Oscar winning films of the 1980's
by lambo_twins | created - 24 Feb 2012 | updated - 11 Mar 2012 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Ordinary People (1980)
R | 124 min | Drama
The accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father and the guilt-ridden younger son.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, Timothy Hutton
Votes: 56,493 | Gross: $54.80M
Best: Picture, Director (Robert Redford), Supporting Actor (Timothy Hutton) and Adapted Screenplay (Alvin Sargent).
2. Raging Bull (1980)
R | 129 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent
Votes: 378,952 | Gross: $23.38M
Best: Actor (Robert De Niro) and Film Editing.
3. Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The fictionalized life of singer Loretta Lynn, a girl who rose from humble beginnings to become a country music star in the 1960s/70s.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Levon Helm, Phyllis Boyens
Votes: 20,411 | Gross: $67.18M
Best: Actress (Sissy Spacek).
4. Melvin and Howard (1980)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Drama
The story of hard-luck Melvin E. Dummar, who claimed to have received a will naming him an heir to the fortune of Howard Hughes.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Paul Le Mat, Jason Robards, Elizabeth Cheshire, Mary Steenburgen
Votes: 5,283 | Gross: $4.31M
Best: Supporting Actress (Mary Steenburgen) and Original Screenplay (Bo Goldman).
5. Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1980)
PG | 150 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Three young provincial women come to Moscow in search of what people in all the capitals of the world are looking for - love, happiness and prosperity. Their destinies develop exactly as the character of each of the girls suggests.
Director: Vladimir Menshov | Stars: Vera Alentova, Aleksey Batalov, Irina Muravyova, Aleksandr Fatyushin
Votes: 14,229 | Gross: $2.50M
Best: Foreign Language Film (Soviet Union).
6. From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China (1979)
G | 84 min | Documentary, Music
Isaac Stern's cultural tour of China is seen, with the master violinist performing and mentoring young Chinese musicians. He visits rehearsals of the Peking Opera, meeting with their ... See full summary »
Director: Murray Lerner | Stars: Isaac Stern, David Golub, Delun Li, Ching-Ling Soong
Votes: 510
Best: Documentary Feature.
7. Karl Hess: Toward Liberty (1980)
26 min | Documentary, Short, Biography
A look at Karl Hess, libertarian intellectual and activist, from his background as a magazine editor in his youth to his work as a Republican speechwriter, as he became simultaneously a ... See full summary »
Directors: Roland Hallé, Peter W. Ladue | Stars: Karl Hess, Kevin Burns, Barry Goldwater, Adolf Hitler
Votes: 73
Best: Documentary Short.
8. The Dollar Bottom (1981)
G | 33 min | Short
Light-hearted tale about an enterprising Edinburgh boarding school boy who sets up an insurance scheme for fellow pupils in 1953 against getting caned, which quickly earns him a small fortune
Director: Roger Christian | Stars: Robert Urquhart, Rikki Fulton, Jonathan McNeil, Angus Kittler Reid
Votes: 47
Best: Live Action Short.
9. The Fly (1980)
3 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A fine day in the life of a fly presented completely from the fly's point of view. A fine day until something dreary happens, that is.
Director: Ferenc Rofusz
Votes: 1,978
Best: Animated Short.
10. Fame (1980)
R | 134 min | Drama, Music, Musical
A chronicle of the lives of several teenagers who attend a New York high school for students gifted in the performing arts.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Eddie Barth, Irene Cara, Lee Curreri, Laura Dean
Votes: 24,603 | Gross: $0.12M
Best: Original Score (Michael Gore) and Original Song ("Fame" by Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford).
11. Tess (1979)
PG | 186 min | Drama, Romance
A strong-willed young peasant girl attracts the affection of two men.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Nastassja Kinski, Peter Firth, Leigh Lawson, John Collin
Votes: 18,185
Best: Art Direction, Cinematography and Costume Design (Anthony Powell).
12. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After the Rebels are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,374,803 | Gross: $290.48M
Best: Sound.
13. Chariots of Fire (1981)
PG | 125 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Two British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.
Director: Hugh Hudson | Stars: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Havers
Votes: 65,656 | Gross: $58.97M
Best: Picture, Original Screenplay (Colin Welland), Original Score (Vangelis) and Costume Design (Milena Canonero).
