25 best movies of the 70s: the greatest movies of the 1970s
From Chinatown to A Clockwork Orange, these are the best 70s movies.
It’s a common cliché that they don’t make them like they used to but when it comes to the best 70s movies, it’s really quite true. There's so much to love about a movie that was made in the 70s. This was the era of the first blockbusters, the era when the likes of Scorsese, Spielberg and Coppola found power in a new kind of filmmaking.
The best 70s movies pushed the boundaries of filmmaking so much that it flung grit in the eye of old Hollywood. Seen as the new golden era for Hollywood, when mainstream movies would be imbued with an intelligence and riskiness that has since been somewhat watered down, in just 10 years, we’ve been given a whole library’s worth of rewatchable classics.
To celebrate everything that the 70s brought to movie history, we’ve assembled a list of the 25 greatest movies of the '70s.
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25. Mean Streets (1973)
The first film to bring attention to the 31-year-old director Martin Scorsese, this gritty crime drama was a refreshingly realist alternative to the glamour of The Godfather. It was also the first time audiences truly became aware of both Robert De Niro and Harvey Kietel who played small-time gangsters trying to fit into the larger scene. Looking back now, it provides a raw blueprint for not only Scorsese’s future output but for most gangster films made since.
24. Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979)
As one of the first movies to truly tackle the thorny issue of divorce, Kramer Vs. Kramer dared to subvert traditional expectations of what parenthood really means to most of us. As notions of motherhood and fatherhood started to shift throughout the era, we saw a film which showed that a father could be a single parent while it’s perfectly possible for a mother to have no interest in raising a child. Oscar-winning performances from Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep also helped to make this one of the most affecting dramas of the decade.
23. The Getaway (1972)
Based on Jim Thompson’s classic 50s novel, The Getaway was always destined for the big screen. Its relentless pace and suspenseful setpieces meant it was a natural fit for cinema and with Sam Peckinpah’s assured hand, the film was a massive success. The chemistry between Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw was given an added edge with the pair indulging in an affair off-screen while Peckinpah’s knack for directing while drunk worked out surprisingly well.
22. Carrie (1976)
While the horror genre suffered from overly trashy elements in the 80s, the 70s showed that movies could be scary and have a soul. Brian De Palma’s landmark adaptation of Stephen King’s bestseller is a perfect example of this. Combining the requisite levels of gore and terror with a powerful tale of the dangers of both religion and bullying, the film surprised critics and even scored itself some Oscar nominations. The less said about the sequel the better.
21. Animal House (1978)
Proving that 70s cinema wasn’t all doom and gloom, this frat house comedy heralded in a new era of gross-out movies, which might be seen as a blessing and a curse. But before the subgenre became overrun with fart jokes, John Landis’s late 70s classic was a refreshing change of pace. It also turned Saturday Night Live comedian John Belushi into a fully-fledged movie star, and the legacy of the film can be seen from Porky’sright through to American Pie.