1985 - 1989
by Dragonfly777 | created - 16 Aug 2015 | updated - 27 Aug 2015 | PublicSome movies I've seen and liked that were released between 1985 and 1989.
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1. After Hours (I) (1985)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
An ordinary word processor has the worst night of his life after he agrees to visit a girl in Soho he met that evening at a coffee shop.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Verna Bloom, Tommy Chong
Votes: 81,459 | Gross: $10.60M
2. Agnes of God (1985)
PG-13 | 98 min | Drama, Mystery
When a naive novice nun is discovered with a dead newborn in her convent quarters, a court-appointed psychiatrist investigates her case.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, Meg Tilly, Anne Pitoniak
Votes: 8,053 | Gross: $25.63M
3. Brazil (1985)
R | 132 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond
Votes: 211,277 | Gross: $9.93M
In creating this list, I've noticed how very few dystopian themed movies there were in the past as compared to now and the more recent past. This movies remains one of the best.
4. Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
A bored New Jersey suburban housewife's fascination with a free-spirited woman she has read about in the personal columns leads to her being mistaken for the woman herself.
Director: Susan Seidelman | Stars: Rosanna Arquette, Madonna, Aidan Quinn, Mark Blum
Votes: 26,081 | Gross: $27.40M
5. Dreamchild (1985)
PG | 94 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Ian Holm is children's author Lewis Carroll in this poignant fantasy-drama set in 1930s New York and populated by the fabulous special effects creatures of Muppet master Jim Henson.
Director: Gavin Millar | Stars: Coral Browne, Ian Holm, Peter Gallagher, Caris Corfman
Votes: 1,750 | Gross: $1.22M
6. The Emerald Forest (1985)
R | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After the son of engineer Bill Markham is abducted by an aboriginal tribe on the edge of the rain forest, the engineer spends the next 10 years searching for him.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Powers Boothe, Meg Foster, Yara Vaneau, William Rodriguez
Votes: 11,002 | Gross: $24.47M
7. Enemy Mine (1985)
PG-13 | 108 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
During a long space war, the lives of two wounded enemies become dependent on their ability to forgive and to trust.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Louis Gossett Jr., Brion James, Richard Marcus
Votes: 51,439 | Gross: $4.27M
8. Fandango (1985)
PG | 91 min | Comedy, Drama
Five college buddies from the University of Texas circa 1971 embark on a final road trip odyssey across the Mexican border before facing up to uncertain futures, in Vietnam and otherwise.
Director: Kevin Reynolds | Stars: Kevin Costner, Judd Nelson, Sam Robards, Chuck Bush
Votes: 8,740 | Gross: $0.09M
9. Hail Mary (1985)
Not Rated | 72 min | Drama
A college student gets pregnant without having intercourse, affecting people close and unrelated to her in different ways.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Myriem Roussel, Thierry Rode, Philippe Lacoste, Manon Andersen
Votes: 3,732
10. Lost in America (1985)
R | 91 min | Comedy
A husband and wife in their 30s decide to quit their jobs, live as free spirits and cruise America in a Winnebago.
Director: Albert Brooks | Stars: Albert Brooks, Julie Hagerty, Sylvia Farrel, Tina Kincaid
Votes: 10,208 | Gross: $10.18M
11. My Life as a Dog (1985)
Unrated | 101 min | Drama, Comedy
In the late '50s, young Ingemar learns a lot about life and himself when he is sent away from his sick mother to live with his aunt and uncle in a town full of eccentrics.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Anton Glanzelius, Tomas von Brömssen, Anki Lidén, Melinda Kinnaman
Votes: 22,543 | Gross: $8.35M
12. Pale Rider (1985)
R | 115 min | Drama, Western
A mysterious preacher protects a humble prospector village from a greedy mining company trying to encroach on their land.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Sydney Penny
Votes: 64,722 | Gross: $41.41M
13. Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
PG | 91 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
When eccentric man-child Pee-wee Herman gets his beloved bike stolen in broad daylight, he sets out across the U.S. on the adventure of his life.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Paul Reubens, Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger
Votes: 59,111 | Gross: $40.90M
14. Re-Animator (1985)
Unrated | 84 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
After an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue.
