23 Films & TV Shows Set In Michigan During The 1970s
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Respect
Michigan New York California Alabama The 1970s The 1960s The 1950sThe queen arrives. — The rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom.
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John Was Trying to Contact Aliens
Michigan The 1970s The 1980sJohn Shepherd spent 30 years trying to contact extraterrestrials by broadcasting music millions of miles into space. After giving up the search, he makes a different connection here on earth.
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The Irishman
Michigan New York Pennsylvania The 1970s The 1980s The 1990s The 1960s The 1950s The 1940s The 2000sHis story changed history — Pennsylvania, 1956. Frank Sheeran, a war veteran of Irish origin who works as a truck driver, accidentally meets mobster Russell Bufalino. Once Frank becomes his trusted man, Bufalino sends him to Chicago with the task of helping Jimmy Hoffa, a powerful union leader related to organized crime, with whom Frank will maintain a close friendship for nearly twenty years.
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A Dog's Purpose
Michigan Illinois The 1970s The 1980s The 1990s The 1960s The 2000sEvery dog happens for a reason. — A dog goes on quest to discover his purpose in life over the course of several lifetimes with multiple owners.
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I, Tonya
Michigan Oregon 🇳🇴 Norway 🇫🇷 France The 1990s The 1970s The 1980s The 2000sFitting in is overrated — Competitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the sport is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes.
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Red Army
🇷🇺 Russia Michigan The 1970s The 1980s The 1990sCold War On Ice — A documentary highlighting the Soviet Union's legendary and enigmatic hockey training culture and world-dominating team through the eyes of the team's Captain Slava Fetisov, following his shift from hockey star and celebrated national hero to political enemy.
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A Band Called Death
Michigan The 1970sThis Band was Punk, before Punk was Punk — Before Bad Brains, the Sex Pistols or even the Ramones, there was Death. Formed in the early '70s by three teenage brothers from Detroit, Death is credited as being the first black punk band, and the Hackney brothers, David, Bobby, and Dannis, are now considered pioneers in their field. But it wasn’t until recently — when a dusty 1974 demo tape made its way out of Bobby’s attic nearly 30 years after Death’s heyday — that anyone outside a small group of punk enthusiasts had even heard of them.
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Life of Crime
Michigan The 1970sRight target. Wrong woman. — Two common criminals get more than they bargained for after kidnapping the wife of a corrupt real-estate developer who shows no interest in paying the $1 million dollar ransom for her safe return.
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Freaky Deaky
Michigan The 1970sCrime is such a trippy thing — Set in 1974, a pair of '60s radicals rely on their bomb-making skills on their way to becoming capitalists.
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The Men Who Stare at Goats
🇰🇼 Kuwait Michigan North Carolina The 1970s The 1980s The 1990s The 2000sNo goats. No glory. — A reporter in Iraq might just have the story of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady, a guy who claims to be a former member of the U.S. Army's New Earth Army, a unit that employs paranormal powers in their missions.
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Semi-Pro
Michigan The 1970sPutting the funk into the dunk. — Jackie Moon is the owner, promoter, coach, and star player of the Flint Michigan Tropics of the American Basketball Association (ABA). In 1976 before the ABA collapses, the National Basketball Association (NBA) plans to merge with the best teams of the ABA at the end of the season. Only the top four teams will make the move and the worst teams will fold. The Tropics are the worst team in the league and if they want to make it to the NBA, Jackie Moon must rally his team and start winning. The only problem is the fact that Jackie Moon is not really the coach and star basketball player he thinks he is. To keep his team from oblivion and leave his mark in the city, Jackie Moon must inspire his team to win fourth place in the playoffs.
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Patti Smith: Dream of Life
Michigan New York The 1970s The 1980s The 1990sAn intimate portrait of poet, painter, musician and singer Patti Smith that mirrors the essence of the artist herself.
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Dreamgirls
Michigan New York Illinois The 1970s The 1960sOne Dream Will Change Everything — Three young women dream of becoming pop stars—and get their wish when they're chosen to be backup singers for the legendary James 'Thunder' Early.
