Best Films Of 1979
by TheAnimalMother | created - 12 Apr 2014 | updated - 14 Mar 2023 | PublicEvery list of this nature is obviously a continuous work in progress...
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1. Apocalypse Now (1979)
R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, War
A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 707,460 | Gross: $83.47M
"Everyone gets what they want. I wanted a mission. And for my sins, they gave me one."
"We train young men to drop fire on people, but their commanders won't allow them to write "f*ck" on their airplanes because it's obscene!"
"It's a way we had over here for living with ourselves. We cut 'em in half with a machine gun and give 'em a Band-Aid. It was a lie. And the more I saw them, the more I hated lies."
"The bullsh*t piled up so fast in Vietnam, you needed wings to stay above it."
"In this war, things get confused out there, power, ideals, the old morality, practical military necessity. But out there with these natives, it must be a temptation to be god. Because there's a conflict in every human heart, between the rational and the irrational, between good and evil. And good does not always triumph. Sometimes, the dark side overcomes what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature. Every man has got a breaking point."
What can even be said about this grand surreal war epic? I'll let it's own words speak for itself. To me it's definitely the best film of 1979 and also probably my 2nd favorite war film of all.
9.5/10
2. Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
PG | 112 min | Action, Biography, Crime
Alcatraz is the most secure prison of its time. It is believed that no one can ever escape from it, until three daring men make a possibly successful attempt at escaping from one of the most infamous prisons in the world.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Roberts Blossom, Jack Thibeau
Votes: 146,954 | Gross: $43.00M
Apparently Tarantino and I are at least slightly bigger on this film than most people. I am a pretty big fan of it for sure. 8/10
3. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
PG | 105 min | Drama
After his wife leaves him, a work-obsessed Manhattan advertising executive is forced to learn long-neglected parenting skills, but a heated custody battle over the couple's young son deepens the wounds left by the separation.
Director: Robert Benton | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry
Votes: 154,236 | Gross: $106.26M
This Best Picture winner is a very good, well acted, relevant and thought provoking film. Nonetheless it was just another year of the American Academy showing off a great deal of incompetence. How in the hell does Apocalypse not win? 8/10
4. Fascination (1979)
Not Rated | 80 min | Horror
A runaway criminal breaks into an eerie chateau, taking its two frightened chambermaids hostage. As night falls, a group of mysterious aristocratic women arrive and the criminal begins to realize the women are hiding a sinister secret.
Director: Jean Rollin | Stars: Franca Maï, Brigitte Lahaie, Jean-Marie Lemaire, Fanny Magier
Votes: 3,533
In an odd way, one of my favorite horror films.
5. Mad Max (1979)
R | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In a self-destructing world, a vengeful Australian policeman sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley
Votes: 221,213 | Gross: $8.75M
I was Mad Max and Road Warrior crazy as a young kid. My Father was a Carpenter/house builder and I use to help clean up his job sites and sweep and other kid type work. I would often walk around the job sites and build myself Road Warrior type costumes with all the scraps, complete with metal pieces, rubber knee pads made from roofing shingles and torn rags etc, and wrap them all around me and pretend I was Mad Max. Hammers make pretty good guns when held right. Ahh being a kid when play, friends and your parents were all that really mattered much at all. 8/10
6. The Wanderers (1979)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
The Wanderers is a teenage, Italian gang in Bronx, NYC, 1963. They have their confrontations with other gangs. Drugs and weapons are uncool. Adult life awaits them.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Ken Wahl, Karen Allen, John Friedrich, Toni Kalem
Votes: 12,315 | Gross: $0.01M
I guess you could say that this is sort of a guilty pleasure of my youth. I think I first saw it when I was around 7 or 8.
8/10
7. Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979)
Not Rated | 78 min | Documentary, Comedy
Richard Pryor's classic 1979 concert film has him discussing a wide range of topics, including race, the police and his favorite target -- himself.
Director: Jeff Margolis | Stars: Richard Pryor, Patti LaBelle, Huey P. Newton, Jennifer Lee Pryor
Votes: 5,792 | Gross: $30.00M
People ought to know by now, I love me some Pryor. 8/10
8. Alien (1979)
R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 946,216 | Gross: $78.90M
I think the shock value of the film actually helped this to create much of its legend. It's definitely a very good film for the time, but at the same time I often feel this film gets a little too much credit for what it actually is. Even parasites bursting out of people was first seen in Cronenberg's Shivers, and then replicated here with more emphasis upon this horrific aspect. The main thing there is, few people saw Shivers except for big horror fans, as it was just a small Canadian directed horror picture. Anyway, Weaver is amazing in many films and this was really her big break. Personally I enjoyed the sequel even a little more than the original I think, which is certainly a rarity. But I could also say that about the Mad Max series. To me, the 2nd film in that series is actually the best by a fairly big margin, though I do really enjoy the original Mad Max as well. 8/10
9. Manhattan (1979)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Michael Murphy
Votes: 146,861 | Gross: $45.70M
Some people seem to like this Allen film as much as Annie Hall. Don't count me as one of them. This is a really good film, sure, but it doesn't capture quite the same down to earth magic that Annie Hall does. Personally I think Hannah And Her Sisters is actually an Allen film that comes closer to Annie Hall in many ways. 7.5/10
10. The China Syndrome (1979)
PG | 122 min | Drama, Thriller
A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant.
