Piranha is a 1978 American B movie about a swarm of killer piranhas. It was directed by Joe Dante and starred Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Kevin McCarthy, Keenan Wynn and Dick Miller. Produced by Roger Corman, Piranha is a parody of the 1975 film Jaws, which had been a major success for distributor Universal Studios and director Steven Spielberg, and inspired a series of similarly themed B movies such as Grizzly, Tintorera, Tentacles, Orca, Monster Shark and Great White.

Piranha was followed by a sequel, Piranha II: The Spawning, in 1981, and two remakes, one in 1995, and another in 2010. The film was shot at Aquarena Springs in San Marcos, Texas. Screenwriter John Sayles used the proceeds to fund his own films.

Plot[link]

Two teenagers exploring at night come upon an apparently abandoned military installation. They take advantage of what appears to be a swimming pool to skinny dip. The teenagers are attacked by an unseen force and disappear under the water. A light activates in the main building and a silhouetted figure investigates the screams, but is too late to help.

A determined but somewhat absent-minded insurance investigator named Maggie McKeown (Heather Menzies) is dispatched to find the missing teenagers near Lost River Lake. She hires surly backwoods drunkard Paul Grogan (Bradford Dillman) to serve as her guide. They come upon the abandoned compound, which functioned as a fish hatchery prior to being militarized. They discover bizarre specimens in jars and indications of an occupant. Maggie locates the drainage switch for the outside pool and decides to empty it to search the bottom, but the moment she activates it a haggard and frantic man attacks her, attempting to stop the draining until he is subdued by Grogan. The two find a skeleton in the filtration trap of the empty pool, and learn it was filled with salt water. The man awakens and steals their jeep, but crashes it due to his disorientation, and is taken to Grogan's home where they spend the night. They take Grogan's homemade raft down the river, where the man wakes up and tells them that the pool in the facility was filled with a school of piranhas, and that Maggie released them into the river. They are skeptical until they come across the corpse of Grogan's friend Jack (Keenan Wynn), who has bled to death from an attack on a fishing dock.

The man reveals himself to be Doctor Robert Hoak (Kevin McCarthy), the lead scientist of a defunct Vietnam War project, Operation: Razorteeth, which was tasked with engineering a ravenous and prodigious strain of piranha that could endure the cold water of the North Vietnamese rivers and inhibit Viet Cong movement. The project was shut down when the war ended, but some of the mutant specimens survived the poisoning protocols, and Hoak tended to them to salvage his work. Grogan realizes that if the local dam is opened, The School will have access to the Lost River water park (a tourist trap) and summer camp on the other side, where his daughter is in attendance. Traveling downriver, they encounter a capsized canoe with a boy whose father has been killed by the fish. Hoak rescues the boy but suffers mortal injuries when The School attacks him; he dies before he can tell how to kill them. Blood from Hoak's corpse causes the piranha to tear away the raft's lashings, and they barely get to shore. Grogan stops the dam attendant from opening the spillway and calls the military.

A military team led by Colonel Waxman (Bruce Gordon) and former Razorteeth scientist Dr. Mengers (Barbara Steele) feed poison into the upstream section, ignoring the protests that the fish survived the first attempt. When Grogan discovers that a tributary bypasses the dam, Waxman and Mengers quarantine them to prevent the agitated pair from alerting the media. When they escape, Waxman alerts law enforcement to capture them. The School attacks the summer camp during a swimming marathon, injuring many and killing one child and a supervisor; Grogan's daughter, however, escapes due to her fear of water, and eventually rallies herself to aid her camp mates in escaping the killer fish.

The School continues downriver. Waxman and Mengers arrive at the water park to intercept Grogan and Maggie, but the piranha attack the resort, killing many, including Waxman. Grogan and Maggie commanded a speedboat and rush to the shuttered smelting plant at the narrowest point of the river. Remembering the empty facility pond, Grogan realizes the fish can survive in salt water; if the school passes the delta, they will reach the ocean and spread over the entire world. He intends to open the smelting refuse tanks, hoping that the industrial waste will kill the fish. They arrive at the plant ahead of the fish, but the elevated water level has submerged the control office, and Grogan must go underwater; he ties a rope around his waist and instructs Maggie to count to 100 before pulling him out. Grogan struggles to move the rusted valve wheel when The School arrives and attacks him. The assault hyperadrenalizes him, and he manages to open the valves just as Maggie guns the engine and pulls him to safety. Maggie takes Grogan back to the water park, where a massive MEDEVAC is tending to the victims; his injuries are severe and he is seen in a catatonic state.

