Top 101 Movies of the 80s (2 Viewers)

[Klimtology]

If you believe in reincarnation (as I do) it makes this a must see (and rare) movie.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I missed a big drama as well. Tender Mercies would have been on the countdown as well.

 

[Klimtology]

I missed a big drama as well. Tender Mercies would have been on the countdown as well.

This is one of my brothers' favorite movies. I may have to revisit it.

 

[zamboni]

I missed a big drama as well. Tender Mercies would have been on the countdown as well.

This is one of my brothers' favorite movies. I may have to revisit it.

This is also one I've never seen, but should. Is there anything that Duvall isn't awesome in?

 

[Klimtology]

I missed a big drama as well. Tender Mercies would have been on the countdown as well.

This is one of my brothers' favorite movies. I may have to revisit it.

This is also one I've never seen, but should. Is there anything that Duvall isn't awesome in?

No! LOL

He's tremendous in The Apostle.

Great, great flick.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I am watching it now, and I think I underestimated another movie. Horror that would pair well with Clue?

 

[TripItUp]

Starting "Wings of Desire" now...will report back.

Was 9 years old when it was released and had never heard of it until this thread. We'll see if it is half as good as Hoosier or Wall Street.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Starting "Wings of Desire" now...will report back.

Was 9 years old when it was released and had never heard of it until this thread. We'll see if it is half as good as Hoosier or Wall Street.

Can't wait for this report.

 

[TripItUp]

Starting "Wings of Desire" now...will report back.

Was 9 years old when it was released and had never heard of it until this thread. We'll see if it is half as good as Hoosier or Wall Street.

Ugh, subtitles and Black and white

sheesh

 

[KarmaPolice]

Just bail and watch City of Angels instead.

 

[Ilov80s]

Starting "Wings of Desire" now...will report back.

Was 9 years old when it was released and had never heard of it until this thread. We'll see if it is half as good as Hoosier or Wall Street.

Ugh, subtitles and Black and white

sheesh

It's probably not what I would have suggested for you.

 

[TripItUp]

Starting "Wings of Desire" now...will report back.

Was 9 years old when it was released and had never heard of it until this thread. We'll see if it is half as good as Hoosier or Wall Street.

Ugh, subtitles and Black and white

sheesh

It's probably not what I would have suggested for you.

I'm pretty flexible genre wise...but subtitles not my thing.

 

[Scoresman]

You heathens probably also prefer the english dub over foreign movies, am I right?

 

[Klimtology]

I missed a big drama as well. Tender Mercies would have been on the countdown as well.

This is one of my brothers' favorite movies. I may have to revisit it.

This is also one I've never seen, but should. Is there anything that Duvall isn't awesome in?

Have you seen The Great Santini???

Classic Flick!

 

[Ilov80s]

Have you seen The Great Santini???

Classic Flick!

How we doing sports fans?

 

[zamboni]

I missed a big drama as well. Tender Mercies would have been on the countdown as well.

This is one of my brothers' favorite movies. I may have to revisit it.

This is also one I've never seen, but should. Is there anything that Duvall isn't awesome in?

Have you seen The Great Santini???

Classic Flick!

Many times - no Bull.

 

[Hastur]

Alright, I have narrowed down my list to 101 movies that, in my opinion, are the best movies of the 1980's. Ranking them was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.

