Top 25 movies of the 80s

delete post. It posted before I finished. Not sure how to delete it.

 

I guess we can keep it going. Anyone want to start? I'll post soon.

 

Here we go.

1. Kagemusha
2. Ran
3. The Shining
4. Raging Bull
5. Once Upon A Time in America
6. Veronica Voss
7. Lola
8. Back to the Future
9. Airplane
10. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
11. Broadway Danny Rose
12.Radio Days
13. Rumble Fish
14. Something Wild
15. The Fly
16. The Dead Zone
17. Dead Ringers
18. Evil Dead
19. My Bodyguard
20. At Close Range
21. Fright Night
22. Blade Runner
23. Nightmare on Elm Street
24. Angel Heart
25. Vacation

 

80's:

1. Road House (my pick for favorite film of this decade per another thread here; it sums up everything that made the 80's great)
2. The Blues Brothers (the cameos raise this to a level much higher than it would probably otherwise have)
3. Caddyshack (one of the most quotable films ever, at least to those of us of a certain age)
4. The Road Warrior (a sequel that I'd say improved on the original Mad Max, which remains riveting, and without CGI)
5. The Terminator (a perfect role for Ahh-nold, as a machine)
6. Conan the Barbarian (well, he was pretty great in this too, but James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom was even better)
7. Excalibur (a bit stilted, but during the D&D era, this was pretty much "the" film, and that sex-in-armor scene...whoa!)
8. Time Bandits (a Monty Python-esque fantasy feature with more of an edge than most children's fare)
9. Victor/Victoria (I have yet to see the original 1933 German film, Viktor und Viktoria, on which this was based)
10. Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (sort of a spoof of all those road pictures with Bob Hope, but with a surreal touch)
11. This Is Spinal Tap (I'm not ranking these in any particular order, but this one goes to eleven! )
12. Raiders of the Lost Ark (one of the most popular films from the 80's, which was a strong Best Picture candidate, but for...).
13. Chariots of Fire (to be fair, I also enjoy this Oscar winner, perhaps more now than at the time)
14. UHF ("Weird Al" Yankovic is an MTV-era institution for his musical parodies, and this film mostly delivered the comedic goods)
15. National Lampoon’s Vacation (this might be Chevy Chase's greatest role, but he had strong support here from all involved)
16. Sixteen Candles (probably my favorite John Hughes flick, which I simply prefer watching over The Breakfast Club)
17. Highlander (definitely a bit cheesy, complete with its Queen soundtrack, but not as cheesy as Flash Gordon, which I also enjoy)
18. Repo Man (it seemed like Harry Dean Stanton was in almost everything, and he plays well here opposite Emilio Estevez)
19. Blade Runner (might just be the greatest film on my list, which could stand tall in any decade, though I haven't seen 2049)
20. Big Trouble In Little China (one of those awesome popcorn flicks that can liven up an otherwise dull evening)
21. The Shining (well, this one you might not want to watch alone, as it is a bit unnerving, even if occasionally over the top)
22. Evil Dead 2 (another successful sequel, especially with its dismembered hand, but really too silly to be all that scary)
23. Fast Times At Ridgemont High (a cultural time capsule, with a bit of a 70's hangover going on there)
24. Top Secret! (for me, this has aged better than Airplane, which almost made my list based mainly on re-watchability)
25. A Christmas Story (I generally watch this during yuletide, and that part with the befuddled Santa Claus gets me every time )

 

A few days ago I considered starting such a thread and even prepared my list...

E.T. the Extraterrestrial
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Tootsie
Diner
My Dinner with Andre
The Right Stuff
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Bull Durham
Back to the Future
Down and Out in Beverly Hills
Dressed to Kill
The Untouchables
Blue Velvet
Under Fire
Moonstruck
Drugstore Cowboy
My Left Foot
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Atlantic City
The Fabulous Baker Boys
The Empire Strikes Back
Excalibur
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Once Upon a Time in America
Local Hero

 

Tin Men
Untouchables
Vacation
Christmas Vacation
Blues Brothers

Moonstruck
Caddyshack
Christmas Story
Back to the Future
Mr. Mom

Batman (original with Jack Nicholson & Michael Keaton)
Planes, Trains, Automobiles
All of Me
Baby Boom
Raiders of the Lost Ark

When Harry met Sally
Trading Places
Beverly Hills Cop
Running Scared
The Money Pit