Mengers gives an on-site television interview, providing a sanitized version of events and downplaying the existence of piranha. Her voice is heard carrying out over a radio on the shore of a West Coast beach. As she says "there's nothing left to fear", the piranha's characteristic trilling sound drowns out the waves on a beach, indicating that the fish have made it to the ocean.

Cast[link]

• Bradford Dillman as Paul Grogan
• Heather Menzies as Maggie McKeown
• Kevin McCarthy as Dr. Robert Hoak
• Keenan Wynn as Jack
• Dick Miller as Buck Gardner
• Barbara Steele as Dr. Mengers
• Belinda Balaski as Betsy
• Melody Thomas Scott as Laura Dickinson
• Bruce Gordon as Colonel Waxman
• Barry Brown as a Trooper
• Paul Bartel as Mr. Dumont
• Shannon Collins as Suzie Grogan

Reception[link]

Based on reviews from 23 critics collected by the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 70% gave Piranha a positive review.^[1] Steven Spielberg said it was "the best of the Jaws ripoffs".^[2]

Release[link]

The film was released theatrically in the United States by New World Pictures in August 1978.^[3] Given the proximity to Jaws 2, Universal Pictures had considered an injunction, but Spielberg convinced them otherwise.^[2]

In 2004, New Concorde Home Entertainment released the film on special edition DVD.^[4] This version is currently out of print.

In 2010, Shout! Factory re-released Piranha on DVD and Blu-ray.^[5]

Remakes[link]

Piranha was first remade in 1995, and this version was also produced by Roger Corman and originally debuted on Showtime. It used footage from the original for certain sequences.

Another remake of the 1978 film is directed by Alexandre Aja, who again works with filmmaking partner Grégory Levasseur; the two have worked on other genre films as well, including the 2006 remake, The Hills Have Eyes. Distributor Dimension Films' Bob Weinstein told Variety, "We will maintain the fun and thrilling aspects of the original film, but look forward to upping the ante with a modern-day twist."^[6] Piranha 3D was theatrically released in the United States on August 20, 2010 and is in 3D.

Dimension had been developing the remake of the 1978 Joe Dante film Piranha for over a year. It intended to have Chuck Russell, who previously reworked the 1988 version of The Blob, direct the film before taking on Alexandre Aja. Aja will rewrite a previous script from Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger. Aja explains, "My goal is not to remake Piranha, but to create a completely new adventure paying homage to all the creature films [...] I am very proud to follow the path of Joe Dante and James Cameron in the Piranha franchise and look forward to working with Greg Levasseur to write, produce, and direct such a fun and gory thrill ride."^[7]. The film's cast includes Elizabeth Shue, Christopher Lloyd, Richard Dreyfus, Adam Scott, and Jerry O'Connell.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Piranha at the Internet Movie Database
• Piranha at AllRovi
• Piranha at Rotten Tomatoes

Piranha
A piranha at the Newport, Kentucky Aquarium
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Subclass:	Neopterygii
Infraclass:	Teleostei
Order:	Characiformes
Family:	Characidae
Subfamily:	Serrasalminae Géry, 1972
Tribe:	Piranha[citation needed]
Genera
Catoprion Pristobrycon Pygocentrus Pygopristis Serrasalmus †Megapiranha

A piranha or piraña ( /pɨˈrɑːnʲə/, /pɨˈrænʲə/, or /pɨˈrɑːnə/}; Portuguese: [piˈɾɐ̃ɲɐ]) is a member of family Characidae^[1] in order Characiformes, an omnivorous^[2] freshwater fish that inhabits South American rivers. In Venezuela, they are called caribes. They are known for their sharp teeth and a voracious appetite for meat.

