Best Movies of 1979
Here are my selections for the best movies of 1979.
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40 titles
- DirectorRobert BentonStarsDustin HoffmanMeryl StreepJane AlexanderAfter his wife leaves him, a work-obsessed Manhattan advertising executive is forced to learn long-neglected parenting skills, but a heated custody battle over the couple's young son deepens the wounds left by the separation.
- DirectorGillian ArmstrongStarsJudy DavisSam NeillWendy HughesA proud young woman in early 20th century Australia must choose between marriage and independence.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMartin SheenMarlon BrandoRobert DuvallA U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.
- DirectorPeter YatesStarsDennis ChristopherDennis QuaidDaniel SternA working-class Indiana teen obsessed with the Italian cycling team vies for the affections of a college girl while searching for life goals with his friends.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsSigourney WeaverTom SkerrittJohn HurtThe crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsSally FieldBeau BridgesRon LeibmanA young single mother and textile worker agrees to help unionize her mill despite the problems and dangers involved.
- DirectorBob FosseStarsRoy ScheiderJessica LangeAnn ReinkingDirector/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid career of Joe Gideon, a womanizing, drug-using dancer.
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsPeter SellersShirley MacLaineMelvyn DouglasAfter the death of his employer forces him out of the only home he's ever known, a simpleminded, sheltered gardener becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful tycoon and an insider in Washington politics.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonMariel HemingwayThe life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.
- DirectorVolker SchlöndorffStarsDavid BennentMario AdorfAngela WinklerIn 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.
- DirectorJames BridgesStarsJane FondaJack LemmonMichael DouglasA reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant.
- DirectorÉdouard MolinaroStarsUgo TognazziMichel SerraultClaire MaurierThe manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and his star attraction, are a gay couple. Madness ensues when his straight son brings home a fiancée and her ultra-conservative parents to meet them.
- DirectorMark RydellStarsBette MidlerAlan BatesFrederic ForrestThe tragic life of a self-destructive female rock star who struggles to deal with the constant pressures of her career and the demands of her ruthless business manager.
- DirectorHarold BeckerStarsJohn SavageJames WoodsFranklyn SealesAn LA police officer is murdered in the onion fields outside of Bakersfield. However, legal loopholes could keep his kidnappers from receiving justice, and his partner is haunted by overwhelming survivor's guilt.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsLee RemickRobin EllisWesley AddyIt's the fall of 1850, a few miles outside Boston. The household of the dour Mr. Wentworth receives two unannounced visitors from Europe, Eugenia and Felix, the daughter and son of his half sister. Gertrude, one of Wentworth's two daughters, is instantly infatuated with her cousins, thinking them sophisticated and worldly. She turns her back on the local Unitarian minister, Mr. Brand, who has been calling on her, to delight in the pleasure and amusement Felix offers. Another wealthy neighbor, Mr. Acton, is attracted to Eugenia, who is going through a divorce with a European aristocrat. Are the Americans being used by the penniless Europeans? Or is there real affection?
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsJohn SavageTreat WilliamsBeverly D'AngeloClaude Bukowski leaves the family ranch in Oklahoma for New York where he is rapidly embraced into the hippie group of youngsters led by Berger, yet he's already been drafted. He soon falls in love with Sheila Franklin, a rich girl but still a rebel inside.
- DirectorGeorge Roy HillStarsLaurence OlivierDiane LaneThelonious BernardAn American teenager living in Paris meets and falls in love with a local.
- DirectorCarroll BallardStarsKelly RenoMickey RooneyTeri GarrAfter being shipwrecked with a magnificent horse off the coast of Africa in the 1940s, a boy bonds with the stallion, and trains him to race after their rescue.
- DirectorJames FrawleyStarsJim HensonFrank OzJerry NelsonKermit and his newfound friends trek across America to find success in Hollywood, but a frog legs merchant is after Kermit.
- DirectorNicholas MeyerStarsMalcolm McDowellMary SteenburgenDavid WarnerH.G. Wells pursues Jack the Ripper to the 20th Century when the serial murderer uses the future writer's time machine to escape his time period.
- DirectorBob ClarkStarsChristopher PlummerJames MasonDavid HemmingsSherlock Holmes investigates the murders commited by Jack the Ripper and discovers a conspiracy to protect the killer.