Wall Street
Body Heat
Bull Durham
Big Chill
Night Shift

BONUS:
Nothing In Common

 

An American Werewolf in London
Back to the Future
Bad Timing
Blade Runner
Blue Velvet
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover
Die Hard
The Draughtsman's Contract
Flash Gordon
Gregory's Girl
Hannah and Her Sisters
Hope and Glory
Lethal Weapon
The Living Daylights
The Natural
Pale Rider
A Passage to India
Pink Floyd The Wall
The Princess Bride
The Shining
Stop Making Sense
This Is Spinal Tap
Tootsie
Trading Places
Withnail & I

 

Atlantic City
Blood Simple
Blue Velvet
Das Boot
Brazil
Broadway Danny Rose
Do the Right Thing
Down By Law
Fitzcarraldo
The King of Comedy
Mystery Train
Once Upon a Time in America
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Radio Days
Raging Bull
Repo Man
The Right Stuff
The Shining
Stardust Memories
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
This is Spinal Tap
The Vanishing
Videodrome
What Have I Done to Deserve This?
Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

 

Wish I’d included Women on the Verge... in my list.

 

Any list that does not include The Thing is worthless!

 

I could have posted 100 movies. This was the decade I grew up in. Nothing but warm feelings of nostalgia and cinematic junk food.

1. The Goonies
2. Stand By Me
3. The Road Warrior
4. Raiders of the Lost Ark
5. Pee Wee's Big Adventure
6. Big Trouble Little China
7. Blue Velvet
8. They Live
9. Fletch
10. Christine
11. The Blues Brothers
12. Better Off Dead
13. Caddyshack
14. The Cannonball Run
15. Evil Dead II
16. Predator
17. Romancing The Stone
18. Jumpin' Jack Flash
19. Peggy Sue Got Married
20. Star Trek II - Wrath of Khan
21. National Lampoon's Vacation
22. Die Hard
23. Revenge of the Nerds
24. Cloak and Dagger
25. Friday the 13th

 

Would have made my top 30.

 

Once upon A time in America
Spinal Tap
Predator
Platoon
Scarface
Cruising

Not very favorite decade.

 

The Empire Strikes Back
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Escape from New York
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
The Thing
An Officer and a Gentleman
A Christmas Story
Ghostbusters
The Terminator
This is Spinal Tap
Back to the Future
The Breakfast Club
Platoon
Top Gun
The Fly
Big Trouble in Little China
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Labyrinth
The Princess Bride
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Rain Main
Die Hard
Batman
Dead Poets Society
The Little Mermaid
Say Anything...
When Harry Met Sally

This is where I really start liking movies. And I do think that most of these are great 'movies' rather than 'cinema' or 'film.' And I prefer movies, if you know what I mean!

 

Heeeere we go, in no particular order

After Hours
The King Of Comedy
Fitzcarraldo
Victor/Victoria
True Stories
Mississippi Burning
Mona Lisa
To Live And Die In L.A.
The Falcon and the Snowman
Amadeus
Once Upon A Time In America
Scarface
Mephisto
Blow Out
Thief
The Long Good Friday
Heaven's Gate
The Shining
Paris, Texas
The Element Of Crime
Wings Of Desire
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Vagabond
Death Of A Salesman
Au revoir, les enfants

 

Darn! I knew I was forgetting some that should have been on my list. Somehow I need to make room for these! At least the first four.
Drugstore Cowboy
Spinal Tap
Breakfast Club
Pee Wee
Princess Bride
King of Comedy
Purple Rose of Cairo
Blow Out

 

Surprised Kurosawa isn’t getting more love. I love his movies! Ran is a masterpiece and I consider one of the greatest films ever and the more unknown Kagemusha is nearly as good. Epic films! Highly recommended if you haven’t seen them.

Same goes for the BRD trilogy by Fassbinder which includes
The Marriage Of Maria Braun
Lola
Veronika Voss

Fantastic film making and cinematography. If you haven’t seen them put them on your list!

And how did I also forget Empire Strikes Back?

 

I can't do this. The 70's list was hard enough. Even though Tarantino considers the 80's to be the worst decade for movies, I love the 80's

I tried breaking movies into groups and I still can't do it.

I tried grouping movies into elimination rounds and it made things worse. Lose Raging Bull or the Shining? Neither.
The Road Warrior or An American Werewolf in London? While I love the Road Warrior, I still can't bump An American Werewolf in London off my list.

