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Best Drama Movies

of the 1970s

The 20 highest-rated drama movies released between 1970 and 1979, ranked by IMDb score.

1

The Godfather(1972)

9.2 IMDb97% RT100 Meta

Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his y

2

The Godfather Part II(1974)

9 IMDb96% RT90 Meta

In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vega

3

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest(1975)

8.6 IMDb93% RT84 Meta

A petty criminal fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patients—and an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse who runs

4

Scenes from a Marriage(1974)

8.3 IMDb

Johan and Marianne are married and seem to have it all. Their happiness, however, is a façade for a troubled relationship, which becomes even rockier when Johan admits that he's having an affair. Befo

5

The Ascent(1977)

8.2 IMDb100% RT

During a freezing WWII winter, two Soviet partisans on a mission to gather food contend with the temperature, the occupying Germans, and their own psyches.

6

Taxi Driver(1976)

8.2 IMDb89% RT94 Meta

Suffering from insomnia, disturbed loner Travis Bickle takes a job as a New York City cabbie, haunting the streets nightly, growing increasingly detached from reality as he dreams of cleaning up the f

7

Dersu Uzala(1975)

8.2 IMDb73% RT

A military explorer meets and befriends a Goldi man in Russia’s unmapped forests. A deep and abiding bond evolves between the two men, one civilized in the usual sense, the other at home in the glacia

8

The Sting(1973)

8.2 IMDb93% RT83 Meta

A novice con man teams up with an acknowledged master to avenge the murder of a mutual friend by pulling off the ultimate big con and swindling a fortune from a big-time mobster.

9

The Deer Hunter(1978)

8.1 IMDb86% RT90 Meta

Three steelworkers enlist in the army and are sent to Vietnam, one leaving behind a rushed marriage, the others a shared love. What they encounter during the war changes their lives forever.

10

Autumn Sonata(1978)

8.1 IMDb85% RT

After a seven-year absence, Charlotte Andergast travels to Sweden to reunite with her daughter Eva. The pair have a troubled relationship: Charlotte sacrificed the responsibilities of motherhood for a

11

Barry Lyndon(1975)

8.1 IMDb78% RT89 Meta

An Irish rogue uses his cunning and wit to work his way up the social classes of 18th century England, transforming himself from the humble Redmond Barry into the noble Barry Lyndon.

12

Chinatown(1974)

8.1 IMDb98% RT92 Meta

Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes

13

Paper Moon(1973)

8.1 IMDb91% RT77 Meta

During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.

14

Stalker(1979)

8 IMDb100% RT85 Meta

Near a gray and unnamed city is the Zone, a place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers, and where the normal laws of physics are victim to frequent anomalies. A stalker guides two men into the Zone, sp

15

Papillon(1973)

8 IMDb73% RT58 Meta

A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.

16

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion(1970)

8 IMDb100% RT89 Meta

Rome, Italy. After committing a heinous crime, a senior police officer exposes evidence incriminating him because his moral commitment prevents him from circumventing the law and the social order it p

17

Cries and Whispers(1972)

7.9 IMDb92% RT

As Agnes slowly dies of cancer, her sisters are so immersed in their own psychic pains that they are unable to offer her the support she needs.

18

An Average Little Man(1977)

7.8 IMDb

A middle-aged government accountant is determined to secure a stable job for his son before retiring, willing to go to great lengths to achieve his goal.

19

Amarcord(1973)

7.8 IMDb88% RT

In an Italian seaside town, young Titta gets into trouble with his friends and watches various local eccentrics as they engage in often absurd behavior. Frequently clashing with his stern father and d

20

Jesus(1979)

7.1 IMDb

Three and a half years of Jesus' ministry, as told in the Gospel of Luke.

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