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About This Quiz
1970s movies were different from prior decades, as the industry loosened its rules on sexuality, violence and vulgar language. This caused a boom for the industry, which was faltering at the beginning of the decade. Take this quiz and see how many of these 1970s movies you can figure out from their screenshots.
The Movie Db
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
The Godfather
Sure, there had been Mob movies before, but none that assembled a cast with power and production values this high. Watch this, and you'll see men (not many women in the cast) who are now Hollywood legends, like Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall, led by Marlon Brando, who was already into the "weird old guy" phase of his career.
The Godfather II
Apocalypse Now
The Deer Hunter
TMDB or Youtube
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
The French Connection
Chinatown
Believe it or not, there was a time when Jack Nicholson actually ACTED in movies, rather than playing various versions of himself. In this classic, he plays a private detective hired to investigate infidelity, then ends up far down the rabbit hole.
The Godfather II
Raging Bull
The Movie DB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Blazing Saddles
The Producers
Silent Movie
Young Frankenstein
Mel Brooks is a master of high-concept comedy full of lowbrow humor, and it's never been on greater display than here. Gene Wilder is sheer manic glee as Frankenstein, backed by a cast that's basically a who's-who of comedy in the '70s and '80s.
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Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Star Wars
If you were a kid in the '70s, you remember seeing this movie. Personally, my friends and I camped out at our little two-screen theater and watched it six times over the course of the opening weekend. Amazingly, even with the original special effects, it still holds up today!
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Dark Star
Battle Beyond the Stars
The MovieDB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
American Graffiti
Every generation seems to have a movie like this, with a bunch of teen stars led by a soon-to-be-famous director. Here you have George Lucas directing Ron Howard, Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, Cindy Williams and Mackenzie Phillips. Wow.
Animal House
The Deer Hunter
Grease
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Dog Day Afternoon
Chinatown
Network
If you watch the TV news and you've never seen this movie, you need to seek it out posthaste. Leads Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway both won Oscars, as did Beatrice Straight in a supporting role and director Paddy Chayefsky.
All The President's Men
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1979 - Brandywine Productions, Twentieth Century-Fox Productions
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Alien
Here's a fun fact: Ridley Scott didn't tell any of the actors in the shot what was about to happen when the alien hatched out of Ash's chest in the dining room. He wanted their honest reactions to what he knew would be a horrifying scene.
Mad Max
Carrie
TMDB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Animal House
What's your favorite scene from "Animal House"? Everybody who's seen it has one! For me, it's John Belushi in the cafeteria ... "I'm a zit!"
Caddyshack
Blazing Saddles
American Graffiti II
Warner Bros. Concord Production Inc.
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
The Way of the Dragon
Enter the Dragon
For a lot of people, this is the only Bruce Lee movie they know. That's not a horrible thing, but it would be well worth your time to explore all of his work. He made martial arts TRULY an art.
The Chinese Connection
The Octagon
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Walt Disney Productions
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Pete's Dragon
This quintessentially sweet kids' movie is about a boy with a cartoon dragon who might or might not be his imaginary friend. The recent remake took more of an action slant on the story, but the original is as sweet as a candy bar.
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory
Race to Witch Mountain
Fantasia
Warner Bros., Pressman-Williams, Jill Jakes Production
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Badlands
Martin Sheen plays a young tough who seduces a much-younger character, played by Sissy Spacek. When her father objects, Sheen's character shoots him dead, the two lovers try to fake their deaths and go on the run.
Dog Day Afternoon
Days of Heaven
The Outsiders
1979 BSB, CIP, Lorimar Film Entertainment
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
The Pink Panther
Going in Style
Annie Hall
Being There
Peter Sellers breaks from his goofy Clouseau comedy in the Pink Panther movies for this gentle tale. He plays a humble gardener who ends up being a trusted voice of reason for a powerful businessman and a political insider.
