Among all the filmmakers who made their debuts in the 1970s, there are some who are still making great movies.The movies of the 1970shelped reshape Hollywood with the growing movement of auteur filmmakers who were establishing their own voices with bold projects that made for one of the best decades in cinema.
While that era passed, many of the great filmmakers who came out of that time continued to make great movies.The death of David Lynchearlier this year highlights that this generation of filmmakers will not be around together. Some of the filmmakers of this time also failed to maintain their brilliance after so long.
However, with some of the new directors of the ’70s being counted among thegreatest filmmakers of all time, we are privileged enough to still be enjoying their new movies today.
8Paul Schrader
Debut Movie: Badlands (1978)
Paul Schrader had already established a screenwriting career in Hollywood, including writing Martin Scorsese’sTaxi Driver, before he made his debut as a director in 1978’sBlue Collar.The crime drama became an underrated cult classic of the 1970s and helped to get Schrader’s filmmaking career moving.
While he never received as much acclaim or commercial success as some of his other ’70s counterparts,Schrader is perhaps the one filmmaker of that era who has best kept his style alive. Over the years, he has continued to make gritty and character-driven dramas that also showcase his strong writing.
In 2017, Schrader received some of the highest praise of his career, as well as an Oscar nomination for his screenplay forFirst Reformed. Since then, he has delivered several more intense dramas, includingThe Card Counterstarring Oscar Isaac andOh, Canadastarring Jacob Elordi.
7Terrence Malick
Debut Movie: Badlands (1973)
Few filmmakers made such a stunning directorial debut in the 1970s as Terrence Malick did withBadlands. The gripping crime drama stars Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek as a young couple on a violent crime spree across the Midwest in the 1950s. It announced the filmmaker as a unique voice and visually stunning artist.
Though his second movie,Days of Heaven, was another triumph, it took 20 years before he returned for his third movie. However, theWorld War II movieThe Thin Red Lineonly made Malick a more revered filmmaker, establishing the natural approach to his filming and his poetic stories.
The 21st century found Malick being more prolific as a filmmaker, while also working with some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, including Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, and Christian Bale. He also earned huge acclaim for his movies,The Tree of LifeandA Hidden Life.Malick is currently working on a new movie about the life of Jesus Christ.
6Hayao Miyazaki
Debut Movie: The Castle Of Cagliostro (1979)
It is rare for any filmmaker to span more than five decades and still deliver great movies, but it is almost unheard of for a director of animated movies to do so. However, Hayao Miyazaki is in a class of his own, creating some of the most acclaimed, beautiful, and original animated movies ever made.
After working for years as an animator,Miyazakimade his feature directorial debut with the animated action-adventureThe Castle of Cagliostro. While that established his own voice in the animation field, it wasn’t until the 1980s, when he co-founded Studio Ghibli, that he showed he was a once-in-a-lifetime creative genius.
Studio Ghibli’s movieslong competed with Disney and Pixar, producing just as many classic animation stories, many of which Miyazaki himself directed. FromMy Neighbor TotorotoSpirited AwaytoHowl’s Moving Castle.Though it had been a decade since Miyazaki’s last movie, 2023’sThe Boy and the Heronwas another win.
5Ron Howard
Debut Movie: Grand Theft Auto (1977)
Ron Howard initially established himself as an actor, appearing inThe ShootistandHappy Days. However, the 1970s saw Howard’s love of filmmaking begin to grow, leading to his directorial debut in an action comedy in which he also starred,Grand Theft Auto. It wasn’t long before Howard left acting and became a full-time director.
The 1980s found Howard establishing his acting career, with comedies likeNight ShiftandSplash. However, he began to move into more serious fare in the 1990s, including the firefighter action movieBackdraftand the astronaut thrillerApollo 13. Howard continued to show versatility as a filmmaker, taking on just about any genre.
Howard eventually won an Oscar for directingthe true-story dramaA Beautiful Mind. Howard continues to show an incredible range of projects within this career, making big blockbusters likeThe DaVinci CodeandSolo: A Star Wars Story, as well as smaller thrillers likeThirteen Livesand his new movie,Eden.
4George Miller
Sometimes, there is a filmmaker who makes a debut in their native country, only for it to unexpectedly reach a worldwide audience and launch their career. Such was the case with George Miller, who managed to make the excellent indie action movieMad Maxon a small budget, which launched a franchise of its own.
Miller has done plenty outside oftheMad Maxfranchise, including hit movies likeThe Witches of Eastwick,as well as writing the family moviesBabeandHappy Feet.However, he made a stunning return to action movies with the wildMad Max: Fury Roadin 2015.
As surprising as it was that Miller managed to live up to the hype with the fourthMad Maxmovie,he returned nearly a decade later with the hugely entertainingFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga, proving that he is still not slowing down.
3Clint Eastwood
Debut Movie: Play Misty For Me (1971)
Clint Eastwood was one of the biggest movie stars of the 1970s, thanks to his role in the Dollars trilogy and his hit crime movieDirty Harry,among other notable titles. However, this is also when his equally successful directing career began with 1971’sPlay Misty for Me.This led to him directing a number of his own movies.
Eventually, Eastwood stepped behind the camera to comment on the Western genre that made him famous withthe definitive Western dramaUnforgiven. The movie won Eastwood an Oscar as a director, but that wouldn’t be his only brush with award success as a filmmaker.
Eastwood won again for directingMillion Dollar Babyand received nominations for the likes ofMystic RiverandAmerican Sniper. He continued to be prolific, directing several real-life thrillers, likeSully, Richard Jewell,andThe 15:17 to Paris.WhileJuror #2was suggested to be Eastwood’s final movie, the filmmaker has already suggested he’s not quite done.
2Ridley Scott
Debut Movie: The Duelist (1977)
Ridley Scott’s careerstarted quickly after his debut movie, 1977’sThe Duelist,and it has never really slowed down ever since. After the modest success of his first movie, a historical drama, Scott drastically shifted gears and kick-started one of the greatest sci-fi franchises of all time withAlien.
As if making one sci-fi classic wasn’t enough, Scott followedAlienwithBlade Runner,solidifying himself as one of the most visually accomplished filmmakers of his generation. He continued to find success in a variety of movies, fromThelma & LouisetoGladiatortoBlack Hawk DowntoAmerican Gangster.
Scott is as hard-working as ever, having already made four movies thus far in the 2020s, including his return to one of his most popular movies,Gladiator II.
1Steven Spielberg
Debut Movie: Sugardland Express (1974)
Steven Spielberg had already established himself as a filmmaker who would change Hollywood forever before the 1970s were over.The Sugarland Expresswas a decent debut movie for Spielberg, but it was his next movie that made him a director to revere.Jawsbecame the highest-grossing movie of all time and the first summer blockbuster.
Spielberg came back with another classic, the UFO dramaClose Encounters of the Third Kind.From there, there was one classic blockbuster hit after another, fromE.T. the Extra-TerrestrialtoRaiders of the Lost ArktoJurassic Park.This was combined with Spielberg’s award-winning movies, likeSchindler’s ListandSaving Private Ryan.
While Spielberg hasn’t delivered quite as sizable a blockbuster as he is known for in several years, movies likeWest Side StoryandThe Fabelmansstand as modern classics in his filmography. There is also the excitement ofSpielberg returning to the sci-fi genrenext summer.