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Baadasssss!
Michigan California The 1970sA Father - A Son - A Revolution — Director Mario Van Peebles chronicles the complicated production of his father Melvin's classic 1971 film, "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song." Playing his father in the film, Van Peebles offers an unapologetic account of Melvin's brash and sometimes deceptive conduct on the set of the film, including questionable antics like writing bad checks, tricking a local fire department and allowing his son, Mario, to shoot racy sex scenes at the age of 11.
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The Virgin Suicides
Michigan The 1970sBeautiful, mysterious, haunting, invariably fatal. Just like life. — A group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents.
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Detroit Rock City
Michigan Ohio The 1970sKiss The Rules Goodbye. — In 1978, a Kiss concert was an epoch-making event. For the three teen fans in Detroit Rock City getting tickets to the sold-out show becomes the focal point of their existence. They'll do anything for tickets -- compete in a strip club's amateur-night contest, take on religious protesters, even rob a convenience store!
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Private Parts
Connecticut Massachusetts Michigan New York District of Columbia The 1970s The 1980s The 1960sNever before has a man done so much with so little. — The auto-biographical story of Howard Stern, the radio-rebel who is now also a TV-personality, an author and a movie star.
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Crossing the Bridge
Michigan The 1970sEvery day you make a million decisions. But it only takes one to change your life. Forever . . . — A film about three high school friends who find their happy-go-lucky existence tarnished forever the instant they get embroiled in a drug-running scheme that goes awry. When things start getting messy, they rue the day they agreed to the venture; instead of smuggling weed from Canada to Detroit, which they'd expected, the threesome's forced to traffic a huge stash of heroin.
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Chameleon Street
Michigan The 1970s The 1980sWilliam Douglas Street is bored with his life. Working for his father is getting to him, his wife wants more money, and he's had enough. His solution is to re-invent himself. He becomes a chameleon, taking on whatever role suits the situation. From reporter to doctor to lawyer, he impersonates anyone he feels a need to be and he can earn money being. The movie is based on the real figures William Douglas Street, Jr. and Erik Dupin.
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The Burning Bed
Michigan The 1970s The 1960sHe didn't know how to stop it... she did. — An abused battered wife has had enough of husband beating up on her. Everywhere she turns for help, there's not much anyone will do. After he rapes her one night, she sets the bed on fire with him in it asleep.
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Christine
California Michigan The 1970s The 1950sHow do you kill something that can't possibly be alive? — Geeky student Arnie Cunningham falls for Christine, a rusty 1958 Plymouth Fury, and becomes obsessed with restoring the classic automobile to her former glory. As the car changes, so does Arnie, whose newfound confidence turns to arrogance behind the wheel of his exotic beauty. Arnie's girlfriend Leigh and best friend Dennis reach out to him, only to be met by a Fury like no other.
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Somewhere in Time
Michigan Illinois The 1970s The 1980s The 1910sBeyond fantasy. Beyond obsession. Beyond time itself... he will find her. — Young writer Richard Collier is met on the opening night of his first play by an old lady who begs him to "Come back to me". Mystified, he tries to find out about her, and learns that she is a famous stage actress from the early 1900s. Becoming more and more obsessed with her, by self-hypnosis he manages to travel back in time—where he meets her.
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One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story
Michigan The 1970s The 1980sOne in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story was a 1978 made for TV movie telling the story of Ron LeFlore, a troubled Detroit youth who rose from Michigan prisons to star in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers. The movie was based on LeFlore's autobiography, Breakout: From Prison to the Big Leagues. It follows LeFlore from his heroin addiction, to his time in Michigan's Jackson State Penitentiary, and tells of his discovery in prison by Billy Martin, who was then the manager of the Detroit Tigers. The role of Ron LeFlore was played by LeVar Burton. Larry B. Scott portrayed Ron LeFlore's younger brother. Former Detroit manager Billy Martin played himself, and former Tiger players Norm Cash, Bill Freehan, Al Kaline, and Jim Northrup also appeared as themselves. The movie first aired on CBS Television on September 26, 1978.
