Best Movies of 1971 by Rank
130
1
William Friedkin
Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco, Marcel Bozzuffi
Action / Thriller / Crime / Drama / Detective
USA
English
134
2
Peter Bogdanovich
Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman
Drama
USA
English
162
3
Stanley Kubrick
Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee
Crime / Drama / Sci-Fi / Comedy / Cult
UK
English
342
5
Louis Malle
Lea Massari, Benoît Ferreux, Daniel Gélin, Michael Lonsdale
Drama
France / Italy / West Germany
French
404
6
Don Siegel
Clint Eastwood, Andrew Robinson, Harry Guardino, John Vernon
Action / Crime / Thriller / Drama / Detective
USA
English
435
7
Nicolas Roeg
Jenny Agutter, David Gulpilil, Luc Roeg, John Meillon, Robert McDarra, Peter Carver
Drama / Adventure
UK
English
505
8
Alan J. Pakula
Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi, Roy Scheider
Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller / Detective / Post-Noir
USA
English
508
9
François Truffaut
Jean-Pierre Léaud, Kika Markham, Stacey Tendeter
Romance / Drama / Period Film
France
French
516
10
Luchino Visconti
Dirk Bogarde, Romolo Valli, Mark Burns, Nora Ricci
Drama / Period Film
Italy / France
English
559
11
Joseph Losey
Julie Christie, Alan Bates
Drama / Romance / Period Film
UK
English
617
12
Barbara Loden
Barbara Loden, Michael Higgins, Dorothy Shupenes, Peter Shupenes
Drama
USA
English
669
13
John Schlesinger
Peter Finch, Glenda Jackson, Murray Head, Peggy Ashcroft
Drama / Romance
UK
English
694
14
Sam Peckinpah
Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Peter Vaughan, T.P. McKenna
Crime / Drama / Thriller
UK / USA
English
711
15
Mike Hodges
Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, Britt Ekland, John Osborne
Thriller / Action / Crime / Drama / Gangster / Cult
UK
English
743
16
Dusan Makavejev
Milena Dravic, Ivica Vidovic, Jagoda Kaloper, Tuli Kupferberg
Drama / Comedy / Fantasy
Yugoslavia / West Germany
Serbo-Croatian
793
17
Monte Hellman
James Taylor, Warren Oates, Laurie Bird, Dennis Wilson
Drama / Cult
USA
English
923
18
Melvin Van Peebles
Melvin Van Peebles, Simon Chuckster, Hubert Scales, John Dullaghan
Drama / Action / Thriller / Crime / Cult
USA
English
1056
19
Milos Forman
Lynn Carlin, Buck Henry, Georgia Engel, Tony Harvey
Comedy / Drama / Music
USA
English
1103
20
Arthur Hiller
George C. Scott, Diana Rigg, Barnard Hughes, Richard A. Dysart
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
1143
21
Hal Ashby
Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles, Cyril Cusack, Charles Tyner
Comedy / Romance / Drama / Cult
USA
English
1181
22
Gordon Parks
Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Charles Cioffi, Christopher St. John
Action / Crime / Drama / Thriller / Detective / Gangster
USA
English
1313
23
Mel Stuart
Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear, Julie Dawn Cole
Family / Musical / Fantasy / Comedy / Adventure / Cult
USA
English
1467
24
Roman Polanski
Jon Finch, Francesca Annis, Martin Shaw, Terence Bayler
Drama / Period Film
UK / USA
English
1528
25
Jan Troell
Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann
Drama / Epic / Period Film
Sweden
Swedish
1575
26
Ken Russell
Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Reed, Dudley Sutton, Max Adrian
Drama / Horror / History / Period Film / Religion / Cult
UK
English
1662
27
Elaine May
Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Jack Weston, George Rose, James Coco
Comedy / Romance / Crime
USA
English
1858
29
Peter Brook
Paul Scofield, Patrick Magee, Jack MacGowran, Alan Webb
Drama
UK / Denmark
English
1998
30
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills, John Larch
Thriller / Crime
USA
English
2007
31
Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati, Tony Knepper, Franco Ressel
Comedy / Adventure
France / Italy
French
2047
32
Jerry Schatzberg
Al Pacino, Kitty Winn, Alan Vint, Richard Bright, Kiel Martin
Drama / Romance
USA
English
2080
33
Norman Jewison
Topol, Norma Crane
Musical / Drama / Family / Comedy / Period Film
USA
English
2086
34
Reginald Mills
Frederick Ashton, Alexander Grant, Julie Wood, Ann Howard, Bob Mead, Garry Grant
Family / Musical / Fantasy
UK
English
2159
35
Woody Allen
Woody Allen, Louise Lasser, Carlos Montalbán, Natividad Abascal
Comedy
USA
English
2175
36
Ken Russell
Twiggy, Christopher Gable, Max Adrian, Bryan Pringle
Comedy / Musical / Romance
UK / USA
English
2178
37
Mike Nichols
Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Art Garfunkel, Ann-Margret
Drama / Comedy
USA
English
2183
38
John Cassavetes
Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel, Val Avery, Timothy Carey
Comedy / Drama / Romance
USA
English
2206
39
Ted Kotcheff
Donald Pleasence, Gary Bond, Chips Rafferty, Sylvia Kay, Jack Thompson
Drama / Thriller
Australia / USA
English
2227
40
Guy Hamilton
Sean Connery, Jill St. John, Charles Gray, Lana Wood, Jimmy Dean, Bruce Cabot
Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi / Thriller / Spy / Gangster / Family / Cult
UK / USA
English
2227
40
Richard Brooks
Warren Beatty, Goldie Hawn, Gert Fröbe, Robert Webber, Scott Brady
Crime / Comedy / Drama / Caper/ Thriller
USA
English
2250
41
Ken Loach
Sandy Ratcliff, Bill Dean, Grace Cave, Malcolm Tierney, Hilary Martin
Drama
UK
English
2274
42
Robert Mulligan
Jennifer O'Neill, Gary Grimes, Jerry Houser, Oliver Conant
Drama / Romance / Period Film
USA
English
2298
43
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini, Riccardo Billi, Tino Scotti, Fanfulla
Comedy / Fantasy
Italy / France / West Germany
Italian
2362
44
Blake Edwards
William Holden, Ryan O'Neal, Karl Malden, Lynn Carlin, Tom Skerritt
Western
USA
English
2412
45
Robert Bresson
Isabelle Weingarten, Guillaume des Forêts, Maurice Monnoyer
Drama / Romance
France
French
2420
46
Franklin J. Schaffner
Michael Jayston, Janet Suzman, Roderic Noble
Drama / History / Epic / Biography
UK
English
2439
47
Jacques Rivette, Suzanne Schiffman
Jean-Pierre Léaud, Bulle Ogier, Michel Lonsdale
Comedy / Drama / Thriller / Experimental
France
French
2485
48
Arthur Hiller
Walter Matthau, Maureen Stapleton, Barbara Harris, Lee Grant
Comedy / Drama / Romance
USA
English
2553
50
Walerian Borowczyk
Michel Simon, Georges Wilson, Jacques Perrin, Ligia Branice, Denise Péronne
Drama / Period Film / Romance
France
French
2553
50
Nagisa Oshima
Kenzo Kawarazaki, Atsuko Kaku, Nobuko Otowa, Kei Sato, Maki Takayama
Comedy / Drama
Japan
Japanese
2564
51
Kamal Amrohi
Raaj Kumar, Meena Kumari, Ashok Kumar, Nadira, Veena
Musical / Romance / Drama
India
Urdu
2597
52
Peter Watkins
Patrick Boland, Kent Foreman, Carmen Argenziano, Luke Johnson, Katherine Quittner
Drama / Thriller
USA
English
2605
53
Floyd Mutrux
Clifton Tip Fredell, Kit Ryder, Billy Gray, Bob Graham, Nancy Wheeler
