Ten Best Films of the 1980's

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Post by criddic3 »

1. Ran (1985)
2. E.T. The Extraterrestrial (1982)
3. The Last Emperor (1987)
4. Glory (1989)
5. Au Revoir, les Enfants (1987)
6. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
7. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
8. Amadeus (1984)
9. Aliens (1986)
10. Back to the Future (1985)
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--flipp525 wrote:
--MovieWes wrote:1985:
You're missing The Official Story.
I've never seen it. I'll have to put it down on my to-see list.
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Post by flipp525 »

--MovieWes wrote:1985:
You're missing The Official Story.
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By year:

1980:

01. Raging Bull (dir. Martin Scorsese)
02. The Empire Strikes Back (dir. Irvin Kershner)
03. The Elephant Man (dir. David Lynch)
04. The Shining (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
05. Stardust Memories (dir. Woody Allen)
06. Kagemusha (dir. Akira Kurosawa)
07. The Big Red One (dir. Samuel Fuller)
08. Ordinary People (dir. Robert Redford)
09. Coal Miner's Daughter (dir. Michael Apted)
10. Dressed to Kill (dir. Brian De Palma)

1981:

01. Raiders of the Lost Ark (dir. Steven Spielberg)
02. Atlantic City (dir. Louis Malle)
03. Das Boot (dir. Wolfgang Petersen)
04. Absence of Malice (dir. Sydney Pollack)
05. Chariots of Fire (dir. Hugh Hudson)
06. Blow Out (dir. Brian De Palma)
07. Body Heat (dir. Lawrence Kasdan)
08. The Road Warrior (dir. George Miller)
09. Gallipoli (dir. Peter Weir)
10. Ragtime (dir. Milos Foreman)

1982:

01. Blade Runner (dir. Ridley Scott)
02. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (dir. Steven Spielberg)
03. Tootsie (dir. Sydney Pollack)
04. Fanny and Alexander (dir. Ingmar Bergman)
05. Missing (dir. Costa Gavras)
06. Victor/Victoria (dir. Blake Edwards)
07. The World According to Garp (dir. George Roy Hill)
08. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (dir. Cameron Crowe)
09. Pink Floyd The Wall (dir. Alan Parker)
10. The Verdict (dir. Sidney Lumet)

1983:

01. Tender Mercies (dir. Bruce Beresford)
02. The King of Comedy (dir. Martin Scorsese)
03. Zelig (dir. Woody Allen)
04. A Christmas Story (dir. Bob Clark)
05. The Right Stuff (dir. Philip Kaufman)
06. Terms of Endearment (dir. James L. Brooks)
07. Scarface (dir. Brian De Palma)
08. Educating Rita (dir. Lewis Gilbert)
09. The Big Chill (Lawrence Kasdan)
10. Silkwood (dir. Mike Nichols)

1984: This is a bad year to rate since I haven't seen many films from this year, so don't question my choices.

01. Amadeus (dir. Milos Foreman)
02. The Killing Fields (dir. Roland Joffe)
03. Once Upon a Time in America (dir. Sergio Leone)
04. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (dir. Hayao Miyazaki)
05. A Passage to India (dir. David Lean)
06. This is Spinal Tap (dir. Rob Reiner)

I won't be putting the following films down, even though I've seen them. Even though they would round out the rest of this list, I just don't think that they are worth making it onto any top 10 list: The Terminator (***), Beverly Hills Cop (***), Ghostbusters (***), and Gremlins (** 1/2).

1985:

01. Ran (dir. Akira Kurosawa)
02. Brazil (dir. Terry Gilliam)
03. Witness (dir. Peter Weir)
04. Kiss of the Spider Woman (dir. Hector Babenco)
05. Prizzi's Honor (dir. John Huston)
06. Back to the Future (dir. Robert Zemeckis)
07. The Color Purple (dir. Steven Spielberg)
08. Out of Africa (dir. Sydney Pollack)
09. Pale Rider (dir. Clint Eastwood)
10. Day of the Dead (dir. George A. Romero)

Honorable mention: The Goonies (dir. Richard Donner) - sorry, this is one of those classic movies from my childhood that brings back fond memories everytime I watch it, lol.