Taxonomy[link]

Piranhas belong to the subfamily Serrasalminae, which also includes closely related omnivorous^[3] fish such as pacus.^[4] Traditionally, only the four genera Pristobrycon, Pygocentrus, Pygopristis and Serrasalmus are considered to be true piranhas, due to their specialized teeth. However, a recent analysis showed that, if the piranha group is to be monophyletic, it should be restricted to Serrasalmus, Pygocentrus and part of Pristobrycon, or expanded to include these taxa plus Pygopristis, Catoprion, and Pristobrycon striolatus. Pygopristis was found to be more closely related to Catoprion than the other three piranha genera.^[4]

The total number of piranha species is unknown and contested, and new species continue to be described. Estimates range from fewer than 30 to more than 60.^[4]

Piranha in Venezuela

Distribution[link]

Piranhas are found in the Amazon basin, in the Orinoco, in rivers of the Guyanas, in the Paraguay-Paraná, and the São Francisco River systems. Some species of piranha have broad geographic ranges, occurring in more than one of the major basins mentioned above, whereas others appear to have more limited distributions.^[4]

Aquarium piranhas have been introduced into parts of the United States, with specimens occasionally found in the Potomac River, Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri and even as far north as Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin, although they typically do not survive cold winters.^[5] Piranhas have also been discovered in the Kaptai Lake in southeast Bangladesh. Research is being carried out to establish how piranhas have moved to such distant corners of the world from their original habitat. Some rogue exotic fish traders are thought to have released them in the lake to avoid being caught by antipoaching forces.

Description[link]

Jawbone of Pygocentrus nattereri

Piranhas are normally about 14 to 26 cm long (5.5 to 10.25 inches), although some specimens have been reported to be up to 43 cm (17.0 inches) in length.^[6]

Serrasalmus, Pristobrycon, Pygocentrus and Pygopristis are most easily recognized by their unique dentition. All piranhas have a single row of sharp teeth in both jaws; the teeth are tightly packed and interlocking (via small cusps) and are used for rapid puncture and shearing. Individual teeth are typically broadly triangular, pointed and blade-like (flat in profile). There is minor variation in the number of cusps; in most species, the teeth are tricuspid with a larger middle cusp which makes the individual teeth appear markedly triangular. The exception is Pygopristis, which has pentacuspid teeth and a middle cusp usually only slightly larger than the other cusps. In the scale-eating Catoprion, the shape of their teeth is markedly different and the premaxillary teeth are in two rows, as in most other serrasalmines.^[4]

Ecology[link]

Piranhas are important ecological components of their native environments. Although largely restricted to lowland drainages, these fish are widespread and inhabit diverse habitats within both lotic and lentic environments. Some piranha species are abundant locally, and multiple species often occur together.^[4] As both predators and scavengers, piranhas influence the local distribution and composition of fish assemblages.^[4] Certain piranha species consume large quantities of seeds, but unlike the related Colossoma and Piaractus, herbivorous piranhas thoroughly masticate and entirely devour all seeds eaten and consequently do not function as dispersers.^[4]

Piranha have a reputation as ferocious predators that hunt their prey in schools. Recent research, however, which "started off with the premise that they school as a means of cooperative hunting", discovered that they are timid fish that schooled for protection from their own predators, such as cormorants, caimans, and dolphins. Piranhas are "basically like regular fish with large teeth".^[7]

Research on the species Serrasalmus aff. brandtii and Pygocentrus nattereri in Viana Lake, which is formed during the wet season when the Rio Pindare (a tributary of the Rio Mearim) floods, has shown that these species eat vegetable matter at some stages in their life; they are not strictly carnivorous fish.^[8]

Relationship with humans[link]

Fishing piranha on the Ucayali River

A piranha, lightly grilled, served as food in the Peruvian Amazon.

A souvenir piranha

Piranha teeth are often used to make tools and weapons by the indigenous population. Piranhas are also popular as food, although if an individual piranha is caught on a hook or line, it may be attacked by other (free) piranhas.

