What's everyone's top movies of 1981?

My two top favorites that come to mind An American Werewolf In London and The Evil Dead. No doubt. But there are plenty of others in '81 that I enjoyed as well.

In no particular order except from best to worst:

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Das Boot
The Road Warrior
Blow Out
Mandala

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Mentions of Louis Malles' Atlantic City are HERE. Because it opened in Europe in 1980, some sources, including both the IMDb and Wikipedia, list it as a 1980 release. It didn't get a theatrical release in the U.S. until April of 1981, and was therefore eligible for the Oscars of that year, handed out at the March 1982 ceremony. Atlantic City was nominated for five of the big awards in Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Original Screenplay, though it won none of them.



No matter what you consider its release year and no matter how many Oscars it didn't win, it's a good movie. And not just because of the lemons.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

10. Nighthawks
9. Mad Max 2
8. Possession
7. Escape from New York
6. Blow Out
5. Body Heat
4. Thief
3. Gallipoli
2. Das Boot
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark

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Thief, I watch it at least once every 2 years or so.

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Didn't realize how big of a year this was for me. Lots of incredible films to put into my list.

1. Francisca (de Oliveira)
2. Too Early / Too Late (Straub-Huillet)
3. Blow Out (De Palma)
4. One from the Heart (Coppola)
5. Silvestre (Monteiro)

6. "The Garden of Earthly Delights" (Brakhage)
7. Modern Romance (Brooks)
8. Le Pont du Nord (Rivette)
9. Kagero-za (Suzuki)
10. Documenteur (Varda)

11. Love Massacre (Tam Kar Ming)
12. Thief (Mann)
13. "L'Homme Atlantique" (Duras)
14. Ms. 45 (Ferrara)
15. Hardly Working (Lewis)

16. Agatha and the Limitless Readings (Duras)
17. The Woman Next Door (Truffaut)
18. Escape from New York (Carpenter)
19. "Junkopia" (Marker, Simeone, Chapman)
20. Mur Murs (Varda)

21. In Search of Famine (Sen)
22. The Evil Dead (Raimi)
23. "Murder Psalm" (Brakhage)
24. The Decline of Western Civilization (Spheeris)
25. The Prodigal Daugher (Doillon)

My top 10 in no particular order:

The Evil Dead
The Howling
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
Porky's
Clash of the Titans
Friday the 13th Part 2
Halloween 2
The Fox and the Hound
Raiders of the Lost Ark
An American Werewolf in London

An American Werewolf in London
Arthur
The Cannonball Run
Clash of the Titans
Excalibur
Friday the 13th Part 2
Halloween II
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Stripes
Taps

Das Boot (1981)

Excalibur (1981)

The Road Warrior (1981)

1) Blow Out
2) Excalibur
3) My Dinner with Andre
4) Raiders of the Lost Ark
5) Thief

My Dinner With Andre
Thief
Beau-père
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