Director: Stuart Gordon | Stars: Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale
Votes: 71,531 | Gross: $2.02M
15. 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: 47,885 | Gross: $20.97M
16. Tampopo (1985)
Not Rated | 114 min | Comedy
A truck driver stops at a small family-run noodle shop and decides to help its fledgling business. The story is intertwined with various vignettes about the relationship of love and food.
Director: Jûzô Itami | Stars: Ken Watanabe, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Koji Yakusho
Votes: 22,578 | Gross: $0.22M
17. 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: 104,696 | Gross: $68.71M
18. Betty Blue (1986)
Unrated | 119 min | Drama, Romance
A lackadaisical handyman and aspiring novelist tries to support his younger girlfriend as she slowly succumbs to madness.
Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix | Stars: Jean-Hugues Anglade, Béatrice Dalle, Gérard Darmon, Consuelo De Haviland
Votes: 23,352 | Gross: $2.00M
19. Blue Velvet (1986)
R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern
Votes: 215,796 | Gross: $8.55M
20. 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: 93,296 | Gross: $52.29M
21. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
PG-13 | 103 min | Comedy
A popular high school student, admired by his peers, decides to take a day off from school and goes to extreme lengths to pull it off, to the chagrin of his Dean, who'll do anything to stop him.
Director: John Hughes | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones
Votes: 386,613 | Gross: $70.14M
22. 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: 202,006 | Gross: $40.46M
23. Gothic (1986)
R | 87 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
The Shelleys visit Lord Byron and compete to write a horror story.
Director: Ken Russell | Stars: Gabriel Byrne, Julian Sands, Natasha Richardson, Myriam Cyr
Votes: 8,868 | Gross: $0.92M
24. 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: 76,802 | Gross: $40.08M
25. Jean de Florette (1986)
PG | 120 min | Comedy, Drama
A greedy landowner and his backward nephew conspire to block the only water source for an adjoining property in order to bankrupt the owner and force him to sell.
Director: Claude Berri | Stars: Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu
Votes: 27,549 | Gross: $4.94M
26. 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: 65,711 | Gross: $17.22M
27. The Money Pit (1986)
PG | 91 min | Comedy
A young couple struggles to repair a hopelessly dilapidated house.
Director: Richard Benjamin | Stars: Tom Hanks, Shelley Long, Alexander Godunov, Maureen Stapleton
Votes: 62,266 | Gross: $37.50M
28. Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
PG-13 | 103 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Peggy Sue faints at a high school reunion. When she wakes up, she finds herself in her own past, just before she finished school.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Kathleen Turner, Nicolas Cage, Barry Miller, Catherine Hicks
Votes: 40,833 | Gross: $41.38M
29. 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: 439,673 | Gross: $138.53M
30. River's Edge (1986)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama
A high school slacker commits a shocking act and proceeds to let his friends in on the secret. However, the friends' reaction is almost as ambiguous and perplexing as the crime itself.
Director: Tim Hunter | Stars: Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye, Daniel Roebuck
Votes: 20,702 | Gross: $4.60M
31. Something Wild (1986)
R | 114 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
A free-spirited woman "kidnaps" a yuppie for a weekend of adventure. But the fun quickly takes a dangerous turn when her ex-convict husband shows up.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, George 'Red' Schwartz, Leib Lensky
Votes: 21,104 | Gross: $8.36M
32. Stand by Me (1986)
R | 89 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A writer recounts a childhood journey with his friends to find the body of a missing boy.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell
Votes: 441,802 | Gross: $52.29M
33. True Stories (1986)
PG | 89 min | Comedy, Musical
A small but growing Texas town, filled with strange and musical characters, celebrates its sesquicentennial and converge on a local parade and talent show.
Director: David Byrne | Stars: David Byrne, John Goodman, Annie McEnroe, Jo Harvey Allen
Votes: 7,498 | Gross: $2.55M
34. 84 Charing Cross Road (1987)
PG | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
True story of a transatlantic business correspondence about used books that developed into a close friendship.
