Blu-ray.com Community's Top 50 Films from the Eighties

[Juels Winnfield]

Welcome to the 2017 Version of the Blu-ray.com Community Top 50 Films from the EIGHTIES!

I know that this has been done at least twice, but not in about the past four years. There are many of us that have an affinity for films from the 80s, whether it is because you are an 80s baby like myself, or that it may have been a time in your life where you identified yourself more with what was released at the time. It could also be that you are a 90s baby and appreciate the nostalgia.

What qualifies is simple: the film must have been released between December 31, 1979 and December 31, 1989. If there is, by chance, an international release date, that falls slightly outside of this range, there is a possibility of it being counted (none come to mind at this time).

Point System:
#1 50 points
#2 45 points
#3 40 points
#4 35 points
#5 30 points
#6 25 points
#7 20 points
#8-25 19-2 points
#26 and below 1 point

List at least your 25 favorite/top films from the 80s. We will let July 4 be the final day. Have fun and enjoy reminiscing

[MassiveMovieBuff]

This is by far the hardest list I've had to do yet. A lot of great films I left off for various reasons. I wanted to include a variety of every genre of 80s films.

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. Aliens
3. Die Hard
4. To Live and Die in L.A.
5. Platoon
6. Lethal Weapon
7. Rain Man
8. 48 HRS
9. Beverly Hills Cop 2
10. The Terminator
11. Robocop
12. Predator
13. License to Drive
14. Night Shift
15. Ghostbusters
16. Planes, Trains and Automobiles
17. Back to the Future
18. The Fabulous Baker Boys
19. Bull Durham
20. Turner and Hooch
21. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
22. Colors
23. Raging Bull
24. The Karate Kid
25. Scarface
26. The Breakfast Club
27. Terms of Endearment
28. Wall Street
29. At Close Range
30. Bad Boys 1983
31. Batman
32. Body Heat
33. Stakeout
34. Risky Business
35. The Blob
36. National Lampoon's Vacation
37. Fright Night
38. Gremlins
39. Halloween 2
40. Halloween 4
41. Night of the Creeps
42. The Lost Boys
43. A Nightmare on Elm Street
44. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4
45. The Shining
46. John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness
47. Repo Man
48. Empire Strikes Back
49. Caddyshack
50. Fast Times at Ridgemont High

[Trekkie313]

1. Ghostbusters
2. Blade Runner
3. Scarface
4. Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
5. Thief
6. To Live and Die In L.A.
7. The Blues Brothers
8. The Right Stuff
9. The Thing
10. The Terminator
11. Tron
12. Fast Times At Ridgemont High
13. Day Of The Dead
14. Brazil
15. The Living Daylights
16. Manhunter
17. Raging Bull
18. Blood Simple
19. RoboCop
20. Aliens
21. Back To The Future Part 2
22. A Christmas Story
23. Lethal Weapon 2
24. Beverly Hills Cop
25. Repo Man
26. Highlander
27. Amadeus
28. Wall Street
29. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
30. Das Boot

[Darth Marcus]

My Top 50 Films of the 1980's

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
2. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
3. Blade Runner (1982)
4. Raging Bull (1980)
5. Paris, Texas (1984)
6. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
7. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
8. Wings of Desire (1987)
9. The Shining (1980)
10. Die Hard (1988)
11. The Terminator (1984)
12. The Thing (1982)
13. Aliens (1986)
14. RoboCop (1987)
15. Das Boot (1981)
16. The Road Warrior (1981)
17. Glory (1989)
18. The Right Stuff (1983)
19. Back to the Future (1985)
20. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
21. The Vanishing (1988)
22. Platoon (1986)
23. Witness (1985)
24. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
25. Thief (1981)
26. Amadeus (1984)
27. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
28. Chariots of Fire (1981)
29. The Killing Fields (1984)
30. Empire of the Sun (1987)
31. Return of the Jedi (1983)
32. The Untouchables (1987)
33. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
34. Dead Poets Society (1989)
35. Ghostbusters (1984)
36. Rain Man (1988)
37. Broadcast News (1987)
38. Blood Simple (1984)
39. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
40. Superman II (1981)
41. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
42. They Live (1988)
43. Blow Out (1981)
44. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
45. Predator (1987)
46. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
47. The Evil Dead (1981)
48. Lethal Weapon (1987)
49. The King of Comedy (1983)
50. Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Also Considered:

