What was the best Decade for movies?

I believe it was Paul Schrader who defined the 70's as starting in 1967 with Bonnie and Clyde and ending in 1980 with Heavens Gate.

Everything in between is gold.
 
The studios worked out the kinks in the 1930s and were hampered by the war in the 1940s. By the the 1960s the studio system was crumbling and bloated sword and sandals epics became troublingly common. The late 60s and early 1970s is a great era for counterculture cinema and for cinema in general, but either decade taken on its own just doesn't measure up. The 1980s lost the edge of the 1970s as the me-me generation worried about money instead of values. The 1990s restored the independent spirt of cinema but folks were still figuring it out. The 2000s are still active so we can't judge that quite yet.

Personally, I'll take the 1950s.

All About Eve
On the Waterfront
Streetcar Named Desire
The African Queen
The Asphalt Jungle
A Star is Born
It Should Happen to You
Born Yesterday
Suddenly, Last Summer
A Place in the Sun
The Quiet American
Guys and Dolls
The Barefoot Contessa
Ben-Hur
Rio Grande
The Quiet Man
The Searchers
The Wings of Eagles
Paths of Glory
Bridge on the River Kwai
Singin' in the Rain
High Noon
Touch of Evil
The Killing
Sweet Smell of Success
Harvey
Night of the Hunter
Anatomy of a Murder
Day the Earth Stood Still
A Face in the Crowd
Stalag 17

Just Hitch:
North by Northwest
Vertigo
The Wrong Man
The Man Who Knew Too Much
To Catch a Thief
Rear Window
Dial M for Murder
Strangers on a Train

Or Billy Wilder:
Sunset Blvd.
Some Like it Hot
Seven Year Itch
Sabrina
Love in the Afternoon
Witness fo the Prosecution

How about foreign language pics?

Rashomon
Seven Samurai
Throne of Blood
Wages of Fear
The Seventh Seal
Rififi
I Vitelloni
Nights of Cabiria
Umberto D
Les Diaboliques
 
While I consider 1982 to be the best year for movies, I could easily be persuaded by the '50s as the best decade.
 
Hard to say...

60's had Lawrence of Arabia, Suno no Onna, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Persona, The Battle of Algiers, 8 1/2, Seppuku...

50's had Rear Window, Vertigo, La Strada, Rashomon, Seven Samurai, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries...
 
my favorite decade is the one we're in right now. but not for what's coming out of the mainstream, rather, the incredibly varied and unique works coming out of eastern europe, scandinavia, korea, taiwan and the american independents. I suppose the 1960's to mid-seventies would be a close second. still, i'm excited for what the future holds. i don't think cinema's potential has reached its pinnacle yet.

on the flipside, i consider the 80's to be the worst decade in the history of cinema. sure there are standouts, and even those films that hold nostalgic relevance for an entire generation of 80's children -- hell, Raiders is why I got into filmmaking at a young age. despite that, for the most part it stands as the result of the mainstream taking a general turn toward producing the sort of films that are entirely irrelevant outside of themselves. it was the, "it's just a movie" decade. there are exceptions, of course.
 
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The 70's is commonly accepted as the greatest era in film history. I mean ever. By damn near everyone. It had balls. Big brass ones. I'd give ya a list of directors who reigned but it would take too long. Needless to say, they are the Gods of cinema.

I'm not trying to take away anything from the other decades, but they don't even compare. Not in the least. As much as I love Jaws and Star Wars, they did more harm than good. See "80's through last Friday". The 90's were refreshing, but didn't break the kind of ground others before them brok 20 years prior.

If you want to learn how to make movies, good movies, stick with the seventies to start out with. As good as 50's movies are, they are outdated, tame, and it shows.

To name a few: This doesn't even include foreign films and I could easily name another 100 that I would consider MUST SEES.
Five Easy Pieces
M*A*S*H
Woodstock
Bananas
Carnal Knowledge
A Clockwork Orange
Dirty Harry
Duel
Fiddler on the Roof
The French Connection
Harold and Maude
The Last Picture Show
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Play Misty For Me
Straw Dogs
Cabaret
Deliverance
The Godfather
Play It Again, Sam
What's Up, Doc?
American Graffiti
Badlands
Enter the Dragon
The Exorcist
The Last Detail
Last Tango in Paris
The Long Goodbye
Mean Streets
Paper Moon
Serpico
Sleeper
The Sting
The Way We Were
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Blazing Saddles
Chinatown
The Conversation
The Godfather (Part II)
Lenny
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Young Frankenstein
Barry Lyndon
Dog Day Afternoon
Jaws
The Man Who Would Be King
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Nashville
Night Moves
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Picnic at Hanging Rock
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Wind and the Lion
All the President's Men
Bound for Glory
Carrie
Marathon Man
Network
The Omen
Rocky
Taxi Driver
Annie Hall
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Goodbye Girl
New York, New York
Saturday Night Fever
The Spy Who Loved Me
Star Wars
Suspiria
Coming Home
Days of Heaven
The Deer Hunter
Eraserhead
Halloween
Heaven Can Wait
Interiors
Midnight Express
National Lampoon's Animal House
Superman
Alien
All That Jazz
Apocalypse Now
Being There
Breaking Away
Kramer vs. Kramer
Manhattan
10
The Warriors
 
Wow!!!

