Daytripper

My friend and I were trying to come up with the 10 best, and I couldn't limit it to just 10. There are so many. Here are my top 25. The first 5 are in order, the rest as I could think of them. What are yours?

"Close Encounters of the Third Kind"
"The Godfather"/"The Godfather Part 2"
"Jaws"
"Chinatown"
"Alien"
"The Sting"
"The Exorcist"
"American Graffiti"
"The Last Picture Show"
"Marathon Man"
"The Deer Hunter"
"The China Syndrome"
"Three Days of the Condor"
"Being There"
"The French Connection"
"All the President's Men"
"Young Frankenstein"
"Rocky"
"Annie Hall"
"Star Wars"
"Dog Day Afternoon"
"Manhattan"
"Paper Moon"
"Superman"
"Taxi Driver"

Count Dooku

Glad to see Paper Moon on the list. I love that movie and think it is an underrated 70s classic when people are always focusing on louder and violent films.

GoldenJCJ

Good list.

Here’s my Top 25. Jaws is may favorite movie but the rest are in no particular order:

Jaws
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Exorcist
Sorcerer
The French Connection
The Seven Ups
Halloween
The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
Patton
Blazing Saddles
Alien
Deliverance
Apocalypse Now
The Outlaw Josie Wales
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Annie Hall
Badlands
Star Wars
High Plains Drifter
3 Days of the Condor
The Marathon Man
A Clockwork Orange
Serpico
Breaking Away

Mike86

A lot that I’ll repeat and none that are all that original but:

Alien
Dawn of the Dead
The Exorcist
Jaws
Halloween
Rocky
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Wars
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

There are others I feel like are worth acknowledging as classics like The Godfather and The Godfather Part II but if I’m honest they’ve never been films that I love. I understand they’re well made but I’ve just never been able to get that into them.

Superman: The Movie is also a good one. I’ve come to appreciate it more mainly for the acting by Christopher Reeve but if I’m honest it’s a bit hokey for my liking. It’s one I’ll watch when the right mood strikes.

GoldenJCJ

There are a handful of 70s films that I didn’t add to my list for this reason. Admittedly well made but I just can’t get into:
The Conversation
All the President’s Men
The Last Picture Show
Chinatown
The Deer Hunter

Toby Dramit

I don't know about "best" because, well, who's to say? It's all subjective. I do know that any list I'd have of favorite movies from the 1970s would have to include these 10 here ...

The Godfather
The Godfather II
Get Carter
The Day Of The Jackal
Don't Look Now
The Wicker Man
The Exorcist
Jaws
Picnic At Hanging Rock
Vanishing Point

And just for fun ...

Animal House
The Bad News Bears
Slap Shot
Andy Warhol's Dracula
Massacre At Central High

Josh-da-man

Top 23 in alphabetical order...

01 Alien
02 Animal House
03 Apocalypse Now
04 Blazing Saddles
05 Carrie
06 Chinatown
07 A Clockwork Orange
08 Close Encounters of the Third Kind
09 Dawn of the Dead
10 Eraserhead
11 The Exorcist
12 The Godfather
13 The Godfather Part II
14 Halloween
15 Jaws
16 The Life of Brian
17 Mad Max
18 Star Trek The Motion Picture
19 Star Wars
20 Warriors
21 The Wicker Man
22 Wizards
23 Young Frankenstein

Probably have to mull the final two slots over quite a bit

Mike86

Totally forgot Star Trek: The Motion Picture. One of my favorites.

Ash Ketchum

The films from the 1970s that I re-watch the most. Not saying these are the "best" but the ones I've often returned to, as opposed to many films on the above lists which I liked when they first came out but haven't felt compelled to re-watch. The Hong Kong films listed below had to wait, for the most part, till I discovered them decades later. I'm still discovering previously unseen HK and Japanese films from the '70s all the time.

The French Connection
Dirty Harry
Shaft
Mean Streets
Taxi Driver
Message from Space
Shinsengumi (Band of Assassins)
Lady Snowblood

The Chinese Boxer
The Heroic Ones
The Water Margin
Shaolin Temple
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
When Taekwondo Strikes
Broken Oath

I finally re-watched ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN recently for the first time since it came out and I thought it held up well.
I recently watched Stanley Kubrick's BARRY LYNDON for the first time in its entirety in one sitting and I think it's one of Kubrick's very best films.
Some films from the '70s that I loved back then I just can't sit through anymore (sorry, BLAZING SADDLES and VANISHING POINT).

Daytripper

You are correct, I should have said favorite. That said, I still think my #1 choice is the best

Nesbit

How has no one said Network?

The answer is Network.

Toby Dramit

I saw 'Close Encounters' in the theatre as a kid when it came out. The outdoor scenes at night were stunning ...

rw2516

Midnight Express

TomOpus

I've always felt the 70s when the best decade for movies and music. Admittedly I'm biased since that decade included my high school years.