14. Reds (1981)
PG | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
A radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia, and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.
Director: Warren Beatty | Stars: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Edward Herrmann, Jerzy Kosinski
Votes: 24,652 | Gross: $40.38M
Best: Director (Warren Beatty), Supporting Actress (Maureen Stapleton) and Cinematography.
15. On Golden Pond (1981)
PG | 109 min | Drama
Norman is a curmudgeon with an estranged relationship with his daughter Chelsea. At Golden Pond, he and his wife nevertheless agree to care for Billy, the son of Chelsea's new boyfriend, and a most unexpected relationship blooms.
Director: Mark Rydell | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon
Votes: 34,708 | Gross: $119.29M
Best: Actor (Henry Fonda), Actress (Katharine Hepburn) and Adapted Screenplay (Ernest Thompson).
16. Arthur (1981)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Romance
Alcoholic billionaire playboy Arthur Bach must marry a woman he does not love, or he will be cut off from his $750,000,000 fortune. But when Arthur falls in love with a poor waitress, he must decide if he wants to choose love or money.
Director: Steve Gordon | Stars: Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, John Gielgud, Geraldine Fitzgerald
Votes: 31,024 | Gross: $95.46M
Best: Supporting Actor (John Gielgud) and Original Song ("Authur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Burt Bacharach, Carol Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross and Peter Allen).
17. Mephisto (1981)
Unrated | 146 min | Drama
In early-1930s Germany, a passionate stage actor faces a dilemma: renounce his apolitical stance and comply with the Reich's doctrine, or face oblivion. But, Faustian bargains never end well. What is the price of success?
Director: István Szabó | Stars: Klaus Maria Brandauer, Ildikó Bánsági, Krystyna Janda, Rolf Hoppe
Votes: 11,550
Best: Foreign Language Film (Hungary).
18. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
Votes: 1,034,109 | Gross: $248.16M
Best: Sound, Art Direction, Film Editing and Visual Effects.
19. Genocide (1982)
PG | 90 min | Documentary, Drama, History
Orson Welles and Elizabeth Taylor compassionately narrate this harrowing documentary about Jewish persecution in Nazi Germany, which soon turned into a notoriously industrious plan to wipe them from existence.
Director: Arnold Schwartzman | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Orson Welles, Simon Wiesenthal, Neville Chamberlain
Votes: 680
Best: Documentary Feature.
20. Close Harmony (1981)
30 min | Documentary, Short, Family
A chorus of 4th- and 5th-graders at the Brooklyn Friends School and a chorus of elderly retirees at a Brooklyn Jewish seniors' center combine to give an annual joint concert. Practicing ... See full summary »
Director: Nigel Noble | Star: Amy Israel
Votes: 53
Best: Documentary Short.
21. Violet (1981)
31 min | Short
Badly scarred in a childhood accident, Violet boards a bus in North Carolina on a pilgrimage to Oklahoma to visit a TV preacher, the one that heals. On the bus, she meets two soldiers on their way to Fort Smith.
Director: Shelley Levinson | Stars: Didi Conn, Patrick Dollaghan, Rodney Saulsberry, Thomas McGowan
Votes: 145
Best: Live Action Short.
22. Crac (1980)
15 min | Animation, Short, Drama
The industrialization of Montreal (Canada), as seen from the point of view of a rocking-chair.
Director: Frédéric Back
Votes: 1,633
Best: Animated Short.
23. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror
Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
Director: John Landis | Stars: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher, Griffin Dunne
Votes: 119,909 | Gross: $30.57M
Best: Makeup (Rick Baker).
24. Gandhi (1982)
PG | 191 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.
Director: Richard Attenborough | Stars: Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud, Rohini Hattangadi, Roshan Seth
Votes: 239,870 | Gross: $52.77M
Best: Picture, Director (Richard Attenborough), Actor (Ben Kingsley), Original Screenplay (John Briley), Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design (John Mollo and Bhanu Athaiya) and Film Editing.
25. Sophie's Choice (1982)
R | 150 min | Drama, Romance
Sophie is the survivor of Nazi concentration camps, who has found a reason to live with Nathan, a sparkling if unsteady American Jew obsessed with the Holocaust.
Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Peter MacNicol, Rita Karin
Votes: 52,538 | Gross: $30.04M
Best: Actress (Meryl Streep).
