Friday, July 10, 2009

Top Ranked Films by Year: the 70s


The top-ranked films of the 70's
© 2009, William L. Sinclair

This continues our series of top-ranked films by year, based on the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net that we compiled.
Total Ranked Films in the 70's: 139

- [ 1970 ] -
1. Conformist, The #76 - Bertolucci, Bernardo (photo rt)
2. Performance #201 - Roeg, Nicolas/Donald Cammell
3. Patton #202 - Shaffner, Frank
4. Five Easy Pieces #306 - Rafelson, Bob
5. Tristana #311 - Buñuel, Luis
6. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls #316 - Meyer, Russ
7. M*A*S*H #381 - Altman, Robert
8. Le Boucher #611 - Chabrol, Claude
9. Claire's Knee #644 - Rohmer, Eric
10. Wild Child, The #671 - Truffaut, François
11. Hart of London, The #711 - Chambers, Jack
12. Spider's Stratagem, The #730 - Bertolucci, Bernardo
13. Husbands #906 - Cassavetes, John
14. Red Circle, The #961 - Melville, Jean-Pierre
15. Gimme Shelter #1008 - Maysles, Albert/David Maysles/Charlotte Zwerin
Best Picture: Patton

- [ 1971 ] -
1. Clockwork Orange, A #69 - Kubrick, Stanley
2. McCabe & Mrs. Miller #274 - Altman, Robert
3. Last Picture Show, The #279 - Bogdanovich, Peter
4. Harold and Maude #347 - Ashby, Hal
5. Death in Venice #428 - Visconti, Luchino
6. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul #429 - Fassbinder, Rainer Werner
7. French Connection, The #438 - Friedkin, William
8. Dirty Harry #546 - Siegel, Don
9. Two-Lane Blacktop #629 - Hellman, Monte
10. Walkabout #673 - Roeg, Nicolas
11. Devils, The (of Loudun) #684 - Russell, Ken
12. Région centrale, La #726 - Snow, Michael
13. Get Carter #779 - Hodges, Mike
14. Two English Girls #855 - Truffaut, François
15. Straw Dogs #911 - Peckinpah, Sam
16. Murmur of the Heart #945 - Malle, Louis
Best Picture: French Connection, The

- [ 1972 ] -
1. Godfather, The #1 - Coppola, Francis
2. Aguirre: The Wrath of God #72 - Herzog, Werner (photo rt)
3. Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The #88 - Buñuel, Luis
4. Solaris #263 - Tarkovsky, Andrei
5. Cabaret #277 - Fosse, Bob
6. Cries and Whispers #304 - Bergman, Ingmar
7. Deliverance #310 - Boorman, John
8. Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, The #523 - Fassbinder, Rainer Werner
9. Sleuth #647 - Mankiewicz, Joseph L.
10. Ludwig #750 - Visconti, Luchino
11. Fat City #822 - Huston, John
12. Fellini's Roma #866 - Fellini, Federico
13. Pakeezah #890 - Amrohi, Kamal
Best Picture: Godfather, The

- [ 1973 ] -
1. Mean Streets #142 - Scorsese, Martin
2. Exorcist, The #143 - Friedkin, William
3. Spirit of the Beehive, The #257 - Erice, Victor
4. Badlands #267 - Malick, Terrence
5. Amarcord #270 - Fellini, Federico
6. Day for Night #287 - Truffaut, François
7. Don't Look Now #302 - Roeg, Nicolas
8. Last Tango in Paris #333 - Bertolucci, Bernardo
9. American Graffiti #351 - Lucas, George
10. Sting, The #367 - Hill, George Roy
11. Mother and the Whore, The #419 - Eustache, Jean
12. F for Fake #524 - Welles, Orson
13. Long Goodbye, The #544 - Altman, Robert
14. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid #693 - Peckinpah, Sam
15. Scenes from a Marriage #966 - Bergman, Ingmar
16. O Lucky Man! #981 - Anderson, Lindsay
Best Picture: Sting, The

- [ 1974 ] -
1. Chinatown #3 - Polanski, Roman
2. Godfather: Part II, The #9 - Coppola, Francis (photo top)
3. Conversation, The #120 - Coppola, Francis (photo rt)
4. Celine and Julie Go Boating #141 - Rivette, Jacques
5. Woman Under the Influence, A #176 - Cassavetes, John
6. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The #246 - Hooper, Tobe
7. Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, The #572 - Herzog, Werner
8. Alice in the Cities #580 - Wenders, Wim
9. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia #581 - Peckinpah, Sam
10. Lancelot du Lac #630 - Bresson, Robert
11. Phantom of Liberty, The #840 - Buñuel, Luis
12. Arabian Nights #868 - Pasolini, Pier Paolo
13. Lacombe, Lucien #886 - Malle, Louis
14. Out 1: Spectre #982 - Rivette, Jacques
Best Picture: Godfather: Part II, The