1986:

01. Blue Velvet (dir. David Lynch)
02. Manhunter (dir. Michael Mann)
03. Children of a Lesser God (dir. Randa Haines)
04. Hannah and Her Sisters (dir. Woody Allen)
05. Aliens (dir. James Cameron)
06. A Room With a View (dir. James Ivory)
07. Stand By Me (dir. Rob Reiner)
08. Platoon (dir. Oliver Stone)
09. The Color of Money (dir. Martin Scorsese)
10. The Mission (dir. Roland Joffe)

1987:

01. Aur revoir, les enfants (dir. Louis Malle)
02. Full Metal Jacket (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
03. Moonstruck (dir. Norman Jewison)
04. The Last Emperor (dir. Bernardo Bertolucci)
05. Wall Street (dir. Oliver Stone)
06. Radio Days (dir. Woody Allen)
07. Matewan (dir. John Sayles)
08. The Untouchables (dir. Brian De Palma)
09. Broadcast News (dir. James L. Brooks)
10. Raising Arizona (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen)

1988:

01. Grave of the Fireflies (dir. Isao Takahata)
02. My Neighbor Totoro (dir. Hayao Miyazaki)
03. The Thin Blue Line (dir. Errol Morris)
04. The Last Temptation of Christ (dir. Martin Scorsese)
05. Dangerous Liaisons (dir. Stephen Frears)
06. Akira (dir. Katsuhiro Otomo)
07. Frantic (dir. Roman Polanski)
08. Bird (dir. Clint Eastwood)
09. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (dir. Robert Zemeckis)
10. A Fish Called Wanda (dir. Charles Crichton)

1989:

01. Dead Poets Society (dir. Peter Weir)
02. Do the Right Thing (dir. Spike Lee)
03. Crimes and Misdemeanors (dir. Woody Allen)
04. sex, lies, and videotape (dir. Stephen Soderbergh)
05. Born on the Fourth of July (dir. Oliver Stone)
06. Driving Miss Daisy (dir. Bruce Beresford)
07. When Harry Met Sally... (dir. Rob Reiner)
08. Casualties of War (dir. Brian De Palma)
09. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (dir. Steven Spielberg)
10. Glory (dir. Edward Zwick)

Still need to see: Dekalog (dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski)




Edited By MovieWes on 1224053952
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Post by MovieWes »

01. Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)
02. Raging Bull (1980, Martin Scorsese)
03. Ran (1985, Akira Kurosawa)
04. The Empire Strikes Back (1980, Irvin Kershner)
05. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982, Steven Spielberg)
06. Full Metal Jacket (1987, Stanley Kubrick)
07. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, Steven Spielberg)
08. Aur revoir, les enfants (1987, Louis Malle)
09. Brazil (1985, Terry Gilliam)
10. The Elephant Man (1980, David Lynch)
11. The Shining (1980, Stanley Kubrick)
12. Dead Poets Society (1989, Peter Weir)
13. Stardust Memories (1980, Woody Allen)
14. Tender Mercies (1983, Bruce Beresford)
15. Grave of the Fireflies (1988, Isao Takahata)




Edited By MovieWes on 1224054467
"Young men make wars and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men: courage and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace, and the vices of peace are the vices of old men: mistrust and caution." -- Alec Guinness (Lawrence of Arabia)
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Post by HarryGoldfarb »

1) E.T. (Spielberg)
2) Missing (Costa-Gavras)
3) Blue Velvet (Lynch)
4) Ordinary people (Redford)
5) Amadeus (Forman)
6) Dangerous Liaisons (Frears)
7) When Harry met Sally (Reiner)
8) A Room with a View (Ivory)
9) Moonstruck (Jewison)
10) Aliens (Cameron)

Honorable Mentions: Reds (Beatty), Blade Runner (Scott), Oriana (Fina Torres), Ran (Kurosawa), Tacones Lejanos (Almodóvar), Hannah and her Sisters (Allen) and Driving Miss Daisy (Beresford), each one of them at one moment were in my list but eventually got out of it. Actually, even though the decade is considered a poor one this list was quite difficult to make.

I wanted so to place The Unbearable Lightness of Being in my list, but I watched the film a long, long time ago and even though I remember how amazed I was by it at the time, I guess it would be unfair unless I rewatch it any time soon, and that’s what I intend to do. On the other hand, I haven't seen The Last Tempation of Christ, so... I guess I still have homework to do.

