Amy Smart, Brad Rowe, Guy Torry

In 170 minutes, this NBC-produced miniseries hoped to capture a decade--and in many ways, it did. The '70s traces the lives of four friends from their senior year at Kent State (marked by the k...( read more  read more... )illing of four student protestors by the National Guard) through the era of Watergate and Tang. At its worst, it's a so-so soap opera held together by fascinating bits of historical trivia, giving equal time to the issues of the era (the Equal Rights Amendment, the oil crisis) and inescapable bits of pop culture (Mary Tyler Moore and the hustle). The characters are pretty obviously engineered to plumb every angle of the decade's cultural topography: the young black National Guardmember who deserts to Los Angeles in time to join the Black Panthers and open a cinema featuring hits like Shaft and Cleopatra Jones, the sorority girl turned disco queen turned California cultist, the young intellectual woman who finds feminism and abandons marriage in favor of a career, and the conservative law student turned Watergate burglar turned pipeline worker turned environmentalist. The acting's not bad and the story hangs together, but the show is really at its best when the soundtrack takes over, allowing montages of memorable photos and archival film clips to reveal (and revel in) the real history behind the melodrama. --Grant Balfour

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50% liked it

121 ratings

PG-13, 174 min.

Directed by: Amy Smart, Brad Rowe, Guy Torry, Kathryn Harrold, Leslie Silva, Vinessa Shaw

Release Date: April 30, 2000

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DVD Release Date: July 18, 2000

Stats: 39 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (39)


  • November 10, 2006
    Not anywhere near as good as "The 60's" with Julia Stiles and Jordana Brewster. Still, some redeeming qualites.
  • September 7, 2008
    very funny and stupid at hte same time.
  • November 4, 2007
    This is the best movie that captured the look of the 1970s decade, and I saw it probably back on its original airing on NBC seven years ago. "The '70s" shows it all that happened throughout the decade, including Kent State, disco, feminism, Watergate, and the oil crisis. I love t...( read more)he '70s decade, plus this miniseries as well, and I would like to see "The '70s" again when I find it on DVD.
  • June 25, 2007
    its an ok movie, i wouldnt say its one of the best movies that ive seen

    amy smart was easily the best actress in this movie, the story line was ok, but it wasnt a bad effort
  • December 11, 2006
    This was a great movie it really informed you of what really happend during the 70s I recommend this movie

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