The forties and fifities may have been a time of cinema icons and classic cinema and the sixties a time of cult pictures and musicals but the seventies brought a new kind of cinema experience... the blockbuster.
Despite the collapse of the studio system and the beginning of the decade opening with a financial slump cinema soon picked up as a stream of quality movies flooded onto the bog screen.
Some of the most financially successful movies of the decade were war movies such as Patton, about World War II, and M*A*S*H, about the Korean War. However the most successful movie in this genre came in 1979 in form of Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam drama Apocalypse Now.
It was 1975 when Jaws was released the big budget movie was born, it cost $9 million to make and went on to gross $260 million in America alone.
The massive success of the film spawned a sequel which also did well at the box office. But all this paled in comparison when the science fiction franchise Star Wars hit cinemas in 1977.
Helmed by George Lucas the film used breakthrough special effects and, like Jaws before it, enjoyed massive success upon release and was recognised by the Academy.
While the blockbuster was making a name of itself at the box office the gritty crime drama was also doing well with audiences as movies like A Clockwork Orange, Taxi Driver and The French Connection were all released either creating a storm of controversy or winning over the critics ensuring their success, the latter won Best Picture at the 1972 Oscars.
Also enjoying a resurgence amongst cinema goers was the horror flick that was revitalised after the massive success and controversy of 1973's The Exorcist which was directed by William Friedkin.
The decade gave birth to some of the most famous cult movies and characters in this genre including Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Omen and Last House on the Left.
While there was major success in Hollywood the British movie industry was not to be out-done.
In 1971 Sean Connery returned to the role of 007 for the sixth time for Diamonds are Forever but Roger Moore took over the lead role of the successful franchise in 1973 in Live and Let Die.
Michael Caine was one of the biggest British stars of the decade with hits such as Get Carter, Sleuth and The Man Who Would Be King which secured him as a leading man and caught the attention of Hollywood.
Both Al Pacino and Robert De Niro made a name for themselves during the seventies with career defining roles in The Godfather and Taxi Driver respectfully, with Taxi Driver also making a name of director Martin Scorsese and began the successful Scorsese/De Niro partnership.
Jodi Foster kicked off her career with her role as Iris, an underage prostitute, in Taxi Driver, that earnt her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination at the age of fourteen.
Another actress that also made a name for herself during this period was Diane Keaton who received critical acclaim for her role in Woody Allen's Annie Hall, which won her a Best Actress Oscar.
Top Movies of the Decade
1. Apocalypse Now
The film was loosely based on Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and followed Captain Willard (Martin Sheen), a special agent sent into Cambodia to assassinate an errant American colonel (Marlon Brando).
Upon release the film was met by mixed reviews but it went on to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars however it did win the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or and is now considered a classic.
2. Jaws
Jaws saw the birth of the blockbuster in 1975 and went on to be one of the biggest grossing films of the decade.
Based on Peter Benchley's novel the film follows police chief Brody as he tries to protect beach goers from a great white shark. The film spawned several sequels, with actor Roy Schneider only returning for Jaws 2.
3.Star Wars: A New Hope
Originally just called Star Wars, A New Hope saw the beginning of one of the most successful film franchises of all time and kicked off the career of several actors, in particular Harrison Ford.
The film follows Luke Skywalker who finds himself thrust into the role of a hero when he discover the pans to the Death Star in a droid named R2-D2 that also contains a distress message from Princess Leia for Obi Wan Kenobi.
4. The Godfather
Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) is the family patriarch balancing a love of his family with an ambitious criminal instinct.
At the wedding of the Don's daughter Connie (Talia Shire), youngest son Michael (Al Pacino) is reunited with his family.
A subsequent assassination attempt leaves the Don too ill to run the family business, forcing Michael and Sonny (James Caan), with the help of consigliere Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), to lead the Corleones into a vendetta-filled war with other mob families.
Violent revenge ensues as the family tries to change from its old criminal ways into legitimacy.
Based on the best-selling novel by Mario Puzo the film won Best Picture at the Oscar is 1973 and the sequel repeated this success two years later.
