My Best Pictures of the 1980's

If I had given out the Oscar for Best Picture for the 1980's:

1980: Ordinary People

1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark

1982: Tootsie

1983: Terms of Endearment

1984: The Killing Fields

1985: The Color Purple

1986: Hannah and Her Sisters

1987: Fatal Attraction

1988: Rain Man

1989: Crimes and Misdemeanors

1980: Raging Bull

1983: Scarface

1984: Once Upon a Time in America

1985: Back To The Future

1986: Aliens

1987: Full Metal Jacket

1988: Frantic

1989: Glory

I can definitely get behind your choice of Once Upon a Time in America...great film. I have to confess that I've never seen Frantic...though there are some great performances, I found Glory overlong and very slow going. I found getting through that film to be real work.

1980 Raging Bull
1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982 The King of Comedy
1983 El Norte
1984 Amadeus
1985 Ran
1986 Children of a Lesser God
1987 Wall Street
1988 Akira
1989 Do the Right Thing

Have never understood all the love for Amadeus...like There will be Blood, there are some great performances (especially Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham), but the film is WAY too long and getting through it was work.

Not for me. It had an energy to it that kept it moving quite well, I think.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion, we will have to respectively agree to disagree on this one.

I love The King of Comedy...it contains my favorite De Niro performance, but there are way too many better films that came out in 1982.

The King of Comedy is easily the 2nd best film of 1982 for me, just behind Blade Runner. What are all these films easily better than TKOC released in 1982? Tootsie isn't as good.

The King of Comedy is on my 1983 movie list. Here are the 9 movies from that year I think are better:

Three Crowns of the Sailor; Zu: Warriors From the Magic Mountain; The Ballad of Narayama; Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence; Nostalghia; The Return of the Jedi; Winners and Sinners; Project A; Videodrome; Lianna.

If I were to include tv mini-series Reilly: Ace of Spies would be no.3 and The King of Comedy would be squeezed out of the top ten.

If I were to put it on my 1982 list, here's what I'd have ahead of it:

Starstruck; The Draughtsman's Contract; The Thing; Blade Runner; Fanny and Alexander; Boat People; The Disco Dancer;

And it might be behind My Favorite Year, Fitzcarraldo, Marathon Runners Run Their Final Lap and Gorsch the Cellist too.

Well, to me there are three very clear winners where I don't even consider other candidates: Raging Bull for 1980, Blade Runner for 1982 and Rain Man for 1988; the other years it becomes tougher.

Blade Runner is another film I have never understood what all the fuss was about.

1980: The Shining

1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark

1982: Missing

1983: Scarface

1984: Once Upon a Time in America

1985: Back To The Future

1986: Platoon

1987: Full Metal Jacket

1988: Mississippi Burning

1989: Dead Poets Society

Nice to see some love for My Favorite Year...love that film...Peter O'Toole was briliant.

1980-Empire Strikes Back
1981-Mad Max 2
1982-Fast Times At Ridgemont High
1983-Scarface
1984-Ghost Busters
1985-Brazil
1986-Platoon
1987-The Untouchables
1988-Die Hard
1989-When Harry Met Sally

1980 The Empire Strikes Back

1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark

1982 The Thing

1983 Scarface

1984 The Terminator

1985 Back to the Future

1986 Big Trouble in Little China

1987 Predator

1988 Rain Man

1989 Glory

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Entertainment Log
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Heaven's Gate
Raiders of the lost Ark
Missing
Trading Places
Ghostbusters
Back to the Future
Stand by Me
RoboCop
Akira
Do The Right Thing

1980 - The Shining - Stanley Kubrick
1981 - Raiders of the Lost Ark - Steven Speilberg
1982 - Fanny and Alexander - Ingmar Bergman
1983 - El Norte - Gregory Nava
1984 - Amadeus - Milos Foreman
1985 - Back to the Future - Robert Zemeckis
1986 - Platoon - Oliver Stone
1987 - Au Revoir Les Enfants - Louis Malle
1988 - Running on Empty - Sidney Lument
1989 - Do the Right Thing - Spike Lee

When Harry Met Sally is probably my favorite film of 1989, but I don't think it was worthy of a Best Picture Oscar...it does get my vote for Best Original Screenplay.

Interesting topic. I'll just choose from the nominees because going through every release of the year will take hours.


1980: Raging Bull (in a twist, I'd give John Hurt the Actor award)


1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark (can't argue with perfection)


1982: The Verdict (as well as actor)



1983: The Right Stuff


1984: The Killing Fields (another twist gives Supp Actor to Apolph Caesar)


1985: Witness (+ Kurosawa, director; Nicholson, actor; Streep, actress; and Spider Woman is still criminally underseen)


1986: Platoon (one of the few wins I agree with, though I'd give Lynch the director trophy)


1987: Broadcast News (Fatal Attraction is easily the weakest of the bunch)


1988: Dangerous Liaisons (+ wins for Close and Pfeiffer, somehow Malkovich wasn't even nominated!)


1989: Do the Right Thing (I know it wasn't nominated, but I don't think any of the nominees are worthy - Crimes and Misdemeanors, Sex Lies and Videotape, Enemies a Love Story, Glory, Cinema Paradiso would all have been superior choices.)