1970s, group 5
- MASH (1970)
- Kelly’s Heroes (1970)
- Cross of Iron (1977)
- The Duellists (1977)
- The Sentinel (1977)
- The Stepford Wives (1975)
- Don’t Look Now (1973)
- Westworld (1973)
- The Andromeda Strain (1971)
- Zabriskie Point (1970)
- Deliverance (1972)
- Saturday Night Fever (1977)
- The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)
- The Deep (1977)
- Network (1976)
- Alien (1979)
- …And Justice for All (1979)
- Duel (1971)
- The Wanderers (1979)
- The Warriors (1979)
*****
So. How many of the first 100 films have you seen? Count them up and then consult this handy numeric breakdown to gauge just how I feel about you:
0-10—I don’t know how you can call yourself civilized. Honestly.
11-34—Congratulations. You’re completely average. How’s that working out for you?
35-54—Well, at least you’ve made an effort. Now do me a favor and apply yourself, would you? Being a bit above average never got anybody into heaven.
55-74—You are a promising young cineaste. But you still have some work to do if you want to be great. The choice is yours. I mean, you can sit back and tell stories of your days in AA ball, or you can retire on your Major League pension.
75-99—Okay. I’d speak to you in a social setting. In fact, you might be kinda cool. Either that or you’re a total geek. In which case, I don’t know you.
all 100—You are me. But that doesn’t mean you can go rooting around in my underwear without permission. Just so we’re clear.
****
previous: set 1; set 2; set 3; set 4
’And Justice for All’ and ‘The Wanderers’ are the best.
Dammit! I hadn’t seen any of the first 80 films that you had posted, so I was hoping that I could make a perfect 100. Unfortunately, I have seen the original “Stepford Wives.” Bah- so close!
And you call yourself American…
It’s no fun if you have permission
The Sentinel made the cut after I recommended it to you?
Man, I am seriously flatterd.
Haven’t seen Cross of Iron or Don’t Look Now… but otherwise I’ve got that list nailed.
Yeah, it was really good. Freaky and dark. A great weird flick.
Don’t Look Now is a very atmospheric “horror” flick from Nic Roeg. Definitely worth checking out. And you can’t go wrong with Peckinpah.
If I’m you, then can I have that newspaper?
We have to read PW to know where we stand in your numerical breakdown. So don’t be petulant. Grade on a curve.
Don’t Look Now is great. I saw it once and never forgot it. Visually fantastic.
I’ve only seen 18 out of the whole lot so I guess I’m average. I turned 5 in 1979 though, so I don’t think 18 is all that shabby.
Do you have to actually remember them or just know you’ve seen them? ‘Cause I was out there during a lot of the older ones.
I have seen just over half of them, I think.
I may have lost track, but I think I hit about 80.
Nonetheless, while Cross of Iron is good, and The Duellists is the my absolute favorite on this list of 25 and I’ve already done my “The Warriors was better in the original Greek” joke … the rest suck.
I mean Tijuana donkey show suck.
Haven’t seen Cross of Iron. It’s going in my queue at netflix. Blowup is not in your list? Five Easy Pieces?
I think I’m between being social acceptable and actually being you…but I like being me, so not to worry.
I cannot take seriously any list of 70’s movies that fails to include KillDozer
KillDozer introduced the concept of stealthy large vehicles to the American population.
KillDozer also showed the futility of trying to hide from a 20 ton Catepillar D9 dozer inside a piece of 30” corrugated pipe. Squish.
You don’t get that kind of useful knowledge from the artsy-fartsy kind of films favored by certain beret wearing, non-filtered cig smoking types …
Not to mention I don’t recall the ‘Great Waldo Pepper’ and/or ‘Death Race 2000’, but that might be because I’m too lazy to look up the list.
Otherwise, I’ve seen around 72 of the films.
I’m quite certain that I’ll be in the high 80s once the 80s come around.
I didn’t have kids then.
That I know about.
Patricia—Blowup is the 1960s. Five Easy Pieces was briefly on one of the lists but was replaced with a film more fitting to that particular list. It will show up at some point. Don’t know if Cross of Iron is available yet on DVD in the US. I have a region 2 disc.
Jeff, there is a region 1 DVD of Cross of Iron. Published by Hen’s Tooth, it sucks more of that Tijuana burro member because the scan is of a quality with a transfer made in a high school video lab.
Ah. Must have read that at some point, which would explain why I have the R2 disc.
The best reason to see The Deep is to see Jacqueline Bisset in that wet t-shirt. I have seen it, though. That was enough for me.
Turing word: like, as in I like Jacqueline Bisset’s breasts.
I’ve only seen 15 of these. I’m barely human, evidently.
