The 1970s were full of features that established franchises still talked about and produced today. In that same decade, the best films broke Oscar records, set a high bar for genre movies, and brought a little comedic and not-so-comedic madness to the big screen. Some of the most highly revered movies still honored today that appear on IMDb's Top 250 came from the '70s.
From iconic, quotable lines to putting directors and stars alike on the map, there's no denying this top ten's impact on cinema. And even for audiences who may not have seen the full list, there's no doubt they've heard of the titles. Today, these legends are used to teach the next generation of filmmakers and cinephiles the craft and invoke a new appreciation for movies.
10 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' (1975)
IMDb Rating: #148 — 8.1/10
Decades later, Monty Python and the Holy Grail continue to keep audiences smiling with their comedic ridiculousness. In this Middle Ages tale, King Arthur and his knights set out to find the Holy Grail, only to be faced with a wave of outright bizarre and outlandish obstacles. Writers and directors Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones round out the already legendary cast of comedy stars like John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, and Eric Idle.
This feature is the second in the Monty Python franchise — the movies inspired by a British sketch comedy show that aired on BBC in 1969 starring the acting troupe. Despite a wave of excellent comedic writing and movies in the 21st century, Monty Python and the Holy Grail manages to retain a spot on the IMDb Top 250.
9 'Taxi Driver' (1976)
IMDb Rating: #117 — 8.2
A dark, but epic installment in the careers of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, Taxi Driver remains just as compelling over four decades later. Travis Bickle (De Niro) takes a job as a late-night cab driver in New York City, where he slowly begins to detach from reality as he fantasizes about saving the city until a 12-year-old prostitute named Iris (Jodie Foster) gets into his cab, and he pivots efforts to saving her.
Thanks to a compelling performance from De Niro, audiences received one of the most quoted lines in movie history—"You talkin' to me?" A sign of brilliant filmmaking, Scorsese places audiences in a difficult position whether they like Travis, hate him or relate to the polarizing character in his quest to clean up NYC.
8 'The Sting' (1973)
IMDb Rating: #112 — 8.2
One of the original "the art of the con" movies, The Sting, featured solid performances from its leading men that still inspire movies today. Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) is an aspiring con man who is out for revenge against Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw), a ruthless crime boss who murders his friend. Hooker seeks out and teams up with experienced swindler Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman) to plot a scheme so elaborate that Lonnegan never suspects—of course, things don't go as planned.
The Sting took home its Best Picture Oscar among six other wins, ten total nominations. This dramedy is the ultimate movie for movie lovers of all types. It created the foundations for today's swindling, scheming, con-artist genre movies, never sacrificing any part of the process to get there.
7 'A Clockwork Orange' (1971)
IMDb Rating: #104 — 8.2/10
Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange is a true dystopian nightmare. Set in a futuristic version of England, Alex (Malcolm McDowell) — a sadistic gang leader — bargains for his freedom from jail by participating in behavior modification experiments that condition him to hate violence. As he returns to society, those who he victimized quickly take advantage of his new defenselessness.
This critically acclaimed movie is unsettling and uncomfortable. Like many of the cinema's greatest, A Clockwork Orange presents audiences with a moral dilemma on whether to identify with the "hero" or to believe in the work of "what goes around comes around." Despite its four Oscar nominations, the sci-fi drama did not take home a golden statue that year.
6 'Apocalypse Now' (1979)
IMDb Rating: #53 — 8.4/10
Francis Ford Coppola takes audiences into the dark depths of war and madness with Apocalypse Now. Deep in the trenches of the Vietnam War, Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is tasked with trekking upriver to assassinate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a promising officer who reportedly went mad. As Willard's journey drags on, he begins his own descent into darkness.
In a decade where movies were heavily centered on the Vietnam experience, original, purposeful storytelling was crucial, and Ford Coppola delivered. Sheen and Brando's performances are supported by some equally heavy hitters like Harrison Ford, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, and Laurence Fishburne. This war film won Best Cinematography and Best Sound from its eight Oscar nominations.
5 'Alien' (1979)
IMDb Rating: #51 — 8.4/10
Audiences can thank this film for one of the most gut-wrenching horror sequences in genre history (you know the one). After receiving an unknown distress call, the crew of a commercial starship wakes from their cryo-sleep to investigate and are soon terrorized by an alien organism that attached itself to a crew member. This sci-fi horror put director Ridley Scott on the map and gave movie lovers one of the best final girls with Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver).
Even though it only scored two technical award nominations from the Academy, Alien is still one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever. Audiences were on the edges of their seats from the premise to the scares. This 70s classic also jump-started an entire franchise, leading to the cinematic installation of the Predatormovie series.
4 'Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope' (1977)
IMDb Rating: #28 — 8.5/10
The episode that started it all is deservedly in the top ten for its release decade. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope transported audiences to a galaxy far, far away where a group of rebels, including a pilot, a princess, and an orphan, join forces to fight for the rebellion and save the galaxy from the Empire's regime.
Taking home six of its eleven Oscar nominations, George Lucas, the iconic cast, and the technical crew forever impacted cinema and what it means to love a franchise. If you haven't seen Star Wars, you've heard of it. Decades and generations later, the stories from the galaxy continue to reach new viewers and new heights.
3 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975)
IMDb Rating: #18 — 8.6/10
This acclaimed adaptation brought viewers some of the best adversarial characters of all time to the silver screen. Jack Nicholson stars as the recently admitted patient R.P. McMurphy, who rallies a mental institution's more timid, introverted patients against Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), who rules the ward with an iron fist.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is based on the 1962 novel by Ken Kesey. Nicholson's performance was an excellent preview of what viewers could expect from him as a leading man in the psychological drama — The Shining coming later in 1980. A nine-time Oscar-nominated film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was the first film in 41 years to sweep the "Big Five" (Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Director).
2 'The Godfather Part II' (1974)
IMDb Rating: #4 — 9.0/10
A spectacular follow-up to the number-one movie of the 1970s, The Godfather Part II, is just as brutal. As their stories are told side-by-side, audiences are introduced to the early life of Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) as he rises to power, while in the present day, his son Michael (Al Pacino) controls the empire Vito built.
Director Francis Ford Coppola and co-writer Mario Puzo produced the first-ever sequel to win Best Picture, taking home six of its eleven nominations. Pacino carried the franchise to success with his chilling return to Michael Corleone alongside De Niro's entrance into the picture. A must-see, The Godfather is in the top five of the decade and IMDb's 250 top five.
1 'The Godfather' (1972)
IMDb Rating: #2 — 9.2/10
The definition of iconic and a "how-to" in mafia storytelling, The Godfather continues its reign as the best of the '70s and number two of all time on the Top 250. When his youngest son Michael (Al Pacino), returns, the head of a well-respected mafia family, Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), decides to take a step back, but the status quo takes a dangerous turn, and the Corleone empire quickly becomes threatened.
From the opening sequence to the final frames, The Godfather stunned audiences into a stupor with its brilliant writing, editing, cinematography, and more. Taking home the Best Picture Oscar, this movie set the bar and redefined the foundation for the mafia genre.
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10 Best 1970s Movies, Ranked According to IMDb - Collider
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