Although one of the weaker 70s years, this is still a year where movies were altered forever. Francis Ford Coppola gave us one of the first pieces of great American cinema in a long time, elevating what a drama could be. This movie’s success helped push a higher form of filmmaking into the mainstream, allowing the 70s to become so great.
No nonsense with this Bruce Lee movie. His master gets murdered, so Lee goes on a mission to avenge his death. Yes there’s bad dubbing and some hokey storytelling. Great, got it, now let the ass kicking martial arts ballet begin!
Blaxsploitation cinema takes on the “one last job” story. Ron O’Neal is charismatic as hell in the movie that told the world what African-American cinema was going to be in the 70s, and the Curtis Mayfield soundtrack is one of the greats of the genre.
Robert Redford goes into the mountains to be free of society. Kevin Costner probably studied Redford and this film for Dances With Wolves. We see spectacular scenes of adventure, and some complex relationships with Native American culture as well. Plus for the kids, an all time gif.
I despise most of Eric Rohmer’s six moral tales: most are musings of the idle rich. But this one finds some deep truth. It’s about a man (Bernard Verley) happily married, but wanting some escape from the institution’s stranglehold. That escape comes in the form of Chloe (Zouzou), a friend from his past whom he starts spending lunches with, thinking its just a hang. Until he starts noticing that escape might become a reality if he wants.
Though Enter is more famous, this movie actually came out first in the US. Bruce Lee directed as well as starred in this one. He made some fun changes as well: the movie’s set in Italy, it’s WAY funnier (intentionally) than his other films, and he cast the bad guy right. Watch this one if you wanna know who wins in a fight, Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris.
People thought Apocalypse Now was a work of insane ambition, but I’m certain Francis Ford Coppola was merely copying Werner Herzog’s film. Filmed in the jungle, Herzog tells the story of greedy conquistadors, and how their greed pushed them further into the jungle, eventually succumbing to madness or death, except maybe the craziest of them all, Klaus Kinski’s head nobleman.
Anchored by the great Bob Fosse direction, this Broadway adaptation really delivers the goods as far as musicals go, really finding the naturalism inside a world of song and dance in late 1930s Berlin. Lizza Minelli rightfully deserves the Oscar she got here, forging a character that remains beloved to this day for her progressive take on the modern woman, and the story is sneaky clever and complicated as it parallels the club with the, um, nefarious toxic political situation going on around the country.
A movie that continues to prove more timeless as time goes on. Robert Redford plays Bill McKay, an upstart politician hoping to unseat the incumbent. Over the course of the campaign, we see Bill do what he has to do to get supporters, while somehow trying not to sacrifice what he believes in as well, what amounts to an impossible task in politics today as the audience comes to see.
This movie will make you never want to go outdoorsing in the middle of nowhere ever again. Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox are 4 suburban men looking to do a little whitewater rafting, but John Boorman’s movie quickly turns from a dream to a nightmare, as the backwoods of Georgia prove an unfriendly place toward non residents.
A crime epic unlike anything scene in American cinema previously. Francis Ford Coppola uses a wedding to introduce us to the key players, like Don Corleone (Marlon Brando), heir to the business Sonny (James Caan), and Don’s 2 other boys Fredo (John Cazale) and Michael (Al Pacino). This is really Al Pacino’s movie, as we see Michael, initially quite resistant to the family business, slowly become more and more involved, an epic arc of a good man that becomes everything he thought he wasn’t. It’s got violence, twists, amazing performances, cinematography, and themes as old as storytelling itself. It will forever be remembered on the short list of greatest films ever made.
