Top 10 (or less) films of … 1977

It was the year of Star Wars and The Sex Pistols—two pop culture phenonema that couldn’t be further apart which but had a lasting impact on film and music. It was a year that encapsulated escaping from things past and launching boldly into whatever was going to come next. Even NASA was playing the game, launching various test flights of its new, future-facing space shuttle. It was the year of the Queen’s silver jubilee and the UK went crazy for it; I remember street parties and celebrations. I remember my Mum dressing me up as a cavalier (cool costume!) and we went to Windsor for what I assume was the lighting of the bonfire at Snow Hill on June 6. It was also the year that I started going to see movies at the cinema.

And what was Hollywood up to …?

This marks the first year that I can finally access global box office stats. As such I won’t be using the North America box office top ten any more. While I expect the majority of the films that appear in the top ten will still be US-produced, I’m far more comfortable having a list that comes a little closer to reflecting what people around the world were paying to see at their local cinemas. However, there is also something a bit wrong in the IMDB top ten … which will be made plain if you inspect the number six entry up there. Given the ‘best films of the year’ is always going to be highly subjective, I think the IMDB list is as useful a barometer as any even if there’s something a bit skewiff with its algorithm. Either way, using both list allows me to see how the most popular contemporary films of the year relate to the most popular retrospective films of the same year.

Star Wars

I was six years old and the escalators at the Leicester Square underground station were the biggest thing I had ever seen. The next biggest thing was the Imperial Star Destroyer roaring onto the screen at the Odeon Leicester Square. It was my mother who took me to see Star Wars (on the biggest screen available to us) and I had no idea what she was taking me to see or what a turning point it was for cinema. I went from knowing nothing about the film to seeing it everywhere. There were photos of R2-D2 and C-3PO in magazines and newspapers; Darth Vader was an absolute icon (and nothing more than a cool villain back then); everyone wanted to be either Luke or Leia (or Han, if you were a bit more of a rebel).

While I only remember moments, being taken to see Star Wars is one of my most treasured memories and I’m forever grateful to my mother for making it happen. I’m surrounded by people who weren’t even alive when the movie came out, much less saw it at the cinema on its original release so, in a very trivial way, I feel like I’ve been able to participate in cinema history.

As a thought exercise I was going to write this section as if George Lucas had refused to release any sequels, or any merchandise—perferring, instead, to let his science-fiction romp stand on its own. It’s impossible. While movie merchandise existed before Star Wars, it was Lucas who proved that it could be even bigger than the movie it spawned from (would there even be Transformers, for example, without the precedent Star Wars set?). While it might have been nice to have been spared Rise Of Skywalker, can you imagine a world where Star Wars isn’t inextricably seeded through our pop culture, not just with the sequels, spin-offs, books, etc but with the influence it’s had elsewhere (no “I am your father” jokes without Empire).

Anyway, for better or worse, this is where the modern movie business really started.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

It’s intriguing that Spielberg also released a science-fiction infused movie in the same year as Star Wars, but the two movies barely share any DNA (the climax is probably the only point the movies even come close—complete with R2-D2 easter egg—although you could argue that Roy Neary dreaming of the stars is a parallel to Luke Skywalker). I’m pretty sure I saw this at the cinema though most of it went right over my head (no pun intended).

My early memories of the movie include the ships stranded in the desert, the mash potato sculpture of the Devil’s Tower and, of course, the iconic musical greeting. It’s funny the random moments that stick with you. I’ve revisited Close Encounters numerous times over the years and have come to really admire and enjoy it. In a bizarre way it’s one of the most grounded movies Spielberg has ever made: just ordinary people trying, in various ways, to cope when the universe comes knocking at the door.

I’ve introduced both of my kids to this one and they love it too. Clearly a movie that works for all ages.

