Top 74 Ranked

The Greatest 1975 Films

Classic Masterpieces and Cult Hits of a Golden Era

Explore the best films from a landmark year in cinema history. From iconic blockbusters to acclaimed dramas and cult classics that defined the screen.

Draft Best 1975 Movies with friends and our judges will crown a winner!

About Movies in 1975

To look back at 1975 is to witness the exact moment the tectonic plates of Hollywood shifted forever. If the early seventies belonged to the introspective, gritty visions of the New Hollywood rebels, 1975 was the year the industry learned how to dream in wide-screen, high-concept spectacles while still maintaining its soul. It was a year of transition that gave us both the intellectual peak of the decade and the birth of the modern blockbuster.

The most obvious starting point is Jaws. Before Steven Spielberg unleashed a mechanical shark on the fictional town of Amity Island, the idea of a summer hit didn't really exist. Studios used to dump their weaker films in the warmer months. Jaws changed the math entirely. It became a cultural phenomenon that kept people out of the water and forced them into long lines at the cinema. With its relentless pacing and John Williams's primal score, it proved that a movie could be an event, a shared piece of national anxiety that translated into record-shattering box office numbers.

However, 1975 was far from a one-note year. While Spielberg was inventing the popcorn flick, Milos Forman was perfecting the prestige drama with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Anchored by a career-defining performance from Jack Nicholson, the film captured the era's profound distrust of authority and institutional power. It became only the second film in history to sweep the big five Academy Awards, proving that audiences were just as hungry for challenging, character-driven tragedies as they were for thrills.

The sheer variety of the year's output remains staggering. We saw the release of Nashville, Robert Altman’s sprawling, kaleidoscopic masterpiece that used country music as a lens to examine the American psyche during the Bicentennial era. On the other end of the spectrum, The Rocky Horror Picture Show debuted. It may have flopped initially, but it eventually defined the midnight movie circuit, creating a participatory subculture that exists to this day.

Even the world of comedy reached a surreal peak with Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The British troupe brought a lo-fi, absurdist energy to the screen that influenced every generation of comedians that followed. Meanwhile, Stanley Kubrick released Barry Lyndon, a film so visually precise and technically ambitious that it remains a benchmark for cinematography. Kubrick used specialized NASA lenses to film by candlelight, treating every frame like an 18th-century painting.

Film fans remember 1975 because it offered a perfect balance. It was a year when the avant-garde, the satirical, and the mainstream all coexisted at an incredibly high level. It was the last moment of pure artistic freedom before the industry became obsessed with franchises and sequels. In 1975, the movies were big, but the ideas were even bigger. It was the year that cinema finally grew up while simultaneously rediscovering the magic of the thrill ride.

The Complete Rankings

Based on the top picks in drafts on SnakeDrafts

See Top Ten
74
1975 in The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975)
The Apple Dumpling Gang
1975

A roving bachelor gets saddled with three children and a wealth of trouble when the youngsters stumble upon a huge gold nugget. They join forces with two bumbling outlaws to fend off the greedy townspeople and soon find themselves facing a surly gang of sharpshooters.

Comedy
Family
1h 40m
Norman Tokar
Don Knotts, Tim Conway, Harry Morgan, Bill Bixby
73
1975 in Mr. Ricco (1975)
Mr. Ricco
1975

Accused murderer Frankie Steele walks free, thanks to the efforts of San Francisco defense lawyer Joe Ricco. Then a pair of cop killings strikes the city. All signs point to the newly released Steele as the perpetrator. Has Ricco sprung a killer? Dean Martin keeps his affable ease but abandons his hipster Matt Helm-series swagger to portray Ricco in his final leading-role film, a whodunit mystery set in the city that also was the gritty center of action for the era’s Bullitt and Dirty Harry. Convinced that Steele isn’t behind the murders, Ricco launches an inquiry and runs up against a police lieutenant assigned to birddog him, evidence planted by a racist cop and several assassination attempts on Ricco himself. As the mystery deepens, so does the danger. And behind it all is someone the attorney never suspected. The pre-Laverne & Shirley Cindy Williams plays Ricco’s office assistant.

Action
Comedy
1h 38m
Paul Bogart
Dean Martin, Eugene Roche, Thalmus Rasulala, Denise Nicholas
72
1975 in Rancho Deluxe (1975)
Rancho Deluxe
1975

Two drifters, of widely varying backgrounds, rustle cattle and try to avoid being caught in contemporary Montana.