[Show spoiler]The Princess Bride, First Blood, Scarface, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Big Trouble in Little China, The Abyss, Lethal Weapon 2, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, A Fish Called Wanda, Koyaanisqatsi, Field of Dreams, The Big Chill, Born on the Fourth of July

[Astro Zombie]

[DanTheMan]

[Darth Marcus]

Hell of a decade. I made a list of 30 and there were still plenty more that I wish I could have made room for.

[Rodney-2187]

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. Return of the Jedi
3. Blade Runner
4. Ghostbusters
5. RoboCop
6. The Thing
7. Excalibur
8. Raiders of the Lost Ark
9. Brazil
10. The Princess Bride
11. Big Trouble in Little China
12. Caddyshack
13. Tron
14. Time Bandits
15. Ladyhawke
16. Back to the Future
17. Back to the Future Part II
18. Gremlins
19. Airplane
20. Highlander
21. Conan the Barbarian
22. Red Dawn
23. Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan
24. Legend
25. The Lost Boys

[stvn1974]

Blade Runner
Brazil
Blue Velvet
Videodrome
Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Return Of The Jedi
Star Trek II Wrath Of Khan
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
The Evil Dead
Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn
The Thing
Aliens
Escape From New York
Robocop
The Terminator
Predator
Total Recall
Batman
Big Trouble In Little China
Time Bandits
Back To The Future
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom
Ghostbusters
Gremlins

[stvn1974]

I am calling it now. If Blade Runner isn't number one the entire thing is moot.

[dallywhitty]

Thirty will do.

01. Blade Runner
02. Blue Velvet
03. Scarface
04. The Evil Dead
05. Brazil
06. Heathers
07. Inferno
08. Back to the Future
09. Aliens
10. Raging Bull

11. Batman
12. RoboCop
13. Stand By Me
14. Once Upon a Time in America
15. Tenebrae
16. Legend
17. Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn
18. Possession
19. The Breakfast Club
20. Risky Business

21. Videodrome
22. Ran
23. When Harry Met Sally
24. Cat People
25. The Empire Strikes Back
26. Platoon
27. Cannibal Holocaust
28. The Moon in the Gutter
29. Dune
30. The Terminator

[MechaGodzilla]

1. Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggio, 1982)
2. Das Boot (Wolfgang Petersen, 1981)
3. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980)
4. Damnation aka Kárhozat (Béla Tarr, 1988)
5. Ghostbusters (Ivan Reitman, 1984)
6. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981)
7. The Breakfast Club (John Hughes, 1985)
8. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (Shinya Tsukamoto, 1989)
9. Parting Glances (Bill Sherwood, 1986)
10. Aliens (James Cameron, 1986)
11. The Dark Crystal (Jim Henson and Frank Oz, 1982)
12. Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders, 1984)
13. Labyrinth (Jim Henson, 1986)
14. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
15. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
16. The Big Blue (Luc Besson, 1988)
17. The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)
18. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand, 1983)
19. Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1984)
20. The Secret of NIMH (Don Bluth, 1982)
21. Come and See aka Idi i smotri (Elem Klimov, 1985)
22. Manhunter (Michael Mann, 1986)
23. The Man from Majorca aka Mannen från Mallorca (Bo Widerberg, 1984)
24. Grave of the Fireflies (Isao Takahata, 1988)
25. Akira (Katsuhiro Otomo, 1988)
26. RoboCop (Paul Verhoeven, 1987)
27. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (George Miller and George Ogilvie, 1985)
28. Mad Max 2 (George Miller, 1981)
29. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Nagisa Oshima, 1983)
30. Beetlejuice (Tim Burton, 1988)
31. The Little Mermaid (Ron Clements and John Musker, 1989)
32. Poltergeist (Tobe Hooper, 1982)
33. Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
34. Legend (Ridley Scott, 1985)
35. Nostalgia (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1983)
36. Heathers (Michael Lehmann, 1988)
37. The Lost Boys (Joel Schumacher, 1987)
38. Gremlins (Joe Dante, 1984)
39. Excalibur (John Boorman, 1981)
40. Possession (Andrzej Zulawski, 1981)
41. Sixteen Candles (John Hughes, 1984)
42. Big Trouble in Little China (John Carpenter, 1986)
43. The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)
44. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (John Hughes, 1986)
45. The Vanishing (George Sluizer, 1988)
46. Christiane F. (Uli Edel, 1981)
47. The 'Burbs (Joe Dante, 1989)
48. To Live and Die in L.A. (William Friedkin, 1985)
49. Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985)
50. Sacrifice aka Offret (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1986)

