The Best Of The 70s (70s)

Member Name: wampyrii

Product:	70s
Date:	30/05/01 (520 review reads)
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Aaaahhh the 70s. Platforms, flares, curly perms and a bizarre sounding guitar which always started playing whenever the 'hip' guys were walking down the street. I was never there of course, well briefly, but its without a doubt that this era certainly brought us some of the finest movies ever produced. There is something about a movie made in the 70s which is just so much more cool than those made in any other era either since or before - and at the same time so excruciatingly kitsch. You've just gotta love 'em.

Well, maybe not, but this is my top ten, not placed in any particular order, and, no doubt, probably not limiting itself to 10 either. In fact, if I avoid drawing up a top 100 it'll be damn miracle, but here goes nothing...


1) Grease

Hehehe...yes I know what you are thinking, but Hey! Is this or is it not one of the most popular and enduring movies ever made? Sure it is...you know it makes sense.

I'm sure Grease goes without introduction, but for all those aliens, cave-dwellers, people who have spent the last 30 years studying cannibalistic tribes in some rainforest out there...this is for you...

The plot behind Grease is basically superfluous to the overall grand scheme of things. It is a musical set in Rydell High, exploring the ins and outs of young love, mainly between the two lead characters of Danny(John Travolta) and Sandy(Olivia Newton-John). They had a summer romance and she is keen to carry it on but he can't be seen to be too interested or risk losing his macho image in the eyes of his friends. Effectively there are two groups, the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies, one all male, the other al female, who play off against each other as the movie clumsily explorers teenage romance and growing up in general. OK, even I'm struggling to find something good to say about his movie, as to be honest, the acting is poor(apart from Stockard Channing as Rizzo), the plot is weak and
the songs not exactly earth-shattering - yet at the same time it has an odd magnetic appeal to it. I think I must have seen it at least 15 times, probably more and whilst I never actually go out of my way to see it, if its on television, I'll probably watch it again. It has that kind of lasting appeal...despite its general air of naffness :o)

and its not very 70s...being based in the 50s, but one that is...

2) Bullit

I just had to include one Steve McQueen movie in there somewhere, and this would be a worthy member of any list. It is also the perfect example of a 70s cop movie for a number of reasons. OK, so the plot is nothing special, basically Steve McQueen plays the title character of Bullit - a good but unorthodox cop whose task it is to protect a Mafia informant from hoodlums before the court case comes up. What is special about this movie though is the breathless chase scenes which are still yet to be bettered in any movie to have followed despite many trying to imitate. The dizzying climax features an elongated chase up and down the streets, hills and sidealleys of San Francisco, all screaming tyres, near misses and perfectly placed stacks of cardboard boxes - superb. All the chase scenes were filmed using handheld cameras, without technical trickery which lends an enormous sense of realism and urgency to the proceedings - none of this film for 5 seconds and then cut malarkey here, these are real perfectly choreographed scenes, pumped full of adrenaline and trust me, you can almost smell the burning rubber. McQueen is the typical anti-hero cop figure popularised by Bogart in previous years but widely copied during the 70s and as far as I am concerned carries the role off to perfection. In a sadly short career, this is easily his best movie in my opinion and well worth the look if you haven't seen it already.

3) Taxi Driver

The movie which announced the arrival of two of Hollywood brightest shining stars -
Martin Scorcese and Robert De Niro. Taxi Driver won the Golden Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival and received award nominations left right and centre after its release. It is a deeply disturbing character study of a Vietnam veteran who having returned from the war sees nothing but scum around him on the streets. THIS is what he fought for? He is an insomniac and spends the night driving his taxi around the filth ridden streets of New York City, most of the movie being seen through his windshield. When not driving his cab, and still unable to sleep, he spends his time in his squalid apartment or in the porno theatre to waste the hours away. Alienated from society he prophesises that one day the rain will come and cleanse the city streets of the dregs of humanity who reside there - the only glimmer of hope in De Niro's personal hell is his obsession with Betsy(Cybil Shepard) but he blows his chances with her by taking her on a date to the porno theatre - the only place he knows. So he develops a new obsession, to rescue a 12 year old prostitute(Jodie Foster) from her pimp(Harvey Keitel) and turns himself into his own metaphor...the big rain that will cleanse the streets, with bloody consequences.

