"You talking to me?" THE 70s COUNTDOWN IS DONE!

[Plain Old Tele]

Just now, Porthos said:

The Godfather Part II and I at 6 and 5?  Behind both Jaws and Star Wars?!?

 

I would NOT have predicted that.  Not even with this board's tastes. 

We’re slumming it this time around. 

[Porthos]

Just now, Plain Old Tele said:

We’re slumming it this time around. 

I blame myself for not submitting a list. 

 

[cannastop]

#3

Alien (1979)

163 points, 25 lists, 2 #1, 5 top 5, 6 top 10

97% on Rotten Tomatoes with 117 reviews

Quote

Critics have analyzed Alien's sexual overtones. Following Barbara Creed's analysis of the Alien creature as a representation of the "monstrous-feminine as archaic mother",[100] Ximena Gallardo C. and C. Jason Smith compared the facehugger's attack on Kane to a male rape and the chestburster scene to a form of violent birth, noting that the Alien's phallic head and method of killing the crew members add to the sexual imagery.[101][102] Dan O'Bannon, who wrote the film's screenplay, has argued that the scene is a metaphor for the male fear of penetration, and that the "oral invasion" of Kane by the facehugger functions as "payback" for the many horror films in which sexually vulnerable women are attacked by male monsters.[103] McIntee claims that "Alien is a rape movie as much as Straw Dogs (1971) or I Spit on Your Grave (1978), or The Accused (1988). On one level it's about an intriguing alien threat. On one level it's about parasitism and disease. And on the level that was most important to the writers and director, it's about sex, and reproduction by non-consensual means. And it's about this happening to a man."[104] He notes how the film plays on men's fear and misunderstanding of pregnancy and childbirth, while also giving women a glimpse into these fears.[105]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(film)

[Cap]

WUUUUUUUUUT?

 

That said, it better be Star Wars.

[Porthos]

@baumer and @Porthos are now circling each other, West Side Story style right now.

Edited October 11, 2019 by Porthos

[cannastop]

#2

Jaws (1975)

169 points, 25 lists, 5 #1, 3 top 5, 4 top 10

98% on Rotten Tomatoes with 80 reviews

Quote

Benchley stated that he would not have written the original novel had he known what sharks are really like in the wild.[210] Conservation groups have bemoaned the fact that the film has made it considerably harder to convince the public that sharks should be protected.[211]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaws_(film)

[cannastop]

#1
Star Wars (1977)

179 points, 25 lists, 4 #1, 6 top 5, 6 top 10

2012 Sight & Sound: 10 Critics, 3 Directors

@Porthos

Quote

Why give a plot overview to one of the most famous movies ever made?  We all know it.

 

I could also give a "What SW meant to me as a child" entry, but I decided to do something a bit different.  And so I give you:

 

Yes, Virginia, Star Wars IS a Seventies Movie.
(or, How I learned to stop worrying and embrace Star Wars as a New Hollywood film)

 

It's often been said, to the point that it's conventional wisdom that Star Wars, along with Jaws, helped kill the New Hollywood era and usher in the blockbuster era of the Eighties.  And that's not exactly wrong.  It certainly helped show the template for the Blockbuster era that was to come.  However, I feel that Star Wars is very much a New Hollywood film, right down its storytelling DNA.

 

One thing that most folks agree about the New Hollywood movement was that it was a director led movement against the producer driven "studio system" of the olden days.  Star Wars was many things, but a producer led studio film it wasn't.  The fights George Lucas had with his bosses are legendary.  The only reason it was allowed to finish was because Lucas had a champion in Alan Ladd.  The rest of the bosses at Fox thought that this was an epic bomb in the making.  As did much of Hollywood.

 

Another hallmark is Lucas' turning to foreign cinema for inspiration.  It's not quite a remake of Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, but the parallels between the stories and the inspiration from it are crystal clear, right down to shot for shot homages.  Lucas also took inspiration from such divergent sources as Dambusters and Triumph of the Will.

 

While it is a great irony that this film did in fact help show studios that franchise films could be blockbusters, the greater irony is that the film only got made in the first place because George Lucas was denied the opportunity to make a franchise property, Flash Gordon.  In response Lucas said, more or less, "Screw you, I'll do it myself."  