26. An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
R | 124 min | Drama, Romance
A young man must complete his work at a Navy Officer Candidate School to become an aviator, with the help of a tough Gunnery Sergeant and his new girlfriend.
Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Richard Gere, Debra Winger, David Keith, Robert Loggia
Votes: 62,040 | Gross: $129.80M
Best: Supporting Actor (Louis Gossett Jr) and Original Song ("Up Where We Belong" by Jack Nitzsche, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings).
27. Tootsie (1982)
PG | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Michael Dorsey, an unsuccessful actor, disguises himself as a woman in order to get a role on a trashy hospital soap.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman
Votes: 114,345 | Gross: $177.20M
Best: Supporting Actress (Jessica Lange).
28. Missing (1982)
PG | 122 min | Biography, Drama, History
When an idealistic American writer disappears during the Chilean coup d'état in September 1973, his wife and father try to find him.
Director: Costa-Gavras | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron, John Shea
Votes: 23,275 | Gross: $14.00M
Best: Adapted Screenplay (Costa-Gavras and Donald E Stewart).
29. Begin the Beguine (1982)
PG | 87 min | Drama
A renowned Spanish writer returns to his natal city after 40 years and embarks on a journey back to his roots, triggering memories of his past.
Director: José Luis Garci | Stars: Antonio Ferrandis, Encarna Paso, José Bódalo, Agustín González
Votes: 1,597
Best: Foreign Language Film (Spain).
30. The Fifth Estate (1975– )
60 min | Documentary, News
Investigative journalist news documentaries are presented.
Stars: Bob McKeown, Mark Kelley, Gillian Findlay, Linden MacIntyre
Votes: 265
Best: Documentary Feature.
31. If You Love This Planet (1982)
26 min | Documentary, Short
An Australian pediatrician gives a speech on the consequences of a nuclear war.
Director: Terre Nash | Stars: Helen Caldicott, Vannevar Bush, Winston Churchill, Leslie Groves
Votes: 176
Best: Documentary Short.
32. A Shocking Accident (1982)
25 min | Short, Comedy, Romance
When he was a child, Jerome was told that his father died on a bizarre accident involving a pig that fell from a balcony. He refuses to accept this fact and keeps creating another scenario ... See full summary »
Director: James Scott | Stars: Rupert Everett, Jenny Seagrove, Barbara Hicks, Benjamin Whitrow
Votes: 82
Best: Live Action Short.
33. Tango (1981)
8 min | Animation, Short
Subsequent characters appear in a poorly-decorated room, intertwining but never colliding, all possessed by never-ending rituals.
Director: Zbigniew Rybczynski
Votes: 3,022
Best: Animated Short.
34. E.T. (1982)
PG | 115 min | Adventure, Family, Sci-Fi
A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace
Votes: 436,106 | Gross: $435.11M
Best: Original Score (John Williams), Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Visual Effects.
35. Victor/Victoria (1982)
PG | 134 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
A struggling female soprano finds work playing a male female impersonator, but it complicates her personal life.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren
Votes: 23,547 | Gross: $21.93M
Best: Original Music Score (Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse).
36. Quest for Fire (1981)
R | 100 min | Adventure, Drama
This story takes place in prehistoric time when three tribesmen search for a new fire source.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nicholas Kadi, Rae Dawn Chong
Votes: 24,043 | Gross: $20.96M
Best: Makeup (Sarah Monzani and Michele Burke).
37. Terms of Endearment (1983)
PG | 132 min | Comedy, Drama
Follows hard-to-please Aurora looking for love and her daughter's family problems.
Director: James L. Brooks | Stars: Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito
Votes: 65,223 | Gross: $108.42M
Best: Picture, Director (James L Brooks), Actress (Shirley MacLaine), Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson) and Adapted Screenplay (James L Brooks).
38. Tender Mercies (1983)
PG | 92 min | Drama, Music
A broken-down, middle-aged country singer gets a new wife, reaches out to his long-lost daughter, and tries to put his troubled life back together.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Robert Duvall, Tess Harper, Betty Buckley, Wilford Brimley
Votes: 11,953 | Gross: $8.44M
Best: Actor (Robert Duvall) and Original Screenplay (Horton Foote).
