1978

Film Decades: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • The 36th Chamber of Shaolin – starring Gordon Liu – Hong Kong
  • Almost Summer – directed by Martin Davidson, starring Bruno Kirby & Lee Purcell
  • American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince, directed by Martin Scorsese – documentary
  • American Hot Wax, a biopic of Alan Freed, starring Tim McIntire, Fran Drescher, Laraine Newman, Jay Leno
  • L’argent des autres (Other People’s Money), starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Catherine Deneuve – (France)
  • The Astral Factor, starring Robert Foxworth and Stefanie Powers
  • Autumn Sonata – directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann – Sweden
  • Avalanche – starring Rock Hudson, Robert Forster, Mia Farrow
  • The Bad News Bears Go to Japan, starring Tony Curtis and Jackie Earle Haley
  • Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron – Japan
  • Battlestar Galactica
  • The Betsy – starring Laurence Olivier, Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Katharine Ross, Kathleen Beller, Lesley-Anne Down
  • The Big Fix – starring Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Anspach, F. Murray Abraham, John Lithgow
  • The Big Sleep – starring Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, Oliver Reed, Richard Boone, Candy Clark, Joan Collins, James Stewart – UK
  • Big Wednesday – directed by John Milius, starring Jan-Michael Vincent, William Katt, Gary Busey
  • Bloodbrothers, starring Richard Gere and Paul Sorvino
  • Blue Collar – directed by Paul Schrader, starring Richard Pryor, Yaphet Kotto, Harvey Keitel
  • Born Again, starring Dean Jones and Anne Francis
  • The Boys from Brazil – directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, starring Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier, James Mason – UK/US
  • The Boys in Company C, starring Stan Shaw, Andrew Stevens and Craig Wasson
  • The Brink’s Job – directed by William Friedkin, starring Peter Falk, Gena Rowlands, Peter Boyle, Paul Sorvino, Warren Oates
  • The Buddy Holly Story, starring Gary Busey, Don Stroud and Charles Martin Smith
  • Bye Bye Monkey – starring Gérard Depardieu and Marcello Mastroianni – France/Italy
  • La Cage aux Folles, directed by Édouard Molinaro, starring Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault – (France/Italy)
  • California Suite – directed by Herbert Ross, starring Alan Alda, Michael Caine, Bill Cosby, Jane Fonda, Matthau, Elaine May, Richard Pryor, & Maggie Smith
  • Capricorn One, directed by Peter Hyams, starring Elliott Gould, James Brolin, O.J. Simpson, Sam Waterston, Hal Holbrook, Brenda Vaccaro
  • Caravans, starring Anthony Quinn, Jennifer O’Neill, Michael Sarrazin
  • Casey’s Shadow, starring Walter Matthau, Alexis Smith, Robert Webber
  • The Cat from Outer Space, starring Ken Berry and Sandy Duncan
  • Centennial – starring Raymond Burr, Richard Chamberlain, Richard Crenna, Andy Griffith, David Janssen, Alex Karras – miniseries
  • La chambre verte (The Green Room) – directed by and starring François Truffaut – (France)
  • The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, directed by Fred Schepisi – (Australia)
  • The Cheap Detective, starring Peter Falk, Ann-Margret, Marsha Mason, Sid Caesar
  • China 9, Liberty 37 (Amore, piombo e furore), starring Fabio Testi, Jenny Agutter, Warren Oates – (Italy/Spain)
  • The Class of Miss MacMichael, starring Glenda Jackson – (U.K.)
  • Closed Circuit (Circuito chiuso) – (Italy)
  • Coma, directed by Michael Crichton, starring Geneviève Bujold, Michael Douglas, Richard Widmark
  • Comes a Horseman – directed by Alan J. Pakula, starring Jane Fonda, James Caan, Jason Robards
  • Coming Home – directed by Hal Ashby, starring Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Bruce Dern, Penelope Milford
  • Convoy – directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring Kris Kristofferson, Ali MacGraw, & Ernest Borgnine
  • Corvette Summer – starring Mark Hamill & Annie Potts
  • Cosi’ come sei (aka Stay As You Are) starring Marcello Mastroianni and Nastassja Kinski – (Italy)
  • Crippled Avengers – directed by Chang Cheh – Hong Kong
  • The Dain Curse – starring James Coburn & Jean Simmons – miniseries
  • Damien: Omen II – starring William Holden & Lee Grant
    d’Artagnan and Three Musketeers (d’Artanyan i tri mushketera) – (U.S.S.R.)
