Favorite Films from the 1980s!

[Art Andrews]

People post top ten lists all the time, but have you done a top ten from a single decade, choosing a top film from each year?

Here are mine from the 80s. Would love to see yours!

1980 The Empire Strikes Back (notable mention: The Shining)

1981 Raider of the Lost Ark

1982 First Blood (notable mention: The Thing)

1983 Return of the Jedi

1984 The Terminator (notable mention: Red Dawn)

1985 Rocky IV

1986 Platoon / Aliens (notable mention: The Fly)

1987 Predator (notable mention: Full Metal Jacket)

1988 Die Hard (notable mention: Young Guns)

1989 The Abyss (notable mention: Batman)

 

[Usagi Pilgrim]

I have a guilty pleasure that holds dear memories for a less than stellar movie.

NIGHT OF THE COMET.

When I was a kid, my sister was the only one in the family with cable, & this movie & Ghostbusters played CONSTANTLY on HBO. I would stay with her for a few weeks in the summer & probably saw these 2 movies in 15-45 minute spurts, at least 50 times. Made me think NotC was a 3 hour EPIC.

LOL

Watched it a few years ago & was shocked at how short it was, but still one of my favorite 80's flick.

 

[DARTH ANIBAL]

1980: The Empire Strikes Back
1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982: E.T.
1983: Return of the Jedi
1984: The Karate Kid (Ghostbusters and Gremlins are very close runners up.)
1985: Back to the Future
1986: Tie between Little Shop of Horrors, Flight of the Navigator, and Transformers: The Movie (This is a tough one, I love each one for a very different reason.)
1987: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (I don't even start Thanksgiving day until I watch this)
1988: Coming to America
1989: Batman

 

[JoeG]

1980 The Empire Strikes Back

1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark

1982 Basket Case

1983 Return of the Jedi

1984 Once Upon A Time in America

1985 The Goonies

1986 Ferris Bueller's Day Off

1987 Full Metal Jacket

1988 Die Hard

1989 Batman

 

[peterquill]

Very very hard to choose because its a golden decade for films isnt it

1980 Empire strikes back
1981 Raiders of the lost ark ( prob same for everybody)
1982 Blade runner
1983 Christine
1984 Ghostbusters
1985 Goonies
1986 Flight of the navigator
1987 planes trains and automobiles\ full metal jacket close
1988 die hard
1989 Batman

 

[robn1]

1980: The Empire Strikes Back
1981: Raiders Of The Lost Ark
1982: Star Trek 2 The Wrath Of Khan (Blade Runner, E.T. and Poltergeist tied for close seconds)
1983: Return Of The Jedi (The Right Stuff close second)
1984: Star Trek 3 The Search For Spock (Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, The Terminator and Ghostbusters tied for close seconds)
1985: Back To The Future
1986: Tied: Aliens, Star Trek 4 The Voyage Home
1987: Tied: Predator, Robocop
1988: Die Hard
1989: Tied: Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, Batman

 

[The 48th Ronin]

This was a fun diversion and it was interesting to look back and reminisce (and be surprised by some of the films that I had forgotten about)


1980: The Empire Strikes Back (no contest... although The Blues Brothers certainly made an impression)

1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark (again, no contest - my favorite film of the decade and my absolute favorite of all time, BUT my god... An American Werewolf in London and also Excalibur)

1982: E.T. (it made the biggest impression on me, but this was a chock-full year - Blade Runner, The Thing, Conan the Barbarian, Poltergeist, Star Trek II, and The Dark Crystal were all right up there together)

1983: Return of the Jedi (although War Games was fun... and Krull is a guilty pleasure)

1984: The Terminator - tied with Romancing the Stone (and of course Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom... but just barely)

1985: Brazil - my absolute favorite Terry Gilliam film (but Back to the Future, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, and Silverado were all great fun)

1986: Aliens - tied with The Fly (and Ferris Bueller's Day Off as a runner-up)

1987: Robocop (with Lethal Weapon and Predator close behind)

1988: Coming to America - tied with Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Die Hard a strong contender though)

1989: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (because Indy! but also The Abyss and Field of Dreams... and I absolutely LOVE National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation)

 

[CT1138]

80: ESB
81: Raiders
82: ET
83: RotJ
84: Terminator
85: The Breakfast Club
86: Aliens
87: Full Metal Jacket
88: Halloween 4
89: Dead Poet's Society

 

[edge10]

1980: Empire
1981: Raiders
1982: Wrath of Khan
1983: A Christmas Story
1984: Ghostbusters
1985: Real Genius
1986: Aliens
1987: Princess Bride
1988: Who Framed Roger Rabbit
1989: The Abyss