Piranhas are commonly consumed by subsistence fishermen, and often sold for food in local markets.^[4] In recent decades, dried specimens have been marketed as tourist souvenirs.^[4] Piranhas occasionally bite and sometimes injure bathers and swimmers.^[9]Chris Slack ^[10] A piranha bite is considered more an act of carelessness than that of misfortune, but piranhas are a considerable nuisance to commercial and sport fishers because they steal bait, mutilate catch, damage nets and other gear, and may bite when handled.^[4]

Several piranha species appear in the aquarium trade.^[4] Piranhas can be bought as pets in some areas, but they are illegal in many parts of the United States.^[11]

The most common aquarium piranha is Pygocentrus nattereri, the red-bellied piranha. Piranhas can be bought fully grown or as babies, often no larger than a thumbnail. It is important to keep Pygocentrus piranhas alone or in groups of four or more, not in pairs, since aggression among them is common, not allowing the weaker fish to survive, and is distributed more widely when kept in larger groups. It is not rare to find individuals with one eye missing due to a previous attack. Piranhas are likely to become cannibalistic on others in their group if underfed.

Legendary reputation[link]

There are various myths about piranhas such as how they can dilacerate a human body or cattle in seconds. These myths refer specifically to Pygocentrus nattereri, the red-bellied piranha.^[12] A recurrent myth is that they can be attracted by blood and are exclusive carnivores.^[13] A Brazilian myth called "piranha cattle" states that they sweep the rivers at high speed and attack the first of the cattle entering the water allowing the rest of the group to traverse the river.^[14] These myths were dismissed through research by Helder Queiroz and Anne Magurran and published on Biology Letters.^[15] Nevertheless, a study in Suriname found that piranhas may occasionally attack humans, particularly when water levels are low.^[16] Attacks on humans are usually reported around docks where fish are frequently gutted, and entrails are commonly thrown into the water.

Theodore Roosevelt[link]

When American President Theodore Roosevelt visited Brazil, Brazilian fishermen set up an incident in which a cow was consumed by piranhas. The locals blocked off part of an Amazon tributary with nets and dumped hordes of starving piranhas into it when the adventure-loving Roosevelt explored the region on a hunting trip. A cow was tossed into the river, setting off a wild feeding frenzy that quickly reduced the carcass to bones—the "instant skeleton" now associated with piranhas.^[17][18]

Roosevelt would later present the piranhas as vicious creatures in his 1914 book Through the Brazilian Wilderness, indicating that

They are the most ferocious fish in the world. Even the most formidable fish, the sharks or the barracudas, usually attack things smaller than themselves. But the piranhas habitually attack things much larger than themselves. They will snap a finger off a hand incautiously trailed in the water; they mutilate swimmers—in every river town in Paraguay there are men who have been thus mutilated; they will rend and devour alive any wounded man or beast; for blood in the water excites them to madness. They will tear wounded wild fowl to pieces; and bite off the tails of big fish as they grow exhausted when fighting after being hooked.
But the piranha is a short, deep-bodied fish, with a blunt face and a heavily undershot or projecting lower jaw which gapes widely. The razor-edged teeth are wedge-shaped like a shark’s, and the jaw muscles possess great power. The rabid, furious snaps drive the teeth through flesh and bone. The head with its short muzzle, staring malignant eyes, and gaping, cruelly armed jaws, is the embodiment of evil ferocity; and the actions of the fish exactly match its looks.
I never witnessed an exhibition of such impotent, savage fury as was shown by the piranhas as they flapped on deck. When fresh from the water and thrown on the boards they uttered an extraordinary squealing sound. As they flapped about they bit with vicious eagerness at whatever presented itself. One of them flapped into a cloth and seized it with a bulldog grip. Another grasped one of its fellows; another snapped at a piece of wood, and left the teeth-marks deep therein. They are the pests of the waters, and it is necessary to be exceedingly cautious about either swimming or wading where they are found.
If cattle are driven into, or of their own accord enter, the water, they are commonly not molested; but if by chance some unusually big or ferocious specimen of these fearsome fishes does bite an animal—taking off part of an ear, or perhaps of a teat from the udder of a cow—the blood brings up every member of the ravenous throng which is anywhere near, and unless the attacked animal can immediately make its escape from the water it is devoured alive.^[19]

In popular culture[link]

Hollywood would later emblazon the above gory image for posterity and profit. An example of this perception of piranhas in media appears in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice, where a piece of meat is shown being fed to pet piranhas owned by the film's main antagonist, Blofeld, then only a bone is raised from the water. Later on, a woman is thrown to the piranha pool, although all that is seen is water bubbling vigorously.

