Why the 1970s remain cinema’s greatest decade: The 25 best films
From Spielberg to Coppola and more
Morgan Truder
The 1970s were a glorious mess — and cinema was all the better for it. Studios loosened their grip, filmmakers pushed back, and a generation of directors suddenly found themselves given the kind of creative freedom that barely exists today.
The result was a decade of films that felt dangerous, adult and unpredictable, where anti-heroes ruled, endings didn’t always comfort, and genre rules were there to be bent or outright ignored.
It’s the era that gave us New Hollywood, redefined what a blockbuster could be, and proved that commercial success and artistic ambition didn’t have to be sworn enemies. The problem, of course, is that the decade was too good. For every title that makes this list, there’s another classic left standing just outside it, brilliant films that would walk into any other decade’s top 25 without breaking a sweat.
Still, hard choices had to be made. These are the films that best capture why the 1970s remain cinema’s greatest decade, ranked.
25. The Conversation (1974)
On first watch, The Conversation is understated. Not much happens in the movie but it's all about the perception of what could be happening that makes it such a classic.
Gene Hackman is superb as a surveillance expert who believes the people he is listening to will be murdered - which leaves it up to him to save them. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, this is a brilliant, supertight thriller.
24. Marathon Man (1976)
“Is it safe?” One of the most chilling quotes in the whole of cinema, offered up by Nazi war criminal and part-time dentist Dr. Christian Szell.
This is the most famous bit of The Marathon Man, but the rest of the movie is just as good, focusing on Thomas "Babe" Levy (Dustin Hoffman), who becomes embroiled in an illegal diamond trade, thanks to his brother.
23. Midnight Express (1978)
One of the best prison dramas ever made, Midnight Express has strong credentials across the board.
It’s written by Oliver Stone, directed by the ace Alan Parker and has a stunning central performance by Brad Davis. Couple this with a Giorgio Moroder score and this is one movie that should not be missed.
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. Halloween (1978)
This micro-budget horror film should have been a throwaway B-movie at best, but at the hands of John Carpenter, it became the film which has been credited as starting the slasher movie genre (although strictly speaking it was Black Christmas).
With the unstoppable villain Michael Myers, Carpenter also created a bad guy who has haunted popular culture ever since, and the spare, unshowy suspense of the film means that it’s aged horribly well.
20. Enter The Dragon (1973)
Bruce Lee’s greatest performance is also one of the best movies of the 70s. It is a film that brought kung fu to Hollywood, made Lee a star outside of his native Hong Kong and changed action cinema as we know it, sadly premiering a month after its main star had died. What a legacy to leave, though.
19. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
As an actor, John Cazale only made five movies before he died of lung cancer. But those films! The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Deer Hunter - just jaw-dropping.
Dog Day Afternoon is his best performance, alongside Al Pacino, who stars as a pair of bank robbers who need money to fund a gender reassignment operation. Directed by Sidney Lumet, this is a wonderful movie, based on a true story, that was way ahead of its time.
19. Deliverance (1972)
Commenting on the noticeable cultural divide in America while also providing nail-biting suspense, Irish director John Boorman’s landmark thriller was a bit of a shock to the senses when it was initially released.
Even now, the infamous “squeal like a pig” scene is still as harrowing as it was back then. It also turned Burt Reynolds into a star, giving him a breakout role as the macho leader of the group.
18. 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.
17. The Deer Hunter (1978)
One of the first films to examine the effects of the Vietnam War on soldiers when they return home, Michael Cimino’s powerful drama elicited another iconic performance from Robert De Niro, who received yet another Oscar nomination for his work.
It’s a tough, uncompromising film, culminating in a horrifying game of Russian Roulette which will stay with you long after the closing credits.
16. Superman (1978)
“ You’ll believe a man can fly" was the tagline for this big-screen version of Superman, and it’s very apt. This was the first blockbuster superhero movie - something that we are very used to in a Marvel world -, and it treated its subject matter in the right way, focusing on the heroics of Supes and not the ridiculous idea that someone in red pants can fly and save the world. Christopher Reeve IS Superman, his performance nuanced and, well, perfect.
15. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
One of the most controversial films of the era, Stanley Kubrick’s magnum opus gave us an uncomfortable look at a dystopian future where gangs of youths engage in “ultra-violence”.
Still pertinent now, the Oscar-nominated film was problematic on release due to the high levels of violence. Kubrick himself withdrew the film in the UK where it wasn’t seen until 2000, by which time its cult status had grown even larger.
14. The Exorcist (1973)
After The French Connection, director William Friedkin showcased his considerable versatility by moving into the horror genre with this iconic masterpiece. Still perceived now as one of the scariest films ever made, The Exorcist became the first horror movie to ever get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.
Ignoring the lesser sequels and the prequel, its power to shock and haunt remains intact, and it paved the way for the horror genre to be taken more seriously.
13. The French Connection (1971)
The first R-rated film to win Best Picture at the Oscars helped usher in a new era of gritty crime dramas that typified the edgy cinema of the 1970s. Gene Hackman’s Oscar-winning turn as a take-no-prisoners cop showcased the breathtaking moral ambiguity that pervaded films of the era.
