Unlike some reactionary critics, I do not wax nostalgic
over the supposed superiority of 70’s cinema, which celebrated pretentious
vanity projects while forgetting that movies are primarily meant to be
aesthetic, entertaining and touching.
I’m glad we now make movies that people can connect to, regardless of
how many mediocre blockbusters get made.
Still, here are the 70’s movies I like.
41. The Star Wars Holiday Special
1978
D: Steve Binder, David Acomba
**********
Aside from Nelvana’s animated sequence and maybe the Bea
Arthur sketch, this is one of the most unwatchable and bafflingly bad movies I
have ever seen. I don’t blame Lucas for
wanting to forget this. The prequels,
though flawed, cannot possibly be compared to this garbage.
40. Moonraker
1979
D: Lewis Gilbert
**********
A pathetic attempt by the Moore-era Bond to cash in on
the success of Star Wars. When I first
saw it, I thought it was hilariously bad.
However, a more recent viewing simply made it seem dull and mediocre.
39. Jaws 2
1978
D: Jeannot Szwarc
**********
It was made by the same director as Supergirl, which is surprising because it’s so much more competent
than that movie, but not so surprising because they were both very boring
movies. The final takedown of the shark
was pretty cool, though.
38. Fritz the Cat
1972
D: Ralph Bakshi
**********
As a fan of animation and anthropomorphism, I think this
movie had so much potential to be a smart and mature entry in an
underappreciated subgenre. It had a lot
of strengths, but it was ruined by its unrelenting and unnecessary raunchiness,
which is made even worse because it involves cartoon animals. I think Marzgurl hit the nail on the head
when she said this movie has nudity just for the sake of having nudity.
37. Dawn of the Dead
1978
D: George A. Romero
**********
I’m probably a contrarian when it comes to zombie
movies. I have some respect for Night
of the Living Dead for its originality and influence, but it’s not my
thing. I’ve never found the subgenre particularly appealing, and the only
serious example of it I like is 28 Days
Later. I didn’t understand why people treat this as a seminal horror
movie when I find the serious aspects underwhelming. There are so many
moments of seemingly intentional camp in it. I also dislike the Zack
Snyder remake, although I imagine I would hate it even more if I liked the
original. I haven’t seen Day of the
Dead, though, so I may modify my opinion.
36. Superman
1978
D: Richard Donner
***********
Another good movie ruined by a terrible ending.
35. Nashville
1975
D: Robert Altman
**********
Being from Nashville, I would like to have at least one
fun movie about my hometown. Instead we
get this, Percy Jackson and Trash Humpers. It’s one of those dry comedies like Lost in Translation and Bottle Rocket that are so dry they
apparently forgot to put jokes in it.
The only part of it I found funny was the scene in which a pretentious
reporter is in a field of idling school buses and she can’t decide if she wants
to make a positive or negative metaphor based on their yellow color. I also liked a scene which prominently
displayed St. Henry’s Church (my grade school alma mater). Oddly enough,
the movie doesn’t seem particularly flattering toward the town; it focuses on
petty rivalries, political corruption and an assassination. 35. Annie Hall
1977
D: Woody Allen
**********
The first five or ten minutes are hilarious, but it
quickly devolves into dull romcom dreck.
It’s largely credited with influencing the romantic comedy formula,
which is reason enough to hate it. I
don’t care if anyone would think me a lowbrow fanboy for saying this movie
stole the Oscar from Star Wars, but
that’s what it did. This is not a Lives of Others situation. It stole the Oscar
from Star Wars.
34. The Lord of the Rings
1978
D: Ralph Bakshi
**********
Some good animation, but it isn’t too well-executed. It’s much shorter and less detailed than the
Peter Jackson version, but it seems
longer because it’s not as a watchable.
33. A Clockwork Orange
1971
D: Stanley Kubrick
**********
I would consider this a masterpiece, but I can’t get past
the gratuitous and utterly overdone raunchiness. Many things in this movie look like they’re
lewd just for the sake of being lewd, and that time-elapsed three-way scene
looks like something out of a Happy Madison movie.
32. The Hobbit
1977
D: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin, Jr.
**********
It has a very distinctive art style, but it could have
been much better. Those obnoxious songs
certainly didn’t help.
31. Jaws
30. National Lampoon’s Animal House
1975
D: Steven Spielberg
**********
Though I don’t love it as much as everyone else, but it
is a good film.30. National Lampoon’s Animal House
1978
D: John Landis
**********
Though this movie was funny, I still find the Delta House
“heroes” to be unsympathetic, and this movie possibly popularized the annoying
trend in comedies like Ferris Bueller’s
Day Off and Old School of framing
the actual bad guys as protagonists.
29. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
1975
D: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
**********
The movie is funny, but the overt randomness as well as
the real-life attitudes of Monty Python’s crew have made me a little more
antagonistic of the franchise lately.
28. The Wicker Man
1973
D: Robin Hardy
**********
Though it gets on the preachy side, it doesn’t seem so
far-fetched nowadays. Certainly a better
movie than the unintentionally hilarious remake.
27. Wizards
1977
D: Ralph Bakshi
**********
While I believe one awful scene can ruin an otherwise
good film, this is the one example of a great scene somehow redeeming a bad
movie. I usually don’t like Ralph Bakshi
movies, and I was hating this film until I saw the final wizard fight in which
the good wizard pretty much pulls out a Luger and shoots the villain. That made the movie for me.
26. American Graffiti
1973
D: George Lucas
**********
Proof that Lucas was at some point able to make a good,
character-driven movie that was not a genre film.
