1979

Film Decades: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

• 10 – directed by Blake Edwards, starring Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews, Bo Derek, Robert Webber, Brian Dennehy
• 1941 – directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, John Candy, Tim Matheson, Nancy Allen, Christopher Lee, Toshiro Mifune, Slim Pickens, Treat Williams, Warren Oates, Robert Stack
• The Actress, the Dollars and the Transylvanians – Romania
• The Adolescent – directed by Jeanne Moreau, starring Simone Signoret – France
• The Adventure of Sudsakorn – the first and only cel-animated feature film from Thailand
• Adventures of Sinbad
• Agatha, directed by Michael Apted, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffman – (U.K.)
• Ah! Nomugi Toge (Nomugi Pass) – (Japan)
• Air Crew (Ekipazh) – (U.S.S.R.)
• Alien** – directed by Ridley Scott, starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto – US/UK
• All Quiet on the Western Front – directed by Delbert Mann, starring Richard Thomas & Ernest Borgnine – TV movie
• All That Jazz – directed by Bob Fosse, starring Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Ann Reinking, Leland Palmer, Cliff Gorman, Ben Vereen, & John Lithgow
• An Almost Perfect Affair, starring Keith Carradine and Monica Vitti
• Americathon, starring John Ritter and Harvey Korman
• The Amityville Horror, directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger
• …And Justice for All – directed by Norman Jewison, starring Al Pacino, John Forsythe, Jack Warden, Christine Lahti, Craig T. Nelson, Jeffrey Tambor
• Anti-Clock, directed by Jane Arden – (U.K.)
• Apocalypse Now – directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford
• The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, starring Don Knotts and Tim Conway
• Arabian Adventure, starring Christopher Lee and Emma Samms – (U.K.)
• Ashanti – directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Michael Caine & Peter Ustinov
• Autumn Marathon (Osenniy marafon) – (U.S.S.R.)
• Baby Snakes, directed by Frank Zappa
• Ball Lightning (Kulový blesk) – (Czechoslovakia)
• Ballad of Tara (Tcherike-ye Tara) – (Iran)
• Bear Island, starring Donald Sutherland, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Widmark, Barbara Parkins
• Being There – directed by Hal Ashby, starring Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden
• The Bell Jar, starring Marilyn Hassett, Julie Harris, Anne Jackson
• Best Boy – documentary
• Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, directed by Irwin Allen, starring Michael Caine, Telly Savalas, Sally Field, Karl Malden, Shirley Jones
• Birth of the Beatles – directed by Richard Marquand
• The Bitch, starring Joan Collins – (U.K.)
• The Black Hole, directed by Gary Nelson, starring Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Ernest Borgnine, Yvette Mimieux
• The Black Stallion, directed by Carroll Ballard, starring Mickey Rooney, Hoyt Axton, Teri Garr, Kelly Reno
• Bloodline – directed by Terence Young, starring Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara, James Mason, Gert Fröbe, Beatrice Straight
• Bloody Kids – directed by Stephen Frears – (U.K.)
• Boardwalk, starring Ruth Gordon, Lee Strasberg, Janet Leigh
• Boulevard Nights, directed by Michael Pressman
• Breaking Away – directed by Peter Yates, starring Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Jackie Earle Haley, Paul Dooley
• Breakthrough, starring Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Rod Steiger, Curd Jürgens
• Les Bronzés font du ski (a.k.a. French Fried Vacation 2), directed by Patrice Leconte – (France)
• The Brood – directed by David Cronenberg, starring Oliver Reed & Samantha Eggar – Canada
• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, starring Gil Gerard and Erin Gray
• Buffet froid, directed by Bertrand Blier, starring Gérard Depardieu, Bernard Blier, Jean Carmet – (France)
• The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie
• Butch and Sundance: The Early Days – directed by Richard Lester, starring Tom Berenger & William Katt
• The Butterfly Murders (Die bian), directed by Tsui Hark – (Hong Kong)
• Bye Bye Brazil – (Brazil/France/Argentina)
• C.H.O.M.P.S., directed by Don Chaffey, starring Wesley Eure, Valerie Bertinelli, Conrad Bain, Red Buttons
• California Dreaming, starring Glynnis O’Connor, Dennis Christopher, Tanya Roberts
• Caligula, directed by Tinto Brass – starring Malcolm McDowell, Teresa Ann Savoy, Helen Mirren, Peter O’Toole – Italy/US
• Camera Buff – directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski – Poland
• The Castle of Cagliostro** – directed by Hayao Miyazaki – Japan
• The Cat and the Canary, starring Honor Blackman, Carol Lynley, Olivia Hussey – (U.K.)
