As great as the 1960s were for cinema, the argument can be made that the ’60s belonged more to countries other than the United States. American cinema needed a significant shift where Hollywood could capitalize on the changes taking shape in the industry. For decades, Hollywood movies were restricted by the motion picture production code, and it kept them from depicting heavy realism on screen. Then came the end of the motion picture production code in 1968 and the rise of the New Hollywood era. The 1970s is the greatest decade in American cinema history and a big reason for that is a more director-driven market where filmmakers had a lot of control over the stories they could tell.
With art being prioritized, the New Hollywood generation of filmmakers gave audiences many of the greatest classics of all time. This generation included directors such as Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton, changing the American cinema landscape. The five greatest directors of the decade (Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma and George Lucas) were coined as the “Movie Brats” and their films will forever be considered some of the best ever. Some of those films are better than others, but it is a close contest.
15
THX 1138 Is a Solid Pre-Cursor to the Films George Lucas Would Be Known For
Released: 1971
Although it wasn’t much of a box office success and exists very much with a student film energy, THX 1138 foreshadowed the kind of imaginative stories George Lucas was capable of crafting. It is no secret that, throughout his career, Lucas has cemented himself as more of a writer than a director and that many of his films have overlooked some directorial flaws because of how great the storytelling is.
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THX 1138 is Lucas’s directorial debut and hinted at the kind of genre Lucas was most passionate about. A dystopian sci-fi flick about human beings manipulated and controlled by a technological authority, THX 1138 is a solid film with a ton of relevant themes pertaining to the dangers of evolution. However, even with its cult following, THX 1138 is not nearly as great as a lot of other ’70s pictures. Therefore, it takes the number 15 spot on the list.
14
Sisters Established Brian De Palma as the Next Great Thriller Auteur
Released: 1972
While Brian De Palma would go on to make better thrillers and psychological horror films throughout his career, Sisters was his first foray into the genre. Telling the story of a model’s separated conjoined sister being the suspect in a murder and causing reverberating consequences for her, Sisters is full of twists and turns and leaves the audience thinking. The film proved that Brian De Palma had a true voice and vision for genre films as well as showcased his stylistic personality.
With a lot of Hitchcock similarities, a beautiful score from Bernard Herman and captivating performances from Margot Kidder and Jennifer Salt, Sisters is one of the more underrated classics of the 1970s. With the New Hollywood era still finding its footing by 1972, legendary classics would frequently be made from 1972 onward. While The Godfather is the clear watershed moment of the decade, Sisters is right there with it.
Sisters
- Release Date
-
April 18, 1973
- Runtime
-
93 minutes
- Writers
-
Brian De Palma
- Producers
-
Edward R. Pressman
13
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore Proved Scorsese Was More Than One Kind of Genre Director
Released: 1974
When fans usually think of Martin Scorsese, they think of his most memorable films, like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas. However, it’s not always his flashy ones that deserve attention and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore was one of Scorsese’s best films of the ’70s. While it might not be stylistically compelling, it proved that Martin Scorsese was more than just one kind of director and could tell emotionally effective stories.
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore saw Scorsese collaborating with some of his favorite actors to work with at the time, as well as a few new faces. The film is probably most memorable for winning Ellen Burstyn her one and only Academy Award, but it also showcased great performances from Kris Kristofferson, Harvey Keitel and a young Jodie Foster. A feel-good film with a re-watchable quality to it, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore is probably the least Scorsese-esque movie of his career, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still great.
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
- Release Date
-
December 9, 1974
- Runtime
-
112 Minutes
-
Ellen Burstyn
Alice Hyatt
-
-
Mia Bendixsen
Alice – Age 8
-
12
Phantom of the Paradise Isn’t Like Any Other Movie From the 1970s
Released: 1974
It’s not every day that a filmmaker decides to experiment with multiple genres that won’t always go together. However, that is the case with Phantom of the Paradise, in which Brian De Palma tells an intense and chilling story of a music producer being haunted and terrorized by a musician he once wronged. Phantom of the Paradise is tonally unbalanced but never ceases to surprise. Brian De Palma is definitely making a personal work of art and it shows.
