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The Best Movies of 1971

Updated September 24, 2019 6.8k votes 394 voters 9.4k views 120 items

List of the best movies of 1971, with movie trailers when available. Academy Award winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis made his big screen debut in Sunday Bloody Sunday in 1971. These top movies of 1971 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 1971. You can filter this list of films that came out in 1971 for various bits of information, such as who directed the movie and what genre it is. Think the best 1971 movie isn't as high as it should be? Vote up your favorite so it will rise to the top.

This list is made up of a variety of movies, including A Clockwork Orange and The French Connection.

This list answers the questions, "What are the best movies from 1971?" and "What are the most popular movies of 1971?"

1971 was a great year for movies, since a lot of classic films were released in 1971. This is a crowd sourced list that has been voted on by many people, so these top films of 1971 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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Dirty Harry Clint Eastwood, Don Siegel, Andrew Robinson

Released: 1971

Directed by: Don Siegel

Dirty Harry is a 1971 American action film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco ...more

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#330 of 1,699 The Most Rewatchable Movies #25 of 548 The Greatest Movies for Guys #11 of 591 The Best '70s Movies

The French Connection Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey

Released: 1971

Directed by: William Friedkin

The French Connection is a 1971 American dramatic thriller film directed by William Friedkin and produced by Philip D'Antoni. It stars Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, and Roy Scheider. The film was ...more

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Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Tim Brooke-Taylor

Released: 1971

Directed by: Mel Stuart

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a 1971 musical fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart, and starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. The film, a film adaptation of the 1964 novel Charlie and ...more

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A Clockwork Orange Malcolm McDowell, Warren Clarke, Steven Berkoff

Released: 1971

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 dystopian crime film adapted, produced, and directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on Anthony Burgess's 1962 novella A Clockwork Orange. It employs disturbing, violent ...more

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Diamonds Are Forever Sean Connery, Sammy Davis, Jr.

Released: 1971

Directed by: Guy Hamilton

Diamonds Are Forever is the seventh spy film in the James Bond series by Eon Productions, and the sixth and final Eon film to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film is ...more

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#1,234 of 1,699 The Most Rewatchable Movies #379 of 548 The Greatest Movies for Guys #191 of 624 The Greatest Guilty Pleasure Movies

Duel Dennis Weaver, Jacqueline Scott, Lou Frizzell

Released: 1971

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Duel is a 1971 television thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Richard Matheson, based on Matheson's short story of the same name. It stars Dennis Weaver as a terrified ...more

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Big Jake John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Harry Carey

Released: 1971

Directed by: George Sherman

Big Jake is a 1971 Western film directed by George Sherman, written by Harry Julian Fink and Rita M. Fink, produced by Michael Wayne, edited by Harry Gerstad, starring John Wayne, Richard Boone ...more

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Play Misty for Me Clint Eastwood, Donna Mills, Jessica Walter

Released: 1971

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Play Misty for Me is a 1971 American psychological thriller film, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, in his directorial debut. Jessica Walter and Donna Mills co-star. The original music ...more

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Brian's Song Dick Butkus, James Caan, Billy Dee Williams

Released: 1971

Directed by: Buzz Kulik

Brian's Song is a 1971 ABC Movie of the Week that recounts the details of the life of Brian Piccolo, a Wake Forest University football player stricken with terminal cancer after turning pro, ...more

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The Last Picture Show Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Cloris Leachman

Released: 1971

Directed by: Peter Bogdanovich

The Last Picture Show is a 1971 American drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, adapted from a semi-autobiographical 1966 novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry. Set in a small town in ...more

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The Omega Man Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Eric Laneuville

Released: 1971

Directed by: Boris Sagal

The Omega Man is a 1971 American science fiction film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Charlton Heston. It was written by John William Corrington and Joyce Corrington, based on the 1954 ...more

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Fiddler on the Roof Paul Michael Glaser, Chaim Topol, Molly Picon

