Best Movies of 1976 by Rank
22
1
Martin Scorsese
Robert De Niro, Cybill Shepherd, Peter Boyle, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel
Drama / Thriller / Crime / Post-Noir
USA
English
148
2
Alan J. Pakula
Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Hal Holbrook
Drama / Thriller
USA
English
257
4
John G. Avildsen
Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith
Drama / Romance / Sports / Family
USA
English
490
5
Carlos Saura
Geraldine Chaplin, Mónica Randall, Florinda Chico
Drama / Crime / Mystery / Thriller
Spain
Spanish
556
6
Bernardo Bertolucci
Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Dominique Sanda, Francesca Bertini
Drama / War / Period Film
France / Italy / West Germany
Italian
829
7
Don Siegel
John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, James Stewart
Drama / Western
USA
English
886
8
Brian De Palma
Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, William Katt
Drama / Horror / Thriller
USA
English
984
9
Nagisa Oshima
Tatsuya Fuji, Eiko Matsuda, Aoi Nakajima, Yasuko Matsui, Meika Seri
Drama / Adult / Romance
Japan / France
Japanese
1030
10
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Chief Dan George
Western / Drama
USA
English
1059
11
Ingmar Bergman
Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson
Drama / Fantasy / Horror / Mystery
Sweden
Swedish
1192
12
Wim Wenders
Rüdiger Vogler, Hanns Zischler, Lisa Kreuzer
Drama
West Germany
German
1197
13
Hal Ashby
David Carradine, Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillon, Gail Strickland
Drama / Music / Biography / Period Film / Family
USA
English
1300
16
John Carpenter
Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer, Martin West, Tony Burton
Action / Thriller / Crime / Cult
USA
English
1448
17
Larisa Shepitko
Boris Plotnikov, Vladimir Gostyukhin, Sergei Yakovlev, Lyudmila Polyakova
Drama / War
Soviet Union
Russian
1458
18
John Schlesinger
Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, William Devane, Marthe Keller
Crime / Drama / Thriller
USA
English
1584
19
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks, Marty Feldman, Dom DeLuise, Sid Caesar
Comedy
USA
English
1613
20
John Cassavetes
Ben Gazzara, Timothy Carey, Seymour Cassel, Robert Phillips
Drama / Crime
USA
English
1652
21
Nicolas Roeg
David Bowie, Rip Torn, Candy Clark, Buck Henry, Bernie Casey, Jackson D. Kane
Sci-Fi / Drama / Cult
UK
English
1659
22
Martin Ritt
Woody Allen, Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi, Michael Murphy
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
1666
23
Alan Parker
Scott Baio, Jodie Foster, Florrie Dugger, John Cassisi
Comedy / Crime / Family / Musical / Gangster
UK
English
1696
24
Luchino Visconti
Giancarlo Giannini, Laura Antonelli, Jennifer O'Neill, Rina Morelli
Drama / Period Film / Romance
Italy / France
Italian
1818
25
Elaine May
Peter Falk, John Cassavetes, Ned Beatty, Rose Arrick
Drama / Crime / Gangster
USA
English
1852
26
Jean-Jacques Annaud
Jean Carmet, Jacques Dufilho, Catherine Rouvel
Drama / War / Comedy
Ivory Coast / France / West Germany / Switzerland
French
1886
27
Alfred Hitchcock
Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris, William Devane
Comedy / Thriller / Mystery / Detective
USA
English
1888
28
Chantal Akerman
Chantal Akerman
Documentary / Drama / Experimental
Belgium / France / West Germany
French
1960
29
Elia Kazan
Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Jeanne Moreau
Drama / Romance / Period Film / Biography
USA
English
2043
30
Blake Edwards
Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Lesley-Anne Down, Burt Kwouk
Comedy / Crime / Detective / Family