5.Rocky
1976 saw the birth of the Rocky franchise that made a star out of Sylvester Stallone as well as showing his script writing abilities.
Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), is an underdog boxer who gets his million-to-one shot at love, self-respect, and the world heavyweight title. Rocky is a down-on-his-luck Philadelphia southpaw who works at a meat-packing factory while fighting at a local club.
He's given the chance of a lifetime when the world heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), chooses him as an unlikely opponent in his championship bicentennial fight.
What was originally planned as a publicity stunt becomes a chance for Rocky to prove himself as a prizefighter while training with his cantankerous manager, Mickey (Burgess Meredith), to rise to the challenge.
Despite all odds the film took Best Picture at the Oscars, Stallone was nominated as Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
The forties and fifities may have been a time of cinema icons and classic cinema and the sixties a time of cult pictures and musicals but the seventies brought a new kind of cinema experience... the blockbuster.
Despite the collapse of the studio system and the beginning of the decade opening with a financial slump cinema soon picked up as a stream of quality movies flooded onto the bog screen.
Some of the most financially successful movies of the decade were war movies such as Patton, about World War II, and M*A*S*H, about the Korean War. However the most successful movie in this genre came in 1979 in form of Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam drama Apocalypse Now.
It was 1975 when Jaws was released the big budget movie was born, it cost $9 million to make and went on to gross $260 million in America alone.
The massive success of the film spawned a sequel which also did well at the box office. But all this paled in comparison when the science fiction franchise Star Wars hit cinemas in 1977.
Helmed by George Lucas the film used breakthrough special effects and, like Jaws before it, enjoyed massive success upon release and was recognised by the Academy.
While the blockbuster was making a name of itself at the box office the gritty crime drama was also doing well with audiences as movies like A Clockwork Orange, Taxi Driver and The French Connection were all released either creating a storm of controversy or winning over the critics ensuring their success, the latter won Best Picture at the 1972 Oscars.
Also enjoying a resurgence amongst cinema goers was the horror flick that was revitalised after the massive success and controversy of 1973's The Exorcist which was directed by William Friedkin.
The decade gave birth to some of the most famous cult movies and characters in this genre including Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Omen and Last House on the Left.
While there was major success in Hollywood the British movie industry was not to be out-done.
In 1971 Sean Connery returned to the role of 007 for the sixth time for Diamonds are Forever but Roger Moore took over the lead role of the successful franchise in 1973 in Live and Let Die.
Michael Caine was one of the biggest British stars of the decade with hits such as Get Carter, Sleuth and The Man Who Would Be King which secured him as a leading man and caught the attention of Hollywood.
Both Al Pacino and Robert De Niro made a name for themselves during the seventies with career defining roles in The Godfather and Taxi Driver respectfully, with Taxi Driver also making a name of director Martin Scorsese and began the successful Scorsese/De Niro partnership.
Jodi Foster kicked off her career with her role as Iris, an underage prostitute, in Taxi Driver, that earnt her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination at the age of fourteen.
Another actress that also made a name for herself during this period was Diane Keaton who received critical acclaim for her role in Woody Allen's Annie Hall, which won her a Best Actress Oscar.
Top Movies of the Decade
1. Apocalypse Now
The film was loosely based on Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and followed Captain Willard (Martin Sheen), a special agent sent into Cambodia to assassinate an errant American colonel (Marlon Brando).
Upon release the film was met by mixed reviews but it went on to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars however it did win the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or and is now considered a classic.
2. Jaws
Jaws saw the birth of the blockbuster in 1975 and went on to be one of the biggest grossing films of the decade.
Based on Peter Benchley's novel the film follows police chief Brody as he tries to protect beach goers from a great white shark. The film spawned several sequels, with actor Roy Schneider only returning for Jaws 2.
3.Star Wars: A New Hope
Originally just called Star Wars, A New Hope saw the beginning of one of the most successful film franchises of all time and kicked off the career of several actors, in particular Harrison Ford.
The film follows Luke Skywalker who finds himself thrust into the role of a hero when he discover the pans to the Death Star in a droid named R2-D2 that also contains a distress message from Princess Leia for Obi Wan Kenobi.