Best Movies of 1974 by Rank
27
1
Roman Polanski
Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez, John Hillerman
Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller / Post-Noir / Detective / Period Film
USA
English
34
2
Francis Ford Coppola
Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, John Cazale
Crime / Drama / Gangster
USA
English
105
3
Francis Ford Coppola
Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams
Crime / Thriller / Drama / Mystery
USA
English
291
4
Jacques Rivette
Juliet Berto, Dominique Labourier, Bulle Ogier, Marie-France Pisier
Drama / Fantasy / Experimental
France
French
439
6
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Brigitte Mira, El Hedi ben Salem, Irm Hermann, Elma Karlowa
Drama / Romance
West Germany
German
521
7
Werner Herzog
Bruno S., Walter Ladengast, Brigitte Mira, Willy Semmelrogge
Drama / Crime / Biography / Period Film
West Germany
German
535
8
Louis Malle
Pierre Blaise, Aurore Clément
Drama / War / Romance
France / West Germany / Italy
French
582
9
Tobe Hooper
Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain, William Vail, Teri McMinn
Horror / Thriller / Cult
USA
English
586
10
Mel Brooks
Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman
Comedy / Sci-Fi / Horror
USA
English
748
11
Mel Brooks
Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens
Comedy / Western
USA
English
779
12
Martin Scorsese
Ellen Burstyn, Kris Kristofferson, Billy Green Bush, Diane Ladd
Drama / Romance
USA
English
853
13
Bertrand Tavernier
Philippe Noiret, Jean Rochefort, Jacques Denis, Yves Afonso, Julien Bertheau
Crime / Drama
France
French
914
14
Luis Buñuel
Jean-Claude Brialy, Adolfo Celi
Comedy / Drama / Experimental
Italy / France
French
928
15
Steven Spielberg
Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, Michael Sacks, William Atherton
Drama / Crime
USA
English
929
16
Alan J. Pakula
Warren Beatty, William Daniels, Hume Cronyn, Kenneth Mars, Walter McGinn
Thriller
USA
English
1026
17
Sam Peckinpah
Warren Oates, Isela Vega, Robert Webber, Gig Young
Crime / Drama / Thriller / Action / Comedy / Cult
Mexico / USA
English
1046
18
Bob Fosse
Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, Jan Miner, Stanley Beck
Drama / Biography
USA
English
1098
19
Lina Wertmüller
Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Riccardo Salvino, Isa Danieli
Comedy / Drama / Romance
Italy
Italian
1399
20
John Carpenter
Brian Narelle, Cal Kuniholm, Dre Pahich, Dan O'Bannon, Adam Beckenbaugh
Comedy / Sci-Fi / Thriller / Cult
USA
English
1507
21
Paul Mazursky
Art Carney, René Enríquez, Herbert Berghof
Drama / Adventure / Comedy
USA
English
1552
22
Alain Resnais
Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Boyer, François Périer
Drama / Biography / Period Film
France / Italy
French
1558
23
Ted Kotcheff
Richard Dreyfuss, Micheline Lanctôt, Jack Warden, Randy Quaid
Comedy / Drama
Canada
English
1577
24
Joseph Sargent
Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo
Crime / Thriller / Detective / Action
USA
English
1627
25
Peter Davis
Georges Bidault, Clark Clifford, George Coker, Kay Dvorshock, Daniel Ellsberg
Documentary / History / War
USA
English
1661
26
Orson Welles
Orson Welles, Oja Kodar, Joseph Cotten
Documentary / Experimental / Biography
France / Iran / West Germany
English
1751
27
Irwin Allen, John Guillermin
Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, William Holden, Faye Dunaway
Action / Thriller / Drama / Family
USA
English
1758
28
Robert Bresson
Luc Simon, Laura Duke Condominas, Humbert Balsan
Drama / War / Period Film
France / Italy
French
1801
29
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Hanna Schygulla, Wolfgang Schenck, Ulli Lommel, Lilo Pempeit
Drama / Period Film
West Germany
German
1840
30
Sidney Lumet
Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery
Crime / Mystery / Drama / Thriller / Detective
UK
English
1877
31
Claude Chabrol
Fabio Testi, Lou Castel, Mariangela Melato, Michel Aumont, Michel Duchaussoy
Thriller
France / Italy
French
1970
32
Claude Lelouch
Marthe Keller, André Dussollier
Drama / Period Film / Romance / War
France / Italy
French
1983
33
Jack Haley Jr.
Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Peter Lawford, Liza Minnelli
Documentary / Family / Musical / Biography
USA
English
2012
34
Robert Aldrich
Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter, Michael Conrad
Comedy / Drama / Sports
USA
English
2078
35
Robert Altman
Keith Carradine, Shelley Duvall, John Schuck, Bert Remsen
Crime / Drama
USA
English
2266
36
Joe Camp
Patsy Garrett, Allen Fiuzat, Cynthia Smith, Peter Breck, Frances Bavier
Family / Adventure
USA
English
2266
36
Ettore Scola
Nino Manfredi, Vittorio Gassman, Stefania Sandrelli, Stefano Satta Flores
Comedy / Drama / Romance
Italy
Italian
2268
37
Wim Wenders
Rüdiger Vogler, Yella Rottländer, Lisa Kreuzer,
Drama
West Germany
German
2309
38
Harold Pinter
Alan Bates, Jessica Tandy, Richard O'Callaghan, Susan Engel, Michael Byrne
Drama
UK / Canada
English
2309
38
Claude Sautet
Yves Montand, Michel Piccoli, Serge Reggiani, Gérard Depardieu
Drama / Comedy
France / Italy
French
2360
39
Bertrand Blier
Gérard Depardieu, Patrick Dewaere, Miou-Miou, Jeanne Moreau, Brigitte Fossey
Comedy / Crime / Drama
France
French
2396
40
Michael Apted
David Essex, Adam Faith, Larry Hagman, Ines Des Longchamps, Rosalind Ayres
Drama / Music
UK
English
2420
41
Robert Altman
George Segal, Elliott Gould, Ann Prentiss, Gwen Welles, Edward Walsh
Comedy / Drama / Cult
USA
English
2420
41
Chantal Akerman
Chantal Akerman, Niels Arestrup, Claire Wauthion
Drama
France / Belgium
French
2421
42
Thom Andersen, Morgan Fisher, Fay Anderson
Eadweard Muybridge, Dean Stockwell
Documentary / Biography
USA
English
2434
43
Mark Robson
Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene
Action / Drama / Thriller
USA
English
2434
43
Billy Wilder
Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Susan Sarandon, Vincent Gardenia
Comedy
USA
English
2456
44
Sydney Pollack
Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura, Brian Keith, Herb Edelman, Richard Jordan
Drama / Crime / Gangster
USA / Japan
English
2506
45
Brian De Palma
Paul Williams, William Finley, Jessica Harper, George Memmoli, Gerrit Graham
Comedy / Horror / Musical / Thriller / Cult
USA
English
2552
46
Peter Watkins
Geir Westby, Gro Fraas, Eric Allum, Amund Berge, Kerstii Allum
Biography / Drama
Sweden / Norway
Norwegian
2591
47
Gordon Parks
Ron Leibman, David Selby, Sheila Frazier, Pat Hingle, Dan Frazer, Joseph Sirola
Comedy / Drama / Crime / Action / Detective
USA
English
2606
48
Jerzy Hoffman
Daniel Olbrychski, Malgorzata Braunek, Tadeusz Lomnicki
Adventure / War / History / Epic / Romance
Poland / Soviet Union
Polish
2606
48
Kei Kumai
Komaki Kurihara, Yôko Takahashi, Kinuyo Tanaka
Drama / War
Japan
Japanese
2606
48
Dino Risi
Vittorio Gassman, Agostina Belli, Alessandro Momo, Moira Orfei
Comedy / Drama / Romance
Italy
Italian
2606
48
Sergio Renán
Héctor Alterio, Luis Brandoni, Ana María Picchio
Drama / Romance
Argentina
Spanish
2628
49
Michael Winner
Charles Bronson, Hope Lange, Vincent Gardenia, Steven Keats, William Redfield
Action / Crime / Drama / Thriller / Detective / Cult
USA
English
2628
49
John Hough
Peter Fonda, Susan George, Adam Roarke, Kenneth Tobey, Eugene Daniels
Action / Drama / Romance / Adventure / Crime / Cult
USA
English
2628
49
Gordon Hessler
John Phillip Law, Caroline Munro, Tom Baker, Douglas Wilmer, Martin Shaw
Family / Adventure / Fantasy / Action
UK / USA
English
2628
49
Jack Clayton
Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Bruce Dern, Karen Black, Scott Wilson, Sam Waterston
Drama / Romance / Period Film
USA
English
2628
49
Richard Lester
Richard Harris, Omar Sharif, David Hemmings, Anthony Hopkins, Shirley Knight
Action / Thriller
UK
English
2628
49
Martin Davidson, Stephen Verona
Perry King, Sylvester Stallone, Henry Winkler, Paul Mace, Susan Blakely
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2628
