Best Films of The 70s (V2) [List] - Movies & TV

MadhattanJack
I mean, metal is okay, but...

Gender: Male

Hayden wrote:

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest gradually climbed the list at such an unusually steady pace. It was kinda floating around the 25-ish range for most of the poll, and then the final few weeks it seemed to always jump 2-3 spots which each submission. Insane to see it land at #2 after all of that. I hadn't even made a poster for it when I was calibrating what I thought would land the top 10.

There's been a fair amount of promotional support for Cuckoo's Nest lately in support of the Netflix psychological-horror series Ratched, which aired in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic (when everybody was watching lots of TV), and might even be getting a second season at some point. The movie is on both Netflix and Max now, apparently.

I'm not saying the TV series had anything to do with the movie's higher-than-expected ranking, just pointing out that more people have probably had a chance to see (or re-see) the movie lately. And since the movie is also an indictment of the mental health and pharmaceutical industries, well, that might also have something to do with it I suppose.

mickilennial
The Most Trusted Name in News

Gender: Female
Age: 35
Location: Detroit

I will also say there has been a lot of entries I forgot to re-evaluate and missed out on my submitted list for. So who knows where some of these would be if I hadn't forgotten.

CA Dreamin

Gender: Male
Location: LA

- I've seen 94/100. The Jodorowskys are two of the six I haven't seen. I want to get on that soon.

- Star Wars is the highest ranked film on the final list, but not on my personal list.

- Day For Night is the highest ranked film on my personal list, but not on the final list.

- The second iterations of the 80s, 90s, and 00s lists saw a noticeable influx of non-English films. Thus I was surprised to see that we were harsher to non-English films this time around for the 70s V2. Mirror, The Conformist, Discreet Charm, Salo, In the Realm of the Senses, Lady Snowblood, Autumn Sonata, Dersu Uzala, Day for Night, Le Cercle Rouge, Petra von Kant, Claire's Knee...all gone or significantly dropped. On the flip side, we have debuts and large gains for Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, Suspiria, Jeanne Dielman, World on a Wire, Travelling Players, Holy Mountain, Scenes from a Marriage, Stroszek, and Investigation of a Citizen. Still, overall it feels like a net loss. And to be honest, I think I slightly prefer the old list in that regard. Obviously there are exceptions. I hate Salo and Realm of the Senses and I'm glad they're gone, while I'm a big fan of Valerie and Scenes from a Marriage making their debuts. Still, Day for Night, Discreet Charm, Autumn Sonata, Dersu Uzala, Claire's Knee, and Le Cercle Rouge deserved better imo.

- Big win for Robert Altman. Each of his four films (McCabe, Long Goodbye, Nashville, and 3 Women) from the old list made it again this time...and they all saw their rankings improve by double digits. +62 for Nashville, AfterHours must be thrilled! I know I'm outspoken in my indifferent feelings towards Nashville, but I'm glad Altman's getting respect. I had McCabe, Long Goodbye, 3 Women, California Split, and MASH on my personal list (and nearly included Images too). Altman may have had the best body of work of the decade.

- Although Francis Ford Coppola could also make that claim. It's a numbers game. Altman directed 13 features in the 70s, of which I'd say at least 9 are worth watching. Whereas FFC directed only 4 features in the 70s...but all 4 of them are in our Top 16, including our #1. I agree Apocalypse Now is a fantastic choice for #1.

- Horror movies performed better this time. I'm noticing the big increases for Halloween, Suspiria, Carrie, and Dawn of the Dead. The Omen made it this time. And while I wouldn't call Alien, Jaws, and Body Snatchers "pure horror," their improved placements also reflects the shift.

- When I first skimmed through, I only looked at the titles and didn't see the joke within the pics for the two #11s. But yes, that was a good gag, haha.

- Also a big win for Sam Peckinpah. It doesn't look like we had anything from him on the old list. But now we have three; newly arrived Straw Dogs, The Getaway, and Alfredo Garcia. That's cool. I had two of those on my personal list. I remember us talking about Peckinpah on the poll thread, so maybe the thread discussions influence the final list? Encourages users to watch and/or re-evaluate whatever film or director we discuss?