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TMDB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Jaws
King Kong
This remake of the original hewed fairly close to the original's storyline. The World Trade Center towers are swapped in for the Empire State Building, and the scale of Kong is bigger, but the tale's basically the same.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
The Deep
n/a
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Kelly's Heroes
Nashville
M*A*S*H
If you watched the show, the movie might be a bit of a shock. Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye, Elliott Gould as Trapper John and the sexy, sloe-eyed Sally Kellerman as Hot Lips Houlihan are a far more potent combo than the hilarious TV version.
Stripes
tmdb
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
While the nation was still obsessed with the outer space bang and zoom of "Star Wars," Steven Spielberg brought us back to Earth with this masterpiece. I still can't eat mashed potatoes without first trying to make Devil's Tower on my plate.
Star Wars
Battle Beyond the Stars
It Came from Outer Space
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Zoetrope Studios, American Broadcasting Company
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
The Thin Red Line
Apocalypse Now
Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen and Robert Duvall lead the cast of this movie, one of the most talked-about Vietnam War films of all time. Look for a young Laurence Fishburne in one of his first roles, as Tyrone "Clean" Miller.
Full Metal Jacket
A Bridge Too Far
TMDB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Superman
Fans of modern superhero movies might turn up their noses at the squeaky-clean, ultra-noble Superman as played by Christopher Reeve, but it's actually one of most true-to-character comic book movies ever made. The Superman of the '50s lives and breathes in Reeve's suit.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Solaris
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Faraway Productions
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Deliverance
A Passage to India
Ryan's Daughter
The '70s was a time of experimentation and boundary pushing, but this film is something of a holdover from the previous decades. The plot concerns a romance in a small Irish town, which is interrupted by Irish revolutionaries expecting a shipment of guns.
The Thin Red Line
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imdb
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Taxi Driver
Sleeper
A Clockwork Orange
This ultraviolent mind trip was like a splash of cold water on the '70s movie scene. Things that would have been absolutely forbidden 10 years before were featured parts of the plot, and it made Malcolm McDowell a superstar.
Logan's Run
tmdb
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Deliverance
Here's another movie that turned the world on its head. Whether it's the cartoonish alpha-male posturing of Burt Reynolds, the bizarro nature of the country folk or what happened to poor Ned Beatty, there's something here to disturb everyone.
The Deer Hunter
Westworld
The Warriors
TMDB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
While this movie has become a topic of humor over the years, at the time it came out it was unlike anything ever seen. Like "Deliverance" with power tools, this movie takes viewers by the throat ... then cuts it.
Halloween
The Exorcist
Friday the 13th
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The Movie DB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
The Godfather
Goodfellas
The Godfather: Part II
It's rare for a sequel to outdo the original, but that's the case here. We get to travel back to the '20s and see Robert De Niro as young Vito Corleone building the family empire, then to modern day as Michael Corleone (Al Pacino, never better) expands the family business. "I knew it was you, Fredo ..."
Carlito's Way
Warner Bros.
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Kelly's Heroes
Grumpy Old Men
Blazing Saddles
Going in Style
Three old geezers collecting pensions decide to improve their quality of life by pulling off a heist. The original stars George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg. The 2017 remake has Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin. Hard to say which cast is stronger!
TMDB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
All the President's Men
In what would now be called a docudrama, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford play Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, the reporters who broke the Watergate scandal. Ned Beatty, recovered from his "Deliverance" experience, has a role ... and look for a young F. Murray Abraham in a bit part as a cop.
Network
The French Connection
Marathon Man
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Fantasy Films
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
If you ever thought Jack Nicholson was crazy, this might show you where he went over the edge. As a criminal who pleads insanity and then becomes a rabble-rouser in the insane asylum, Jack won a best actor Oscar and Louise Fletcher took home a best actress statue as Nurse Ratched. Trek fans will know Louise as Kai Winn, from the "Deep Space Nine" series.