- [ 1975 ] -
1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest #54 - Forman, Milos (photo rt)
2. Jaws #66 - Spielberg, Steven
3. Barry Lyndon #101 - Kubrick, Stanley
4. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles #146 - Akerman, Chantal
5. Dog Day Afternoon #174 - Lumet, Sidney
6. Nashville #192 - Altman, Robert
7. Monty Python and the Holy Grail #222 - Gilliam, Terry/Terry Jones
8. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom #238 - Pasolini, Pier Paolo
9. Travelling Players, The #413 - Angelopoulos, Theo
10. Passenger, The #470 - Antonioni, Michelangelo
11. India Song #642 - Duras, Marguerite
12. Dersu Uzala #645 - Kurosawa, Akira
13. Fox and His Friends #707 - Fassbinder, Rainer Werner
14. Picnic at Hanging Rock #732 - Weir, Peter
15. Xala #762 - Sembene, Ousmane
16. Overlord #763 - Cooper, Stuart
17. Man Who Would Be King, The #799 - Huston, John
Best Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

- [ 1976 ] -
1. Taxi Driver #12 - Scorsese, Martin (photo rt)
2. Network #157 - Lumet, Sidney
3. Rocky #223 - Avildsen, John G.
4. Mirror, The #373 - Tarkovsky, Andrei
5. All the President's Men #427 - Pakula, Alan J.
6. In the Realm of the Senses #477 - Oshima, Nagisa
7. 1900 #487 - Bertolucci, Bernardo
8. Kings of the Road #490 - Wenders, Wim
9. Carrie #521 - De Palma, Brian
10. Killing of a Chinese Bookie, The #567 - Cassavetes, John
11. Fellini's Casanova #636 - Fellini, Federico
12. Man Who Fell to Earth, The #678 - Roeg, Nicolas
13. Outlaw Josey Wales, The #837 - Eastwood, Clint
14. Assault on Precinct 13 #952 - Carpenter, John
15. Tenant, The #1001 - Polanski, Roman
Best Picture: Rocky

- [ 1977 ] -
1. Annie Hall #77 - Allen, Woody (photo rt)
2. Killer of Sheep #173 - Burnett, Charles
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind #266 - Spielberg, Steven
4. Suspiria #346 - Argento, Dario
5. That Obscure Object of Desire #495 - Buñuel, Luis
6. Providence #548 - Resnais, Alain
7. Eraserhead #601 - Lynch, David
8. Ceddo #838 - Sembene, Ousmane
9. Hitler: A Film from Germany #862 - Syberberg, Hans-Jürgen
10. Black Sunday #955 - Bava, Mario
11. Saturday Night Fever #962 - Badham, John
12. New York, New York #972 - Scorsese, Martin
13. Opening Night #997 - Cassavetes, John
Best Picture: Annie Hall

- [ 1978 ] -
1. Star Wars #4 - Lucas, George
2. Deer Hunter, The #110 - Cimino, Michael (photo rt)
3. Days of Heaven #260 - Malick, Terrence
4. Halloween #318 - Carpenter, John
5. Tree of Wooden Clogs, The #398 - Olmi, Ermanno
6. In a Year with 13 Moons #538 - Fassbinder, Rainer Werner
7. Dawn of the Dead #554 - Romero, George A.
8. Superman: The Movie #749 - Donner, Richard
Best Picture: Deer Hunter, The

- [ 1979 ] -
1. Apocalypse Now #25 - Coppola, Francis
2. Alien #98 - Scott, Ridley
3. Manhattan #131 - Allen, Woody (photo rt)
4. Stalker #401 - Tarkovsky, Andrei
5. Marriage of Maria Braun, The #421 - Fassbinder, Rainer Werner
6. All That Jazz #480 - Fosse, Bob
7. Life of Brian #598 - Gilliam, Terry/Terry Jones
8. Monty Python's Life of Brian #677 - Jones, Terry
9. Being There #772 - Ashby, Hal
10. Tin Drum, The #857 - Schlöndorff, Volker
11. Kramer vs. Kramer #1000 - Benton, Robert
12. Quadrophenia #1010 - Roddam, Franc
Best Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer

Top Ranked of the Decade
1. Godfather, The #1 - Coppola, Francis
2. Chinatown #3 - Polanski, Roman
3. Star Wars #4 - Lucas, George
4. Godfather: Part II, The #9 - Coppola, Francis
5. Taxi Driver #12 - Scorsese, Martin
6. Apocalypse Now #25 - Coppola, Francis
7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest #54 - Forman, Milos
8. Jaws #66 - Spielberg, Steven
9. Clockwork Orange, A #69 - Kubrick, Stanley
10. Aguirre: The Wrath of God #72 - Herzog, Werner
11. Conformist, The #76 - Bertolucci, Bernardo
12. Annie Hall #77 - Allen, Woody
13. Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The #88 - Buñuel, Luis
14. Alien #98 - Scott, Ridley


Unranked best pictures: Kramer vs. Kramer (good, I wouldn't rank it either, even sewer rats will drown themselves to save their young; nothing special about parenting in the animal world, it's yer duty! If you can't be a good parent, you're lower than vermin!)

My favorites:
1-The Godfather II, 2-Apocalypse Now, 3-The Conformist, 4-The Conversation, 5-A Clockwork Orange, 6-The Godfather, 7-Taxi Driver, 8-Network, 9-The Deer Hunter, 10-Annie Hall, 11-One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 12-McCabe and Mrs. Miller, 13-Manhattan, 14-Aguirre, the Wrath of God

[Note: I wasn't impressed with the 1st Star Wars, much preferring The Empire Strikes Back; also liked Godfather II much more than I, it added Robert De Niro and Lee Strasburg, the chronological shifts with the early period in Italian - I'm always mesmerized by this and have seen it maybe 10 times vs. 3 for the first]