The lamest of the three versions but the performances are bearable.

With Haskell Wexler's splendid photography and Leonard Rosenman's fine score, the film provides a poetic yet authentic view of Depression-era America with the symbolic figure of Guthrie (an impressive David Carradine) at its very centre.

This is really Sly's movie as he slugs his way through a heartfelt performance and delivers some cracking punches, both literally and emotionally.

It’s hard to remember that this extremely unexceptional film was a major hit back in the 70s.

De Niro's little known masterclass makes this essential viewing.

The reason Carrie is still held in such high regard as a horror classic is very simple: it's all in the sheer directorial bravado. De Palma at the top of his game.

Network is typical of the cool intelligence of '70s American cinema.

The only movie to truly deliver the visceral power of a dental drill, John Schlesinger’s taut, well written if far-fetched and baffling thriller, is the film that gives you a tooth ache in a good way.

The songs and set pieces are still fresh and infectious and most of the child cast are mesmerisingly good. I defy anyone not to be caught up in the charm and nostalgia.

There were a few sci-fi movies in the 70s that managed to transcend the genre and become fairly well known in the mainstream. This weren't one of 'em and for good reason.

The Duke's last hurrah is one of the very best of a cycle of 70s movies that served as obituaries for the Western itself.

Fonda and Danner — who looked then exactly like her daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow, does now — are likable leads in ’70s futurist leisurewear (why didn’t those tailored jumpsuits catch on?), and some creepy corporate robot action helps (Danner’s gunfight with her robot duplicate), but it’s a lot less exciting than the original and replaces satire with TV-style plotting.

The only obsession on display here is De Palma's - with Hitchcock. It's an unhealthy one too which results in an out of focus rip-off.

Never magical, this hotchpotch of colourful, unrelated snippets is certainly a mystery.

A truly great Western from Clint that is bleakly atmospheric and charming in turns.

The performance of Harvey Stephens as the young Damien has invested the film with the chill of genuine credibility.

A disturbing and poignant anthology of Roman Polanski's favourite, oppressive themes.

A sci-fi which balances big themes and claustrophobic action with apparent ease.

This Neil Simon-scripted pastiche of an array of much-loved detective characters is surprisingly charming.

Undoubtedly the finest of Argento's thrilling horrors, this one takes the radical step, for the director at least, to concentrate on a plot that equals the shocking visuals of his other works. David Hemmings is well cast and is given a great script which genuinely frights.

Slightly lacking in tension but with a striking performance from Marlon Brando.

One of modern American film’s most intelligent and provocative accounts of a nation’s political failings, and a near-perfect depiction of journalism at its purist and most inspired. To be more succinct, it is quite brilliant.

Sedate and contemplative character piece but low on thrills.

With a heavily improvised script Cassavetes gets the most from his actors, each giving emotive performances.

The blend of Schrader's script, Scorsese's direction and De Niro's performance is both riveting and unnerving. A film that will stay with you forever.

Pacino simmers in this daring and brilliantly constructed treatise on the many facets of a crime.

Peckinpah is never quite as comfortable with the high-rise terrain (including sloppy kung fu) as he is with the dusty rawhide of the West, but it still shows up the slick trigger-edits of new action cinema for the gutless vacuum it has become.

Kubrick's superb version of William Thackery's first novel is meticulous and philosophically stimulating but it can leave some audiences unmoved on an emotional level.

Huston revels in he opportunity for old-fashioned splendour, granting the film the sunset glow of Lawrence Of Arabia and the swashbuckling cadence worthy of the Errol Flynn days. It’s the artful mix of Kipling’s own writing, flights of fantasy with a political core.

Too many classic set pieces to mention but keep your ears cocked for that immortal line "Mmmm, Juicy Fruit." Certified brilliance.

The execution doesn't quite enliven the premise, but there's still enough enjoyably offbeat moments here to make this one worth digging up.

This is not just a treatise on post-colonialism and class. Sembène boldly uses his female characters to comment on Senegal's chauvinist patriarchy.

Entertaining as hell.

The powerhouse of the film is Tim Curry's cross-dressing alien, Frank N. Furter, who would never reach these kinds of gloriously demented heights again.

This magnificent, often anarchic pastiche of Russian literature’s portentous habits with a side order in Bergmanesque death wallowing actually finds Allen at his silliest. Which also means it is extraordinarily clever silliness, with designs deliberately stolen from Chaplin, Keaton and the Marx Brothers. It is film that explores comedy’s infinite variety via the medium of the existential philosophy of those big Russian sagas slumped in history like sulking teenagers.

It was the complete nightmare that invented the "summer blockbuster", launched the genius on a global scale and delivered an astonishingly effective thriller built on a very primal level: fear.

One of the most accomplished, influential and enjoyable films of the '70s.

Paying attention to religious impulses which are all but incomprehensible in the 20th Century, Bresson conjures up a God-bothered middle ages that is harrowing but not, it must be said, terribly exciting.

Though the film looks dated it contains great use of English countryside and a couple of genuine chills.

Managing to be cynical and heartwarming at the same time, this is an almost perfect satire on the American Institution of beauty pageants.

A distinctively crass, hugely enjoyable sick satire from director Paul Bartel, working for uber-producer Roger Corman – allegedly, Bartel kept thinking up more and wilder jokes, while Corman insisted more and more people got run over.

A veritable facroy of memorable quotes and scenes.

Super sexy, silly Meyer fun where he takes his own self-styled genre to its heights/depths.

What a peculiar but effective children’s adventure movie this is.

Whilst this takes itself a little too lightly it has a lot going for it.

An interesting stop-gap in the slasher genre.