 

[Captain Dunsel]

1980: Ordinary People
1981: Chariots of Fire
1982: Gandhi
1983: Tender Mercies
1984: Amadeus
1985: Out of Africa
1986: Children of a Lesser God
1987: Broadcast News
1988: Dangerous Liaisons
1989: My Left Foot

 

[Caveneau]

1982: Blade Runner
1982: The Thing
1982: The Wrath of Khan
1983: Scarface
1984: The Terminator
1986: Aliens
1986: Flight of the Navigator
1986: Manhunter
1987: Robocop
1989: Batman


This was really tough.
This would be my Secondary list:

1980: The Elephant Man
1981: Thief
1983: Never Cry Wolf
1984: Ghostbusters
1984: The Last Starfighter
1985: Brazil
1985: Enemy Mine
1985: Pee Wee's Big Adventure
1985: To Live and Die in L.A.
1987: Predator

 

[edge10]

1980: Ordinary People
1981: Chariots of Fire
1982: Gandhi
1983: Tender Mercies
1984: Amadeus
1985: Out of Africa
1986: Children of a Lesser God
1987: Broadcast News
1988: Dangerous Liaisons
1989: My Left Foot

Tender Mercies over Terms of Endearment? What kind of man are you?

 

[George]

1980 Superman 1&2, Star Wars trilogy
1981 Stripes
1982 Tron
1983 Trading places
1984 The Karate Kid
1985 American Ninja
1986 Labyrinth
1987 A child's Christmas in Wales
1988 Rainman
1989 Batman

 

[Captain Dunsel]

Tender Mercies over Terms of Endearment? What kind of man are you?

Good point. But I remember, as a kid, we all loved Tender Mercies and would recreate the movie, while playing on the playground. It remains a cultural touchstone movie, to this day. Whenever something noteworthy happens, I’m known to point out “Hey, that reminds me of the lessons of Tender Mercies...”

I thank the gods that I listened to film critic, and resident grouch, John Simon and discovered the virtues of Tender Mercies, over what are otherwise imaginative, inspired, and enjoyable movies:

 

[Bigdaddy]

This is a list of what was my favorite movies at the time during the 80s, as well as my current list of favorite movies made that year that I rewatch the most (a lot of nostalgia just doesn't hold up for me)
1980: ESB
2020: ESB/Blues Brothers

1981: Clash of the Titans
2020: ROLA/American Werewolf in London

1982: Conan the Barbarian/ E.T.
2020: Blade Runner

1983: RoTJ/ Octopussy
2020: The Meaning of Life

1984: Temple of Doom (won tickets to the premier on the radio)/ Footloose
2020: Spinal Tap/The Terminator

1985: The Breakfast Club/Fright Night
2020: Fletch/Back to the Future

1986: Highlander -There can be only ONE!
2020: Stand by me

1987: Robocop
2020: The Princess Bride/Evil Dead 2

1988: Who Framed Roger Rabbit/Beetlejuice
2020: Beetlejuice

1989: Batman
2020: Uncle Buck/Fletch Lives

It's kind of interesting to see how my taste has changed over time.

 

[Ron]

Tender Mercies over Terms of Endearment? What kind of man are you?

Not only that. Broadcast News over Jaws 4: The Revenge?!

(Full disclosure. I actually really did like that movie )

That's the thing about the 80's. Even "bad" movies were still entertaining.

 

[edge10]

Not only that. Broadcast News over Jaws 4: The Revenge?!

(Full disclosure. I actually really did like that movie )

That's the thing about the 80's. Even "bad" movies were still entertaining.

How is that possible? They didn't have gigantic digital canon-fodder armies coming out of sky holes/vortex/thingies for the good guys to fight, during the climax.

 

[The 48th Ronin]

This is a list of what was my favorite movies at the time during the 80s, as well as my current list of favorite movies made that year that I rewatch the most

That is an *excellent* way of looking at it, and a small bit of that may have colored a couple of my own responses.

 

[The 48th Ronin]

In Search of Tomorrow -'80s Sci-Fi Documentary

 

[Darth Lars]

1980: The Empire Strikes Back (The Shining)
1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark (Time Bandits)
1982: Blade Runner (Conan the Barbarian)
1983: Return of the Jedi (Wargames)
1984: The Karate Kid... (Ghostbusters)
1985: Back to the Future .. (The Goonies)
1986: Aliens (Highlander, but Top Gun was my #1 for a few years)
1987: RoboCop (Spaceballs)
1988: The Naked Gun (Coming to America. almost a tie)
1989: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Batman did have a large impact on me at the time though)