• The Champ – directed by Franco Zeffirelli, starring Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway, Ricky Schroder, Jack Warden, Arthur Hill
• Chapter Two, starring James Caan, Marsha Mason, Joseph Bologna, Valerie Harper
• The China Syndrome – directed by James Bridges, starring Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas
• Christ Stopped at Eboli (Italian: Cristo si è fermato a Eboli), directed by Francesco Rosi, starring Gian Maria Volonté – (Italy/France)
• City on Fire, starring Susan Clark and Ava Gardner
• The Concorde … Airport ’79, starring Alain Delon, Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner, George Kennedy
• Cuba – directed by Richard Lester, starring Sean Connery, Brooke Adams, Chris Sarandon
• David – West Germany
• Derek and Clive Get the Horn, starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore – (U.K.)
• Dirty Ho (Lan tou He), starring Gordon Liu – (Hong Kong)
• Don Giovanni, directed by Joseph Losey, starring Ruggero Raimondi, John Macurdy, Kiri Te Kanawa – (Italy/France/U.K./West Germany)
• Dracula, directed by John Badham, starring Frank Langella, Laurence Olivier, Trevor Eve – (US/UK)
• Dreamer, starring Tim Matheson
• Eagle’s Wing – starring Martin Sheen & Sam Waterston – UK
• The Electric Horseman, directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Valerie Perrine, John Saxon, Willie Nelson
• Escape from Alcatraz – directed by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Fred Ward
• Escape to Athena – directed by George P. Cosmatos, starring Roger Moore, David Niven, Elliott Gould, Stefanie Powers, Claudia Cardinale, Telly Savalas – UK
• The Europeans – directed by James Ivory, starring Lee Remick, Robin Ellis, Tim Woodward, & Lisa Eichhorn – UK
• Fast Break, starring Gabe Kaplan and Bernard King
• Felicity, starring Glory Annen – (Australia)
• Ffolkes, aka North Sea Hijack, starring Roger Moore, James Mason, Anthony
• Perkins, Michael Parks – (U.K.)
• The Fifth Musketeer – starring Sylvia Kristel, Ursula Andress, Beau Bridges, Ian McShane, Rex Harrison – Austria/West Germany
• Firepower – starring Sophia Loren, James Coburn, O.J. Simpson – UK
• First Case, Second Case – directed by Abbas Kiarostami – Iran
• The First Great Train Robbery – starring Sean Connery, Lesley-Anne Down, Donald Sutherland – UK
• A Force of One, starring Chuck Norris and Jennifer O’Neill
• The Frisco Kid – directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Gene Wilder, Harrison Ford
• French Postcards, starring Miles Chapin, David Marshall Grant, Debra Winger
  Gal Young Un, directed by Victor Nuñez
• The Genealogy – South Korea
• Going in Style – directed by Martin Brest, starring George Burns, Art Carney, Lee Strasberg
• The Glove, starring John Saxon and Roosevelt Grier
• Gol Maal (Confusion) – India
• Goldengirl, starring Susan Anton, James Coburn, Leslie Caron
• Grass Labyrinth – Japan
• The Great Santini – starring Robert Duvall, Michael O’Keefe, Blythe Danner, Lisa Jane Persky, Stan Shaw
• The Great Riviera Bank Robbery – starring Ian McShane – UK
• Hair – directed by Miloš Forman, starring John Savage, Treat Williams, Beverly D’Angelo
• Hanover Street – directed by Peter Hyams, starring Harrison Ford, Lesley-Anne Down, Christopher Plummer – US/UK
• Hardcore, directed by Paul Schrader, starring George C. Scott and Peter Boyle
• Heart of the Forest – Spain
• Heartland, directed by Richard Pearce, starring Rip Torn and Conchata Ferrell
• Hot Stuff, directed by and starring Dom DeLuise, with Suzanne Pleshette, Ossie Davis, Jerry Reed