Dated even at the time of release this nevertheless has a comic performance from Walter Matthau worth catching.

Much more than a way to pass a rainy bank holiday afternoon, this is rocking good superleague disaster adventure.

A perfect example of early Brooks firing on all spoofily comedic cylinders.

And with supporting roles from the likes of Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall and Lee Strasberg, to say nothing of Roger Corman and Harry Dean Stanton in bit parts, this is nothing short of magisterial.

Alternating gritty realism and red‑hued fantasy, this is one of those '70s films that wears well, universal in its heart while picking out specifics which are exactly of their time.

If Fosse's film fails to capture the man or his art completely, it remains a damn good place to start.

No matter how good the performer you can’t escape Christie’s leisurely approach to characterisation — simple concoctions of quirk, guilt and red herring. But Lumet is having loads of credible fun with the formula, keeping up a genuine sense of claustrophobia in this isolated railway car surrounded by crisp white snow.

As with most Cassavetes' it is Rowlands who steals this show, this time expertly playing the happy housewife slowly going off the rails while Falk plays the part of her bewildered husband. At two-and-a-half hours, it could easily have dragged but with such strong performances, you're left wanting more.

Hardly must-see Wenders, but for fans of his road movies, it remains a treat.

Compelling 1970s take on the monster horror genre which remains fresh and hugely watchable.

The most purely horrifying horror movie ever made.

Warm and thought-provoking portrayal of a journey and a man coping with the onset of age and all that might mean.

The Wicker Man is, more than anything else, a film about what people can do in the name of religion or, more generally, belief. Its power comes not from appeals to the supernatural but from a deep understanding of our own undeniable nature. Horror doesn't get much closer to home than that.

Bleak brilliance.

The prototype for now ubiquitous 50 best blabla clips ever shows is well worth a look. They really are a bunch of the best ever.

It was Roman Polanski's genius, however, that made the film not merely an intelligent and intricate narrative but a great, disturbing vision.

Well-shot thriller but with a weak performance from Beatty.

Hodges takes a cool, detached approach, designing most scenes in monochrome with disturbing flesh-colours, and manages to make Segal's semi-android a strangely sympathetic monster.

Pleasant, forgettable.

Eastwood is in good, if not great form, Bridges steals the whole show, and Cimino displays a sense of unpretentious fun and appealing grasp of character.

Another great, landmark American film of the '70s.

Writer-director Jack Hill (Spider Baby) evidently didn't try very hard on this one.

In the grand pantheon of Sinbad movies, those pleasurable Arabesques of silly beasts, big swords and scantily clad maidens, this lower league Ray Harryhausen stop-motion thriller squeezes between the better Eye Of The Tiger and the worse Seventh Voyage.

In essence, Dark Star has what all great comedy has: a sense of desperation and pathos allied to an abiding humanity which elevates it high above the realm of mere spoof.

A good-looking and entertaining British horror film.

An opulent and accurate portrayal of the period that drags too much to stay interesting.

Stands next to Young Frankenstein as Brooks' best movie, and, of course, boasts the god of all fart gags.

Dodgy on every level.

Unlike a number of director’s cuts, this version does embellish the original film. It won’t, however, win any converts. Fans should see it again, first-timers should believe the hype. Non-believers should suffer eternal damnation. [2000 re-release]

This has grit coming out of its ears but not the greatest Eastwood feature by a long shot.

One of those instances where everything good about Hollywood just fell into one place at the right time, it's almost impossible not to get swept up in the vivaciousness of The Sting as a whole. Magnificent, timeless stuff.

A clarinet player who also runs a health food store is frozen and brought back in the future by anti-government radicals in order to assist them in their attempts to overthrow an oppressive government. When he goes off on his own, he begins to explore this brave new world that has Orgasmatron booths to replace sex and confessional robots.

One of the greatest behind-bars movies ever, the result finds director Franklin J. Schaffner making the most of both his sun-drenched locations and his leading man, who squintily acts even co-star Dustin Hoffman well off the screen.

One of the definitive mystery chillers of all time. Poignant, beautiful and devastating.

Al Pacino delivers a powerful performance in this compelling biopic...of a cop and a city's police force.

Surreal and wonderful in a way not often seen from Europe.

The sight of Brynner walking indestructibly toward the camera, all in black, his eyes cold and unerring like a couple of silver bullets, is as haunting as any screen bogeyman.

Foxes with bows and arrows..what could be better than that?

It all adds up to just another glossy Love Story.

Achingly evocative of a time when Hollywood had the courage to invest in complex and morally ambiguous films and an indisputable masterpiece of American cinema. [26 May 2003]

Terrific. Top shelf talent at the top of their game, working immediately before they would change Hollywood.

Brutal story-line which is about as close to an explicit allegory as the western has ever come.

It's not a great film, but Lee's superhuman skills make it an occasionally jaw-dropping experience.

If it weren’'t for Lost Horizon, this would have gone down in history as the Worst Musical of 1973.

A funny-serious movie with gorgeous cars and colours and an amazing feel for the artefacts of an instantly vanished era.

There is true beauty in the realism at the heart of what could come across a fanciful movie plot, with its documentarian coolness of execution, the crisp rhythms of Zinnemann’s direction, we feels we are staring through a window into the shadowy recesses of history.

A demented slice of widescreen right-on action-funk from the blaxsploitation era.

A modernised Bond is dragged kicking and screaming into the 70s.

Comedy has rarely been so intricate, incisive and inspired.

Largely devoid of any charm or intelligence that made other Apes films entertaining, this one should be buried in the Forbidden Zone.

A resonant film which has a speudo-cult status as everyone has seen it late one night on TV and it's never left them.

Superbly Vincent Price!