1. "Apocalypse Now"(1979)
Frances Ford Coppola closed out the 1970s, with his epic deconstruction of the Vietnam War, perhaps the 20th Century's most divisive conflict. The result was one of the most searing, intense two-and-a-half hours you'll ever spend sitting in front of a screen, that gradually took it's place next to his Godfathers on any respectable list of greatest movies. Martin Sheen is our guide to Cambodia in 1969, Robert Duvall is dynamite as his surf-loving lieutenant, and a bald, bloated Marlon Brando gave the last of his brilliance as the shadowy renegade Col. Kurtz. This is far from a traditional war movie, with Coppola's contemplative approach and existential ambitions ultimately leaving him bottomed out as a filmmaker. His herculean efforts are universally admired and appreciated.
2. "Kramer vs. Kramer"(1979)
With the divorce rate rising over 50%, Hollywood had to start tackling this new reality for fractured families. Writer-director Robert Benton did so with tenderness and touching realism in 1979's Best Picture winner. Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep are both tremendously effective and affecting as an estranged couple that wage war over their seven-year old son(Justin Henry), and were rightly rewarded with the Oscars for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress. Benton's screenplay gives both sides their day in court, while single parenting has never been portrayed more poignantly. "Kramer" was a big box office hit in addition to it's award show success, and is simply one of the decade's defining dramas.
3. "Alien"(1979)
Cinema needed a heroine, and we sure-as-hell got one. Sigourney Weaver made history in Ridley Scott's masterful sci-fi horror magnus opus, that he's spent every year since trying to live up to. There was NO reason to think that Ellen Ripley would outlive Tom Skerritt, Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton in the summer of '79. This was the next step in the evolution of blockbuster filmmaking, and few of today's FX-heavy outings can match the sheer artistry on display onboard the Nostromo. The resultant franchise produced one more all-timer(1986's "Aliens"), but the rest of it's offspring only enhanced our affection for the original.
4. "Rocky II"(1979)
Sylvester Stallone famously announced his intention to make a sequel to his already-beloved boxing classic on the night that it upset the '77 Academy Awards. A prophetic statement if there ever was one, and the Italian Stallion himself leveraged his newfound superstardom to launch an uplifting saga that continues on, astonishingly, to this very day. As writer-director, Sly retains the original's quiet charm in his second run up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, and his supporting cast(Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith and Carl Weathers) remain excellent. If the last thirty minutes don't get your blood pumping, nothing ever will.
5. "The China Syndrome"(1979)
Jane Fonda was the best actress of the 1970s. This topical triumph cemented that fact(the Three Mile Island accident took place TWELVE days after the release of this film). Fonda is a roving reporter with serious concerns about nuclear contamination, while a bearded Michael Douglas entered our lives as her equally frazzled cameraman. The incomparable Jack Lemmon added another great role to his resume as the plant worker out to expose his corrupt superiors. Writer-director James Bridges crafted a tense, intelligent thriller that should be the envy of any modern showbiz shot-caller.
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6. "Norma Rae"(1979)
Sally Field steps out of Burt Reynolds' orbit and takes her rightful place in the leading lady pantheon in this absorbing fact-based drama. Who knew Gidget was so good? Her minimum-wage Southern spitfire fights for victims of improper working conditions at a North Carolina textile factory(UNION!). Congratulations if you can't relate to any of that. Martin Ritt had a socially conscious streak and was one of Field's favorite directors. His belief in Sally's abilities set her up for a long and prosperous big screen career. For that, he deserves a posthumous pat on the back.
7. "Being There"(1978)
Enigmatic comic genius Peter Sellers might as well have been from another planet, because subtle, exquisitely-acted comedies like this are practically non-existent. His strange, childlike Chance the gardener, or Chauncey Gardiner, if you're a Washington elite, is easily one of filmdom's classiest swan songs(he died in 1980). Director Hal Ashby is synonymous with the '70s, and here he concluded a hall-of-fame worthy run("Harold and Maude", "The Last Detail", "Coming Home"). Shirley MacLaine wasn't the only one in love. Melvyn Douglas' dying millionaire earned him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
8. "Manhattan"(1979)
Woody Allen's black-and-white love letter to the greatest city in the world, tends to sit right next to "Annie Hall" when the tireless writer-director's forty-plus features are ranked. Diane Keaton wraps up her six-film stint as Woody's movie muse(the dynamic duo would make it seven in 1993's "Manhattan Murder Mystery"), and Meryl Streep makes for more relationship angst as his wayward ex. Allen has always been an acquired taste, and some will squirm while watching him romance a teenage Mariel Hemingway(hey, it's still the '70s). But the man's talent has never been in question, and "Manhattan" helped cement his legacy as one of cinema's singular storytellers.
9. "The Jerk"(1979)
All he needs is this ashtray, the paddleball, and the remote control. If you're under the age of 25, you might not know how big Steve Martin was. The silver-haired stand-up sensation made a seamless transition into headlining studio comedies in '79- a position he would hold until the 2000s. His backwoods bozo Navin Johnson was "born a poor black child", en route to marrying Bernadette Peters and building a fleeting fortune. Director Carl Reiner believed in this wild and crazy guy, and for that we should be forever grateful. "The Jerk" was the 40th highest-grossing film of the decade. Would "Dumb and Dumber" exist without it? I doubt it.
10. "Mad Max"(1979)
Take a good look. This is what the 1980s was going to look like. Mad Mel, 22 years old, WAY before booze and cuckoo Catholicism ravaged his face and his fan-base. Gibson is a movie god, for folks like me, that stopped believing in a real one. The original "Max" is a rough and unpolished Australian indie, that grossed $100 million worldwide on a $350,000 budget. That makes it one of the most profitable films EVER made. Medical student-turned-director George Miller is one of our great filmmakers in an alternate reality(curiously, he only helmed eleven movies, four of which are "MM"). You can hack through those handcuffs in ten minutes. Your ankle in five...
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