Director: James Bridges | Stars: Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas, Scott Brady
Votes: 32,911 | Gross: $51.72M
7.5/10
11. The Warriors (1979)
R | 93 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A street gang known as The Warriors must fight their way from the Bronx to their home turf on Coney Island when they are falsely accused of assassinating a respected gang leader.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Michael Beck, James Remar, Dorsey Wright, Brian Tyler
Votes: 110,242 | Gross: $22.49M
These are the armies of the night!
I must have watched this film 30 or more times as a kid. I still know it backwards and forwards.
The film is loosely based on Anabasis, a story by an ancient Greek soldier/writer named Xenophon. The 7 books of Anabasis are actually believed to be a collection of true Greek adventure stories and it's also considered to be of great quality. In Anabasis a large army of Greek mercenaries are hired by Cyrus the Younger to aid in his attempt to capture the Persian throne. After Cyrus' attempt to seize the throne fails, at some point this large army of mercenaries found themselves isolated behind Persian enemy lines and surrounded on all sides. After many are killed, Xenophon himself elected as one of the armies 3 leaders, helped inspire the men to find courage and march together across hostile and unforgiving territory toward the Black Sea, and the more friendly cities of the Greek shoreline.
"Be lookin' good Warriors. All the way back to Coney."
The vast majority of this film is a group of Warriors gang members having to fight their way home toward the sea, after Cyrus is shot during his attempt to become the king of gang leaders. Can you dig it?
7.5/10
12. Life of Brian (1979)
R | 94 min | Comedy
Born on the original Christmas in the stable next door to Jesus Christ, Brian of Nazareth spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.
Director: Terry Jones | Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam
Votes: 421,015 | Gross: $20.05M
7.5/10
13. Breaking Away (1979)
PG | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
A working-class Indiana teen obsessed with the Italian cycling team vies for the affections of a college girl while searching for life goals with his friends.
Director: Peter Yates | Stars: Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Jackie Earle Haley
Votes: 25,372 | Gross: $16.42M
7.5/10
14. Rocky II (1979)
PG | 119 min | Drama, Sport
Rocky struggles in family life after his bout with Apollo Creed, while the embarrassed champ insistently goads him to accept a challenge for a rematch.
Director: Sylvester Stallone | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers
Votes: 230,521
Definitely a surprisingly good sequel. 7.5/10
15. Over the Edge (1979)
PG | 95 min | Crime, Drama
A group of bored teenagers rebel against authority in the community of New Granada after the death of one of their own.
Director: Jonathan Kaplan | Stars: Matt Dillon, Michael Eric Kramer, Pamela Ludwig, Vincent Spano
Votes: 8,081
7.5/10
16. Hardcore (1979)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama
A religious businessman from Michigan has to venture into the world of pornography in California, desperately searching for his runaway teenage daughter.
Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: George C. Scott, Peter Boyle, Season Hubley, Dick Sargent
Votes: 13,586
A little slow paced at times for sure, but overall it is a very good film and even the slow pace sort of seems to fit. I'm a big Paul Schrader fan. This isn't nearly my favorite project from him, but it definitely is another high quality Schrader film nonetheless. 7.5/10
17. The Onion Field (1979)
R | 126 min | Crime, Drama
An LA police officer is murdered in the onion fields outside of Bakersfield. However, legal loopholes could keep his kidnappers from receiving justice, and his partner is haunted by overwhelming survivor's guilt.
Director: Harold Becker | Stars: John Savage, James Woods, Franklyn Seales, Ted Danson
Votes: 5,743 | Gross: $9.89M
7/10
18. When a Stranger Calls (1979)
R | 97 min | Mystery, Thriller
A psychopathic killer terrorizes a babysitter, then returns seven years later to menace her again.
Director: Fred Walton | Stars: Carol Kane, Charles Durning, Rutanya Alda, Carmen Argenziano
Votes: 14,247 | Gross: $21.41M
Underrated generally it seems to me. There are definitely a lot of good things about this film.
If you like to watch horror films to challenge your comfort zone and get some real chills running down your spine. When A Stranger Calls is a pretty good bet to do the job. This film builds its tension quite well, partly by using well chosen and well placed music to increase the creepiness. Rather than resorting to needlessly overdone gore; This film relies mostly on the old tried and tested power of suggestion to mount most of its suspense and scare factor. A much more effective method in my view, and there is strong evidence of this here.