Phantom of the Paradise wasn’t much of a success when it was initially released but has since become a bit of a cult classic. A solid follow-up to Sisters, Phantom of the Paradise continued to establish the genre Brian De Palma was most known for in the ’70s. While his most iconic decade was probably the ’80s, De Palma’s contributions to the thriller and horror genres in the ’70s cannot be overlooked. De Palma’s signature vision is very much on display in Phantom of the Paradise and the film exists as something of an underrated masterclass in film language.
Phantom Of The Paradise
- Release Date
-
October 31, 1974
- Runtime
-
91 Minutes
- Director
-
Brian De Palma
- Writers
-
Brian De Palma
Released: 1977
Once Steven Spielberg became the hottest young director in Hollywood because of the success of Jaws, many fans anticipated what he would do next. Not only did Close Encounters of the Third Kind do a good job following in Jaws’ footsteps, it cemented Spielberg’s place in Hollywood as a genre filmmaker. Of all the “Movie Brats”, Spielberg certainly had the most financial success and that was the case with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which grossed up to $300 million on a $19 million budget.
Often considered a watershed film for science fiction thrillers, Spielberg’s epic film follows a working-class citizen’s encounter with extra-terrestrial beings and a three-year-old boy’s abduction. Equally terrifying and exciting at the same time, Close Encounters of the Third Kind might be the best sci-fi film of any other decade. However, in the ’70s, it had to battle with other great Spielberg films, Star Wars, Alien, and other “Movie Brat” classics. While certainly one of the best films of the decade, Close Encounters of the Third Kind falls lower on this particular list of legendary films.
Released: 1974
While many of the “Movie Brats” got better throughout their careers, Francis Ford Coppola owned the 1970s and was never able to top the decade. Not only did he make three films that are often argued as the greatest movies ever, but he also made The Conversation in the same year as one of those films. To go from making The Godfather to making The Conversation and The Godfather Part II in just a two-year span is probably one of Coppola’s most underrated accomplishments.
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What’s even more impressive is that all the films are masterful works of cinema. The Conversation might not be incredibly high on the list, but that is only because it has to contend with other legendary movies. Starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale and Harrison Ford, The Conversation follows a paranoid surveillance worker who begins to suspect foul play with his latest job. As probably one of the most underrated thrillers of the ’70s, The Conversation is a classic of the decade that deserves everyone’s attention.
The Conversation
- Release Date
-
April 7, 1974
- Runtime
-
113 minutes
- Director
-
Francis Ford Coppola
- Writers
-
Francis Ford Coppola
9
American Graffiti Might Be George Lucas’ Best Film as a Director
Released: 1973
While no one denies that The Empire Strikes Back is George Lucas’ all-around greatest film, he didn’t even direct the movie. As a director, George Lucas made two films that could be considered his masterpiece. One of them is obviously the first Star Wars, but the other one is his 1973 coming-of-age comedy American Graffiti. With an incredibly relevant subject matter, feel-good tone and fun performances, American Graffiti is one of those classic comedy dramas that fans never forget.
Coming off of THX 1138, George Lucas had to find his footing as a storyteller in order to make the kind of genre films he truly wanted to make. As a fan of the coming-of-age genre as much as a fan of science fiction, Lucas made American Graffiti with a little help from one of his “Movie Brat” pals, Francis Ford Coppola. Many people think of the friendship of Lucas and Spielberg first, but Lucas and Coppola were another dynamic duo. American Graffiti paved the way for Lucas to change cinema forever. He would just do it in a different genre.
American Graffiti
- Release Date
-
August 1, 1973
- Runtime
-
110minutes
- Director
-
George Lucas
- Writers
-
George Lucas, Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck
8
Mean Streets Is Martin Scorsese’s Most Important Movie
Released: 1973
Fans know Martin Scorsese for making some of the most distinct gangster movies in contemporary cinema. However, none of those films would exist without his most personal gangster film of them all. With colleagues and collaborators urging Scorsese to make more films like Who’s That Knocking on My Door, Scorsese grounded his 1973 genre film Mean Streets in important and personal themes. Showcasing some of Scorsese’s early mastery of crime material, street culture and Italian-Americanism, Mean Streets paved the way for films Scorsese would most thrive with.