Comedy
Western
1h 33m
Frank Perry
Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston, Elizabeth Ashley, Clifton James

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71
1975 in Let's Do It Again (1975)
Let's Do It Again
1975

Clyde Williams and Billy Foster are a couple of blue-collar workers in Atlanta who have promised to raise funds for their fraternal order, the Brothers and Sisters of Shaka. However, their method for raising the money involves travelling to New Orleans and rigging a boxing match.

Comedy
Crime
Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, Calvin Lockhart, John Amos
70
1975 in The Devil’s Rain (1975)
The Devil’s Rain
1975

A Satanist cult leader is burnt alive by the local church. He vows to come back to hunt down and enslave every descendant of his congregation, by the power of the book of blood contracts, in which they sold their souls to the devil.

Horror
1h 25m
Robert Fuest
Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, Ida Lupino, William Shatner
69
1975 in Hard Times (1975)
Hard Times
1975

In the depression, Chaney, a strong silent streetfighter, joins with Speed, a promoter of no-holds-barred street boxing bouts. They go to New Orleans where Speed borrows money to set up fights for Chaney, but Speed gambles away any winnings.

Drama
Action
1h 33m
Walter Hill
Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Jill Ireland, Strother Martin
68
1975 in Framed (1975)
Framed
1975

Joe Don Baker plays a gambler who is framed for a crime he did not commit. A corrupt legal system leads him into a plea bargain and four years behind bars. By the time he gets out of prison, he's determined to put together the pieces of his frame-up and dole out the justice he was denied to those responsible.

Action
Crime
1h 46m
Phil Karlson
Joe Don Baker, Conny Van Dyke, Gabriel Dell, John Marley
67
1975 in The Spiral Staircase (1975)
The Spiral Staircase
1975

A mute young woman is stalked by a serial killer at her uncle's mansion.

Horror
Mystery
1h 26m
Peter Collinson
Jacqueline Bisset, Christopher Plummer, John Phillip Law, Sam Wanamaker
66
1975 in Bug (1975)
Bug
1975

An earthquake releases a strain of mutant cockroaches with the ability to start fires, which proceed to cause destructive chaos in a small town. The studies carried out by scientist James Parmiter, however, reveal an intent with much more far-reaching consequences.

Science Fiction
Horror
1h 39m
Jeannot Szwarc
Bradford Dillman, Joanna Miles, Richard Gilliland, Jamie Smith-Jackson
65
1975 in Walking Tall Part II (1975)
Walking Tall Part II
1975

The Walking Tall legacy continues with Bo Svenson as Sheriff Buford Pusser, a one-man army trying to rid his town of corruption. Out to avenge his wife's death at the hand of the mob, Sheriff Pusser blows up their moonshine operation. With Buford breathing down their necks, the syndicate hires two hitmen; one a maniacal race car driver, the other a deadly gunslinger. Any other man would've hightailed it out of there, but then Pusser is no ordinary man.

Action
Adventure
1h 49m
Earl Bellamy
Bo Svenson, Luke Askew, John Davis Chandler, Robert DoQui
64
1975 in Inside Out (1975)
Inside Out
1975

An American ex-WW II POW returns to Germany 30 years after the war. He teams up with the former commander of his prison camp. Together they spring a Nazi war criminal from jail. He's the only one left who knows where a secret wartime cache of gold is hidden.

Comedy
Crime
1h 37m
Peter Duffell
Telly Savalas, Aldo Ray, Robert Culp, James Mason
63
1975 in Let Joy Reign Supreme (1975)
Let Joy Reign Supreme
1975

A look at 18th-century France, when the depravity of the authorities contributed to social oppression, and the uprisings flared up one after another.

War
History
2h 0m
Bertrand Tavernier
Philippe Noiret, Jean Rochefort, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Marina Vlady
62
1975 in Mr. Sycamore (1975)
Mr. Sycamore
1975

Jason Robards is a man who decides he'd rather be a tree.

Comedy
Drama
1h 27m
Pancho Kohner
Jason Robards, Sandy Dennis, Jean Simmons, Robert Easton
61
1975 in Funny Lady (1975)
Funny Lady
1975

Famous singer Fanny Brice has divorced her first husband Nicky Arnstein. During the Great Depression she has trouble finding work as an artist, but meets Billy Rose, a newcomer who writes lyrics and owns a nightclub.

Comedy
Drama
2h 16m
Herbert Ross
Barbra Streisand, James Caan, Omar Sharif, Roddy McDowall
60
1975 in The Master Gunfighter (1975)
The Master Gunfighter
1975

Don Santiago (Richard Angarola) is a vicious man who helps provoke an Indian massacre that will allow him to steal the Indians' land and claim it as his own. However, his son-in-law, Finley (Tom Laughlin), is an expert hand with both guns and swords and will not allow him to push around the peace-loving Indians or fellow settlers of the West.