Throwing Copper

Network
A Clockwork Orange
The Godfather (not the sequel)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Annie Hall
Star Wars

and I really like Jack Nicholson in about a half dozen other ones.

Finisher

Yeah, I don't think this is even remotely up for debate.

Taxi Driver
Apocalypse Now
Barry Lyndon
Days of Heaven
Godfather Part II
The Deer Hunter
A Clockwork Orange
Mad Max
Papillon
Mean Streets
The Tenant
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Stalker
Sorcerer
Aguirre, The Wrath of God
High Plains Drifter

stvn1974

Star Wars
Eraserhead
Apocalypse Now
Taxi Driver
Alien
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Rocky
Star Trek The Motion Picture
Jaws
A Clockwork Orange
Halloween
Suspiria
Dawn Of The Dead
The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
Chinatown
Superman The Movie
Rocky Horror Picture Show
El Topo
The Holy Mountain
The Outlaw Josie Wales
High Plains Drifter
Dirty Harry

B5Erik

Off the top of my head (I know I'll miss a few)...

JAWS
The Shootist
The Godfather
The Godfather 2
Close Encounters
Star Wars
Dirty Harry
Chinatown
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Rocky
Rocky II
The French Connection
Tora Tora Tora
Midway
The Towering Inferno
Patton
The Poseidon Adventure

Mondo Kane

Sorry for going overboard here, but what can I say? I worship 70s cinema. (Leaving out some of the big names like Encounters, Cuckoo, Apocalypse, Godfather, etc)

CRIME
3 Women
Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia
Straight Time
Blue Collar
Clay Pigeon
Serpico
Electra Glide in Blue

DOCUMENTARY
Best Boy
Attica
Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives
Winter Soldier
Grey Gardens
The Blank Generation

MARTIAL ARTS (Kung Fu)
The Chinese Boxer
Master of The Flying Guillotine
Crippled Avengers
The Magnificent Butcher
36th Chamber of Shaolin
Drunken Master
The Duel

MARTIAL ARTS (Samurai/Chambara
Lady Snowblood
Lone Wolf & Cub: Babycart at River Styx
Hanzo The Razor: The Snare
Lone Wolf & Cub: Sword of Justice
Zatoichi Meets The One-Armed Swordsman

PERIOD PIECE
Barry Lyndon
The Devils
Aguirre, The Wrath of God
The Message
Tragedy of Macbeth

ACTION
Gone in 60 Seconds
The Spy Who Loved Me
The Getaway
Race With The Devil
Mr. Majestyk

DRAMA
A Woman Under The Influence
Bush Mama
Summer of '42
September 30 1955
Big Wednesday
Carnal Knowledge

FAMILY
The Muppet Movie
Charlotte's Web
Snoopy, Come Home
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory

MUSIC
Phantom of The Paradise
Grease
Jesus Christ Superstar
Tommy

HORROR (North America)
Carrie
Black Christmas
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Last House on Dead End Street
Deranged
Simon, King of The Witches
Deathdream

HORROR (Euro/U.K.)
Zombie
Grapes of Death
The Wicker Man
Flesh For Frankenstein
Vampyres
Psychomania
The People Who Own The Dark
Suspiria

BIOPIC/TRUE STORY
Lenny
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
Ciao! Manhattan
Lady Sings The Blues
Canoa: A Shameful Memory
Sacco & Vanzetti

SCI-FI
Time After Time
Mad Max
Westworld
Conquest of The Planet of The Apes
The Man Who Fell To Earth
Slaughterhouse-Five
The Omega Man

SUSPENSE/THRILLER
Deliverance
Marathon Man
The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
Sisters
Straw Dogs
Play Misty For Me
Day Of The Jackal

FOREIGN/INTERNATIONAL
Dersu Uzala
Amarcord
Day For Night
Scenes From a Marriage
Ali: Fear Eats The Soul
Walkabout
Manila in The Claws of Light
Red Psalm

GIALLO
Eyeball
Deep Red
The Killer Must Kill Again
Torso
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh
Slaughter Hotel

POLIZIOTTESCHI
The Italian Connection
Almost Human
Rabid Dogs
The Big Racket

WOMEN-IN-PRISON
Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion
The Big Bird Cage
Caged Heat
The Big Doll House

YOUTH/GANGS
Over The Edge
Boulevard Nights
The Wanderers
The Warriors

WAR
The Ascent
A Bridge Too Far
The Tin Drum
Distant Thunder
The Mckenzie Break
The Beguiled

MOB/MAFIA/YAKUZA
Graveyard of Honor
Massacre Mafia Style
Sympathy For The Underdog
The Don is Dead

WESTERN (U.S.)
High Plains Drifter
Pat Garret and Billy The Kid
Ulzana's Raid
Bad Company
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
Little Big Man
The Culpepper Cattle Co.

