One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Widely regarded to be the neat decennary in the history of American cinema , the 1970s brought a wave of auteur managing director who pioneered the “ New Hollywood ” movement with rule - break out low - budget masterpiece that muff the art of filmmaking wide open and changed the studio system forever .

Some of the undecomposed picture show of the ‘ seventy were genre fare , like the gangster epicThe Godfatherorthe planet - hopping blank space operaStar Wars , but a lot of them just wiretap into the human condition with dear dramatic material . Still , for all the masterfully crafted drama that came along in the ‘ 70s , there were also tidy sum of punk one .

Best: Rocky (1976)

Throughout Academy Award history , three people have been nominate for committal to writing and star in the same picture show : Orson Welles , Charlie Chaplin , and Sylvester Stallone . Anyone whodoubts Stallone ’s talentshas clearly forgotten just how greatRockywas .

It create the guide forthe underdog mutation movieand remains the best , because it takes its sentence to let viewers get to know Rocky Balboa in the first act . And it ’s not really about boxing;it ’s a touching dearest story at spunk .

Worst: The Boy In The Plastic Bubble (1976)

This made - for - TV movie starring John Travolta was the intake for the classicSeinfeldepisode “ The Bubble Boy , ” which should provide a good idea of how much aesthetic merit it has .

The medical content of the story is wildly inaccurate . And while medical accuracy is n’t strictly necessary , in a pic specifically about struggling with a medical condition , blatant error are a fiddling distracting .

Best: The Last Picture Show (1971)

Peter Bogdanovich’scoming - of - age masterpieceThe Last movie Showtells the report of two long - sentence best supporter at the end of their high school careers and the beginning of their grownup lifetime .

Jeff Bridges and Timothy Bottoms give rattling performances in the lead role , whilethe black - and - E. B. White filmexpertly trance the early-‘50s setting .

Worst: Old Boyfriends (1979)

InOld Boyfriends , a cleaning woman in a failing marriage embarks on a route slip to reconnect with a handful of her ex - boyfriends and see what she can learn about herself from the encounters .

motion-picture show fan familiar with such classics asTaxi DriverandThe Godfatherwould expect good from screenwriter Paul Schrader and actor Talia Shire . Sadly , this pic falls far abruptly of their reputations .

Best: 3 Women (1977)

Taken straight from a ambition that writer - director Robert Altman had one night,3 Womentells the story of two roommates and conscientious objector - worker , play by Shelley Duvall and Sissy Spacek , who deal an more and more bizarre human relationship .

Across half a century and tons of movies , Altman craft some of cinema ’s near - unadulterated masterpieces.3 Womenis one of his most avant - garde works .

Worst: Bobby Deerfield (1977)

After getting his self-aggrandising break inThe Panic in Needle Park , Al Pacino star in some of the corking moving-picture show ever made throughout the 1970s , from the first twoGodfathermovies toDog Day Afternoonto … And Justice for All.toSerpico . However , he did star in one ' 70s stinker : Sydney Pollack’sBobby Deerfield .

The plot trudges along through melodramatic territory with over - the - top reference and situations . It sets itself up as a racing movie , but fall down into the trapping of a clichéd erotic love history . There are reports that contemporary moviegoer laughed at some of the striking scene .

Best: Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Al Pacino gaveone of his all - clip fine performancesin Sidney Lumet ’s true - to - life story masterpieceDog Day Afternoon , playing Sonny Wortzik , a despairing world whotries to rob a bankto pay for his lover ’s grammatical gender substantiation surgery .   Not too long into the heist , Sonny earn he ’s in fashion over his head .

Pacino shares grand on - projection screen chemical science with hisGodfatherco - star and fellow former scramble New York worker , John Cazale .

Worst: The Betsy (1978)

Despite sport such great as Laurence Olivier and Robert Duvall , The Betsyis a pretty cheap moving-picture show about the maturate father of an motorcar empire coming out of retreat to design a new fuel - efficient car .

The movie want to be about a mint of different issue , but it devolves into tepid melodrama pretty quick . It has about as much dramatic substance as a soap opera house .

Best: One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

The image of the anti - establishment tone of ‘ LXX cinema , Miloš Forman’sOne Flew Over the fathead ’s NeststarsJack Nicholson as Randle McMurphy , a convict who pleads insanity and gets placed in a mental mental institution ruled by the iron clenched fist of Nurse Ratched , one of movie house ’s all - clip greatest villains , played by Louise Fletcher .

One of three movies to make headway the “ Big Five ” Oscars , Cuckoo ’s Nestis a unfeigned chef-d’oeuvre , with startlingly real characters andincreasingly heartbreaking plot turns .

Worst: Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973)

The Richard Bach novellaJonathan Livingston Seagullwas popular among readers and receive warm review from critic . However , the film adaptation was wide panned and barely managed to recoup its budget at the box office .

It ’s about as exciting as a flick about a sea gull look to shake up his life go like it ’ll be . It was a passion project for author - theatre director - producer Hall Bartlett , but one has to marvel why .

NEXT : The 5 Best ( & 5 Worst ) ' 70s offense Movies

Article image

70s dramas - featured image

Rocky lifts his arms after running in Rocky

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble

The Last Picture Show

Old Boyfriends

3 Women

Bobby Deerfield

Al Pacino looking worried with hostages in Fog Day Afternoon

The Betsy

Chief Bromden (Will Sampson) hugging R.P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Movies

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest