The Top 50 Biggest Movies of the '70s - Part 2

The Top 50 Biggest Movies of the ’70s – Part 2

(Find Part One Here)

25 – Jaws 2 (1978)

TICKETS SOLD:

43,983,921

SYNOPSIS:

Years after the shark attacks that left Amity Island reeling, Sheriff Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) finds new trouble lurking in the waters. Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) wants to rid the beach town of the stain on its reputation. But the disappearance of a pair of divers suggests that all is not right. When Sheriff Brody voices his warnings about holding a sailing competition, everyone thinks it’s post-traumatic stress. That is, until a shark fin cuts through the water.

24 – Young Frankenstein (1974)

TICKETS SOLD:

46,149,732

SYNOPSIS:

Respected medical lecturer Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) learns that he has inherited his infamous grandfather’s estate in Transylvania. Arriving at the castle, Dr. Frankenstein soon begins to recreate his grandfather’s experiments with the help of servants Igor (Marty Feldman), Inga (Teri Garr) and the fearsome Frau Blücher (Cloris Leachman). After he creates his own monster (Peter Boyle), new complications ensue with the arrival of the doctor’s fiancée, Elizabeth (Madeline Kahn).

23 – The Trial of Billy Jack (1974)

TICKETS SOLD:

47,593,582

SYNOPSIS:

A half-Indian foot-fighting Vietnam veteran (Tom Laughlin) defends his girlfriend’s (Delores Taylor) school against the Establishment.

22 – Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

TICKETS SOLD:

48,418,746

SYNOPSIS:

Oscar-winning adaptation of the Broadway musical about life among the Jewish community of a pre-revolutionary Russian village. A poor milkman, determined to find good husbands for his five daughters, consults the traditional matchmaker – and also has a word with God.

21 – M*A*S*H (1970)

TICKETS SOLD:

52,645,161

SYNOPSIS:

Irreverent black comedy following the exploits of a host of offbeat characters at a medical unit during the Korean war, including surgeons Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John McIntyre who create havoc with their martini parties and practical jokes while the war rages around them. The film spawned a successful television series and won an Oscar for best screenplay.

20 – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

TICKETS SOLD:

53,161,597

SYNOPSIS:

A petty criminal fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patients—and an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse who runs the ward.

19 – Superman (1978)

TICKETS SOLD:

54,657,857

SYNOPSIS:

Mild-mannered Clark Kent works as a reporter at the Daily Planet alongside his crush, Lois Lane. Clark must summon his superhero alter-ego when the nefarious Lex Luthor launches a plan to take over the world.

18 – The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

TICKETS SOLD:

54,882,352

SYNOPSIS:

En route from New York City to Greece on New Year’s Eve, majestic passenger ship the S.S. Poseidon is overtaken by a tidal wave. With the captain (Leslie Nielsen) dead, surviving passengers, including the passionate Rev. Scott (Gene Hackman), band together in the ship’s ballroom. The group struggles to avert fires, flooding, structural instability and mechanical malfunctions as they make their way through a maze of ladders and tunnels in their desperate attempt to escape a watery grave.

17 – Rocky (1976)

TICKETS SOLD:

55,039,975

SYNOPSIS:

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), a small-time boxer from working-class Philadelphia, is arbitrarily chosen to take on the reigning world heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), when the undefeated fighter’s scheduled opponent is injured. While training with feisty former bantamweight contender Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith), Rocky tentatively begins a relationship with Adrian (Talia Shire), the wallflower sister of his meat-packer pal Paulie (Burt Young).

16 – Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

TICKETS SOLD:

56,832,927

SYNOPSIS:

Big Enos (Pat McCormick) wants to drink Coors at a truck show, but in 1977 it was illegal to sell Coors east of the Mississippi River without a permit. Truck driver Bo “Bandit” Darville (Burt Reynolds) agrees to pick up the beer in Texas and drive it to Georgia within 28 hours. When Bo picks up hitchhiker Carrie (Sally Field), he attracts the attention of Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason). Angry that Carrie will not marry his son, Justice embarks on a high-speed chase after Bandit.

15 – Billy Jack (1971)

TICKETS SOLD:

56,832,927

SYNOPSIS:

Ex-Green Beret hapkido expert saves wild horses from being slaughtered for dog food and helps protect a desert “freedom school” for runaways.

14 – Animal House (1978)

TICKETS SOLD:

60,512,820

SYNOPSIS:

When they arrive at college, socially inept freshmen Larry (Thomas Hulce) and Kent (Stephen Furst) attempt to pledge the snooty Omega Theta Pi House, but are summarily rejected. Lowering their standards, they try at the notoriously rowdy Delta Tau Chi House, and get in. The trouble is, the college dean (John Vernon) has it in for the Deltas. He has put them on “Double Secret Probation” and secretly assigned Omega’s president (James Daughton) the task of having their charter revoked.

13 – The Towering Inferno (1974)

TICKETS SOLD:

62,032,085

SYNOPSIS:

Classic 1970s disaster movie about a fire that breaks out in a state-of-the-art San Francisco high-rise building during the opening ceremony attended by a host of A-list guests. An overworked fire chief and the building’s architect must cooperate in the struggle to save lives and subdue panic while a corrupt, cost-cutting contractor tries to evade responsibility for the disaster.

12 – Saturday Night Fever (1977)

TICKETS SOLD:

62,513,831

SYNOPSIS:

Tony Manero (John Travolta) doesn’t have much going for him during the weekdays. He still lives at home and works as a paint store clerk in his Brooklyn, N.Y., neighborhood. But he lives for the weekends, when he and his friends go to the local disco and dance the night away. When a big dance competition is announced, he wrangles the beautiful and talented Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney) to be his partner. As the two train for the big night, they start to fall for each other as well.

