# What is the greatest Movie from the 70's? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 26, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333 "2011-05-26T18:51:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/41 "2011-05-27T14:56:33Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Gotta be Star Wars. It transcended the disco jive bell-bottom CB radio decade. [Well, not quite](http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/?q=disco+star+wars&vid=1B36B597E59153113F0D1B36B597E59153113F0D&docid=820506067836&FORM=VIRE2). ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/42 "2011-05-27T15:28:10Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > [Well, not quite](http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/?q=disco+star+wars&vid=1B36B597E59153113F0D1B36B597E59153113F0D&docid=820506067836&FORM=VIRE2). Did George Lucas sanction that?!? šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/43 "2011-05-27T15:49:09Z")
I know _The Godfather_ (and often its Part II sequel) gets a lot of love, but honestly Iā€™ve never been able to make it through a viewing. Itā€™s well filmed and acted and all that, but I just donā€™t find the characters interesting - I neither identify with them, nor find them so exceptionally evil (in a ā€œHitler documentaries on the History Channelā€ sense) that I care to delve deeper into their life stories. I find myself constantly asking myself, ā€œwhy am I watching this again, except that everybody seems to love this?ā€ Plus, as Peter Griffin observed, ā€œIt insists upon itselfā€. šŸ™‚ I was only a child in the 1970s, but what movies have made a deep personal impact on me would be _Star Wars_, _Jaws_ and _Close Encounters of the Third Kind_. And indeed, _Enter The Dragon_. Also _Animal House_, _Grease_ and _Saturday Night Fever_. In a ā€œthat was an amazing movieā€ sense that I only appreciated as I got older, I would vote for _One Flew Over The Cuckooā€™s Nest_ and _Rocky_. Though only Star Wars can claim the ultimate 1970s claim to fame: [a disco version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWRWYYt47RI) of the soundtrackā€™s movie theme. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/44 "2011-05-27T15:53:02Z")
Dang it, beat to the disco link due to a meeting at work intervening between the start and end of my post! šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/45 "2011-05-27T16:25:18Z")
That Coppola film. You know, the one with Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall. \* Apocalypse Now.\* ---
**Author:** ![Lethal\_Babydoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@Lethal\_Babydoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Babydoll)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/46 "2011-05-27T17:00:21Z")
Rocky. Loved it then. Saw it recently. Fell in love all over again. Exciting, moving, dynamic characters and acting. Underdog didnā€™t win ā€¦ well, in a way he really did. Itā€™s almost like a parallel universe Stallone is in it. he seems so different from all the Stallone that followed. ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/47 "2011-05-27T17:26:00Z")
Good decade for movies, lots of classics in there. The Godfather may be the best movie ever made, not just of the 70ā€™s. Plenty of worthy runner ups. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/48 "2011-05-27T17:29:53Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > Though only Star Wars can claim the ultimate 1970s claim to fame: [a disco version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWRWYYt47RI) of the soundtrackā€™s movie theme. [Oh no](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk7a_QVj-WI), [not true](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THf1HAU8Ji4&feature=related)! [Not true at all](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xj8GKENGG0&feature=related)! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/49 "2011-05-27T17:38:01Z")
Iā€™m surprised _Alien_ hasnā€™t been nominated yet. Perhaps because, as a 1979 film, itā€™s easy to imagine it was actually released in the 80s. But itā€™s a fantastic film - well-written, skillfully acted, and it produced a vision of the future as a lived-in place where blue-collar people work hard and die horribly that influenced pretty much everything that came after. Plus, it had Sigourney Weaver! And a kitty! ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/50 "2011-05-27T17:43:02Z")
Dirty Harry. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/51 "2011-05-27T17:43:50Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Star Wars > > [I just think seeing this opening moment in the theater back then must have blown everyone away in a way we havenā€™t seen since.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z33-qOXOWS4#t=15s) I gotta agree. Star Wars was like nothing we had ever seen before. That opening scene still gives me shivers. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/52 "2011-05-27T17:46:16Z")
Just to mention a site with a big list of 70ā€™s movies to look over: > **[About The 80s Movies Rewind](https://70s.fast-rewind.com/)** > > All about the award winning 80s Movies Rewind. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/53 "2011-05-27T18:41:32Z")
_Apocalypse Now_ or _The Exorcist._ ---
**Author:** ![Canyon\_Surfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Canyon\_Surfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canyon_Surfer)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/54 "2011-05-27T20:09:56Z")
and still one of my all time favourite films [All The Presidentā€™s Men](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_President's_Men_(film)) I think Redford and Hoffman were well cast in the two main roles, but loved Jason Robards as Ben Bradlee. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/55 "2011-05-27T20:51:49Z")
> [@Mooch](#): > > _The Outlaw Josey Wales_ Holy crap! I had no memory of that movie being that old! Damn Iā€™m getting old! ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/56 "2011-05-27T22:40:22Z")
I could never pick a single favorite, but I would consider putting _Papillon_ in my top ten of the seventies. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/57 "2011-05-27T23:09:16Z")
Of the ones I saw (my parents took me to) during the '70ā€™s: Apocalypse Now A Clockwork Orange The Godfather Alien Jaws Star Wars ā€¦ Although I could repeat many of the great selling points of these movies as many have already mentioned, but I think Iā€™ll have to go withā€¦ ā€¦ A Clockwork Orange. I think seeing this at such a young age has jaded me forever upon movie violence. I still donā€™t see whatā€™s so bad about it. I mean, I know rape/murder/assault is bad, but itā€™s not like Saw or Hostel or anything. But this simply opened the door for **Halloween (1978).** All bets are off after that. Also: **Jaws** made me afraid to swim _in the pool._ ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/58 "2011-05-28T00:09:08Z")
_The Conversation._ ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/59 "2011-05-28T00:46:57Z")
Well since my usual answer to, ā€œWhat is your all-time favorite movie,ā€ is generally Terrence Malickā€™s _Badlands_ from 1973, I guess I should mention it. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333/60 "2011-05-28T01:13:07Z")
More short-list additionsā€¦ Harold & Maude Lone Wolf and Cub Monty Python and the Holy Grail Rocky Animal House [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-movie-from-the-70s/583333.md?page=4)