1	Empire Strikes Back
2	Back to the Future
3	Bladerunner
4	The Goonies
5	Time Bandits
6	Trading Places
7	Airplane!
8	Big
9	Lethal Weapon
10	Pale Rider
11	Secret of Nimh
12	Better off Dead
13	Three Amigos
14	Excalibur
15	The Terminator
16	Ferris Beuller's Day Off
17	Star Trek 2: Wrath of Khan
18	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
19	Firefox
20	Raiders of the Lost Ark
21	The Untouchables
22	Return of the Jedi
23	Sixteen Candles
24	Johnny Dangerously
25	The Breakfast Club
26	Planes, Tranes, and Automobiles
27	Spies Like Us
28	Dead Poets Society
29	Wall Street
30	Ghostbusters
31	48 Hours
32	First Blood
33	The Killing Fields
34	Young Guns
35	The 'Burbs
36	Escape from New York
37	Any Which Way You Can
38	Caddyshack
39	Conan the Barbarian
40	Tootsie
41	Die Hard
42	Midnight Run
43	Revenge of the Nerds
44	This is Spinal Tap
45	Fast Times at Ridgemont High
46	The Thing
47	Crocodile Dundee
48	Pee Wee's Big Adventure
49	Raging Bull
50	Stand by Me
51	Clash of the Titans
52	Road House
53	Thief
54	Willow
55	Gremlins
56	Platoon
57	Short Circuit
58	Witness
59	Heartbreak Ridge
60	A Fish Called Wanda
61	Batchelor Party
62	Summer School
63	Beverly Hills Cop
64	History of the World, Part 1
65	Blues Brothers
66	Gandhi
67	Raising Arizona
68	The Year of Living Dangerously
69	Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
70	Robocop
71	Coal Miners Daughter
72	Predator
73	E.T.
74	The Karate Kid
75	Scarface
76	Batman
77	Good Morning, Vietnam
78	Porky's
79	Aliens
80	Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
81	The Elephant Man
82	Christine
83	Top Gun
84	The Princess Bride
85	Outsiders
86	Eight Men Out
87	Risky Business
88	The Great Outdoors
89	The Abyss
90	Full Metal Jacket
91	Clue
92	The Dark Crystal
93	Reds
94	The Shining
95	Field of Dreams
96	Pet Semetary
97	Rain Man
98	Creepshow
99	Driving Miss Daisy
100	The Running Man
101	Overboard

 

[Keith R]

Appreciate the respect for Better Off Dead

 

[Tick]

80s' LIST IN ORDER OF MOVIES THAT SHOWED UP ON THE LIST:
64. ALIENS

I hope 43 of the 47 pages of this thread is just people yelling about this.

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

Appreciate the respect for Better Off Dead

He deserves two dollars.

 

[TripItUp]

Alright, I have narrowed down my list to 101 movies that, in my opinion, are the best movies of the 1980's. Ranking them was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.

Pet Sematary over...

Hoosiers
The Natural

what are we even doing here?

 

[KarmaPolice]

80s' LIST IN ORDER OF MOVIES THAT SHOWED UP ON THE LIST:
64. ALIENS

I hope 43 of the 47 pages of this thread is just people yelling about this.

Nah, too much focus on Raiders to hammer us on actual good movies.

 

[Ilov80s]

80s' LIST IN ORDER OF MOVIES THAT SHOWED UP ON THE LIST:
64. ALIENS

I hope 43 of the 47 pages of this thread is just people yelling about this.

I am not a huge Alien/Aliens guy but 64 isn't too bad. There are thousands of 80s movies.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Alright, I have narrowed down my list to 101 movies that, in my opinion, are the best movies of the 1980's. Ranking them was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.

Pet Sematary over...

Hoosiers
The Natural

what are we even doing here?

For sure watching horror movies over dull, rote sports movies!

 

[DocHolliday]

80s' LIST IN ORDER OF MOVIES THAT SHOWED UP ON THE LIST:
64. ALIENS

I hope 43 of the 47 pages of this thread is just people yelling about this.

Aliens is top 10. Easily.

 

[Hastur]

Alright, I have narrowed down my list to 101 movies that, in my opinion, are the best movies of the 1980's. Ranking them was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.

Pet Sematary over...

Hoosiers
The Natural

what are we even doing here?

Two outstanding movies. My oversight. Most likely make the the top 101.

 

[Ilov80s]

80s' LIST IN ORDER OF MOVIES THAT SHOWED UP ON THE LIST:
64. ALIENS

I hope 43 of the 47 pages of this thread is just people yelling about this.

Aliens is top 10. Easily.

What movie from our top 10 do you replace with Aliens?

 

[DocHolliday]

Amadeus, Do the Right Thing, or Wings of Desire.

80s' LIST IN ORDER OF MOVIES THAT SHOWED UP ON THE LIST:
64. ALIENS

I hope 43 of the 47 pages of this thread is just people yelling about this.

