Lucas to his credit—well I just can’t think of anything to credit Lucas for.
He did hand over the Star Wars franchise to Irvin Kershner. And for one brief shining moment it was the fantasy franchise (not science fiction—in no way shape or form can I accept it as science fiction) that it aspired to be.
Then the rest is crap and I can’t even be bothered to shovel that stuff out the doorway.
Has anyone mentioned Night Moves? Arguably Arthur Penn’s masterpiece, and the moodiest of noirs.
Lucas does deserve credit for really turning summer into what it is, really putting the ! in Blockbuster Season! And that’s for better and for very much worse.
It’s like people forget how huge Jaws was.
And then Spielberg made another insane blockbuster with a completely different kind of movie.
Star Wars was not the only blockbuster of the 70s.
Granted that Jaws was big but what Star Wars did was expand upon the Jaws numbers and prove the viability of the Summer Blockbuster Season.
Star Wars proved there was a pattern.
And Alien proved that you could make a blockbuster AND be good.
“Then look at some of his production efforts…”
I will never defend Lucas the producer, but he deserves some credit for the production of Kagemusha… no question.
“Lucas to his credit—well I just can’t think of anything to credit Lucas for.”
To each his own, but I can’t see how you can deny his contribution to American cinema in the ’70s.
There were so many other great things going all over the world. Luis Bunuel and Werner Herzog hit creative peaks in the 70s. Ingmar Bergamn continued a streak that he started with Persona right up to Scenes from a Marraige (Almost 10 years).
If we’re sticking with American though, I’ve got to go with Altman:
McCabe and Ms. Miller
The Long Goodbye
Nashville
Three Women
A Wedding
Scorsese
Herzog
Bertolucci
Tarkovsky
George Lucas the best of the 70s? Wow. This is where I sigh like Krusty The Clown- SIGH!
Francisco, not one post in this thread claims he is the best of the ‘70s. In fact, nobody claims he’s the best American director of the ’70s – the original post explains why this thread was originally connected to him.
my vote goes to Cassavetes
MATT: No Cassavetes?
Sidney Lumet
1972 – The Offence
1973 – Serpico
1974 – Murder on the Orient Express
1975 – Dog Day Afternoon
1976 – Network
1977 – Equus
Hal Ashby
1971 – Harold & Maude
1973 – The Last Detail
1975 – Shampoo
1976 – Bound for Glory
1978 – Coming Home
1979 – Being There
^^is Prince Of The City worth a look?
Joks, yeah Prince of the City is worth a look. It’s a good film, but not as good as Serpico.
No, Prince of the City is a waste of time.
Al Pacino > Treat Williams
Prince of the City was 1981.
^^yes i realise that, but i just wanted an opinion on it, that’s all.
Agree with Uli, Prince of the City is a good film.
. . . and, yeah, Cassavetes too.
“No, Prince of the City is a waste of time”
WTF? Prince of the City is top rate stuff. And Treat Williams, despite his name, can act. Fuck it, It’s better than Serpico.
I love Lumet but Treat Williams? Seriously? After I saw Prince in the City I understood why Lumet thought Vin Diesel was a good actor. Lumet is nuts.
If he was looking for an actor with a ridiculous name, Lumet might as well have gotten Powers Boothe.
Pacino was crucial to Serpico; I don’t think Williams was crucial to Prince. I do think Prince is an excellent film.
Ashby—good one. Same with Lumet (I think his best work ever was Dog Day). I did like Vin Diesel and Find Me Guilty, both.
“his contribution to American cinema in the ’70s.”
I think American Graffiti is passable entertainment till you see Two Lane Blacktop. THX is okay production design with a tepid script till you see, oh I don’t know—A Clockwork Orange? Solaris? Any number of SF titles seemed better. Star Wars—eh.
Are we forgetting Phil Kaufman? Invasion of the Body Snatchers (great 70s SF, by the way), The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid? Walter Hill with The Warriors? I prefer that fantasy over Star Wars any time.
Burnett did only one feature in the’70s and I think it’s one of the greatest American films ever made.
Rossellini:
Blaise Pascal
The Age of Cosimo de Medici
The Messiah
Socrates
Chabrol. Am especially fond of La rupture and Nada.
Noel, I think Kaufman’s work in the 80s was better than the 70s
The American mainstream filmmaker whose work comes closer to capturing the 70s Zeitgeist is Altman.
The 70s were a very complex and troubled era, Altman’s multilayered complex approach did justice to the times.
If only he had done All The President’s Men.
“Are we forgetting Phil Kaufman?”
Yes. Happily.
No mention of Polanski here.
Or Jodorowsky.
Francisco, I was surprised by the lack of Polanski mention here as well, but he was mentioned in the 60s thread.
zvelf
I’d take Celine and Julie over Lucas’ entire directorial catalogue because Lucas only ever directed one really good movie and that was the first Star Wars.