Charley Varrick, Mr. Majestyk, The Gauntlet.

[Lautremont]

The three best movies in the world? Can anyone else name three finer 70s action pictures toplined by acting icons and set in the Southwest?

[enigmatic]

1. Vanishing Point

A classic existential car chase film starring the great Barry Newman and Clevon Little:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanishing_Point

[Lautremont]

2. It's true.

But I put Vanishing Point in the same category as Two-Lane Blacktop and The Driver - existential action car-chase pictures. But I agree with you - there's an overarching similarity that could cover all six movies.

[enigmatic]

3. I almost put Two Lane Blacktop on there, too

Warren Oates as GTO was my favorite performance by him. Both absolutely classic films..

[Lautremont]

5. You know, Race With The Devil's got to fit in there too.

Another good Oates car chase movie.

I read a review once that said that Barry Newman's performance in Vanishing Point single-handedly legitimized the Jews as action heroes. Weird, eh?

[enigmatic]

6. Ha!

That's great; I never knew that. I lusted after one of those 1970 Dodge Challengers for years; I finally broke down and bought the model version of it a couple of years ago...

[enigmatic]

4. The 70's were my favorite decade for film

The list of classic films just from 70-75 is endless...