What Was the Best Decade for Movies
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Bob Peale
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The 70's
I think from the Backsploitation films (Bucktown, Cleopatra Jones, Three The Hard Way) through to the Epics ( Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Rocky, Star Wars), the 70's set the bar for everything that came after it.
Although earlier eras (most notably the 50's and early 60's) played with our minds, the 70's put flesh on the ghosts.
The 80's were teen (Porky's, The Last American Virgin, Weird Science, et. al) and Slasher films (Freddie, Jason, Michael Myers, etc.).
The 90's was nothing but remakes (and remakes of remakes).
I think from the Backsploitation films (Bucktown, Cleopatra Jones, Three The Hard Way) through to the Epics ( Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Rocky, Star Wars), the 70's set the bar for everything that came after it.
Although earlier eras (most notably the 50's and early 60's) played with our minds, the 70's put flesh on the ghosts.
The 80's were teen (Porky's, The Last American Virgin, Weird Science, et. al) and Slasher films (Freddie, Jason, Michael Myers, etc.).
The 90's was nothing but remakes (and remakes of remakes).
Dillinger
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For me, there isn't a best decade. When the various all time best movie threads come up I realize I tend to list movies from every decade - probably from the 40's to the present (while I do like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton and Nosferatu - I can't say I'm a HUGE fan of silent movies so decades prior to the 40's would probably have fewer movies in my top lists).
I think that some decades might, on analysis, prove to be better for various genre's of movies. Certainly Westerns faired better decades ago then they do now. Anti-establishment movies more prevalent in the 60's and 70's. Comedy probably higher on the list in the 80's. The 90's have to be the decade for Sci-Fi coming into its own (beyond the B-movie category), etc, etc, etc...
I think that some decades might, on analysis, prove to be better for various genre's of movies. Certainly Westerns faired better decades ago then they do now. Anti-establishment movies more prevalent in the 60's and 70's. Comedy probably higher on the list in the 80's. The 90's have to be the decade for Sci-Fi coming into its own (beyond the B-movie category), etc, etc, etc...
JazzManJim
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I'm going to have to vote for the 1950s.
Here are my notable examples:
Suspense:
Rear Window - 1954
Vertigo - 1958
Anatomy of a Murder - 1959
Comedy:
Some Like it Hot - 1959
Harvey - 1950
The African Queen - 1951 (Yeah, I know. But the interplay between Bogart and Hepburn was hilarious!)
Roman Holiday - 1953
Drama:
12 Angry Men - 1954
Stalag 17 - 1953
A Streetcar Named Desire - 1951
Westerns:
High Noon - 1952
Rio Bravo - 1959
Action:
Ben Hur - 1959
We missed Spartacus by less than a year, too. It came out in 1960
The 50s also heralded the Chuck Jones era of Warner Brothers cartoons:
Duck Amuck - 1953
What's Opera Doc? - 1957
Now let's add some movies not made in America:
Rashomon - 1950
Shichinin no samurai - 1954
Les Diaboliques - 1950
This was a decade of movie icons: Directors Kirasawa, Hitchcock, and John Ford, Actors Bogart, Hepburn, Stewart, Lemmon, Monroe, Curtis. Big epics and small psychological thrillers.
The 1950's set the pace for movies all the way through today.
Here are my notable examples:
Suspense:
Rear Window - 1954
Vertigo - 1958
Anatomy of a Murder - 1959
Comedy:
Some Like it Hot - 1959
Harvey - 1950
The African Queen - 1951 (Yeah, I know. But the interplay between Bogart and Hepburn was hilarious!)
Roman Holiday - 1953
Drama:
12 Angry Men - 1954
Stalag 17 - 1953
A Streetcar Named Desire - 1951
Westerns:
High Noon - 1952
Rio Bravo - 1959
Action:
Ben Hur - 1959
We missed Spartacus by less than a year, too. It came out in 1960
The 50s also heralded the Chuck Jones era of Warner Brothers cartoons:
Duck Amuck - 1953
What's Opera Doc? - 1957
Now let's add some movies not made in America:
Rashomon - 1950
Shichinin no samurai - 1954
Les Diaboliques - 1950
This was a decade of movie icons: Directors Kirasawa, Hitchcock, and John Ford, Actors Bogart, Hepburn, Stewart, Lemmon, Monroe, Curtis. Big epics and small psychological thrillers.
The 1950's set the pace for movies all the way through today.
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CarolineOh
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The 1970s:
Think of all the talent that emerged. Scorsese doing Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Altman making MASH and McCabe & Mrs Miller, etc. The Godfather films, maybe the best ever. And Apocalypse Now....
Chinatown. One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest. Badlands.Days of Heaven.
If you like comedy, Mel Brooks and Woody Allen and Monty Python were all at the top of their form.
And the big hits of the day were The Exorcist and Star Wars and Close Encounters and Jaws- a lot better than the blockbusters we get now IMO.
Alien. All The Presidents Men. Network.Smile.The Sting....
Think of all the talent that emerged. Scorsese doing Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Altman making MASH and McCabe & Mrs Miller, etc. The Godfather films, maybe the best ever. And Apocalypse Now....
Chinatown. One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest. Badlands.Days of Heaven.
If you like comedy, Mel Brooks and Woody Allen and Monty Python were all at the top of their form.
And the big hits of the day were The Exorcist and Star Wars and Close Encounters and Jaws- a lot better than the blockbusters we get now IMO.
Alien. All The Presidents Men. Network.Smile.The Sting....