  • Dawn of the Dead – directed by George A. Romero – US/Italy
  • Days of Heaven – directed by Terrence Malick, starring Richard Gere, Sam Shepard, Brooke Adams
  • Death on the Nile – directed by John Guillermin, starring Peter Ustinov, David Niven, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Olivia Hussey, Mia Farrow – UK
  • Deathsport – starring David Carradine
  • The Deer Hunter – directed by Michael Cimino, starring Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep
  • The Demon – Japan
  • A Different Story, starring Meg Foster, Perry King, Valerie Curtin
  • El diputado (The Deputy) – (Spain)
  • Don, starring Amitabh Bachchan – (India)
  • A Dream of Passion (Kravgi gynaikon), directed by Jules Dassin, starring Melina Mercouri and Ellen Burstyn – (Greece)
  • The Driver, directed by Walter Hill, starring Ryan O’Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani, Ronee Blakley
  • Drunken Master – starring Jackie Chan – Hong Kong
  • Ecce bombo, directed by and starring Nanni Moretti – (Italy)
  • Empire of Passion – directed by Nagisa Oshima – Japan
  • The End – directed by and starring Burt Reynolds, with Dom DeLuise, Joanne Woodward, Pat O’Brien, Myrna Loy, Sally Field
  • An Enemy of the People, starring Steve McQueen
  • Enter the Fat Dragon – starring Sammo Hung – Hong Kong
  • Every Which Way but Loose – directed by James Fargo, starring Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis
  • Eyes of Laura Mars – directed by Irvin Kershner, starring Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif, René Auberjonois, & Raul Julia
  • F.I.S.T., directed by Norman Jewison, starring Sylvester Stallone, Melinda Dillon, Rod Steiger
  • FM, starring Cleavon Little and Eileen Brennan
  • Fedora – directed by Billy Wilder, starring William Holden & Marthe Keller
  • Fingers – directed by James Toback, starring Harvey Keitel
  • Five Deadly Venoms
  • Force 10 from Navarone, starring Robert Shaw, Edward Fox, Harrison Ford – (U.K.)
  • Foul Play – directed by Colin Higgins, starring Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Dudley Moore, & Billy Barty
  • The Fury – directed by Brian De Palma, starring Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgress, Andrew Stevens, Amy Irving
  • Gates of Heaven – documentary
  • Germany in Autumn (Deutschland im Herbst) – (West Germany)
  • Get Out Your Handkerchiefs – directed by Bertrand Blier – France
  • Girlfriends – directed by Claudia Weill, starring Melanie Mayron
  • Go Tell the Spartans, starring Burt Lancaster
  • Goin’ South – directed by & starring Jack Nicholson, with Mary Steenburgen, Christopher Lloyd, John Belushi, Richard Bradford, Veronica Cartwright, Danny DeVito, & Ed Begley Jr
  • Gray Lady Down – starring Charlton Heston, David Carradine, Stacy Keach, Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty
  • Grease** – directed by Randal Kleiser, starring John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Jeff Conaway, Stockard Channing, Sid Caesar, Eve Arden
  • Halloween** – directed by John Carpenter, starring Jamie Lee Curtis & Donald Pleasence
  • Harper Valley PTA, starring Barbara Eden
  • Heaven Can Wait – directed by Buck Henry & Warren Beatty, starring Beatty, Julie Christie, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon, Jack Warden, James Mason
  • The Herd (Sürü) – (Turkey)
  • High-Ballin’ – starring Peter Fonda, Michael Ironside, Helen Shaver, Jerry Reed
  • Holocaust – starring Meryl Streep, James Woods, Michael Moriarty, Tovah Feldshuh, Fritz Weaver, Ian Holm – miniseries
  • Hooper – directed by Hal Needham, starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jan-Michael Vincent, Robert Klein, Brian Keith
  • Hot Lead and Cold Feet, directed by Robert Butler, starring Jim Dale, Karen Valentine, Don Knotts
  • House Calls – directed by Howard Zieff, starring Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Richard Benjamin, Art Carney
  • Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie’s Pictures – directed by James Ivory, starring Peggy Ashcroft, Larry Pine, Saeed Jaffrey, Victor Banerjee, & Aparna Sen – TV movie
  • A Hunting Accident (Moy laskovyy i nezhnyy zver) – (U.S.S.R.)
