The Most Rewatchable Movie of Every Year of the 1970s

The Most Rewatchable Movie of Every Year of the 1970s Image via Paramount Pictures By  Luc Haasbroek Published 1 hour ago Luc Haasbroek is a writer and videographer from Durban, South Africa. He has been writing professionally about pop culture for eight years. Luc's areas of interest are broad: he's just as passionate about psychology and history as he is about movies and TV.  He's especially drawn to the places where these topics overlap.  Luc is also an avid producer of video essays and looks forward to expanding his writing career. When not writing, he can be found hiking, playing Dungeons & Dragons, hanging out with his cats, and doing deep dives on whatever topic happens to have captured his interest that week. Sign in to your Collider account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

In the eyes of the many, the 1970s are the greatest decade in movie history. This was the era of New Hollywood, of the modern blockbuster, a time when audiences took cinema seriously, and directors were pushing the boundaries of what was possible.

The result was an abundance of classics, the best of which invite endless rewatching. With this in mind, this list ranks the movies from that era with the most rewatch value. They span a wide range of genres and tones, from sports dramas and gross-out comedies to nostalgia trips and sci-fi horror.

1970 — ‘M*A*S*H’

"God, here’s to the surgeons. Cut well!" Before the long-running TV show, there was this firecracker of a movie directed by Robert Altman. It's an irreverent, chaotic, and deeply human anti-war comedy. Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould swagger and wisecrack their way through the Korean War with a tone so loose it borders on improvised. Yet underneath the hijinks, there's a lot of poignancy and even pain. Some scenes feel outright sadistic, even if they're played for laughs. M*A*S*H understands that comedy is sometimes the only sane response to insanity.

The humor is anarchic, the characters beautifully flawed, and the tone effortlessly swings from juvenile pranks to philosophical melancholy. In a decade that gave us many films about systems breaking people, M*A*S*H stands out by laughing in the face of the machine, refusing to grant war the solemnity it demands. Rewatching it reveals layers of satire that modern war comedies still chase but rarely catch.

1971 — ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’

Gene Wilder in his suit, hat and bowtie as Willy Wonka & the Chocolate FactoryImage via WB

"We are the music-makers… and we are the dreamers of dreams." Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is one of those movies that feels truly larger than life, more like a shared dream than a typical film. Much of its magic comes courtesy of Gene Wilder, who turns in a brilliant, enchanting performance as the titular chocolatier. He plays Wonka as both trickster and philosopher, whimsical on the surface but harboring a dark edge. The twinkle in his eye flickers between kindness and madness.

His iconic entrance (stumbling cane, then somersault) remains one of cinema’s great character reveals, telling us everything without a word. The whole movie is jam-packed with striking visuals and memorable setpieces, including the Chocolate River, the psychedelic tunnel, and the bizarrely catchy Oompa-Loompa choruses. That said, the movie's gleaming, sugary exterior conceals a sly moral fable, one that rewards adults as much as children.

1972 — ‘The Godfather’

Al Pacino as Michael Corleone sitting in a chair in The Godfather (1972)Image via Paramount Pictures

"I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse." Rewatchability usually comes from comfort, but sometimes, it comes from grandeur. The Godfather is a hypnotic epic that gets richer with every viewing, its layers unfolding like a tragic opera. Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and Diane Keaton all turn in phenomenal performances, rising to the challenge of Coppola's killer script. The movie's brilliance isn’t just in the iconic moments (the horse head, the baptism montage, the restaurant shooting) but in the quiet pauses, the glances, the unspoken dread.

Watching Michael Corleone’s slow descent never loses power. His story is archetypal yet fully human and understandable, a war hero stepping off the moral cliff in the name of love, then never looking back. Coppola's ambitions were sky-high when he made the movie, and somehow the final result still probably exceeded what he was aiming for. It practically towers over the other crime films of its day.

1973 — ‘American Graffiti’

Cars parked at a 1970s drive-in in American GraffiiImage via Universal Pictures

"Where were you in ’62?" Before taking audiences to a galaxy far, far away, George Lucas took them to the recent past, a simpler time that felt far removed from the cynicism of the early '70s. American Graffiti unfolds on a single summer night in 1962, when the future was unknown, the radio was always on, and everything felt possible. The whole thing plays like memory in motion, all optimism and hot rods and teenage longing. It's a remarkable time capsule.

The soundtrack alone is worth revisiting, a collection of '60s bangers, a jukebox heartbeat for drifting adolescence. The whole thing feels warm and fuzzy in the best way. But beneath the fun lies a bittersweet truth: innocence is temporary, and freedom only really exists before life starts making choices for you. If you’ve ever driven nowhere with people you loved simply because you could, this film is a love letter to you.

1974 — ‘Blazing Saddles’

Sheriff Bart (Cleavon Little) and Jim the Waco Kid (Gene Wilder) laugh together in Blazing Saddles.Image via Warner Bros.

"Excuse me while I whip this out." Blazing Saddles rewrote the rulebook on comedy, then set the rulebook on fire, then punched the ashes in the face. Mel Brooks delivers a Western send-up so fearless and absurd it still shocks modern audiences into laughter. Every scene bursts with quotable chaos, visual gags, and satire sharper than a spur, all of it held together by the chemistry between Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little.