• The Human Factor – directed by Otto Preminger, starring Richard Attenborough, John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi – UK
• Hurricane – starring Mia Farrow, Jason Robards, Max von Sydow, Trevor Howard
• The Hussy – France
• The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting – directed by Raúl Ruiz – France
• I as in Icarus – starring Yves Montand – France
• The In-Laws – directed by Arthur Hiller, starring Alan Arkin & Peter Falk
• Jack Frost, directed by Rankin/Bass, starring Robert Morse
• Jaguar – Philippines
• The Jerk – directed by Carl Reiner, starring Steve Martin & Bernadette Peters
• Jesus, directed by Peter Sykes and John Krisch, starring Brian Deacon – (Australia/US/UK)
• Just You and Me, Kid, starring George Burns and Brooke Shields
• Kaala Patthar (Black Stone), starring Shashi Kapoor – (India)
• Kassbach – Ein Porträt (Kassbach – A Portrait) – (Austria)
• The Kids Are Alright, a rockumentary featuring The Who – (U.K.)
• Knockabout, directed by and starring Sammo Hung – (Hong Kong)
• Kramer vs. Kramer – directed by Robert Benton, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, Justin Henry, JoBeth Williams, Jane Alexander
• Lady Oscar – directed by Jacques Demy, starring Catriona MacColl & Patsy Kensit – France/Japan
• Le Pétomane, starring Leonard Rossiter and Graham Stark
• The Lady Vanishes, starring Elliott Gould, Cybill Shepherd, Angela Lansbury
• Last Embrace – directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Roy Scheider & Janet Margolin
• The Last of the Knucklemen – (Australia)
• Little House Years
• A Little Romance – directed by George Roy Hill, starring Laurence Olivier, Diane Lane, Sally Kellerman – France/United States
• Little Tragedies – USSR
• Love and Bullets, directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Rod Steiger
• Love at First Bite, starring George Hamilton and Susan Saint James
• Love on the Run – directed by François Truffaut – France
• Lovers and Liars – starring Goldie Hawn & Giancarlo Giannini – Italy/France
• La Luna, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Jill Clayburgh – (Italy)
• Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro** – directed by Hayao Miyazaki – Japan
• Mad Max –  directed by George Miller, starring Mel Gibson & Hugh Keays-Byrne – (Australia)
• The Magician of Lublin – starring Alan Arkin, Louise Fletcher, Valerie Perrine
• Magnificent Butcher (Lin shi rong), starring Sammo Hung – (Hong Kong)
• The Main Event, starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal
• Mamá cumple cien años (Mama Turns 100), directed by Carlos Saura, starring Geraldine Chaplin – (Spain)
• Manhattan – directed by and starring Woody Allen, with Diane Keaton, Michael Murphy, Mariel Hemingway, Meryl Streep, & Anne Byrne
• A Man, a Woman, and a Bank, starring Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams
• The Marriage of Maria Braun, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, starring Hanna Schygulla – (West Germany)
• Maula Jatt – (Pakistan)
• Meatballs – directed by Ivan Reitman, starring Bill Murray – Canada
• The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed (Mesto vstrechi izmenit nelzya) – (U.S.S.R.)
• Meetings with Remarkable Men, Gurdjieff biography directed by Peter Brook – (U.K.)
• Meteor – directed by Ronald Neame, starring Sean Connery, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, Henry Fonda, Martin Landau, Trevor Howard
• Monty Python’s Life of Brian** –  directed by Terry Jones, written by & starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Jones, & Michael Palin – (U.K.)
