What was the best year for movies?

Cafe Society
21

Imho, rankings may change as I see fit, at whim:

  1. 1994 (best year of movies where I was old and mature enough to appreciate them.)
  2. 1974 (best year of movies in my lifetime.)
  3. 1939 (best year of movies outside my lifetime.)

The one-two punch of Wizard and GWTW makes '39 pretty unbeatable- WoO itself is the most referenced work of fiction in American history, and GWTW… problematic as it is… showed the future of Hollywood in big budget, gloriously shot, beautiful technicolor scenes, with no expense spared on practical and special effects. It is the prototype of the blockbuster.

22

Ya forgot Taxi Driver starring a young Robert De Niro. I think that and Chinatown were really the shining movies of 1974.

23

… ugh. Who wants to tell him? :wink:

24

I won’t argue with you over the worth of Taxi Driver; it’s a great movie. But it was released in 1976.

25

Son of a bitch, been a long damn day, not all the cylinders are firing. Gotta have another cuppa tea.

26

I think 1974 may have this unique attribute; it’s rare for any filmmaker to make two great movies within a single year. But two filmmakers - Mel Brooks and Francis Ford Coppola - did it in 1974.

27

My favorite year for movies was 1982. That may just be a personal choice, because I was able to see a lot of movies that year, and did. But there were a lot of memorable ones, especially in fantasy and science fiction, and especially in the summer. It had more money and spare time that year, and moved near an art cinema:

In all fairness, I hated E.T. and The Last Unicorn, and didn’t see some on this list. But I saw all the fantasy/SF movies. It was also the first time I was able to watch Bambi.

28

My favorite year for movies was 1982. That may just be a personal choice, because I was able to see a lot of movies that year, and did. But there were a lot of memorable ones, especially in fantasy and science fiction, and especially in the summer. It had more money and spare time that year, and moved near an art cinema:

Tron
The Thing
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Bladerunner
E.T. – The Extraterrestrial
The Sword and the Sorceror
The Last Unicorn
Bambi
Airplane II
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
Annie
Swamp Thing
The Dark Crystal
Firefox
Grease II
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
First Blood (the first Rambo movie)
Rocky III
The Atomic Cafe
Koyaanisqatsi
The Grey Fox
Liquid Sky
Tootsie
Victor/Victoria
The Verdict
The Secret of NIMH
The Return of Martin Guerre
Q
Poltergeist
Megaforce
Zapped!
Gandhi
Deathtrap
Cat People
Android

In all fairness, I hated E.T. and The Last Unicorn, and didn’t see some on this list. But I saw all the fantasy/SF movies. It was also the first time I was able to watch Bambi.Gandhi and Atomic Cafe were great films, and I got my Bad Movie thrill from Sword and the Sorceror (although it contained more genuine Robert E. Howard than Conan did), Megaforce, and Zapped!

29

I can tell you it ain’t 2020.

30

Coincidentially, I just watched Goodbye Mr Chips last night from TCM, and Ben Mankiewicz made the case for 1939 as well.

31

The first blockbuster was actually Birth of a Nation, in the sense of lines around the block to get into the theater, and people turned away at the box office.

And for lavish sets, special effects, and big budgets, there was Intolerance, in 1916.

Both were also longer than GWTW.

32

True. But there aren’t a lot of movies which have aged worse than GWTW…

33

Yea, I mean Birth of a Nation was just on. I think it was a double feature with Triumph of ther Will.

34

When did Singing in the Rain come out, 1952? Ok then, it’s 1952.

35

You forgot the greatest movie released in 1982…

The Beastmaster starring Marc Singer!!!