Drama
Western
1h 50m
Tom Laughlin
Tom Laughlin, Ron O'Neal, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Barbara Carrera
59
1975 in The Stepford Wives (1975)
The Stepford Wives
1975

Joanna Eberhart comes to the town of Stepford, Connecticut with her family, but soon discovers there lies a sinister truth in the all too perfect behavior of the female residents.

Mystery
Thriller
1h 57m
Bryan Forbes
Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Nanette Newman, Judith Baldwin
58
1975 in Aloha Bobby and Rose (1975)
Aloha Bobby and Rose
1975

Bobby and Rose, two youngsters who are in love, have to run away from home when they are falsely accused to have committed a robbery and an assassination.

Drama
Romance
1h 28m
Floyd Mutrux
Paul Le Mat, Dianne Hull, Tim McIntire, Leigh French
57
1975 in Death Race 2000 (1975)
Death Race 2000
1975

In a boorish future, the government sponsors a popular, but bloody, cross-country race in which points are scored by mowing down pedestrians. Five teams, each comprised of a male and female, compete using cars equipped with deadly weapons. Frankenstein, the mysterious returning champion, has become America's hero, but this time he has a passenger from the underground resistance.

Action
Science Fiction
1h 20m
Paul Bartel
David Carradine, Simone Griffeth, Sylvester Stallone, Mary Woronov
56
1975 in Shivers (1975)
Shivers
1975

The residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building are infected by parasites that turn them into mindless nymphomaniac fiends.

Horror
Science Fiction
Paul Hampton, Joe Silver, Lynn Lowry, Allan Kolman
55
1975 in Switchblade Sisters (1975)
Switchblade Sisters
1975

The leader of an inner city girl gang is challenged when a new girl moves into the neighborhood.

Action
Crime
1h 31m
Jack Hill
Robbie Lee, Joanne Nail, Monica Gayle, Asher Brauner
54
1975 in The Ultimate Warrior (1975)
The Ultimate Warrior
1975

Only a few people still live in New York in 2012. They are organized in gangs with their own turf. One of them is led by Baron, another one by Carrot, and they are constantly at war with each other.

Action
Science Fiction
1h 34m
Robert Clouse
Yul Brynner, Max von Sydow, Joanna Miles, William Smith
53
1975 in Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975)
Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze
1975

In the Fabulous Thirties, Doc Savage and his five Amazing Adventurers are sucked into the mystery of Doc's father disappearing in the wilds of South America. The maniacal Captain Seas tries to thwart them at every turn as they travel to the country of Hidalgo to investigate Doc's father's death and uncover a vast horde of Incan gold.

Action
Adventure
1h 52m
Michael Anderson
Ron Ely, Paul Gleason, William Lucking, Michael Miller
52
1975 in The Wilby Conspiracy (1975)
The Wilby Conspiracy
1975

Having spent 10 years in prison for nationalist activities, Shack Twala is finally ordered released by the South African Supreme Court but he finds himself almost immediately on the run after a run-in with the police. Assisted by his lawyer Rina Van Niekirk and visiting British engineer Jim Keogh, he heads for Capetown where he hopes to recover a stash of diamonds, meant to finance revolutionary activities, that he had entrusted to a dentist before his incarceration. Along the way, they are followed by Major Horn of the South African State security bureau and it becomes apparent that he has no intention of arresting them until they reach their final destination

Adventure
Thriller
1h 45m
Ralph Nelson
Sidney Poitier, Michael Caine, Nicol Williamson, Prunella Gee
51
1975 in White Line Fever (1975)
White Line Fever
1975

An independent trucker with a pregnant wife fights cargo crooks and the big shot they work for.

Romance
Action
1h 30m
Jonathan Kaplan
Jan-Michael Vincent, Kay Lenz, Slim Pickens, L.Q. Jones
50
1975 in W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975)
W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings
1975

W.W. Bright is a robber with a heart of gold who travels the South knocking off banks and gas stations owned by a corrupt businessman. When he hijacks a car, he meets an aspiring country band, the Dixie Dancekings, led by Dixie. The two sides eventually take a liking to one another, especially after the Dancekings realize the size of Bright's thefts. Trailed by religious zealot cop Deacon Gore, Bright helps the band make it big while on the run.