Mean Streets was the first time Scorsese really played around with film language in new ways and a lot of his signature techniques started to be used in the film. Whether it’s the use of music, voice-over narration or freeze frames, Scorsese was doing it all in Mean Streets. As one of the most important crime movies of the ’70s and marking the first collaboration between Scorsese and Robert De Niro, Mean Streets couldn’t possibly be any lower than number 8 on the list.
Mean Streets
- Release Date
-
October 14, 1973
- Runtime
-
112 Minutes
7
Carrie Is One of the Best Horror Films of All Time
Released: 1976
As the first-ever adaptation of a Stephen King work, Brian De Palma’s Carrie is another one of those watershed films for a genre. By 1976, De Palma had cemented his place as the hottest thriller director around and was drawn to King’s first novel and pushed to adapt it. Starring Sissy Spacek and highlighting intense psychological themes, Carrie builds and builds until some of the most visually compelling sequences play out on screen. If not for the fact that the great Stanley Kubrick would go on to make The Shining a few years later, Carrie wouldn’t have been as overshadowed as it is in the horror genre and in the overall history of King adaptations.
As an equally scary, thrilling and emotional story, Carrie features some of De Palma’s most iconic scenes of his career as well as his signature style. It also features a memorable score by the great Pino Donaggio and stunning visuals from Mario Tosi. Despite De Palma topping all of his ’70s films in the ’80s, Carrie remains one of his overall best and one of the more underrated classics of the New Hollywood era.
Carrie
- Release Date
-
November 16, 1976
- Runtime
-
98 Minutes
- Director
-
Brian De Palma
6
Star Wars Redefined Science Fiction Cinema Forever
Released: 1977
It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Star Wars is pretty high on the list of ’70s “Movie Brat” classics. Not only was the 1977 original a massive hit, it became a global phenomenon that has only grown in the decades following its release. The visual and miniature effects alone make Star Wars an incredible achievement, but once again the film is boosted by another incredible George Lucas script and story. The legend of Luke, Han and Leia has been ingrained in American pop culture ever since 1977, and it has shown no signs of slowing down either.
Even with its 1980 sequel surpassing it in almost every way, Star Wars was another watershed film for the science fiction genre. Arguably George Lucas’ best film as a director, everything about Star Wars became instantly iconic upon its release in 1977. As an all-around film, it has its flaws, even if it’s a minimal amount. The only reason it is not higher on the list is because there are better films that came from the “Movie Brats” throughout the ’70s, despite Star Wars having the greatest impact.
Star Wars Episode IV
- Release Date
-
May 25, 1977
- Runtime
-
121 minutes
5
Apocalypse Now Is Coppola’s Magnum Opus
Released: 1979
Not only is the intense and passionate journey of making Apocalypse Now one of Coppola’s greatest achievements, but the result of that journey being one of the greatest movies ever made, makes Apocalypse Now one of the best “Movie Brat” films of the ’70s. Everything from Coppola’s shot compositions and Storaro’s cinematography to the performances by Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando make it such. There isn’t much to criticize about Apocalypse Now.
Overall, Apocalypse Now is much more of a personal achievement of Francis Ford Coppola than it is an overall achievement of cinema, but both are true. If not for the fact that Coppola made two films slightly better earlier in the decade, Apocalypse Now would be his masterpiece. With gritty depictions of the Vietnam War, challenging themes and incredible social relevance, Apocalypse Now is, if nothing else, Coppola’s magnum opus.
Apocalypse Now
- Release Date
-
August 15, 1979
- Runtime
-
147 minutes
- Director
-
Francis Ford Coppola
- Writers
-
Joseph Conrad, John Milius, Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Herr
4
Taxi Driver Is the Most Underappreciated Classic of the ’70s
Released: 1976
While nobody ever denies how incredible Taxi Driver is and what it did for cinema, many still try and discount it in a larger discussion about cinema and even Scorsese’s career. Fans love to say that The Departed, Raging Bull and Goodfellas are the best films of Scorsese’s career, but Taxi Driver is actually his greatest achievement. Furthermore, when people discuss the best movies of all time, Taxi Driver doesn’t come up in the conversation as quickly as it should.