• Moonraker, directed by Lewis Gilbert, starring Roger Moore, with Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Richard Kiel – UK
• More American Graffiti – starring Candy Clark, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams
• Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video – starring Michael O’Donoghue, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray
• The Muppet Movie** – directed by James Frawley, starring Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Richard Hunt, and Jerry Nelson, with Charles Durning, and cameos Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Mel Brooks, & Orson Welles
• Murder by Decree, starring Christopher Plummer (as Sherlock Holmes) and James Mason – (U.K./Canada)
• My Brilliant Career, directed by Gillian Armstrong, starring Judy Davis and Sam Neill – (Australia)
• Nightwing, directed by Arthur Hiller, starring Nick Mancuso and Kathryn Harrold
• Noorie, directed by Manmohan Krishna – (India)
• Norma Rae – directed by Martin Ritt, starring Sally Field, Ron Leibman, Beau Bridges
• The North Avenue Irregulars, starring Karen Valentine, Barbara Harris, Susan Clark
• North Dallas Forty, starring Nick Nolte, Mac Davis, G.D. Spradlin, Dayle Haddon, Bo Svenson, John Matuszak
• Nosferatu the Vampyre – directed by Werner Herzog, starring Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, Bruno Ganz – West Germany
• The Odd Angry Shot, starring Bryan Brown – (Australia)
• The Odd Couple (Bo ming chan dao duo ming qiang), starring Sammo Hung – (Hong Kong)
• The Onion Field, directed by Harold Becker, starring James Woods, John Savage, Franklyn Seales, Ted Danson
• Operación Ogro, directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, starring Gian Maria Volonté – (Spain/Italy)
• Over the Edge, directed by Jonathan Kaplan, starring Matt Dillon
• The Passage, starring Anthony Quinn, James Mason, Malcolm McDowell, Patricia Neal, Kay Lenz
• A Perfect Couple – directed by Robert Altman, starring Paul Dooley & Marta Heflin
• Peruvazhiyambalam, directed by Padmarajan – (India)
• Les petites fugues (The Little Fugitives) – (Switzerland)
• Phantasm – directed by Don Coscarelli
• A Pleasure Doing Business, directed by Steven Vagnino, starring Conrad Bain, John Byner, Alan Oppenheimer and Misty Rowe
• The Plank, directed by and starring Eric Sykes, with Arthur Lowe – (U.K.)
• The Plumber, directed by Peter Weir, starring Judy Morris – (Australia)
• Prince Nezha’s Triumph Against Dragon King (Nezha nao hai), an animated film – (China)
• The Prisoner of Zenda, starring Peter Sellers, Lynne Frederick and Lionel Jeffries
• The Prize Fighter, starring Don Knotts and Tim Conway
• Prophecy – directed by John Frankenheimer, starring Talia Shire, Robert Foxworth, Richard Dysart, Armand Assante
• Quadrophenia, directed by Franc Roddam, starring Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Ray Winstone, with music by The Who – (U.K.)
• Real Life, directed by and starring Albert Brooks, with Charles Grodin
• Richard Pryor: Live in Concert
• Rich Kids, starring Trini Alvarado and John Lithgow
• Rock ‘n’ Roll High School – produced by Roger Corman, featuring The Ramones
• Rocky II – directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone, with Carl Weathers, Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young
• The Rose, directed by Mark Rydell, starring Bette Midler, Alan Bates, Frederic Forrest
• Running, starring Michael Douglas
• Saint Jack – directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Ben Gazzara
• Scavenger Hunt – starring Cloris Leachman, Cleavon Little, Vincent Price, Tony Randall
• Scum, starring Ray Winstone – (U.K.)
• A Scream from Silence (Mourir à tue-tête) – (Canada)
• The Seduction of Joe Tynan, starring Alan Alda, Meryl Streep, Melvyn Douglas, Barbara Harris, Rip Torn
• A Sense of Freedom, directed by John Mackenzie – (U.K.)
  Série noire (Black Series), directed by Alain Corneau – (France)
• Siberiade, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky – (U.S.S.R)
• Sisters, or the Balance of Happiness (Schwestern oder Die Balance des Glücks), directed by Margarethe von Trotta – (West Germany)
• Skatetown, U.S.A., starring Scott Baio, Flip Wilson, Maureen McCormick, Patrick Swayze
• Something Out of Nothing, directed by Nikola Rudarov, starring Asen Kisimov, Stefan Danailov, Aneta Sotirova – (Bulgaria)
• Something Short of Paradise – directed by David Helpern, starring Susan Sarandon & David Steinberg
• Stalker, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky – (U.S.S.R.)
