The ’70s was an amazing time to watch films, as the studio system of the ’50s and ’60s was starting to break down, and a new breed of filmmaker arrived. Thanks to the success of films like Easy Rider and Bonnie & Clyde at the end of the ’60s, names like Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese began to change how movies were made.
However, the rise of the auteur was not the only exciting thing to happen in Hollywood in the ’70s. A new beast known as the summer blockbuster arrived in the form of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, and other filmmakers introduced a grittier style of horror cinema. Here is a look at the 10 most culturally influential movies of the 1970s.
THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)
With dirty and morally questionable movies like Bonnie & Clyde taking the film world by storm, it opened the door for films like William Friedkin’s The French Connection. Gene Hackman stars as Popeye Doyle, an NYC police detective who starts to investigate the underworld.
The movie was a massive success, winning five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. More than that, it opened the door for movies like Serpico to follow. Future masterpieces like L.A. Confidential and Heat owe much of their success to following in the footsteps of The French Connection.
THE GODFATHER (1972)
Based on the novel and script treatment by author Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola directed The Godfather and released the film in 1972. The movie was not without controversy, as Coppola had to fight for both the casting of Marlon Brando as Don Vito and Al Pacino as his son. However, he got his wish, and the film was a massive success.
The movie won three Oscars, including Best Picture, and its sequel won six, including Best Picture and Best Director. The success gave directors more power, which eventually led to an implosion at the end of the decade with Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate, which was one of the biggest box office bombs of all-time.
THE EXORCIST (1973)
There had been several critically acclaimed religious-based horror movies before the ’70s, with Rosemary’s Baby as a perfect example. However, The Exorcist was on a level all to itself. Directed by William Friedkin based on the novel by William Peter Blatty, this movie defined the entire exorcism genre.
14-year-old Linda Blair starred as Regan MacNeil, a young girl possessed by a demon that spewed profanity, spit pea soup, and spun her head around in circles. It was the top-grossing R-rated horror movie for over three decades and was the first horror movie nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
JAWS (1975)
The summer blockbuster is old-hat now, with fans anxiously awaiting the summer months to see the year’s biggest blockbuster releases. Big-time superhero movies and action movies find their homes in the summer when kids are out of school, and box office records are prime for breaking.
However, it wasn’t always that way, and the film considered the first summer blockbuster came in June 1975 with Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. This is the film that taught Hollywood how to make a blockbuster in the modern era.
TAXI DRIVER (1976)
Martin Scorsese rose to power in the ’70s, following an era that released movies like Bonnie & Clyde, and he fell in love with the antihero, the charismatic villains, and the unhinged psychopaths. While he made several critically acclaimed movies about the lowlifes in society, Taxi Driver might be his most culturally influential.
Robert De Niro stars as Travis Bickle, a lonely Vietnam vet who now drives cabs in New York City. When he becomes infatuated with a woman who works for a presidential candidate as well a teenage prostitute (Jodie Foster), he starts to come unhinged and plans an assassination attempt on the political candidate.
ROCKY (1976)
Every underdog sports movie that has hit theaters over the last 40 plus years owes their existence to Rocky. While this was not the first sports movie to hit theaters, it was the one that did everything right. The common everyman fighting a super athlete? Check.
The fact that no one gave him a chance, but he won over the fans? Check. The fact that he went into the battle knowing he had little chance of winning? Check. What Rocky did best was show that he could lose and still come out as the most sympathetic and overachieving character in the movie. No one did it better.
STAR WARS (1977)
When George Lucas made Star Wars, the studio had low expectations. They saw so little in its marketing that they even signed over all the merchandise sale opportunities to Lucas, which he used to make himself a millionaire many times over. Then, he created one of the biggest franchises in history.
Star Wars is still alive and well to this day, the ninth movie in its main timeline coming out 42 years after this first. It proved that films could not only be a big box office success, but also sell toys, games, and influence theme parks. Nothing was more culturally influential in the ’70s.
ANNIE HALL (1977)
It is hard to look back on Woody Allen movies today, thanks to the personal history of the filmmaker. However, there is no denying how culturally influential his 1977 film Annie Hall was for filmmakers over the next 20 years.
Allen was the first truly great, independent-minded filmmaker, and all his movies looked like pieces from his soul. Without Woody Allen, there would be no Kevin Smith, Steven Soderbergh, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Jim Jarmusch, or Richard Linklater.
SUPERMAN (1978)
In 2019, there are multiple superhero movies released each year from Marvel, DC, and even the indies. However, in 1978, Superman was something new that fans had never seen before. The tagline claimed you would believe a man can fly, and at that time, it was something unique.
Christopher Reeve, in many people’s minds, is the perfect Superman. The story was not about a giant battle between super-powered beings, but about a hero showing the world what true good is. Superman opened the door for comic books to enter Hollywood.
HALLOWEEN (1978)
Halloween was a unique movie. It was not the first slasher, as that was Black Christmas. It was not the most successful, as that would be Friday the 13th, which came later. However, Halloween is the movie that many people consider the genesis of the slasher movie genre and one that is respected above most others of its era.
The idea of a serial killer in a mask really took off after this movie. The concept of watching unique kills being even more fun than fearing for the victims was something that started in this movie. Halloween changed everything about the horror movie genre in the ’70s.