Aliens is top 10. Easily.

What movie from our top 10 do you replace with Aliens?

If I am looking at the right list I would knock back Amadeus, Do the Right Thing, or Wings of Desire. That’s my taste though and it’s your list. I always appreciate when anyone generates these lists and threads so thank you for all the effort.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Black Roses

Wtf have I not seen this 80s metal horror gem before today? such cheesy awesomeness

 

[Ilov80s]

Black Roses

Wtf have I not seen this 80s metal horror gem before today? such cheesy awesomeness

That looks....interesting

 

[KarmaPolice]

Black Roses

Wtf have I not seen this 80s metal horror gem before today? such cheesy awesomeness

That looks....interesting

Man, it was something else. This week I had a bit of down time and didn't have the family yesterday, so I knocked out a handful of new-to-me movies, and a lot was from the horror genre. I watched this one and Alison's Birthday. Both I had never heard of before one of the podcasts - either Pure Cinema or Colors of the Dark, and both I had a blast with. Not mandatory viewing for a non-horror person, but perfect for people who might have seen just about everything and want something that's a blast with a group. Those podcast seem to gear towards programming a viewing at a theater, so their love of those two movies must have a little of the group watch element to it. Neither is something just to pop on sober and watch by yourself.

Another that I watched this week that falls in our 70s research that I am still thinking about was Messiah of Evil. It's another gem that I had never heard of but is mentioned a bit on these pods. I am so glad I watched it, and it's stuck with me for a couple of days now. I think it's on AMC+/Prime now. A visually eerie, odd, disorienting gem of a movie. A woman goes to a California town to track down her artist father. Part Lynch, part Italian horror, all sorts of interesting. Some very effective scenes and locations in this one.

I also watched a couple others that I didn't like as much. Eyes of Fire was one I thought was a bit dull, and there was another that I can't currently remember the title of (I really need to get back on the letterboxd thing).

 

[need2know]

I think the entire idea of ranking so many good movies is exhausting and not really worth the effort.

 

[Ilov80s]

I think the entire idea of ranking so many good movies is exhausting and not really worth the effort.

In one way, yes of course. There's no clear answers and it's all subjective. Nobody can definitively say Empire Strikes Back is more fun than Raiders of the Lost Ark or that Airplane is funnier than Caddyshack or that Raging Bull is for sure a better movie than The Shining. On the other hand, it led to some great movie discussions, banter, etc. So in that way it was a big success.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I think the entire idea of ranking so many good movies is exhausting and not really worth the effort.

In one way, yes of course. There's no clear answers and it's all subjective. Nobody can definitively say Empire Strikes Back is more fun than Raiders of the Lost Ark or that Airplane is funnier than Caddyshack or that Raging Bull is for sure a better movie than The Shining. On the other hand, it led to some great movie discussions, banter, etc. So in that way it was a big success.

For me it's worth the effort because I am lazy and sometimes need this deadline to watch some movies I've been pushing off. Also, in the process of ranking, I like the way making a list makes me start thinking about movies differently.

 

[need2know]

I think the entire idea of ranking so many good movies is exhausting and not really worth the effort.

In one way, yes of course. There's no clear answers and it's all subjective. Nobody can definitively say Empire Strikes Back is more fun than Raiders of the Lost Ark or that Airplane is funnier than Caddyshack or that Raging Bull is for sure a better movie than The Shining. On the other hand, it led to some great movie discussions, banter, etc. So in that way it was a big success.

Sure not trying to talk bad about what's going on here. It's all good

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Starting "Wings of Desire" now...will report back.

Was 9 years old when it was released and had never heard of it until this thread. We'll see if it is half as good as Hoosier or Wall Street.

Can't wait for this report.

And the subsequent poll: “Does anyone like Wings of Desire?”

 

[Hastur]

I searched, but couldn't find it here...

We all seemed to forget about Stir Crazy, myself included.

Edit to add: Nevermind, UncleZen noted this absence in the secondary 'best 80's movies' thread.

 

[Ilov80s]

Starting "Wings of Desire" now...will report back.

