Best ’70s Movies of All Time, Ranked

If you're a cinephile, these films from the '70s are a must-watch.

The 1970s are considered the golden age of moviemaking, as directors and actors were no longer slaves to the studio system. Not only did the decade see the birth of the Hollywood blockbuster, but it also put some of the best filmmakers ever — Scorsese, Spielberg and Coppola — on the map.

It’s difficult to compile a shortlist of the best ’70s movies of all time because there are so many. What’s here only scratches the surface, which is why we felt the need to rank them to help you prioritize what to watch for your next movie night.

But there’s one thing for sure: If you haven’t seen some of these movies, it’s time to grab the popcorn.

15. A Clockwork Orange

Polaris Productions / Hawk Films / YouTube

Year released: 1971

Stanley Kubrick directed “A Clockwork Orange” at the start of the decade, and it was controversial from the moment it landed on the silver screen.

Based on the novel of the same name by Anthony Burgess, “A Clockwork Orange” is set sometime in a dystopian future in which young delinquent Alex (Malcolm McDowell) leads his gang of “droogs” in a series violent crimes.

When his luck runs out, he’s arrested, sentenced to prison and is later selected for a government experiment, the “Ludovico Technique,” designed to “cure” him of his violent tendencies. Unfortunately, it also robs him of his free will.

Due to a series of copycat violent acts carried out in real life, Kubrick withdrew the film from circulation in 1973 in the U.K., and it wasn’t seen on British screens again until 2000.

14. Network

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Filmstruck / YouTube

Year released: 1976

“Network” follows the fictional television network called UBS, which is struggling with low ratings and falling revenue. To boost ratings, UBS decides to exploit Howard Beale (Peter Finch), a news anchor who announces during a broadcast he’s going to commit suicide on air after being fired by the network. His outburst draws viewers, and UBS decides to promote him as the “Mad Profit of the Airwaves.”

“Network” is known for its biting social commentary and prescience. The topics it addresses were unheard of in the 1970s but are very much part of the way news media is run today. The movie was Finch’s final film — but he was awarded the Best Actor Oscar posthumously in 1977.

13. Taxi Driver

Bill/Phillips Productions / Italo-Judeo Productions / YouTube

Year released: 1976

Directed by Martin Scorsese, “Taxi Driver,” follows Vietnam vet Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro), who works as a cabbie in New York City. He suffered PTSD from the war and becomes increasingly isolated and disillusioned with society and cleaning up the city’s corruption.

Bickle becomes obsessed with a pre-teen prostitute, Iris (Jodie Foster), and this obsession eventually leads him to violence. (In fact, “Taxi Driver” influenced would-be Reagan assassin John Hinkley Jr., who also became obsessed with Jodie Foster after seeing this movie.)

Did you know De Niro ad-libbed the “you talking to me” sequence? He later said it was based on stage banter he heard at a Bruce Springsteen show.

12. The Exorcist

Hoya Productions / YouTube

Year released: 1973

“The Exorcist” tells the story of a preteen named Regan (Linda Blair) who becomes possessed by a demon. Her mother (Ellen Burstyn) enlists the help of two priests to perform an exorcism to save her daughter’s life.

While groundbreaking at the time, the movie wasn’t met with critical acclaim when it was released, but nonetheless, it’s influenced the horror genre more than any other.

11. Harold and Maude

Paramount Pictures / YouTube

Year released: 1971

Directed by Hal Ashby, “Harold and Maude” is a story of a May-December romance between 20-year-old Harold (Bud Cort) and 79-year-old, eccentric Maude (Ruth Gordon.) Harold and Maude’s relationship grows from friendship to romance as they explore the meaning of love, acceptance, life and death.

The film has become a cult classic due to its offbeat humor, memorable soundtrack by Cat Stevens and its ability to capture the spirit of the time in which it was made.

10. The Deer Hunter

EMI / YouTube

Year released: 1978

“The Deer Hunter” follows three steelworkers from Pennsylvania — Steven (John Savage), Michael (Robert De Niro) and Nick (Christopher Walken) — as they are drafted to fight in Vietnam.

The film takes place in three parts — at Steven’s wedding, in Vietnam and the war’s aftermath — and it explores friendship, trauma and the effects of war on those in it and those who love them.

9. Dog Day Afternoon

Artists Entertainment Complex / YouTube

Year released: 1975

“Dog Day Afternoon” is based on a true story of a bank robbery in Brooklyn, New York, including the hostage crisis it creates and negotiations between the robbers and law enforcement.

Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino) is a Vietnam vet who attempts to rob a bank to pay for his lover’s (Chris Sarandon) sex-change operation. His literal partner in crime Sal (John Cazale) becomes increasingly anxious and agitated as the situation gets more dire.

8. Being There

Lorimar Productions / YouTube

Year released: 1979

“Being There” is based on the 1970 novel of the same name and stars Peter Sellers as Chance the Gardener, a simple-minded gardener who has no knowledge of the outside world. He spends his entire life living and working in the wealthy estate of an elderly man.

When his employer dies, Chance must leave the estate and venture out into the world. At random, he encounters a wealthy businessman, a political advisor and the President of the United States, all of whom take a liking to him.

His simplistic and ambiguous statements seem to be profound and insightful, although he is truly just speaking about gardening. Nevertheless, based on his statements, he rises to prominence in the political world.

7. Breaking Away

20th Century Fox / YouTube

Year released: 1979

This coming-of-age film was a genuine sleeper hit and remains one of the best films of the 1970s. Working-class teen Dave Stoller (Dennis Christopher) and his friends face uncertainty after graduating from high school in Bloomington, Indiana. Stoller becomes obsessed with Italian culture and bike racing, much to the chagrin of his friends and family.

He and his friends form a bike team calling themselves “Cutters” (a derogatory term for people who work in the local limestone quarry) and face off against college cyclists who come to their town to compete.

6. Badlands

Warner Bros. / YouTube

Year released: 1973

“Badlands,” Terrence Malick’s directorial debut, starred Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek as star-crossed lovers who also happened to be killers. The story is loosely based on real-life couple Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, who terrorized the Midwest with a series of murders in 1958 when Starkweather was 19 and Fugate was 14.

The film has been a significant influence on the true-crime genre ever since. Tony Scott and Quentin Tarantino paid homage to “Badlands” in “True Romance,” using the original film’s score and similar voice-over narration and themes.

5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Fantasy Films / YouTube

Year released: 1975

Shot in a real mental institution in Salem, Oregon, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is based on the Ken Kesey book of the same name. It tells the story of a convict, Randle McMurphy (JackNicholson), who fakes insanity to avoid jail time and is instead committed.

Once there, he becomes a hero to his fellow patients and begins to exert a little too much power. Tyrannical Nurse Ratched (played by Louise Fletcher) runs the ward and will do anything to keep control over it.

4. Jaws

Zanuck/Brown Company / Universal Pictures / YouTube

Year released: 1975

The movie that put both Steven Spielberg and the Hollywood blockbuster on the map, “Jaws” is based on the Peter Benchley novel of the same name.

When a great white shark terrorizes the island town of Amity, New York, a police chief (Roy Scheider), a marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) and a seasoned fisherman (Robert Shaw) join together to kill the beast before it does even more harm.

3. Star Wars: A New Hope

Lucasfilm Ltd. / YouTube

Year released: 1977

The “Star Wars” franchise is as strong as ever, but it all started with “Star Wars: A New Hope” in 1977. A young Tatooine farmboy, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), joins forces with a group of rebels to fight the Galactic Empire, with the villainous Darth Vader at the helm.

“Star Wars: A New Hope” was a box office and critical smash and spawned a franchise that has been popular ever since. The character of Luke Skywalker was more recently seen in 2022 in “The Book of Boba Fett” and is played by a de-aged Mark Hamill.

2. Apocalypse Now

Omni Zoetrope / YouTube

Year released: 1979

Best war movie or best movie ever made? Some critics say both.

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, “Apocalypse Now” is based on the Joseph Conrad novel “Heart of Darkness.” The movie takes place during the Vietnam War and follows a U.S. Army captain’s journey to find and kill an Army colonel (Marlon Brando) who went rogue.

Filming took place over the course of 238 days in the Philippines. Cast and crew faced everything from real-life political unrest to monsoons and even the lead actor (Martin Sheen) having a heart attack during production. The making of the movie was documented in the 1991 film, “Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse.”

1. The Godfather and The Godfather Part II

Paramount Pictures / Alfran Productions / YouTube

Years released: 1972 and 1974

It was too difficult to pick between the first two movies in The Godfather franchise, so we put them together. Both “The Godfather” (1972) and “The Godfather Part II” (1974) were directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel by Mario Puzo.

The films tell the story of the Corleone family, a powerful Italian-American mafia family based in New York City. They depict the rise of Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) as the family patriarch and the transition of power to his son, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), after his death.

Considering both have been contenders for the best movie of all time, we couldn’t help but rank them in this No. 1 spot.