Director: David Hugh Jones | Stars: Anne Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins, Judi Dench, Jean De Baer
Votes: 11,228 | Gross: $1.08M
35. Angel Heart (1987)
X | 113 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A private investigator is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre to track down a singer named Johnny Favorite. But the investigation takes an unexpected and somber turn.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet, Charlotte Rampling
Votes: 95,855 | Gross: $17.19M
36. Goodbye, Children (1987)
PG | 104 min | Drama, War
A French boarding school run by priests seems to be a haven from World War II until a new student arrives. Occupying the next bed in the dormitory to the top student in his class, the two young boys begin to form a bond.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Gaspard Manesse, Raphael Fejtö, Francine Racette, Stanislas Carré de Malberg
Votes: 36,127 | Gross: $4.54M
37. 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: 22,042 | Gross: $4.40M
38. Barfly (1987)
R | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Based on the life of successful poet Charles Bukowski and his exploits in Hollywood during the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
Director: Barbet Schroeder | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Alice Krige, Jack Nance
Votes: 21,985 | Gross: $3.22M
39. Broadcast News (1987)
R | 133 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Take two rival television reporters: one handsome, one talented, both male. Add one producer, female. Mix well, and watch the sparks fly.
Director: James L. Brooks | Stars: William Hurt, Albert Brooks, Holly Hunter, Robert Prosky
Votes: 34,132 | Gross: $51.25M
40. Evil Dead II (1987)
R | 84 min | Comedy, Horror
Ash Williams, the lone survivor of an earlier onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits, holes up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley DePaiva
Votes: 181,983 | Gross: $5.92M
Wow. just... WOW.
41. Fatal Attraction (1987)
R | 119 min | Drama, Thriller
A married man's one-night stand comes back to haunt him when that lover begins to stalk him and his family.
Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer, Ellen Latzen
Votes: 97,145 | Gross: $156.65M
42. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
R | 116 min | Drama, War
A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Baldwin
Votes: 790,705 | Gross: $46.36M
43. 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: 111,540 | Gross: $43.98M
44. The Last of England (1987)
Unrated | 92 min | Drama, Fantasy
The artist's personal commentary on the decline of his country in a language closer to poetry than prose. A dark meditation on London under Thatcher.
Director: Derek Jarman | Stars: Tilda Swinton, Spencer Leigh, 'Spring' Mark Adley, Gerrard McArthur
Votes: 1,491
45. Near Dark (1987)
R | 94 min | Horror
A small-town farmer's son reluctantly joins a traveling group of vampires after he is bitten by a beautiful drifter.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton
Votes: 44,760 | Gross: $3.37M
46. The Princess Bride (1987)
PG | 98 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A bedridden boy's grandfather reads him the story of a farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon
Votes: 451,061 | Gross: $30.86M
47. Raising Arizona (1987)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Crime
When a childless couple--an ex-con and an ex-cop--decide to help themselves to one of another family's quintuplets, their lives become more complicated than they anticipated.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, Trey Wilson, John Goodman
Votes: 150,419 | Gross: $22.85M
48. Swimming to Cambodia (1987)
R | 85 min | Comedy, Drama
Spalding Gray discusses his participation in the film The Killing Fields (1984) and the background story about the troubles of Cambodia.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Spalding Gray, Sam Waterston, Ira Wheeler
Votes: 2,379 | Gross: $1.09M
49. Wings of Desire (1987)
PG-13 | 128 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
An angel tires of his purely ethereal life of merely overseeing the human activity of Berlin's residents, and longs for the tangible joys of physical existence when he falls in love with a mortal.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois
Votes: 77,056 | Gross: $3.33M
50. Withnail & I (1987)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Drama
In 1969, two substance-abusing, unemployed actors retreat to the countryside for a holiday that proves disastrous.
Director: Bruce Robinson | Stars: Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths, Ralph Brown
Votes: 47,913 | Gross: $1.54M
51. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
PG | 126 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
An account of Baron Munchausen's supposed travels and fantastical experiences across late 18th-century Europe with his band of misfits.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: John Neville, Eric Idle, Sarah Polley, Oliver Reed
Votes: 56,885 | Gross: $8.08M
52. Alice (1988)
Not Rated | 86 min | Animation, Adventure, Fantasy
A surrealistic revision of Alice in Wonderland.