The imagery in this movie is astounding. Scorcese portrays New York City by night as a literal hell on earth, smoking drains, bright flashing neon lights, noise, glare and decaying humanity everywhere. It is a deeply paranoid view of modern day life, aided and abetted by Bernard Hermann's score and dark, grainy cinematography coupled with De Niro's superb performance. We watch fascinated and terrified as he slowly becomes increasingly alienated before finally snapping in the final much maligned scene which Scorcese still claims is a cleansing ritual which exonerates De Niro's character...rather than a stomach churning bloodbath, horrifying in its technical excellence. Every character here excels him/herself. Other than De Niro, Jodie Foster is s
imply superb as a prostitute, wise well beyond her years and yet still youthfully innocent and Harvey Keitel perfectly cast(is that a compliment?) in the role of sleazy pimp Sport. Excellent, excellent movie, can't recommend it highly enough. Go beg/borrow/steal a copy right now.

4) The Deer Hunter

Yes, OK its another Robert De Niro movie and yes I am a fan, but at the same time this is certainly NOT just a vehicle for his considerable talents. The Deer Hunter is an extremely powerful movie based around the lives of three friends, Mike(Robert De Niro), Nick(Christopher Walken), and Steven(John Savage) and their experiences of Vietnam and that which it has on a small industrial community from which they came. The first section of the movie is where the movie gains its title. It introduces the characters, their lives and loved ones and draws you into their relationships. The friends go on a hunting trip up into the mountains, Steven gets married, we see wives, girlfriends, families and the camaraderie between them...and then the film cuts violently to Vietnam and the heat of the action where the three friends are held captive with others, forced to play Russian Roulette whilst the Viet Cong bet on the outcome. Mentally and physically scarred by their individual ordeals the third act, as it were, focuses upon their return to their interrupted lives back home. Steven is embittered and disabled, Nick has decided to stay in Vietnam and sends money back to Steven without explanation and Mike decides it is time to bring him home where he belongs.

The Deer Hunter never questions America's involvement in the Vietnam, and has been accused of being overtly racist towards the Vietnamese people in general, yet it remains an effective and deeply emotional study of the fortunes of three friends whose lives are torn apart by the conflict. Enormously effective and brutally memorable, it picked up a best Picture Oscar and scores of awards at the time
and has remained an enduring classic ever since. De Niro is superb although I think he is outshone by Walken who is magnificent here, with Savage also putting in an excellent performance, although he is certainly the weak link and virtually ignored in the third section. I love the sheer gut wrenching tension in this movie - you really can't beat the Russian roulette scenes for that - and the enormous emotional power generated on Mike's discovery of Nick back in Saigon and how he is making the money to send to Steven. An absolute classic.

5) Alien

The classic sci-fi shocker which really needs no introduction. Ridley Scott's classic may play more like a haunted house in outer space than its nightmarish sequel Aliens, but in terms of suspense, it is hard to beat. Yes, it certainly owes a lot to the 1950s classic The Thing(later remade by John Carpenter which is an awesome movie) but in terms of bringing the genre forward and some classic scenes(indigestion will never feel the same again) it can not be beaten. For those who somehow do not know, the story goes a little like this. The crew of the intergalactic mining vessel Nostromo are prematurely called out of hyper-sleep by a distress signal emanating from an unknown planet. Forced to respond they detour and have a look around, finding a vast alien vessel which appears to be deserted apart from a clutch of strange looking eggs, one of which promptly bursts open, its inhabitant attaching itself to the face of one of the crew and refusing to let go - they take him back to quarantine and within a few days it dies and falls off and the unfortunate crew member appears to be OK again. That is until over dinner, it turns out that he has become host to some stomach dwelling parasite which, now fully incubated decides to make and appearance in a horrific chest bursting scene which has become cinematic folk lore. It scuttles off, cute little critter - nasty looking teeth and the crew decide to hunt
it down...but its growing and furthermore, it turns out that their meeting wasn't exactly an accident either, but that the greedy money grabbing space corps for which they work hope to capture and breed the things...

