing movie of '73.
22. Badlands (1973)
PG | 94 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town, and her older greaser boyfriend, embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota Badlands.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri
Votes: 78,281
Malick's best film. 8 critics and 9 directors put this in their top 10 lists of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
23. The Getaway (1972)
PG | 123 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A recently-released ex-con and his loyal wife go on the run after a heist goes awry.
Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw, Ben Johnson, Sally Struthers
Votes: 35,646 | Gross: $36.73M
7th highest grossing movie of '72. Peckinpah's best film.
24. The Great Train Robbery (1978)
PG | 110 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
England, 1850s. A master criminal aims to rob a train of a large sum of gold. Security is incredibly tight and the task seems an impossible one. However, he has a plan and just the right people to carry it out.
Director: Michael Crichton | Stars: Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland, Lesley-Anne Down, Alan Webb
Votes: 19,534 | Gross: $13.03M
25. The Hot Rock (1972)
PG | 101 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Dortmunder and his pals plan to steal a huge diamond from a museum. But this turns out to be only the first time they have to steal it...
Director: Peter Yates | Stars: Robert Redford, George Segal, Ron Leibman, Paul Sand
Votes: 6,938 | Gross: $2.54M
26. I Never Sang for My Father (1970)
GP | 92 min | Drama, Music
A man living in the towering shadow of his aging father finds it difficult to start a new chapter in his life by marrying his girlfriend and moving to California.
Director: Gilbert Cates | Stars: Melvyn Douglas, Gene Hackman, Dorothy Stickney, Estelle Parsons
Votes: 2,999 | Gross: $0.85M
Pauline Kael says, "Bargain-basement dramaturgy is used to surprisingly powerful effect. The dramatist keeps things on that truthful level. Cates doesn't cheat; the film develops valid emotion. Performed unsentimentally and intelligently".
27. Interiors (1978)
PG | 92 min | Drama
Three sisters find their lives spinning out of control in the wake of their parents' sudden, unexpected divorce.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Diane Keaton, Geraldine Page, Kristin Griffith, Mary Beth Hurt
Votes: 20,919
One director, Bruce LaBruce, put this in his top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
28. The Emigrants (1971)
PG | 151 min | Drama, History
Småland, Sweden, mid-19th century. A farming family struggle with their rocky, unyielding land, and decide to embark on the arduous journey to new hope in America.
Director: Jan Troell | Stars: Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Eddie Axberg, Sven-Olof Bern
Votes: 7,449 | Gross: $1.16M
Nominated for 5 Oscars: best picture, director, actress, adapted screenplay and foreign language film. Mike Leigh put this #3 on his list of best films of all time in the Sight & Sound poll. Siskel & Ebert both listed this, paired with The New Land, in their top 10 lists of 1973; Siskel put them on his list of 10 best films of the decade. AKA "Utvandrarna".
29. The New Land (1972)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Western
A Swedish immigrant family struggle to establish a new life for themselves in the forest of Minnesota in the mid 19th Century.
Director: Jan Troell | Stars: Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Eddie Axberg, Pierre Lindstedt
Votes: 5,270
Sequel to "The Emigrants". Nominated for best foreign language film. Pauline Kael says, "Max von Sydow has never given a better performance. (In his case, that's saying something.) And Liv Ullmann, pale and fragile, intense and determined, has a delicacy that isn't evident in her performances for Bergman." AKA "Nybyggarna".
30. Carnal Knowledge (1971)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Drama
Chronicling the lifelong sexual development of two men who meet and become friends in college.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Art Garfunkel, Ann-Margret
Votes: 14,874 | Gross: $28.62M
6th highest grossing movie of 1971.
31. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Unrated | 127 min | Horror, Thriller
During an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross
Votes: 128,437 | Gross: $5.10M
Max Brooks', author of "World War Z" & "Zombie Survival Guide", favorite zombie movie. 5 critics put this in their top 10 lists of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
32. Network (1976)
R | 121 min | Drama
A television network cynically exploits a deranged former anchor's ravings and revelations about the news media for its own profit, but finds that his message may be difficult to control.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall
Votes: 170,406
3 directors put this in their top 10 lists of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
33. Dirty Harry (1971)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
When a man calling himself "the Scorpio Killer" menaces San Francisco, tough-as-nails Police Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan is assigned to track down the crazed psychopath.