UK / USA
English
2047
31
Bruno Barreto
Sonia Braga, José Wilker, Mauro Mendonça
Comedy / Fantasy / Romance
Brazil
Portuguese
2056
32
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski, Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet
Thriller / Mystery / Horror
France / USA
French
2073
33
Marcel Ophüls
Joan Baez, Karl Dönitz, Hermann Göring
Documentary / War / History
UK / USA / France / West Germany
French
2126
34
Bertrand Tavernier
Philippe Noiret, Michel Galabru, Isabelle Huppert
Drama / Crime / Period Film
France
French
2136
35
Joseph Losey
Alain Delon, Jeanne Moreau, Francine Bergé, Juliet Berto, Jean Bouise
Drama / War
France / Italy
French
2214
36
Arthur Penn
Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid, Kathleen Lloyd, Frederic Forrest
Western
USA
English
2266
37
Alain Tanner
Jean-Luc Bideau, Myriam Boyer, Jacques Denis, Roger Jendly, Dominique Labourier
Drama / Experimental / Comedy
France / Switzerland
French
2276
38
Bruce Beresford
Ray Barrett, Clare Binney, Pat Bishop, Graeme Blundell, Jeanie Drynan
Comedy / Drama
Australia
English
2318
39
Brian De Palma
Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, John Lithgow
Drama / Horror / Mystery / Thriller
USA
English
2332
40
Paul Mazursky
Lenny Baker, Shelley Winters, Ellen Greene, Lois Smith, Christopher Walken
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2341
41
Eric Rohmer
Edith Clever, Bruno Ganz, Peter Lühr
Drama / Period Film / Romance
West Germany / France
German
2341
41
Herbert Ross
Alan Arkin, Vanessa Redgrave, Robert Duvall, Nicol Williamson
Mystery / Comedy / Crime / Detective / Period Film
UK / USA
English
2360
42
Michael Anderson
Michael York, Richard Jordan, Jenny Agutter, Roscoe Lee Browne, Farrah Fawcett
Drama / Fantasy / Romance / Sci-Fi / Action
USA
English
2360
42
Richard Donner
Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Harvey Stephens, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw
Horror / Mystery / Thriller
UK / USA
English
2392
43
Frank Pierson
Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson, Gary Busey, Oliver Clark
Drama / Musical
USA
English
2396
44
Gordon Parks
Roger E. Mosley, Paul Benjamin, Madge Sinclair, Alan Manson, Albert Hall
Biography / Drama / Music
USA
English
2446
45
Michael Schultz
Richard Pryor, Franklyn Ajaye, George Carlin, Darrow Igus
Comedy
USA
English
2450
46
Michael Ritchie
Walter Matthau, Chris Barnes, Tatum O'Neal, Ben Piazza, Vic Morrow, Erin Blunt
Comedy / Sports
USA
English
2450
46
Arthur Hiller
Gene Wilder, Jill Clayburgh, Richard Pryor, Patrick McGoohan, Ned Beatty
Action / Comedy / Crime / Romance / Thriller
USA
English
2498
47
Werner Herzog
Josef Bierbichler, Stefan Güttler, Clemens Scheitz
Drama / Experimental / Period Film
West Germany
German
2542
48
Francesco Rosi
Lino Ventura, Tino Carraro, Marcel Bozzuffi, Paolo Bonacelli, Alain Cuny
Crime / Thriller / Mystery / Detective
Italy / France
Italian
2595
49
Bo Widerberg
Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt, Sven Wollter, Thomas Hellberg, Håkan Serner
Action / Crime / Drama / Thriller / Mystery / Detective
Sweden
Swedish
2595
49
William A. Graham
Harold Sylvester, Ebony Wright, Taj Mahal, Annazette Chase, Erika Young
Drama
USA
English
2595
49
Gene Kelly
Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Bing Crosby, Robert Taylor
Documentary / Family / Musical / Biography
USA
English
2634
50
John Badham
Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, Richard Pryor, Rico Dawson
Comedy / Sports / Drama
USA
English
2634
50
John Sturges
Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Robert Duvall, Jenny Agutter, Donald Pleasence
