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Top Films of the 1970s (#1-200)

Rank Title Year Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Godfather 1972 Francis Ford Coppola 2
2 Star Wars 1977 George Lucas 4
3 Alien 1979 Ridley Scott 6
4 Apocalypse Now 1979 Francis Ford Coppola 10
5 Jaws 1975 Steven Spielberg 13
6 Taxi Driver 1976 Martin Scorsese 17
7 The Godfather: Part II 1974 Francis Ford Coppola 23
8 Annie Hall 1977 Woody Allen 33
9 Chinatown 1974 Roman Polanski 34
10 A Clockwork Orange 1971 Stanley Kubrick 36
11 One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975 Milos Forman 39
12 The Exorcist 1973 William Friedkin 62
13 Monty Python and the Holy Grail 1975 Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones 105
14 Rocky 1976 John G. Avildsen 108
15 Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977 Steven Spielberg 110
16 The Deer Hunter 1978 Michael Cimino 121
17 Halloween 1978 John Carpenter 132
18 Carrie 1976 Brian De Palma 159
19 Don't Look Now 1973 Nicolas Roeg 160
20 Nashville 1975 Robert Altman 161
21 The French Connection 1971 William Friedkin 167
22 Solaris 1972 Andrei Tarkovsky 170
23 Aguirre: The Wrath of God 1972 Werner Herzog 178
24 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1974 Tobe Hooper 179
25 Harold and Maude 1971 Hal Ashby 185
26 Manhattan 1979 Woody Allen 191
27 Network 1976 Sidney Lumet 192
28 Life of Brian 1979 Terry Jones 194
29 Stalker 1979 Andrei Tarkovsky 195
30 The Conversation 1974 Francis Ford Coppola 207
31 Dog Day Afternoon 1975 Sidney Lumet 227
32 Suspiria 1977 Dario Argento 228
33 Blazing Saddles 1974 Mel Brooks 232
34 Barry Lyndon 1975 Stanley Kubrick 233
35 Superman 1978 Richard Donner 238
36 Dawn of the Dead 1978 George A. Romero 242
37 Days of Heaven 1978 Terrence Malick 243
38 Eraserhead 1977 David Lynch 249
39 Cabaret 1972 Bob Fosse 257
40 The Wicker Man 1973 Robin Hardy 267
41 Badlands 1973 Terrence Malick 272
42 Young Frankenstein 1974 Mel Brooks 279
43 All the President's Men 1976 Alan J. Pakula 282
44 Mean Streets 1973 Martin Scorsese 283
45 The Conformist 1970 Bernardo Bertolucci 287
46 The Last Picture Show 1971 Peter Bogdanovich 294
47 The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1975 Jim Sharman 297
48 Dirty Harry 1971 Don Siegel 300
49 Patton 1970 Franklin J. Schaffner 302
50 Jeanne Dielman 1975 Chantal Akerman 321
51 McCabe & Mrs. Miller 1971 Robert Altman 337
52 The Sting 1973 George Roy Hill 343
53 M*A*S*H 1970 Robert Altman 344
54 Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1978 Philip Kaufman 349
55 Grease 1978 Randal Kleiser 355
56 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory 1971 Mel Stuart 364
57 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie 1972 Luis Buñuel 368
58 The Spirit of the Beehive 1973 Víctor Erice 390
59 American Graffiti 1973 George Lucas 395
60 Killer of Sheep 1978 Charles Burnett 434
61 A Woman under the Influence 1974 John Cassavetes 449
62 Ali: Fear Eats the Soul 1974 Rainer Werner Fassbinder 471
63 The Omen 1976 Richard Donner 481
64 Animal House 1978 John Landis 489
65 Pink Flamingos 1972 John Waters 506
66 Enter the Dragon 1973 Robert Clouse 520
67 The Long Goodbye 1973 Robert Altman 538