  • I Wanna Hold Your Hand – directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Nancy Allen, Marc McClure, Bobby Di Cicco
  • Ice Castles, directed by Donald Wrye, starring Lynn-Holly Johnson and Robby Benson
  • In a Year of 13 Moons (In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden), directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder – (West Germany)
  • In Praise of Older Women, starring Tom Berenger, Karen Black, Helen Shaver – (Canada)
  • Interiors – directed by Woody Allen, starring Kristin Griffith, Mary Beth Hurt, Richard Jordan, Diane Keaton, E.G. Marshall, Geraldine Page, Maureen Stapleton, & Sam Waterston
  • International Velvet, starring Tatum O’Neal, Nanette Newman and Anthony Hopkins
  • Invasion of the Body Snatchers – directed by Philip Kaufman, starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum
  • Jaws 2, directed by Jeannot Szwarc, starring Roy Scheider and Lorraine Gary
  • Killer of Sheep, directed by Charles Burnett
  • King of the Gypsies – directed by Frank Pierson, starring Eric Roberts, Sterling Hayden, Shelley Winters, Susan Sarandon, Brooke Shields, Annette O’Toole, & Judd Hirsch
  • Kondura (The Boon), directed by Shyam Benegal – (India-Bollywood/Telugu)
  • Lady on the Bus (A Dama do Lotação), starring Sônia Braga – (Brazil)
  • The Left-Handed Woman (Die linkshändige Frau) – (West Germany)
  • The Last Waltz, directed by Martin Scorsese, featuring The Band, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Bob Dylan – documentary
  • Long Weekend, starring John Hargreaves – (Australia)
  • The Lord of the Rings – directed by Ralph Bakshi, starrin voices of William Squire, John Hurt, Anthony Daniels
  • Magic, directed by Richard Attenborough, starring Anthony Hopkins, Ann-Margret, Burgess Meredith, Ed Lauter
  • De Mantel der Liefde (The Mantle of Love) – (Netherlands)
  • Mean Dog Blues, starring Gregg Henry, Kay Lenz, Tina Louise and George Kennedy
  • The Medusa Touch, starring Richard Burton, Lino Ventura and Lee Remick – (U.K.)
  • Midnight Express – directed by Alan Parker, starring Brad Davis, Randy Quaid, John Hurt – UK/US
  • Moment by Moment – directed by Jane Wagner, starring John Travolta & Lily Tomlin
  • Movie Movie – directed by Stanley Donen, starring George C. Scott, Harry Hamlin, Barry Bostwick, Trish Van Devere, Red Buttons, Art Carney
  • Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (Conqueror of Destiny), starring Amitabh Bachchan – (India)
  • National Lampoon’s Animal House – directed by John Landis, starring John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Peter Riegert, Tom Hulce, Karen Allen, John Vernon
  • Newsfront, directed by Phillip Noyce, starring Wendy Hughes and Bryan Brown – (Australia)
  • A Night Full of Rain (Una notte piena di pioggia), directed by Lina Wertmüller, starring Giancarlo Giannini and Candice Bergen – (Italy/U.S.)
  • The Night the Prowler – directed by Jim Sharman – Australia
  • Occupation in 26 Pictures (Okupacija u 26 slika) – (Yugoslavia)
  • Oliver’s Story – directed by John Korty, starring Ryan O’Neal & Candice Bergen
  • The One and Only – directed by Carl Reiner, starring Henry Winkler & Kim Darby
  • Orchestra Rehearsal – directed by Federico Fellini – Italy
  • Paradise Alley, directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone, with Armand Assante and Anne Archer
  • Passion Flower Hotel (Leidenschaftliche Blümchen), starring Nastassja Kinski – (West Germany)
  • Perceval le Gallois (Percival the Gaul), directed by Éric Rohmer – (France)
  • Piranha – directed by Joe Dante, written by John Sayles, starring Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Kevin McCarthy
  • The Place Without Limits (El lugar sin límites) – (Mexico)
  • Pretty Baby – directed by Louis Malle, starring Keith Carradine, Brooke Shields, & Susan Sarandon
  • The Prophet, the Gold and the Transylvanians (Profetul, aurul si Ardelenii) – (Romania)
  • Pugachev – (U.S.S.R.)
