20 Directors Behind the Greatest Movies of the 1970s

Especially in American cinema, the 1970s were a period of great change. The 1950s and 1960s saw the end of the Golden Age of the studio system, the end of the Hays Code, and the beginning of the Vietnam War. Nihilism and violence were on the rise, as were the filmmakers of New Hollywood, who helped define auteur filmmaking. Across the globe, many directors were using this period to push the envelope and mint masterpieces.

While all the filmmakers on this list made films before or after the 1970s, these are 20 of the best directors whose work defined the decade, in order of when their first film of the 1970s premiered.

1. Ingmar Bergman

Selected Filmography: Cries & Whispers (1972), Scenes from a Marriage (1973), Autumn Sonata (1978)

While Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman directed iconic classics from basically every decade in which he worked, he generously gifted the 1970s some of his most towering achievements, including the television miniseries Scenes from a Marriage, which was later edited into a three-hour feature that debuted in 1974.

2. Chang Cheh

Selected Filmography: The Heroic Ones (1970), Five Deadly Venoms (1978), Crippled Avengers (1978)

Legendary Chinese filmmaker Chang Cheh directed a whopping 56 movies between 1970 and 1979, shaping the modern kung fu movie as the genre’s international popularity surged throughout the decade.

3. William Friedkin

Selected Filmography: The Boys in the Band (1970), The French Connection (1971), The Exorcist (1973)

The queer classic The Boys in the Band has nothing to do with the seminal crime movie The French Connection, which in turn has nothing to do with the controversial horror hit The Exorcist (which has long enjoyed a reputation as one of the scariest movies of all time). Ditto the 1977 thriller Sorcerer. William Friedkin was able to dance across genres throughout the 1970s, minting classics left and right without ever once feeling like he was repeating himself.

4. K. Balachander

Selected Filmography: Patham Pasali (1970), Avargal (1977), Thappu Thalangal (1978)

Tamil cinema legend K. Balachander is known for films that tackle important social issues and often center on strong female characters. The prolific Indian filmmaker helmed more than 70 movies throughout his career, but the 1970s were when he truly began to both find his voice and commercial success.

5. Brian De Palma

Selected Filmography: Sisters (1972), Phantom of the Paradise (1974), Carrie (1976)

Brian De Palma is known for a certain style of voyeuristic thriller, but his 1970s output proved he truly has the range to do anything. In addition to helming the first Stephen King adaptation ever with the high school horror movie Carrie, he also contributed one of cult cinema’s greatest musicals with the splashy, zany Phantom of the Paradise.

6. Richard Donner

Selected Filmography: The Omen (1972), A Shadow in the Streets (1975), Superman (1978)

Richard Donner is another filmmaker who couldn’t resist taking on wildly different genres and making all-time classic entries. The Omen, for instance, was one of the only horror movies to win an Oscar in the 20th century, while Superman established the model for superhero cinema, the echoes of which can still be felt today in modern franchises like the MCU and the DCU.

7. Jun Fukuda

Selected Filmography: Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

As the Shōwa era of the Godzilla franchise was drawing to a close, Jun Fukuda was keeping the lights on more or less singlehandedly, turning out a series of delightful matinee kaiju movies that helped foster enduring fandom across the globe.

8. Melvin Van Peebles

Selected Filmography: Watermelon Man (1970), Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971), Don't Play Us Cheap (1972)

Melvin Van Peebles is a firebrand who used the success of his studio film Watermelon Man to launch his indie career, giving himself the freedom to bring his unadulterated vision to the screen with Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, which kickstarted the blaxploitation subgenre in the 1970s.

9. Dario Argento

Selected Filmography: The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), Deep Red (1975), Suspiria (1977)

Italian horror master Dario Argento rose to prominence with stylish entries in the then-popular giallo genre, but eventually went on to invent a genre all his own with the beautiful, lurid, indefinable Suspiria.

10. Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Selected Filmography: The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), Fear Eats the Soul (1974), Fox and His Friends (1975)

New German Cinema titan Rainer Werner Fassbinder was extraordinarily prolific, helming 22 features before his death at age 37 in 1982. A whopping 16 of those movies were released in the 1970s, including the unforgettable drama The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (which was recently shouted out by Jeff Goldblum in a viral video where he was asked which movie character he would take to the Met Gala).

11. Martin Scorsese

Selected Filmography: Mean Streets (1973), Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi Driver (1976)

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Martin Scorsese is a towering icon of cinema, and while he would rise to even greater heights in 1980 and beyond, many of his 1970s films - especially Taxi Driver - still stand tall as zeitgeist-defining classics.

12. Elaine May

Selected Filmography: A New Leaf (1971), The Heartbreak Kid (1972), Mikey and Nicky (1976)

Elaine May is a pioneering female filmmaker who was one of the only women helming major studio movies in the 1970s, including the Oscar-nominated romantic comedy The Heartbreak Kid.

13. George Lucas

Selected Filmography: THX 1138 (1971), American Graffiti (1973), Star Wars (1977)

If he had only directed the nostalgic smash hit American Graffiti, George Lucas could have earned a place on this list, but he had the gall to add the 1977 sci-fi mega-blockbuster Star Wars to his resume as well, rewriting the DNA of cinema in the process.

14. Tobe Hooper

Selected Filmography: Eggshells (1971), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Salem’s Lot (1979)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre alone would have landed anybody on this list. The seminal proto-slasher (which is a bitter, brutal response to the violence of the Vietnam War) is so intense that people remember it as having much more blood than it actually does. However, he also went ahead and directed the Salem’s Lot miniseries, thus contributing one of the most enduring Stephen King adaptations before the end of the decade.

15. Gordon Parks

Selected Filmography: Shaft (1971), Shaft’s Big Score! (1972), The Super Cops (1974)

Civil rights photojournalist Gordon Parks, who didn’t make his feature debut until he was 56 years old, was another pioneering figure in the blaxploitation genre, directing the first two installments of the iconic Shaft franchise.

16. Steven Spielberg

Selected Filmography: Duel (1971), Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

While Duel proved that young director Steven Spielberg could turn a limited budget into a taut thriller, Jaws proved he could rule the world. The massive hit is responsible for the modern summer blockbuster, which Spielberg would go on to define in the late 1970s and beyond.

17. George A. Romero

Selected Filmography: The Crazies (1973), Martin (1977), Dawn of the Dead (1978)

While George A. Romero is best known for his zombie movies, the socially conscious approach that he perfected in 1968’s Night of the Living Dead was put to good use in all kinds of horror subgenres in the 1970s outside of his classic zombie sequel Dawn of the Dead, including vampire movies (Martin), sci-fi horror (The Crazies), and witch movies (1972’s Season of the Witch).

18. Bob Fosse

Selected Filmography: Cabaret (1972), Liza with a Z (1972), All That Jazz (1979)

While Bob Fosse wasn’t a particularly prolific filmmaker, Cabaret and All That Jazz are two of the most important movie musicals of all time. The Academy would seem to agree, as they nominated both for Best Picture. While neither won, Cabaret still holds the record for the most-awarded movie not to win Best Picture, thanks to its eight Oscars in other categories.

19. Francis Ford Coppola

Selected Filmography: The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979)

In the 1970s alone, Francis Ford Coppola put out one of the most iconic gangster movies of all time, one of the most iconic sequels of all time, and one of the most iconic war movies of all time. Not shabby for just 10 years!

20. Terry Jones

Selected Filmography: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)

Monty Python member Terry Jones only directed two movies in the 1970s, but considering the fact that they were two of the most influential comedies in the history of cinema, we’ll give him a pass.

Even a list with 20 entries can’t encompass the beautiful sprawl of an entire decade. Who are your favorite 1970s filmmakers? Did they make the list or not? Shout them out in the comments below!