The Deer Hunter
Taxi Driver
Network
tmdb
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Young Frankenstein
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Among Python fans, the ability to quote large portions of this movie is a prerequisite for acceptance. Despite Graham Chapman's well-documented on-set drunkenness, the cast managed to turn out a comedy classic that holds up today.
The Life of Brian
Blazing Saddles
The Movie DB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Psycho
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Friday the 13th
Halloween
Donald Pleasance played creepy scientists and doctors many times in his career, but his best effort was here, as the psychiatrist treating psycho killer Michael Myers. Jamie Lee Curtis earned the Scream Queen title for her role as a babysitter stalked by Myers.
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The Movie DB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
The Deep
Jaws
Would we know who Steven Spielberg was if this movie had bombed? It nearly did, thanks to a mechanical shark that refused to work. The movie contains one of my all-time favorite quotes, from Richard Dreyfuss: "I'm not going to waste my time arguing with a man lining up to be a hot lunch."
The Poseidon Adventure
Apocalypse Now
The Movie DB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Carrie
Before John Travolta became the hunk in "Grease," he was Billy Nolan, the well-meaning jock who invited Carrie White to her senior prom. One half-frozen bucket of pig's blood later, he was toast ... and most of his high-school class followed soon after.
Prom Night
American Graffiti
Grease
United Artists
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Sleeper
Annie Hall
This is basically Woody Allen playing himself: a neurotic New York standup comic who's befuddled by women and relationships in general. Diane Keaton is at her comedic best as a Midwestern WASP trying to make it as a singer.
Manhattan
Love and Death
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tmdb
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
The Life of Brian
Blazing Saddles
Contrary to popular belief, I don't love this movie just because my nickname is Mongo. This is Mel Brooks at the height of his form, lampooning racism, Westerns and society as a whole with plenty of slapstick along for the ride.
History of the World, Part 1
Stir Crazy
Paramount Pictures
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
The Warriors
This was a movie made to stir up criticism, and it did that pretty well. Like "West Side Story" but with less acting talent, lots more blood and no musical numbers ... so really not like "West Side Story" at all.
The Deer Hunter
Apocalypse Now
Grease
Mosfilm, Vtoroe Tvorcheskoe Obedinenie
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Stalker
This trippy bit of Scandinavian sci-fi wasn't a big hit stateside, but influenced a lot of modern directors. In The Zone, aliens who can grant wishes are reputed to live. Of course, the area's been fenced off and isolated by the government, but that doesn't stop people from trying to get in.
Solaris
The Mirror
A Clockwork Orange
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Bill/Phillips Italo/Judeo Productions
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
The French Connection
Taxi Driver
Jodie Foster raised eyebrows playing a teen prostitute in this movie, and she and Robert De Niro both got Oscar nominations for the movie. De Niro's Travis Bickle has become a touchstone reference for every real-life urban nutter since.
Chinatown
Dog Day Afternoon
The Movie DB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Tim Burton's remake of this movie, while truer to Roald Dahl's original story, raised the hackles of older fans when he cast Johnny Depp in the title role. In the original, Gene Wilder exuded an air of daffy menace that Depp couldn't match.
The Bad News Bears
Grease
Pete's Dragon
Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Death Race 2000
Soylent Green
Logan's Run
This high-concept, very art-house sci-fi flick posited a future where very few people get to live past the age of 30. It's sort of how you imagined life was when you were a freshman in college and suspicious of anyone over 25, but government-enforced.
The Omega Man
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tmdb
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Grease
This homage to the teen musicals of the '50s might seem insanely dated in this era of cyberbullying and "safe zones" in schools, but it's still fun to watch. John Travolta not yet looking like an aging beagle and Olivia Newton-John, a burst of Australian sexiness and verve, lead a cast of soon-to-be and used-to-be famous actors, with Frankie Avalon making an appearance as the Teen Angel.
