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The Best Movies of 1970

Updated May 29, 2020 6.2k votes 388 voters 17.4k views 132 items

List of the best movies of 1970, with movie trailers when available. Some of the biggest actors of all time, including Sylvester Stallone, Robert Downey Jr., Danny DeVito and Tommy Lee Jones had their first big screen roles in 1970. These top movies of 1970 are listed by popularity, so the movies with the most votes are at the top. This list consists of all different movie genres, but each film was released in 1970.

You can filter this list of films that came out in 1970 for various bits of information, such as who directed the movie and what genre it is. Think the best 1970 movie isn't as high as it should be? Vote up your favorite so it will rise to the top. List movies include Patton, MASH and many more.

This list answers the questions, "What are the best movies from 1970?" and "What are the most popular movies of 1970?"

1970 was a great year for movies, since a lot of classic films were released in 1970. This is a crowd sourced list that has been voted on by many people, so these top films of 1970 aren't just one persons opinion.

Data-driven recommendations based on voting from over 40 million monthly visits to Ranker. Try the free app

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Patton George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Paul Frees

Released: 1970

Directed by: Franklin J. Schaffner

Patton is a 1970 American epic biographical film about U.S. General George S. Patton during WWII. It stars George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates and Karl Michael Vogler. It was directed by ...more

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Airport Jacqueline Bissett, Dean Martin, Burt Lancaster

Released: 1970

Directed by: Henry Hathaway, George Seaton

Airport is a 1970 American drama film starring Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin, directed and written by George Seaton, and based on Arthur Hailey's 1968 novel of the same name. It originated the ...more

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#86 of 591 The Best '70s Movies #27 of 568 The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Timelisted on Every Oscar Winning Film Ever

Two Mules for Sister Sara Clint Eastwood, Shirley MacLaine, Armando Silvestre

Released: 1970

Directed by: Don Siegel

Two Mules for Sister Sara is an American-Mexican western film starring Shirley MacLaine set during the French intervention in Mexico. The film was released in 1970 and directed by Don Siegel. It ...more

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#51 of 395 The Best Western Movies Ever Made #1,078 of 1,699 The Most Rewatchable Movies #365 of 581 The Greatest Film Scores of All Time

Little Big Man Carole Androsky, Robert Little Star, Dustin Hoffman

Released: 1970

Directed by: Arthur Penn

Little Big Man (Lakota: Wičháša Tȟáŋkala), or Charging Bear, was an Oglala Lakota, or Oglala Sioux, who was a fearless and respected warrior who fought under, and was rivals with, ...more

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#70 of 395 The Best Western Movies Ever Made #200 of 375 The 50+ Best War Movies Ever Made, Ranked #231 of 710 The Best Movies Roger Ebert Gave Four Stars

Kelly's Heroes Clint Eastwood, Donald Sutherland, Don Rickles

Released: 1970

Directed by: Brian G. Hutton

Kelly's Heroes is a 1970 comedy film directed by Brian G. Hutton, about a group of WWII soldiers who go AWOL to rob a bank behind enemy lines. The film stars Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don ...more

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Beneath the Planet of the Apes Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Linda Harrison

Released: 1970

Directed by: Ted Post

Beneath the Planet of the Apes is a 1970 American science fiction film directed by Ted Post and written by Paul Dehn. It is the second of five films in the original Planet of the Apes series ...more

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#771 of 1,699 The Most Rewatchable Movies #117 of 181 The Best Movie Sequels Ever Made #118 of 161 The Best Dystopian And Near Future Movies

The Aristocats Eva Gabor, Ruth Buzzi, Scatman Crothers

Released: 1970

Directed by: Wolfgang Reitherman

The Aristocats is a 1970 American animated feature film produced and released by Walt Disney Productions and features the voices of Eva Gabor, Hermione Baddeley, Phil Harris, Dean Clark, ...more

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#18 of 601 The Best Animated Films Ever #882 of 1,699 The Most Rewatchable Movies #110 of 591 The Best '70s Movies

MASH Robert Duvall, Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould

Released: 1970

Directed by: Robert Altman

MASH is a 1970 American satirical black comedy film directed by Robert Altman and written by Ring Lardner, Jr., based on Richard Hooker's novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors. The ...more

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Tora! Tora! Tora! Jason Robards Jr., Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotten

Released: 1970

Directed by: Richard Fleischer, Toshio Masuda, Kinji Fukasaku

Tora! Tora! Tora! is a 1970 AmericanJapanese film directed by Richard Fleischer and stars an ensemble cast, including Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotten, Sō Yamamura, E. G. Marshall, James Whitmore ...more

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#19 of 375 The 50+ Best War Movies Ever Made, Ranked #599 of 1,699 The Most Rewatchable Movieslisted on Every Oscar Winning Film Ever

Chisum John Wayne, Ben Johnson, Forrest Tucker

Released: 1970

Directed by: Andrew V. McLaglen

Chisum is a 1970 Warner Bros. Technicolor Western film starring John Wayne. The large cast also includes Forrest Tucker, Christopher George, Ben Johnson, Glenn Corbett, Geoffrey Deuel, Andrew ...more

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#45 of 395 The Best Western Movies Ever Made #974 of 1,699 The Most Rewatchable Movies #229 of 548 The Greatest Movies for Guys

Five Easy Pieces Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Sally Struthers

Released: 1970

Directed by: Bob Rafelson

Five Easy Pieces is a 1970 American drama film written by Carole Eastman and Bob Rafelson, and directed by Rafelson. The film stars Jack Nicholson, with Karen Black, Susan Anspach, Ralph Waite, ...more