I tried to keep the list short and applying just one rule: One film per Director. Otherwise Lynch and Spielberg would have taken almost the 50% of it.
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Post by Precious Doll »

Top Ten 1980

1. Bad Timing (Nicolas Roeg)
2. Dressed to Kill (Brian De Palma)
3. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese)
4. Coalminer’s Daughter (Michael Apted)
5. Resurrection (Daniel Petrie)
6. The Elephant Man (David Lynch)
7. Stardust Memories (Woody Allen)
8. Melvin and Howard (Jonathan Demme)
9. Pixote (Hector Babenco)
10.Carny (Robert Kaylor)

Top Ten 1981

1. Three Brothers (Francesco Rossi)
2. Atlantic City (Louis Malle)
3. Cutter’s Way (Ivan Passer)
4. No Mercy, No Future (Helma Sanders-Brahams)
5. Raggedy Man (Jack Fisk)
6. Montenegro (Dusan Makavejev)
7. Eye of the Needle (Richard Marquand)
8. The Fiancée (Gunther Reisch & Gunther Rucker)
9. Memoirs of a Survivor (David Gladwell)
10.Hoodwink (Claude Whatman)

Top Ten 1982

1. Missing (Costa-Gavras)
2. White Dog (Samuel Fuller)
3. Personal Best (Robert Townie)
4. Passion (Jean-Luc Godard)
5. A Labour of Love (Margarethe Von Trotta)
6. Identification of a Woman (Michelangelo Antonioni)
7. Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmie Dean, Jimmie Dean (Robert Altman)
8. Taxi Zum Klo (Frank Ripploh)
9. Eating Raoul (Paul Bartel)
10.Home on the Range (Gil Scrine)

Top Ten 1983

1. Eureka (Nicolas Roeg)
2. The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese)
3. Star 80 (Bob Fosse)
4. Liquid Sky (Slava Tsukerman)
5. Zelig (Woody Allen)
6. The Ballad of Narayama (Shohei Imamura)
7. Man of Flowers (Paul Cox)
8. Independence Day (Robert Mandel)
9. Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggie)
10.First Name: Carmen (Jean-Luc Godard)

Top Ten 1984

1. Crimes of Passion (Ken Russell)
2. Body Double (Brian De Palma)
3. Heimat (Edgar Reitz)
4. Choose Me (Alan Rudolph)
5. Where the Green Ants Dream (Werner Herzog)
6. The Power of Emotion (Alexander Kluge)
7. Stop Making Sense (Jonathan Demme)
8. The Times of Harvey Milk (Robert Epstein & Richard Schmiechen)
9. All of Me (Carl Reiner)
10.The Bostonians (James Ivory)

Top Ten 1985

1. Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Hector Babenco)
2. A Zed and Two Naughts (Peter Greenaway)
3. Insignificance (Nicolas Roeg)
4. The Purple Rose of Cairo (Woody Allen)
5. Wetherby (David Hare)
6. Bliss (Ray Lawrence)
7. Sweet Dreams (Karel Reisz)
8. My Beautiful Launderette (Stephen Frears)
9. Desert Hearts (Donna Deitch)
10.Hail Mary (Jean-Luc Godard)

Top Ten 1986

1. Crimes of the Heart (Bruce Beresford)
2. Blue Velvet (David Lynch)
3. A Room with a View (James Ivory)
4. Matador (Pedro Almodovar)
5. Caravaggio (Derek Jarman)
6. Backlash (Bill Bennett)
7. Sid and Nancy (Alex Cox)
8. ‘night, Mother (Tom Moore)
9. True Stories (David Bryne)
10.Man Facing South East (Eliseo Subiela)

Top Ten 1987

1. Radio Days (Woody Allen)
2. Au Revoir les Enfants (Louis Malle)
3. Gaby – A True Story (Luis Mandoki)
4. Prick up Your Ears (Stephen Frears)
5. Shame (Steve Jodrell)
6. Withnail and I (Bruce Robinson)
7. Maurice (James Ivory)
8. Law of Desire (Pedro Almodovar)
9. Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow)
10.House of Games (David Mamet)

Top Ten 1988

1. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Philip Kaufman)
2. The Decalogue (Krzystof Kieslowski)
3. Drowning By Numbers (Peter Greenaway)
4. Hairspray (John Waters0
5. The Good Mother (Leonard Nimoy)
6. Days of Eclipse (Aleksandr Sokurov)
7. Paris by Night (David Hare)
8. Monkey Shines (George A Romero)
9. High Hope (Mike Leigh)
10.Baxter (Jerome Boivin)