Unwilling to make the leads overly sympathetic or easy to like, William Friedkin’s film was a breath of fresh, or actually rather filthy, air.
12. All The President's Men (1976)
The best movie about journalists ever made and perhaps the best movie ever made. This is a brilliant, heart-in-mouth look at Nixon and the Watergate scandal, told through the point of view of two journalists who uncovered the crime - Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
Hoffman and Redford are brilliant as the journos, but it's everything about this film that makes it a classic.
11. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)
After his ground-breaking blockbuster Jaws, Spielberg wisely turned down offers to direct Jaws 2, King Kong and Superman to focus on an original science fiction script that he’d written, re-teaming with Richard Dreyfuss to bring it to the screen.
It was a huge success, both commercially and critically and perfectly encapsulated the sheer scale that Spielberg wanted to work with in his career. Opening in the same year as his close friend George Lucas’s Star Wars, it was a banner year for science fiction.
10. The Sting (1973)
Re-teaming the unbeatable duo of Paul Newman and Robert Redford after the massive success of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was a bit of a no-brainer. Thankfully their next project lived up to the large expectations that were placed upon them.
The 30s set crime caper was a runaway hit thanks to the effortless charm of the two leads and the smart, surprising script. It was deservedly showered in Oscars and still remains one of the finest con-artist movies ever made.
9. Chinatown (1974)
Another 70s offering that boasted a leading man with more depth and moral ambiguity than we ever get to see these days, Chinatown remains the most effective American crime film ever made.
Despite strong turns in Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces, it was Jack Nicholson’s performance as private detective Jake Gittes that truly turned him into a star. It’s also one of the rare films that boasts a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Which means you’re literally not allowed to dislike it
8. Taxi Driver (1976)
Following up an Oscar-winning role in The Godfather Part II was never going to be easy. But 33-year-old Robert De Niro continued his golden run with Martin Scorsese’s blistering thriller about a marine turned taxi driver who is slowly losing his mind.
It gave De Niro another Oscar nomination and catapulted Travis Bickle, and his immortal line “You talkin’ to me?”, into pop culture history books. Rumours of a sequel and a remake have thankfully quietened down. Stay away, yeah?
7. Rocky (1976)
While we definitely applaud the bravely downbeat tone of 70s cinema, no decade is complete without a few feel-good films. Sylvester Stallone’s breakout turn as the down-on-his-luck debt collector turned boxer was a massive crowd-pleaser, turning the drama into a surprise sleeper hit and a success at the Oscars. It’s a series that’s still going, as well - Creed 2 is a highlight of the series.
6. Apocalypse Now (1979)
Helping to usher out what was a rather remarkable decade for Francis Ford Coppola, this seminal masterpiece meant that he was in charge of not only the finest gangster film of the 70s but also the greatest war movie as well.
Involving philosophy and existentialism within the framework of a war movie helped create a dedicated cult following who have been discussing and dissecting the film ever since.
5. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
This deservedly Oscar-winning drama caught Jack Nicholson at his very best as he played a reckless criminal who hoped to avoid his sentence by heading to a mental institution with unforgettably devastating consequences.
It also gave us one of the decade’s most formidable villains in the passive-aggressive Nurse Ratched, played with chilling conviction by an Oscar-winning Louise Fletcher. Oh, and random fact: it played in Swedish cinemas for 11 years straight.
4. Jaws (1975)
While Star Wars is often seen as the film which invented the summer blockbuster, it was actually Steven Spielberg’s terrifying tale of shark v man which changed how Hollywood viewed the warmer months.
While the term might have been bastardised by countless examples of empty-headed action flicks, Jaws managed to combine seat-edge thrills with memorable performances and even bagged itself an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. It spawned many copycat thrillers but it still stands proudly as the original and the best. Take that, Deep Blue Sea.
3. Star Wars (1977)
After Jaws showcased just what mainstream audiences were looking for in the 70s, George Lucas took the idea of a blockbuster one step further.
He decided to create a franchise. In the original, and arguably best, of his ground-breaking space operas, Lucas perfectly sets up a thrilling and totally unique universe that was like nothing cinemagoers had ever seen up until that point. He also made science fiction hip and marketable again. So for that, we can almost forgive Jar Jar Binks. Almost.
2. Alien (1979)
One of the last films of the decade was also one of the most important. Blending sci-fi and horror in a way that hadn’t been done before (at least not quite as successfully), Ridley Scott’s terrifying thriller kicked off a franchise that’s still going today.
Subverting audience expectations by placing a woman in the lead role, Alien created a feminist icon in Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley. Oh, and it included the best dinner scene ever.
1. The Godfather Part II (1974)
Whenever the argument arises over the inferiority of sequels, Francis Ford Coppola’s first follow-up to The Godfather is commonly used as a classic example that bucks the trend. Along with Addams Family Values of course. Opening up the world of the original film and adding in some Oscar-winning De Niro brilliance, it’s pretty much the greatest gangster movie ever made.
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