  • Rabbit Test – directed by Joan Rivers, starring Billy Crystal
  • Remember My Name, starring Geraldine Chaplin and Anthony Perkins
  • Renaldo and Clara, directed by and starring Bob Dylan
  • Return from Witch Mountain, starring Bette Davis and Christopher Lee
  • Revenge of the Pink Panther – directed by Blake Edwards, starring Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom and Dyan Cannon – (U.K./U.S.)
  • Rhinegold – (West Germany)
  • Ringing Bell (Chirin no Suzu), an anime film – (Japan)
  • Rockers, starring Burning Spear, Gregory Isaacs and Big Youth – (Jamaica)
  • The Sailor’s Return, starring Tom Bell – (U.K.)
  • Same Time Next Year, starring Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn
  • The Second Awakening of Christa Klages, directed by Margarethe von Trotta – (West Germany)
  • Sextette, starring Mae West, Timothy Dalton, Dom DeLuise, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, George Hamilton, Alice Cooper
  • Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – starring Peter Frampton, Steve Martin and the Bee Gees with music by The Beatles
  • Shogun’s Samurai (Yagu ichizoku no inbō), starring Sonny Chiba – (Japan)
  • The Shout – directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, starring Alan Bates, John Hurt & Susannah York – UK
  • The Silent Partner, directed by Daryl Duke, starring Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer, Susannah York
  • Slow Dancing in the Big City, directed by John G. Avildsen, starring Paul Sorvino
  • The Small One
  • Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (Shé xíng diāo shǒu), starring Jackie Chan – (Hong Kong)
  • Somebody Killed Her Husband – starring Farrah Fawcett & Jeff Bridges
  • Stevie, starring Glenda Jackson and Trevor Howard – (U.K.)
  • Straight Time, directed by Ulu Grosbard, starring Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell, Harry Dean Stanton, Gary Busey
  • The Stud, starring Joan Collins – (U.K.)
  • Superman – directed by Richard Donner, starring Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Valerie Perrine, Ned Beatty, Glenn Ford
  • The Swarm – starring Michael Caine, Katharine Ross, Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Fred MacMurray, Olivia de Havilland, Ben Johnson, Lee Grant
  • The Swissmakers (Die Schweizermacher) – (Switzerland)
  • Thank God It’s Friday – starring Debra Winger, Donna Summer, Jeff Goldblum
  • Three from Prostokvashino (Troye iz Prostokvashino) – (U.S.S.R.)
  • Toplo (Heat) – (Bulgaria)
  • The Tree of Wooden Clogs – directed by Ermanno Olmi – Italy
  • Trishul, starring Sanjeev Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan – (India)
  • Las truchas (The Trout) – Spain
  • Two Solitudes, starring Jean-Pierre Aumont and Stacy Keach – (Canada)
  • Uncle Joe Shannon, starring Burt Young
  • An Unmarried Woman, directed by Paul Mazursky, starring Jill Clayburgh, Alan Bates, Michael Murphy
  • Up in Smoke, starring Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong
  • Violette Nozière, directed by Claude Chabrol, starring Isabelle Huppert and Stéphane Audran – (France)
  • Ward Six (Paviljon VI) – (Yugoslavia)
  • Warriors Two (Zan xian sheng yu zhao qian Hua), starring Bryan Leung and Sammo Hung – (Hong Kong)
  • The Water Babies, directed by Lionel Jeffries, starring James Mason, Bernard Cribbins, Billie Whitelaw – (U.K./Poland)
  • Watership Down – directed by Martin Rosen, starring the voices of John Hurt, Richard Briers, Zero Mostel – UK
  • A Wedding – directed by Robert Altman, starring Desi Arnaz, Jr., Carol Burnett, Geraldine Chaplin, Lauren Hutton, Paul Dooley, Mia Farrow
  • Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?, starring George Segal and Jacqueline Bisset – (West Germany/U.S.)
  • Who’ll Stop the Rain, directed by Karel Reisz, starring Nick Nolte and Tuesday Weld
  • The Wild Geese, starring Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris – (U.K.)
  • Without Anesthesia (Bez znieczulenia), directed by Andrzej Wajda – (Poland)
  • The Wiz, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell
  • Wolf Lake, directed by Burt Kennedy, starring Rod Steiger
  • You Are Not Alone (Du er ikke alene) – (Denmark)