Greatest Films of the American New Wave by Year

The following is a list of the greatest films of the American New Wave. They are not listed in any particular order. The New Wave produced many more movies than these. But these are the true standouts.

1970

mash last supper parody
Mash

1971

A C;ockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange
  • Mash
  • Patton
  • Five Easy Pieces
  • Little Big Man
  • Catch 22
  • Tora! Tora! Tora!
  • Diary of a Mad Housewife
  • The French Connection
  • The Last Picture Show
  • Carnal Knowledge
  • A Clockwork Orange
  • Harold and Maude
  • THX 1138
  • Dirty Harry
  • The Panic in Needle Park

1972

The Godfather
The Godfather
  • The Godfather
  • Deliverance
  • Cabaret
  • Sounder
  • Last Tango in Paris
  • Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex
  • The Hospital
  • Play it Again, Sam
  • The Poseidon Adventure
  • The Heartbreak Kid
  • Jeremiah Johnson
  • The Candidate

1973

American Graffiti
American Graffiti
  • American Graffiti
  • The Sting
  • The Exorcist
  • Serpico
  • Cinderella Liberty
  • The Way We Were
  • Paper Moon
  • The Last Detail
  • Mean Streets

1974

Jake's partner tells him "Forget it , Jake. It's Chinatown
Chinatown
  • Chinatown
  • The Conversation
  • The Godfather Part 2
  • Blazing Saddles
  • Young Frankenstein
  • A Woman Under the Influence
  • Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
  • Murder on the Orient Express
  • Death Wish

1975

Jaws
Jaws
  • Jaws
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
  • Shampoo
  • Dog Day Afternoon
  • Three Days of the Condor
  • Nashville
  • Barry Lyndon

1976

Rocky
Rocky
  • Rocky
  • All the President’s Men
  • Network
  • Taxi Driver
  • Marathon Man
  • Bound for Glory
  • Carrie

1977

Star Wars
Star Wars
  • Star Wars
  • Annie Hall
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  • Saturday Night Fever
  • Looking for Mr. Goodbar
  • New York, New York

1978

Grease
Grease
  • The Deer Hunter
  • Grease
  • Animal House
  • Heaven Can Wait
  • Midnight Express
  • The Goodbye Girl
  • Same Time Next Year
  • Coming Home
  • Days of Heaven
  • Halloween
  • An Unmarried Woman
  • Interiors
  • The Wiz

1979

Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now
  • Apocalypse Now
  • Kramer vs. Kramer
  • The Amityville Horror
  • 10
  • Manhattan
  • All That Jazz
  • Being There
  • The China Syndrome
  • Norma Rae
  • Breaking Away
  • The Onion Field
  • The Great Santini
  • The Electric Horseman
  • Alien

1980

Raging Bull
Raging Bull
  • Raging Bull
  • The Empire Strikes Back
  • Coal Miner’s Daughter
  • The Elephant Man
  • The Stunt Man
  • Airplane!
  • Ordinary People
  • Melvin and Howard
  • Fame
  • The Shining
  • Private Benjamin

1981

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark
  • Arthur
  • Reds
  • On Golden Pond
  • The French Lieutenant’s Woman
  • Atlantic City
  • My Dinner with Andre
  • Modern Romance
  • Quest for Fire
  • Ragtime
  • Pennies from Heaven

1982

An Officer and a Gentleman
An Officer and a Gentleman
  • ET: The Extra-Terrestrial
  • Tootsie
  • An Officer and a Gentleman
  • 48 HRS
  • Poltergeist
  • Sophie’s Choice
  • My Favorite Year
  • Victor/Victoria
  • Blade Runner
  • Fast Times at Ridgemont High
  • Diner
  • Missing
  • Frances
  • The Verdict
  • Tron

1983

Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment
  • Terms of Endearment
  • Return of the Jedi
  • Tender Mercies
  • The Right Stuff
  • Silkwood
  • Trading Places
  • Risky Business
  • The Big Chill
  • A Christmas Story
  • The King of Comedy
  • Vacation
  • Scarface
  • Testament
  • Star 80
  • Valley Girl
  • Zelig

Banner Year after the New Wave Ends

The official end of the American New Wave was 1983. It was followed by Hollywood’s final Banner Year, 1984. A Banner Year occurred when a large number of quality or highly remembered movies were released.

1984

Amadeus
Amadeus
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters
Romancing the Stone
Romancing the Stome
Greystoke
Greystoke, The Legend of Tarazn
Footloose
Footloose
The Natural
The Natural
  • Amadeus
  • The Killing Fields
  • Places in the Heart
  • A Passage to India
  • The Terminator
  • Ghostbusters
  • Gremlins
  • Police Academy
  • Revenge of the Nerds
  • The NeverEnding Story
  • Romancing the Stone
  • Beverly Hills Cop
  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
  • Choose Me
  • This is Spinal Tap
  • Greystoke, The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
  • The Karate Kid
  • Blood Simple
  • Paris, Texas
  • Footloose
  • The Natural
  • Splash
  • Sixteen Candles
  • Moscow on the Hudson
  • Racing with the Moon
  • Broadway Danny Rose
  • The Stone Boy
  • Purple Rain
  • Under the Volcano
  • Bachelor Party
  • Birdy
  • The Pope of Greenwich Village
  • The Bostonians
  • Red Dawn
  • Repo Man
  • The Bounty
  • The Last Starfighter
  • All of Me
  • A Soldier’s Story
  • Country
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street
  • The Cotton Club
  • Starman
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