Favorite Movies 1970s
AMC Movie List

Favorite Movies 1970s

The Godfather, Jaws, and Star Wars all made history during the seventies. Which flick ruled the decade?

rank title points votes your vote
1 The Godfather
Part one of Francis Ford Coppola's epic stars Marlon Brando as a don who must discipline his unruly youngest son, Michael (Al Pacino). 299 795
2 Star Wars
At the start of George Lucas's epic, a farm boy (Mark Hamill) disovers a message from a princess (Carrie Fisher) that leads him into a battle over the fate of the universe. 283 833
3 The Godfather Part II
Coppola's riveting sequel flashes back to the rise of Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) and forward to the fall of his son Michael (Al Pacino). 277 783
4 Jaws
Police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) teams up with scientist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) to kill a man-eater in the popular thriller from Steven Spielberg. 271 785
5 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Milos Forman's adaptation of the Ken Kesey novel has Jack Nicholson leading a rebellion at an insane asylum against martinet Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher. 227 729
6 Alien
In Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror, a spaceship crew member (John Hurt) gives birth to a vicious parasite that wreaks havoc and then meets the indomitable Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). 189 681
7 Rocky
A down-and-almost-out Philadelphia boxer (Sylvester Stallone) is given the chance to rise again during a bout against heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). 184 730
8 Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam fable (via Joseph Conrad) has a callow captain (Martin Sheen) sent into the jungle to extract mad Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando). 181 675
9 Taxi Driver
Martin Scorsese's gritty New York fable features an isolated, angry cabbie (Robert De Niro) who tries to right the life of a teen hooker named Iris (Jodie Foster). 153 667
10 Patton
George C. Scott's immortal depiction (via Franklin J. Schaffner) of the American general won him an Oscar. 110 594
11 The Exorcist
When 14-year-old Regan (Linda Blair) proves uncontrollable by her mother (Ellen Burstyn), drastic measure for the safety of her soul are taken by exorcist Father Merrin (Max von Sydow). 109 655
12 The Sting
Robert Redford and Paul Newman pair up again for a Depression-era comedy about an unscrupulous duo's attempt to scam a rival (Robert Shaw). 106 578
13 National Lampoon's Animal House
John Landis's low-budget comedy tracks the zany goings-on at the Delta frat house, led by merry prankster Bluto Blutarsky (John Belushi). 102 650
14 Blazing Saddles
Mel Brooks injects the Western genre with borscht-belt humor when a town facing extinction of saved by a black cowboy (Cleavon Little). 100 652
15 Chinatown
Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is drawn into a world more corrupt than he knows when Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) hires him supposedly to tail her baron husband (John Huston). 92 566
16 The French Connection
New York detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) is tailing a French dope dealer (Fernando Rey) in this violent actioner from William Friedkin. 84 536
17 M*A*S*H
In Robert Altman's Korean War comedy, military surgeons Hawkeye (Donald Sutherland) and McIntyre (Elliott Gould) lighten the mood of the nurses and doctors at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. 80 558
18 Dog Day Afternoon
Sidney Lumet's depiction of a bank robbery during the summer of 1972 in New York has Al Pacino and John Cazale taking hostages and Charles Durning negotiating. 69 535
19 Saturday Night Fever
Tony Manero (John Travolta) finds a way out of his dull job at a paint store when he takes to disco dancing with a rich woman (Karen Lynn Gorney). -43 553
20 The Towering Inferno
A group of partyers (including Faye Dunaway and Fred Astaire) are celebrating the construction of the world's tallest building by architect Doug Roberts (Paul Newman) when the electricity catches fire. -94 484
21 Kramer vs. Kramer
Bitterly divorced couple Joanna (Meryl Streep) and Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman) fight over their son (Justin Henry) in this drama about shifting gender roles from Robert Benton. -107 517
22 The China Syndrome
A TV anchor (Jane Fonda) and her cameraman (Michael Douglas) are reporting a story on energy when they witness a meltdown at a nuclear plant averted by an engineer (Jack Lemmon). -131 461
23 Foul Play
Divorcée Gloria Mundy (Goldie Hawn) is swept up into a plot to kill the Pope but is foiled by goofy federal agent Tony Carlson (Chevy Chase). -166 460
24 Love Story
A rebelious, well-off Harvard man (Ryan O'Neal) falls for a blue-collar Radcliffe gal (Ali MacGraw) in this tearjerker from Arthur Hiller. -196 480