Just one decade?  I mean, the 20's had some pretty inovative movies which lead to what we see now.  The 30's had the great noir movies with were the front runners for murder mysteries.  The 70's had the great method actors such as Marlon Brando who did great movies such as the Godfather, which lead to some of the great epic films we have seen.

 In other words, it's just too hard to decide.  I guess that's the price I pay for studying film theory in undergrad...

Oh, the 1950's . . .

Forbidden Planet, North by Northwest, The Bridge on the River Kwai, just to name a few.

Just my tuppence.

Has got to be the 70's for me.  Kicking off in 1969 with Easy Rider and Midnight Cowboy, heralding in a decade of the director as artist, experimenting with the usual Hollywood conventions, serious themes, introspection, social critique.  Just flipping through my collection, here are many reasons I pick the 70's:McCabe & Mrs. Miiler, Nashville, M*A*S*H (Altman), Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, The Conversation (Coppolla), Chinatown (Polanski), Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson), All That Jazz, Lenny (Bob Fosse), Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon (Kubrick), Last Picture Show (Bogdanovich), Little Big Man (Arthur Penn), Annie Hall (Woody Allen), Zardoz (John Boorman), Catch-22 (Mike Nichols), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman), Taxi Driver (Scorsese), Shampoo, Harold & Maude (Hal Ashby), Performance (Nicholas Roeg). 

I have thought about it and I think I would choose the 1980's.  I didn't make my choice from film history, because it seems like something good happens every ten years and I can't choose that way.  So, I made the choice personal.  Here is why I chose the 1980's.  It is because I was a kid in the 1980's and those are the movies that made me fall in love with movies.  Those were the movies that made me dream. 

I know that many on here does not seem to like George Lucas or Speilberg, but those were the movies that made my imagination grow.  The movies of the 1990s and some 1980's had movies that I saw and felt like just about anyone could make a movie.  Movies like She's Gotta Have It, Clerks, Stranger Than Paradise and Reservoir Dogs made me believe that.

I'd have to agree that this was a Golden Age. 

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

I may have to agree with the 70's, but the golden age definitely died when Star Wars came and made everything we see today commercial.

 what the fuck are you smoking, alien and apocalyple now came out right after star wars, just to name a few

 not to mention the rise of indie film in the 90s which continues to this day

 I'm totally aware those movies came after 77, but the change did not occur over night, Star Wars in my opinion began the domino effect that became the summer blockbuster, and commercial movies in general. You know those movies that can give a shit about good writing and directing and replace them with explosions. but speaking of eras and movies, does anyone else think that musicals are only popular during times of war and unrest. Look at all the movies during the 40's 50' and the 2000's, I find it strange.

Yeah, a lot of people think that movies like Star Wars, Rocky, and Jaws ruined Hollywood.  I don't.  I think those movies made Hollywood better.  William Goldman would disagree with me though.  :)  I think you can still see the "serious films" you just have to wait until they come to net flicks or go to the art house movies. 

I like the art films but I also like the fun films or movies that have a lot of stuff blowing up.

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper

Bringing back an older thread.

Even though I'm 80's-boy, and love alot of 70's films I'll have to go with the 90's:

Goodfellas, Donnie Brasco, Fire Walk With Me, Wild at Heart, Lost Highway, The Usual Suspects, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The Shawshank Redemption, American Movie, American Beauty, Casino, Boyz N the Hood, Menace II Society, Groundhog Day, Forrest Gump, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, L.A. Confidential,Fight Club, The Limey, Glenngarry Glenross, American History X, American Psycho...... i could go on and on.

Ben:  "We've laid in a gala reception for your fair-haired boys tonight.  All of Twin Peaks' best and brightest."

Jerry: "We're holding it in a phone booth?"

 We're all paying for you having studied film in undergrad.

i'm torn because i really hate the camera quality in the 70s, everything looks grainy and washed out to me, even more than when color movies were new. on the other hand, that's clearly the best decade of movies

hmmmm

Huw, why have we never made out? :P

I think the best decade of movies is CLEARLY the 80's. It single-handedly gave Molly Ringwald, Jon Cusack, and Corey Feldman illustrious careers AND gave birth to the "triumphant teamwork" montage (complete with triumphant rock music).

PS...smeds, I'm not laughing at you. That was just a perfect one-liner on Huw's part...had to be recognized :)

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

I think that grainy camerawork is exactly why many horror flick buffs really reach back to the 70's for their "best of" lists. Movies like Last House on the Left and Texas Chain Saw Massacre wouldn't have been as awesome had they been crisp and clean. I guess it all depends on the genre you're trying to enjoy.

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."