Piranha (1978) and Piranha II: The Spawning (1981) perpetuated the piranha's sinister image by showing murderous piranha fish biting and eating humans.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Serrasalminae

• Eric J. Lyman: Piranha meat could take a bite out of what ails you, Houston Chronicle, July 17, 1998
• Piranha at the Open Directory Project
• How to maintain healthy piranha in the home aquarium

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The year 1978 in film involved some significant events.

Events[link]

• February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California.
• March 1 - Charlie Chaplin's coffin is stolen from a Swiss cemetery three months after burial. After recovery a few weeks later, the casket is sealed in a concrete vault buried in the same grave.
• March - Leigh Brackett completes the first draft for The Empire Strikes Back.
• June 4 - Grease, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, has its world premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
• September - George Lucas purchases Bulltail Ranch, on Lucas Valley Road, for the development of Skywalker Ranch.
• November 17 - The Star Wars Holiday Special airs on CBS. The special gives fans their first glimpse of Boba Fett, a character from the upcoming sequel.
• The first Sundance Film Festival is held.

Top grossing films (U.S.)[link]

Awards[link]

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: The Deer Hunter - EMI Films/Cimino, Universal

Best Director: Michael Cimino - The Deer Hunter

Best Actor: Jon Voight - Coming Home

Best Actress: Jane Fonda - Coming Home

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Walken - The Deer Hunter

Best Supporting Actress: Maggie Smith - California Suite

Best Foreign Language Film: Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (Preparez vos mouchoirs), directed by Bertrand Blier, France

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: Midnight Express

Best Actor: Jon Voight - Coming Home

Best Actress: Jane Fonda - Coming Home

Musical or comedy:

Best Picture: Heaven Can Wait

Best Actor: Warren Beatty - Heaven Can Wait

Best Actress (tie): Ellen Burstyn - Same Time, Next Year

Best Actress (tie): Maggie Smith - California Suite

Other

Best Director: Michael Cimino - The Deer Hunter

Best Foreign Language Film: Autumn Sonata, Sweden

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

The Tree of Wooden Clogs (L'Albero degli zoccoli), directed by Ermanno Olmi, Italy

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Trout (Las Truchas), directed by José Luis García Sánchez, Spain

What Max Said (Las Palabras de Max), directed by Emilio Martínez Lázaro, Spain

Films released in 1978[link]

U.S.A. unless stated #

• The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, starring Gordon Liu - (Hong Kong)

A

• The Adventures of Jody Shanan
• Almost Summer
• American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince - directed by Martin Scorsese (documentary)
• American Hot Wax, a biopic of Alan Freed, starring Tim McIntire, Fran Drescher, Laraine Newman, Jay Leno
• L'Argent des autres (Other People's Money), starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Catherine Deneuve - (France)
• Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
• Autumn Sonata - directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullman - (Sweden)

B

• The Bad News Bears Go to Japan, starring Tony Curtis and Jackie Earle Haley
• Barracuda directed by Harry Kerwin and Wayne Crawford
• Battlestar Galactica (Canada and most European countries only; released in U.S. theatres the following year)
• The Betsy, starring Laurence Olivier, Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Katharine Ross, Kathleen Beller, Lesley-Anne Down
• The Big Fix, starring Richard Dreyfuss
• The Big Sleep, starring Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, Oliver Reed, Candy Clark, Joan Collins, James Stewart
• Big Wednesday
• Blue Collar, directed by Paul Schrader, starring Richard Pryor, Yaphet Kotto, Harvey Keitel
• The Boys from Brazil, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, starring Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier, James Mason
• The Boys in Company C
• Bread and Chocolate - (U.S. release of a 1974 film)
• The Brink's Job, directed by William Friedkin, starring Peter Falk, Gena Rowlands, Peter Boyle, Paul Sorvino, Warren Oates
• The Buddy Holly Story, starring Gary Busey
• Bye Bye Monkey (Rêve de singe) or (Ciao maschio), starring Gérard Depardieu and Marcello Mastroianni - (France/Italy)

