1. The French Connection (1971) - ROAD RAGE
Gene Hackman's "Popeye" Doyle is having a very bad day, and he makes sure we all know it as he tries with every facial tick to get everyone out of his way. Take note of the :54 mark, as it appears he's just about to lose it.
2. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) - RULE BREAKING ANGER
Long before Dr. David Banner showed the world that "we wouldn't like him when he's angry", a stoic Gene Wilder brought forth something inside candy man Willy Wonka that none of us were ever expecting. It makes you wonder if he had been a father what those poor little kids would have been in for. ("Go.....TO YOUR ROOM! YOU GET NOTHING!! NO DESSERT! YOU LOSE!!!! GOOD DAY, SON!!!")
3. Alien (1979) - FEAR OF ISOLATION
Look, if you're going to leave me outside of a spaceship and not let me back in, you'd better have a good reason. Don't give me this crap about alien contamination, quarantine rules, and face-huggers. Do you think I'm stupid?
4. The Exorcist (1973) - THE AWFUL TRUTH
Sometimes, the truth just hurts (or smells). Ask Ol' Scratch (but when he's in a better mood.)
5. Five Easy Pieces (1970) - IMPATIENCE
We've all encountered it. We go to a restaurant and want our meal a certain way, only to be shot down by the waiter saying that "we can't do that" or "you'd have to pay extra". So, when this happens to Jack Nicholson, he goes on an amazing diatribe that can only be described as monumental impatient sarcasm. He made ordering food fun for all of us, and it was at that moment that we knew Jack was angry, but surprisingly, we LIKED him when he was angry.
6. ...And Justice For All (1979) - DISGUST
Way back before he hoo-ahhed his way to an Oscar, a disgraced Al Pacino broke down and showed his disgust for America's court system. One can only feel he was channeling a little bit of Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, but in the end, Al was doing his own thing, and he did it so well...even if it was out-of-order.
7. Marathon Man (1976) - FED-UP AGGRAVATION
From one of my favorite films, this is included not for the obvious reason. Yes, the persistent Dr. Szell (played with masterful creepiness by Sir Laurence Olivier) wants Dustin Hoffman's character to answer a seemingly simple question, but the subtle anger here comes from Hoffman. After being asked for the umpteenth time "Is it safe?" and realizing that obviously he's not going to be given an explanation for said question, Hoffman resorts to a sort of teasing retort, "Yes....it's so safe you wouldn't believe it. No, it's not...it's very dangerous." Those actions propel the scene into movie history, and made us think twice before we ever sat in a cold, metal dentist's chair again.
8. Network - (1976) - MAD AS HELL
The obvious choice on this list. What's really scary is that Peter Finch's speech rings truer today than it ever could have been conceived back then. Finch won an Oscar, and we all watched the world change.
9. Taxi Driver - (1976) - UNCONTROLLED VANITY
Do I really need to say anything? Nah, I didn't think so.
10. The Enforcer (1976) - VIOLENT SARCASM
No movie anger management list is complete without Dirty Harry, and instead of going for the two obvious scenes that we all know: "Do you feel lucky?" and "Go ahead..." (the latter was from 1983 anyway), I included this one which is probably from my least favorite Harry film, but at the same time, it's probably one of my favorite scenes from the entire series.
*FED-UP FOOTNOTE: Many thanks to YouTube for dissing embed codes for scenes from Jaws and A Clockwork Orange; this author had valid points to make regarding Matt Hooper's mayor-induced rage and Alex DeLarge's "So stinking.." speech. Apparently, everything isn't safe.
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