Your favorite movies of 1989?

Hi all,

Over the Holidays I was watching "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and remembered that it, and many other movies, will be 30 years old in 2019.

1989 was a great year for movies. What are your favorites? Are there any that you think should get a special re-release/director's cut, etc.?

Mine are:

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Not only my favorite Indy movie, but one of my top 5 movies overall. I'd love to see it with any lost scenes restored, and while we're at it, release John Williams' complete score!

Batman: I love this. Jack Nicholson did a great job as the Joker, and Tim Burton gave it just the right (dark) touch. And, I think it helped pave the way for all of the superhero movies that we see today.

Disorganized Crime: This was an overlooked comedy with an ensemble cast that included Lou Diamond Phillips, Corbin Bernsen, Ed O'Neill and Fred Gwynne. It was about some bank robbers pulling off a heist in some small town. Great movie, but it had the misfortune of being released shortly before all the big summer movies like Indy 3, etc. so it sort of got lost in the shuffle.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation: My favorite of all the Vacation movies. It's not the Christmas season without watching this!

And, while not one of my top favorites of 1989, The Little Mermaid deserves some mention because it's the movie that sparked the Disney Renaissance of the 90's. I wonder if it will get get any kind of special release for it's 30th.

Plus, while it's far from my favorite Star Trek movie (those would be IV and VI), I have come to appreciate Star Trek V a little bit more since some of the cast members are no longer with us. I would hardly call it anything close to a masterpiece, however.

So, what are your favorite movies from 1989? Do tell...

 

Fantastic year for movies:

Say Anything...
Batman
Do the Right Thing
When Harry Met Sally...
Casualties of War
Sex, Lies and Videotape
Drugstore Cowboy
The Fabulous Baker Boys

Stuff like that. I’d say it was a little better than 2018...

 

not my year for movies or albums.

 

Top 9 at the box office for 1989 (millions/worldwide). My fave is probably Lethal Weapon 2.

1- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Par. $474.2
2- Batman WB $411.3
3- Back to the Future Part II Uni. $332.0
4- Look Who's Talking TriS $297.0
5- Dead Poets Society BV $235.9
6- Lethal Weapon 2 WB $227.9
7- Honey, I Shrunk the Kids BV $222.7
8- Ghostbusters II Col. $215.4
9- The Little Mermaid BV $211.3

 

Indy Jones & Last Crusade (LOVE this movie)
The War of the Roses
Back to Future II
UHF
Star Trek V
Driving Miss Daisy
Glory
Nat Lampoon Christmas Vacation
Fletch Lives
Bill & Ted Excellent Adventure
Lean on Me
Lethal Weapon 2
Roger & Me
We're No Angels

Saw Batman at the time, haven't seen it in it's entirety at least 20 years, so not sure how I feel about it now.

 

Saw most of those at the drive-in!
Good times.

 

Grim year for movies IMHO. The only one mentioned that I really liked was Drug Store Cowboy, and a lot of that comes from Portland being my home town (the movie absolutely nails the grittiness of 70s Portland).

 

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen--probably my favorite movie from any year.

 

Hmmm.....I was roughly 2 years old that year, but based on Wikipedia:

• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Look Who's Talking
• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
• The Little Mermaid
• She-Devil

 

I’ll go with Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanours.

Not a great year, IMO.

 

GLORY

 

Drugstore Cowboy and Do the Right Thing.

 

Back to the Future II
The War of the Roses
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & her Lover

Not the best year for cinema.

 