 

And what could be a more New Hollywood attitude than that? 

 

No, say what you will about what it spawned, Star Wars IS a Seventies film.  It may not be as morally complex as some of its more famous New Hollywood brethren.  But watching it, it is clear just how unlike the rest of the Star Wars films it spawned it is.  Lack of screen time for the villains has been mentioned by many.  We don't even meet the main protagonist until about 20 minutes or so into the movie.  Fairly radical shifts in tone, from a Western at the beginning to a jail break/rescue caper in the middle to a WWII inspired arial battle at the end.

 

Of course, we all know what it led to.  But don't judge the actual movie by that.  The shots are reminiscent of the cinematography of John Ford.  The basic structure is a retelling of Joseph Campbell Hero's Journey.

 

I won't say it was only a film that could be made in the Seventies, as that's silly.  But watching it, it is clearly different from every Star Wars film that followed it, and being birthed and nurtured in the heyday of the New Hollywood movement is a clear reason why, IMO.

 

NB:  One last thing, while this is about Star Wars, I would also point out that The Empire Strikes Back is, if anything, even a more New Hollywood picture than Star Wars.  But that's for another post at another time.  

 

[cannastop]

And it's done and I can hibernate. Phew!

 

@Jason

You can release the rest of the data if you want.

[Porthos]

A massive congratulations to @cannastop and @Jason for what HAS to be the fastest Top 100 reveal in the history of BOT!!!!!

 

[Porthos]

I HAD NO IDEA Star Wars AND Jaws WOULD BE ONE-TWO ON THIS LIST WHEN I WROTE MY BIT.  

 

(Honestly, I was thinking 4 to 6 or so max for SW)

 

Man is it ironic to mention both of them in my opening salvo about SW being a New Hollywood film.  

Edited October 11, 2019 by Porthos

[Cap]

First off, @Porthos:

 

3 minutes ago, cannastop said:

It's often been said, to the point that it's conventional wisdom that Star Wars, along with Jaws, helped kill the New Hollywood era and usher in the blockbuster era of the Eighties.

 

Just @ me 

 

Second off,

 

 

fantastic write up.

 

Third off, 

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

is this where we talk about how Lucas is Darth Vader?

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

[Porthos]

9 minutes ago, captainwondyful said:

Second off,

 

 

fantastic write up.

 

Aw, you make me blush.  Yours was absolutely fantastic as well and I look forward to your Top 50 Musical reveal.

 

 

Quote

Third off, 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

  Hide contents

is this where we talk about how Lucas is Darth Vader?

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

  Hide contents

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

  Hide contents

 

 

 

Spoiler

Nah, Vader was intentionally trying to destroy what he once loved. 👍

 

The better analogy is Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his Creation

Spoiler

And even then the analogy only goes so far, as Dr. Frankenstein was a far less sympathetic person in the source material.

Spoiler

😘

 

 

 

Edited October 11, 2019 by Porthos

[Plain Old Tele]

5 minutes ago, captainwondyful said:

First off, @Porthos:

 

 

Just @ me 

 

Second off,

 

 

fantastic write up.

 

Third off, 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

  Hide contents

is this where we talk about how Lucas is Darth Vader?

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

  Hide contents

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

  Hide contents

 

 

 

 

 

[cannastop]

I was surprised at how close it was at the top.

[cannastop]

I was also pleased with what I said about Robin Hood. 👀

[Cap]

14 minutes ago, Porthos said:

 

Aw, you make me blush.  Yours was absolutely fantastic as well and I look forward to your Top 50 Musical reveal.

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Nah, Vader was intentionally trying to destroy what he once loved. 👍

 

The better analogy is Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his Creation

  Reveal hidden contents

And even then the analogy only goes so far, as Dr. Frankenstein was a far less sympathetic person in the source material.

  Reveal hidden contents

😘

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

But did Frankenstein run a billion-dollar empire and then sell it to the Evil Emperor?  And Anakin didn't set out to destroy what he loved!  Did you not watch ROTS?