Comedy
Drama
1h 31m
John G. Avildsen
Burt Reynolds, Conny Van Dyke, Jerry Reed, Ned Beatty
49
1975 in Take a Hard Ride (1975)
Take a Hard Ride
1975

After his cattle rancher boss dies, right-hand man Pike is given the job of returning $86,000 to some families who live across the border in Sonora, Mexico. Honest Pike is joined on the trip through the wilderness by a dishonest gambler named Tyree.

Action
Western
1h 43m
Antonio Margheriti
Jim Brown, Lee Van Cleef, Fred Williamson, Catherine Spaak
48
1975 in The Strongest Man in the World (1975)
The Strongest Man in the World
1975

Medfield College science major Dexter Riley and his classmates have been working on a new vitamin compound when a lab accident creates a supercharged mix that ends up in Dexter's cereal box, giving him superhuman strength. The powerful formula comes to the attention of the college dean and two rival cereal companies, touching off a hilarious chain of events.

Comedy
Family
1h 32m
Vincent McEveety
Kurt Russell, Joe Flynn, Eve Arden, Cesar Romero
47
1975 in Cooley High (1975)
Cooley High
1975

In the mid-1960s, a group of high school friends who live on the Near North Side of Chicago enjoy life to the fullest...parties, hanging out, meeting new friends. Then life changes for two of the guys when they are falsely arrested in connection with stealing a Cadillac. We follow their lives through to the dramatic end of high school.

Comedy
Drama
1h 47m
Michael Schultz
Glynn Turman, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Garrett Morris, Cynthia Davis
46
1975 in Report to the Commissioner (1975)
Report to the Commissioner
1975

Police officer Patty Butler, alias "Chicklet," is the live-in girlfriend of Thomas 'Stick' Henderson to gather evidence. Detective Bo Lockley is instructed to try to find her, not knowing she's also a cop.

Crime
Drama
1h 52m
Milton Katselas
Michael Moriarty, Yaphet Kotto, Susan Blakely, Héctor Elizondo
45
1975 in Lucky Lady (1975)
Lucky Lady
1975

When an American booze smuggler gets murdered in Prohibition-era Mexico, his widow, a nightclub singer, joins forces with her lover and a desperate loner to become rum-runners to the U.S.

Crime
Comedy
1h 58m
Stanley Donen
44
1975 in The Killer Elite (1975)
The Killer Elite
1975

Mike Locken is one of the principal members of a group of freelance spies. A significant portion of their work is for the CIA, and while on a case for them one of his friends turns on him and shoots him in the elbow and knee. His assignment, to protect someone, goes down in flames. He is nearly crippled, but with braces is able to again become mobile. For revenge as much as anything else, Mike goes after his ex-friend.

Crime
Action
James Caan, Robert Duvall, Arthur Hill, Bo Hopkins
43
1975 in The Happy Hooker (1975)
The Happy Hooker
1975

Having emigrated to New York and immediately got the kiss-off from her mother-besotted fiance, a Dutch lass takes a well-paid office job and starts liberally sampling the local male talent. After a while she decides to make her pleasure her business too, and as her reputation grows she graduates to a high-class bordello. Soon she realises she has the right talents to make a real success of a place of her own.

Drama
Comedy
1h 38m
Nicholas Sgarro
Lynn Redgrave, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Lovelady Powell, Tom Poston
42
1975 in The Drowning Pool (1975)
The Drowning Pool
1975

Harper is brought to Louisiana to investigate an attempted blackmail scheme. He soon finds out that it involves an old flame of his and her daughter. He eventually finds himself caught in a power struggle between the matriarch of the family and a greedy oil baron, who wants their property. Poor Harper! Things are not as straight-forward as they initially appeared.

Thriller
Mystery
1h 49m
Stuart Rosenberg
Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Murray Hamilton
41
1975 in Mandingo (1975)
Mandingo
1975

Warren Maxwell, the owner of a run-down plantation, pressures his son, Hammond, to marry and produce an heir to inherit the plantation. Hammond settles on his own cousin, Blanche, but purchases a sex slave when he returns from the honeymoon. He also buys his father a new Mandingo slave named Mede to breed and train as a prize-fighter.

Romance
Drama
2h 7m
Richard Fleischer
Perry King, James Mason, Susan George, Ken Norton
40
1975 in Hearts of the West (1975)
Hearts of the West
1975

Lewis Tater writes Wild West dime novels and dreams of actually becoming a cowboy. When he goes west to find his dream he finds himself in possession of the loot box of two crooks who tried to rob him.

Comedy
Western
1h 42m
Howard Zieff
39
1975 in Mahogany (1975)
Mahogany
1975

An aspiring designer from the slums of Chicago puts herself through fashion school in the hopes of becoming one of the world's top designers. Her ambition leads her to Rome spurring a choice between the man she loves or her newfound success.