But three are sitting on my teevee now, courtesy of my new Netflix account. And five more just came via Amazon.
Ooh! What’d you get?
I bought Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Straw Dogs, The Bad News Bears, and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. Cause you can’t go wrong with Peckinpah or Scorcese.
And Netflix sent The French Connection, The Parallax View, and The Conversation.
What a great lineup! I suspect you’ll find some of them a bit slower than you’re used to, but if after you watch a few you’ll start to get used to the rhythm of 70s films.
Try some 70s Altman next—MASH, Nashville, Long Goodbye, 3 Women.
Oh yeah, bought Nashville, too.
You are so fucking set. Man, I wish I watching all of those for the first or second time again.
Bad News Bears, Nashville, and French Connection are in my all-time top 20. Which I might have to post at some point.
Ah, Blowup, 60s, reight.
I just got COI from netflix. Cool!
Hmmm.
81 for me. If you make a list of Samurai flicks please include Samurai Fiction. It’s funny as hell.
Interesting, Jeff. I’ve seen at least pieces of all those three. BNB I’ve seen a few times, Nashville I caught the last half on cable, and TFC seemed to be on teevee every Sunday when I was a kid.
I’ve seen parts of lots of these movies, but I’ve seen very few all the way through. Strange.
Hey, I’m surprised that Alien and Deliverance made this list. Everyone’s seen those, haven’t they? I mean, Deliverance is a dating service joke now. Lots of them ask what you about movies, like, “What’s the sexiest movie scene ever?” All the cool kids say, “Squeal like a pig!”
81? Outstanding, Ed.
I think I said elsewhere that Nashville is one of those films that captures a time and place in America as well as any other film. But right there with it is Bad News Bears—which is far more serious a film than most people realize. And I must admit to being heartened to find that some of my favorite contemporary directors (the Coens, Richard Linklater) list it among their favorites, as well.
French Connection has that remarkable quality of Friedkin’s best films—at times it’s like you’re watching a documentary, the realism is so perfectly rendered. It doesn’t hurry itself; it’s slow when it should be slow, and tightly edited where it should be tightly edited. And all of the performances are spot on—down to the “chemist” who checks the heroin.
Call me a decadist if you must, but I’m waiting to see what you make of the post ‘70’s era. I can’t stand the look or feel of most of those films, even the good ones.
Man, you gots to put up these posts in a category on the right side. I don’t want to get carpal tunnel syndrome just to find out my middling score.
Matt30 –
You can’t stand the look or feel of most of what films, the 70s? Or the post post 70s era?
Matt M —
Yeah, putting Alien and Deliverance on was kind of a judgment call. I think more people know about Deliverance than have seen it; and I worry that there’s someone alive who hasn’t seen Alien.
For what it’s worth, French Connection was a best picture winner, and I suspect a lot of people reading this haven’t seen it.
I suspect you’re right about Deliverance.
Amazingly, I’m slightly above average with 37. I own just over 700 DVDs, as best I can tell, and have seen thousands of movies.
Surprisingly you left off Taxi Driver and Klute.
I’ll be posting my top twenty over at the blog in the next hour or so.
Turing word: eye, as in seeing movies.
I have another couple 70s lists still to come, Robert. And both of those are on it—though I was hesitant to put Taxi Driver, Jaws, Rocky, etc. on a list because I figure most people have seen them. But I’m starting to wonder.
Do I put Godfather and Godfather II? Mean Streets?
Looking forward to your list.
I love French Connection so, so much.
I tally up 67 of those. Mostly I’m missing sci-fi.
What about Xanadu? Heaven’s Gate?
(I know, 1980. Close enough.)
Heaven’s Gate is quite unfairly maligned. Xanadu? Not so much.
67 ain’t bad for a youngin’, Ben. But you need to get on some of the 70s sci-fi, which until Star Wars was mostly dystopic.
Jeff,
My list is up. I would include Mean Streets but leave the Godfather movies out. You may be right about Taxi Driver being too well known, though I think of it as being pretty removed from the mainstream. Klute definitely should go, as you said, because you ain’t lived until you see that movie.
Turing word: act, as in movies.
So, is you is or is you ain’t gonna post the series under “greatest hits”? ‘Cause I’m not looking forward to all of that scrolling if you’re not, but I suppose I would have to.
(I know–it’s my fault for not keeping score the whole time.)
On the other hand, I could sober up for a minute and Google the title of the post, in which case…
…average is working out for me, well, averagely, thanks. As an aside, I’d wager that the only other person whose life is more dominated by the number 24 is Jack Bauer.
~ sigh ~
Apparently KillDozerremains highly underrated.