Wow!!!

Super Trooper said:
The 70's is commonly accepted as the greatest era in film history. I mean ever. By damn near everyone. It had balls. Big brass ones. I'd give ya a list of directors who reigned but it would take too long. Needless to say, they are the Gods of cinema.

I'm not trying to take away anything from the other decades, but they don't even compare. Not in the least. As much as I love Jaws and Star Wars, they did more harm than good. See "80's through last Friday". The 90's were refreshing, but didn't break the kind of ground others before them brok 20 years prior.

If you want to learn how to make movies, good movies, stick with the seventies to start out with. As good as 50's movies are, they are outdated, tame, and it shows.

To name a few: This doesn't even include foreign films and I could easily name another 100 that I would consider MUST SEES.
Five Easy Pieces
M*A*S*H
Woodstock
Bananas
Carnal Knowledge
A Clockwork Orange
Dirty Harry
Duel
Fiddler on the Roof
The French Connection
Harold and Maude
The Last Picture Show
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Play Misty For Me
Straw Dogs
Cabaret
Deliverance
The Godfather
Play It Again, Sam
What's Up, Doc?
American Graffiti
Badlands
Enter the Dragon
The Exorcist
The Last Detail
Last Tango in Paris
The Long Goodbye
Mean Streets
Paper Moon
Serpico
Sleeper
The Sting
The Way We Were
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Blazing Saddles
Chinatown
The Conversation
The Godfather (Part II)
Lenny
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Young Frankenstein
Barry Lyndon
Dog Day Afternoon
Jaws
The Man Who Would Be King
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Nashville
Night Moves
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Picnic at Hanging Rock
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Wind and the Lion
All the President's Men
Bound for Glory
Carrie
Marathon Man
Network
The Omen
Rocky
Taxi Driver
Annie Hall
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Goodbye Girl
New York, New York
Saturday Night Fever
The Spy Who Loved Me
Star Wars
Suspiria
Coming Home
Days of Heaven
The Deer Hunter
Eraserhead
Halloween
Heaven Can Wait
Interiors
Midnight Express
National Lampoon's Animal House
Superman
Alien
All That Jazz
Apocalypse Now
Being There
Breaking Away
Kramer vs. Kramer
Manhattan
10
The Warriors
Click to expand...

I love these flicks. Personal for me because these were my growing years. The culture was bread in me. Alot of these movies are a part of me.

I don't know. Maybe because of that it might cloud my judgement on the main question, what was the best decade for film?

Great decade though.
 
I've got to agree with the 70s, too. I'd have liked to seen The Day of the Jackal listed in Super Trooper's list...
 
I'm going with the 80's.

This was the golden age of the Hollywood blockbuster. A time before big budget movies were looked at as franchises. When originality was more important than formula. Every blockbuster since has just been a cookie cutter copy.

Terminator
Aliens
Ghostbusters
Predator
Robocop
Beverly Hills Cop
Back to the future
Die Hard
Top Gun
Batman

Oh and let's not forget...

Dirty Dancing
The Breakfast Club
Fatal Attraction
Scarface
The Shining
Amadeus
Lost Boys
Platoon
Ferris Bueller's day off
Rain man
Raging Bull
Romancing the Stone
Crocodile Dundee
 
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Unlike music, movies tend to not pass people by. Every decade offers a great/classic film. Where in music I would immediately say the 60's was the best decade followed closely by the early 90's, in Movies its harder to point.

The 60's and 70's had probably the largest range of films, especially ones that broke the mold several times over. The 80's had the great blockbuster films along with a bunch of slice of life/stylized films. The 90's had more of an indie feel than previous decades and many blockbuster became more polished. The 50's and 40's included classic studio films.

For me the weakest decade has been the current one. While we have had some great films most have been international films. The US market has been relatively weak when compared to the decades past.

But like I said, unlike music, where we out grow the latest bands, movies will always produce something classic.
 
depends really some genres from those eras go defined...

really cool sci fi:
1980's
empire strikes back
blade runner
aliens
predator
robocop
terminator
et
the thing

action
1980's early 90's
die hard
terminator 2
true lies
beverly hills cop saga
(drawing a blank)

1970's drama
the godfather 1 and 2
mean streets
taxi driver
jaws
dog day afternoon
rocky
deer hunter

The voice of youth drama
late 80's / 1990's
Meance 2 society
Boyz in da hood
do the right thing
drug store cowboy
my own private idaho
SLC punk
Kids
Gummo

Family fun adventure/drama
1980's
et
indiana jones saga
the goonies
top gun


the list could go on but im drawing blanks.

lol i clocked in late but the john hughes era and etc.
 
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