Was 9 years old when it was released and had never heard of it until this thread. We'll see if it is half as good as Hoosier or Wall Street.

Can't wait for this report.

And the subsequent poll: “Does anyone like Wings of Desire?”

You know who does like it, David ****ing Byrne, that’s who.

 

[Mr. Mojo]

80s' LIST IN ORDER OF MOVIES THAT SHOWED UP ON THE LIST:
64. ALIENS

I hope 43 of the 47 pages of this thread is just people yelling about this.

Aliens is top 10. Easily.

What movie from our top 10 do you replace with Aliens?

Pale Rider. It was a very weak remake of High Plains Drifter.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I searched, but couldn't find it here...

We all seemed to forget about Stir Crazy, myself included.

Edit to add: Nevermind, UncleZen noted this absence in the secondary 'best 80's movies' thread.

One I haven't seen.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Also, 80s' ranking of Aliens in the 60s of movies from the decade >>>>>>> Aliens being thought of as a horror movie in the other countdown.

 

[WVU Alum]

I searched, but couldn't find it here...

We all seemed to forget about Stir Crazy, myself included.

Edit to add: Nevermind, UncleZen noted this absence in the secondary 'best 80's movies' thread.

One I haven't seen.

Stir Crazy is fun. Also a big fan of Bustin Loose.

 

[New Binky the Doormat]

Shakes the Clown - there's as many great lines to repeat as any comedy movie that ever existed

yeah, the ending is hack ...so what

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Shakes the Clown - there's as many great lines to repeat as any comedy movie that ever existed

yeah, the ending is hack ...so what

I’ve never seen it, but IIRC online discourse about it is mostly arguing over whether it’s so bad it’s good or so bad it’s bad.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

And as far as “so bad it’s good or bad” goes, I think the first 20-ish minutes of Ishtar are hilarious. Once they leave for the Middle East, the film is mostly not good, but hardly in “worst of all time” territory.

 

[Eephus]

And as far as “so bad it’s good or bad” goes, I think the first 20-ish minutes of Ishtar are hilarious. Once they leave for the Middle East, the film is mostly not good, but hardly in “worst of all time” territory.

It's not nearly as bad as its reputation would have it. Contemporary reaction was colored by negative buzz about the bloated production and cost overruns which the movie wasn't good enough to overcome. Sometimes the industry devours its own.

 

[TripItUp]

Most Overrated From This List

99: THE STEPFATHER
97: PARIS, TEXAS
96: GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM
95: RIVER'S EDGE
94: MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO
90: GREMLINS
88: WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?
75: THE 'BURBS
71: PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE
68: TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.
29: FANNY AND ALEXANDER
28: HEATHERS
10: BLOW OUT
8: THIS IS SPINAL TAP
7: WINGS OF DESIRE

 

[TripItUp]

Most Underrated


98: STEEL MAGNOLIAS
91: AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN
87: THE GOONIES *
80: FLETCH
79: TRADING PLACES
72: BRAZIL
63: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK **** (what in the hell are we doing here?)
58: PREDATOR
57: FIRST BLOOD
56: SCARFACE (cmon man)
48: BULL DURHAM
32: COMING TO AMERICA
30: FULL METAL JACKET
26; TOP GUN
23: THE PRINCESS BRIDE
19: ALIENS

 

[TripItUp]

Trip's Top Movies Not Listed

Purple Rain
Vision Quest
Blues Brothers
The Road Warrior
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Glory
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Wall Street
The Color of Money
Empire of the Sun
Coal Miner's Daughter
Less than Zero
Clash of the Titans
Escape from New York
Quest for Fire
Stripes

 

[Pip's Invitation]

And as far as “so bad it’s good or bad” goes, I think the first 20-ish minutes of Ishtar are hilarious. Once they leave for the Middle East, the film is mostly not good, but hardly in “worst of all time” territory.

It's not nearly as bad as its reputation would have it. Contemporary reaction was colored by negative buzz about the bloated production and cost overruns which the movie wasn't good enough to overcome. Sometimes the industry devours its own.

There was certainly no reason it should have essentially ended Elaine May's directorial career. Plenty of other directors were given more chances after flops.