Director: Jan Svankmajer | Stars: Kristýna Kohoutová, Camilla Power
Votes: 13,991
53. Beetlejuice (1988)
PG | 92 min | Comedy, Fantasy
The spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home, and hire a malicious spirit to drive them out.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, Annie McEnroe
Votes: 340,275 | Gross: $73.71M
54. Big Time (1988)
PG | 87 min | Documentary, Music
Bringing his unique sense of humor to this bizarre and original piece of moviemaking, Tom Waits takes the audience through a musical journey with his jazzy, quirky, bluesy tunes presented as you would never, ever, ever expect.
Director: Chris Blum | Stars: Tom Waits, Michael L. Blair, Ralph Carney, Greg Cohen
Votes: 902 | Gross: $0.15M
55. Camille Claudel (1988)
R | 175 min | Biography, Drama, History
Camille Claude impresses already-famous sculptor Auguste Rodin. He hires her as an assistant, but soon Camille begins to sculpt for herself and she also becomes his mistress. But after a while, she would like to get out of his shadow.
Director: Bruno Nuytten | Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Gérard Depardieu, Madeleine Robinson, Laurent Grévill
Votes: 7,396 | Gross: $0.20M
56. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
R | 174 min | Drama, Romance
A filmmaker recalls his childhood when falling in love with the pictures at the cinema of his home village and forms a deep friendship with the cinema's projectionist.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Philippe Noiret, Enzo Cannavale, Antonella Attili, Isa Danieli
Votes: 283,038 | Gross: $11.99M
57. Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
R | 119 min | Drama, Romance
A scheming widow and her manipulative ex-lover make a bet regarding the corruption of a recently married woman.
Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Swoosie Kurtz
Votes: 75,164 | Gross: $34.70M
58. Die Hard (1988)
R | 132 min | Action, Thriller
A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson
Votes: 945,898 | Gross: $83.01M
59. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
R | 108 min | Comedy, Crime
In London, four very different people team up on a jewel heist, then try to double-cross one another for the loot, complicated by their efforts to fool a very proper barrister.
Directors: Charles Crichton, John Cleese | Stars: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin
Votes: 153,962 | Gross: $63.49M
60. Frantic (1988)
R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In a hotel room in Paris, a doctor comes out of the shower and finds that his wife has disappeared. He soon finds himself caught up in a world of intrigue, espionage, gangsters, drugs and murder.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Harrison Ford, Betty Buckley, Emmanuelle Seigner, Djiby Soumare
Votes: 57,821 | Gross: $17.64M
61. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
R | 164 min | Drama
The life of Jesus Christ, his journey through life as he faces the struggles all humans do, and his final temptation on the cross.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Paul Greco
Votes: 63,166 | Gross: $7.63M
62. Mississippi Burning (1988)
R | 128 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two F.B.I. Agents with wildly different styles arrive in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of some civil rights activists.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand, Brad Dourif
Votes: 111,092 | Gross: $34.60M
63. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
G | 86 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
When two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wondrous forest spirits who live nearby.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Hitoshi Takagi, Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, Shigesato Itoi
Votes: 380,472 | Gross: $1.11M
64. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
PG-13 | 85 min | Comedy, Crime
Incompetent police Detective Frank Drebin must foil an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.
Director: David Zucker | Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, O.J. Simpson, Ricardo Montalban
Votes: 185,066 | Gross: $78.76M
Loved the one season of Police Squad on the tele... had to see this. More "Airplane" style humor, which was smartly silly and unlike American comedy in general.
65. Tales from the Gimli Hospital (1988)
72 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
While their mother is dying in the modern Gimli, Manitoba hospital, two young children are told a tale by their Icelandic grandmother about Einar the Lonely, his friend Gunnar, and the angelic Snjofridur in a Gimli of old.