Adventure / War / Drama / Spy
UK
English
2634
50
James Fargo
Clint Eastwood, Tyne Daly, Harry Guardino, Bradford Dillman, John Mitchum
Action / Drama / Crime / Thriller / Detective
USA
English
2634
50
John Guillermin
Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, Jessica Lange, John Randolph, Rene Auberjonois
Action / Adventure / Fantasy / Romance / Thriller / Horror / Sci-Fi
USA
English
2634
50
Nicolas Gessner
Jodie Foster, Martin Sheen, Alexis Smith, Mort Shuman, Scott Jacoby
Drama / Mystery / Thriller
Canada / USA / France
English
2634
50
Robert Moore
Eileen Brennan, Truman Capote, James Coco, Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers
Comedy / Mystery / Thriller / Crime / Detective
USA
English
2634
50
Richard Lester
Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn, Robert Shaw, Richard Harris, Nicol Williamson
Adventure / Drama / Romance
USA
English
2651
51
Nikita Mikhalkov
Yelena Solovey, Rodion Nakhapetov, Aleksandr Kalyagin
Drama / Romance / Period Film
Soviet Union
Russian
2667
52
Les Blank
Los Alegres De Teran, Flaco Jiménez, Lydia Mendoza
Documentary / Music / Biography
USA
English
2667
52
Efrain Gutierrez
Efrain Gutierrez, Jose Armando, Margarita Armando de Hoyas, Diana Doss
Crime / Drama
USA
Spanish
2667
52
Jim Klein, Miles Mogulescu, Julia Reichert
Kate Hyndman, Stella Nowicki, Sylvia Woods
Documentary / History / Music
USA
English
2696
53
Robert Altman
Paul Newman, Joel Grey, Kevin McCarthy, Harvey Keitel, Allan F. Nicholls
Comedy / Drama / Western
USA
English
2704
54
Felipe Cazals
Enrique Lucero, Salvador Sánchez, Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Roberto Sosa
Adventure / Crime / Drama / Thriller / Action / History
Mexico
Spanish
2708
55
Yves Robert
Jean Rochefort, Claude Brasseur, Guy Bedos, Victor Lanoux
Comedy / Romance
France
French
2708
55
Richard Lester
Jack Weston, Rita Moreno, Jerry Stiller, Kaye Ballard
Comedy
UK
English
2708
55
Bryan Forbes
Richard Chamberlain, Gemma Craven, Annette Crosbie, Edith Evans
Adventure / Romance / Family / Musical / Fantasy / Period Film
UK
English
2708
55
Stuart Rosenberg
Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant, Sam Wanamaker
Drama / War
UK
English
2723
56
Peter Bogdanovich
Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, Tatum O'Neal, Brian Keith, Stella Stevens, John Ritter
Comedy / Drama / Period Film
UK / USA
English
2726
57
Margarida Cordeiro, António Reis
Albino S. Pedro, Carlos Margarido, Mariana Margarido, Luis Ferreira, Armando Manuel
Drama
Portugal
Portuguese
2729
58
Philip Casson
Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz, Eren Ozker, Richard Hunt
Comedy / Family / Music
USA / UK
English
2729
58
Bob Rafelson
Jeff Bridges, Sally Field, Arnold Schwarzenegger, R.G. Armstrong, Robert Englund
Drama / Comedy / Romance / Sports
USA
English
2753
59
Herbert Wise
Derek Jacobi, Siân Phillips, Brian Blessed, George Baker, John Hurt
Drama / History / Epic
UK
English
2762
60
Luc Moullet, Antonietta Pizzorno
Luc Moullet, Christine Hébert, Antonietta Pizzorno
Drama
France
French
2762
60
Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin, Groupe Dziga Vertov, Anne-Marie Miéville
Documentary
France
French
2767
61
Mohammad Reza Aslani
Fakhri Khorvash, Mohamad Ali Keshavarz, Akbar Zanjanpour, Shohreh Aghdashloo
Drama / Mystery / Thriller
Iran
Persian
2787
65
Federico Fellini
Donald Sutherland, Tina Aumont, Cicely Browne, Carmen Scarpitta
Drama / Comedy / Biography / Period Film
Italy / USA
Italian
2787
65
Larry Cohen
Tony Lo Bianco, Deborah Raffin, Sandy Dennis, Sylvia Sidney
Crime / Horror / Sci-Fi / Mystery / Thriller / Detective
USA
English
