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Top Films by Year (1975-1979)

**—Won Academy Award for Best Picture.
*—Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

1975

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Jaws* Steven Spielberg 13
2 One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest** Milos Forman 39
3 Monty Python and the Holy Grail Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones 105
4 Nashville* Robert Altman 161
5 Dog Day Afternoon* Sidney Lumet 227
6 Barry Lyndon* Stanley Kubrick 233
7 The Rocky Horror Picture Show Jim Sharman 297
8 Jeanne Dielman Chantal Akerman 321
9 The Mirror Andrei Tarkovsky 597
10 Grey Gardens Ellen Hovde, Albert and David Maysles, and Muffie Meyer 654
11 Deep Red Dario Argento 784
12 Picnic at Hanging Rock Peter Weir 851
13 The Man Who Would be King John Huston 921
14 The Passenger Michelangelo Antonioni 1060
15 Salò Pier Paolo Pasolini 1247
16 Rollerball Norman Jewison 1371
17 Love and Death Woody Allen 1403
18 Dersu Uzala Akira Kurosawa 1533
19 Three Days of the Condor Sydney Pollack 1617
20 The Travelling Players Theodoros Angelopoulos 1627
21 Seven Beauties Lina Wertmüller 1805
22 The Battle of Chile: Part 1 Patricio Guzmán 1972
23 Sholay Ramesh Sippy 2007
24 Xala Ousmane Sembene 2129
25 Cooley High Michael Schultz 2140
26 India song Marguerite Duras 2222
27 Night Moves Arthur Penn 2259
28 Fox and His Friends Rainer Werner Fassbinder 2319
29 A Boy and His Dog L.Q. Jones 2674
30 Shampoo Hal Ashby 2676
31 Tommy Ken Russell 2693
32 Welfare Frederick Wiseman 2697
33 Shivers David Cronenberg 2773

1976

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Taxi Driver* Martin Scorsese 17
2 Rocky** John G. Avildsen 108
3 Carrie Brian De Palma 159
4 Network* Sidney Lumet 192
5 All the President's Men* Alan J. Pakula 282
6 The Omen Richard Donner 481
7 Harlan County, U.S.A. Barbara Kopple 550
8 The Man Who Fell to Earth Nicolas Roeg 684
9 The Outlaw Josey Wales Clint Eastwood 690
10 In the Realm of the Senses Nagisa Ôshima 758
11 The Bad News Bears Michael Ritchie 993
12 Assault on Precinct 13 John Carpenter 1057
13 The Shootist Don Siegel 1226
14 The Tenant Roman Polanski 1421
15 Logan's Run Michael Anderson 1468
16 Kings of the Road Wim Wenders 1818
17 The Killing of a Chinese Bookie John Cassavetes 1993
18 News from Home Chantal Akerman 1997
19 Cría Cuervos Carlos Saura 2037
20 1900 Bernardo Bertolucci 2059
21 Mikey and Nicky Elaine May 2206
22 Marathon Man John Schlesinger 2209
23 The Battle of Chile: Part 2 Patricio Guzmán 2221
24 Bugsy Malone Alan Parker 2344
25 God Told Me To Larry Cohen 2513
26 The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings John Badham 2902
27 Bound for Glory* Hal Ashby 2944