I guess unless in Jeff’s OctaPlex, unless it’s Gene Hackman or Al Pacino getting smushed in that piece of pipe, the film’s not list worthy
…. maybe all KillDozer needed was some call and response music – put a gap- tooth goiter havin’ hick riding the ‘dozer playing the banjo with some bubba in a Bobcat playin’ the guitar.
or maybe instead of unearthing a meteor, the crew on the island should have unearthed a clutch of Not-Of-This-Earth eggs, which hatched, causing them to race around the island hiding from proto-Aliens who would drive the KillDozer.
Maybe … just maybe … but, I digress
I mean … Westworld? … it’s much, much less than it was, despite Yule’s turn as the Inverse-Vader … a dark menacing presence that’s a robot, disguised as a person.
All of them. Many, multiple times. I can quote lines and replay scenes to my favorites.
I went to see MASH when it first screened high on mushrooms and broke a rib laughing.
It still bugs me when the weather is damp and cold.
“Matt30 –
You can’t stand the look or feel of most of what films, the 70s? Or the post post 70s era?”
The ‘70’s. It probably has more to do with the era than it does the films themselves.
I loved BNB, but I lived through that. I’d prefer to forget the hairstyles, the clothes, the cars, the music, etc.
If you liked Busting, you probably also liked The Super Cops from 1974. Directed by Gordon Parks and starring absolutely nobody, The Super Cops was the (allegedly) true story of David Greenberg and Robert Hantz, renegade New York City cops known on the force as “Batman and Robin.” Damn they made great cop-movies back then!
I’ll see if I can find Super Cops, Bill.
Sean M—done.
Yeah, she’s not bad. However, nobody, but nobody can hold a candle to Sophia Loren’s excited wet-t-shirt-Italian-nips-’o-delight in Boy on a Dolphin (1957).
My score is negative. I not only didn’t see any of those, I actually prevented others from seeing them, in some cases using violence.
Jeff – I knew you’d say that about Heaven’s Gate. I think we discussed that movie the first time I met you.
So what are some really bad 70’s movies? Bad like The Postman or Waterworld. Cost a lot of money, had a couple stars, but really sucked.
Hmmm. Off the top of my head, I’d say Force 10 from Navarone, Missouri Breaks, Orca… There are plenty, but they’re all still more interesting that most of today’s blockbusters.
I hate to sound like one of those ‘in my day, sugar was sweeter and the earth was a friendlier place” type-guys—especially given the Nixon/Ford/Carter triumverate—but the sad fact is, I own and watch Day of the Dolphin and Orca, whereas I saw and then immediately forgot Chicago.
Oooh, Force 10 from Navarone was terrible. Never heard of the other two.
Were the 70s really your day? I think you’re about ten years older than me, and I really consider the 90s to be my decade.
Re: Nixon/Ford/Carter… maybe the more life sucks the better movies are? Late 90s movies almost uniformly sucked, but the economy was gangbusters. I think the early 80s sucked movie-wise, too. I mean, Rocky won best picture.
Well, I was a kid, but I went back and revisited the films later on—mostly on VHS (it’s been wonderfully seeing them in their correct aspect ratio on DVD here lately).
But yeah, lots of cultural strife, political intrigue, etc.—not to mention changes in the very way we come to think about truth were seeping into the public consciousness by way of a media and an academy enamored with continental philosphy.
Rocky, though, is an absolute brilliant movie. And it’s 1976.
1976, really? Huh, I thought it was later. And yes, it was good, but I don’t think it was a typical Oscar winner.
What about Assualt on Precinct 13?
Great flick. Especially the infamous—and shocking—Kim Richards scene. I have it on my master list, so it will show up sometime soon.
YOU FORGOT “The Story of O” (1975) w/ Corinne Clery and Udo Kier.. HOW COULD YOU ?!!!
BA Jeff has an interesting post that may explain why so many commenters have not seen these films and why so much of the late ‘90’s to the present sucks hard.
http://beautifulatrocities.com/archives/2005/05/too_hip.html#trackbacks
I love the Wanderers. I love And Justice For All. But, Don’t Look Now—Don Sutherland licked Julie Christie’s armpit. Eww. As lovely as she is, still, eww. By the way, don’t forget Darling for your 60’s list. Boy, was she pretty.
Hmmm, have seen 13 of the 100, largely thanks to high school showing us a film each Saturday night.
VERY SORRY
Kevin Wright
Mark Johnson
Daniel Brown
Kenneth Turner
David Adams
Thomas Evans
Donald Lewis
Nancy Clark
Donald Mitchell
Barbara Robinson
Sandra Parker
Michael Brown
Christopher Allen
VERY SORRY