11 – Blazing Saddles (1974)

TICKETS SOLD:

63,903,743

SYNOPSIS:

In this satirical take on Westerns, crafty railroad worker Bart (Cleavon Little) becomes the first black sheriff of Rock Ridge, a frontier town about to be destroyed in order to make way for a new railroad. Initially, the people of Rock Ridge harbor a racial bias toward their new leader. However, they warm to him after realizing that Bart and his perpetually drunk gunfighter friend (Gene Wilder) are the only defense against a wave of thugs sent to rid the town of its population.

10 – Airport (1970)

TICKETS SOLD:

64,831,709

SYNOPSIS:

In this large-ensemble disaster movie, Mel Bakersfeld (Burt Lancaster), the general manager of a Chicago-area airport, must contend with a massive snowstorm and other issues, both work-related and personal, while the troubled D.O. Guerrero (Van Heflin) threatens to blow up an airliner. As pilot Vernon Demerest (Dean Martin) attempts to calm Guerrero down and dissuade him from setting off explosives on the plane, tensions increase in the air and on the ground, and danger is imminent.

9 – American Graffiti (1973)

TICKETS SOLD:

64,971,751

SYNOPSIS:

On the last day of summer vacation in 1962, friends Curt (Richard Dreyfuss), Steve (Ronny Howard), Terry (Charles Martin Smith) and John (Paul Le Mat) cruise the streets of small-town California while a mysterious disc jockey (Wolfman Jack) spins classic rock’n’roll tunes. It’s the last night before their grown-up lives begin, and Steve’s high-school sweetheart, a hot-to-trot blonde, a bratty adolescent and a disappearing angel in a Thunderbird provide all the excitement they can handle.

8 – Grease (1978)

TICKETS SOLD:

65,426,279

SYNOPSIS:

Experience the friendships, romances and adventures of a group of high school kids in the 1950s. Welcome to the singing and dancing world of “Grease,” the most successful movie musical of all time. A wholesome exchange student (Olivia Newton-John) and a leather-clad Danny (John Travolta) have a summer romance, but will it cross clique lines?

7 – Love Story (1970)

TICKETS SOLD:

68,643,345

SYNOPSIS:

When wealthy Harvard University law student Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O’Neal) meets Jenny Cavilleri (Ali MacGraw), a middle-class girl who is studying music at Radcliffe College, it’s love at first sight. Despite the protests of Oliver’s father (Ray Milland), the young couple marry. Oliver finds a job at a legal firm in New York City, but their happy life comes crashing down when it’s discovered that Jenny has a terminal illness. Together, they try to cope with the situation as best they can.

6 – Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

TICKETS SOLD:

74,439,462

SYNOPSIS:

Science fiction adventure about a group of people who attempt to contact alien intelligence. Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) witnesses an unidentified flying object, and even has a “sunburn” from its bright lights to prove it. Roy refuses to accept an explanation for what he saw and is prepared to give up his life to pursue the truth about UFOs.

5 – The Godfather (1972)

TICKETS SOLD:

78,646,424

SYNOPSIS:

Widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, this mob drama, based on Mario Puzo’s novel of the same name, focuses on the powerful Italian-American crime family of Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando). When the don’s youngest son, Michael (Al Pacino), reluctantly joins the Mafia, he becomes involved in the inevitable cycle of violence and betrayal. Although Michael tries to maintain a normal relationship with his wife, Kay (Diane Keaton), he is drawn deeper into the family business.

4 – The Sting (1973)

TICKETS SOLD:

90,178,715

SYNOPSIS:

Following the murder of a mutual friend, aspiring con man Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) teams up with old pro Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman) to take revenge on the ruthless crime boss responsible, Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw). Hooker and Gondorff set about implementing an elaborate scheme, one so crafty that Lonnegan won’t even know he’s been swindled. As their big con unfolds, however, things don’t go according to plan, requiring some last-minute improvisation by the undaunted duo.

3 – Star Wars (1977)

TICKETS SOLD:

104,728,943

SYNOPSIS:

Princess Leia is captured and held hostage by the evil Imperial forces in their effort to take over the galactic Empire. Venturesome Luke Skywalker and dashing captain Han Solo team together with the loveable robot duo R2-D2 and C-3PO to rescue the beautiful princess and restore peace and justice in the Empire.

2 – The Exorcist (1973)

TICKETS SOLD:

109,039,548

SYNOPSIS:

One of the most profitable horror movies ever made, this tale of an exorcism is based loosely on actual events. When young Regan (Linda Blair) starts acting odd — levitating, speaking in tongues — her worried mother (Ellen Burstyn) seeks medical help, only to hit a dead end. A local priest (Jason Miller), however, thinks the girl may be seized by the devil. The priest makes a request to perform an exorcism, and the church sends in an expert (Max von Sydow) to help with the difficult job.

1 – Jaws (1975)

TICKETS SOLD:

126,829,268

SYNOPSIS:

When a young woman is killed by a shark while skinny-dipping near the New England tourist town of Amity Island, police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) wants to close the beaches, but mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) overrules him, fearing that the loss of tourist revenue will cripple the town. Ichthyologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and grizzled ship captain Quint (Robert Shaw) offer to help Brody capture the killer beast, and the trio engage in an epic battle of man vs. nature.

50 to 26

25 to 1

Get In Touch

Main Menu

FOLLOW US