I came in this thread to mention Pelham, and as it’s already been mentioned and you haven’t seen it, I can add RUN OUT AND SEE IT RIGHT NOW! Oh my gosh, it’s so good. Part of the fun of watching it now is that you see all the ways it influenced other action/heist movies.
**
The Warriors** is another look at New York in the 70s. It works as camp, it sort of works as a gang movie, it definitely works as the end of the 70s.
Also a must see, Matthau’s other great crime flick of that period- Charley Varrick- a favorite of Tarantino’s I assume 
Missed the edit window …
Oh, and on this same theme, which I guess is now “weird crime in NYC,” The Hot Rock with Robert Redford (and now that I look at it on IMDB, an even more impressive cast than I remembered). It’s a jewel heist comedy.
Some others worth looking at:
**The Parallax View ** (1974, dir. Alan J. Pakula)
All the President’s Men (1976, dir. Alan J. Pakula)
Duel (1971-TV, Steven Spielberg)
Being There (1979, Hal Ashby)
Little Big Man (1970, Arthur Penn)
Get Carter
Go Tell the Spartans
Three Days of the Condor
Come on, nobody has mentioned Smokey and the Bandit?
“Hoss, you ain’t gonna believe this, but that crazy sombitch just tried to drive right up under my truck!”
For quintessential '70s, I give you:
Not just because the Muppets were huge in that decade, but for all the great '70s stars who made cameo appearances: Steve Martin, Dom DeLuise, Telly Savalas, etc.
And music by Paul Williams!
Sleuth - Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. Need I say more?
The Man Who Would Be King - Sean Connery and Michael Caine. Ditto.
Start the Revolution Without Me - Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland take on the French Revolution. Megaditto.
Lina Wertmuller’s Swept Away.
Wow, this is so much help and a ton of fun!
*Rhubarb: To my knowledge, I haven’t seen Wizards, but from reading the description, it sounds like one I’ll have to. As far as the Trinity movies, I just know I have, but must be forgetting what exactly it all is when I mix it up with other similar ones.
*Wendell: For shame sir, you haven’t been completely reading along, huh? 
Anyhoo, out of the ones you list, I haven’t gotten around to…
[ul]
[li]Amarcord[/li][li]The Fantastic Planet[/li][li]Macbeth – who starred in this? … thank Of for no Mel Gibson.[/li][li]My Brilliant Career[/li][li]Play it Again, Sam – not sure about this one, I’ll have to check[/li][li]Seven Beauties[/li][li]The Tree of Wooden Clogs – love the title![/li][/ul]
…well that does cut it down a bit. I’m sure Netflix and I will establish a stronger relationship in the coming days.
*delphica: The Warriors is one of my SO’s Top Ten favorites. And what’s not to like when we’re talking about the famous “Come out and pla-ay!” line, not to mention all the cool gangs, like the Hi-Hats. I wanted to be a Baseball Fury! I’ll be noting The Hot Rock on my list too.
*Wee Bairn – Varrick? I likes me some good crime flicks, so that’ll be another addition. I appreciate the recommendation of a director too. Thanks.
[li]NDP – I grew up with a little crush on Dustin Hoffman, so I’ve definitely watched All the President’s Men and Little Big Man more than once. Being There rocked my songs, although I’ve heard that Sellers was a primo dick. However, he was buddies with Alice, so he gets a pass.[/li]
I think Duel was my first introduction to suspense and we analyzed it over and over again any time it came on TV. Did he jump or not?? We were positive that he jumped. So that just leaves The Parallax View. I can’t believe I haven’t as I fell for Parker with both Midnight Run (which oughta be here as well!), Mississippi Burning and The Commitments, among others.
ColonelDax: You’ve nailed all three!! Although how I’ve missed Three Days of the Condor, I have no idea. [ ::: scribbles furiously ::: ]
[li]control-z: I thought that was required viewing to graduate from the 70s! Plus, JERRY REED! I have no issues with anyone who stutters, but I’ll be damned if he didn’t make it absolutely adorable.[/li]
[li]want2know – Without a doubt! Needless to say, my favorite episode had the incomparable Mr. Cooper (ahhh…) singing and being particularly yummy. So we agree.[/li]
[li]RTFirefly: A Caine fan, are we? Sleuth is the only one I’ve watched though out of the four. Can you believe it? I haven’t even gotten around to the original Alfie, despite seeing the deplorable remake. [/li]
Thanks again everyone! I feel like DVD Santa has come early this year. 
Just jumping in to ditto O Lucky Man, which was a cult favorite for quite a few years.
Are you ever astonished by the way a person’s appearance changes? The change in Malcolm McDowell is one that stonkers me.
How about
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Murder on the Orient Express
The Goodbye Girl
Grease
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
Bad News Bears
Gauntlet
Logan’s Run
Oh, God!
Pete’s Dragon
Foul Play
That’s all I can think of right now
The two on my list are Superman and Star Trek, the first installments of those franchise movies.
Has anyone mentioned The Last of Sheila yet? 1973, and a goodie.
Well, then, how about the movie Caligula? I know it was out in 1981, but hey, live a little.
Not seeing alot of comedies in these lists. While the 70’s were a pretty serious decade movie wise there were some classic comedies that came out as well. Richard Pryor was a BIG movie star back then…
Silver Streak - 1976
Uptown Saturday Night (with Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby!) - 1976
Richard Pryor Live in Concert - 1979
Other classic comedies from the 70’s:
Oh God! - 1977
Car Wash - 1976
Blazing Saddles - 1974
High Anxiety - 1977
Young Frankenstein -1974
Foul Play - 1978
What’s Up, Doc? - 1972
American Graffiti - 1973
Murder on the Orient Express - 1974
The Bad News Bears - 1975
and of course:
The Rocky Horror Picture Show - 1975 (ye gods! 32 years ago!!!)
You forgot Murder by Death
Shampoo - god I love that film. Funny, sharp, sexy, brilliant.
Scary, huh??? :eek: :eek: :eek:
How about Norma Rae (Sally Field shows she can act), and Patton? Bookends to the decade.
This reminds me of a similar 1970s film: Phantom of the Paradise. Not that great when you get right down to it, and it never achieved the cult status of Rocky Horror, but it is a good example of over-the-top 1970s glam/arena rock shows. It also musically reflects the first half of the 1970s, when all kinds of music shared space on Top 40 AM radio, one-hit wonders came and went with regularity, and record producers and promoters had no competition and basically dictated what consumers got. Plot-wise, it can be a little difficult on first viewing, but the music helps. Not a bad way to spend an hour and a half, IMHO.