The 10 Best Casts From 70s Movies

The 10 Best Casts From ’70s Movies

Contents

The ’70s were an amazing time for movies. Cinema had some of the best casts of all time in films like Star Wars, The Godfather and Taxi Driver.

You Are Reading :[thien_display_title]

The 10 Best Casts From 70s Movies

The 1970s is widely considered to be the best decade in American cinema. Old Hollywood died in 1969, as depicted in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Easy Rider paved the way for the New Hollywood movement to dominate the ‘70s. This era was detailed in Peter Biskind’s book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls.

It was a time when studios on the brink of bankruptcy had no choice but to take risks on experimental low-budget projects helmed by auteurs like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. These directors had great relationships with actors, and gave them the freedom to really find a character. So, here are The 10 Best Casts From ‘70s Movies.

10 American Graffiti (1973)

The 10 Best Casts From 70s Movies

George Lucas will always be most renowned for creating Star Wars, but four years before he took audiences to a galaxy far, far away, he wrote and directed this underrated gem, a nostalgic coming-of-age comedy inspired by his own teen years.

Richard Dreyfuss and Ron Howard anchor a stellar ensemble cast, with every actor embodying their character and capturing the cruising culture pioneered by early baby boomers in California. On top of that, Harrison Ford began his long-standing working relationship with Lucas in a small role.

9 National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)

The 10 Best Casts From 70s Movies

The cast of National Lampoon’s Animal House, arguably the most popular American comedy of the 1970s, is a dream team of comics led by the late, great John Belushi.

John Vernon set the standard for stuffy, villainous college deans with his performance as Dean Wormer, while Donald Sutherland plays the pothead Professor Dave Jennings with hysterical gusto. There are also great early-career turns by Karen Allen and Kevin Bacon.

8 Alien (1979)

The 10 Best Casts From 70s Movies

Obviously, the shining beacon of Alien is Sigourney Weaver solidifying her place as a screen icon and paving the way for female action heroes as Ellen Ripley. Veteran character actor Ian Holm is brilliant as Ash, the science officer who is shockingly revealed to be an android, and John Hurt gives the notorious chestburster scene even more impact by playing Kane as a likable guy for the first half of the movie. And despite not being a sci-fi fan, Harry Dean Stanton gives a career-best performance in Alien.

See also  Star Wars Heres What Happened to Kanan Jarrus Lightsaber

Bolaji Badejo, a slender 6’10” design student who was discovered in a bar, attaches a haunting inhumanity to the xenomorph, bringing H.R. Giger’s beautiful creation to life. Voice actor Helen Horton set the stage for Alexa as the voice of Mother, the Nostromo’s computer.

7 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

The 10 Best Casts From 70s Movies

Jack Nicholson’s performance as Randle McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was a rallying cry to the decade’s rebellious youth. Louise Fletcher captures the essence of unbridled authoritarianism as his arch-nemesis, the sadistic Nurse Ratched.

William Redfield and Will Sampson give heartfelt portrayals of patients suffering under Ratched’s regime, who McMurphy aims to liberate. A young Christopher Lloyd and an even younger Danny DeVito are great in supporting roles, too.

6 Annie Hall (1977)

The 10 Best Casts From 70s Movies

In 1977’s romantic comedy masterpiece Annie Hall, Woody Allen plays the quintessential incarnation of his neurotic comedic persona as Alvy Singer. Diane Keaton gives the performance of a lifetime as Annie Hall, an unusually three-dimensional love interest who subverts the trappings of the “manic pixie dream girl.”

There are also terrific supporting turns by Carol Kane, Shelley Duvall, and Paul Simon. Marshall McLuhan makes a great cameo appearance as himself in one of the movie’s fourth-wall-breaking moments. Christopher Walken appears in a small role, although his name is misspelled as “Christopher Wlaken” in the credits.

5 Taxi Driver (1976)

The 10 Best Casts From 70s Movies

Martin Scorsese’s neo-noir psychological thriller Taxi Driver puts us right in Travis Bickle’s head, and the whole thing is carried by Robert De Niro’s searing intensity in that role. As a result, the supporting characters are there to serve Travis’ journey.

But every supporting actor still fully commits to their role: Jodie Foster as 12-year-old prostitute Iris, Cybill Shepherd as idealized love interest Betsy, Harvey Keitel as laidback pimp Sport, Leonard Harris as slimy politician Charles Palantine, Steven Prince as shady gun dealer Easy Andy etc. Even Martin Scorsese, in his standard cameo appearance, gives a memorable performance as a taxi passenger intent on killing his cheating wife.

4 Apocalypse Now (1979)

The 10 Best Casts From 70s Movies

Martin Sheen was working through some stuff on the set of Apocalypse Now, so he brought a serious intensity to the role of Captain Willard. Marlon Brando’s incoherent babble on the downslide into the absurdly self-indulgent side of his career actually worked well for the part of Colonel Kurtz. As Kilgore, Robert Duvall uttered one of the most famous lines in film history.

See also  Who Killed Malcolm X The Biggest Reveals From Netflixs Documentary

A 14-year-old Laurence Fishburne lied about his age to get a role as a young soldier in the film and got hooked on heroin on the set, thanks to Dennis Hopper, who appears in the role he was born to play as a drug-addled gonzo photojournalist.

3 Jaws (1975)

The 10 Best Casts From 70s Movies

The great thing about Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is that it doesn’t rely on the shark to drive the narrative. It’s a story about three characters – played spectacularly by Roy Scheider (Chief Brody), Richard Dreyfuss (Matt Hooper), and Robert Shaw (Quint) – with an ever-changing dynamic.

Lorraine Gary refuses to be pigeonholed as a stock wife character in the role of New Yorker Ellen Brody and Murray Hamilton represents every lying, scheming politician as the money-minded Mayor Vaughn.

2 Star Wars (1977)

The 10 Best Casts From 70s Movies

As the dynamic trio at the center of 1977’s Star Wars, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford made instant icons out of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo. Alec Guinness plays the role of Ben Kenobi perfectly as a wise old wizard helping Luke on his quest, while Peter Cushing relishes the chance to play a snarling villain as Grand Moff Tarkin. The efforts of David Prowse (the physical actor conveying body language) and James Earl Jones (the voice actor) combine to create perhaps the greatest villain of all time in Darth Vader.

Despite being hidden under costumes and unable to speak, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker do a terrific job of playing non-verbal communication in Chewbacca and R2-D2, respectively, with Anthony Daniels doing a great job of bickering with the latter and developing a rapport between the two droids.

1 The Godfather (1972)

The cast of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather is a quintessential pool of ‘70s acting talent, from James Caan as Sonny to Talia Shire as Connie, John Cazale as Fredo to Diane Keaton as Kay. Robert Duvall brilliantly plays Tom Hagen as an outsider to the Corleone family.

The movie’s two greatest performances are Marlon Brando’s unforgettable portrayal of the aging mob boss, Vito Corleone, and Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, the wayward son who is slowly drawn into the family business.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/70s-movies-best-casts/

Movies -