39. The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
PG | 115 min | Drama, Romance, War
A young Australian reporter tries to navigate the political turmoil of Indonesia during the rule of President Sukarno with the help of a diminutive photographer.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver, Linda Hunt, Bembol Roco
Votes: 22,802 | Gross: $10.28M
Best: Supporting Actress (Linda Hunt).
40. Fanny and Alexander (1982)
R | 188 min | Drama
Two young Swedish children in the 1900s experience the many comedies and tragedies of their lively and affectionate theatrical family, the Ekdahls.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Bertil Guve, Pernilla Allwin, Kristina Adolphson, Börje Ahlstedt
Votes: 67,341 | Gross: $4.97M
Best: Foreign Language Film (Sweden), Costume Design (Marik Vos-Lungh), Art Direction and Cinematography.
41. The Right Stuff (1983)
PG | 193 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The U.S. space program's development from the breaking of the sound barrier to selection of the Mercury 7 astronauts, from a group of test pilots with a more seat-of-the-pants approach than the program's more cautious engineers preferred.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid
Votes: 65,189 | Gross: $21.50M
Best: Film Editing, Original Score (Bill Conti), Sound Mixing and Sound Editing.
42. He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' (1983)
51 min | Documentary, Family
Jacques d'Amboise, a noted former American ballet star who had dancing roles in such films as Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and Carousel (1956), and who later became a New York dancing instructor.
Director: Emile Ardolino | Stars: Jacques d'Amboise, Judy Collins, Kevin Kline, Tom McCaffrey
Votes: 148
Best: Documentary Feature.
43. Flamenco at 5:15 (1983)
29 min | Documentary, Short
For a few weeks each year, in the depths of winter, senior students at the National Ballet School of Canada are treated to a style of dance that is unlike any other - flamenco.
Director: Cynthia Scott | Stars: Susana Robledo, Antonio Robledo, Rita Bozi, Catherine Hader
Votes: 209
Best: Documentary Short.
44. Boys and Girls (1983)
22 min | Short
A girl growing up on a fox farm in rural Canada must deal with the gender roles she is expected to conform to by her loving - yet unobservant parents.
Director: Don McBrearty | Stars: Megan Follows, David Fox, Clare Coulter, Ian Heath
Votes: 92
Best: Live Action Short.
45. Sundae in New York (1983)
4 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A character closely resembling then-mayor Ed Koch sings a variation on the "Theme from 'New York, New York'" in an entirely clay-animated film depicting a variety of locations and celebrities associated with New York City.
Director: Jimmy Picker | Star: Scott Record
Votes: 584
Best: Animated Short.
46. Yentl (1983)
PG | 133 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A Jewish girl disguises herself as a boy to enter religious training.
Director: Barbra Streisand | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Amy Irving, Mandy Patinkin, Nehemiah Persoff
Votes: 15,726 | Gross: $40.22M
Best: Original Music Score (Michel Legrand, Alan Bergman and Marylin Bergman).
47. Flashdance (1983)
R | 95 min | Drama, Music, Romance
An 18-year-old female amateur dancer who performs nightly at a dancing bar, and works as a welder during the day, dreams of joining the Pittsburgh ballet school.
Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Jennifer Beals, Michael Nouri, Lilia Skala, Sunny Johnson
Votes: 59,257 | Gross: $94.90M
Best: Original Song ("Flashdance...What a Feeling" by Giorgio Moroder, Keith Forsay and Irene Cara).
48. Amadeus (1984)
R | 160 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice
Votes: 426,213 | Gross: $51.97M
Best: Picture, Director (Milos Forman), Actor (F Murry Adraham), Adapted Screenplay (Peter Shaffer), Sound Mixing, Art Direction, Makeup (Dick Smith and Paul LeBlanc) and Costume Design (Theodor Pistek).
49. Places in the Heart (1984)
PG | 111 min | Drama
In central Texas in the 1930s, a widow with two small children tries to save her small 40-acre farm with the help of a blind boarder and an itinerant black handyman.
Director: Robert Benton | Stars: Sally Field, Lindsay Crouse, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan
Votes: 13,250 | Gross: $34.90M
Best: Actress (Sally Field) and Original Screenplay (Robert Benton).
50. The Killing Fields (1984)
R | 141 min | Biography, Drama, History
A journalist is trapped in Cambodia during tyrant Pol Pot's bloody 'Year Zero' cleansing campaign, which claimed the lives of two million 'undesirable' civilians.