Directors: Don Siegel, Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Andrew Robinson, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni
Votes: 168,120 | Gross: $35.90M
Number 8 on Gene Siskel's top 10 list for 1971. Critic, Jan Lumholdt, put this in her top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. 7th highest grossing movie of 1971.
34. Five Easy Pieces (1970)
R | 98 min | Drama
A dropout from upper-class America picks up work along the way on oil rigs when his life isn't spent in a squalid succession of bars, motels, and other points of interest.
Director: Bob Rafelson | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Billy Green Bush, Fannie Flagg
Votes: 40,478 | Gross: $19.40M
3 critics and 4 directors put this in their top 10 lists of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. Roger Ebert's #1 pick of 1970. Siskel's #4.
35. Annie Hall (1977)
PG | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
Alvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane
Votes: 278,149 | Gross: $39.20M
13 critics and 5 directors listed this in their top 10 movies of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. On Gene Siskel's list of best films of the decade; #1 for the year. Ebert's #8 for the year. Won best picture, director, actress and original screenplay. Nominated for best actor. 11th highest grossing movie of '77
36. Straight Time (1978)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama
The difficulties of a career burglar to reinsert himself after being released on parole.
Directors: Ulu Grosbard, Dustin Hoffman | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell, Gary Busey, Harry Dean Stanton
Votes: 10,132 | Gross: $9.90M
#1 on Gene Siskel's top 10 list of 1978. The best of many great Hoffman movies in the 70's.
37. The Beguiled (1971)
R | 105 min | Drama, Thriller, War
While recuperating in a Confederate girls' boarding school, a Union soldier cons his way into each of the lonely women's hearts, causing them to turn on each other, and eventually, on him.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Hartman, Jo Ann Harris
Votes: 19,194
1 Critic and 1 director listed this in their top 10 movies of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
38. The Wicker Man (1973)
R | 88 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.
Director: Robin Hardy | Stars: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland
Votes: 92,099 | Gross: $0.06M
Critic Nicolas Barbano put this in his top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
39. Cries & Whispers (1972)
R | 91 min | Drama
When a woman dying of cancer in early twentieth-century Sweden is visited by her two sisters, long-repressed feelings between the siblings rise to the surface.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Harriet Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin
Votes: 36,934 | Gross: $1.74M
11 critics and 3 directors listed this in their top 10 movies of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. #1 on Roger Ebert's top 10 list of 1973. Gene Siskel put it at #4.
40. Young Frankenstein (1974)
PG | 106 min | Comedy
An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle
Votes: 168,774 | Gross: $86.30M
1 critic and 1 director put this in their list of best films of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. 4th highest grossing movie of 1974.
41. Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
R | 115 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
With the help of an irreverent young sidekick, a bank robber gets his old gang back together to organize a daring new heist.
Director: Michael Cimino | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, George Kennedy, Geoffrey Lewis
Votes: 28,667 | Gross: $25.00M
42. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
G | 100 min | Family, Fantasy, Musical
A poor but hopeful boy seeks one of the five coveted golden tickets that will send him on a tour of Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory.
Director: Mel Stuart | Stars: Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear
Votes: 227,028 | Gross: $4.00M
43. The Sugarland Express (1974)
PG | 110 min | Crime, Drama
A woman attempts to reunite her family by helping her husband escape prison and together kidnapping their son. But things don't go as planned when they are forced to take a police hostage on the road.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, Michael Sacks, William Atherton
Votes: 19,062 | Gross: $7.50M
Pauline Kael says, "This is one of the most phenomenal debut films in the history of movies".
44. The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama
After his last crime has him looking at a long prison sentence for repeat offenses, a low level Boston gangster decides to snitch on his friends to avoid jail time.
Director: Peter Yates | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan, Steven Keats
Votes: 12,184
Number 10 on Roger Ebert's top 10 list of 1973.
45. Real Life (1979)
PG | 99 min | Comedy
A film crew sets out to record a year in the life of an average family, but things quickly start going wrong.
Director: Albert Brooks | Stars: Dick Haynes, Albert Brooks, Matthew Tobin, J.A. Preston
Votes: 3,751
46. The China Syndrome (1979)
PG | 122 min | Drama, Thriller
A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant.
Director: James Bridges | Stars: Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas, Scott Brady
Votes: 32,988 | Gross: $51.72M
On both Siskel & Ebert's top 10 lists for 1979.