 

[Porthos]

16 minutes ago, captainwondyful said:

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

  Hide contents

But did Frankenstein run a billion-dollar empire and then sell it to the Evil Emperor?  And Anakin didn't set out to destroy what he loved!  Did you not watch ROTS?

 

Spoiler

Ah, but Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney so other directors could tell THIER stories in the SW universe.

 

Game. Set. Match.  

 

Spoiler

If we want to continue this conversation/analogy about upstart directors vs controlling studio bosses, there's a rather obvious role for George and his hand picked successor.

 

But I think we both like the person who I am alluding to far too much to continue this.

 

So let's just call a truce here, shall we?

 

 

Edited October 11, 2019 by Porthos

[Fancyarcher]

Congrats to @Jason, and @cannastop on doing a great job of this list. The whole reveal definitely went by super-fast. 

Edited October 11, 2019 by Fancyarcher

[Porthos]

I hope neither @cannastop nor @Jason mind me stealing their thunder, but the Top 100 in list form:

 

100 - Midnight Express 
99  -  Aguirre, the Wrath of God 
97  -  Tora! Tora! Tora!
97  -  The Black Stallion
94  -  The Conformist
94  -  Manhattan
94  -  Duel
93  -  Airport (1970)
91  -  Three Days of the Condor
91  -  Assault on Precinct 13
90  -  The Wicker Man
88  -  The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
88  -  All That Jazz
87  -  Escape From Alcatraz
86  -  Dersu Uzala
85  -  Picnic at Hanging Rock
84  -  Papillon
83  -  The Day of the Jackal
82  -  Phantasm
81  -  Murder on the Orient Express
80  -  The Rescuers
79  -  The Towering Inferno
78  -  The Jerk
76  -  Star Trek: The Motion Picture
76  -  Stalker
75  -  Bedknobs and Broomsticks
74  -  High Planes Drifter
73  -  Five Easy Pieces
71  -  The Castle of Cagliostro
71  -  MASH
69  -  The Warriors
69  -  Mean Streets
68  -  The Spy Who Loved Me
67  -  The Man Who Would be King
65  -  Smokey and the Bandit
65  -  Annie Hall
64  -  Harold and Maude
63  -  Invasion of the Body Snatchers
62  -  The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
61  -  Paper Moon
60  -  The Rocky Horror Picture Show
59  -  Nashville
55  -  Watership Down
55  -  The Outlaw Josie Wales
55  -  Sorcerer
55  -  Eraserhead
54  -  Fiddler on the Roof
53  -  Rocky II
52  -  Badlands
50  -  Slap Shot
50  -  Barry Lyndon
49  -  Enter the Dragon
48  -  Kramer vs. Kramer
46  -  The Omen
46  -  Mad Max
44  -  Days of Heaven
44  -  Breaking Away
43  -  Dawn of the Dead
42  -  Deliverance
41  -  The Aristocats
40  -  Robin Hood
39  -  Saturday Night Fever
38  -  Patton
37  -  Cabaret
35  -  The Muppet Movie
35  -  Suspiria
34  -  Grease
33  -  The Conversation
32  -  Serpico
31  -  Dirty Harry
30  -  National Lampoon's Animal House
29  -  The Deer Hunter
28  -  A Clockwork Orange
27  -  American Graffiti
26  -  The French Connection
25  -  The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
24  -  Dog Day Afternoon
23  -  Monty Python's Life of Brian
22  -  Carrie
21  -  The Sting
20  -  The Exorcist
19  -  Young Frankenstein
18  -  All the Presidents Men
17  -  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
16  -  Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
15  -  Network
14  -  Chinatown
13  -  Blazing Saddles
12  -  Halloween
11  -  Superman
10  -  Taxi Driver
9   -  Monty Python and the Holy Grail
8   -  Rocky
7   -  Close Encounters of the Third Kind
6   -  The Godfather Part II
5   -  The Godfather
4   -  Apocalypse Now
3   -  Alien
2   -  Jaws
1   -  Star Wars

Edited October 11, 2019 by Porthos

[Tower]

Star Wars is massively overrated as expected, but the next 5 films are all great, so decent enough results. As for my favourite (Clockwork Orange), It did decently for a film that never makes the top 100 of all time lists, I just wish it could have passed garbage like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.