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#89 of 591 The Best '70s Movies #274 of 710 The Best Movies Roger Ebert Gave Four Stars #42 of 46 Famous Movie Monologues

Rio Lobo John Wayne, Jennifer O'Neill, Jack Elam

Released: 1970

Directed by: Howard Hawks

Rio Lobo is a 1970 American Western film starring John Wayne. The film was the last film directed by Howard Hawks, from a script by Leigh Brackett. The film was shot in Technicolor with a ...more

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#47 of 395 The Best Western Movies Ever Made #14 of 47 The Best US Civil War Movies Ever Made #21 of 45 The Best Western Movies of the '70s

The Conformist Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Dominique Sanda

Released: 1970

Directed by: Bernardo Bertolucci

The Conformist is a 1970 political drama directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. The screenplay was written by Bertolucci based on the 1951 novel The Conformist by Alberto Moravia. The film features ...more

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#128 of 591 The Best '70s Movies #46 of 333 The Greatest Movies in World Cinema History #302 of 323 The Best Political Films Ever Made

The Out-of-Towners Jack Lemmon, Billy Dee Williams, Anne Meara

Released: 1970

Directed by: Arthur Hiller

The Out-of-Towners is a 1970 comedy film written by Neil Simon, directed by Arthur Hiller, and starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis. It was released by Paramount Pictures on May 28, 1970. Much ...more

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#1,392 of 1,699 The Most Rewatchable Movies #136 of 591 The Best '70s Movies #400 of 1,027 The All-Time Greatest Comedy Films

A Man Called Horse Richard Harris, Judith Anderson, James Gammon

Released: 1970

Directed by: Elliot Silverstein

A Man Called Horse is a 1970 American Western film starring Richard Harris and directed by Elliot Silverstein. Based on a short story by Dorothy M. Johnson, "A Man Called Horse", ...more

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#81 of 395 The Best Western Movies Ever Made #14 of 45 The Best Western Movies of the '70s #16 of 157 The Best Western Movies on Amazon Prime

Woodstock Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Pete Townshend

Released: 1970

Directed by: Michael Wadleigh

Woodstock is a 1970 American documentary of the watershed counterculture Woodstock Festival that took place in August 1969 at Bethel in New York. Entertainment Weekly called this film the ...more

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Ryan's Daughter Robert Mitchum, John Mills, Trevor Howard

Released: 1970

Directed by: David Lean

Ryan's Daughter is a 1970 epic romantic drama film directed by David Lean. The film, set in 1916, tells the story of a married Irish woman who has an affair with a British officer during WWI, ...more

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Scrooge Alec Guinness, Albert Finney, Kenneth More

Released: 1970

Directed by: Ronald Neame

Scrooge is a 1970 musical film adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic 1843 story, A Christmas Carol. It was filmed in London between January and May 1970 and directed by Ronald Neame, and ...more

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#259 of 377 The Best Musical Movies of All Time #55 of 109 The Best Christmas Movies of All Time #81 of 177 The Best Family Drama Movies of All Time

Scars of Dracula Christopher Lee, Patrick Troughton, Wendy Hamilton

Released: 1970

Directed by: Roy Ward Baker

Scars of Dracula is a 1970 British horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker for Hammer Studios. It stars Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, along with Dennis Waterman, Jenny Hanley, Patrick ...more

Love Story Tommy Lee Jones, Ray Milland, Ryan O'Neal

Released: 1970

Directed by: Arthur Hiller

Love Story is a 1970 romantic drama film written by Erich Segal, who also authored the best-selling novel of the same name. It was directed by Arthur Hiller and starred Ryan O'Neal, Ali MacGraw, ...more

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#134 of 591 The Best '70s Movies #229 of 802 The Greatest Chick Flicks Ever Madelisted on Every Oscar Winning Film Ever

They call me MISTER Tibbs Sidney Poitier, Ed Asner, Martin Landau

Released: 1970

Directed by: Gordon Douglas

They Call Me Mister Tibbs!, stylized with emphasis on "Mister", is a 1970 film, a sequel to 1967's In the Heat of the Night. The title was taken from a line in the first film. Sidney ...more

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#256 of 729 The Best Black Movies Ever Made, Ranked #24 of 26 26 Spin-Offs And Sequels To Hollywood Films You Probably Never Knew Existed #13 of 43 The Best Black Movies of the 1970s

Catch-22 Martin Sheen, Orson Welles, Jon Voight

Released: 1970

Directed by: Mike Nichols

Catch-22 is a 1970 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Joseph Heller. In creating a black comedy revolving around the "lunatic characters" of Heller's satirical novel set ...more

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The Vampire Lovers Peter Cushing, Madeline Smith, Ingrid Pitt

Released: 1970

Directed by: Roy Ward Baker

The Vampire Lovers is a 1970 British gothic horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt, Madeline Smith, Kate O'Mara and Jon Finch. It was produced by Hammer ...more

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#384 of 591 The Best '70s Movies #85 of 95 The Greatest Vampire Movies of All Time #20 of 24 The Best Vampire Movies Based on Books

The Go-Between Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Michael Redgrave

Released: 1970

Directed by: Joseph Losey

The Go-Between is a 1971 British romantic drama film, directed by Joseph Losey. Its screenplay, by Harold Pinter, is an adaptation of the 1953 novel of the same name by L. P. Hartley. The film ...more

Cromwell Alec Guinness, Richard Harris, Timothy Dalton

Released: 1970

Directed by: Ken Hughes

Cromwell is a British 1970 historical drama film, based on the life of Oliver Cromwell who led the Parliamentary forces and, as Lord Protector, ruled Great Britain and Ireland in the 1650s. It ...more

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