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Movies Of The 1970s - Disasters And Disco

Do you remember the way we were in the 70s? Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the movies, we have all the stars in a war for a close encounter of the weird kind.

This was a great time for good films, although much like today, there was a lot of not so hot movies that fade from our memories. There was something for everyone back then and the old classics never die.

And much like every decade, the 70s had its fair share of dogs. Some are thankfully forgotten. Others were so bad they are worth the effort. Disaster movies in particular where you were suppose to feel like you were on the edge of your seat in suspense, not on the edge of your seat laughing your arse off.

Some of the memorable disaster movies were "Earthquake" and "Towering Inferno." It was interesting to see Walter Matthau (using his real name Walter Matuschanskavasky) play the drunk who somehow was unmoved by the earthquake while everyone else was stumbling around. "Earthquake" was on the verge of offending the standards by having a married man who was having an affair almost walked away safe as his wife died. Heston wisely spoke up and insisted his character at least died with honor with his wife and was swept away. In "Towering Inferno" you could yell, "Run OJ! Run!" as he carried Bobby Brady through the burning building.

This decade has also ruined the career of a few "serious" actors who dared to meddle in the genre of spoof films. Leslie Nelson, who formerly did serious, straight characters is now known as a pretty silly actor. Even actors like Lloyd Bridges and Robert Stack would move into more comedy roles. "Airplane" was their beginning into the world of comedy movies from which they would never recover.

Athletes proved a lesson in the 70s they should have remembered before creating disasters in the 80s and 90s. They are good athletes, but not actors. Joe Namath, O.J. Simpson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were some of the big-time jocks who turned to film.

Horror movies were starting to change from the earlier versions with implied violence or fake-looking blood and gore. Although the early efforts still looked fake, it was absolutely more gory than before. This playing around to put the horror into horror movies had critics up in the air about what this type of violence will do to the children and our society. "Carrie" had the poor young girl covered in pig blood on her first date, but the blood looked more like cherry jelly slime than blood. "The Exorcist" had the poor young girl vomiting split pea soup and cheesy make up on her face resembling an oatmeal mask.

While some movies were graphic, others were preachy. They had to hammer some issue into the plot of the movie and make sure the audience was educated while entertained. It may have been annoying to watch some of these kinds of flicks, but they have changed a lot of thinking from conservative to a bit more liberal. The "Planet of the Apes" series, which started in the late 60s, was a prime example of movies that preach while entertaining you. And if you were into a Christian theme there was "Jesus Christ Superstar" which was based on the 60s play.

Woody Allen stuck out as a genius during this decade. The critics lapped up his movies as if it was the greatest statement ever made. Sorry, Woody! They all leave me cold.

And how could one forget about Disco Fever? The biggest hit of the 1970s featured John Travolta, former "Sweathog" and teen thug in "Carrie", would be best known for "Saturday Night Fever". If you couldn't get enough of him dancing, you could catch him sing and dancing in the musical turned into a movie - "Grease".

"Blacksplotation" came in the form of movies made by many African-American actors and film producers to try and create a better image of what it meant to be black, but came across mostly cheap and cheesy. "Shaft" was on the high class end while "Car Wash" came scraping at the bottom in stereotypes.

And for those into sci-fi and suspense, the 70s introduced far better special effects to bring unforgettable classics such as "Star Wars," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," and "Jaws."

Being a child of the 70s, I was quite fond of the classics aimed at the young ones. "The Apple Dumpling Gang", "Charlotte's Web," "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and "The Shaggy D.A." are still timeless classics.

Here is a list of movies you may have seen during the 1970s:

  • Airport (1970)
  • Alien (1979)
  • All the President's Men (1976)
  • American Graffiti (1973)
  • Annie Hall (1977)
  • The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975)
  • The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979)
  • Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
  • Being There (1979)
  • Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
  • Benji (1974)
  • Black Beauty (1971)
  • Caberet
  • Car Wash (1976)
  • The Cat From Outer Space (1978)
  • Catch-22 (1970)
  • Charlotte's Web (1973)
  • The China Syndrome (1979)
  • Chinatown (1974)
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
  • The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1970)
  • Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
  • Dirty Harry (1971)
  • Duel (1971)
  • Earthquake
  • The Eiger Sanction (1975)
  • Escape To Witch Mountain (1975)
  • Fiddler On the Roof (1971)
  • For the Love of Benji (1977)
  • Freaky Friday (1977)
  • The French Connection (1971)
  • The Godfather (1972)
  • Going In Style (1979)
  • The Goodbye Girl (1977)
  • Grand Theft Auto (1977)
  • Grease (1978)
  • Halloween (1978)
  • Harold and Maude (1971)
  • Heaven Can Wait (1978)
  • Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo (1977)
  • Herbie Rides Again (1974)
  • High Anxiety (1977)
  • Jaws (1975)
  • The Jerk (1979)
  • Live and Let Die (1973)
  • The Lord of the Rings (1978)
  • Love At First Bite (1979)
  • Mad Max (1979)
  • Main Event (1979)
  • Mame (1974)
  • The Man With the Golden Gun (1974)
  • M*A*S*H (1970)
  • Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974)
  • Moonraker (1979)
  • The Muppet Movie (1979)
  • National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)
  • Network (1976)
  • Norma Rae (1979)
  • The Omega Man (1971)
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
  • Paper Moon (1973)
  • Papillon (1973)
  • Pete's Dragon (1977)
  • The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
  • The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  • Return From Witch Mountain (1978)
  • The Return of the Pink Panther (1974)
  • Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978)
  • Rocky (1976)
  • Rocky II (1979)
  • Rooster Cogburn (1975)
  • 1776 (1972)
  • The Shaggy D.A. (1976)
  • Silent Movie (1976)
  • Silver Streak (1976)
  • Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
  • The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
  • Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
  • Star Wars (1977)
  • The Sting (1973)
  • The Sunshine Boys (1975)
  • Superman (1978)
  • Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971)
  • Taxi Driver (1976)
  • That's Entertainment! (1974)
  • That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)
  • The Towering Inferno (1974)
  • What's Up, Doc? (1972)
  • Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
  • Young Frankenstein (1974)

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