Top Ten Lists of Eighties Movies

The concept is pretty easily, pick your ten favorite movies from the eighties. The hard part? I want JUST movies from the eighties, not movies you might have seen during the eighties. Also, try and avoid movies that came out after the eighties if possible, 1990 is pretty borderline, I won't scream too loudly if you add one that is from then...

This page currently edited by: Gwen. Past editor: Junior

By: Kathy
  • 10. Back to the Future
    I just love michael J. Fox....
  • 9. Poltergueist
  • 8. Nightmare on Elm street 1-?
    the night I saw this movie, I couldn't sleep (at all)
  • 7. Dirty dance
    It is such a great movie, I love the music in it.
  • 6. The lost boys
    nice combination of fary tales ,sexy and kind of funny
  • 5. The Evil Dead
  • 4. Gremlins 1-3
    A good series of movies!!
  • 3. Ghost
    I still cry everytime I see it!
  • 2. Grease
    I had so much fun wachting it!
  • 1. Neverending Story 1-3
    It's a classical, a great projection of the book
Other great 80's :The Exorcist, Ghostbusters, Goonies, footlose, Airplaine, Beettlejuice, Raiders of the lost ark, Alien, Batman, Flashdance, and some others.
By: Jessica
These are in no particular order,and by no means my only favorite movies from the 80's. No other decade has or ever will acheive a movie status like that acheived in th 1980's.
By: Amanda "hoser" Golden
I spent the 80's watching SCTV and I'm proud of it.
By: Phil
By: CYB0RG
  • 10. any Indiana Jones movie
    See #9
  • 9. Goonies
    A must have. Impossible to be a child of the 80s without it.
  • 8. Platoon
    If I wasn't such a sucker for comedy, a definite #2
  • 7. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
    Buuuuueeeeeeeelllllllllllllllleeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrr
  • 6. Empire Strikes Back
    One word. Yoda.
  • 5. Top Gun
    The Defense Department regrets to inform you that your sons are dead because they were stupid.
  • 4. Dead Poets Society
    Robin Williams at his best
  • 3. Karate Kid
    Wax on, wax off.
  • 2. Back To The Future
    1.21 gigawatts!
  • 1. Breakfast Club
    In each of us is a nerd, an athlete, a princess, a basketcase, and a criminal. 80s to the max! Was there any doubt?
By: Jim Thompson
  • 10. The Goonies
    The adventure we all would have loved to have but for some reason never did.
  • 9. Some Kind of Wonderful
    The girl he loves has been right in front of him the whole time.
  • 8. Rocky 4
    America beats Russia in the heart of the cold war.
  • 7. North Shore
    Yes the surfing movie. Kid from Arizona moves to Hawaii to surf the big waves
  • 6. Teen Wolf
    We can win with out the wolf. The outcast overcomes adversity to beat out the bully and win the girl.
  • 5. Return of the Jedi
    Part 6 of the Star Wars Saga
  • 4. St. Elmos Fire
    Another Brat Pack movie, as a twenty three year old now I can look back with great love.
  • 3. Adventures in Babysitting
    Why couldn't I have her as a baby sitter.
  • 2. Rad
    Rad Racing, BMX Bike Riding with Cru Jones
  • 1. Breaksfast Club
    An obvious and easy number one.
By: Becky
  • 10. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
    1982, Well, no '80s movie list would be complete without this. The end still makes me cry. I remember after I saw this I called my brother "penis breath" even though I had no idea what a penis was. (FYI I was only 8 or 9!) I got in trouble. But at least I found out what it was! :)
  • 9. Dirty Dancing
    1987, I've been known to rewind and play "nobody puts Baby in a corner" several times. It always cracks me up. I went to see this in the theater and I thought it would just be stupid...but it's so enjoyable I don't see how anyone can't like it. And I don't remember Patrick Swayze ever looking better.
  • 8. Raising Arizona
    1987, Probably Nicolas Cage's best movie (besides Face/Off...you'll see my reason for that next). John Goodman was hilarious. ("I loooove to drive")
  • 7. Urban Cowboy
    1980, OK, look, I love John Travolta. (Grease would be my #1 favorite, but it missed the '80s by 2 years.) You might all think he disappeared in the '80s, but not for me. I even saw "Perfect" more than once. Sue me. This movie was really cool though, and if you don't think so, well..."fine, fergit it".
  • 6. Stripes
    1981, Not many people are funnier than Bill Murray. My stomach always hurts after watching this one.
  • 5. Sixteen Candles
    1984, Farmer Ted was such a perfect dork.
  • 4. The Breakfast Club
    1985, I guess a lot of people picked this as their favorite because it's supposed to be the ultimate teen angst movie. Possibly, but I found it interesting how everyone in high school loved this movie and still never got the message. Oh well. It bothers me to this day what the punch line could possibly be to that joke Judd was telling when he fell through the ceiling.