68 Harlan County, U.S.A. 1976 Barbara Kopple 550
69 Amarcord 1973 Federico Fellini 554
70 Deliverance 1972 John Boorman 556
71 All That Jazz 1979 Bob Fosse 558
72 Le Cercle rouge 1970 Jean-Pierre Melville 577
73 The Mirror 1975 Andrei Tarkovsky 597
74 Being There 1979 Hal Ashby 601
75 Last Tango in Paris 1972 Bernardo Bertolucci 607
76 Mad Max 1979 George Miller 614
77 Sleeper 1973 Woody Allen 628
78 The Muppet Movie 1979 James Frawley 633
79 Grey Gardens 1975 Ellen Hovde, Albert and David Maysles, and Muffie Meyer 654
80 Breaking Away 1979 Peter Yates 660
81 Day for Night 1973 François Truffaut 662
82 The Warriors 1979 Walter Hill 666
83 The Man Who Fell to Earth 1976 Nicolas Roeg 684
84 The Outlaw Josey Wales 1976 Clint Eastwood 690
85 Cries and Whispers 1972 Ingmar Bergman 695
86 Fantastic Planet 1973 René Laloux 696
87 In the Realm of the Senses 1976 Nagisa Ôshima 758
88 Celine & Julie Go Boating 1974 Jacques Rivette 764
89 Saturday Night Fever 1977 John Badham 780
90 Deep Red 1975 Dario Argento 784
91 Get Carter 1971 Mike Hodges 789
92 Performance 1970 Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg 791
93 Little Big Man 1970 Arthur Penn 810
94 Serpico 1973 Sidney Lumet 825
95 Slap Shot 1977 George Roy Hill 841
96 Picnic at Hanging Rock 1975 Peter Weir 851
97 THX-1138 1971 George Lucas 854
98 Woodstock 1970 Michael Wadleigh 858
99 Shaft 1971 Gordon Parks 866
100 Kramer vs. Kramer 1979 Robert Benton 884
101 The Jerk 1979 Carl Reiner 899
102 The Taking of Pelham One Two Three 1974 Joseph Sargent 912
103 Gimme Shelter 1970 Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin 914
104 The Man Who Would be King 1975 John Huston 921
105 The Mother and the Whore 1973 Jean Eustache 922
106 The Last Waltz 1978 Martin Scorsese 935
107 Death in Venice 1971 Luchino Visconti 944
108 El Topo 1970 Alejandro Jodorowsky 946
109 F for Fake 1973 Orson Welles 951
110 Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song 1971 Melvin Van Peebles 956
111 What's Up, Doc? 1972 Peter Bogdanovich 967
112 Westworld 1973 Michael Crichton 971
113 Walkabout 1971 Nicolas Roeg 981
114 Five Easy Pieces 1970 Bob Rafelson 982
115 Two-Lane Blacktop 1971 Monte Hellman 984
116 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid 1973 Sam Peckinpah 988
117 Nosferatu the Vampyre 1979 Werner Herzog 992
118 The Bad News Bears 1976 Michael Ritchie 993
119 The Marriage of Maria Braun 1979 Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1007
120 The Devils 1971 Ken Russell 1010
121 The Brood 1979 David Cronenberg 1015
122 Scenes from a Marriage 1974 Ingmar Bergman 1018
123 Klute 1971 Alan J. Pakula 1035
124 Assault on Precinct 13 1976 John Carpenter 1057
125 The Passenger 1975 Michelangelo Antonioni 1060
126 Soylent Green 1973 Richard Fleischer 1061
127 Fiddler on the Roof 1971 Norman Jewison 1067
128 Silent Running 1972 Douglas Trumbull 1117
129 Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia 1974 Sam Peckinpah 1128
130 The Way We Were 1973 Sydney Pollack 1180
131 Paper Moon 1973 Peter Bogdanovich 1192
132 Phantom of the Paradise 1974 Brian De Palma 1210
133 The Shootist 1976 Don Siegel 1226
134 High Plains Drifter 1973 Clint Eastwood 1231