Suspiria

As mentioned in a previous post, I’m not hugely familiar with Dario Argento’s work. As such, it was only a year or two ago that I watched Suspiria for the first time. I don’t think I’ll ever be a major Argento enthusiast, but I did enjoy this one. It was fun for me to see Jessica Harper, who I know best from Shock Treatment (the musical follow up to Rocky Horror) in a more serious role.

Being Argento, it’s the visuals that matter more than the story and Suspiria certainly doesn’t disappoint. It’s one of the most startlingly designed, framed and coloured horror movies that I’ve ever seen and worth a second viewing on those merits alone.

Saturday Night Fever

I believe I’ve only seen this once (maybe twice) and in all honesty there are only two scenes I remember: John Travolta walking down the street with a paint can in the opening scene; and John Travolta preciously guarding his hair in the family dinner scene. Both are worth the price of admission alone. I didn’t see this one at the time of its release but the film was everywhere (and I was certainly aware of enough to recognise the parody disco-dancing scene in Airplane!).

A fascinating example of a film that slipped into the public mass consciousness and ended up with a huge reputation (as a white boy disco movie it doesn’t really earn it). Then again, it did have that soundtrack. I bought the double disc CD sometime in my twenties (yes, I was way behind the curve there!) and I adored it. Two discs of kitschy disco wonderland. Until Thriller came along it was the biggest album ever and those Bee Gees tracks are absolutely immortal.

The Spy Who Loved Me

This is the movie that taught me an important lesson. It taught me that people don’t really want to know what’s coming up in movies they haven’t seen yet. Strictly speaking it was the babysitter (?) who took me to see it one Saturday that taught me that. I had already seen it and I was very excitedly sharing all the cool moments that were about to happen. The person I was with (I wish I could remember who she was) very patiently explained to me that as she hadn’t seen the movie before she’d rather wait and find out for herself. It was one of those learning moments that I’ve never forgotten and only really happens when you have someone who’s patient enough to be a teacher.

That aside, and possibly because this might be the first one I saw at the cinema, this is my favourite Bond movie (not the best; just the one that I shamelessly love the most). It’s probably, in terms of what the franchise was aiming for back then, the perfect Bond movie. It’s got an iconic and terrifying villain in Jaws, one of the best Bond cars (the submersible Lotus—I used to have a Corgi toy of that one), an exotic and deadly Bond girl, an amazing villain’s lair and probably the best opening stunt of all time (barring some ruinous green screen work). There are definitely other Bond movies I would choose to watch ahead of this one nowadays, but The Spy Who Loved Me is my first and best.

Eraserhead

I can’t remember what prompted me to first watch Eraserhead. It might have been a growing post-Blue Velvet interest in David Lynch. It might have been due to its influence on the horror genre. It might have sprung out of my film studies, or simply my growing interest in cinema. Either way I watched it and … will probably never watch it again. It’s an amazing piece of work but that baby, not to mention the scene where the family are tucking into demented roast chickens that are still twitching … those aren’t images you forget quickly!

Annie Hall

This is one of those films that I’ve watched several times and wish I enjoyed it more than I did. I gather the original version was hours long and went through various permutations before we got to the film that was eventually released. My favourite moment remains Woody Allen commenting on Diane Keaton’s parking: “It’s ok, we can walk to the kerb from here!”

Otherwise it feels to me like a slightly messy and indulgent artefact of its time and, given Allen’s standing nowadays, I don’t see myself going back to it again.

Smokey And The Bandit, The Deep

I’m bundling these two together because I know I’ve seen them, but honestly can’t remember anything about them. The Deep, of course, was a big hit due to the Peter Benchley factor—following the success of Jaws it was inevitable that another one of his books would get adapted. I do remember being disappointed that the movie had none of whatever it was I had enjoyed about Jaws (a giant shark, for example). Whether it was the underlying story or the film-making I don’t know: I’ve never gone back to find out.

As for Smokey & The Bandit, I vaguely remember watching it on TV with my family and enjoying it well enough … and that’s pretty much it.