Director: Roland Joffé | Stars: Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich, Julian Sands
Votes: 58,918 | Gross: $34.70M
Best: Supporting Actor (Haing S Ngor), Cinematography and Film Editing.
51. A Passage to India (1984)
PG | 164 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Cultural mistrust and false accusations doom a friendship in British colonial India between an Indian doctor, an Englishwoman engaged to marry a city magistrate, and an English educator.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, Peggy Ashcroft, James Fox
Votes: 20,617 | Gross: $27.19M
Best: Supporting Actress (Peggy Ashcroft) and Original Score (Maurice Jarre).
52. Dangerous Moves (1984)
100 min | Drama, Sport, Thriller
During the Cold War, the World Chess Championship clashed complete opposites - personal and political.
Director: Richard Dembo | Stars: Michel Piccoli, Alexandre Arbatt, Liv Ullmann, Leslie Caron
Votes: 1,457
Best: Foreign Language Film (Switzerland).
53. The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A documentary of the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first elected gay city supervisor.
Director: Rob Epstein | Stars: Harvey Fierstein, Harvey Milk, Anne Kronenberg, Tory Hartmann
Votes: 6,556 | Gross: $0.01M
Best: Documentary Feature.
54. The Stone Carvers (1984)
30 min | Documentary, Short
A look at some of the last stone carvers working in the United States, those completing the sculptures adorning the Washington National Cathedral. They discuss their craft and the cultural ... See full summary »
Directors: Marjorie Hunt, Paul Wagner | Stars: Vincent Palumbo, Roger Morigi
Votes: 59
Best: Documentary Short.
55. Up (1985)
14 min | Short
Man (Ed Casaer) sets his pet hawk free and goes on a fantastic hang gliding adventure in search of his old friend. On the way, he encounters a boy (Erick McWayne) on a hillside who he offers to take on a flight.
Directors: Mike Hoover, Tim Huntley | Stars: Erick McWayne, Ed Cesar
Votes: 71
Best: Live Action Short.
56. Charade (1984)
5 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A talented, but doomed, gentleman tries to participate in a properly British game of charades.
Director: John Minnis | Star: John Minnis
Votes: 799
Best: Animated Short.
57. Purple Rain (1984)
R | 111 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A young musician, tormented by an abusive situation at home, must contend with a rival singer, a burgeoning romance, and his own dissatisfied band, as his star begins to rise.
Director: Albert Magnoli | Stars: Prince, Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day, Olga Karlatos
Votes: 23,731 | Gross: $68.39M
Best: Original Music Score (Prince).
58. The Woman in Red (1984)
PG-13 | 87 min | Comedy, Romance
On his way to work, Teddy spots Charlotte, an incredibly beautiful Woman in Red. He really wants to meet her, but what would his wife say?
Director: Gene Wilder | Stars: Gene Wilder, Kelly LeBrock, Charles Grodin, Joseph Bologna
Votes: 17,256 | Gross: $25.31M
Best: Original Song ("I Just Called To Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder).
59. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
PG | 118 min | Action, Adventure
In 1935, Indiana Jones is tasked by Indian villagers with reclaiming a rock stolen from them by a secret cult beneath the catacombs of an ancient palace.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri
Votes: 533,892 | Gross: $179.87M
Best: Visual Effects.
60. Out of Africa (1985)
PG | 161 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
In 20th-century colonial Kenya, a Danish baroness/plantation owner has a passionate love affair with a free-spirited big-game hunter.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Michael Kitchen
Votes: 86,028 | Gross: $87.10M
Best: Picture, Director (Sydney Pollack), Adapted Screenplay (Kurt Luedtke), Original Score (John Barry), Sound Mixing, Art Direction and Cinematography.
61. Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
R | 120 min | Drama
A gay man and a political prisoner are together in a prison. The gay man narrates the stories of two fake movies and his own life.
Director: Hector Babenco | Stars: William Hurt, Raul Julia, Sonia Braga, José Lewgoy
Votes: 17,281 | Gross: $17.04M
Best: Actor (William Hurt).
62. The Trip to Bountiful (1985)
PG | 108 min | Drama
In 1940s Texas, an elderly woman is determined to visit her childhood home one last time.