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture – directed by Robert Wise, starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Persis Khambatta, Stephen Collins
• Starting Over – directed by Alan J. Pakula, starring Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh, Candice Bergen, Charles Durning
• Suhaag (a.k.a. Sign of Marriage), starring Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Rekha – (India)
• The Survivors (Los sobrevivientes) – (Cuba)
• Take Down, starring Lorenzo Lamas and Maureen McCormick
• Tale of Tales (Skazka skazok), an animated film – (U.S.S.R.)
• Tarka the Otter, narrated by Peter Ustinov – (U.K.)
• The Tempest, directed by Derek Jarman, starring Toyah Willcox – (U.K.)
• Tess, directed by Roman Polanski, starring Nastassja Kinski – (France/U.K.)
• That Summer!, starring Ray Winstone – (U.K.)
• The Theme (Tema), directed by Gleb Panfilov, starring Mikhail Ulyanov, Inna Churikova, Stanislav Lyubshin, and Yevgeni Vesnik. Winner of 1987 Golden Bear – (U.S.S.R.)
• The Third Generation (Die Dritte Generation), directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, starring Hanna Schygulla – (West Germany)
• Those Wonderful Movie Cranks (Báječní muži s klikou), directed by Jiří Menzel – (Czechoslovakia)
• La Tía Alejandra (Aunt Alejandra) – (Mexico)
• Tim – starring Mel Gibson & Piper Laurie – Australia
• Time After Time – directed by Nicholas Meyer, starring Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, Mary Steenburgen
• The Tin Drum – directed by Volker Schlöndorff, starring David Bennent – West Germany
• To Forget Venice (Dimenticare Venezia), directed by Franco Brusati, starring Mariangela Melato and Erland Josephson – (Italy)
• Tourist Trap, starring Chuck Connors and Tanya Roberts
• Ultraman – (Japan)
• Ultraman: Great Monster Decisive Battle – (Japan)
• Uncle Marin, the Billionaire (Nea Mărin miliardar) – (Romania)
• Vengeance Is Mine (fukushū suru wa ware ni ari), directed by Shohei Imamura, starring Ken Ogata – (Japan)
• The Villain, directed by Hal Needham, starring Kirk Douglas, Ann-Margret, Arnold Schwarzenegger
• The Visitor – directed by Giulio Paradisi (as Michael J. Paradise), starring John Huston, Paige Conner, Joanne Nail, & Lance Henriksen with Shelley Winters, Glenn Ford, Sam Peckinpah, & Franco Nero (uncredited)
• Wanda Nevada, directed by and starring Peter Fonda, with Brooke Shields
• The Wanderers, starring Ken Wahl and Karen Allen
• The Warriors, directed by Walter Hill, starring Michael Beck, James Remar, David Patrick Kelly, Deborah Van Valkenburgh
• When a Stranger Calls, starring Charles Durning and Carol Kane
• Winter Kills – starring Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins
• Wise Blood – directed by and starring John Huston, with Brad Dourif – United States/West Germany
• Woman Between Wolf and Dog (Femme entre chien et loup) – (Belgium/France)
• Woyzeck – directed by Werner Herzog, starring Klaus Kinski & Eva Mattes – West Germany
• The Wretches Are Still Singing (Τα Κουρέλια Τραγουδάνε Ακόμα), directed by Nikos Nikolaidis – (Greece)
• Yanks, directed by John Schlesinger, starring Richard Gere, Lisa Eichhorn, Vanessa Redgrave – (US/UK)
• Yesterday’s Hero, directed by Neil Leifer, starring Ian McShane, Suzanne Somers, Adam Faith and Paul Nicholas – (U.K.)
• Zombi 2, directed by Lucio Fulci, starring Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson – (Italy)
• Zulu Dawn, starring Peter O’Toole, Burt Lancaster, Simon Ward – (United States/South Africa/Netherlands)