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Unseen

For once I don’t feel like I’ve committed any great crimes against cinephilia with my unseen list. There are two sports movies—Slap Shot and Semi-Tough—that I don’t expect to ever find myself watching. I’m surprised to find wartime epics (A Bridge Too Far) still being made in the late seventies. It seems such a vintage genre in many ways but perhaps with the Vietnam war still fresh in people’s minds perhaps there remained a perverse appetite to revisit this failure during the second world war.

Looking For Mr Goodbar is an intriguing film for me. I know how it ends and it’s grim and fascinating. Thus far I’ve not made an effort to watch it but I feel like it’s gotta happen one day. 

The other unseen film in the list Oh God, also sounds fascinating but for entirely different reasons (and almost sounds like a predecessor to Bruce Almighty). With a story that revolves around faith in God it sounds like it strikes a clever balance between entertainment and saccharine Hollywood preaching. That said, I don’t plan to be checking it out.

The rest

I have to call out two sequels first of all: Exorcist 2 and Airport 77 (which briefly makes me dream of the other 76 Airport movies they might have made). Exorcist 2 is, of course, the famously terrible sequel to (you really need me to say it?) The Exorcist. I haven’t seen this movie and I have no idea what went wrong but following one of the best horror movies ever made with one of the worst takes some real talent.

Outside of that it was a pretty good year for horror with Rabid (from David Cronenberg), Martin (the seminal vampire drama from George Romero), and the chillingly prophetic Demon Seed all arriving on our screens.

Airport 77 is the third entry in the Airport series and is the one where things really start to get fun. In this installment the plane crashes to the bottom of the ocean and the survivors have to figure out how to escape. Yup. Brilliant! 

William Friedkin clearly declined the opportunity to make Exorcist 2 because he was busy making Sorcerer, a remake of the immortal French thriller The Wages of Fear. I love Wages Of Fear and finally checked out Sorcerer some months back. It’s … interesting. It’s long and a bit bloated, even drags its feet at times, but it’s also an incredible, almost unique movie that gives you four fairly unlikeable main characters and then puts you on the edge of your seat as you wonder whether they’re going to survive the movie or not. Once things get going Friedkin delivers some remarkable scenes.

One of my favourite thrillers, Capricorn One, also got released this year. Inspired by the various conspiracy theories that the moon landing was faked, this movie explores what might happen if NASA faked a mission to Mars (sending a spacecraft to Mars, but the astronauts to a TV studio) only for the spacecraft to burn up on the journey home, leaving behind a group of living astronauts who will blow a pretty big secret if anyone ever sees them alive again. I saw this on TV with my Dad, when I was very young, and I still love it.

UK Top Ten

1. The Spy Who Loved Me
2. Smokey and the Bandit
3. Rocky
4. The Rescuers
5. A Bridge Too Far
6. Annie Hall
7. The Other Side Of Midnight
8. Carrie
9. The Enforcer
10. Freaky Friday

The UK Top Ten still has a few surprises. Disney films remain a big draw, as do some of last year’s big US hits. I do remember going to see The Rescuers and enjoying it quite a bit (it was the Finding Nemo of its day) but it’s curious to see it hit number 4 in the UK compared to 15 at the global box office. In fact, it was a pretty good year for Disney with Freaky Friday, Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo and Pete’s Dragon (tho not in the UK until 1978) all doing well. Not top tier Disney, of course, but a good showing for a company that was on the wane at the time.

The high showing for The Other Side Of Midnight (number 21 globally) shows up the popularity of the slightly sleazier side of literature at the time (the novel is by Sidney Sheldon, who I remember sharing space with Harold Robbins on my mother’s bookshelves). I’ve never seen the movie (or read the book) but it’s yet another curious case of Hollywood in transition—a bloated, old-fashioned epic but with a lot more skin on display given the less repressive air of the seventies.

Join us next time where you’ll believe a man can fly!