Top 18 Crime Films of the 1970s

The decade that reinvented the genre rolls out in full force — mob epics, paranoid thrillers, gritty cop sagas and lone-wolf vigilantes. From towering classics to cult favorites, where do you stand?

1. 1
   Taxi Driver

   Martin Scorsese's 1976 portrait of an unhinged cabbie spiraling toward violence in a decaying New York.
   1000pts
2. 2
   The Godfather Part II

   Coppola's 1974 sequel weaving Michael Corleone's ruthless reign with Vito's rise as a young immigrant.
   1000pts
3. 3
   Serpico

   Lumet's 1973 true story of an honest cop battling rampant corruption in the NYPD.
   929pts
4. 4
   The Godfather

   Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 epic of the Corleone crime family that redefined the gangster genre.
   750pts
5. 5
   Death Wish

   Michael Winner's 1974 film about an architect turned vigilante after his family is attacked.
   643pts
6. 6
   Chinatown

   Roman Polanski's 1974 neo-noir following a private eye into a web of water, corruption, and dark secrets in L.A.
   643pts
7. 7
   Get Carter

   Mike Hodges's 1971 British noir with Michael Caine as a gangster avenging his brother's death.
   500pts
8. 8
   The Long Goodbye

   Robert Altman's 1973 revisionist take on detective Philip Marlowe adrift in 1970s Los Angeles.
   500pts
9. 9
   Dog Day Afternoon

   Sidney Lumet's 1975 film about a botched Brooklyn bank robbery that turns into a media circus.
   500pts
10. 10
    The Getaway

    Peckinpah's 1972 heist thriller following a just-released convict and his wife on the run.
    500pts
11. 11
    Badlands

    Terrence Malick's 1973 debut about a young couple on a haunting killing spree across the Midwest.
    500pts
12. 12
    The Conversation

    Coppola's 1974 thriller about a surveillance expert consumed by paranoia over a recording.
    500pts
13. 13
    Klute

    Alan J. Pakula's 1971 thriller pairing a detective with a call girl stalked by a killer.
    300pts
14. 14
    The French Connection

    William Friedkin's 1971 Best Picture winner famed for its gritty narcotics chase across New York.
    1pts
15. 15
    A Clockwork Orange

    Stanley Kubrick's 1971 dystopian crime saga of ultraviolence and a controversial reform experiment.
    1pts
16. 16
    Mean Streets

    Scorsese's 1973 breakthrough about small-time hoods and loyalty in New York's Little Italy.
    1pts
17. 17
    The Sting

    The 1973 Best Picture winner pairing two grifters in an elaborate Depression-era con.
    1pts
18. 18
    Straw Dogs

    Sam Peckinpah's 1971 siege thriller about a mild mathematician driven to brutal violence.
    1pts