WESTERN (Spaghetti)
Companeros
Duck, You Sucker
My Name is Nobody
Silver Saddle
Four Of The Apocalypse

ROAD MOVIE
Scarecrow
Kings of The Road
Vanishing Point
Harry & Tonto

BLAXPLOITATION
Coffy
Superfly
Truck Turner
The Human Tornado
J.D.'s Revenge

HIXPLOITATION
Payday
Walking Tall
Country Blue
The Great Texas Dynamite Chase
Poor Pretty Eddie
Thunder and Lightning

COMEDY
Bananas
Kentucky Fried Movie
The Bad News Bears
Harold & Maude
Slap Shot
Monty Python & The Holy Grail
Up in Smoke

PINKY VIOLENCE
Criminal Woman: Killing Melody
Sex & Fury
Terrifying Girls High School: Lynch Law Classroom
Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs
Girl Boss Guerilla
Queen Bee's Challenge

SURREAL/EXPERIMENTAL
Eraserhead
The Holy Mountain
Pink Narcisuss
El Topo

GRINDHOUSE misc.
Death Race 2000
The Streetfighter
Bloodsucking Freaks
Ilsa, Harem Keeper of The Oil Shieks
The Bod Squad
Death Force
Emanuelle and The Last Cannibals

SEXPLOITATION (North America)
Supervixens
The Toy Box
Hollywood Babylon
Up!
The Dirtiest Game
Auditions

SEXPLOITATION (Euro/U.K.)
Voodoo Passion
The Playbirds
Me, A Groupie
The Long Swift Sword of Siegfried
Bibi
Six Swedish Girls in a Boarding School

ADULT ANIMATION
Heavy Traffic
Belladonna of Sadness
Coonskin
Fantastic Planet
Nine Lives of Fritz The Cat

XXX
Reflections
Femmes De Sade
Tongue
The Devil Inside Her
New York City Inferno

WTF
Desperate Living
Blood Freak
The Telephone Book
The Hellstrom Chronicle
The Oily Maniac
Bat Pussy

SHORTS
Powers of Ten
The End of One
Chicana
The Vampires of Poverty
Rendezvous
Necrology
The Grandmother

Runaway

Rocky
Rocky II
The Godfather
The Godfather: Part II
Star Wars
M*A*S*H
Mad Max
Alien
The Shootist
Three Days of the Condor
The Towering Inferno
A Bridge Too Far
Jeremiah Johnson
Cross of Iron
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The French Connection
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Escape From Alcatraz
All the President's Men
The Deer Hunter
Life of Brian
The Sting
Chinatown
Jaws
The Exorcist
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Cellar Door

Most of my favorites have been mentioned, but I would add The Jerk as it's one of my all-time favorite comedies.

TheAllPurposeNothing

I'm always surprised by how few films from the 70's fall in my top 100 list. Then again, even though I was raised during the 70's, I also have a very large gap of notable films I still have yet to see, so that may contribute to that gap.

Rocky
Close Encounters
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Harold and Maude
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Honorable Mentions:
The Sting
Apocalypse Now
Dog Day Afternoon
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
American Graffiti
Young Frankenstein
The Bad News Bears
Smokey and the Bandit
The Poseidon Adventure
Sleeper
Little Big Man
Paper Moon
Breaking Away
Network
Superman: The Movie
Jaws
Kentucky Fried Movie
Rock 'n' Roll Hight School
Phantom of the Paradise
Fiddler on the Roof
All That Jazz
Animal House

Count Dooku

Not the best, but these are movies from the 1970s that I have seen over and over again, and would watch again in a heartbeat.

American Graffiti
Animal House
Annie Hall
Blazing Saddles
Bad News Bears
Close Encounters
Grease
Jaws
Live and Let Die
Manhattan
Monty Python & the Holy Grail
Nickelodeon
Paper Moon
Patton
Poseidon Adventure
Rocky 2
Rocky Horror
Sleeper
Spy Who Loved Me
Star Wars
The Sting
What's Up Doc?
Young Frankenstein
1776

rw2516

:"Dammit, Janet!"
"The only thing wrong with the Davis' baby is ....IT'S ALIVE!"
"One minute you're normal, the next.......RABID!"

"Hey old man. Anybody live in those hills?":
"Nobody you'd want to meet. Believe me."

Gotta love the 70s

Paul_SD

I think most of the worthy, but less obvious candidates have already been listed.

Only a few omissions that come to mind

- Two Lane Blacktop
- The Silent Partner (personally, I'd bump a lot of already mentioned crime/thriller titles to include this one)
- Who'll Stop The Rain (one of my absolute favorites of the decade, and very much a "seventies" pic as it speaks to the social structure/ cultural values breakdown that spilled over from the Vietnam war)
- Manhattan (unless I missed it. I consider this one of, if not Allen's best film)

sorry, I see Dooku got it.