Drama
Romance
1h 49m
Berry Gordy
Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Perkins, Marisa Mell
38
1975 in The Eiger Sanction (1975)
The Eiger Sanction
1975

A classical art professor and collector, who doubles as a professional assassin, is coerced out of retirement to avenge the murder of an old friend.

Action
Adventure
Clint Eastwood, George Kennedy, Vonetta McGee, Jack Cassidy
37
1975 in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
1975

After spending decades living in the shadow of his more famous and successful sibling, Consulting Detective Sigerson Holmes (Wilder) is called upon to help solve a crucial case that leads him on a hilarious trail of false identities, stolen documents, secret codes... and exposed backsides.

Comedy
Crime
Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Dom DeLuise
36
1975 in The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)
The Great Waldo Pepper
1975

A biplane pilot and WWI veteran takes up barnstorming and later a movie career in his quest for the glory days he misses.

Adventure
Drama
1h 48m
George Roy Hill
Robert Redford, Bo Svenson, Bo Brundin, Susan Sarandon
35
1975 in Conduct Unbecoming (1975)
Conduct Unbecoming
1975

A company of British soldiers in colonial India is shaken when the widow of their most honored hero is assaulted. A young officer must defend a fellow lieutenant from the charges in an unusual court-martial, while investigating the deepening mystery behind the attack.

Crime
Drama
1h 47m
Michael Anderson
Michael York, Richard Attenborough, Trevor Howard, Stacy Keach
34
1975 in Posse (1975)
Posse
1975

A tough marshal with political ambitions leads an elite posse to capture a notorious train robber and his gang.

Western
1h 32m
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas, Bruce Dern, Bo Hopkins, James Stacy
33
1975 in The Hindenburg (1975)
The Hindenburg
1975

Colonel Franz Ritter, a former hero pilot now working for military intelligence, is assigned to the great Hindenburg airship as its chief of security. As he races against the clock to uncover a possible saboteur aboard the doomed zeppelin he finds that any of the passengers and crew could be the culprit.

History
Thriller
2h 5m
Robert Wise
George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft, William Atherton, Roy Thinnes
32
1975 in Hustle (1975)
Hustle
1975

The body of teenager Gloria Hollinger is found dead on a Los Angeles beach, and Lt. Phil Gaines is in charge of the investigation. Gaines learns that the girl, a stripper and prostitute, committed suicide, but he ignores the connection between her and a powerful mob lawyer, Leo Sellers. Hollinger's father, however, is not satisfied with Gaines's results, and attempts to investigate the case on his own.

Crime
Thriller
2h 0m
Robert Aldrich
Burt Reynolds, Catherine Deneuve, Ben Johnson, Paul Winfield
31
1975 in The Track (1975)
The Track
1975

Somewhere in rural France, a young English female tourist is sexually assaulted by two men in the countryside. After she manages to escape, a party of local hunters agree to track her in order to cover up the scandal.

Drama
Thriller
1h 32m
Serge Leroy
Mimsy Farmer, Jean-Luc Bideau, Michael Lonsdale, Michel Constantin
30
1975 in Race with the Devil (1975)
Race with the Devil
1975

Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.

Action
Horror
1h 28m
Jack Starrett
Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit, Lara Parker
29
1975 in A Boy and His Dog (1975)
A Boy and His Dog
1975

Set in the year 2024 in post-apocalyptic America, 18-year old Vic and his telepathic dog, Blood, are scavengers in the desolate wilderness ravaged by World War IV, where survivors must battle for food and shelter in the desert-like wasteland. Vic and Blood eke out a meager existence, foraging for food and fighting gangs of cutthroats.

Drama
Science Fiction
1h 30m
L.Q. Jones
Don Johnson, Susanne Benton, Jason Robards, Tim McIntire
28
1975 in The Man from Hong Kong (1975)
The Man from Hong Kong
1975

Australian authorities arrest a man believed to be connected to the Sydney criminal underworld and send for Inspector Fang Sing Leng from Hong Kong to question him. After the alleged criminal is assassinated, Inspector Leng and the Sydney police try to hunt down those responsible and hope to solve their case along the way.

Action
Crime
1h 46m
Brian Trenchard-Smith
Jimmy Wang Yu, George Lazenby, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Roger Ward
27
1975 in Zorro (1975)
Zorro
1975

A newly arrived governor finds his province under the control of the corrupt Colonel Huerta. To avoid assassination by Huerta, he pretends to be weak and indecisive so Huerta will believe he poses no threat. But secretly he masquerades as Zorro, and joins the monk Francisco and the beautiful aristocrat Hortensia in their fight for justice against Huerta and his soldiers.