  • 3. Night Shift
    1982, Michael Keaton's funniest role ever. You may think he's Batman, but he's always Billy Blaze to me. (And a Pittsburgher yet!)
  • 2. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
    1989, Just made the cut-off. This movie is hilarious. It seems like every time I watch it, I pick up new little things that crack me up.
  • 1. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
    1986, Oh how I envied Ferris. I hated school so much, in fact, I think I still hold the all-time absentee record there. I had never had fun like he did though.
Honorable mention goes to "Fraternity Vacation" from 1985. Only because I've seen it sooo many times that it's become kind of a favorite of mine. It's awfully cheezy, but it is pretty funny. And Tim Robbins is adorable in it.
By: Kheldara
  • 10. Ghostbusters
    Oh, this film. How 80s. How wonderful. And the song and its video, my dear. How simply *darling*. God bless Ghostbusters. Amen.
  • 9. Amadeus
    I just saw this in someone else's list, and it reminded me that I have to put this in because my mum sang on the soundtrack! And I love Mozart - even if in this film he does look and sound like a Dulux dog on acid...
  • 8. E.T.
    Oh, come on, it's a classic - it had to be in here somewhere.
  • 7. Back To The Future
    All three of the films rocked. But this one in particular...it's a great show.
  • 6. The Lost Boys
    It's about vampires. What more can I say?
  • 5. The Neverending Story (Part 2)
    I think it was 80s, I'm almost sure! Not half as good as Part 1, but still a great film.
  • 4. Willow
    I KNOW it's another fantasy movie...but a gorgeous one, one that I love, one that shows Val Kilmer in one of his best roles. Plus my dad knows the woman who played Bavmorda - no, seriously!
  • 3. Legend
    Hit me if this didn't come out in the 80s - it almost had to have. I just...love fantasy, I guess!
  • 2. The Neverending Story (Part 1)
    Another great fantasy film, which I adore. The soundtrack is *gorgeous* - Georgio Moroder is brilliant - and the title theme is sung by Limahl. (so I'm the only person left that likes him. So sue me.) It had some fantastic child actors and some great effects.
  • 1. Labyrinth
    Some of the best fantasy movies were made in the 80s, and this was one of them. And I adore David Bowie. And it's got some great songs, costumes, and generally is great. Plus it embedded forever in my mind Bowie saying "I wouldn't do that if I were you". I love it.
Kheldara strikes again...I hope I made sense this time!
By: Alonso
By: Helena
By: Leah Evans
By: Mike Grope
  • 10. Can't Buy Me Love
    I once dated a girl in High School that was as beautiful as this girl was. To have something that special and beautiful and lose it is a feeling that i never want to have again. A message to all guys... treat a woman with respect and never wish you had something better if you have it all with the girl you have. and keep dreaming that you will love again like you loved your first.
  • 9. Some Kind of Wonderful
    this was one of the best love movie's i have ever seen in my life, Lea thompon is fantastic and it had an all-star cast. To be in love is a wonderful thing
  • 8. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
    MY ROLE MODEL!!! JEFF SPICOLI! this movie started all kinds of careers... sean penn, judge reynolds, Jennifer Leigh.... OH YEAH... and even Nick Cage. i laugh so hard every time i see it... and spicoli's famou line of "I can fix it"
  • 7. The Lost Boys
    The Corey's best movie. Sutherland was great. I have seen this movie a 127 times... or something
  • 6. Plains Trains and automobiles
    Very emotional movie to me. I will love this movie till the day i die.
  • 5. Breakfast Club
    Judd Nelson made the movie. Emilio and Charlie and Molly... need a say more? can't have a top ten movie list without it.
  • 4. Spaceballs
    Comedy Classic. This movie began it all, and i got my nickname from this movie ... "Lord Helmet" you gotta love john candy and rick moranis. Mel Brooks is a god
  • 3. Pretty in Pink
    Great movie! Duckie was great... soundtrack is fantastic. Classic movie about trying to be popular. It isn't all that to be a popular rich kid. Annie Potts was great also
  • 2. Uncle Buck
    I am not a father yet but i had to put this movie on in respect to any mother or father who had a kid that they could not control. John Candy was great
  • 1. Back to the Future
    Fantastic Movie... Michael J Fox was great... Classic movie that i watch every time it comes on no questions asked
80's was the best era that there ever was in my opinion. 80's love songs and movies hit a soft spot in all of us... Keep dreaming of the things that might happen... cuz you just never know
By: Carrie
  • 10. The Princess Bride
    Cary Elwes is sooo funny in this movie!!