The film is gleefully juvenile and razor-smart in the same breath, taking a veritable wrecking ball to racist attitudes and the fourth wall alike. Sure, not every gag has aged well, and there are some definite blind spots, but the whole remains remarkably fresh and entertaining despite being more than 50 years old. Possibly Brooks' funniest project, it ranks among the very best of the comedy Westerns ever made.

1975 — ‘Jaws’

Roy Scheider in a still from Steven Spielberg's Jaws. Image via Universal Pictures

"You’re gonna need a bigger boat." There is summer before Jaws, and summer after Jaws. Spielberg’s ocean-terror masterpiece created the modern blockbuster as we know it. Even more impressively, the movie still works every single time, maybe even better when you know the shark will barely appear. Anticipation becomes the monster, suspense becomes the hook. Nevertheless, what makes Jaws endlessly rewatchable isn't the tension but the trio aboard the Orca.

Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw feel like real people, not just plot devices to be moved about. They bicker, laugh, and reveal scars emotional and literal, forming one of cinema’s most satisfying character dynamics. We care about them, something which is often lacking from contemporary thrillers and horror movies. All in all, Jaws stands as one of the most iconic movies of its era, John Williams' two-note theme tune now practically synonymous with cinematic suspense.

1976 — ‘Rocky’

Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa and Burgess Meredith as Mickey Goldmill in 1976's Rocky.Image via MGM

"Yo, Adrian!" The countless sequels would offer diminishing returns, but the first Rocky movie hits hard. It stands apart from most sports movies because Sylvester Stallone infuses the underdog story with vulnerability instead of swagger. Rocky Balboa doesn’t want glory. He wants dignity, a chance to prove to himself that he isn’t nobody. That purity, that humble hunger, makes him compelling. It makes you root for him.

With a compelling protagonist at its core, Rocky heaps on bravura storytelling and kinetic direction. The training montages are still epic (despite the cheese), the love story is still decidedly feel-good, and the final fight still lands punch after emotional punch, even when you know Rocky doesn’t win in the traditional sense. Not for nothing, Rocky was the most successful movie of that year, dominating the box office and walking away with the Oscar for Best Picture.

1977 — ‘Star Wars’

Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) marches up a small dirt mound outside his dusty farm house on Tatooine to gaze up at the planet's two setting suns in 'Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope' (1976).Image via Lucasfilm

"May the Force be with you." Star Wars arrived like a lightning bolt in 1977, forever changing movie sci-fi. George Lucas blended samurai cinema, Flash Gordon serials, westerns, and Joseph Campbell mythos to create a world that feels ancient and futuristic at once. Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher spark with youthful force, and John Williams’ score is colorful and operatic. A New Hope was radically unlike anything audiences had seen up til that point, bursting at the seams with creativity, colorful characters, and sheer story.

Sure, Annie Hall beat it at the Oscars, but Star Wars would go on to shape pop culture for more than half a century, spawning sequels and spinoffs and animated shows and toy lines and merchandise and video games and cosplay. It all begins here, with a farm boy staring at twin suns and dreaming bigger than his horizon allowed.

1978 — ‘Animal House’

Image via Universal Pictures

"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?!" With Animal House, John Landis and co. delivered the king of college comedies. The movie’s sloppy brilliance lies in its commitment to mischief without apology. It doesn’t try to moralize, polish itself, or fit into any existing comedy lineage. Instead, it's chaotic, rowdy, and blissfully unserious, blazing its own riotous trail. John Belushi charges through scenes like a comedic hurricane, hitting us with ridiculous one-liners and gross-out gags aplenty. The coming here is simply impeccable across the board.

There's something timeless about this kind of joyful chaos. Animal House lives dorm traditions, party rituals, and generations of quotes shouted across college quads. Not to mention, the film does actually reflect some realities of its moments in time. It's an intriguing snapshot of the generation that came of age in the late '60s.

1979 — ‘Alien’

The xenomorph coming out of the smoke in Alien.Image via 20th Century Studios

"Get away from her, you bitch!" The success of Star Wars kicked off a sci-fi boom in the late '90s, with many space-age tales hitting the multiplex. The best of them by far is Alien. Ridley Scott’s haunted-spaceship chiller unfolds with agonizing tension. The eye of the storm is Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), who is still one of cinema’s greatest protagonists: tough, resourceful, unwilling to break as the universe turns predatory around her. The movie simply looks great, too, because it relied on practical effects like makeup and suits rather than CGI.

The fundamentals of its production design were thought up by mad genius H.R. Giger. His design for the xenomorph is creepy and unique, a striking mix of reptilian, insectoid, and biomechanical. The life-cycle, the chest burster, the long cranium, the acid blood, the mouth on the tongue: all of it adds up to possibly the greatest movie monster of all time, and a movie that still entertains on the second, tenth, or hundredth viewing.

Official theatrical poster for Alien (1979) Like Follow Followed Alien R Sci-Fi Horror Release Date June 22, 1979 Runtime 117 Minutes Director Ridley Scott Writers Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett

Cast

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• Tom Skerritt Dallas
• Sigourney Weaver Ripley

Genres Sci-Fi, Horror Powered by Expand Collapse

• Movie
• 1970s
• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

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