Adventure
Action
2h 0m
Duccio Tessari
Alain Delon, Ottavia Piccolo, Moustache, Enzo Cerusico
26
1975 in The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
The Return of the Pink Panther
1975

The famous Pink Panther jewel has once again been stolen and Inspector Clouseau is called in to catch the thief. The Inspector is convinced that 'The Phantom' has returned and utilises all of his resources – himself and his Asian manservant – to reveal the identity of 'The Phantom'.

Comedy
Crime
Peter Sellers, Christopher Plummer, Catherine Schell, Herbert Lom
25
1975 in Lisztomania (1975)
Lisztomania
1975

In the 19th century, Romantic composer/pianist Franz Liszt tries to end his hedonistic ways but keeps getting sucked back in by his seductive fellow composer Richard Wagner.

Music
Comedy
1h 43m
Ken Russell
Roger Daltrey, Sara Kestelman, Paul Nicholas, Ringo Starr
24

"Popeye" Doyle travels to Marseilles to find Alain Charnier, the drug smuggler that eluded him in New York.

Action
Crime
Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Bernard Fresson, Philippe Léotard
23
1975 in The Fortune (1975)
The Fortune
1975

A couple of bumbling 1920s hustlers attempt to obtain the fortune of an heiress. Nothing will stop them, not even murder.

Comedy
Crime
Stockard Channing, Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Florence Stanley
22
1975 in Bite the Bullet (1975)
Bite the Bullet
1975

At the beginning of the 20th century, a newspaper organizes an endurance horse race : 700 miles to run in a few days. 9 adventurers are competing, among them a woman, Miss Jones, a Mexican, an Englishman, a young cow-boy, an old one and two friends, Sam Clayton and Luke Matthews. All those individualists will learn to respect each other.

Action
Western
2h 12m
Richard Brooks
Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, James Coburn, Ben Johnson
21
1975 in The Magic Flute (1975)
The Magic Flute
1975

The Queen of the Night enlists a handsome prince named Tamino to rescue her beautiful kidnapped daughter, Princess Pamina, in this screen adaptation of the beloved Mozart opera. Aided by the lovelorn bird hunter Papageno and a magical flute that holds the power to change the hearts of men, young Tamino embarks on a quest for true love, leading to the evil Sarastro's temple where Pamina is held captive.

Music
Romance
Josef Köstlinger, Irma Urrila, Håkan Hagegård, Elisabeth Erikson
20
1975 in The Day of the Locust (1975)
The Day of the Locust
1975

Hollywood, 1930s. Tod Hackett, a young painter who tries to make his way as an art director in the lurid world of film industry, gets infatuated with his neighbor Faye Greener, an aspiring actress who prefers the life that Homer Simpson, a lone accountant, can offer her.

Drama
2h 25m
John Schlesinger
Donald Sutherland, Karen Black, Burgess Meredith, William Atherton
19
1975 in Farewell, My Lovely (1975)
Farewell, My Lovely
1975

Private eye Philip Marlowe is hired by ex-con Moose Malloy to find his girlfriend, a former lounge dancer. While also investigating the murder of a client and the theft of a jade necklace, Marlowe becomes entangled with seductress Helen Grayle and discovers a web of dark secrets that are better left hidden.

Crime
Mystery
1h 35m
Dick Richards
Robert Mitchum, Charlotte Rampling, John Ireland, Sylvia Miles
18
1975 in Dersu Uzala (1975)
Dersu Uzala
1975

A military explorer meets and befriends a Goldi man in Russia’s unmapped forests. A deep and abiding bond evolves between the two men, one civilized in the usual sense, the other at home in the glacial Siberian woods.

Adventure
Drama
Yuriy Solomin, Maksim Munzuk, Mikhail Bychkov, B. Khorulev
17
1975 in Shampoo (1975)
Shampoo
1975

On Election Day, 1968, irresponsible hairdresser and ladies' man George Roundy is too busy cutting hair and dealing with his girlfriends and mistress Felicia Karpf, whose husband Lester is having an affair with his ex-girlfriend Jackie.

Comedy
Drama
1h 50m
Hal Ashby
16
1975 in The Story of Adèle H. (1975)
The Story of Adèle H.
1975

In the 19th century a mysterious woman named Adele H. crosses the ocean, from Europe to North America, to relentlessly pursue an handsome officer that denies her satisfaction.

