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[Blader]

70s are top for me, 60s and 80s for a close second. My nostalgia sweetspot is always for the 90s though.

 

[RealisticPillow]

I'd say 70s and 40s

 

[xbhaskarx]

70s were the best decade for film, and the most important.

 

[Chezzymann]

People are seriously saying the 90's? I guess that's just from nostalgia. The 2000's were way better than the 90's movie-wise.

I'd argue that Pixar's golden era of the 2000's was better than Disney's renaissance of the 90's.

 

[milanbaros]

Yeah probably. Can you imagine a film of the godfather's quality coming out now, or Apocalypse Now. Just wouldn't happen. It seems like tv drama is where you have to go to get that quality nowadays.

 

[The Omega Man]

the 70's were superior in every way, not only films, but music, fashion, hair cuts, TV series, toys, the greatest actors and directors at their peak, etc.
We've been on a steady downhill ever since.

 

[DonasaurusRex]

People are seriously saying the 90's? I guess that's just from nostalgia. The 2000's were way better than the 90's movie-wise.

I'd argue that Pixar's golden era of the 2000's was better than Disney's renaissance of the 90's.

yeah the 90's were pretty slim but i think the independent films in the 90's were good, Chungking Express came out in those days for example, wasnt Pi late 90's?.

 

[delta25]

The 70s and 80s were hands down the two best decades for movies.

 

[diffusionx]

70s were the best decade for film, and the most important.

This.

I love movies from all decades, but the 1970s were where film got its tone and style that is still used today. It's almost like you can tell when a film came out before the 1970s - there's a stark line of demarcation for before and after.

Apocalypse Now is the best film of that decade IMO.

 

[richiek]

If you have a chance, definitely watch "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls". A great documentary on the New Hollywood era of the 70s.

 

[dark_prinny]

Long answer : yes.

Short answer: yes.

 

[830920]

Last decade of movies for the thinking man. Movies in general got really dumb in the 80's.

 

[jstripes]

Last decade of movies for the thinking man. Movies in general got really dumb in the 80's.

Multiplexes and blockbusters. Everything had to be a mass-market spectacle.

 

[ymmv]

the 70's were superior in every way, not only films, but music, fashion, hair cuts, TV series, toys, the greatest actors and directors at their peak, etc.
We've been on a steady downhill ever since.

I'll give you music and to a lesser degree films, but the rest... fashion, hair cuts, tv series, toys, greatest actors ... please. I'd say "kill it with fire". I was a child in the seventies and I don't want a return of any of the bad, ugly, awful crap I had to live through.

 

[reKon]

I think it would be interesting for people to post their age along with their decade/lists

 

[DrFaustPhD]

Bunch 1969 in with the 70's and its definitely no contest.

 

[Thug Waffle]

This.

I love movies from all decades, but the 1970s were where film got its tone and style that is still used today. It's almost like you can tell when a film came out before the 1970s - there's a stark line of demarcation for before and after.

Apocalypse Now is the best film of that decade IMO.

Stalker >

but okay.

Yeah, the 70's win.

 

[EliCash]

Bunch 1969 in with the 70's and its definitely no contest.

67 onwards counts I think. If we're talking about the New Hollywood era.

 

[RedNumberFive]

Speaking of...

Is the PSP port of the game any good? I was thinking about grabbing it for my Vita.

 

[The Elite]

All about the 90's, semi-list drowning ahoy :

Saving Private Ryan
The Shawshank Redemption
The Lion King
The Matrix
Pulp Fiction
Goodfellas
Jurassic Park
The Sixth Sense
Fight Club
Forrest Gump
Braveheart
The Big Lebowski
Reservoir Dogs
Tombstone
American History X
Hoop Dreams
Fargo
Groundhog Day
Memento
Se7en
Terminator 2
Toy Story
Princess Mononoke
South Park

The 90s have some good highs but many of those films still pale in comparison to other decades. The rest of the pack in the 90s is forgettable.

 

[DrFaustPhD]

67 onwards counts I think. If we're talking about the New Hollywood era.

There's no arguing with that, but I didn't want to be greedy with my extra years

 

[GavinGT]

It's hard for me to pick between the 70s and the 80s. The 70s had tons of great dramas, while the 80s had a shitload of awesome comedies.

 

[Sub_Level]

Someone other than myself has seen McCabe & Mrs. Miller? wut?

 

[Andrew Korenchkin]

Awww, do I have to pick?

I would say most of my favorite movies came in...well shoot.

I probably wouldn't be able to pick a favorite decade.

 

[Bucket Mouse]

The New Hollywood directors of the '70s were the young film school generation, synthesizing what they saw growing up in a perfect blend of art and commerce. The balance generally tipped towards commerce in the '80s.

 

[Bodacious]

I was a kid in the 70's (born in '67). Sometimes, even though it means I would be an older man now, I wish I were about 10 years older, so I could have experienced that decade as a young man. Instead, I got the 80's. Not so bad, but definitely not the 70's. The movies, the music (especially what you could go see live), the freedom and naivety towards alcohol, smoking, drugs, sex ... America was a young adult's paradise in the 70's, except for the cars being total shit. That much I remember very well.

 

[Robot Pants]

100% agree. 70s were movie gold.

 

[EliCash]

There's no arguing with that, but I didn't want to be greedy with my extra years

Yea, fair enough. Calling 1967 the 70s is definitely a stretch. But it's always tricky to look at decades since the last years of a decade often have more in common with the start of the next decade than the start of the decade they're in.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

There's no real best decade to me. But the '70s is one of my favorites simply because of all the transgressive films coming out all around the world, even in America. It was a time for younger film-makers to find commercial success filming more intimate, often controversial stories for theaters (as compared to VOD where there's little communal immersion other than the Internet and watching with friends at home).The early '70s fostered numerous movies based around the birth and destruction of utopian ideals coming out of the Baby Boomer college-age generation; the late '70s provided context for stories about the fallout from all that. Funny how '80s films totally reflect the Reagan era and its closeness to the '50s.

 

[Muffdraul]

The original Rollerball was the best movie ever made, bar none.

 

[Peco]

If you have a chance, definitely watch "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls". A great documentary on the New Hollywood era of the 70s.

A Decade Under the Influence is decent as well.

 

[aasoncott]

I can get behind this.

All that Tarkovsky.

 

[milanbaros]

I don't think I've seen a thread on GAF with such widespread agreement. That alone is testament to how incredible the films coming out in those years were. The actors as well, Hoffman, Pacino, Deniro, Hackman, Nicholson. Compare that to today's leading actors.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Not enough post-apocalyptic sci-fi on that list

 

[WorriedCitizen]

My vote goes to 1950's.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

I would argue for the 1950s, but the 70s is definitely up there. From the IMDb:



Edit: And that list (page 1) isn't including films like Ugetsu, Tokyo Story, Ordet, Godzilla, Hiroshima mon amour, Rififi, Nights of Cabiria, Throne of Blood, Pickpocket, Sansho the Bailiff, The Cranes are Flying, and many others.

Lots of top notch movies. The movies Hitchcock alone put out in the 50s (Rear Window, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, North by Northwest) are amazing.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

Yes, even though the '80s had the best comedy, action & sci-fi/fantasy films ever.

 

[isamu]

80's and 90's for me but I'll be damned if '78 'and 79 didn't have some ridiculously great movies.

Exorcist
The Shining
Superman
Cookoo's Nest
The Game of Death

Man, those two years were incredible.