The 10 best movies of 1973, ranked

There is no doubt that 1973 was a very good year for film. Although the same argument can be made for many other years when collecting the best films released in a given 12-month period, the films of 1973 have stood the test of time. Even five decades after its theatrical release, many films from 1973 are still easily available to stream. Some of these films proved to be an incredible influence on everything that followed.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1973 cinema lineup, we’re taking a look at the 10 best films of 1973, ranked from worst to first. And you won’t have to turn your head 360 degrees to find out which movie reached No. 1.

10. Live and let die

Roger Moore makes his first appearance as James Bond live and Let Die, although the film may be more famous for the title song by Paul McCartney and Wings. It was a dark take on Bond, as 007 goes up against Dr. Kananga (Yaphet Kotto), a Caribbean dictator who plays a major role in the drug world.

It is a Bond film starring two Bond Girls: Rosie Carver (Gloria Hendry) and Solitaire (Jane Seymour). When Bond manages to betray Kananga to Solitaire, they are both thrown into danger as 007 attempts to complete his mission.

Watch live and Let Die On Prime Video.

9. Soylent Green

Unfortunately, the last line of Green It’s so iconic that it probably ruined the film’s big release before many people even got to see it. Fortunately, the film itself is very good as a thriller. Charlton Heston plays NYPD Detective Robert Thorne, who is the son of Soylent Corporation CEO William R. Trying to solve the murder of Simonson (Joseph Cotton).

In this future, real food is extremely rare, and Soylent Corp.’s Soylent Green is far more popular than its other processed food products. But in a world with limited natural resources, Soylent Green can really only come from one source. And when Thorn learns the truth, it’s a truly horrifying revelation.

Watch Green In max.

8. Westworld

Jurassic Park Written and directed by novelist Michael Crichton done by, the sci-fi film that inspired the HBO series several decades later. But the original film is much less complex than the television show. Peter Martin (Richard Benjamin) and his friend, John Blaine (James Brolin), visit Westworld, one of three theme parks filled with lifelike human androids that can fulfill their every wish.

However, something goes terribly wrong as a computer virus reaches the Androids in every park. Suddenly, the previously toothless gunslinger (Yul Brynner) is firing real bullets and the machines are going up. And human guests trapped in the parks may not be able to find a way out.

Watch done by On The Criterion Channel.

7. Enter the Dragon

enter the Dragon was Bruce Lee’s last film, but he rose to the top with one of the greatest martial arts films of all time. In the story, Li (Li) is recruited by British intelligence to act as a spy on their behalf during an upcoming martial arts tournament organized by Han (Shih Keun), a notorious criminal. As further incentive to find evidence of Han’s crimes, Lee also learns that his sister’s murderer, O’Hara (Bob Wall), is Han’s bodyguard.

Once he reaches the island with other martial artists, Lee discovers that security is much tighter than he expected. Han also has his own ambitions for fighters like Roper (John Saxon) and Williams (Jim Kelly), who will either join his criminal organization or die.

rent or buy enter the Dragon On Google Play, Prime Video, YouTube and Apple TV+.

6. Wicker Man

You may have seen the clip of Nicolas Cage wildly overacting in the 2006 remake the Wicker Man, but the original film is far better than the remake, and also a very effective horror story. Edward Woodward plays a detective named Neil Howie, who is assigned to locate a missing young girl, Rowan Morrison (Geraldine Cowper). He finds a troubled island community led by Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee), who has abandoned Christianity for paganism.

As Neil continues his search for Rowan, he slowly uncovers the island’s dark secrets. Neil also realizes that he cannot leave, and he cannot call for help. Whatever fate awaits him, Neil must face it alone.

Watch the Wicker Man On Amazon Freevy.

5. American graffiti

George Lucas’s second film, american graffiti, was much more practical than his later films. but it doesn’t happen star wars If this film had not established Lucas as a rising young filmmaker. The story is based on a summer night in 1962, when Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve Bolander (Ron Howard) spend time with their friends, John Milner (Paul Le Mat) and Terry Fields (Charles Martin Smith). He goes to college on the East Coast.

The film follows the group as they have different misadventures over the course of a single night, which ultimately shape their perspective of what they want and who they want to be. american graffiti It’s a great coming-of-age film, even if it’s overshadowed by Lucas’s sci-fi opus.

Watch american graffiti On fubo.

4. High Plains Drifter

Clint Eastwood’s second film as director, high Plains Drifter, seemingly reminiscent of his time in Spaghetti Westerns during the 1960s. But the story goes to much darker places, as Eastwood portrays an unknown stranger who arrives at a mining town called Lago and quickly abandons his body.

The Stranger is hired by the townspeople for their own protection and to cover up the town’s complicity in the murder of Marshal Jim Duncan (Buddy Van Horn). Of course, the stranger takes full advantage of the hospitality of the town, and has no shame in killing anyone who comes towards him with a gun.

Watch high Plains Drifter On fubo.

3. Day of the Jackal

When film lovers talk about the great thrillers of the 1970s, jackal day It is almost always cited as one of the best of its era. The story takes place about a decade ago, when French President Charles de Gaulle (Adrien Cella-Legrand) was targeted for death by the terrorist organization OSA. When his first attempt on de Gaulle’s life fails, the OSA turns to an assassin they know only by his code name: The Jackal (Edward Fox).

The film spends a lot of time with the Jackal as he plans the hit, almost as if he is the hero of the story. It wasn’t until later that the film introduced Deputy Commissioner Claude LeBell (Michael Lonsdale), who is tasked with investigating the Jackal and his mission. This begins an intense race against time to stop the Jackal from assassinating the President.

Watch jackal day On Prime Video.

2. The Sting

After his success in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Four years ago, Paul Newman and Robert Redford reunited with director George Roy Hill tease, For the record, it was the 1973 film that won the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Director, and five other Academy Awards.

During the Great Depression, a young thug named Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) defrauds a courier of thousands of dollars that belong to mob boss Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw). In retaliation, Lonnegan kills Johnny’s mentor, Luther Coleman (Robert Earl Jones). Seeking revenge for Luther’s death, Johnny contacts their mutual friend, Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman), and together, they hatch an elaborate plan to extort Doyle at all costs.

rent or buy tease On Google Play, Prime Video, YouTube and Apple TV+.

1. Exorcist

even though Exorcist: Believer Didn’t come out this month, the Exorcist It would still be the most influential film of 1973. It was the first horror film to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, and people are still talking about it five decades later. Linda Blair had the role of a lifetime as a young girl named Regan McNeil who is possessed by a demon. The film’s depiction of Regan’s ordeal is truly horrifying, and people who saw the film in 1973 reportedly fainted, vomited, and even walked out of screenings.

Regan’s mother, Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), desperate for help, performs an exorcism to try to save Regan’s life and her soul from Father Lancaster Merrin (Max Von Sydow) and Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller). Agree to work. The conflict between good and evil grew stronger the ExorcistIts place in the history of cinema.

Watch the Exorcist On max.