Director: Guy Maddin | Stars: Kyle McCulloch, Michael Gottli, Angela Heck, Margaret Anne MacLeod
Votes: 1,466
66. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
R | 171 min | Drama, Romance
Central Europe, 1968: A Czech doctor with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, Lena Olin, Derek de Lint
Votes: 38,652 | Gross: $10.01M
67. The Vanishing (1988)
Not Rated | 107 min | Mystery, Thriller
Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation. They stop at a busy service station and Saskia is abducted. After three years and no sign of Saskia, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor.
Director: George Sluizer | Stars: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege, Gwen Eckhaus
Votes: 44,257
Fantastic, hit two of my greatest fears... randomly having a loved one just disappear and well, more would be a spoiler, but if you've seen it, you know. If you haven't and like psychological terror and dread, see it.
68. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
R | 88 min | Comedy, Drama
A television actress encounters a variety of eccentric characters after embarking on a journey to discover why her lover abruptly left her.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, Rossy de Palma
Votes: 46,478 | Gross: $7.18M
69. Tapeheads (1988)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Music
A couple of creative losers accidently become big shots in the video music industry.
Director: Bill Fishman | Stars: John Cusack, Tim Robbins, Mary Crosby, Clu Gulager
Votes: 4,357 | Gross: $0.34M
70. Batman (1989)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure
The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl
Votes: 404,379 | Gross: $251.19M
This did not suck.
71. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
R | 145 min | Biography, Drama, War
The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Tom Cruise, Bryan Larkin, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava
Votes: 115,998 | Gross: $70.00M
72. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
NC-17 | 124 min | Crime, Drama
At Le Hollandais gourmet restaurant, every night is filled with opulence, decadence and gluttony. But when the cook, a thief, his wife and her lover all come together, they unleash a shocking torrent of sex, food, murder and revenge.
Director: Peter Greenaway | Stars: Richard Bohringer, Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, Alan Howard
Votes: 41,759 | Gross: $7.72M
73. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Drama
An ophthalmologist's mistress threatens to reveal their affair to his wife while a married documentary filmmaker is infatuated with another woman.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Martin Landau, Woody Allen, Bill Bernstein, Claire Bloom
Votes: 60,805 | Gross: $18.25M
Hard to pick a favorite Woody Allen film, but I'll pick this one, today.
74. Dead Poets Society (1989)
PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama
Maverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles
Votes: 546,405 | Gross: $95.86M
Some real "cringe" moments, but some moments of wow.
75. The Decalogue (1989–1990)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama
Ten television drama films, each one based on one of the Ten Commandments.
Stars: Artur Barcis, Olgierd Lukaszewicz, Olaf Lubaszenko, Aleksander Bardini
Votes: 27,888 | Gross: $0.10M
76. Do the Right Thing (1989)
R | 120 min | Comedy, Drama
On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson
Votes: 112,467 | Gross: $27.55M
Fight the power!
77. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
R | 101 min | Crime, Drama
A pharmacy-robbing dope fiend and his crew pop pills and evade the law.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, James Le Gros, Heather Graham
Votes: 40,649 | Gross: $4.73M
One of my all time favorites.
78. Great Balls of Fire! (1989)
PG-13 | 108 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The life and career of wildly controversial rock 'n' roll star Jerry Lee Lewis.
Director: Jim McBride | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Winona Ryder, John Doe, Stephen Tobolowsky
Votes: 18,893 | Gross: $13.74M
79. Heathers (1988)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Crime
At Westerburg High where cliques rule, jocks dominate and all the popular girls are named Heather, it's going to take a Veronica and mysterious new kid to give teen angst a body count.
Director: Michael Lehmann | Stars: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk
Votes: 115,920 | Gross: $1.11M
Likely wouldn't be made today... smart teen black comedy with a sharp edge.
80. How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Fantasy
A cynical advertising exec has a block at work leading to a meltdown. He's hilariously out of control. Getting a big, talking boil on his shoulder doesn't help.
Director: Bruce Robinson | Stars: Richard E. Grant, Rachel Ward, Richard Wilson, Jacqueline Tong
Votes: 6,631 | Gross: $0.42M
81. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
G | 103 min | Animation, Family, Fantasy
A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Minami Takayama, Rei Sakuma, Kappei Yamaguchi
Votes: 165,637
82. Lonesome Dove (1989)
TV-14 | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
Two former Texas Rangers renew their spirit of adventure as they and several other residents of a small Texas town join a cattle drive to the Montana Territory.