Domestic - TOP 60

1 Batman -WB $251,188,924
2 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -Par. $197,171,806
3 Lethal Weapon 2 -WB $147,253,986
4 Look Who's Talking -TriS $140,088,813
5 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids -BV $130,724,172
6 Back to the Future Part II -Uni. $118,450,002
7 Ghostbusters II -Col. $112,494,738
8 Driving Miss Daisy -WB $106,593,296
9 Parenthood -Uni. $100,047,830
10 Dead Poets Society -BV $95,860,116
11 When Harry Met Sally...- Col. $92,823,546
12 The War of the Roses -Fox $86,888,546
13 The Little Mermaid -BV $84,355,863
14 Steel Magnolias -TriS $83,759,091
15 Christmas Vacation -WB $71,319,526
16 Turner & Hooch -BV $71,079,915
17 Born on the Fourth of July -Uni. $70,001,698
18 Uncle Buck -Uni. $66,758,538
19 Field of Dreams -Uni. $64,431,625
20 Tango & Cash -WB $63,408,614
21 Harlem Nights -Par. $60,864,870
22 Sea of Love -Uni. $58,571,513
23 Pet Sematary -Par. $57,469,467
24 The Abyss -Fox $54,222,310
25 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier -Par. $52,210,049
26 Major League -Par. $49,797,148
27 See No Evil, Hear No Evil -TriS $46,908,987
28 Black Rain -Par. $46,212,055
29 Always -Uni. $43,858,790
30 K-9 -Uni. $43,247,647
31 Three Fugitives -BV $40,586,886
32 Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure -Orion $40,485,039
33 The Karate Kid Part III -Col. $38,956,288
34 The 'Burbs -Uni. $36,601,993
35 Fletch Lives -Uni. $35,150,960
36 Licence to Kill -UA $34,667,015
37 Lean on Me -WB $31,906,454
38 The Bear -TriS $31,753,898
39 Weekend at Bernie's -Fox $30,218,387
40 Road House -UA $30,050,028
41 Peter Pan (Re-issue) (1989) -BV $29,445,131
42 The Dream Team -Uni. $28,890,240
43 Do the Right Thing -Uni. $27,545,445
44 All Dogs Go to Heaven -UA $27,100,027
45 Glory -TriS $26,828,365
46 sex, lies and videotape -Mira. $24,741,667
47 A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child -NL $22,168,359
48 Dad -Uni. $22,103,037
49 Lock Up -TriS $22,099,847
50 Cousins -Par. $22,026,369
51 The Rescuers (Re-issue) (1989) -BV $21,215,869
52 Say Anything -Fox $20,781,385
53 An Innocent Man -BV $20,047,604
54 The Fly II -Fox $20,021,322
55 Skin Deep -Fox $19,674,852
56 Blaze -BV $19,131,246 970
57 Her Alibi -WB $18,699,037
58 Casualties of War -Col. $18,671,317
59 Prancer -Orion $18,587,135
60 The Fabulous Baker Boys -Fox $18,428,904

 

How many are we allowed to pick? Any rules? Otherwise, the number will probably be pretty high for me.

 

Road House - saw this in the theatre with a bunch of mulleted, head-bandanna'd Rambo fans; it was a great summation of all things 80's!
UHF - I actually like a lot of "Weird Al" Yankovic's parodies better than the original sources
The Little Mermaid - I probably appreciate this more now for the 1st VHS cover release than the film itself:

 

I'll name five.

Do the Right Thing
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Batman
Heathers
UHF

 

Some of mine are

The Dream team
Lock Up
Loverboy
Christmas Vacation
Caged Fury
Whos harry Crumb
Back to the future 2

 

Prancer is a beautiful movie

 

I saw all of these films in the theater / paid full price.

It's amazing how many fewer films I see a year now - and maybe 8 in the theater on a good year.

 

I thought it was a good year for movies, although interestingly enough, some of the sequels of that year I was underwhelmed, but I have grown to like them. Ghostbusters II especially was a bit of a disappointment, but I really like it now. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was also underwhelming for me (to be honest, I loved Temple of Doom) but of course I have now come to my senses.

I will say, though, there is something about Batman that I just can't warm to. I find it too long, and it just doesn't hold my interest. Back to the Future II is also too long for me, too complicated and doesn't have the heart or charm of the original. However, I did like what they tried to do with the time-jumping.

I liked a lot of the smaller films of that year: The Big Picture, A Dry White Season, Enemies: A Love Story, The Mighty Quinn, Shag, Valmont (though I prefer Dangerous Liaisons) and Music Box (great, Oscar-nominated performance by Jessica Lange). And, of course, Johnny Handsome.

Some great comedies that year: UHF, Uncle Buck, When Harry Met Sally, War of the Roses, and I don't care what anyone says, I LOVE Troop Beverly Hills with Shelley Long.

But my two favourite films of that year were two Vietnam-themed films that don't get enough credit: In Country starring Bruce Willis and Emily Lloyd and Jacknife with the stellar trio of Robert De Niro, Ed Harris and Kathy Baker.

And 1989's best contribution to film. Let us not forget. Terrific performances and a moment.

 

great list! great year! these and others!

 

and I love Prancer 2 as well!

 

Unlike 1989, The Annual New Year's Eve Family Movie Theater Night...not his year - parents and children find no reason to go out.

 

Crap, I don’t believe I forgot My Left Foot earlier—Daniel Day-Lewis’ first acting Oscar!