Later to spawn 3 sequels, one far better in my opinion, the others good but not that good, Alien is one of the scariest movies out there. Nailbiting suspense, excellent special effects and one of the damn scariest, evil, nasty creatures ever to hit the screen make this one movie you just have to see.

6) Jaws

The movie which single-handedly marked the rebirth of the 50s monster movie and revolutionised summer blockbusters. Stephen Spielberg's big rubber shark had people afraid to go into the water for years and had them flocking to the movie theatres instead. Following on from the supremely suspenseful Duel, Jaws takes this suspense to a new level and grips you by the throat right from the outrageously horrific opening scene to the immensely claustrophobic ending. Amity Island is experiencing a number of viscous shark attacks but fearing for the tourist industry the local mayor tries to keep it quiet. Eventually the frequency of these attacks, by a 28ft great white shark calls for action and can no longer be kept quiet. In steps police chief Martin Brody(RoyScheider), marine biologist Matt Hooper(Richard Dreyfuss) and Captain Ahab...no sorry, I mean shark hunter Quint(Robert Shaw) to track down and kill the beast. Utilising the same virtually 'unseen' enemy which was so effective in the movie Duel which launched his career, Spielberg creates a nerve jangling nightmare, pitting man against shark in its natural element, effectively shattering the macho image which proliferated contemporary cinema. Jaws is a superb movie which has become and remains an integral part of popular culture, by preying on a common fear held globally - i.e. the perils which lurk below the sea.

7) Star Wars Trilogy

&qu
ot;Along time ago, in a galaxy far far away.."

Ok, so its three movies and not one, but its my list so shaddupppp! I love Star Wars, watching it so many times as a kid I must have driven my parents to distraction. Again for those who are either very young, or spent their lives in a cave, its only the biggest science fiction movie ever made, featuring some of the most spectacular visuals and true outer space adventure that others have tried to recreate and miserably failed...Battlestar Gallactica? Pah! Buck Rogers? Double Pah! and I'm surprised Lucas didn't sue for the number of his ideas 'borrowed' by that movie. I was a little kiddy when this came out and I had all the spin-off figures, spaceships etc...lol. It was just great. Oh yes..the story..ahem...

Luke(Mark Hamill) yearns for a life of adventure in the space academy, living at the moment on a dusty planet with his uncle who refuses to let him leave because he wants help with the harvest. The galaxy has come under the control of the evil Emperor, spearheaded by the fearsome Death Star, a seemingly indestructible spherical spaceship capable of destroying planets. This is controlled by Grand Moff Tarkin(Christopher Lee) and his henchman Dark Vader(David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones) and is the key to the power of the Emperor. As such, the rebel forces need its destruction if they stand any hope of returning the galaxy to fair rule. Princess Leia(Carrie Fisher) obtains the plans for the craft and hides them in a droid(R2D2), jettisoning both it and its translator(CP30) into space in an escape pod with instructions to hunt out Obi-Wan Kenobe(Alec Guiness). However, their first port of call happens to be Luke's farm and he follows to be met by Ben Kenobe - a jedi master who teaches him 'the force' and he gets all the adventure he can handle in joining the battle again the Emperor...

Yes, I know its a brief summation and there are hoards of nooks, cra
nnies and complications in this movie which could be explored but I refuse to on the basis that you should watch and see them for yourself. Far more than just a simple space movie, there are elements borrowed from all over the place - from the previous 40 years of cinema here, an observation which Lucas freely admits to - and indeed revels in. The special effects at the time were fantastic, and they still look pretty good now, although nowhere near AS good of course. An absolutely stunning movie with great visuals, fantastic characters(how many camp robots can you think of), and a terrific musical score and overall sense of adventure.