Heathers is one of my favorite comedies and I feel that it's the perfect way to end the teen comedies of the 80's that started with another unusual teen comedy, Risky Business.

Since I was a teen in the 80's I have a soft spot for the films of John Hughes. The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off are classics to me, but so is a lesser known or loved film such as Some Kind of Wonderful. Don't forget that John also wrote National Lampoon's Vacation.

This was a great decade for John Carpenter as well, with films like The Thing, They Live, Escape from N.Y., etc.

I also love the B movies of the 80's like Looker, Flash Gordon. Johnny Dangerously, Evil Dead 2, etc.

This was the true decade for Arnold, with Conan, Terminator, Predator and the Running Man. There's the De Palma films, like Blow Out, Scarface, and The Untouchables.

I could probably make a top 25 list of just the lesser known classics (to me anyway) like To Live and Die in L.A., After Hours, and Talk Radio.

What about the music related films such as Stop Making Sense, This is Spinal Tap or the cheesy, but still enjoyably flawed classic Purple Rain?

Great comedies such as 48 Hours, The Three Amigos! or Planes, Trains and Automobiles? What about Sci-fi like Aliens, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan or Robocop?

You also have movies like Blood Simple, Amadeus and Full Metal Jacket.

Some great horror movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street. The Fly and Angel Heart.

There's the dawn of franchises like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon. There are so many more movies I could list, like the war movies (Platoon, Casualties of War) or directors stepping up their game like Spielberg did with the Color Purple.

Sorry if this seems like rambling, but I can't limit my list to 25. So I simply just say, I disagree with Tarantino, and I love the movies of the 80's. That even goes for low budget trash films like Raiders from Atlantis or Ninja 3 the domination.

 

Many 80s films fly under the radar - I think this really is due to many people like Quentin who dismiss the 80s as a movie decade. You inspired me to name some runner-ups to my list:

The Big Easy
Predator
Platoon
Nightmare On Elm Street III: The Dream Warrior
Bring On The Night
The Bounty
Blue Velvet
Dune
Scene of the Crime
The Breakfast Club
Good Morning, Vietnam
Killer Klowns From Outer Space
Meet The Feebles
Bright Lights, Big City
The Last Emperor
Wall Street
Prince: Sign O' The Times
Kamikaze 1989
Desperately Seeking Susan
Risky Business
Videodrome
Class Of 1984
Cheech & Chong's Next Movie
The War Of The Roses
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover

...whew! Man, what a great decade for movies. Looking forward to when we do the 90s

 

Looking over these lists, I’m seeing at least five movies I could have included on mine—and I don’t think anyone’s even mentioned Alan Parker’s Shoot the Moon yet. In hindsight, I think it was a much better decade for movies than it seemed at the time.

 

HOW could I overlook:

Good Morning, Vietnam
Better off Dead
Mississippi Burning
Platoon
Rain Man
Dead Poet's Society
Breakfast Club

 

My Bodyguard
Blow Out
For Your Eyes Only
Raiders of the Lost Ark
First Blood
Eureka
Amadeus
Dreamscape
The Natural
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Once Upon a Time in America
The Terminator
Back to the Future
Year of the Dragon
The Fly
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
The Mosquito Coast
Something Wild
Angel Heart
Au Revoir Les Enfants
Black Widow
The Living Daylights
Dangerous Liaisons
The Little Mermaid

 

The one's that would make my list:

Zelig
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
When Harry Met Sally
Gandhi
Hanna And Her Sisters
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Back To The Future
Ghostbusters
Out Of Africa
Being There
Purple Rose Of Cairo
The Breakfast Club
Raising Arizona
Amadeus
The Princess Bride
Do The Right Thing
Bladerunner
Roxanne
Chariots Of Fire
Airplane!
Babette's Feast
Goodfellas
Blood Simple
Local Hero
Broadway Danny Rose

 

Another “worthless” list sans The Thing:

A Short Film About Love
The Night of the Shooting Stars
The Green Ray
Full Moon in Paris
Hannah and Her Sisters
Crimes and Misdemeanours
My Dinner with Andre
Caravaggio
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Fanny and Alexander
The Sacrifice
Withnail and I
Fitzcarraldo
Shoah
This Is Spinal Tap
Blade Runner
The Ballad of Narayama
Sex, Lies, and Videotape
Insignificance
Lola
Tampopo
When the Wind Blows
The Long Good Friday
Mona Lisa
Repo Man

 

yes! Forgot this one as well! Great movie