135 21 Up 1977 Michael Apted 1232
136 Straw Dogs 1971 Sam Peckinpah 1239
137 Jeremiah Johnson 1972 Sydney Pollack 1243
138 Salò 1975 Pier Paolo Pasolini 1247
139 Papillon 1973 Franklin J. Schaffner 1261
140 The Harder They Come 1972 Perry Henzell 1274
141 Dark Star 1974 John Carpenter 1286
142 Watership Down 1978 Martin Rosen 1287
143 A Touch of Zen 1971 King Hu 1293
144 The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant 1972 Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1314
145 The Holy Mountain 1973 Alejandro Jodorowsky 1352
146 Rollerball 1975 Norman Jewison 1371
147 Duel 1971 Steven Spielberg 1384
148 Seven Plus Seven 1970 Michael Apted 1394
149 House 1977 Nobuhiko Ôbayashi 1398
150 Autumn Sonata 1978 Ingmar Bergman 1400
151 Love and Death 1975 Woody Allen 1403
152 The Last House on the Left 1972 Wes Craven 1408
153 Fat City 1972 John Huston 1413
154 The Tenant 1976 Roman Polanski 1421
155 The Ascent 1977 Larisa Shepitko 1466
156 Logan's Run 1976 Michael Anderson 1468
157 The Longest Yard 1974 Robert Aldrich 1490
158 Black Christmas 1974 Bob Clark 1496
159 Dersu Uzala 1975 Akira Kurosawa 1533
160 The Tin Drum 1979 Volker Schlöndorff 1535
161 Sorcerer 1977 William Friedkin 1550
162 The Parallax View 1974 Alan J. Pakula 1587
163 Three Days of the Condor 1975 Sydney Pollack 1617
164 The Tree of Wooden Clogs 1978 Ermanno Olmi 1620
165 Love Story 1970 Arthur Hiller 1621
166 The Travelling Players 1975 Theodoros Angelopoulos 1627
167 Opening Night 1977 John Cassavetes 1634
168 Touki Bouki 1973 Djibril Diop Mambéty 1650
169 Hearts and Minds 1974 Peter Davis 1659
170 The Spy Who Loved Me 1977 Lewis Gilbert 1660
171 Pumping Iron 1977 George Butler and Robert Fiore 1661
172 Heaven Can Wait 1978 Warren Beatty and Buck Henry 1668
173 Bang the Drum Slowly 1973 John D. Hancock 1703
174 Super Fly 1972 Gordon Parks Jr. 1714
175 The Day of the Jackal 1973 Fred Zinnemann 1727
176 Sleuth 1972 Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1747
177 Le Boucher 1970 Claude Chabrol 1753
178 Claire's Knee 1970 Éric Rohmer 1756
179 The Mystery of Kaspar Hausar 1974 Werner Herzog 1763
180 North Dallas Forty 1979 Ted Kotcheff 1781
181 A New Leaf 1971 Elaine May 1796
182 The Black Stallion 1979 Carroll Ballard 1797
183 Seven Beauties 1975 Lina Wertmüller 1805
184 A Special Day 1977 Ettore Scola 1814
185 Kings of the Road 1976 Wim Wenders 1818
186 Investigation of a Citizen above Suspicion 1970 Elio Petri 1829
187 Gates of Heaven 1978 Errol Morris 1836
188 Bananas 1971 Woody Allen 1838
189 That Obscure Object of Desire 1977 Luis Buñuel 1848
190 Ulzana's Raid 1972 Robert Aldrich 1856
191 Cross of Iron 1977 Sam Peckinpah 1860
192 The Boys in the Band 1970 William Friedkin 1873
193 The Railway Children 1970 Lionel Jeffries 1882
194 Sounder 1972 Martin Ritt 1897
195 World on a Wire 1973 Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1917
196 Quadrophenia 1979 Franc Roddam 1924
197 The American Friend 1977 Wim Wenders 1932
198 Hair 1979 Milos Forman 1937
199 Alice in the Cities 1974 Wim Wenders 1943
200 The Battle of Chile: Part 1 1975 Patricio Guzmán 1972
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This page was last modified on April 9, 2025