8) Picnic At Hanging Rock

I love this movie. I am still completely in the dark as to what the outcome of it is, but its gloriously atmospheric. Peter Weir was basically the only Australian director to receive any kind of critical acclaim in the 1970s producing such 'classics' as The Cars That Ate Paris and The Last Wave and then this retread of a true life mystery from the 1900s. As the title would suggest, it tells the story of 4 girls and their teacher from a boarding school in Victoria who go for a picnic at hanging rock. One of the girls goes to sleep and awakes to find that the others have disappeared, leaving behind their footwear, perhaps to climb higher up the rock. They never return and the police are called in but do not find a trace of them either. Soon an Englishman gets involved, deciding to conduct his own investigation with some extremely interesting but highly inconclusive results...

OK, its very arty and mystical, with a possibly supernatural slant, although you'll never know because it keeps everything highly underexplained which will either intrigue or infuriate. The movie is dominated by a barely controlled sexual hysteria and gets deeply overheated and generally confusing in parts but its a brilliant movie nonetheless. It shows the boarding school collapsing from the inside o
ut as the ambiguity of the disappearance gnaws away at staff and students but we asked to accept that the mystery is to be seen in terms of something beyond that which we are capable of understanding. Think that’s a cop out? Fully understand. Can deal with it? Excellent! Great movie for you here then. Enjoy!

9) A Clockwork Orange

Oh? Have I mentioned before that I like this movie? Hehehe...only about 5 times so far of dooyoo but hey what the hell. I do, and its one of the best movies of the 70s as far as I am concerned so you'll just have to humour me again here.

A Clockwork Orange is Stanley Kubrik's infamous cover of Anthony Burgess' book by the same name. Originally given a self-imposed ban by Kubrik, but now on general release following his death, it is a nightmarish vision of a crime and punishment in a future world. Its certainly not pretty by any standards. Malcolm Macdowell's character and his fellow 'droogs', delighting in a bit of the old ultraviolence in their quest for kicks, beating, raping, murdering their chosen victim for no other reason than the pursuit of fun. The movie is really in two halves. The first part devoted to showing Macdowell and his cronies at their worst, the second a damning indictment of the equally repugnant punishment inflicted upon perpetrators. Alex, is subjected to a horrific brainwashing technique to reprogram him out of commiting violent action...and then released to society.

Enormously scathing of society in general and asking more questions than the Spanish inquisition, this is a fascinating movie which is sure to provoke argument and debate after its end. It looks a little dated but the message remains the same and Mcdowell's performance is easily the best of his career. Excellent, excellent movie, well worth a couple of hours of your time - if you can stomach the violence that is.

10) The Exorcist

Yes, I know - self-indulgence. Perhaps
there are a number of movies which could have come before this on the list, especially look at it now, but I am a big fan of horror movies, so it goes in. Tough, if you don't like it basically :o)

William Blatty's movie is based along the lines of an a true story of demonic possession in 1943. It tells the story of how a child(Linda Blair) becomes progressively under the control of a demonic force and her parents struggle to stop it - with the aid of Father Merrin(Max Von Sydow). Back in 1973, no doubt the special effects would have been pretty darn scary, but today they look good, but we've seen it all before. Where this movie succeeds is in terms of just how damn disturbing it is. No, its not going to frighten the pants off you anymore, but nobody who watches with an open mind can leave without feeling more than a little perturbed by the experience. For that it is excellent, and one of the very few horror movies which actually achieves that effect. Many have tried to copy - none have succeeded to anywhere near the same extent.



And those which nearly made it...

Dirty Harry
Klute
China Town
Superman
The Godfather
Midnight Express
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Deliverance
The Stepford Wives(no I hate the movie, but I was ordered to include it...geez women!)

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