- Anyway, great list! Thanks Hayden
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on such a winter's day

LedZep

My highest placed movie not on the final list was Claire's Knee. That's a shame.

Re: horrors, I've certainly done my part in propelling them up the rankings, but it's still weird that Halloween, Suspiria and Carrie placed that high. Same for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Wicker Man (although that one fell 15 places, also weird considering the Midsommar connections - you'd think more people would rate it now). If anything, I'm shocked The Exorcist wasn't above most of them. Glad to see Alien was a favourite this time around.

I'm also partially responsible for some of the omissions and unusual placements of Bergman movies, Mirror and some other more artsy picks - just haven't seen most of them Laughing

Which 70s Bergman would you recommend as an "easiest" watch/a good starting point for his 70s output?

Much better number 1 this time imo. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest seems relevant with its themes of mental health, freedom, individuality, etc. Glad it ended up so high on the list. Overall I think I prefer the old list, but not by any significant margin.
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Finally updated the overall chart

2020s
90s

CA Dreamin

Gender: Male
Location: LA

LedZep wrote:

Which 70s Bergman would you recommend as an "easiest" watch/a good starting point for his 70s output?

Personally I prefer going through directors' filmographies in chronological order. That's how I went through Bergman, but he had an uneven decade, and I'll briefly go over it:

The Touch (1971) - Bergman's first English-language film (that I know of) was a misfire. A romantic drama starring Elliot Gould and Bibi Andersson. The script is just ok. But I suspect the real issue was a communication barrier on set between Bergman and Gould, because his performance is terrible. He's a good actor when he has free range, and can play up a cool calm persona, such as in Altman films (e.g. MASH, Long Goodbye, California Split). But he's miscast here and totally overacting, and it makes the film itself way too over-dramatic.

Cries and Whispers (1972) - I'd say this one answers LedZep's question. It's a great film and it's pretty straightforward.

Scenes From a Marriage (1973) - This is also a great film and pretty straightforward. Although it is 4.5-5 hours long if you watch the full version. But that's easy to break up into pieces. There's also a shorter, 2hr 49m cut. The length makes it less easy to watch than others, but the content isn't hard to digest and it's paced very well.

The Magic Flute (1975) - I found this difficult to watch because it's a filmed musical theater. If that's your thing, you'll enjoy, but I couldn't get into it.

Face to Face (1976) - Like Scenes From a Marriage and Fanny and Alexander, this Bergman film has two different cuts, a 176-minute and a 114-minute. I only saw the shorter one because I didn't know at the time a longer one existed. But I found the movie mediocre, so I have little to no urge to watch the longer version now.

The Serpent's Egg (1977) - Bergman's second English language film of the decade. This one suffers from incoherence. Is it about dealing with grief? Is it a murder mystery? Is it about overcoming alcoholism? Is it about antisemitism? Is it an examination of Germany during the Weimar Era? Is it about barbaric medical experiments on humans? This movie refused to narrow down to two or three story-lines and themes. With so many undeveloped ideas, David Carradine looked confused the entire time and could only make one sulky facial expression to cover all his scenes. Bad movie.

Autumn Sonata (1978) - Bergman finished the decade with an excellent, straightforward drama. It's nothing new in his filmography. It has his staples of broken families, and characters who work in live music. But it's undoubtedly one of his best.

In sum, I'd say Cries and Whispers is probably the best starting point for his 70s work. Autumn Sonata is perfectly fine too. Scenes From a Marriage is a must-watch, but you may to have to plan it in advance. YMMV on Magic Flute and Face to Face. And finally, The Touch and Serpent's Egg are for the fans compelled to complete his filmography.