C

• La Cage aux Folles, directed by Edouard Molinaro, starring Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault - (France/Italy)
• California Suite, starring Alan Alda, Jane Fonda, Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Walter Matthau, Elaine May
• Capricorn One, directed by Peter Hyams, starring Elliott Gould, James Brolin, O.J. Simpson, Sam Waterston, Brenda Vaccaro
• The Cat from Outer Space
• La chambre verte (The Green Room), directed by and starring François Truffaut - (France)
• The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, directed by Fred Schepisi - (Australia)
• The Cheap Detective, starring Peter Falk, Ann-Margret, Marsha Mason, Sid Caesar
• China 9, Liberty 37 (Amore, piombo e furore) - (Italy/Spain)
• Closed Circuit (Circuito chiuso) - (Italy)
• Coma, directed by Michael Crichton, starring Geneviève Bujold and Michael Douglas
• Comes a Horseman, directed by Alan J. Pakula, starring Jane Fonda, James Caan, Jason Robards
• Coming Home, directed by Hal Ashby, starring Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Bruce Dern, Penelope Milford
• Convoy, directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring Kris Kristofferson and Ali MacGraw
• Corvette Summer, starring Mark Hamill
• Cosi' come sei (aka Stay as you are) starring Marcello Mastoianni and Nastassja Kinski - (Italy)

D

• The Dain Curse, mini-series for TV, starring James Coburn and Jean Simmons
• Damien: Omen II, starring William Holden and Lee Grant
• Dawn of the Dead, directed by George A. Romero - (U.S.A./Italy)
• Days of Heaven, directed by Terrence Malick, starring Richard Gere and Brooke Adams
• Death on the Nile, directed by John Guillermin, starring Peter Ustinov, David Niven, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Olivia Hussey - (U.K.)
• Debbie Does Dallas, iconic adult comedy
• The Deer Hunter, directed by Michael Cimino, starring Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep
• The Demon (Kichiku) - (Japan)
• Don - (India)
• The Driver, directed by Walter Hill, starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani
• Drunken Master, starring Jackie Chan - (Hong Kong)

E

• Empire of Passion (Ai no Bōrei), directed by Nagisa Oshima - (Japan)
• The End - directed by and starring Burt Reynolds with Dom DeLuise, Joanne Woodward, Pat O'Brien, Sally Field
• Enter the Fat Dragon - starring Sammo Hung - (Hong Kong)
• Every Which Way but Loose - directed by James Fargo, starring Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis
• Eyes of Laura Mars - directed by Irvin Kershner, starring Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones

F

• F.I.S.T., directed by Norman Jewison, starring Sylvester Stallone, Melinda Dillon, Rod Steiger
• FM
• Fedora, directed by Billy Wilder, starring William Holden and Marthe Keller
• Fingers, starring Harvey Keitel
• Force 10 from Navarone, starring Robert Shaw, Edward Fox, Harrison Ford - (U.K.)
• Foul Play, directed by Colin Higgins, starring Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Dudley Moore and Billy Barty
• The Fury, directed by Brian De Palma, starring Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Andrew Stevens, Amy Irving

G

• Gates of Heaven, a documentary film
• Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (Preparez vos mouchoirs) - (France)
• Girlfriends, Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner
• Go Tell the Spartans, starring Burt Lancaster
• Gray Lady Down, starring Charlton Heston and David Carradine
• Grease - directed by Randal Kleiser, starring John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Jeff Conaway, Stockard Channing, Eve Arden, Edd Byrnes

H

• Halloween, directed by John Carpenter, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence
• Harper Valley PTA, starring Barbara Eden
• Heaven Can Wait, starring Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon, Jack Warden, James Mason
• The Herd (Sürü) - (Turkey)
• Holocaust, a TV miniseries starring Meryl Streep and James Woods
• Hooper, starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jan-Michael Vincent, Robert Klein, Brian Keith
• Hot Lead and Cold Feet, starring Karen Valentine
• House Calls, directed by Howard Zieff, starring Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Richard Benjamin, Art Carney