[Al_The_Strange]

I'm going to have to give this some serious thought/reflection. The 80s is a treasure trove of films, both artistically profound and ridiculously entertaining. Some on both sides I've discovered late in life, others have been with me the whole time and it'll be tough to weigh nostalgia against actual cinematic merit. I'll throw up some titles for now and revise later.

[In progress]

1. Koyaanisqatsi
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. Back to the Future
4. The Terminator
5. RoboCop
6. Stand By Me
7. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
8. Blade Runner
9. Ghostbusters
10. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
11. The Empire Strikes Back
12. Dune
13. The Shining
14. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
15. Airplane!
16. Akira
17. Aliens
18. The Thing
19. The Princess Bride
20. Police Academy
21. Big Trouble in Little China
22. The Road Warrior
23. Christine
24. Conan the Barbarian
25. Back to the Future Part II
26. The Abyss
27. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
28. Crocodile Dundee
29. Return of the Jedi
30. The Breakfast Club
31. Beetlejuice
32. Brazil
33. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
34. Gremlins
35. Die Hard
36. They Live
37. Scarface
38. The Dark Crystal
39. The Burbs
40. Revenge of the Nerds
41. The Blues Brothers
42. The Goonies
43. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
44. Lethal Weapon
45. ET: The Extraterrestrial
46. Batman
47. Beverly Hills Cop
48. European Vacation

Considering:
Amadeus
The Elephant Man
Full Metal Jacket
License To Drive
The Living Daylights
Romancing the Stone
The Untouchables

Honorable Mentions From the Inner 80s Child:
Harry and the Hendersons
Honey, I Shrunk The Kids
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Killer Klowns From Outer Space
Short Circuit
Spaceballs, The Movie!
Weird Science

Honorable Mentions From the Man From Generation Y:
Brain Damage
Once Upon a Time in America
Powaqqatsi
Predator

[Hucksta G]

Will be watching up until the deadline.

1. Raging Bull
2. Blade Runner
3. Stand By Me
4. The Empire Strikes Back
5. Amadeus
6. Pink Floyd: The Wall
7. Platoon
8. Full Metal Jacket
9. Once Upon a Time in America
10. The Last Temptation of Christ
11. Paris, Texas
12. Say Anything
13. Do the Right Thing
14. The Untouchables
15. Return of the Jedi
16. The Fly
17. Possession
18. The Thing
19. The Elephant Man
20. This is Spinal Tap
21. Scarface
22. The Shining
23. Blue Velvet
24. Thief
25. Come and See
26. The Terminator
27. Aliens
28. To Live and Die in LA
29. Back to the Future
30. Wings of Desire

[Juels Winnfield]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

I'm going to have to give this some serious thought/reflection. The 80s is a treasure trove of films, both artistically profound and ridiculously entertaining. Some on both sides I've discovered late in life, others have been with me the whole time and it'll be tough to weigh nostalgia against actual cinematic merit. I'll throw up some titles for now and revise later.

I feel the same way. For example, I didn't see Blade Runner until I was at least 25. It could be top five for me, if it had been with me since the 80s or at least the 90s.

