Best Drama Movies of 1972

The highest-rated drama films from 1972, ranked by MovieMagicScore based on authentic viewer ratings.

Drama 1971 Drama 1973 All Time Drama

Action Comedy Horror Science Fiction Thriller Romance Animation Documentary Fantasy Crime

The Godfather

1972

Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.

8.7

Solaris

1972

A psychologist is sent to a space station orbiting a planet called Solaris to investigate the death of a doctor and the mental problems of cosmonauts on the station. He soon discovers that the water on the planet is a type of brain which brings out repressed memories and obsessions.

7.8

Cries and Whispers

1972

As Agnes slowly dies of cancer, her sisters are so immersed in their own psychic pains that they are unable to offer her the support she needs.

7.9

Aguirre, the Wrath of God

1972

A few decades after the destruction of the Inca Empire, a Spanish expedition led by the infamous Aguirre leaves the mountains of Peru and goes down the Amazon River in search of the lost city of El Dorado. When great difficulties arise, Aguirre’s men start to wonder whether their quest will lead them to prosperity or certain death.

7.5

Deliverance

1972

Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a river-rafting trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.

7.3

Cabaret

1972

Inside the Kit Kat Club of 1931 Berlin, starry-eyed singer Sally Bowles and an impish emcee sound the clarion call to decadent fun, while outside a certain political party grows into a brutal force.

7.4

Fist of Fury

1972

Chen Chen returns to his former school in Shanghai when he learns that his beloved instructor has been murdered. While investigating the man's death, Chen discovers that a rival Japanese school is operating a drug smuggling ring. To avenge his master’s death, Chen takes on both Chinese and Japanese assassins… and even a towering Russian.

7.2

Jeremiah Johnson

1972

A mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by Indians when he proves to be the match of their warriors in one-to-one combat on the early frontier.

7.3

The Adventures of Pinocchio

1972

Mastro Geppetto is a poor carpenter with no wife and no children. The man is very lonely, and after trading a piece of wood with his colleague Mastro Ciliegia, decides to build himself a puppet to keep him company.

7.5

#10

The Poseidon Adventure

1972

When their ocean liner capsizes, a group of passengers struggle to survive and escape.

7.1

#11

Slap the Monster on Page One

1972

Days before the general election, after a girl from a rich family is murdered in an attempted rape, the editor-in-chief of a conservative tabloid tries to derail the police investigation in order to help the right-wing candidates supported by his bosses.

7.6

#12

Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance

1972

Official Shogunate executioner Ogami Itto has been framed for disloyalty to the Shogunate by the Yagyu clan, against whom he now is waging a one-man war, along with his infant son, Daigoro.

7.4

#13

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant

1972

Petra von Kant is a successful fashion designer -- arrogant, caustic, and self-satisfied. She mistreats Marlene (her secretary, maid, and co-designer). Enter Karin, a 23-year-old beauty who wants to be a model. Petra falls in love with Karin and invites her to move in.

7.4

#14

Roma

1972

A virtually plotless, gaudy, impressionistic portrait of Rome through the eyes of one of its most famous citizens.

7.2

#15

Last Tango in Paris

1972

A recently widowed American begins an anonymous sexual relationship with a young Parisian woman.

6.9

#16

Indian Summer

1972

In Italy, the gambler and professor of poetry Daniele Dominici arrives in the seaside town of Rimini and is hired to teach for four months in the local high school replacing another teacher. His relationship with his partner Monica is in crisis and he spends most of the time with his new acquaintances and gamblers Giorgio, Marcello and Gerardo. In classroom, he meets the gorgeous nineteen years old student Vanina Abati, who is Gerardo's girlfriend.

7.5

#17

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx

1972

Ogami Itto battles a group of female ninja in the employ of the Yagyu clan and must eliminate a traitor who plans to sell his clan's secrets to the Shogunate.

7.3

#18

Love in the Afternoon

1972

Frederic leads a bourgeois life; he is a partner in a small Paris office and is happily married to Helene, a teacher expecting her second child. In the afternoons, Frederic daydreams about other women, but has no intention of taking any action. One day, Chloe, who had been a mistress of an old friend, begins dropping by his office. They meet as friends, irregularly in the afternoons, till eventually Chloe decides to seduce Frederic, causing him a moral dilemma.

7.2

#19

The Scopone Game

1972

An aging American millionairess journeys to Rome each year with her chauffeur George to play the card game scopone with destitute Peppino and his wife Antonia.

7.4

#20

The Mattei Affair

1972

Enrico Mattei helped change Italy’s future, first as freedom-fighter against the Nazis, then as an investor in methane gas through a public company, A.G.I.P., and ultimately as the head of ENI, a state body formed for the development of oil resources. On October 27, 1962, he died when his private airplane crashed during a flight to Milan. Officially, it is declared an accident, but many journalists explore other plausible reasons for Mattei's untimely death.

7.5

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Best Drama Movies of 1972

This ranking features the top drama movies released in 1972, sorted by MovieMagicScore viewer ratings. Looking for more? Browse all genres from 1972 or see the best drama movies of all time.