1978 was a huge year in Hollywood. There were tons of genre-defining films, from “Halloween” to “Animal House,” but there were also campy cult classics like “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.” These are the biggest films from 40 years ago. How many of these classic films have you seen?
Still the blueprint for modern superhero movies from both Marvel and DC Comics, it also had groundbreaking visual effects and won a special achievement Academy Award.
There’s something about this musical that still resonates. Is it Danny’s swagger, Sandy’s tight pants or Rizzo’s tough attitude? It’s probably the music, as it was the second best-selling soundtrack of 2003.
Though it was inspired by Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” it launched an entire genre of slasher films and made a star out of young Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of “Psycho” actress Janet Leigh.
Without John Belushi and his impression of an exploding zit, we wouldn’t have the gross-out genre, including new classics like “Old School” and “American Pie.”
Both a cautionary tale for breaking the law overseas and a new meaning to the concept of Turkey Hash.
This crowd-pleasing screwball comedy has legs – it was already a remake of a 1941 film and was later remade starring Chris Rock in 2001, called "Down to Earth."
Come for the pod people, stay for Donald Sutherland’s scrumptious perm in this sci-fi classic.
Though critically panned at the time, this Cheech and Chong film kicked off the stoner genre and has become a cult classic.
Oooh wee ooh, Gary Busey looked just like Buddy Holly / Oh oh, but he doesn’t any more.
This critically acclaimed film about steelworkers in the Vietnam War got Meryl Streep her first Oscar nomination and also her first loss out of 18 (she has won three times as well). The film itself nabbed a Best Picture Oscar that year.
This film depicting a love triangle between an American soldier in the Vietnam War, his wife and a paralyzed veteran was ground-breaking for its depiction of sex between an able-bodied and a disabled person.
This cringe-worthy film features Brooke Shields as a child prostitute. Shields was 12 years old during production and had nude scenes, which is shocking by today’s standards.
A screwball comedy-thriller starring Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase, it pays homage to Alfred Hitchcock and features albino and dwarf assassins and a plot to assassinate the Pope.
It may have seemed like a cute bunny story from the outside, but many children from the 1970s were scarred for life by this ultra-violent animated allegory.
So cheesy and saucy, this film is considered not a B, but a Z Movie classic.
Clint Eastwood was the unlikely star of this critically panned but high-grossing comedy about a trucker and his pet orangutan, Clyde.
Considered a failure at the time, this urban reimagining of “The Wizard of Oz,” starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, has become a classic and was recently adapted into a live special by NBC.
Before “I, Tonya,” there was this maudlin tale of an injured skater who, because of love, is able to scrape her way back to the ice.
Not only does this film not makes sense, but it didn't even feature the Beatles. Instead, The Bee Gees, Peter Frampton and Aerosmith performed covers of their songs with cameos by over 80 stars of the decade.