# Top 50 Movies of the 1970s **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-50-movies-of-the-1970s/848314 "2020-02-21T17:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-50-movies-of-the-1970s/848314/1 "2020-02-21T17:33:07Z")
Harry and Tonto Nashville One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest Network A Woman Under The Influence Harold and Maude Fat City McCabe and Mrs. Miller A Clockwork Orange Mikey and Nicky The Godfather The Godfather II Next Stop, Greenwich Village One Is A Lonely Number An Enemy of the People Sunflower Five Easy Pieces Chit-Chat On the Nile Autumn Sonata The Yellow Handkerchief A Special Day Taxi Driver Annie Hall Stroszek A Brief Vacation Dog Day Afternoon Le Chat Lulu the Tool La Horse Payday The New Centurions Blume In Love Whity Made For Each Other Johnny Got His Gun Serie Noire The Conversation Opening Night The Fifth Seal The Outlaw Josey Wales The Last Detail Mr. Klein Nuts in May Minnie and Moskowitz Zandy’s Bride Lies My Father Told Me Wise Blood Manhattan Last Tango In Paris Chinatown Joe ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-50-movies-of-the-1970s/848314/2 "2020-02-21T17:56:16Z")
Good list but missing quite a few that scream the 70’s. Star Wars Rocky Poltergeist Jaws Patton Animal House Death Wish Blazing Saddles Monty Python and the Holy Grail Close Encounters of the Third Kind Deliverance Apocalypse Now The Deer Hunter ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-50-movies-of-the-1970s/848314/3 "2020-02-21T18:46:18Z")
Other films that I think indisputably belong in a 1970s Top 50 missing from the OP The Bitter Tears of Petra van Kant The Black Stallion Cabaret Days and Nights in the Forest God Told Me To The Last Waltz The Marquise of O A New Leaf The Spirit of the Beehive Stalker Straight Time 3 Women The Traveling Players Two English Girls Walkabout ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-50-movies-of-the-1970s/848314/4 "2020-02-21T22:09:23Z")
Btw, these are my favorites… Feel free to name as many as you can, or to criticize/praise some of my selections. (I could see how this might be confusing for some) ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-50-movies-of-the-1970s/848314/5 "2020-02-21T22:19:14Z")
you need to change the title to “my top 50 favorite movies of the 70s” so no one confuses it with something like "afi’s top 50 movies of the 70s " ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-50-movies-of-the-1970s/848314/6 "2020-02-22T06:46:21Z")
The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 Soylent Green Twilight’s Last Gleaming The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean Heaven Can Wait ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-50-movies-of-the-1970s/848314/7 "2020-02-22T06:48:08Z")
Poltergeist is 1982 and verrrry much an 80’s film. ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-50-movies-of-the-1970s/848314/8 "2020-02-22T07:47:26Z")
My own list would include the following films that haven’t been named yet: The Conformist The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie Cries and Whispers The Exorcist Barry Lyndon Love and Death Eraserhead Nosferatu the Vampyre Alien Being There ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-50-movies-of-the-1970s/848314/9 "2020-02-22T08:54:19Z")
Some others that I think are notable: M_A_S\*H Klute The French Connection Fiddler on the Roof Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Aguirre, Wrath of God American Graffiti The Sting Alice Doesn’t Live Here Any More Young Frankenstein All the President’s Men Halloween Grease Days of Heaven Kramer vs. Kramer Monty Python’s Life of Brian ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-50-movies-of-the-1970s/848314/10 "2020-02-22T10:06:17Z")
What would you say characterizes a great 70s film? Cynical tone, dark cinematography, a rejection of 40s glamor, a lessening of the grip of Old Hollywood stars and directors, the total collapse of the studio system, the rise of the Spielberg/Coppola generation of directors? What am I missing? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-50-movies-of-the-1970s/848314/11 "2020-02-22T13:24:48Z")
I compared my personal Top 100 All-time List with films already mentioned and found one missing. It scores only 7.0 at IMDB but deserves better: The Late Show I needed a lot of Googling to get dates. Romeo and Juliet? No, before 1970. Officer and Gentleman? No, after 1979. Is there a good list of the 2000 most notable films with dates? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-50-movies-of-the-1970s/848314/12 "2020-02-22T13:32:14Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > you need to change the title to “my top 50 favorite movies of the 70s” so no one confuses it with something like "afi’s top 50 movies of the 70s " I tried soon after posting it, but I am unable to edit.