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsDustin HoffmanVanessa RedgraveTimothy DaltonIn December 1926, Agatha Christie's husband asks for a divorce. She leaves her car and goes missing for 11 days. She books into a hotel as Mrs. Neele. A US reporter looks for her and investigates.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsMichael BeckJames RemarDorsey WrightA street gang known as the Warriors must fight its way from the Bronx to its home turf on Coney Island when its members are falsely accused of assassinating a respected gang leader.
- DirectorStuart RosenbergStarsJames BrolinMargot KidderRod SteigerNewlyweds and their three children move into a large house where a mass murder was committed. They start to experience strange, inexplicable manifestations which have strong effects on everyone living in or visiting the house.
- DirectorJerry SchatzbergStarsAlan AldaBarbara HarrisMeryl StreepRespected liberal Senator Joe Tynan is asked to lead the opposition to a Supreme Court appointment. It means losing an old friend and fudging principles to make the necessary deals, as well as further straining his already part-time family life. But it could be a big boost to his career, so he takes it on. Helping him prepare the case is pretty southern researcher Karen Traynor, and their developing relationship further complicates and compromises his life.
- DirectorPhilip KaufmanStarsKen WahlKaren AllenJohn FriedrichThe Wanderers is a teenage, Italian gang in Bronx, NYC, 1963. They have their confrontations with other gangs. Drugs and weapons are uncool. Adult life awaits them.
- DirectorAnthony PageStarsElliott GouldCybill ShepherdAngela LansburyWhile travelling by rail in interwar Nazi Germany, a young socialite finds that a fellow female passenger has disappeared from the train, but nobody else remembers her having been on board.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsAl PacinoJack WardenJohn ForsytheA lawyer is forced to defend a judge, while defending other clients, and trying to find punishment for the guilty and provide justice for the innocent.
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsBurt ReynoldsJill ClayburghCandice BergenA divorced man falls in love, but somehow he can't get over his ex-wife. This affects his love life in comic ways. Based on Dan Wakefield's novel.
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsDudley MooreBo DerekJulie AndrewsA Hollywood composer goes through a mid-life crisis and becomes infatuated with a sexy, newly married woman.
- DirectorGary NelsonStarsMaximilian SchellAnthony PerkinsRobert ForsterA research vessel finds a missing ship, commanded by a mysterious scientist, on the edge of a black hole.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsRoger MooreLois ChilesMichael LonsdaleJames Bond investigates the mid-air theft of a space shuttle, and discovers a plot to commit global genocide.
- DirectorSylvester StalloneStarsSylvester StalloneTalia ShireBurt YoungRocky struggles in family life after his bout with Apollo Creed, while the embarrassed champ insistently goads him to accept a challenge for a rematch.
- DirectorFranco ZeffirelliStarsJon VoightFaye DunawayRicky SchroderBilly Flynn is an ex-champion boxer who was KO'd by booze and gambling. When the wealthy, estranged mother of his young son begins trying to lure the boy away from him, Flynn must return to the ring to provide for his child.
- DirectorStan DragotiStarsGeorge HamiltonSusan Saint JamesRichard BenjaminAfter being evicted from his castle in Transylvania, Count Dracula and his assistant Renfield travel to New York to find a woman who the Count believes is the reincarnation of the woman he has loved for all eternity.
- DirectorDerek JarmanStarsAdam AntRichard O'BrienIan CharlesonQueen Elizabeth I travels 400 years into the future to witness the appalling revelation of a dystopian London overrun by corruption and a vicious gang of punk guerrilla girls led by the new Monarch of Punk.
- DirectorJohn BadhamStarsFrank LangellaLaurence OlivierDonald PleasenceIn 1913, the charming, seductive and sinister vampire Count Dracula travels to England in search of an immortal bride.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsOliver ReedSamantha EggarArt HindleA man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, amidst a series of brutal murders.
- DirectorDon CoscarelliStarsA. Michael BaldwinBill ThornburyReggie BannisterA teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber, known only as the Tall Man, who employs a lethal arsenal of unearthly weapons.
- DirectorChuck JonesPhil MonroeMaurice NobleStarsMel BlancArthur Q. BryanPaul JulianBugs Bunny reflects on his past cartoon exploits.