47. THX 1138 (1971)
R | 86 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In the 25th century, a time when people have designations instead of names, a man, THX 1138, and a woman, LUH 3417, rebel against their rigidly controlled society.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Don Pedro Colley, Maggie McOmie
Votes: 54,572 | Gross: $2.44M
48. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
PG | 112 min | Drama, Romance
A recently widowed woman is on the road with her precocious young son, determined to make a new life for herself as a singer.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Kris Kristofferson, Mia Bendixsen, Alfred Lutter III
Votes: 27,428 | Gross: $18.60M
1 critic put this in his top 10 lists of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. Number 3 on Roger Ebert's top 10 list for 1975.
49. The Day of the Jackal (1973)
PG | 143 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In the aftermath of France allowing Algeria's independence, a group of resentful military veterans hire a professional assassin codenamed "Jackal" to kill President Charles de Gaulle.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Edward Fox, Terence Alexander, Michel Auclair, Alan Badel
Votes: 44,847 | Gross: $16.06M
On Siskel & Eberts top 10 lists for 1973.
50. Cabaret (1972)
PG | 124 min | Drama, Music, Musical
A female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.
Director: Bob Fosse | Stars: Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem, Joel Grey
Votes: 59,313 | Gross: $42.77M
3 critics and 1 director put this in their top 10 lists of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. 6th highest grossing movie of '72
51. Nashville (1975)
R | 160 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Over the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Keith Carradine, Karen Black, Ronee Blakley, Shelley Duvall
Votes: 28,533 | Gross: $14.82M
22 critics and 5 directors put this on their top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. #1 on both Siskel & Ebert's top 10 lists for 1975.
52. Days of Heaven (1978)
PG | 94 min | Drama, Romance
A hot-tempered farm laborer convinces the woman he loves to marry their rich but dying boss so that they can have a claim to his fortune.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard, Linda Manz
Votes: 62,668
14 critics and 5 directors put this in their top 10 lists of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. Siskel put this #3, Ebert #2, on their top 10 lists for 1978.
53. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
PG | 115 min | Drama, Mystery
During a rural summer picnic, a few students and a teacher from an Australian girls' school vanish without a trace. Their absence frustrates and haunts the people left behind.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Rachel Roberts, Anne-Louise Lambert, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse
Votes: 40,968 | Gross: $0.23M
2 critics and 3 directors put this in their top 10 lists of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
54. Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
PG | 112 min | Action, Biography, Crime
Alcatraz is the most secure prison of its time. It is believed that no one can ever escape from it, until three daring men make a possibly successful attempt at escaping from one of the most infamous prisons in the world.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Roberts Blossom, Jack Thibeau
Votes: 147,290 | Gross: $43.00M
55. Papillon (1973)
R | 151 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A French convict in the 1930s befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence in the South American penal colony on Devil's Island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Victor Jory, Don Gordon
Votes: 138,271 | Gross: $53.27M
The 4th highest grossing movie of 1973.
56. The Red Circle (1970)
Not Rated | 140 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After leaving prison, master thief Corey crosses paths with a notorious escapee and an alcoholic former policeman. The trio proceed to plot an elaborate heist.
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville | Stars: Alain Delon, Bourvil, Gian Maria Volontè, Yves Montand
Votes: 28,105 | Gross: $0.37M
3 critics and 2 directors put this on their top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
57. The Last Picture Show (1971)
R | 118 min | Drama, Romance
In 1951, a group of high schoolers come of age in a bleak, isolated, atrophied North Texas town that is slowly dying, both culturally and economically.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson
Votes: 52,314 | Gross: $29.13M
3 critics and 4 directors put this on their top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. Number 1 on Roger Ebert's list for 1971. #5 on Siskel's. 9th highest grossing movie of 1971.
58. All the President's Men (1976)
PG | 138 min | Drama, History, Thriller
"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.
Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam
Votes: 125,900 | Gross: $70.60M
1 critic and 1 director put this on their top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. 6th highest grossing movie of '76
59. Hard Times (1975)
PG | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Sport
The saga of a drifter who turns to illicit bare-knuckle boxing in Depression-era New Orleans.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Jill Ireland, Strother Martin
Votes: 12,086 | Gross: $8.72M
Walter Hill's first and best film. Bronson's finest performance. Pauline Kael calls it, "unusually effective pulp, perhaps even great pulp." Ebert calls it, "a tough, bitter, evocative document." Mick Martin & Marsha Porter give it a 4.5 star rating.
60. Westworld (1973)
PG | 88 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A robot malfunction creates havoc and terror for unsuspecting vacationers at a futuristic, adult-themed amusement park.
