8 Best Movies of 1978

By Vlad Zakh · June 27, 2026

Drama thought provokingintense

A look back at 1978, one of cinema’s most memorable years, ranking the films that have best stood the test of time. In The Deer Hunter (1978): Three friends from a Pennsylvania steel town are forever changed by their experiences in the Vietnam War. Also notable is Halloween (1978): A masked killer returns to his quiet hometown to stalk a babysitter on Halloween night.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) 01

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

IMDb ★ 7.2

San Francisco residents discover that alien spores are replacing people with emotionless duplicates.

Superman (1978) 02

Superman (1978)

IMDb ★ 7.2

An alien infant raised on Earth grows up to become humanity's greatest protector.

Dawn of the Dead (1978) 03

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

IMDb ★ 7.5

Survivors of a zombie apocalypse barricade themselves inside a sprawling suburban shopping mall.

Midnight Express (1978) 04

Midnight Express (1978)

IMDb ★ 7.4

An American student is brutally imprisoned in a Turkish jail after being caught smuggling drugs.

Days of Heaven (1978) 05

Days of Heaven (1978)

IMDb ★ 7.5

Migrant farm workers in the early 1900s scheme to secure a dying wealthy farmer's fortune.

Grease (1978) 06

Grease (1978)

IMDb ★ 7.4

A greaser and a good girl rekindle their summer romance after unexpectedly enrolling at the same high school.

Halloween (1978) 07

Halloween (1978)

IMDb ★ 7.6

A masked killer returns to his quiet hometown to stalk a babysitter on Halloween night.

The Deer Hunter (1978) 08

The Deer Hunter (1978)

IMDb ★ 8.0

Three friends from a Pennsylvania steel town are forever changed by their experiences in the Vietnam War.

Vlad Zakh

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix, built to fix a specific annoyance: most recommendation sites are just algorithm-driven noise. Our lists are researched and organized by who's in a film, where it's from, and the mood you're actually in tonight.