  • 9. St. Elmo's Fire
    The Brat Pack at it's best, Rob Lowe is great
  • 8. Stand By Me
    real friendship leaves goosebumps and an imprint on your heart forever....so do leeches
  • 7. Dirty Dancing
    two words :Patrick Swayze sigh. gotta love a man who can really dance
  • 6. Pretty In Pink
    Ducky's dancing is classic, as is his rendition of Lennon's "Love is"
  • 5. The Outsiders
    Nature's first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold her early leaf's a flower, but only so an hour then leaf subsides to leaf so eden sank to grief so dawn does down to day nothing gold can stay" My fav poem. makes me cry every time. who didnt love pony boy, johnny and dall?
  • 4. The Breakfast Club
    What if your home, what if your family...what if your DOPE was on fire?" "Impossible, sir, it's in Johnson's underpants" makes me laugh every time
  • 3. Sixteen Candles
    Would you ever go out with her?" "Depends on how much you paid me." seems to be the story of my life...
  • 2. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
    How can they possibly expect me to handle school on a day like this?" words i seem to use many times this year during my senior year.
  • 1. The Goonies
    Andie... you GOONIE!!!!" Come on, who DIDN'T want to be a goonie?? The mystery, the romance, ... Brand.....
It was so hard to put these great flicks in order!! Also don;t forget: E.T, Wierd Science, Footloose, Can'T Buy Me Love, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Top Gun, and many more!!!
By: Brian
  • 10. Planes Trains and Automobiles
    THOSE AREN'T TWO PILLOWS!!!" To me, this stands as John Candy's best work. I miss Candy immensely (no pun intended). You could always tell he had a big heart... and WOW does it show in this movie. What a great film from a pair of timeless comedic actors.
  • 9. Back To The Future
    What a cool thrill-ride of a movie. This is the one that first turned me on to Bob Zemekis (director). He's never disappointed me since.
  • 8. 16 Candles
    Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, and a bunch of unknowns who went on to become stars. When Anthony Michael Hall get's Molly's UNDERWEAR and charges admission to see it? That's CLASSIC 80's! What about when they clear the table at the end of the party and Anthony Michael Hall is under the glass... THOSE were the kids I wanted to hang with when I was in high school. Somehow no one in my high school was ever as cool as in those Hughes movies.
  • 7. Breakfast Club
    Of all people to see this with for the first time I saw it with my MOTHER. She totally didn't get most of it... which was exactly the point of the movie. John Hughes at the top of his game.
  • 6. Top Gun
    You literally have to be DEAD not to like this movie. POUNDING soundtrack. Made Iron Eagle look like some high school kid making a movie with a video camera. Cruise, Edwards, McGillis... and TONS of attitude. I get a testosterone rush just thinking about it.
  • 5. Real Genius
    Most of the movies on this list are of the variety "always watchable" That is... no matter HOW many times you've seen it... it still draws you in and holds your attention. "Kent... this is GOD!"
  • 4. Say Anything
    Cusack charts again with this AWESOME little movie. I saw this one 15 times in the movie theater- each time bringing new friends who would demand to come see it again and again with me. Everyone seemed to identify with Lloyd Dobbler... sorry guys... but *I* was Lloyd... right down to the Malibu. :)
  • 3. Better Off Dead
    she let her reptilian son put his testicles all over me..." "Testacles?!?" "Yes... you know... Octopus? Testacles?" "OH! TENTACLES... N-T... TENTACLES..." GOD I love this movie. I watched it so many times I could RECITE it. Whomever said John Hughes did this should be shot. Hughes was NEVER this inventive... never this daring... and never this funny.
  • 2. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
    Rooney... your an a**hole!"
  • 1. Fast Times At Ridgemont High
    SO many stars spawned from this hit. It's STILL hilarious even by today's standards. It's hard to pick a number one from so many great movies but if I had to... it would be Fast Times.
Oh GOD where to start. I listed mostly 80's feel-good teen flicks. But there are SO MANY I can't list. I could easily give a top 50. Maybe I can suggest some of my personal favorites that are little known and VERY OVERLOOKED:(1) NO SMALL AFFAIR - Demi Moore (pre-enhanced) and Jon Cryer. Very sweet. It touched a nerve in me and still does. (2) HOT PURSUIT - A Cusack film that most people have never heard of. Not as good as Better Off Dead or One Crazy Summer... but in the same family... and very very funny. (3) LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN - Once again... lots of stars who WEREN'T stars when the movie came out. Soundtrack 5 years ahead of it's time (songs from this movie weren't popular until several YEARS after this movie debuted). Notice the girl is the SAME GIRL from Better Off Dead (the French girl). ... So little time... and so many honorable mentions... I won't even MENTION them! Thanks for reading!
By: Justin
  • 10. Weird Science
    Word of advice:ALWAYS remember to hook up the doll...
  • 9. Goonies
    Fifty dolla bill!"
  • 8. Ghostbusters 2
    Why don't you let us work, we let you work?!"
  • 7. The Blues Brothers
    YOU'RE the Good Ol' Boys?!"