The Warriors
American Graffiti
The Outsiders
The Movie DB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Death Race 2000
Rollerball
Mad Max
Here's the movie that started it all for Mel Gibson. Unlike the sequels, which overhyped the dystopian-future aspect, the world in which "Mad Max" takes place looks almost normal, if a bit dinged. That makes the savagery with which Toecutter and his gang kill Max's family all the more jarring. Toecutter returned in "Fury Road," a lot older but still as deranged and bloodthirsty.
Cannonball Run
The Movie DB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Smokey and the Bandit
Several years removed from his macho overload in "Deliverance," Burt Reynolds created one of his most enduring characters. I lived in the South in the '70s, and The Bandit was a folk hero to most of my classmates, and especially their fathers.
Cannonball Run
Death Race 2000
Deliverance
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Youtube
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Raging Bull
Rocky
Something you might not know: Sylvester Stallone didn't just star, he also wrote the movie. He got an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay, but lost out. However, the movie won best picture!
Saturday Night Fever
Rocky II
tmdb
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
One of the hallmarks of '70s art house movies was that some films were made for no artistic purpose whatsoever, but simply existed to shock. This one, featuring fascists rounding up teen boys and girls for unspeakable acts, definitely fits that bill. Not for the weak of heart (or stomach).
Caligula
Arabian Nights
The Decameron
Warner Bros., Malpaso Company
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
High Plains Drifter
Magnum Force
Pale Rider
The Outlaw Josey Wales
No longer working with Sergio Leone, but still making Westerns, Eastwood and frequent costar Sondra Locke led the cast of this post-Civil War tale. Eastwood plays a Confederate soldier who goes west to make a life for himself ... but his past follows him.
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The Movie DB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Logan's Run
Death Race 2000
Westworld
If you've seen the uber-sexy and ultraviolent HBO series, you need to see the source material. Starring Yul Brynner as the main robot gunslinger, this is a more "theme park gone crazy" take on the theme.
Mad Max
The Movie DB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Halloween
The Exorcist
By today's garish standards, the "horrific" scenes in this movie are fairly tame. However, very few films since have matched the sheer terror conveyed by pretty Regan's transformation from vibrant child to Hellspawn.
Friday the 13th
Rosemary's Baby
Les Productions Artistes Associés
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Last Tango in Paris
If the idea of Marlon Brando frequently appearing nude in a movie makes you a little queasy, avoid this film at all costs. It's another one of the "made to shock" sex-filled, largely plot-free '70s art films.
The Conformist
The Dreamers
Going in Style
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tmdb
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Network
Caligula
After the ultraviolent excess of "A Clockwork Orange," a turn as the most perverted of Roman emperors wasn't much of a stretch for Malcolm McDowell. Peter O'Toole came along as Tiberius, probably because he was at the point in his career where he no longer really cared what people thought about him.
Stalker
A Clockwork Orange
tmdb
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
The Deer Hunter
This is one of the best examinations of what Vietnam did to those who served there ever made. The lives of three young recruits who are captured and tortured by the Viet Cong, then rescued and returned home to "normal" life, are put under the microscope.
Apocalypse Now
Mad Max
Raging Bull
TMDB
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Kelly's Heroes
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
"It's just a jump to the left..." If that phrase makes you start to remember Friday and Saturday midnight movies, you have lived well. If not, believe it or not this movie is still alive and well and running midnights all over the country. Find a show!
A Clockwork Orange
Animal House
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tmdb
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Barry Lyndon
Stanley Kubrick is more known for his shocking films than for historical pieces, but this one's worth a look. A young Irishman kills his sister's suitor in a duel, and begins a Europe-spanning career that will lead to a truly epic rise and fall.
Coming Home
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
The Last Picture Show
tmdb
Which 1970s movie is shown here?
Mad Max
Solaris
Eraserhead
If you've seen David Lynch's more modern works and think he might be a bit weird, you haven't seen anything yet. Jack Nance, Lynch's favorite actor, stars as Henry, who works in a bizarre factory, has a mutant child and an angry girlfriend, and generally lives in a world that makes you think you've taken the bad acid.
The Omen
You Got:
/50
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