Director: Michael Crichton | Stars: Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin, Norman Bartold
Votes: 62,900 | Gross: $16.06M
61. The Wanderers (1979)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
The Wanderers is a teenage, Italian gang in Bronx, NYC, 1963. They have their confrontations with other gangs. Drugs and weapons are uncool. Adult life awaits them.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Ken Wahl, Karen Allen, John Friedrich, Toni Kalem
Votes: 12,345 | Gross: $0.01M
Critic, Ant Timpson, put this on his list of best films of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
62. Sleeper (1973)
PG | 89 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
A nerdish store owner is revived out of cryostasis into a future world to fight an oppressive government.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, John Beck, Mary Gregory
Votes: 44,797 | Gross: $2.91M
Pauline Kael calls it "a modern slapstick-comedy classic, the most stable and sustained of Allen's comedies".
63. What's Up, Doc? (1972)
G | 94 min | Comedy, Romance
The accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars
Votes: 26,990 | Gross: $10.47M
2nd highest grossing movie of 1972.
64. Serpico (1973)
R | 130 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An honest New York cop named Frank Serpico blows the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire
Votes: 134,574 | Gross: $29.80M
Pauline Kael says, "The theme is richly comic, and the film is great fun . . . ". Did we watch the same movie?
65. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
PG | 105 min | Drama
After his wife leaves him, a work-obsessed Manhattan advertising executive is forced to learn long-neglected parenting skills, but a heated custody battle over the couple's young son deepens the wounds left by the separation.
Director: Robert Benton | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry
Votes: 154,538 | Gross: $106.26M
3rd highest grossing movie of '80. Won best picture of 1979, and was the best of the 5 nominated films. Also won best actor, supporting actress, director and adapted screenplay. Nominated for 4 others. 2 directors put this on their top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
66. Coming Home (1978)
R | 127 min | Drama, Romance, War
In 1968 California, a woman whose husband is a Marine officer fighting in Vietnam falls in love with a former high school classmate who suffered a paralyzing combat injury in the war.
Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Bruce Dern, Penelope Milford
Votes: 14,780 | Gross: $32.65M
Bruce Dern's best work. Effective use of Stones music. On Gene Siskel's top 10 list of 1978.
67. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
PG | 125 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
James Bond investigates the hijacking of British and Russian submarines carrying nuclear warheads, with the help of a K.G.B. agent whose lover he killed.
Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Curd Jürgens, Richard Kiel
Votes: 116,179 | Gross: $46.80M
Moore's best Bond, and one of the best in the series. 10th highest grossing movie of '77
68. American Graffiti (1973)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A group of teenagers in California's central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith
Votes: 98,028 | Gross: $115.00M
3rd highest grossing movie of 1973.
69. Movie Movie (1978)
PG | 105 min | Comedy, Musical, Sport
Three movie genres of the 1930s--boxing films, World War I aviation dramas, and backstage Broadway musicals--are satirized using the same cast.
Director: Stanley Donen | Stars: George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Red Buttons, Eli Wallach
Votes: 1,279
70. Hi, Mom! (1970)
R | 87 min | Comedy, Drama
A Vietnam vet moves into an apartment and peers through other people's windows across the street, meets one of the women, and discovers Black theater.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Robert De Niro, Allen Garfield, Lara Parker, Charles Durning
Votes: 5,810
Pauline Kael says, "De Niro is at his most spontaneous in this amazing, freewheeling comedy. This underground vaudeville show may have been too hip even for 1970; it didn't have the success it deserved. De Palma's dialogue may be the best he has ever had to work with".
71. The Deer Hunter (1978)
R | 183 min | Drama, War
An in-depth examination of the ways in which the Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of several friends in a small steel mill town in Pennsylvania.
Director: Michael Cimino | Stars: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale, John Savage
Votes: 361,813 | Gross: $48.98M
4 critics and 7 directors put this on their top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
72. Alien (1979)
R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 949,074 | Gross: $78.90M
6 critics and 3 directors put this on their top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. 5th highest grossing movie of '79
73. The In-Laws (1979)
PG | 103 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
On the eve of their children's marriage, NYC in-laws Sheldon Kornpett and Vince Ricardo embark on a series of misadventures involving the CIA, the Treasury Department and Central American dictators.
Director: Arthur Hiller | Stars: Peter Falk, Alan Arkin, Richard Libertini, Nancy Dussault
Votes: 10,060 | Gross: $38.20M
One of Premiere's "50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006. Marlon Brando told Arkin he'd seen it 20 times. It's because of this film that Brando wanted to be in The Freshman, also written by Bergman.