Olli

Gender: Male
Age: 55

Great changes in the lists and interesting Top 100 Applause

My highest ranking film not in the final list is The Wanderers from Philip Kaufman. Shocked

Ist a wonderful Film. Smile

The highest ranking film in the final list that I don't have in my list is Stalker from Andrei Tarkovsky. Think

I have to watch the film again. Rolling Eyes

Hayden

Applerill wrote:

I've wanted to see that for soooooo long Hayden <3

Y'gotta. Tidal wave of a film. Just the right dose of young rebellion and a suckerpunch of capitalistic existentialism. Some neato cinematography too. (Truly comes across as a film 15-20 ahead of its time).

mickilennial wrote:

I will also say there has been a lot of entries I forgot to re-evaluate and missed out on my submitted list for. So who knows where some of these would be if I hadn't forgotten.

You know what I forgot to do? When I was posting the list and finally came across The Conversation, for some reason I'd completely blanked. It's not on my list. I have no idea why. It's never been on my list. But it's a great film. That should be on my list. I just haven't watched it in... (8?) years, and needed a refresher. Should've been on there somewhere...

CA Dreamin wrote:

- I've seen 94/100. The Jodorowskys are two of the six I haven't seen. I want to get on that soon.

- The second iterations of the 80s, 90s, and 00s lists saw a noticeable influx of non-English films. Thus I was surprised to see that we were harsher to non-English films this time around for the 70s V2. Mirror, The Conformist, Discreet Charm, Salo, In the Realm of the Senses, Lady Snowblood, Autumn Sonata, Dersu Uzala, Day for Night, Le Cercle Rouge, Petra von Kant, Claire's Knee...all gone or significantly dropped. On the flip side, we have debuts and large gains for Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, Suspiria, Jeanne Dielman, World on a Wire, Travelling Players, Holy Mountain, Scenes from a Marriage, Stroszek, and Investigation of a Citizen. Still, overall it feels like a net loss. And to be honest, I think I slightly prefer the old list in that regard. Obviously there are exceptions. I hate Salo and Realm of the Senses and I'm glad they're gone, while I'm a big fan of Valerie and Scenes from a Marriage making their debuts. Still, Day for Night, Discreet Charm, Autumn Sonata, Dersu Uzala, Claire's Knee, and Le Cercle Rouge deserved better imo.

- Big win for Robert Altman. Each of his four films (McCabe, Long Goodbye, Nashville, and 3 Women) from the old list made it again this time...and they all saw their rankings improve by double digits. +62 for Nashville, AfterHours must be thrilled! I know I'm outspoken in my indifferent feelings towards Nashville, but I'm glad Altman's getting respect. I had McCabe, Long Goodbye, 3 Women, California Split, and MASH on my personal list (and nearly included Images too). Altman may have had the best body of work of the decade.

- Also a big win for Sam Peckinpah. It doesn't look like we had anything from him on the old list. But now we have three; newly arrived Straw Dogs, The Getaway, and Alfredo Garcia. That's cool. I had two of those on my personal list. I remember us talking about Peckinpah on the poll thread, so maybe the thread discussions influence the final list? Encourages users to watch and/or re-evaluate whatever film or director we discuss?

- Anyway, great list! Thanks Hayden

I haven't seen 22— plan to get around to 5-6 of them for sure. Surprised you haven't seen either of the Jodorowsky films... definitely staples of experimental/surreal cinema. (Maybe start with El Topo— it's more accessible). I think Jodorowsky's recent films (Endless Poetry & The Dance of Reality) are just as good, if not a smidge better, but my favourite work by him is still Santa Sangre. They are very full films— it's psychedelic maximalism through and through.

Oddly with Altman, his Palme D'or from the 70s didn't land. Wasn't anywhere close. Is what it is though. (Interestingly, our OG #1 and new #1 are both Palme D'or winners, but not Best Picture winners). But yeah— he could've had a fifth land somewhere. Very glad I got around to Nashville this time around— it landed my list, and it probably deserves to be a little higher on it— but one of the films here I haven't watched is The Long Goodbye. That's definitely going in the queue. Not quite sure why I've never watched it.

And I didn't even think about the Peckinpah breakthrough. You're right. Well deserving... he's always been a filmmaker that deserved a bit more due. (Looking forward to watching The Getaway eventually Razz

)

Hayden

LedZep wrote:

I'm also partially responsible for some of the omissions and unusual placements of Bergman movies, Mirror and some other more artsy picks - just haven't seen most of them Laughing

Which 70s Bergman would you recommend as an "easiest" watch/a good starting point for his 70s output?