Drama
History
1h 38m
François Truffaut
Isabelle Adjani, Bruce Robinson, Sylvia Marriott, Joseph Blatchley
15
1975 in Rollerball (1975)
Rollerball
1975

In a corporate-controlled future, an ultra-violent sport known as Rollerball represents the world, and one of its powerful athletes is out to defy those who want him out of the game.

Science Fiction
Action
James Caan, John Houseman, Maud Adams, John Beck
14
1975 in Love and Death (1975)
Love and Death
1975

In czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon.

Comedy
History
Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Harold Gould, Olga Georges-Picot
13
1975 in Night Moves (1975)
Night Moves
1975

Private detective and former football player Harry Moseby gets hired on to what seems a standard missing person case - a former Hollywood actress wants Moseby to find and return her daughter. Harry travels to Florida to find her, but he begins to see a connection between the runaway girl, the world of Hollywood stuntmen, and a suspicious mechanic when an unsolved murder comes to light.

Mystery
Thriller
1h 40m
Arthur Penn
Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren, John Crawford, Susan Clark
12
1975 in Tommy (1975)
Tommy
1975

After a series of traumatic childhood events, a psychosomatically deaf, dumb and blind boy becomes a master pinball player and the object of a religious cult.

Drama
Music
1h 51m
Ken Russell
Oliver Reed, Ann-Margret, Roger Daltrey, Elton John
11
1975 in The Passenger (1975)
The Passenger
1975

David Locke is a world-weary American journalist who has been sent to cover a conflict in northern Africa, but he makes little progress with the story. When he discovers the body of a stranger who looks similar to him, Locke assumes the dead man's identity. However, he soon finds out that the man was an arms dealer, leading Locke into dangerous situations. Aided by a beautiful woman, Locke attempts to avoid both the police and criminals out to get him.

Drama
Mystery
2h 6m
Michelangelo Antonioni
Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider, Jenny Runacre, Ian Hendry
10

When bookish CIA researcher Joe Turner finds all his co-workers dead, he, together with a woman he has kidnapped, must work together to outwit those responsible until he determines who he can really trust.

Thriller
Mystery
Why it ranks

The height of post-Watergate paranoia is distilled into this icy, intellectual thriller about internal institutional rot. Robert Redford’s frantic search for the truth serves as a definitive cinematic expression of the era’s pervasive distrust of systemic power.

9
1975 in The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
The Man Who Would Be King
1975

Tired of life as soldiers, Peachy Carnehan and Danny Dravot travel to the isolated land of Kafiristan, where they are ultimately embraced by the people and revered as rulers. After a series of misunderstandings, the natives come to believe that Dravot is a god, but he and Carnehan can't keep up their deception forever.

Adventure
Drama
Why it ranks

John Huston delivers a robust rejuvenation of the classical adventure epic, anchored by the undeniable, charismatic chemistry of Sean Connery and Michael Caine. It is a cynical yet grand exploration of colonial hubris that feels both timeless and pointedly critical.

8
1975 in Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Picnic at Hanging Rock
1975

In the early 1900s, Miranda attends a girls boarding school in Australia. One Valentine's Day, the school's typically strict headmistress treats the girls to a picnic field trip to an unusual but scenic volcanic formation called Hanging Rock. Despite rules against it, Miranda and several other girls venture off. It's not until the end of the day that the faculty realizes the girls and one of the teachers have disappeared mysteriously.

Drama
Mystery
Rachel Roberts, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse, Kirsty Child
Why it ranks

Peter Weir’s ethereal masterpiece lingers in the mind like a half-remembered fever dream, trading traditional resolution for a haunting, atmospheric exploration of repressed Victorian longing. The film’s hazy cinematography and simmering tension solidified the Australian New Wave’s poetic power.

7
1975 in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
1975

After getting a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, newly engaged couple Brad and Janet encounter the eerie mansion of the flamboyant, seductive Dr. Frank-N-Furter and a variety of eccentric characters. Through elaborate dance and rock music, the mad scientist unveils his latest creation: a perfect, muscular man.

Comedy
Science Fiction
1h 39m
Jim Sharman
Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O'Brien
Why it ranks

What began as a campy send-up of vintage B-movies has evolved into a singular cultural phenomenon of gender-bending liberation. Its kinetic energy and glam-rock soundtrack challenge every social taboo with a playful, unapologetic sense of theatricality.

6
1975 in Nashville (1975)
Nashville
1975

The intersecting stories of twenty-four characters—from country star to wannabe to reporter to waitress—connect to the music business in Nashville, Tennessee.