74. Black Sunday (1977)
R | 143 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
When a Black September terrorist group begins a plot to carry out a massive terrorist attack in the United States, an Israeli commando works with the FBI to identify the target and conspirators, and prevent the plan from succeeding.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, Marthe Keller, Fritz Weaver
Votes: 9,075 | Gross: $15.77M
Bruce Dern was in many great 70's movies, and he upstages the blimp in this one. The last hour is pretty exciting. John Williams score adds a lot.
75. Eraserhead (1977)
Not Rated | 89 min | Fantasy, Horror
Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Allen Joseph, Jeanne Bates
Votes: 127,289 | Gross: $7.00M
9 critics and 3 directors put this on their top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
76. The Candidate (1972)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
Bill McKay is a candidate for the U.S. Senate from California. He has no hope of winning, so he is willing to tweak the establishment.
Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Robert Redford, Peter Boyle, Melvyn Douglas, Don Porter
Votes: 11,900 | Gross: $0.12M
77. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
R | 104 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Four armed men hijack a New York City subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. The city's police are faced with a conundrum: Even if it's paid, how could they get away?
Director: Joseph Sargent | Stars: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo
Votes: 35,621 | Gross: $2.49M
78. The Paper Chase (1973)
PG | 113 min | Comedy, Drama
A first-year law student at Harvard Law School struggles with balancing his coursework and a woman, unaware that she has a connection that affects their relationship.
Director: James Bridges | Stars: Timothy Bottoms, Lindsay Wagner, John Houseman, Graham Beckel
Votes: 8,671 | Gross: $1.85M
79. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
R | 91 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A Highway Patrol Officer, two criminals and a station secretary defend a defunct Los Angeles precinct office against a siege by a bloodthirsty street gang.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer, Martin West
Votes: 55,500
80. Superman (1978)
PG | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando
Votes: 187,350 | Gross: $134.22M
One director put this on his top ten list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. On Roger Ebert's top 10 list of 1978. Highest grossing movie of '79
81. The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971 TV Movie)
PG | 100 min | Drama, Family
On Christmas Eve 1933, the Waltons prepare for the holiday, but they are becoming increasingly worried because John Walton, who was forced to take work in another part of the state, has not yet returned home.
Director: Fielder Cook | Stars: Patricia Neal, Richard Thomas, Edgar Bergen, Ellen Corby
Votes: 2,113
Patricia Neal, Edgar Bergen, Richard Thomas. We don't fault "M.A.S.H" for being the basis of a TV show, and we shouldn't fault this either.
82. Juggernaut (1974)
PG | 109 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A blackmailer demands a huge ransom in exchange for information on how to disarm the seven bombs he placed aboard the transatlantic liner Britannic.
Director: Richard Lester | Stars: Richard Harris, Omar Sharif, David Hemmings, Anthony Hopkins
Votes: 6,312 | Gross: $1.56M
Pauline Kael says, "Fast, crackerjack entertainment by Richard Lester; he demonstrates what a sophisticated director with flair can do on a routine big-action project."
83. The Big Bus (1976)
PG | 88 min | Action, Comedy
A nuclear powered bus driving cross-country, from New York City to Colorado, is destined for disaster due to the machinations of a mysterious group allied with the oil lobby.
Director: James Frawley | Stars: Joseph Bologna, Stockard Channing, John Beck, Rene Auberjonois
Votes: 3,705 | Gross: $3.54M
Before Airplane, there was The Big Bus. One of 2 disaster spoofs (along with "Drive-In") on this list. Very funny.
84. Helter Skelter (1976)
Not Rated | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The investigation and trial of the horrific Tate-LaBianca mass murders orchestrated by the psychotic pseudo-hippie cult leader, Charles Manson.
Stars: George DiCenzo, Steve Railsback, Nancy Wolfe, Marilyn Burns
Votes: 3,850
85. Dark Star (1974)
G | 83 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
In the far reaches of space, a small crew, 20 years into their solitary mission, find things beginning to go hilariously wrong.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Dan O'Bannon, Dre Pahich, Brian Narelle, Cal Kuniholm
Votes: 27,194
Directed, co-written, produced and scored by John Carpenter, who has described it as "Waiting For Godot In Space". The official tagline: The Spaced Out Odyssey.
