20 Greatest Movies of Each Year 1980s

Movie Posters for Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Criteria: The movies are ranked according to their initial and lasting acclaim, influence as well as initial and lasting popularity.

List Begun: 2021-11-02
20 Greatest Movies of Each Year 1980s

20 Greatest Movies of 1989

  #. Movie Title - (Directors Name)

  1. Do the Right Thing - (Spike Lee)
  2. Batman - (Tim Burton)
  3. Dead Poets Society - (Peter Weir)
  4. When Harry Met Sally... - (Rob Reiner)
  5. sex, lies, and videotape - (Steven Soderbergh)
  6. Crimes and Misdemeanors - (Woody Allen)
  7. The Little Mermaid - (Ron Clements & John Musker)
  8. The Killer - (John Woo)
  9. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - (Steven Spielberg)
10. A City of Sadness - (Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
11. Field of Dreams - (Phil Alden Robinson)
12. My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown- (Jim Sheridan)
13. Born on the Fourth of July - (Oliver Stone)
14. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover - (Peter Greenaway)
15. Say Anything... - (Cameron Crowe)
16. Drugstore Cowboy - (Gus Van Sant)
17. Henry V - (Kenneth Branagh)
18. Glory - (Edward Zwick)
19. The Abyss - (James Cameron)
20. Roger & Me - (Michael Moore)

Do the Right Thing movie poster

20 Greatest Movies of 1988

  1. Die Hard - (John McTiernan)
  2. My Neighbour Totoro - (Hayao Miyazaki)
  3. Akira - (Katsuhiro Ôtomo)
  4. Cinema Paradiso - (Giuseppe Tornatore)
  5. Who Framed Roger Rabbit - (Robert Zemeckis)
  6. Grave of the Fireflies - (Isao Takahata)
  7. Rain Man - (Barry Levinson)
  8. The Thin Blue Line - (Errol Morris)
  9. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown - (Pedro Almodóvar)
10. A Fish Called Wanda - (Charles Crichton)
11. Dangerous Liaisons - (Stephen Frears)
12. Big - (Penny Marshall)
13. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! - (David Zucker)
14. Red Sorghum - (Zhang Yimou)
15. Midnight Run - (Martin Brest)
16. A Short Film About Killing - (Krzysztof Kieslowski)
17. The Vanishing - (George Sluizer)
18. Dead Ringers - (David Cronenberg)
19. Mississipi Burning - (Alan Parker)
20. Beetlejuice - (Tim Burton)

DVD cover for the movie Die Hard

20 Greatest Movies of 1987

  1. Wings of Desire - (Wim Wenders)
  2. Full Metal Jacket - (Stanley Kubrick)
  3. The Princess Bride - (Rob Reiner)
  4. RoboCop - (Paul Verhoeven)
  5. Predator - (John McTiernan)
  6. The Last Emperor - (Bernardo Bertolucci)
  7. Au revoir les enfants - (Louis Malle)
  8. Evil Dead II - (Sam Raimi)
  9. Withnail & I - (Bruce Robinson)
10. Lethal Weapon - (Richard Donner)
11. The Untouchables - (Brian De Palma)
12. Where Is the Friend's Home? - (Abbas Kiarostami)
13. Raising Arizona - (Joel & Ethan Coen)
14. Broadcast News - (James L. Brooks)
15. Babette's Feast - (Gabriel Axel)
16. Pelle the Conqueror - (Bille August)
17. Dirty Dancing - (Emile Ardolino)
18. The Dead - (John Huston)
19. Moonstruck - (Norman Jewison)
20. Fatal Attraction - (Adrian Lyne)

Wings of Desire movie poster

20 Greatest Movies of 1986

  1. Blue Velvet - (David Lynch)
  2. Aliens - (James Cameron)
  3. Platoon - (Oliver Stone)
  4. Stand by Me - (Rob Reiner)
  5. Ferris Bueller's Day Off - (John Hughes)
  6. The Fly - (David Cronenberg)
  7. Hannah and Her Sisters - (Woody Allen)
  8. The Sacrifice - (Andrei Tarkovsky)
  9. Down by Law - (Jim Jarmusch)
10. Castle in the Sky - (Hayao Miyazaki)
11. A Room with a View - (James Ivory)
12. A Better Tomorrow - (John Woo)
13. Jean de Florette - (Claude Berri)
14. Top Gun - (Tony Scott)
15. She's Gotta Have It - (Spike Lee)
16. The Mission - (Roland Joffé)
17. Manon of the Spring - (Claude Berri)
18. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - (John McNaughton)
19. Manhunter - (Michael Mann)
20. Hoosiers - (David Anspaugh)

Blue Velvet movie poster

20 Greatest Movies of 1985

  1. Back to the Future - (Robert Zemeckis)
  2. Ran - (Akira Kurosawa)
  3. Brazil - (Terry Gilliam)
  4. Shoah - (Claude Lanzmann)
  5. The Breakfast Club - (John Hughes)
  6. Come and See - (Elem Klimov)
  7. Police Story - (Jackie Chan)
  8. The Color Purple - (Steven Spielberg)
  9. The Goonies - (Richard Donner)
10. Out of Africa - (Sydney Pollack)
11. Witness - (Peter Weir)
12. The Purple Rose of Cairo - (Woody Allen)
13. My Life as a Dog - (Lasse Hallström)
14. Tampopo - (Jûzô Itami)
15. After Hours - (Martin Scorsese)
16. Vagabond - (Agnès Varda)
17. The Return of the Living Dead - (Dan O'Bannon)
18. Re-Animator - (Stuart Gordon)
19. Kiss of the Spider Woman - (Hector Babenco)
20. Prizzi's Honor - (John Huston)