Top Ten 1989

1. The Rainbow (Ken Russell)
2. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee)
3. When Harry Met Sally (Rob Reiner)
4. Drugstore Cowboy (Gus Van Sant)
5. Apartment Zero (Martin Donovan)
6. Sweetie (Jane Campion)
7. Crimes and Misdemeanors (Woody Allen)
8. Common Threads – Stories from the Quilt (Robert Epstein & Jeffrey Freidman)
9. Celia (Ann Turner)
10.The Little Mermaid (Ron Clements & John Musker)
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Post by dws1982 »

1- Come and See (Klimov)
2- Shoah (Landzmann)
3- The Sacrifice (Tarkovsky)
4- Once Upon A Time In America (Leone)
5- Fanny and Alexander (Bergman) - This is the five hour version I speak of.
6- The Dead (Huston)
7- Crimes and Misdemeanors (Allen)
8- Manhunter (Mann)
9- The Last Temptation of Christ (Scorsese)
10- Honkytonk Man (Eastwood)
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Post by Hustler »

1.Sacrificatio (Andrzej Tarkovsky)
2.The Right Stuff (Phillip Kaufman)
3.Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese)
4.Blue Velvet(David Lynch)
5.Missing (Costa Gavras)
6.Paris-Texas (Wim Wenders)
7.La Gloire de Mon Pere/Le Chateau de Ma Mere (Yves Robert)
8. Pixote (Hector Babenco)
9.Tess (Roman Polanski)
10.Le Dernier Metro (Francois Truffaut)
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Post by rudeboy »

1. My Life as a Dog (1985) Lasse Hallstrom
2. Local Hero (1983) Bill Forsyth
3. Aliens (1986) James Cameron
4. Crimes and Misdemeanours (1989) Woody Allen
5. Fanny and Alexander (1982) Ingmar Bergman
6. The Emerald Forest (1985) John Boorman
7. Broadcast News (1987) James L Brooks
8. The Elephant Man (1980) David Lynch
9. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) Martin Scorsese
10. Drugstore Cowboy (1989) Gus van Sant
11. Au revoir, les enfants (1987) Louis Malle
12. Heaven Help Us (1985) Michael Dinner
13. The Grave of the Fireflies (1988) Isao Takahata
14. Pathfinder (1987) Nils Gaup
15. The Right Stuff (1983) Philip Kaufman
16. The Thing (1982) John Carpenter
17. Paperhouse (1988) Bernard Rose
18. Pelle the Conqueror (1987) Bille August
19. An American Werewolf in London (1981) John Landis
20. Amadeus (1984) Milos Forman
21. When Harry Met Sally… (1989) Rob Reiner
22. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Steven Spielberg
23. Withnail & I (1986) Bruce Robinson
24. Dangerous Liaisons (1988) Stephen Frears
25. Lost in America (1985) Albert Brooks
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Post by Penelope »

Looking at this, I'm surprised by how slanted it is to the first half of the decade; an indication of how increasingly dreadful the decade became?

1. Victor/Victoria (1982; Blake Edwards)
2. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988; Philip Kaufman)
3. The Stunt Man (1980; Richard Rush)
4. Atlantic City (1981; Louis Malle)
5. A Sunday in the Country (1984; Bertrand Tavernier)
6. The Right Stuff (1983; Philip Kaufman)
7. Tootsie (1982; Sydney Pollack)
8. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985; Woody Allen)
9. Reds (1981; Warren Beatty)
10. Ordinary People (1980; Robert Redford)
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Post by 77-1041588190 »

Gandhi
Ran
Fanny & Alexander
Hannah and Her Sisters
Terms of Endearment
My Left Foot
The Last Emperor
Das Boot
Raging Bull
On Golden Pond
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Post by Franz Ferdinand »

Blue Velvet
Ran
Back to the Future
Platoon
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Do the Right Thing
Raging Bull
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Amadeus
sex, lies & videotape
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Post by JJ Gittes »

1. Fanny and Alexander (Bergman)
2. Crimes and Misdemeanors (Allen)
3. Blue Velvet (Lynch)
4. Night of the Shooting Stars (Taviani)
5. Dead Ringers (Cronenberg)
6. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (Spielberg)
7. Shoah (Lanzmann)
8. Come and See (Klimov)
9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Jones)
10. Dreamchild (Millar)
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Post by Svengali »

Difficult decade

1. Body Heat (Lawrence Kasden)
2. Raging Bull
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark
4. The Empire Strikes Back
5. When Harry met Sally
5. Platoon
7. Fatal Attraction
8. Full Metal Jacket
9. Blade Runner
10.Blood Simple
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