I-J

• I Wanna Hold Your Hand, directed by Robert Zemeckis
• Ice Castles, starring Lynn-Holly Johnson
• L'important c'est d'aimer (That Most Important Thing: Love), starring Romy Schneider - (France)
• In a Year with 13 Moons (In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden), directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder - (West Germany)
• In Praise of Older Women, starring Tom Berenger, Karen Black, Helen Shaver - (Canada)
• Interiors, directed by Woody Allen, starring Geraldine Page, Diane Keaton, E.G. Marshall, Mary Beth Hurt, Maureen Stapleton
• International Velvet, starring Tatum O'Neal, Nanette Newman, Anthony Hopkins
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers, remake of 1956 movie starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum
• Jaws 2, starring Roy Scheider

K-L

• Kondura, directed by Shyam Benegal - (India) (India)
• Lady on the Bus (A Dama do Lotação), starring Sônia Braga - (Brazil)
• The Left-Handed Woman (Die linkshändige Frau) - (West Germany)
• The Last Waltz, directed by Martin Scorsese, featuring The Band
• Law of the Sixgun
• The Lord of the Rings - animated film by Ralph Bakshi

M

• Magic, directed by Richard Attenborough, starring Anthony Hopkins and Ann-Margret
• Max's Words Golden Bear winner -(not found in searches under this title)
• Midnight Express, directed by Alan Parker, starring Brad Davis, Randy Quaid, John Hurt
• Movie Movie, starring George C. Scott, Harry Hamlin, Barry Bostwick, Trish Van Devere, Red Buttons, Art Carney
• Muqaddar Ka Sikandar - (India)

N-O

• National Lampoon's Animal House - directed by John Landis, starring John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Peter Riegert, Tom Hulce, Karen Allen, John Vernon
• A Night Full of Rain (Una notte piena di pioggia), directed by Lina Wertmuller, starring Giancarlo Giannini and Candice Bergen - (Italy/U.S.A.)
• The Night the Prowler, directed by Jim Sharman - (Australia)
• Occupation in 26 Pictures - (Yugoslavia)
• The One and Only, directed by Carl Reiner, starring Henry Winkler and Kim Darby
• Orchestra Rehearsal (Prova d'orchestra), directed by Federico Fellini - (Italy)

P-Q

• Paradise Alley, starring Sylvester Stallone, Armand Assante, Anne Archer
• Passion Flower Hotel (Leidenschaftliche Blümchen), starring Nastassja Kinski - (West Germany)
• Perceval le Gallois (Percival the Gaul), directed by Éric Rohmer - (France)
• Piranha, directed by Joe Dante
• Pretty Baby - directed by Louis Malle, starring Keith Carradine, Susan Sarandon, Brooke Shields

R

• Rabbit Test - directed by Joan Rivers, starring Billy Crystal
• Remember My Name, starring Geraldine Chaplin and Anthony Perkins
• Renaldo and Clara - directed by and starring Bob Dylan
• Return from Witch Mountain - starring Bette Davis and Christopher Lee
• Revenge of the Pink Panther - starring Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom and Dyan Cannon - (U.K./U.S.A.)
• Ringing Bell (Chirin no Suzu), an anime film - (Japan)
• Rockers, starring Burning Spear, Gregory Isaacs, Big Youth and others - (Jamaica)