Drama
Comedy
David Arkin, Barbara Baxley, Ned Beatty, Karen Black
Why it ranks

Robert Altman’s sprawling, polyphonic tapestry of the American psyche uses the country music industry as a microcosm for a nation in political and cultural flux. The overlapping dialogue and improvisational spirit create a uniquely immersive experience that defies traditional narrative structure.

5
1975 in Barry Lyndon (1975)
Barry Lyndon
1975

An Irish rogue uses his cunning and wit to work his way up the social classes of 18th century England, transforming himself from the humble Redmond Barry into the noble Barry Lyndon.

Drama
Romance
Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger
Why it ranks

Stanley Kubrick’s visual obsession reaches its zenith in this candle-lit odyssey, which utilizes specialized NASA lenses to recreate the painterly textures of the 18th century. It is a slow-burn meditation on fate and social climbing that functions as a breathtaking, living art gallery.

4
1975 in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
1975

King Arthur, accompanied by his squire, recruits his Knights of the Round Table, including Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot and Sir Galahad the Pure. On the way, Arthur battles the Black Knight who, despite having had all his limbs chopped off, insists he can still fight. They reach Camelot, but Arthur decides not to enter, as "it is a silly place".

Adventure
Comedy
1h 31m
Terry Jones
Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam
Why it ranks

This absurdist deconstruction of Arthurian myth succeeds through a relentless barrage of surrealist wit and low-budget ingenuity. It remains a pinnacle of comedic intellect, proving that high-concept satire can be both profoundly silly and sharply subversive.

3
1975 in Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Dog Day Afternoon
1975

Based on the true story of would-be Brooklyn bank robbers John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile. Sonny and Sal attempt a bank heist which quickly turns sour and escalates into a hostage situation and stand-off with the police. As Sonny's motives for the robbery are slowly revealed and things become more complicated, the heist turns into a media circus.

Crime
Drama
Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon
Why it ranks

Sidney Lumet captures the sweltering, claustrophobic energy of a Brooklyn heist gone wrong with raw naturalism and frantic pacing. Al Pacino’s electric desperation anchors a story that brilliantly anticipates the media circus and the blurred lines between notoriety and heroism.

2
1975 in Jaws (1975)
1975

When the seaside community of Amity finds itself under attack by a dangerous great white shark, the town's chief of police, a young marine biologist, and a grizzled shark hunter embark on a desperate quest to kill the beast before it strikes again.

Horror
Thriller
Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary
Why it ranks

Steven Spielberg reinvented the mechanics of the cinematic thrill, transforming Peter Benchley’s pulp novel into a masterclass of primal suspense and technical precision. Its primal, unseen terror redefined the relationship between the spectator and the screen, effectively birthing the modern summer blockbuster.

1
1975 in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1975

A petty criminal fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patients—and an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse who runs the ward.

Drama
2h 13m
Miloš Forman
Jack Nicholson, Brad Dourif, Louise Fletcher, Danny DeVito
Why it ranks

Jack Nicholson delivers a career-defining performance of chaotic vitality in this biting indictment of institutional conformity and the crushing weight of authority. The film’s brilliant tonal shift from rowdy rebellion to tragic solemnity captures the anti-establishment pulse of the mid-seventies with surgical accuracy.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about this list and SnakeDrafts

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is ranked highest due to its powerful narrative, flawless performances, especially by Jack Nicholson, and its profound critique of institutional oppression. Directed by Miloš Forman, it captured the spirit of rebellion that defined much of 1975's cinema.

Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" is credited with creating the modern blockbuster model in 1975. Its wide release strategy, suspense-driven storytelling, and effective marketing revolutionized Hollywood's approach to filmmaking and distribution.

"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" stands out for its absurdist humor and innovative parody of Arthurian legends. Its unique comedic style has maintained a devoted fan base, influencing comedy and pop culture well beyond 1975.

Stanley Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon" is celebrated for its meticulous cinematography and authentic period detail, capturing 18th-century Europe with stunning visual artistry. It set a high bar for historical dramas in 1975.

"The Rocky Horror Picture Show" is iconic for blending musical, sci-fi, and horror genres with a daring, cult appeal. Its midnight screenings and audience participation have made it an enduring cultural phenomenon since 1975.

Both "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Nashville" explore themes of societal tension and personal conflict within American culture. They exemplify 1975's trend towards gritty, character-driven narratives that comment on real-world issues.

While the list covers many landmarks, some might note the absence of "Farewell My Lovely" or "The Stepford Wives" as notable films from 1975. However, the chosen titles strongly represent the era's defining cinematic achievements.
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