49
Guy Hamilton
Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Maud Adams, Hervé Villechaize
Action / Adventure / Thriller / Spy / Family / Cult
UK / USA
English
2628
49
Ronald Neame
Jon Voight, Maximilian Schell, Maria Schell, Mary Tamm, Derek Jacobi, Peter Jeffrey
Thriller / Drama / War / Crime
UK / West Germany
English
2628
49
Michael Cimino
Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, Geoffrey Lewis, George Kennedy, Catherine Bach
Action / Adventure / Comedy / Crime / Drama / Caper
USA
English
2645
50
Peter Bogdanovich
Cybill Shepherd, Barry Brown, Cloris Leachman, Mildred Natwick
Drama / Romance / Period Film
USA
English
2657
51
Peter Weir
Judy Morris, Ivar Kants, Terry Camilleri, John Meillon, Robert Coleby, Kevin Miles
Comedy / Horror / Mystery / Thriller
Australia
English
2661
52
Jill Godmilow, Judy Collins
Dr. Antonia Brico, Judy Collins
Documentary / Music / Biography
USA
English
2661
52
Cinda Firestone
John Andrini, Herman Badillo, L.D. Barkley, Roger Champen, Flip Crawley
Documentary / Crime / History
USA
English
2661
52
Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, Harry Belafonte, Flip Wilson, Richard Pryor
Action / Comedy / Crime
USA
English
2668
53
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Ninetto Davoli, Franco Citti, Tessa Bouché
Fantasy / Adventure / Romance
Italy / France
Italian
2681
54
Carlos Saura
Antonio Canal, Lina Canalejas, Lola Cardona, Fernando Delgado
Drama
Spain
Spanish
2694
55
Karel Reisz
James Caan, Paul Sorvino, Lauren Hutton, Morris Carnovsky, Jacqueline Brookes
Crime / Drama / Post-Noir
USA
English
2699
56
Sohrab Shahid Saless
Zadour Bonyadi, Mohammed Kani, Hibibollah Safarian
Drama
Iran
Persian
2700
57
Stanley Donen
Richard Kiley, Steven Warner, Bob Fosse, Gene Wilder
Musical / Sci-Fi / Family / Fantasy
UK / USA
English
2700
57
Luigi Comencini
Laura Antonelli, Alberto Lionello, Michele Placido, Jean Rochefort
Comedy
Italy
Italian
2706
58
Ottokar Runze
Gerd Siekmann, Heinz-Dietrich Stark, Hajo Wandschneider
Documentary
West Germany
German
2706
58
Stuart Cooper
John Hurt, John McEnery, David Warner, Rosalind Ayres, Raymond Platt
Comedy / Drama
UK
English
2706
58
Héctor Olivera
Pedro Aleandro, Héctor Alterio, Luis Brandoni, Franklin Caicedo
Drama / History / Western / Thriller
Argentina
Spanish
2712
59
Alain Tanner
Olimpia Carlisi, Philippe Léotard, Juliet Berto, Denise Péron
Romance / Drama / Comedy
France / Switzerland
French
2719
60
Saul Bass
Michael Murphy, Nigel Davenport, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson
Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller
USA
English
2737
61
Ritwik Ghatak
Gyanesh Mukherjee, Bijon Bhattacharya, Utpal Dutt
Drama / Experimental
India
Bengali
2740
62
Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati, Karl Kossmayer, Pierre Bramma, Pia Colombo
Documentary / Family
France / Sweden
French
2751
63
Monte Hellman
Warren Oates, Richard B. Shull, Harry Dean Stanton, Ed Begley Jr.
Drama / Sports
USA
English
2751
63
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Margit Carstensen, Karlheinz Böhm, Barbara Valentin
Drama / Thriller
West Germany
German
2765
64
John Waters
Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, Cookie Mueller
Comedy / Crime / Drama
USA
English
2765
64
Paul Vecchiali
Hélène Surgère, Sonia Saviange, Huguette Forge
Comedy / Drama
France
French
2765
64
Jean Eustache
Martin Loeb, Jacqueline Dufranne, Jacques Romain, Ingrid Caven
Drama
France
French
2776
66
Werner Herzog
Walter Steiner
Documentary / Biography / Sports
West Germany
German
2776
66
Lino Brocka
Lolita Rodriguez, Christopher De Leon, Eddie Garcia
Romance / Drama
Philippines
English
NR
-
Richard A. Colla
Robert Foxworth, Mike Farrell, John Vernon, Lew Ayres, James Shigeta
Sci-Fi
USA
English
