Critically acclaimed movies of 1970s

The Godfather(1972)

Combined Rating:
93
Combined Critics Rating: 90

The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.



Star Wars(1977)

Combined Rating:
89
Combined Critics Rating: 84

Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee, and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle-station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the evil Darth Vader.



The French Connection(1971)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 81

A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection.



Taxi Driver(1976)

Combined Rating:
87
Combined Critics Rating: 81

A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent action, while attempting to save a preadolescent prostitute in the process.



The Godfather: Part II(1974)

Combined Rating:
86
Combined Critics Rating: 80

The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York is portrayed while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.



Annie Hall(1977)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 79

Neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditzy Annie Hall.



Alien(1979)

Golden Globe 1
Combined Rating:
86
Combined Critics Rating: 79

After a space merchant vessel perceives an unknown transmission as a distress call, its landing on the source moon finds one of the crew attacked by a mysterious life-form, and they soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun.



Apocalypse Now(1979)

Combined Rating:
86
Combined Critics Rating: 79

During the Vietnam War, Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade colonel who has set himself up as a god among a local tribe.



Monty Python and the Holy Grail(1975)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 78

King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles.



Raging Bull(1980)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 78

An emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring destroys his life outside it.



Ordinary People(1980)

Combined Rating:
80
Combined Critics Rating: 78

The accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father, and the guilt-ridden younger son.



Jaws(1975)

Combined Rating:
84
Combined Critics Rating: 77

A giant great white shark arrives on the shores of a New England beach resort and wreaks havoc with bloody attacks on swimmers, until a local sheriff teams up with a marine biologist and an old seafarer to hunt the monster down.



One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest(1975)

Combined Rating:
84
Combined Critics Rating: 77

A criminal pleads insanity after getting into trouble again and once in the mental institution rebels against the oppressive nurse and rallies up the scared patients.



Network(1976)

Combined Rating:
81
Combined Critics Rating: 75

A television network cynically exploits a deranged former anchor's ravings and revelations about the news media for its own profit.



Le cercle rouge(1970)

Combined Rating:
73
Combined Critics Rating: 74

After leaving prison, master thief Corey crosses paths with a notorious escapee and an alcoholic former policeman. The trio proceed to plot an elaborate heist.



The Exorcist(1973)

Combined Rating:
82
Combined Critics Rating: 74

When a teenage girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.



Chinatown(1974)

Combined Rating:
82
Combined Critics Rating: 74

A private detective hired to expose an adulterer finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.



Close Encounters of the Third Kind(1977)

Combined Rating:
81
Combined Critics Rating: 74

Following an accidental encounter with otherworldly vessels, an ordinary man follows a series of psychic clues to the first scheduled meeting between representatives of Earth and visitors from the cosmos.



The Deer Hunter(1978)

Combined Rating:
81
Combined Critics Rating: 73

An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S. Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania.



Days of Heaven(1978)

Combined Rating:
77
Combined Critics Rating: 73

A hot-tempered farm laborer convinces the woman he loves to marry their rich but dying boss so that they can have a claim to his fortune.




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