1977

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Star Wars* George Lucas 4
2 Annie Hall** Woody Allen 33
3 Close Encounters of the Third Kind Steven Spielberg 110
4 Suspiria Dario Argento 228
5 Eraserhead David Lynch 249
6 Saturday Night Fever John Badham 780
7 Slap Shot George Roy Hill 841
8 21 Up Michael Apted 1232
9 House Nobuhiko Ôbayashi 1398
10 The Ascent Larisa Shepitko 1466
11 Sorcerer William Friedkin 1550
12 Opening Night John Cassavetes 1634
13 The Spy Who Loved Me Lewis Gilbert 1660
14 Pumping Iron George Butler and Robert Fiore 1661
15 A Special Day Ettore Scola 1814
16 That Obscure Object of Desire Luis Buñuel 1848
17 Cross of Iron Sam Peckinpah 1860
18 The American Friend Wim Wenders 1932
19 The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh John Lounsbery and Wolfgang Reitherman 2027
20 A Bridge Too Far Richard Attenborough 2141
21 Ceddo Ousmane Sembene 2169
22 3 Women Robert Altman 2269
23 Martin George A. Romero 2371
24 Stroszek Werner Herzog 2393
25 Man of Marble Andrzej Wajda 2501
26 The Rescuers John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, and Art Stevens 2627
27 New York, New York Martin Scorsese 2696
28 The Hills Have Eyes Wes Craven 2813
29 A Grin without a Cat Chris Marker 2967
30 The Goodbye Girl* Herbert Ross 2994

1978

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 The Deer Hunter** Michael Cimino 121
2 Halloween John Carpenter 132
3 Superman Richard Donner 238
4 Dawn of the Dead George A. Romero 242
5 Days of Heaven Terrence Malick 243
6 Invasion of the Body Snatchers Philip Kaufman 349
7 Grease Randal Kleiser 355
8 Killer of Sheep Charles Burnett 434
9 Animal House John Landis 489
10 The Last Waltz Martin Scorsese 935
11 Watership Down Martin Rosen 1287
12 Autumn Sonata Ingmar Bergman 1400
13 The Tree of Wooden Clogs Ermanno Olmi 1620
14 Heaven Can Wait* Warren Beatty and Buck Henry 1668
15 Gates of Heaven Errol Morris 1836
16 Midnight Express* Alan Parker 2171
17 The Wiz Sidney Lumet 2423
18 Blue Collar Paul Schrader 2686
19 In a Year of 13 Moons Rainer Werner Fassbinder 2727
20 Coming Home* Hal Ashby 2728
21 The Driver Walter Hill 2749
22 I Spit on Your Grave Meir Zarchi 2896
23 Big Wednesday John Milius 2993
24 Shaolin Master Killer Chia-Liang Liu 3041

1979

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Alien Ridley Scott 6
2 Apocalypse Now* Francis Ford Coppola 10
3 Manhattan Woody Allen 191
4 Life of Brian Terry Jones 194
5 Stalker Andrei Tarkovsky 195
6 All That Jazz* Bob Fosse 558
7 Being There Hal Ashby 601
8 Mad Max George Miller 614
9 The Muppet Movie James Frawley 633
10 Breaking Away* Peter Yates 660
11 The Warriors Walter Hill 666
12 Kramer vs. Kramer** Robert Benton 884
13 The Jerk Carl Reiner 899
14 Nosferatu the Vampyre Werner Herzog 992
15 The Marriage of Maria Braun Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1007
16 The Brood David Cronenberg 1015
17 The Tin Drum Volker Schlöndorff 1535
18 North Dallas Forty Ted Kotcheff 1781
19 The Black Stallion Carroll Ballard 1797
20 Quadrophenia Franc Roddam 1924
21 Hair Milos Forman 1937
22 Rocky II Sylvester Stallone 2069
23 Norma Rae* Martin Ritt 2242
24 The China Syndrome James Bridges 2287
25 Rock 'n' Roll High School Allan Arkush 2370
26 The Battle of Chile: Part 3 Patricio Guzmán 2430
27 My Brilliant Career Gillian Armstrong 2481
28 Over the Edge Jonathan Kaplan 2565
29 Star Trek: The Motion Picture Robert Wise 2706
30 Phantasm Don Coscarelli 2709
31 Escape from Alcatraz Don Siegel 2738
32 Scum Alan Clarke 2752
33 The Amityville Horror Stuart Rosenberg 2797
34 Vengeance Is Mine Shôhei Imamura 2940

**—Won Academy Award for Best Picture.
*—Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

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