I love this film, and also the Dirty Harry films. Can anyone recommend any other 70's stuff I might enjoy?
I've also watched "Two Minute Warning". Although not nearly as good as this, it's the kind of thing I'm after.
Oh man, the 70's was the best decade for crime films. You've gotten some great advice above. I'd start with the mother of all 70's crime films, The French Connection.
shareGet Carter. The brilliant original one with Michael Caine at his very best, not the godawful remake with the godawful Stallone. Caine is a total sociopath, very scary.
shareAnother one with Walter Matthau that has always stuck in my mind over the years, though rarely being seen on TV; An Investigation of Murder.
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My favorite crime film/character study from the 70's is:
Straight Time, starring Dustin Hoffman, in his greatest role ever, as career lowlife criminal Max Dembo. And what a supporting cast! Theresa Russell as the girlfriend. Harry Dean Stanton as his partner on The Last Job. A young Gary Busey as his unreliable weak link junkie buddy. Kathy Bates as Busey's sour wife. M. Emmett Walsh as the evil probation officer. Eddie Bunker, real life ex-con, the writer of the original material, plays a cameo role. 100% gritty and authentic view of criminal life and thought process.
Kudos to the discerning fans who mentioned these gems:
The Getaway, Steve McQueen version. Al Lettieri almost steals this one.
Get Carter, Michael Caine at his all time best.
Gloria, with Gena Rowlands as a seasoned older babe you don't wanna mess with.
The Day of the Jackal. The suspense still crackles in that one.
The French Connection. Gene Hackman! What else do ya need?
The Conversation. More Gene Hackman, in a totally different persona.
My favorite genre by far...,I believe these gems were missed,
The Nickel Ride
Across 110th Street
Prime Cut
and The Seven Ups
Here's another overlooked crime gem----$(DOLLARS) aka THE HEIST (1971) starring Warren Beatty and Goldie Hawn as a bank security expert and a prostitute who team up to rob a German bank of some ill-gotten gains from a bunch of criminals---very good and exciting crime action flick that's on DVD.
Also here's some more overlooked/underrated '70s crime films:
COOL BREEZE (1972)---a remake of the '50S film noir THE ASPHALT JUNGLE
TROUBLE MAN (1972---known only as the film that Marvin Gaye did his only movie soundtrack for,this crime action flick is a little better than it's given credit for, and cool to watch,too.
TOGETHER BROTHERS (1974)--A drama about a group of teens who decide on their own to solve a policeman's murder, and run up against all kind of trouble while doing so.
HICKEY & BOGGS (1972)---tough, offbeat film noir with Robert Culp and Bill Cosby
MELINDA (1972)---A DJ and a mysterious woman hook up, but things take a turn for the worst when the lady is mysteriously murdered for some incriminating evidence against some criminals she knew.
THE BLACK PANTHER (1977)----This British crime thriller, based on a real-life kidnapping case, was banned shortly after its release ( it had a brief VHS release) and only made it to DVD a few years ago. It's pretty good,and nowhere near as exploitative as other crime films of that time would be normally be.
Here's some really good Italian crime films (polizioteschis) from the '70s:
CONFESSIONS OF A POLICE CAPTAIN (1971---Starring Martin Balsam (who was in PELHAM) as a police official who may be responsible for getting rid of criminals on the downlow.
HIGH CRIME aka THE MARSEILLES CONTRACT (1973) starring Franco Nero---a great hardcore crime action film that's basically an Italian answer to THE FRENCH CONNECTION (which borrowed its style from European films,anyway.)
SILENT ACTION (1975)
THE VIOLENT PROFESSIONALS (1973)
THE VIOLENT FOUR (1968)---yeah, I know it's a '60s flick, but it clearly was an influence on '70s Italian crime films due to its surprisingly realistic violence for that era.
EXECUTION SQUAD (1972)----excellent crime thriller whose premise is slightly similar to Clint Eastwood's MAGNUM FORCE (1973)but with a much darker ending,and it came out first.
SHOOT FIRST AND DIE (1974)---haven't seem this yet, but would love to.
VIOLENT ROME (1975)
VIOLENT NAPLES (1975)
CALIBER 9 (1972)
COLT 38. SPECIAL SQUAD (1976)
STUNT SQUAD aka ELIMINATION FORCE (1977)---A sequel to the equally good COLT 38.
A SPECIAL COP IN ACTION (1976)
THE VIOLENCE CONNECTION (1973)
LUCKY LUCIANO (1973)
BIG GUNS--TONY ARZENTA (1973)
COUNSELOR IN CRIME (1973)
THE CYNIC,THE FIST, AND THE RAT (1977)
Okay, I know that's a lot, but,hey,I love me some polizioteschis.
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. It's half a buddy movie though with a bank job at the end.
Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, George Kennedy and Geoffrey Lewis.
Excellent 1970s film, filmed on location in Montana and Idaho which makes it doubly interesting and unique.