For about ten years, the most powerful filmmaking on the planet was happening inside the American studio system — and the studios mostly couldn't stand it. This is our countdown of the 50 most powerful drama movies of the 1970s, from Coppola, Scorsese and Kubrick to Bergman, Tarkovsky and Fassbinder, every one of them carrying a Blanket Score out of ten.

The ranking isn't the score. We rank by how far a film went and how much it changed things — which is why our number four is a John Cassavetes film no studio would distribute, sitting above Chinatown and Network.

Tell us your own number one, tell us which classic we left off, and tell us where the Blanket Score is wrong.

0:00 Intro — the studios that couldn't stand what they'd made
0:50 50. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
2:18 49. Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
3:41 48. Killer of Sheep (1978)
5:01 47. The Ascent (1977)
6:34 46. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
7:55 45. Fat City (1972)
9:15 44. Sounder (1972)
10:29 43. Manhattan (1979)
11:45 42. Wanda (1970)
13:01 41. The Conformist (1970)
14:18 40. The Passenger (1975)
15:40 39. The Mirror (1975)
17:01 38. Rocky (1976)
18:33 37. Norma Rae (1979)
19:49 36. Being There (1979)
21:07 35. The Last Detail (1973)
22:20 34. Lenny (1974)
23:36 33. Autumn Sonata (1978)
25:00 32. Annie Hall (1977)
26:16 31. Klute (1971)
27:25 30. Midnight Express (1978)
28:44 29. Coming Home (1978)
30:00 28. Five Easy Pieces (1970)
31:15 27. Straw Dogs (1971)
32:32 26. The French Connection (1971)
34:09 25. Papillon (1973)
35:24 24. Cabaret (1972)
36:42 23. Badlands (1973)
37:57 22. Days of Heaven (1978)
39:20 21. Serpico (1973)
40:30 20. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
41:48 19. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
43:08 18. The Last Picture Show (1971)
44:19 17. Scenes from a Marriage (1973)
45:31 16. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
46:42 15. Mean Streets (1973)
47:54 14. Nashville (1975)
49:06 13. All the President's Men (1976)
50:40 12. Barry Lyndon (1975)
52:00 11. Cries and Whispers (1972)
53:26 10. The Conversation (1974)
54:38 9. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
55:52 8. Network (1976)
57:04 7. Chinatown (1974)
58:19 6. The Deer Hunter (1978)
59:31 5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
60:47 4. A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
62:19 3. Taxi Driver (1976)
63:37 2. Apocalypse Now (1979)
65:07 1. The Godfather (1972)
66:46 Outro

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