Crime / Drama
USA
English
2605
53
Claude Sautet
Michel Piccoli, Romy Schneider, François Périer, Bernard Fresson
Crime / Drama / Post-Noir / Detective
France / Italy
French
2605
53
Claude Jutra
Claude Jutra, Jean Duceppe, Lionel Villenueve, Jacques Gagnon
Drama
Canada
French
2605
53
Paul Bogart, Gordon Douglas
James Garner, Louis Gossett Jr., Susan Clark, Brenda Sykes, Edward Asner
Comedy / Western / Drama
USA
English
2608
54
Dalton Trumbo
Timothy Bottoms, Donald Sutherland, Jason Robards, Kathy Fields
Drama / War
USA
English
2688
56
Grigori Kozintsev, Iosif Shapiro
Yuri Yarvet, Elsa Radzin, Galina Volchek, Oleg Dal, Valentin Shendrikova, Oleg Dal
Drama / Period Film
Soviet Union
Russian
2688
56
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper, Stella Garcia, Julie Adams, Tomas Milian, Don Gordon, Roy Engel
Drama / Adventure / Cult
USA
English
2688
56
George Lucas
Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Dan Natchsheim, Joy Carmichael, David Munson
Drama / Mystery / Sci-Fi / Thriller / Action
USA
English
2689
57
Robert Fuest
Vincent Price, Joseph Cotten, Virginia North, Terry-Thomas, Sean Bury
Comedy / Horror / Mystery / Crime / Cult
UK / USA
English
2689
57
Ian MacNaughton
Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones
Comedy
UK
English
2689
57
Sidney Lumet
Sean Connery, Dyan Cannon, Martin Balsam, Christopher Walken, Ralph Meeker
Crime / Drama / Thriller / Caper / Gangster
USA
English
2689
57
Robert Wise
Arthur Hill, David Wayne, James Olson, Kate Reid, Paula Kelly, George Mitchell
Mystery / Sci-Fi / Thriller
USA
English
2689
57
Robert Stevenson
Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, Roddy McDowall, Sam Jaffe, John Ericson
Adventure / Comedy / Family / Fantasy / Musical / War
USA
English
2689
57
Tom Laughlin
Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor, Clark Howat, Victor Izay, Julie Webb, Debbie Schock
Action / Drama / Adventure / Cult
USA
English
2689
57
Stanley Kramer
Bill Mumy, Barry Robins, Miles Chapin, Darel Glaser, Bob Kramer, Marc Vahanian
Drama
USA
English
2689
57
Boris Sagal
Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash, Paul Koslo, Eric Laneuville
Drama / Sci-Fi / Thriller / Action
USA
English
2689
57
Burt Kennedy
James Garner, Suzanne Pleshette, Jack Elam, Harry Morgan, Joan Blondell
Comedy / Western
USA
English
2689
57
Richard Fleischer
Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, John Hurt, Pat Heywood, Isobel Black
Biography / Crime / Drama / Thriller
UK
English
2689
57
Daniel Mann
Bruce Davison, Elsa Lanchester, Ernest Borgnine, Sondra Locke, Michael Dante
Horror
USA
English
2753
58
Stan Brakhage
Documentary / Short / Experimental
USA
English (Silent)
2756
59
Stanton Kaye
Stanton Kaye, Michaux French, Allan McCollum
Experimental / Drama
USA
English
2756
59
Howard Alk
Fred Hampton, Rennie Davis, Skip Andrew, Edward Hanrahan, Deborah Johnson
Documentary / Biography / Crime / History
USA
English
2775
60
Richard C. Sarafian
Barry Newman, Cleavon Little, Dean Jagger, Victoria Medlin, Paul Koslo
Action / Drama / Thriller
USA
English
2779
61
Elio Petri
Gian Maria Volonté, Mariangela Melato
Drama
Italy
Italian
2783
62
Mike Leigh
Anne Raitt, Sarah Stephenson, Eric Allan, Joolia Cappleman, Mike Bradwell
Drama / Romance
UK
English
2783
62
Norman Lear
Dick Van Dyke, Pippa Scott, Tom Poston, Edward Everett Horton, Bob Elliott