Make no mistake, this film is no masterpiece. It has it's flaws. I found a couple of parts pretty unconvincing. However that really doesn't take away from the films eerie feel and overall horror enjoyment. The film is pretty well paced, and kept leaving me wanting to see what was going to happen next; Where as many other horror films leave me not even caring what happens next. The acting here is pretty solid all the way around, and the direction is decent.
Usually I would rate a decent film like this, with a couple of somewhat unconvincing parts a 6 out of 10. However this film is definitely very effective in what it sets out to do. Which is of course to give the viewer some real creepy thrills. So I find it hard to give this any less than a 7. I got from it exactly what I had hoped. It could have been a little better in some areas, but all in all it's a pretty solid film. So as far as horror films go, this is in the upper echelon in my view.
Note: I only decided to watch this film based on an interview I once saw with actress Jennifer Connelly on The Late Show with David Letterman. She said that to prepare for her film Dark Water, she had watched a few horror films just to get some ideas and a feel for them kind of thing. She went on to say that this film scared the crap out of her. So being the film nut I am, I figured it was worth a look. And it was, so I owe thanks to her for tempting me to watch it.
7/10
19. Quadrophenia (1979)
R | 120 min | Drama, Music
Jimmy Cooper loathes his dead-end job and his working-class parents. He seeks solace with his mod clique, scooter riding, and drugs, only to be disappointed.
Director: Franc Roddam | Stars: Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Phil Davis, Mark Wingett
Votes: 20,790
I use to play the f**k out of the drums so of course Keith Moon to me is a god of sorts, and The Who are great. I think I've seen this little British film a few times over the years and it's actually quite good. 7/10
20. Salem's Lot (1979)
PG | 200 min | Horror
A novelist and a young horror fan attempt to save a small New England town which has been invaded by vampires.
Stars: David Soul, James Mason, Lance Kerwin, Bonnie Bedelia
Votes: 27,364
Mr. King would probably like the fact that this film is ranked on my list right near a film with his beloved Ramones. 7/10
21. Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979)
PG | 93 min | Comedy, Music
Ramones fanatic and delinquent Riff Randell battles it out with the strict new principal of Vince Lombardi High School, Miss Togar, with help from the Ramones.
Directors: Allan Arkush, Joe Dante | Stars: P.J. Soles, Vincent Van Patten, Clint Howard, Dey Young
Votes: 11,159
7/10
22. I Am Maria (1979)
94 min | Drama
11-year-old Maria is forced to stay with her relatives in a small town. She becomes friends with a quirky, drunken painter.
Director: Karsten Wedel | Stars: Lise-Lotte Hjelm, Peter Lindgren, Helena Brodin, Frej Lindqvist
Votes: 116
23. Phantasm (1979)
R | 89 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber, known only as the Tall Man, who employs a lethal arsenal of unearthly weapons.
Director: Don Coscarelli | Stars: A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Reggie Bannister, Kathy Lester
Votes: 41,109 | Gross: $11.99M
24. The Jerk (1979)
R | 94 min | Comedy
A simpleminded, sheltered country boy suddenly decides to leave his family home to experience life in the big city, where his naivete is both his best friend and his worst enemy.
Director: Carl Reiner | Stars: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Catlin Adams, Mabel King
Votes: 63,928 | Gross: $73.69M
25. Dracula (1979)
R | 109 min | Drama, Horror, Romance
In 1913, the charming, seductive and sinister vampire Count Dracula travels to England in search of an immortal bride.
Director: John Badham | Stars: Frank Langella, Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasence, Kate Nelligan
Votes: 11,062 | Gross: $20.16M
26. Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979)
X | 93 min | Comedy
Believe it or not, even Smalltown USA still has people who are unfulfilled and unrelieved in the midst of plenty. Levonna and Lamar could have the perfect relationship, were it not for Lamar's obsession with rear entry.
Director: Russ Meyer | Stars: Kitten Natividad, Ann Marie, Ken Kerr, June Mack
Votes: 3,327
Probably not as great as Ebert wanted us to think it was. 6.5/10
27. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
G | 143 min | Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi
When an alien spacecraft of enormous power is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk resumes command of the overhauled USS Enterprise in order to intercept it.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan
Votes: 96,320 | Gross: $82.26M
28. The Woman with Red Hair (1979)
73 min | Comedy, Drama
At his working place, Kozo and his colleague gangrape the boss' teenage daughter. Then, on the highway, he picks up a red-haired woman walking on the road back to his home. She ends up ... See full summary »
Director: Tatsumi Kumashiro | Stars: Junko Miyashita, Renji Ishibashi, Ako, Moeko Ezawa
Votes: 308
6/10
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