Director: Peter Masterson | Stars: Geraldine Page, John Heard, Carlin Glynn, Richard Bradford
Votes: 5,274 | Gross: $7.47M
Best: Actress (Geraldine Page).
63. Cocoon (1985)
PG-13 | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
When a group of trespassing seniors swim in a pool containing alien cocoons, they find themselves energized with youthful vigor.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy
Votes: 68,572 | Gross: $76.11M
Best: Supporting Actor (Don Ameche) and Visual Effects.
64. Prizzi's Honor (1985)
R | 130 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Two professional assassins fall in love.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, Robert Loggia, John Randolph
Votes: 26,170 | Gross: $26.70M
Best: Supporting Actress (Anjelica Huston).
65. Witness (1985)
R | 112 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
While protecting an Amish boy - who is the sole witness to a brutal murder - and his mother, a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when his own life is threatened.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Lukas Haas, Josef Sommer
Votes: 104,229 | Gross: $68.71M
Best: Original Screenplay (Earl W Wallace, William Kelley and Pamela Wallace) and Film Editing.
66. The Official Story (1985)
Not Rated | 112 min | Drama, History
During the final months of Argentinian Military Dictatorship in 1983, a high school teacher sets out to find out who the mother of her adopted daughter is.
Director: Luis Puenzo | Stars: Norma Aleandro, Héctor Alterio, Chunchuna Villafañe, Hugo Arana
Votes: 10,809 | Gross: $0.03M
Best: Foreign Language Film (Argentina).
67. Broken Rainbow (1985)
70 min | Documentary, History
Documentary chronicling the government relocation of 10,000 Navajo Indians in Arizona.
Director: Victoria Mudd | Stars: Martin Sheen, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Burgess Meredith, Laura Nyro
Votes: 276
Best: Documentary Feature.
68. Witness to War: Dr. Charlie Clements (1985)
29 min | Documentary, Short, Biography
Documentary of Charlie Clements, a Vietnam War pilot who was convinced by his experiences in the war that he should become a doctor working behind enemy lines.
Director: Deborah Shaffer | Stars: Charlie Clements, Richard Nixon
Votes: 67
Best: Documentary Short.
69. Molly's Pilgrim (1985)
24 min | Short
Based on the sensitive children's book by Barbara Cohen, Molly's Pilgrim is the story of a young Russian Jewish girl who has emigrated to America with her parents to escape religious persecution.
Director: Jeffrey D. Brown | Stars: Lilly Balaban, Jessica Bertan, Travis Blank, Robert Clohessy
Votes: 123
Best: Live Action Short.
70. Anna & Bella (1984)
8 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Two sisters look back on their life together.
Director: Børge Ring | Stars: Tonny Huurdeman, Annemieke Ring, Peter Ring
Votes: 1,056
Best: Animated Short.
71. White Nights (1985)
PG-13 | 136 min | Drama, Music
A Russian American ballet dancer's airplane is forced to land in USSR, where he's "repatriated". He stays with an American man married to a Russian. Will the American help him flee USSR?
Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, Jerzy Skolimowski, Helen Mirren
Votes: 8,167 | Gross: $42.16M
Best: Original Song ("Say You, Say Me" by Lionel Richie).
72. Back to the Future (1985)
PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
Votes: 1,301,375 | Gross: $210.61M
Best: Sound Editing.
73. Mask (1985)
PG-13 | 120 min | Biography, Drama
A teenager with a massive facial skull deformity and biker gang mother attempt to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Cher, Eric Stoltz, Sam Elliott, Estelle Getty
Votes: 32,389 | Gross: $48.23M
Best: Makeup (Michael Westmore and Zoltan Elek).
74. Ran (1985)
R | 160 min | Action, Drama, War
In Medieval Japan, an elderly warlord retires, handing over his empire to his three sons. However, he vastly underestimates how the new-found power will corrupt them and cause them to turn on each other...and him.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryû
Votes: 135,594 | Gross: $4.14M
Best: Costume Design (Emi Wada).
75. Platoon (1986)
R | 120 min | Drama, War
Chris Taylor, a neophyte recruit in Vietnam, finds himself caught in a battle of wills between two sergeants, one good and the other evil. A shrewd examination of the brutality of war and the duality of man in conflict.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Keith David
Votes: 438,028 | Gross: $138.53M
Best: Picture, Director (Oliver Stone), Sound Mixing and Film Editing.