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Aside from being Scorsese’s most stylistically beautiful film, Taxi Driver changed the way people view subjectivity as a tool in cinema after it was released. De Niro’s performance is iconic, Scorsese’s vision is unique, Schrader’s script is unbelievable, Herman’s score is captivating and Chapman’s cinematography is mesmerizing. While it may not be as great as a few other films on this list, Taxi Driver is not always seen as the masterpiece that it is. It is arguably the greatest movie of all time to some and that argument is absolutely warranted.
Taxi Driver
- Release Date
-
February 9, 1976
- Runtime
-
114 Minutes
- Writers
-
Paul Schrader
3
The Godfather Part II Was Almost Better Than Its Predecessor
Released: 1974
It’s one thing to make a movie that gets discussed in conversations about “the greatest of all time,” but it’s another thing to make a sequel to that film and actually have it get discussed in the same conversation. Not only did The Godfather Part II also win Best Picture at the Oscars like its predecessor, it tells just as compelling of a story as its predecessor. The Godfather is a masterwork of masculinity, family and criminality, but somehow The Godfather Part II expands on this and separates itself from what came before.
With another brilliant performance from Al Pacino and an even greater performance from Robert De Niro, the story of Vito Corleone’s rise to the top, complemented with his son’s complicated psychological downfall, makes The Godfather Part II one of the greatest movies ever. It is another one of the Coppola classics that can be argued as being his masterpiece, especially when considering that The Godfather Part II is much more of Coppola’s vision coming to life. Regardless of where it lands in a greater discussion about Coppola, The Godfather Part II is definitely in the top three when discussing “Movie Brat” films of the ’70s.
The Godfather Part II
- Release Date
-
December 20, 1974
- Runtime
-
202minutes
- Director
-
Francis Ford Coppola
- Writers
-
Francis Ford Coppola, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino
2
Jaws Might Be the Most Perfectly Made Movie of All Time
Released: 1975
Everything about Jaws makes it a memorable classic of the ’70s. Not many fans knew the kind of effect a monster movie could have on them until they saw Jaws for the first time. For decades after the film’s release, audiences were scared to go swimming in the ocean, and that remains true to this day. Aside from the effect it had on the audience, the movie itself is so incredibly well-made and well-written that it deserves to be considered as one of the best movies of all time.
2:55
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The original Jaws movie & its haunting score are iconic. The subsequent films are worth watching too, even if they don’t eclipse the original.
Whether it’s Steven Spielberg’s directing, the editing, the script or arguably John Williams’ most iconic score of all time, Jaws will always be remembered as a staple of ’70s cinema. Even if not discussing the film in a larger conversation, it was too important for the 1970s to not have it high in the list of “Movie Brat” films from the decade. Whether fans remember many of Brody, Hooper and Quint’s most iconic one-liners, the famous dolly zoom shot or the terrifying theme music, Jaws will forever be cemented as a classic of American cinema.
Jaws
- Release Date
-
June 20, 1975
- Runtime
-
2 hours 4 minutes
1
The Godfather Is the Masterpiece of All Masterpieces
Released: 1972
Often considered the film that changed cinema forever and officially energized New Hollywood cinema, The Godfather is the greatest movie of all time, and Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece. The story behind the making of The Godfather is still discussed, the depiction of the Italian Mafia is iconic and the performances, cinematography and score are some of the most resonant cinematic elements in history. It put Al Pacino on the map, changed the way gangsters were depicted in movies and introduced Francis Ford Coppola to audiences everywhere.
The reason it remains one of the greatest movies of all time, the best of the “Movie Brat” films of the ’70s and a better film than its sequel, is because of the story arc of Michael Corleone. There is no better arc for a character than Michael Corleone’s in The Godfather. His transformation from reluctant heir and war hero to fully-fledged Mafia boss is still one of the greatest character arcs in cinema history. Top it all off with Marlon Brando’s Academy Award-winning performance as Vito Corleone and The Godfather is without a doubt the best “Movie Brat” movie of the New Hollywood decade.
The Godfather
- Release Date
-
March 24, 1972
- Runtime
-
175 minutes