CA's post is better than whatever I'm about to whip up, but my personal rec is also Cries & Whispers. Not too long of a film, and one of Bergman's best visualized and well-rounded. It's a good point to dip your toes. Scenes From A Marriage takes a bit of work at first, but keep in mind you don't need to watch it all in one sitting.

Autumn Sonata also requires a lot of patiences on first watch, but as long as you give it the focus it deserves it'll reward you.

The Magic Flute is fine, but not a place to start. In fact, it'd actually be a very weird film to start.

And it's never seen Face To Face... Think

(we really need a shrug emoji added).

Brigand99

Gender: Male

CA Dreamin wrote:

- I've seen 94/100. The Jodorowskys are two of the six I haven't seen. I want to get on that soon.

- Star Wars is the highest ranked film on the final list, but not on my personal list.

- Day For Night is the highest ranked film on my personal list, but not on the final list.

- The second iterations of the 80s, 90s, and 00s lists saw a noticeable influx of non-English films. Thus I was surprised to see that we were harsher to non-English films this time around for the 70s V2. Mirror, The Conformist, Discreet Charm, Salo, In the Realm of the Senses, Lady Snowblood, Autumn Sonata, Dersu Uzala, Day for Night, Le Cercle Rouge, Petra von Kant, Claire's Knee...all gone or significantly dropped. On the flip side, we have debuts and large gains for Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, Suspiria, Jeanne Dielman, World on a Wire, Travelling Players, Holy Mountain, Scenes from a Marriage, Stroszek, and Investigation of a Citizen. Still, overall it feels like a net loss. And to be honest, I think I slightly prefer the old list in that regard. Obviously there are exceptions. I hate Salo and Realm of the Senses and I'm glad they're gone, while I'm a big fan of Valerie and Scenes from a Marriage making their debuts. Still, Day for Night, Discreet Charm, Autumn Sonata, Dersu Uzala, Claire's Knee, and Le Cercle Rouge deserved better imo.

- Big win for Robert Altman. Each of his four films (McCabe, Long Goodbye, Nashville, and 3 Women) from the old list made it again this time...and they all saw their rankings improve by double digits. +62 for Nashville, AfterHours must be thrilled! I know I'm outspoken in my indifferent feelings towards Nashville, but I'm glad Altman's getting respect. I had McCabe, Long Goodbye, 3 Women, California Split, and MASH on my personal list (and nearly included Images too). Altman may have had the best body of work of the decade.

- Although Francis Ford Coppola could also make that claim. It's a numbers game. Altman directed 13 features in the 70s, of which I'd say at least 9 are worth watching. Whereas FFC directed only 4 features in the 70s...but all 4 of them are in our Top 16, including our #1. I agree Apocalypse Now is a fantastic choice for #1.

- Horror movies performed better this time. I'm noticing the big increases for Halloween, Suspiria, Carrie, and Dawn of the Dead. The Omen made it this time. And while I wouldn't call Alien, Jaws, and Body Snatchers "pure horror," their improved placements also reflects the shift.

- When I first skimmed through, I only looked at the titles and didn't see the joke within the pics for the two #11s. But yes, that was a good gag, haha.

- Also a big win for Sam Peckinpah. It doesn't look like we had anything from him on the old list. But now we have three; newly arrived Straw Dogs, The Getaway, and Alfredo Garcia. That's cool. I had two of those on my personal list. I remember us talking about Peckinpah on the poll thread, so maybe the thread discussions influence the final list? Encourages users to watch and/or re-evaluate whatever film or director we discuss?

- Anyway, great list! Thanks Hayden

You say you almost included Images and you should have! I don't remember seeing any other votes for it besides my own, which I had it at number 11 I think. I wonder why that one isn't a favorite when so many other Altman movies of the '70s are. How could anyone not love a movie that good??

mickilennial
The Most Trusted Name in News

Gender: Female
Age: 35
Location: Detroit

what can i do to get you people to acknowledge The Castle of Cagliostro