Best Movies of 1971

The highest-rated films from 1971 according to MovieMagicScore. Rankings based purely on what viewers actually think.

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A Clockwork Orange

1971 · 14,284 ratings

In a near-future Britain, young Alexander DeLarge and his pals get their kicks beating and raping anyone they please. When not destroying the lives of others, Alex swoons to the music of Beethoven. The state, eager to crack down on juvenile crime, gives an incarcerated Alex the option to undergo an invasive procedure that'll rob him of all personal agency. In a time when conscience is a commodity, can Alex change his tune?

8.2

Duck, You Sucker

1971 · 1,134 ratings

At the beginning of the 1913 Mexican Revolution, greedy bandit Juan Miranda and idealist John H. Mallory, an Irish Republican Army explosives expert on the lam from the British, fall in with a band of revolutionaries plotting to strike a national bank. When it turns out that the government has been using the bank as a hiding place for illegally detained political prisoners -- who are freed by the blast -- Miranda becomes a revolutionary hero against his will.

7.7

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

1971 · 4,108 ratings

When eccentric candy man Willy Wonka promises a lifetime supply of sweets and a tour of his chocolate factory to five lucky kids, penniless Charlie Bucket seeks the golden ticket that will make him a winner.

7.5

Harold and Maude

1971 · 1,149 ratings

The young Harold lives in his own world of suicide-attempts and funeral visits to avoid the misery of his current family and home environment. Harold meets an 80-year-old woman named Maude who also lives in her own world yet one in which she is having the time of her life. When the two opposites meet they realize that their differences don’t matter and they become best friends and love each other.

7.6

The French Connection

1971 · 2,027 ratings

Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.

7.5

Dirty Harry

1971 · 2,611 ratings

When a madman dubbed 'Scorpio' terrorizes San Francisco, hard-nosed cop, Harry Callahan – famous for his take-no-prisoners approach to law enforcement – is tasked with hunting down the psychopath.

7.5

Fiddler on the Roof

1971 · 607 ratings

In a pre-revolutionary Russia, a poor Jewish milkman struggles with the challenges of a changing world as his daughters fall in love and antisemitism grows.

7.7

Duel

1971 · 1,976 ratings

Traveling businessman David Mann angers the driver of a rusty tanker while crossing the California desert. A simple trip turns deadly, as Mann struggles to stay on the road while the tanker plays cat and mouse with his life.

7.4

The Last Picture Show

1971 · 731 ratings

High school seniors and best friends, Sonny and Duane, live in a dying Texas town. The handsome Duane is dating a local beauty, while Sonny is having an affair with the coach's wife. As graduation nears and both boys contemplate their futures, Duane eyes the army and Sonny takes over a local business. Each struggles to figure out if he can escape this dead-end town and build a better life somewhere else.

7.6

#10

The Conformist

1971 · 730 ratings

A weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.

7.6

#11

The Working Class Goes to Heaven

1971 · 363 ratings

After losing a finger in a work accident, an Italian worker becomes increasingly involved in political and revolutionary groups.

7.8

#12

Trinity Is Still My Name

1971 · 953 ratings

The two brothers Trinity and Bambino are exchanged by two federal agents and take advantage of the situation to steal a huge booty hidden in a monastery by a gang of outlaws.

7.4

#13

Delusions of Grandeur

1971 · 717 ratings

Don Sallust is the minister of the King of Spain. Being disingenuous, hypocritical, greedy and collecting the taxes for himself, he is hated by the people he oppresses. Accused by The Queen, a beautiful princess Bavarian, of having an illegitimate child to one of her maids of honor, he was stripped of his duties and ordered to retire to a monastery.

7.4

#14

The Devils

1971 · 496 ratings

In 1634 France, charismatic Father Urbain Grandier becomes the target of sexually depraved Sister Jeanne's accusations of witchcraft, which corrupt officials of church and state are all too happy to exploit.

7.5

#15

Gentlemen of Fortune

1971 · 241 ratings

Kindergarten teacher Evgeniy Ivanovich Troshkin is reluctantly sent undercover to take the place of an imprisoned thief who stole Alexander the Great's helmet. Evgeniy uses his striking resemblance to the thief to infiltrate his gang and learn the location of the stolen artifact. He finds the gangsters are unexpectedly similar to his students- they also need love and care.

7.8

#16

Johnny Got His Gun

1971 · 400 ratings

A young American soldier, rendered in pseudocoma from an artillery shell from WWI, recalls his life leading up to that point.

7.5

#17

Death in Venice

1971 · 514 ratings

Composer Gustav von Aschenbach travels to Venice for health reasons. There, he becomes obsessed with the stunning beauty of an adolescent Polish boy named Tadzio who is staying with his family at the same Grand Hôtel des Bains on the Lido as Aschenbach.

7.3

#18

Straw Dogs

1971 · 1,009 ratings

David Sumner, a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy, an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ostracized by the brutish men of the village, including Amy's old flame, Charlie. Eventually the taunts escalate.

7.2

#19

Walkabout

1971 · 423 ratings

Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist takes his teenage daughter and 6-year-old son into the Australian outback and attempts to shoot them. When he fails, he turns the gun on himself, and the two city-bred children must contend with harsh wilderness alone. They are saved by a chance encounter with an Aboriginal boy who shows them how to survive, and in the process underscores the disharmony between nature and modern life.

7.3

#20

And Now for Something Completely Different

1971 · 558 ratings

A collection of Monty Python's Flying Circus skits from the first two seasons of their British TV series.

7.2

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About 1971 Movies

These are the best-rated movies released in 1971 according to MovieMagicScore. Our ranking system aggregates genuine viewer ratings to give you an honest picture of what audiences actually think about these films.

From blockbusters to indie gems, discover what made 1971 memorable in cinema based on the collective opinion of movie lovers worldwide.

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