S

• The Sailor's Return - (U.K.)
• Same Time Next Year, starring Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn
• Sextette, starring Mae West, Timothy Dalton, Dom DeLuise, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, George Hamilton and Alice Cooper
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, starring Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees with music by The Beatles
• Shogun's Samurai (Yagu ichizoku no inbō), starring Sonny Chiba - (Japan)
• The Shout, directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, starring Alan Bates, John Hurt, Susannah York - (U.K.)
• The Silent Partner, starring Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer, Susannah York
• The Small One
• Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (Shé xíng diāo shǒu), starring Jackie Chan - (Hong Kong)
• So Much Warm
• Somebody Killed Her Husband, starring Farrah Fawcett and Jeff Bridges
• Stevie, starring Glenda Jackson and Trevor Howard - (U.K.)
• Straight Time, directed by Ulu Grosbard, starring Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell, Harry Dean Stanton, Gary Busey
• Superman, directed by Richard Donner, starring Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Valerie Perrine, Susannah York
• The Swarm, starring Michael Caine, Katharine Ross, Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Fred MacMurray, Olivia de Havilland, Ben Johnson, Lee Grant, Patty Duke, Richard Chamberlain, Slim Pickens, Bradford Dillman and Jose Ferrer

T

• Thank God It's Friday, starring Debra Winger, Donna Summer, Jeff Goldblum
• The Tree of Wooden Clogs (L'Albero degli zoccoli), directed by Ermanno Olmi - (Italy) - Palme d'Or winner
• Las Truchas (The Trout) - (Spain) - Golden Bear winner
• Two Solitudes

U-V

• An Unmarried Woman - directed by Paul Mazursky, starring Jill Clayburgh, Alan Bates, Michael Murphy
• Up In Smoke, starring Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong
• Violette Nozière, directed by Claude Chabrol, starring Isabelle Huppert and Stéphane Audran - (France)

W

• The Water Babies - directed by Lionel Jeffries, starring James Mason, Bernard Cribbins, Billie Whitelaw - (U.K./Poland)
• Watership Down - animated film directed by Martin Rosen, with voices of John Hurt and Richard Briers - (U.K.)
• A Wedding - directed by Robert Altman, starring Desi Arnaz Jr., Carol Burnett, Geraldine Chaplin, Paul Dooley, Mia Farrow
• Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?, starring George Segal and Jacqueline Bisset - (West Germany/U.S.A.)
• Who'll Stop the Rain, directed by Karel Reisz, starring Nick Nolte
• The Wild Geese, starring Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris - (U.K.)
• Without Anesthesia (Bez znieczulenia), directed by Andrzej Wajda - (Poland)
• The Wiz - directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson

XYZ

• You Are Not Alone (Du er ikke alene) - (Denmark)
• Zero to Sixty

Births[link]

• January 24 - Mark Hildreth, actor
• March 1 - Jensen Ackles, actor
• April 19- James Franco, actor, author, film director, screenwriter, producer
• June 6 - Judith Barsi, actress (d. 1988)
• June 7 - Bill Hader, actor
• June 19 - Zoe Saldana, actress
• July 19 - R.J. Williams, actor, television host, CEO of Young Hollywood
• November 9 - Sisqó, singer/actor/songwriter
• November 17 - Rachel McAdams, actress
• November 24 - Katherine Heigl, actress
• December 9 - Jesse Metcalfe, actor
• December 18 - Katie Holmes, actress

Deaths[link]

• January 5 - Sally Eilers, actress
• January 29 - Tim McCoy, cowboy actor, soldier
• March 25 - Hanna Ralph, actress
• March 24 - Leigh Brackett, science fiction writer and screenwriter (The Big Sleep)
• August 24 - Louis Prima, bandleader, voice actor ("King Louie of the Apes" in The Jungle Book)
• August 26 - Charles Boyer, actor
• August 28 - Robert Shaw, actor
• September 3 - Karin Molander, actress
• September 9 - Jack Warner, Hollywood studio founder
• September 30 - Edgar Bergen, actor
• October 16 - Dan Dailey, actor
• October 19 - Gig Young, actor

Film debuts[link]

• Karen Allen - National Lampoon's Animal House
• Kevin Bacon - National Lampoon's Animal House
• Jim Broadbent - The Shout
• Jake Busey - Straight Time
• Billy Crystal - Rabbit Test
• Jamie Lee Curtis - Halloween
• Daryl Hannah - The Fury
• Mark Harmon - Comes a Horseman
• Ed Harris - Coma
• Cheech Marin - Up in Smoke
• Steve Martin - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
• Liam Neeson
• Mary Steenburgen - Goin' South
• Alfre Woodard - Remember My Name

References[link]