[Jasonic]

1. My Neighbor Totoro
2. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
3. Return of the Jedi
4. The Empire Strikes Back
5. Castle in the Sky
6. Ran
7. Raiders of the Lost Ark
8. Kiki's Delivery Service
9. Back to the Future
10. Grave of the Fireflies
11. Ghostbusters
12. Die Hard
13. The Great Muppet Caper
14. Out of Africa
15. The Fox and the Hound
16. The Princess Bride
17. Aliens
18. Kagemusha
19. E.T.
20. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
21. The Goonies
22. The Breakfast Club
23. The Secret of NIMH
24. The Fly
25. Silverado
26. Glory
27. The Great Mouse Detective
28. When Harry Met Sally
29. Gremlins
30. Possession
31. Three Amigos
32. Cinema Paradiso
33. Gandhi
34. Platoon
35. First Blood
36. The Vanishing
37. Spaceballs
38. Ordinary People
39. Field of Dreams
40. An American Werewolf in London
41. The Elephant Man
42. Amadeus
43. The Shining
44. Once Upon a Time in America
45. The Abyss
46. Tron
47. Born on the Fourth of July
48. Paris, Texas
49. The Thing
50. The Color Purple

[Ray Jackson]

There is only one.

[Show spoiler]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiOL45lRdRs

[ZeTi]

#1 PARIS, TEXAS (1984)

"One of the most beautiful films i've ever watched."

#2 A BETTER TOMORROW (1986)

"This pretty much kick-started my undying love for Hong Kong Action Cinema."

#3 THE BLUES BROTHERS (1980)

"I don't think i watched a movie quite as much as this ... also it gave birth to my love of soul music."

#4 REPO MAN (1984)

"Endlessly quotable, you can quote me on this."

#5 CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982)

"Sword and Sorcery masterpiece combined with the single greatest movie score ever put to film."

#6 ROBOCOP (1987)

"Violence and social commentary rarely gets better than this."

#7 DOWN BY LAW (1986)

"One of the coolest films i've ever seen."

#8 SCARFACE (1983)

"I don't think you can get more 80s than this."

#9 BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985)

"Never gets old."

#10 VIOLENT COP (1989)

"Movie title explains it all and i love it."


#11 Road House (1989)
#12 Vice Squad (1982)
#13 Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
#14 Threads (1984)
#15 Terminator (1984)
#16 Aliens (1986)
#17 The Killer (1989)
#18 Predator (1987)
#19 Dead & Buried (1981)
#20 Goonies (1985)

#21 Combat Shock (1984)
#22 Halloween 3 (1982)
#23 An American Werewolf in London (1981)
#24 The Ninth Configuration (1980)
#25 The Fly (1986)
#26 Savage Street (1984)
#27 Brazil (1985)
#28 Shining (1980)
#29 Southern Comfort (1981)
#30 Hellraiser 2 (1988)

#31 Testament (1983)
#32 Razorback (1984)
#33 The Thing (1982)
#34 Come and See (1985)
#35 Altered States (1980)
#36 Thief (1981)
#37 Hitcher (1986)
#38 Die Hard (1988)
#39 Rambo 2 (1985)

#40 Possession (1981)
#41 Macho Man (1985)
#42 This is Spinal Tap (1984)
#43 A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
#44 Gandahar (1988)
#45 Color of Money (1986)
#46 Trashin' (1986)
#47 Spoorloos (1988)
#48 Red Heat (1988)
#49 They Live (1988)
#50 Invasion U.S.A. (1985)

[surfdude12]

1. The Shining
2. Brazil
3. Videodrome
4. Blue Velvet
5. Blade Runner
6. Return of the Jedi
7. Amadeus
8. Ghostbusters
9. Karate Kid
10. The Terminator
11. Gandhi
12. Back to the Future
13. Gremlins
14. American Werewolf in London
15. Empire Strikes Back
16. Fatal Attraction
17. Full Metal Jacket
18. Coming To America
19. Stand By Me
20. Die Hard
21. Wings of Desire
22. ET
23. Raging Bull
24. The Last Emperor
25. Road Warrior
26. The Fly
27. Airplane!
28. Robocop
29. Platoon
30. Paris Texas

[Troll2fan]

Reserved. I will attempt this if I can get enough time to sit and compile a list.