Which decade in the history of filmmaking — a history dating back more than a century — produced the most great movies?
Last year, the BBC made a case for the 1920s, the decade that saw the introduction of synchronized sound (including dialogue) to the silver screen and produced such venerated masterpieces as “Metropolis,” “The Passion of Joan of Arc,” “The Battleship Potemkin,” and several classic comedies by Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. (These are the 100 best movies of the last 100 years, according to critics.)
Others might propose the 1940s, which saw the premieres of legendary movies that people still watch today, like “Casablanca,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Miracle on 34th Street,” and “Citizen Kane.”
But in terms of sheer creativity, diversity, and narrative power, it’s hard to beat the 1970s. This was the decade that gave us such cinematic and cultural landmarks — films we still talk about and quote from — as “The Godfather” (parts I and II), the first “Star Wars,” “All the President’s Men,” “Network,” “The Deer Hunter,” “Annie Hall,” “Love Story,” “The Exorcist,” “Rocky,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Taxi Driver,” “Chinatown,” and the original summertime blockbuster, “Jaws.”
It was also the decade in which many of the greatest actors of our age were either first emerging as major talents or cementing their reputations with some of their most iconic roles — the likes of Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Warren Beatty, Gene Hackman, Faye Dunaway, Jodie Foster, Harrison Ford, and Sigourney Weaver. See who made our list of the top box office stars, every year since 1945.
Click here to see the best movies you’ll remember if you grew up in the 1970s
To identify the best movies you’ll remember from the 1970’s, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the 157 movies from that decade that had at least 25,000 reviews on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes. IMDb is an online movie database owned by Amazon. Rotten Tomatoes is an online movie and TV review aggregator. For the movies in this group, we developed an index of each movie’s IMDb rating, Rotten Tomatoes audience score, and Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score. All ratings were weighted equally. Supplemental data on domestic box office was obtained from The Numbers, an online movie database owned by consulting firm Nash Information Services. Data was collected in April 2021. Information on each movie’s stars and director(s) also came from IMDb.
Based on scores on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes — and on that all-important measure of popularity, domestic box office grosses — 24/7 Tempo has assembled a roster of the highest-rated movies of the 1970s. If you were growing up then, chances are you haven’t forgotten them.
35. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
> Director: Clint Eastwood
> Starring: Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Chief Dan George, Bill McKinney
> Domestic box office gross: $31.8 million — #62 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
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34. The French Connection (1971)
> Director: William Friedkin
> Starring: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco
> Domestic box office gross: $41.2 million — #52 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
33. Halloween (1978)
> Director: John Carpenter
> Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran, Nancy Kyes
> Domestic box office gross: $47.3 million — #44 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
32. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
> Director: George A. Romero
> Starring: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross
> Domestic box office gross: $5.1 million — #106 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
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31. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
> Director: Stanley Kubrick
> Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke
> Domestic box office gross: $6.2 million — #104 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
30. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
> Director: John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, Ben Sharpsteen
> Starring: Sebastian Cabot, Junius Matthews, Barbara Luddy, Howard Morris
> Domestic box office gross: No data available
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29. Enter the Dragon (1973)
> Director: Robert Clouse
> Starring: Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly, Ahna Capri
> Domestic box office gross: $25.0 million — #73 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
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28. The Conversation (1974)
> Director: Francis Ford Coppola
> Starring: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest
> Domestic box office gross: $4.4 million — #108 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
27. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
> Director: Joseph Sargent
> Starring: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo
> Domestic box office gross: $850.0 million — #122 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
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26. Barry Lyndon (1975)
> Director: Stanley Kubrick
> Starring: Ryan O’Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger
> Domestic box office gross: No data available
25. The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
> Director: John Huston
> Starring: Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, Saeed Jaffrey
> Domestic box office gross: No data available
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24. Badlands (1973)
> Director: Terrence Malick
> Starring: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri
> Domestic box office gross: No data available
23. All the President’s Men (1976)
> Director: Alan J. Pakula
> Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam
> Domestic box office gross: $51.0 million — #37 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
22. Manhattan (1979)
> Director: Woody Allen
> Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Michael Murphy
> Domestic box office gross: $45.7 million — #46 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
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21. The Deer Hunter (1978)
> Director: Michael Cimino
> Starring: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale, John Savage
> Domestic box office gross: $50.0 million — #39 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
20. Network (1976)
> Director: Sidney Lumet
> Starring: Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall
> Domestic box office gross: No data available
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19. Patton (1970)
> Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
> Starring: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Stephen Young, Michael Strong
> Domestic box office gross: $62.5 million — #31 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
18. Sleuth (1972)
> Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
> Starring: Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Alec Cawthorne, John Matthews
> Domestic box office gross: $4.1 million — #110 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
17. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
> Director: Sidney Lumet
> Starring: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Penelope Allen, Sully Boyar
> Domestic box office gross: $50.0 million — #39 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
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16. Young Frankenstein (1974)
> Director: Mel Brooks
> Starring: Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle
> Domestic box office gross: $86.3 million — #22 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
15. Love and Death (1975)
> Director: Woody Allen
> Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Georges Adet, Frank Adu
> Domestic box office gross: $20.1 million — #83 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
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14. Being There (1979)
> Director: Hal Ashby
> Starring: Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden
> Domestic box office gross: $30.2 million — #65 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
13. Jaws (1975)
> Director: Steven Spielberg
> Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary
> Domestic box office gross: $260.0 million — #02 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
12. Annie Hall (1977)
> Director: Woody Allen
> Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane
> Domestic box office gross: $38.3 million — #53 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
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11. Paper Moon (1973)
> Director: Peter Bogdanovich
> Starring: Ryan O’Neal, Tatum O’Neal, Madeline Kahn, John Hillerman
> Domestic box office gross: $30.9 million — #64 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
10. The Last Picture Show (1971)
> Director: Peter Bogdanovich
> Starring: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson
> Domestic box office gross: $29.1 million — #67 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
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9. Taxi Driver (1976)
> Director: Martin Scorsese
> Starring: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks
> Domestic box office gross: $28.3 million — #68 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
8. The Sting (1973)
> Director: George Roy Hill
> Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning
> Domestic box office gross: $159.6 million — #06 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
7. Chinatown (1974)
> Director: Roman Polanski
> Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez
> Domestic box office gross: $23.2 million — #79 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
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6. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
> Director: George Lucas
> Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
> Domestic box office gross: $461.0 million — #01 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
5. Apocalypse Now (1979)
> Director: Francis Ford Coppola
> Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest
> Domestic box office gross: $83.5 million — #24 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
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4. Alien (1979)
> Director: Ridley Scott
> Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright
> Domestic box office gross: $62.0 million — #32 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
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3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
> Director: Milos Forman
> Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco
> Domestic box office gross: $109.0 million — #15 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
2. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
> Director: Francis Ford Coppola
> Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
> Domestic box office gross: $57.3 million — #33 highest out of 124 movies released in the 1970’s
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1. The Godfather (1972)
> Director: Francis Ford Coppola
> Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton
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