76. The Color of Money (1986)
R | 119 min | Drama, Sport
Fast Eddie Felson teaches a cocky but immensely talented protégé the ropes of pool hustling, which in turn inspires him to make an unlikely comeback.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Helen Shaver
Votes: 92,990 | Gross: $52.29M
Best: Actor (Paul Newman).
77. Children of a Lesser God (1986)
R | 119 min | Drama, Romance
A new speech teacher at a school for the deaf falls in love with the janitor, a deaf woman speechless by choice.
Director: Randa Haines | Stars: William Hurt, Marlee Matlin, Piper Laurie, Philip Bosco
Votes: 18,602 | Gross: $31.85M
Best: Actress (Marlee Matlin).
78. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama
Between two Thanksgivings two years apart, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Michael Caine, Barbara Hershey
Votes: 76,581 | Gross: $40.08M
Best: Supporting Actor (Michael Caine), Supporting Actress (Dianne Wiest) and Original Screenplay (Woody Allen).
79. A Room with a View (1985)
Not Rated | 117 min | Drama, Romance
Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) shares a brief romance with George Emerson in Florence. Yet as she tries to move on with her life and look for marriage elsewhere, can she truly forget the events of that summer?
Director: James Ivory | Stars: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Denholm Elliott, Julian Sands
Votes: 47,674 | Gross: $20.97M
Best: Adapted Screenplay (Ruth Prawer Jhabvala), Art Direction and Costume Design (Jenny Beavan and John Bright).
80. The Assault (1986)
PG | 144 min | Drama, History, Romance
A Dutch doctor, haunted by grueling childhood memories of World War II, struggles to find peace as he spends his life looking for answers about the tragic night that shaped him.
Director: Fons Rademakers | Stars: Derek de Lint, Marc van Uchelen, Monique van de Ven, John Kraaijkamp Sr.
Votes: 3,394 | Gross: $0.20M
Best: Foreign Language Film (Netherlands).
81. Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got (1985)
114 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
Documentary cataloging the life and music of the band leader and clarinetist, Artie Shaw.
Director: Brigitte Berman | Stars: Artie Shaw, John Best, Lee Castle, Helen Forrest
Votes: 127
Best: Documentary Feature (tied with "Down and Out in America").
82. Down and Out in America (1985 TV Movie)
Unrated | 57 min | Documentary
A recession in the mid-1980s affects Minnesota farm workers, unemployed urban workers and the newly homeless in Los Angeles and New York.
Director: Lee Grant | Stars: Lee Grant, Jeff Farmer, Bob Hanson, Robert Hayes
Votes: 240
Best: Documentary Feature (tied with "Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got").
83. Women - for America, for the World (1986)
30 min | Documentary, Short
22 prominent American women discuss their activism for nuclear disarmament and their motivations in seeking the end of the arms race.
Director: Vivienne Verdon-Roe | Stars: Joanne Woodward, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Betty Bumpers, Shirley Chisholm
Votes: 63
Best: Documentary Short.
84. Precious Images (1986)
8 min | Documentary, Short
A montage of nearly 500 film clips from eight decades of American movies, made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Director's Guild of America.
Director: Chuck Workman
Votes: 742
Best: Live Action Short.
85. A Greek Tragedy (1985)
7 min | Comedy, Animation, Short
Three scantily-clad female figures struggle to hold up the crumbling remains of an ancient Greek temple.
Director: Nicole Van Goethem
Votes: 782
Best: Animated Short.
86. 'Round Midnight (1986)
R | 133 min | Drama, Music
A troubled, but talented musician flees the US to escape his problems, finding refuge and support in Paris.
Director: Bertrand Tavernier | Stars: Dexter Gordon, François Cluzet, Gabrielle Haker, Sandra Reaves-Phillips
Votes: 5,838 | Gross: $3.27M
Best: Original Score (Herbie Hancock).
87. Top Gun (1986)
PG | 109 min | Action, Drama
As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise, Tim Robbins, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer
Votes: 500,073 | Gross: $179.80M
Best: Original Song ("Take My Breath Away" by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock).
88. Aliens (1986)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Decades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser
Votes: 760,166 | Gross: $85.16M
Best: Sound Editing and Visual Effects.
