When the swarm of literally tens of thousands of films nesting inside a dedicated movie buff’s head reaches critical mass and the buzz becomes too busy to ignore, there’s but one thing to do – compile a top 100 list.
This ‘hive’ will be organised according to time period – nominating ten loved films from each of the decades from the 1940’s through to the 2010’s. That will total eighty films. Twenty selections will be included each for the 1970’s and 80’s – ‘my‘ decades – rounding out the list to 100 titles.
In the 21st century, historians have increasingly portrayed the 1970s as a “pivot of change” in world history. Novelist Tom Wolfe (1930 -2018) coined the term the ‘The Me Decade” referring to the 1970’s. The term describes a societal attitude towards individualism and away from the communitarianism that characterized the previous decade.
The 70’s were noted for both the oil crisis (1973) and the energy crisis (1979). Politically, Idi Amin led a political coup in Uganda in 1971 and Britain elected it’s first ever female Prime Minister – Margaret Thatcher – in 1979. Greenland was granted self government from Denmark, a fifteen year Lebanese civil war commenced in 1975 and Angola and Mozambique gained independence from Portugal the same year.
Technology-wise the 1970’s witnessed an explosion in the understanding of solid-state physics, driven by the development of the integrated circuit and the lazer. This was also the decade Stephen Hawking developed his theories about black holes.
Academy Award winners for Best Picture during this decade were –
And here are my twenty favorite films from this period –
There were regrets for the movies that didn’t make the cut but would have if the list had been a little longer – APOCALYPSE NOW (1979) – THE CHINA SYNDROME (1979) – ONE FLEW OVER THE CUKOO’S NEST (1975) – THE STEPFORD WIVES (1975) and THE GOODBYE GIRL (1977).
Every frame of every one of these movies a feast!
Ps. Wanna see someone else’s ‘Favorite Films of the 70’s’ list? Click HERE
Scenic Writer's Shack 
Where are all the movie watchers?!
I’ve seen most of these movies and only missed a few. I pretty much agree with you on all of them, too, except I’ve had a slight sea change with Clint Eastwood. He’s so tough and such a man’s man, I used to love it, until I found out he’s ultra-conservative. It kinda tainted all his stuff, in retrospect, for me, since the stories are obviously coming from a place inside him that feels that way. But some part of me will never stop loving him or his movies, lol.
Alien. The crazy thing about Alien is nobody has followed it up equitably, don’t you think? People have been doing Alien clones for 30 years!!! Nobody else has captured the subtle but strong acting, the constant sense of anxiety, even before the creature appeared, the claustrophobia. Some films get a couple of the elements right, usually one, but then everything else is wrong. Nobody has matched Alien since Alien.
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You nailed my thoughts precisely on both subjects there – Clint and the movie ALIEN.
The supreme truth though was reserved for this line – “Some films get a couple of the elements right, usually one, but then everything else is wrong.” The alchemy aspect of filmmaking almost guarantees that memorable quality and lasting appeal are supremely hit and miss.
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I love The Mechanic is on here. We all seem to forget Charles Bronson and place him in Clint’s shadow. Mr. Majestic is another great one from Chuck.
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MR MAJESTYK (1974) – “Get the man’s melons in”.
Classic film!
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Holocaust 2000: I think they invented the word bats**t crazy for that flick. Love that one — and that Kirk played it A-game straight.
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So nice to know someone else remembers this movie. I thought I was the only one!
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Hahaha. This IS one of those type of movies, ain’t it: Is it real or a fever dream? I am running through all of these AntiChrist Omen-cum-Exorcist flicks come the end of October.
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Great list! Though I haven’t seen as much as I would’ve thought. Most of it I actually ended up reviewing very recently like the Dirty Harry franchise. The 70’s was a great decade for movies due to all the changes that were happening at the time.
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