25. The French Connection
1971
D: William Friedkin
**********
A good crime thriller that has a revolutionary car
“chase.” Well, it’s not technically a
car chase. It’s a guy really trying to
catch a train. It helped by simulated a
crowded street, adding to the realism.
24. The Abominable Dr. Phibes
1971
D: Robert Fuest
**********
A stylish art-deco thriller with Vincent Price
23. Duel
1971
D: Steven Spielberg
**********
A suspenseful cat-and-mouse game between a motorist and a
murderous trucker.
22. Soylent Green
1973
D: Richard Fleischer
**********
A dark view of a barren future starring Charlton Heston.
21. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
1979
D: Robert Wise
**********
It’s not a very good movie, and the plot had been done
before in that very franchise, but it’s one of my Late 70’s/Early 80’s Effects
Movies that I find to be guilty pleasures.
The model work is amazing in this film, and despite complaints about it,
the overly long scenery porn scene of V’Ger is my favorite part of the movie. That transporter accident was pretty disturbing,
too.
20. The Black Hole
1979
D: Gary Nelson
**********
It’s better than Star
Trek: The Motion Picture, but I like it for the same reason. Gratuitous scenes of excellent model work.
19. Mad Max
1979
D: George Miller
**********
A groundbreaking postapocalyptic film with great action
and stunts. It departs from the
conventional revenge movie formula by having the loss of the family the primary
drive of the movie, rather than getting it out of the way in the first five
minutes. However, since we all already
knows that Max’s family dies before we watch the film, that makes the movie
less suspenseful and more like an exercise in masochism. It’s kind of annoying how fate just cheats
over and over again to have Max’s family die.
Also, I love Bubba.
18. Dirty Harry
1971
D: Don Siegel
**********
Classic movie with a memorably vile villain.
17. Logan’s Run
1976
D: Michael Anderson
**********
Though dated in its visuals, it’s a smart movie. Though some may think carousel is like
religious fanaticism, but I see a lot of the modern trend of hedonism taken to
a point where anyone who cannot get in on it is worth getting the shaft.
16. Watership Down
1978
D: Martin Rosen, John Hubley
**********
A great, dark cartoon with a unique style.
15. The Godfather, Pt. II
1974
D: Francis Ford Coppola
**********
Although it is an excellent movie, I don’t think it does
the same for me as the first one.
14. Patton
1970
D: Franklin J. Schaffner
**********
Not a typical war movie, but rather a great character
study of a complex man, played by the perfectly cast George C. Scott.
13. The Jerk
1979
D: Carl Reiner
**********
The best comedy of the decade. Reiner/Martin movies are the quirky
masterpieces that McKay/Ferrell movies only think they are.
12. THX 1138
1971
D: George Lucas
**********
An underrated dystopian classic that looks so clean it’s
hard to believe it’s so old. Also, the movie's message against rampant consumerism seems sadly ironic considering Lucas's recent career.
11. The Duellists
1977
D: Ridley Scott
**********
Good story, good humor and amazing cinematography. This movie deserves credit for being Ridley
Scott’s directorial debut. Too bad it’s
relatively forgotten. Some directorial
debuts are deservedly forgotten (The Coens’ Blood
Simple), but this one needs some attention.
10. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
1971
D: Mel Stuart
**********
Gene Wilder
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Johnny Depp
9 Banjo the Woodpile Cat
1979
D: Don Bluth
*********
Don Bluth’s movies are known for tugging at the
heartstrings, and this one goes all out.
I practically rapes your soul before it’s happy ending. Also has an interesting production story.
8. Robin Hood
1973
D: Wolfgang Reitherman
**********
This movie pretty much defined my entire perception of Robin Hood to the point that I even see Robin Hood as an anthropomorphic character. I remember seeing commercials for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves as a kid thinking, “What’s this, Robin Hood isn’t supposed to be a human.” Too bad Disney doesn’t like this movie like I do.
1978
D: Michael Cimino
**********
Hollywood has not been kind to the Vietnam War, and I think this is the only truly great movie about it (unless you count the first half of Full Metal Jacket). Still, that Orthodox Wedding Scene was too much. I’m Catholic, and I thought that dragged on too long.
6. A Christmas Carol
1971
D: Richard Williams
**********
Wonderfully animated short that doesn't cut much meat out of the story. The best after the 1984 version.
5. The Godfather
1972
D: Francis Ford Coppola
*********
A great story, and the cinematography is so good, it’s
hard to believe it’s from the early 70’s.
4. Network
1976
D: Sidney Lumet
*********
If you’ve ever taken crap from some hipster punk online,
chances are he was using the iconic still of Peter Finch’s “Mad as Hell” speech
as his avatar. Still, it’s a great
satire with some excellent monologues.
3. Alien
1979
D: Ridley Scott
*********
Amazing visuals and suspense. It works as a horror movie because the actions of most of the characters make sense. Still effective even if you know the twist.
2. The Conversation
1974
D: Francis Ford Coppola
*********
A great character study of a lonely man who feels qualms
about his job spying on people. It’s an
overlooked classic with an excellent twist.
It was nominated for Best Picture but lost to Coppola’s own Godfather, Pt. II. I’m in the minority when I say that it
deserved it more.
1. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
D: George Lucas
*********
While some view it as rehash of Flash Gordon and other
serials, but this movie’s genius was that it took all those tropes and added
well-written characterization, proving that genre movies were equal to all
others. It effectively ended the 70’s
era of cinema and made it for the people, and we haven’t looked back
since.
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