89. The Mission (1986)
PG | 125 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Eighteenth-century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South American tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal.
Director: Roland Joffé | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally, Aidan Quinn
Votes: 65,466 | Gross: $17.22M
Best: Cinematography.
90. The Fly (1986)
R | 96 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz, Joy Boushel
Votes: 201,074 | Gross: $40.46M
Best: Makeup (Chris Walas and Stephan Dupuis).
91. The Last Emperor (1987)
PG-13 | 163 min | Biography, Drama, History
Bernardo Bertolucci's Oscar-winning dramatisation of the life story of China's last emperor, Pu Yi.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ruocheng Ying
Votes: 111,134 | Gross: $43.98M
Best: Picture, Director (Bernardo Bertolucci), Adapted Screenplay (Mark Peploe and Bernardo Bertolucci), Film Editing, Original Score (David Byrne, Cong Su and Ryuichi Sakamoto), Sound Mxing, Art Direction, Cinematography and Costume Design (Jame Acheson).
92. Wall Street (1987)
R | 126 min | Crime, Drama
An impatient young stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthless, greedy corporate raider who takes the youth under his wing.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Charlie Sheen, Michael Douglas, Tamara Tunie, Franklin Cover
Votes: 164,740 | Gross: $43.85M
Best: Actor (Michael Douglas).
93. Moonstruck (1987)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Loretta Castorini, a bookkeeper from Brooklyn, New York, finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls for the brother of the man she has agreed to marry.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello
Votes: 67,955 | Gross: $80.64M
Best: Actress (Cher), Supporting Actress (Olympia Dukakis) and Original Screenplay (John Patrick Shanley).
94. The Untouchables (1987)
R | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
During Prohibition, Treasury agent Eliot Ness sets out to stop ruthless Chicago gangster Al Capone, and assembles a small, incorruptible team to help him.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Charles Martin Smith
Votes: 329,789 | Gross: $76.27M
Best: Supporting Actor (Sean Connery).
95. Babette's Feast (1987)
G | 103 min | Drama
During the late 19th century, a strict religious community in a Danish village takes in a French refugee from the Franco-Prussian War as a servant to the late pastor's daughters.
Director: Gabriel Axel | Stars: Stéphane Audran, Bodil Kjer, Birgitte Federspiel, Jarl Kulle
Votes: 21,929 | Gross: $4.40M
Best: Foreign Language Film (Denmark).
96.
American Masters (1985– )
Episode:
The Algonquin Round Table: The Ten Year Lunch
(1987)
TV-14 | 56 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Surely one of the most profound and outrageous influences on the times following World War I, was the group of a dozen or so taste-makers who lunched together at New York City's Algonquin Hotel.
Director: Aviva Slesin | Stars: Heywood Hale Broun, Marc Connelly, Margalo Gillmore, Ruth Gordon
Votes: 220
Best: Documentary Feature.
97. Young at Heart (1987)
Not Rated | 29 min | Documentary, Short, Romance
Filmmakers Sue Marx and Pamela Conn document the romance between Sue's father Louis Gothelf and Reva Shwayder, each in their mid-80s. Both artists and residents of the Detroit suburbs, they... See full summary »
Directors: Pamela Conn, Sue Marx | Stars: Louis Gothelf, Reva Shwayder-Gothelf
Votes: 74
Best: Documentary Short.
98. Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Hall (1987)
23 min | Comedy, Short
In this short film, our unemployed hero finds that getting that great job depends a lot on whom you choose to dance with at Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Hall.
Director: Bryan Gordon | Stars: John Achorn, Tim Choate, Joe D'Angerio, Boyd Gaines
Votes: 229
Best: Live Action Short.
99. The Man Who Planted Trees (1987)
30 min | Animation, Short, Drama
The story of a shepherd's single handed quest to re-forest a barren valley.
Director: Frédéric Back | Stars: Philippe Noiret, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 6,094
Best: Animated Short.
100. Dirty Dancing (I) (1987)
PG-13 | 100 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances "Baby" Houseman falls in love with the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle.
Director: Emile Ardolino | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes
Votes: 255,125 | Gross: $0.62M
Best: Original Song ("(I've Had) The Time of My Life" by Frankie Previte, John DeNicola and Donald Markowitz).
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