Back to the Future movie poster

20 Greatest Movies of 1984

  1. The Terminator - (James Cameron)
  2. Amadeus - (Milos Forman)
  3. Ghostbusters - (Ivan Reitman)
  4. Once Upon a Time in America - (Sergio Leone)
  5. This Is Spinal Tap - (Rob Reiner)
  6. Paris, Texas - (Wim Wenders)
  7. Stranger than Paradise - (Jim Jarmusch)
  8. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind - (Hayao Miyazaki)
  9. A Nightmare on Elm Street - (Wes Craven)
10. Stop Making Sense - (Jonathan Demme)
11. Gremlins - (Joe Dante)
12. Beverly Hills Cop - (Martin Brest)
13. The Killing Fields - (Roland Joffé)
14. Blood Simple - (Joel & Ethan Coen)
15. Yellow Earth - (Chen Kaige)
16. Love Streams - (John Cassavetes)
17. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - (Steven Spielberg)
18. The Karate Kid - (John G. Avildsen)
19. Broadway Danny Rose - (Woody Allen)
20. Repo Man - (Alex Cox)

The Terminator movie poster

20 Greatest Movies of 1983

  1. Scarface - (Brian De Palma)
  2. The Right Stuff - (Philip Kaufman)
  3. Videodrome - (David Cronenberg)
  4. Michael Jackson: Thriller - (John Landis)
  5. Sans soleil - (Chris Marker)
  6. Return of the Jedi - (Richard Marquand)
  7. Terms of Endearment - (James L. Brooks)
  8. L'Argent - (Robert Besson)
  9. Local Hero - (Bill Forsyth)
10. The Big Chill - (Lawrence Kasdan)
11. A Christmas Story - (Bob Clark)
12. Zelig - (Woody Allen)
13. Nostalghia - (Andrei Tarkovsky)
14. WarGames - (John Badham)
15. The Ballad of Narayama - (Shôhei Imamura)
16. Trading Places - (John Landis)
17. Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence - (Nagisa Ôshima)
18. Flashdance - (Adrian Lyne)
19. Tender Mercies - (Bruce Beresford)
20. Risky Business - (Paul Brickman)

Scarface movie poster

20 Greatest Movies of 1982

  1. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - (Steven Spielberg)
  2. Blade Runner - (Ridley Scott)
  3. The Thing - (John Carpenter)
  4. Fanny and Alexander - (Ingmar Bergman)
  5. Gandhi - (Richard Attenborough)
  6. Tootsie - (Sydney Pollack)
  7. First Blood - (Ted Kotcheff)
  8. The King of Comedy - (Martin Scorsese)
  9. Fitzcarraldo - (Werner Herzog)
10. Poltergeist - (Tobe Hooper)
11. The Verdict - (Sidney Lumet)
12. Fast Times at Ridgemont High - (Amy Heckerling)
13. Star Trek ll: The Wrath of Khan - (Nicholas Meyer)
14. Koyaanisqatsi - (Godfrey Reggio)
15. Conan the Barbarian - (John Milius)
16. 48 Hrs. - (Walter Hill)
17. Tron - (Steven Lisberger)
18. Missing - (Costa-Gavras)
19. Sophie's Choice - (Alan J. Pakula)
20. Yol - (Serif Gören & Yilmaz Güney)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial DVD cover

20 Greatest Movies of 1981

  1. Raiders of the Lost Ark - (Steven Spielberg)
  2. Das Boot - (Wolfgang Petersen)
  3. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior - (George Miller)
  4. The Evil Dead - (Sam Raimi)
  5. An American Werewolf in London - (John Landis)
  6. Chariots of Fire - (Hugh Hudson)
  7. Reds - (Warren Beatty)
  8. Blow Out - (Brian De Palma)
  9. Escape from New York - (John Carpenter)
10. Diva - (Jean-Jacques Beineix)
11. Excalibur - (John Boorman)
12. On Golden Pond - (Mark Rydell)
13. My Dinner with Andre - (Louis Malle)
14. Possession - (Andrzej Zulawski)
15. Body Heat - (Lawrence Kasdan)
16. Gallipoli - (Peter Weir)
17. Mephisto - (István Szabó)
18. Time Bandits - (Terry Gilliam)
19. Arthur - (Steve Gordon)
20. Thief - (Michael Mann)

Raiders of the Lost Ark DVD cover

20 Greatest Movies of 1980

  1. The Empire Strikes Back - (Irvin Kershner)
  2. Raging Bull - (Martin Scorsese)
  3. The Shining - (Stanley Kubrick)
  4. Airplane! - (Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker)
  5. The Elephant Man - (David Lynch)
  6. The Blues Brothers - (John Landis)
  7. Ordinary People - (Robert Redford)
  8. Kagemusha - (Akira Kurosawa)
  9. Atlantic City - (Louis Malle)
10. Pixote - (Héctor Babenco)
11. Friday the 13th - (Sean S. Cunningham)
12. The Big Red One - (Samuel Fuller)
13. Superman II - (Richard Lester)
14. Coal Miner's Daughter - (Michael Apted)
15. The Last Metro - (François Truffaut)
16. Mon oncle d'Amérique - (Alain Resnais)
17. Heaven's Gate - (Michael Cimino)
18. Dressed to Kill - (Brian De Palma)
19. Caddyshack - (Harold Ramis)
20. The Gods Must Be Crazy - (Jamie Uys)

The Empire Strikes Back DVD cover
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  • Greatest Movies by Year 1800s

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