I received a tremendous response to my post about the limited amount of quality 1980s films, especially of a timeless nature.In fact, yesterday George Clooney told Radio Times that "they don't make those films any more." In his inteview he called 1964-1976 the golden age of cinema.
In addition to recommendations that many readers suggested, I thought I would post the current top films according to the IMDb's user votes and their current ranking in IMDb's top 250, of which there are currently 26 films that make the cut.
1. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Top 250: #8
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Top 250: #18
3. The Shining (1980) Top 250: #55
3. Boot, Das (1981) Top 250: #60
4. Aliens (1986) Top 250: #69
5. Raging Bull (1980) Top 250: #71
6. Amadeus (1984) Top 250 #85
7. The Elephant Man (1980) Top 250: #90
8. Full Metal Jacket (1987) Top 250: #93
9. Cinema Paradiso (1988) Top 250: #94
10. Once Upon a Time in America (1984) Top 250: #97
11. Blade Runner (1982) Top 250: #98
12. Ran (1985) Top 250: #105
13. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) Top 250: #108
14. Back to the Future (1985) Top 250: #114
15. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Top 250: #119
16. Die Hard (1988) Top 250: #132
17. Platoon (1986) Top 250: #139
18. The Princess Bride (1987) Top 250: #151
19. Stand by Me (1986) Top 250: #161
20. The Thing (1982) Top 250: #175
21. Scarface (1983) Top 250: #186
22. The Terminator (1984) Top 250 #195
23. Glory (1989) Top 250: #198
24. Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies) (1988) Top 250: #202
25. A Christmas Story (1983) Top 250: 224
26. Idi I Smotri (Come and See) (1985) Top 250: #231
Do you think this list properly represents the top films of the 1980s? Do you think any of these films are poorly place, included, or is there grave exlusions?
6 comments:
Wow, very few of those films represent the time of which they were released (Back to the Future, Die Hard), most are either historical or sci-fi/futuristic. So much for the 'me' decade!
Notable exclusions for me are Hoosiers and The Untouchables.
Good to see Das Boot on this list. An excellent film. The mother of all submarine movies.
I would also add The Big Blue (not the directors cut) to that list. I think you'll like it quite a bit.
I must admit that I agree with this list. In fact, it has some of my favourite films from the Eighties--Blade Runner, Das Boot, Die Hard, Back to the Future, Ran. My only complaint is that, as much as I love Kubrick, I probably would rank The Shining lower. I think Full Metal Jacket is a better film.
R.C., I feel your pain. Whenever I list my favorite films I almost skip over the '80s. Only Do The Right Thing, maybe Aliens and maybe Escape From New York really factor into my hall of fame.
Yet I must say that in terms of escapism, I'll take Ghostbusters or Temple of Doom over today's so-called blockbusters any day.
I love the 85-87 William Hurt films. I would've given him the Best Actor Oscar three times in a row.
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