Released: 1971

Directed by: Norman Jewison

Fiddler on the Roof is a 1971 American musical comedy-drama film produced and directed by Norman Jewison. It is an adaptation of the 1964 Broadway musical of the same name, with music composed ...more

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Support Your Local Gunfighter James Garner, Suzanne Pleshette, Joan Blondell

Released: 1971

Directed by: Burt Kennedy

Support Your Local Gunfighter is a 1971 comic western film starring James Garner, directed by Burt Kennedy, and written by James Edward Grant. The film shares many cast and crew members and plot ...more

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Harold and Maude Ruth Gordon, Tom Skerritt, Bud Cort

Released: 1971

Directed by: Hal Ashby

Harold and Maude is a 1971 American romantic dark comedy directed by Hal Ashby and released by Paramount Pictures. It incorporates elements of dark humor and existentialist drama, with a plot ...more

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Escape from the Planet of the Apes Ricardo Montalbán, Roddy McDowall, Sal Mineo

Released: 1971

Directed by: Don Taylor

Escape from the Planet of the Apes is a 1971 science fiction film directed by Don Taylor and written by Paul Dehn. It stars Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Bradford Dillman and Ricardo ...more

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Billy Jack Tom Laughlin, Howard Hesseman, Johnny Otis

Released: 1971

Directed by: Tom Laughlin

Billy Jack is a 1971 action/drama independent film; the second of four films centering on a character of the same name which began with the movie The Born Losers, played by Tom Laughlin, who ...more

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Straw Dogs Dustin Hoffman, David Warner, Peter Vaughan

Released: 1971

Directed by: Sam Peckinpah

Straw Dogs is a 1971 psychological thriller directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. The screenplay by Peckinpah and David Zelag Goodman is based upon Gordon M. ...more

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The Andromeda Strain Paula Kelly, David Wayne, Arthur Hill

Released: 1971

Directed by: Robert Wise

The Andromeda Strain is a 1971 American science fiction film produced and directed by Robert Wise. Based on Michael Crichton's 1969 novel of the same name and adapted by Nelson Gidding, the film ...more

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Get Carter Michael Caine, Britt Ekland, Ian Hendry

Released: 1971

Directed by: Mike Hodges

Get Carter is a 1971 British film directed by Mike Hodges and starring Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, Britt Ekland, John Osborne and Bryan Mosley. The screenplay was adapted by Hodges from Ted ...more

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Vanishing Point Charlotte Rampling, Cleavon Little, Dean Jagger

Released: 1971

Directed by: Richard C. Sarafian

Vanishing Point is a 1971 American action road movie directed by Richard C. Sarafian and starring Barry Newman, Cleavon Little, and Dean Jagger. The film is notable for its scenic film locations ...more

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McCabe & Mrs. Miller Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Shelley Duvall

Released: 1971

Directed by: Robert Altman

McCabe & Mrs. Miller is a 1971 American Western film starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie, and directed by Robert Altman. The screenplay is based on Edmund Naughton's 1959 novel McCabe. ...more

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Klute Sylvester Stallone, Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland

Released: 1971

Directed by: Alan J. Pakula

Klute is a 1971 thriller film directed and produced by Alan J. Pakula, written by Andy and Dave Lewis, and starring Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi and Roy Scheider. It tells the ...more

The Beguiled Clint Eastwood, Geraldine Page, Pamelyn Ferdin

Released: 1971

Directed by: Don Siegel

The Beguiled is a 1971 American drama film directed by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page. The script was written by Albert Maltz and is based on the 1966 Southern Gothic ...more

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Shaft Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Lawrence Pressman

Released: 1971

Directed by: Gordon Parks

Shaft is a 1971 American blaxploitation film directed by Gordon Parks, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. An action film with elements of film noir, Shaft tells the story of a private detective, ...more

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And Now for Something Completely Different John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle

Released: 1971

Directed by: Terry Gilliam, Ian MacNaughton

And Now for Something Completely Different is a 1971 British comedy anthology film based on the television comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus featuring sketches from the first two ...more

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