86. Sorcerer (1977)
PG | 121 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Four unfortunate men from different parts of the globe agree to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitroglycerin across dangerous Latin American jungle.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, Amidou
Votes: 27,459 | Gross: $12.00M
2 directors, including Tarantino, put this on their top ten list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. Excellent remake of Wages of Fear. Music by Tangerine Dream. On Ebert's top 10 list for 1977.
87. Silver Streak (1976)
PG | 114 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
On a long-distance train trip, a man finds romance but also finds himself in danger of being killed, or at least pushed off the train.
Director: Arthur Hiller | Stars: Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Jill Clayburgh, Patrick McGoohan
Votes: 21,692
5th highest grossing film of '76
88. The Super Cops (1974)
R | 90 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
The true story of two New York City cops. Greenberg & Hantz fought the system, became detectives and were known on the streets as "Batman & Robin".
Director: Gordon Parks | Stars: Ron Leibman, David Selby, Sheila Frazier, Pat Hingle
Votes: 1,124
Benjamin Safdie lists this #10 in his list of favorite films of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
89. The Homecoming (1973)
PG | 111 min | Drama
In a dreary North London flat, the site of perpetual psychological warfare, a philosophy professor visits his family after a nine-year absence, and introduces the four men, father, uncle, and two brothers, to his wife.
Director: Peter Hall | Stars: Cyril Cusack, Ian Holm, Paul Rogers, Terence Rigby
Votes: 855
Written by Harold Pinter.
90. The Last Run (1971)
GP | 95 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A getaway driver comes out of retirement to pull off one last run - one that could send him to an early grave instead.
Directors: Richard Fleischer, John Huston | Stars: George C. Scott, Tony Musante, Trish Van Devere, Colleen Dewhurst
Votes: 2,506
91. 10 Rillington Place (1971)
GP | 111 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
What happened to the women at 10 Rillington Place? The story of British serial killer John Christie, who committed most or all of his crimes in the titular terraced house, and the miscarriage of justice involving Timothy Evans.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, John Hurt, Pat Heywood
Votes: 9,766
92. Dillinger (1973)
R | 107 min | Action, Biography, Crime
John Dillinger and his gang go on a bank robbing spree across the midwest, but one G-Man is determined to bring him down.
Director: John Milius | Stars: Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Michelle Phillips, Cloris Leachman
Votes: 5,844 | Gross: $2.00M
The best Dillinger movie. Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Richard Dreyfuss, Cloris Leachman, Harry Dean Stanton.
93. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
R | 83 min | Horror
Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.
Director: Tobe Hooper | Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain
Votes: 183,306 | Gross: $30.86M
9 critics and 1 director put this in their top 10 of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll. Grossed more than Chinatown in '74.
94. Solaris (1972)
PG | 167 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Jüri Järvet, Vladislav Dvorzhetskiy
Votes: 98,146
11 critics and 3 directors put this on their top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
95. Going in Style (1979)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Three friends living on the dole decide to rob a bank.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: George Burns, Art Carney, Lee Strasberg, Charles Hallahan
Votes: 3,906 | Gross: $26.87M
George Burns' best performance.
96. The Bad News Bears (1976)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
An aging, down-on-his-luck ex-minor leaguer coaches a team of misfits in an ultra-competitive California little league.
Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal, Vic Morrow, Joyce Van Patten
Votes: 24,901 | Gross: $42.35M
Tarantino put this on his top ten list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
97. Murder by Death (1976)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Five famous literary detective characters and their sidekicks are invited to a bizarre mansion to solve an even stranger mystery.
Director: Robert Moore | Stars: Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Eileen Brennan
Votes: 41,619
98. Little Big Man (1970)
PG-13 | 139 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Jack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Native Americans and fighting with General Custer.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Chief Dan George, Martin Balsam
Votes: 37,870 | Gross: $31.56M
Number 4 on Gene Siskel's list for 1971. 7th highest grossing movie of '70
99. Apocalypse Now (1979)
R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, War
A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 709,244 | Gross: $83.47M
Ranked #14 in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll where 53 critics and 33 directors, including Tarantino, put this in their top 10 of all time. 6th highest grossing movie of '79
100. Duck, You Sucker! (1971)
PG | 138 min | Drama, War, Western
A low-life bandit and an I.R.A. explosives expert rebel against the government and become heroes of the Mexican Revolution.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Rod Steiger, James Coburn, Romolo Valli, Maria Monti
Votes: 37,452 | Gross: $0.70M
1 director put this on his top 10 list of all time in the 2012 Sight & Sound poll.
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