Comedy
USA
English
2783
62
Robert Kaylor
Mike Snell, Charlie O'Connell, Butch Snell, Christina Snell, Ann Colvello
Documentary / Biography / Sports
USA
English
2783
62
Alan Arkin
Elliott Gould, Marcia Rodd, Vincent Gardenia, Elizabeth Wilson, Donald Sutherland
Comedy
USA
English
2783
62
Otto Preminger
Dyan Cannon, James Coco, Jennifer O'Neill, Ken Howard, Nina Foch
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2789
63
Richard Harris, Uri Zohar
Richard Harris, Romy Schneider, Kim Burfield, Maurice Kaufmann
Drama / Sports
UK / Israel
English
2789
63
Lewis Gilbert
Sean Bury, Anicée Alvina, Ronald Lewis, Toby Robins
Drama / Romance
UK
English
2789
63
Jack Lemmon
Walter Matthau, Deborah Winters, Felicia Farr, Charles Aidman
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2789
63
Bryan Forbes
Malcolm McDowell, Nanette Newman, Georgia Brown, Bernard Lee
Drama / Romance
UK
English
2789
63
Charles Jarrott
Vanessa Redgrave, Glenda Jackson, Patrick McGoohan, Timothy Dalton
Drama / History / Epic / Biography / Period Film
UK
English
2792
64
Werner Herzog
Lotte Eisner, Eugen Des Montagnes, James William Gledhill
Drama / Experimental
West Germany
German
2792
64
Nelson Pereira dos Santos
Arduíno Colessanti, Manfredo Colassanti
Drama / Comedy / History / Adventure
Brazil
Portuguese
2792
64
Jean Rouch
Damoure Zika, Lam Ibrahim Dia, Safi Faye, Moustapha Alassane
Comedy
France
French
2800
65
Bo Widerberg
Thommy Berggren, Anja Schmidt, Kelvin Malave, Evert Anderson
Drama / Biography
Sweden / USA
Swedish
2801
66
Frank Perry
Stacy Keach, Faye Dunaway, Harris Yulin, Michael Witney, Denver John Collins
Western
USA
English
2801
66
Claude Chabrol
Stéphane Audran, Michel Bouquet, François Périer
Drama / Post-Noir / Crime
Italy / France
French
2801
66
Robert B. Bean
Renée Taylor, Joseph Bologna, Paul Sorvino, Helen Verbit, Olympia Dukakis
Comedy / Romance
USA
English
2801
66
Giuliano Montaldo
Gian Maria Volontè, Riccardo Cucciolla, Cyril Cusack, Rosanna Fratello
Drama / History / Biography
Italy / France
Italian
2807
67
Dario Argento
James Franciscus, Karl Malden, Catherine Spaak, Pier Paolo Capponi, Horst Frank
Crime / Horror / Mystery / Thriller / Detective
Italy / France / West Germany
Italian
2817
68
Sergio Leone
James Coburn, Rod Steiger, Maria Monti, Rik Battaglia, Franco Graziosi
Adventure / Western / Action / War / Epic
Italy
English
2844
69
Kira Muratova
Zinaida Sharko, Oleg Vladimirsky, Tatyana Mychko, Yuri Kayurov
Drama
Soviet Union
Russian
2849
70
Werner Herzog
Heinrich Fleischmann, Vladimir Kokol, Fini Straubinger
Documentary / Biography
West Germany
German
2860
71
Robert Aldrich
Kim Darby, Scott Wilson, Tony Musante, Robert Lansing
Crime / Drama / Gangster
USA
English
2860
71
John D. Hancock
Zohra Lampert, Barton Heyman, Kevin O'Connor, Gretchen Corbett
Horror / Thriller
USA
English
2860
71
John G. Avildsen
Bob Brady, Gordon Felio, Roz Kelly, Nancy Salmon
Romance / Drama
USA
English
NR
-
Steven Spielberg
Dennis Weaver, Eddie Firestone, Gene Dynarski, Tim Herbert, Charles Seel
Action / Horror / Mystery / Thriller
USA
English
NR
-
Lee H. Katzin
Steve McQueen, Siegfried Rauch, Elga Andersen, Ronald Leigh-Hunt, Fred Haltiner
Action / Adventure / Sports / Drama / Cult
USA
English
NR
-
László Benedek
Max von Sydow, Trevor Howard, Liv Ullmann, Per Oscarsson, Rupert Davies
Crime / Thriller / Horror
USA / Sweden
English