  • 6. Evil Dead 2
    Again, 'nuf said...
  • 5. Evil Dead
    Nuf said...
  • 4. Back to the Future 2
    Ya don't wanna get struck by LIGHTNING!"
  • 3. Return of the Living Dead
    I don't have to tell you anything, dick brains!" (Scuz, whipping out a stilleto knife)"We think you SHOULD!"
  • 2. Back to the Future
    Are you sayin' that this sucker's nuclear?!"
  • 1. Ghostbusters
    It needs some suspension work... and, uh shocks, and uh, brakes, brake pads, lining, stearing box, transmission..."
By: Adam Kulmatycki
Although I am only 15...I am still old enough to know that THE EIGHTIES ROCKED!!
By: Tea
I am a true 80's fan. I just want to mention some other movies that I couldn't leave out. They are Weird Sience, Dream a Little Dream, License to Drive, Can't Buy Me Love, Teen Wolf, One Crazy Summer, The Toy, Big, Clue, and last but not least Teen Witch. I Have and love them all! All the best movies came from the 80's!!!
By: Andrew Reyes
  • 10. The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension
    There are people who won't see this film. They are the same kind of people who don't eat sushi - in other words, they're missing out. There's something intrinsically wrong with them. Why ANYONE would not want to see Peter Weller (again!) as a brain surgeon/rock star/martial arts master run around with Clancy Brown and Jeff Goldblum (as a cowboy!) fighting evil aliens played by Christopher Lloyd and Vincent Schiavelli is BEYOND ME. Note:See this film to witness pre-3RD ROCK John Lithgow antics. Oh, and if you're not wistling the ending theme five days after you've seen it...go eat sushi.
  • 9. Robocop
    Hey, I gotta explain? NO! Big-ass fun. Peter Weller, cop; dies, cyborged; evil corpoeration, mayhem; assertion of the strength of the Human will, bullets, bullets, bullets. "I'd buy THAT for a dollar!"
  • 8. Miracle Mile
    Hey, look! It's Anthony Edwards! AND HE HAS HAIR! He's also the protagonist in this, the single most nerve-wracking, suspenseful Boy Meets Girl, Boy Loses Girl, Boy Rushes To Recover Girl As World Slowly Unravels Around Him Under The Threat Of Nuclear War film EVER made. I get the heebies watching this one. Great ending. Music by Tangerine Dream. WARNING:Contains Mare Winningham's big, creepy eyes.
  • 7. Akira Kurosawa'S Dreams
    Akira Kurosawa + surrealism = GOOD-FOR-YOU. Hauntingly beautiful. Colors out the wazoo, and dead guys to boot. Some foxes, some screaming, and a cherry orchard. Yeah, it sounds weird. IT ROCKS.
  • 6. Better Off Dead
    Close your eyes, and it sounds like an episode of EEK THE CAT without Sharky in it. Open your eyes and it's funnier than heck. Walking food...The Paperboy...John Cusack...look, just trust me.
  • 5. The Dark Crystal
    Facts:1)It bombed at the box office. 2)Jim Henson made it. 3) No one since has attempted to do something like this, because Jim Henson's bizarre little twisted fairy-tale odditty is simply beyond compare. Fantasy geeks, you've already seen it. Everyone else needs to. NOW. Go. This list'll be here when you get back.
  • 4. Real Men
    Put John Ritter and Jim Belushi together in a blender. Throw in conspiracy theories, foreign spies, aliens, Twinkies and clowns. Frappe for about 15 minutes. Throw it out - not weird enough. See the movie instead.
  • 3. Blade Runner
    Only second to AKIRA because "A" comes before "B". Ridley Scott pulls out all the stops on this darkly sensuous film about Harrison Ford, some Androids, a gun and LOTS of neon lighting. There are some of you out there who've never seen it. You are bad people! Well...maybe not, but see it anyway. Watch for Rutger Hauer's moving "Tears in Rain" speech.
  • 2. Akira
    You haven't seen this? Fix that. EXCELLENT Japanese animation with a plot denser than lead, stunning imagery and THE coolest motorcycle chase sequence yet committed to film. See it. Learn it. Love it.
  • 1. The Empire Strikes Back
    Oh, c'mon. It's th' livin', beatin' heart of The Holy Trilogy; it''s the adagio, the darkness before the storm; it's the movie that more filmmakers OUGHT to imitate. Stylish visuals, DEEP melodrama, heavy score and heart-wrenching performances add up to make EMPIRE *the* movie.
There are a few films that should be in there, which I omitted for one reason or another:ALIENS comes to mind, as do TERMINATOR and PREDATOR and POLTERGEIST and so on. WILLOW! LABYRINTH! Buuuuuuuut...this is more fun! ...who the #$&^ is John Hughes?
By: Sarah
By: Audrey

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