Stars: Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Diane Lane
Votes: 25,924
Very well done.
83. Mystery Train (1989)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Three stories are connected by a Memphis hotel and the spirit of Elvis Presley.
Director: Jim Jarmusch | Stars: Masatoshi Nagase, Yûki Kudô, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Cinqué Lee
Votes: 30,839 | Gross: $0.37M
Jiffy Squid?
84. Parenthood (1989)
PG-13 | 124 min | Comedy, Drama
Four Buckman siblings attempt to raise their children - each in their own different style - and deal with the joys and sorrows that the process brings.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen, Dianne Wiest, Jason Robards
Votes: 54,902 | Gross: $100.05M
85. Roger & Me (1989)
R | 91 min | Documentary
After General Motors closes its factory in Flint, Michigan, eliminating 35,000 jobs, filmmaker Michael Moore undertakes a quixotic quest to interview General Motors' chairman, Roger B. Smith.
Director: Michael Moore | Stars: Michael Moore, Roger B. Smith, Rhonda Britton, Fred Ross
Votes: 27,516 | Gross: $6.71M
86. Santa Sangre (1989)
NC-17 | 123 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his armless mother - the leader of a strange religious cult - and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name as he becomes "her arms".
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky | Stars: Axel Jodorowsky, Blanca Guerra, Guy Stockwell, Thelma Tixou
Votes: 23,337
87. Say Anything (1989)
PG-13 | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A noble underachiever and a beautiful valedictorian fall in love the summer before she goes off to college.
Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney, Lili Taylor
Votes: 95,963 | Gross: $20.78M
88. Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)
R | 100 min | Drama
A sexually repressed woman's husband is having an affair with her sister. The arrival of a visitor with a rather unusual fetish changes everything.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: James Spader, Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher, Laura San Giacomo
Votes: 59,471 | Gross: $24.74M
89. Sweetie (1989)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
An introspective young woman's life is upturned by the arrival of her maladjusted sister.
Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Geneviève Lemon, Karen Colston, Tom Lycos, Jon Darling
Votes: 5,381 | Gross: $0.94M
Jane Campion is the bomb.
90. Vampire's Kiss (1988)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Crime, Fantasy
After an encounter with a neck-biter, a publishing executive thinks that he's turning into a vampire.
Director: Robert Bierman | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Maria Conchita Alonso, Jennifer Beals, Elizabeth Ashley
Votes: 20,924 | Gross: $0.73M
Nicolas Cage has performed some over-the-top whacked out roles, but none rise (or sink) to the level of hilarious absurdity he delivers in this oddball film. I'm a vampire! Get through the slow, fairly normal beginning bits, and then hold on for the fall down the rabbit hole.
91. The War of the Roses (1989)
R | 116 min | Comedy, Romance
A married couple tries everything to drive each other out of the house in a vicious divorce battle.
Director: Danny DeVito | Stars: Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito, Marianne Sägebrecht
Votes: 57,392 | Gross: $86.89M
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" mixed with "The Money Pit." Love this one.
92. New York Stories (1989)
PG | 124 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A middle-aged artist obsessed with his pretty young assistant, a precocious 12-year-old living in a hotel, and a neurotic lawyer with a possessive mother make up three Gotham tales.
Directors: Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese | Stars: Woody Allen, Nick Nolte, Rosanna Arquette, Marvin Chatinover
Votes: 19,744 | Gross: $10.76M
Worth it for Woody Allen's bit, with the big Jewish mother in the sky.
93. Henry V (1989)
PG-13 | 137 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Simon Shepherd, James Larkin
Votes: 31,660 | Gross: $10.16M
94. Twister (1989)
PG-13 | 93 min | Comedy, Drama
Delusional and spoiled Maureen and her eccentric brother Howdy decide to track down and meet their estranged mother, all while the drama of dysfunctional relationships, disastrous weather conditions and a dark family secret ensue.
Director: Michael Almereyda | Stars: Harry Dean Stanton, Suzy Amis, Crispin Glover, Dylan McDermott
Votes: 2,270
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