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: Amber
By: Erin
By: alex
By: Ramesh Subramaniam
By: Brandon
  • 10. Sixteen Candles
    You know it
  • 9. Ghostbusters
    I ain't afraid of no ghost.
  • 8. Lost Boys
    Another great 80's movie that can be watched many times.
  • 7. Goonies
    Goonies Never Say Die!
  • 6. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
    Great cast, dude.
  • 5. Summer Rental
    John Candy is a classic. Good movie and funny
  • 4. Weird Science
    Must I Say it again....John Hughes
  • 3. The Breakfast Club
    Two words: John Hughes.
  • 2. Back to the Future
    This doesn't fit the whole Brat Pack scene, but it is another movie that can be watched many times and still be great. So, make like a tree and get outta here. Robert Zemekis is another great director.
  • 1. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
    This is my favorite movie of all time and definitely of the 80's. Great movie...can watch an infinite number of times and still like it. John Hughes is the greatest director, next to Steven Spielberg.
By: jade
  • 10. Fatty Fin
  • 9. Bmx Bandits
  • 8. Ginger Megs
  • 7. Big
  • 6. Pippy Longstocking
  • 5. Punky Brewster You Ruined My Life
    it was a movie of when she got a bit older
  • 4. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
    best movie in the world i live to hear the song played where ever i go
  • 3. Masters Of The Universe
    courtney cox
  • 2. Dark Crystal
    scared the crap out of me
  • 1. Labarinth
    David Bowie
By: Tricia
80's music is the best music ever.....it needs to come back now!
By: Manda
By: Elaine
  • 10. My Beautiful Laundrette
    Daniel Day-Lewis at his earliest, finest in the same year that gave us "A Room with a View", with good insight into Maggie Thatcher's cross-cultural London in the '80's.
  • 9. The Gods Must Be Crazy
    This movie makes me smile just to think of it. If you haven't seen it, be warned: It's unconventional, but please do see it.
  • 8. Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance
    A really innovative and ground-breaking film for its time. The images are stunning and the Phillip Glass soundtrack is amazing.
  • 7. Liquid Sky
    One of the most truly strange and wonderfully weird pictures I ever saw. It was so bizarre, I remember a friend and I seeing it twice when it came out, just to see what we'd missed. An androgynous, bi-sexual, nympho is persued by aliens for her lovers when they discover the pheromones produced during orgasm via heroine use is favorable to??? Read the summary on imdb.com. "She kills with her (C-word)" was the tagline. A little-known, cult classic must-see.
  • 6. Raiders of the Lost Ark
    The best. The original. Harrison Ford rocks in this movie.
  • 5. Say Anything
    The entire movie is worth that one scene where Lloyd Dobler holds up the boom box outside Diane's window, playing Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes".
  • 4. Repo Man
    I never saw this till it came out on video way back when, but immediately regretted not listening to my then boyfriend on how great it is.
  • 3. The Breakfast Club
    Serious toss-up between this and "Pretty in Pink", but I just caught this on cable again and still enjoyed watching it, so it comes to mind. Besides, Harry Dean is still represented in Repo Man.
  • 2. Valley Girl
    The epitome of '80's hair and fashions for both rich and poor; the music, and some of the best lines ever. "If they take the car, save the radio." "Like, totally....For sure."
  • 1. The Hunger
    Hel-loooo.... Possibly the greatest '80's cult movie of all time. The lovely Catherine, the ultra-cool Bowie, and Susan Sarandon when we just loved her for Sarah and Rocky Horror's Janet. Plus goth dance hit: "Bela Lugosi's Dead". LOVE this movie!
I decided not to include much of the mainstream in lieu of those great art house favorites, but I didn't have room for "Working Girls", with an "s" (not Melanie's), an interesting look into the lives of NYC prostitutes. It isn't sexual at all, just different. Movies I crossed off the list are everybody's faves: Risky Business, Ferris Bueller, Pretty in Pink (with Harry Dean! Who's cooler? Him, or Dennis Hopper?), and will get votes anyway.
By: Daanii
By: Emily
By: Emily
By: Emily
By: jmegoober
  • 10. ET
    How can somebody have a top ten movies of the 80s list without ET on it. just look at Drew Barrymore (i just know I spelt her name wrong)
  • 9. Weird Science
    OMG i seen this movie again the other day and it is still funny
  • 8. Footloose
    Was there anything bad about this movie?
  • 7. The Lost Boys
    I loved this movie but as an adult it fell a few notches.
  • 6. Sixteen Candles
    just so sweet had to add a Molly Ringwald one in here now didn't I?
  • 5. The Breakfast Club
    This one was actually not a favorite of mine until recent years
  • 4. Back to the Future part 1
    the beginning of my fascination with time traveling.
  • 3. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
    Send them to the Iron Maiden. Excellent! Keanu Reeves at his best until the matrix hit.
  • 2. Batman
    I'm Batman.
  • 1. Goonies
    ANDI....YOU GOONIE!!
How can you list the greatest movies of the 80s in just 10 slots?
By: paula
By: Noel Powell
  • 10. Die Hard
    This movie owes everything to Bruce Willis' coolness.
  • 9. Superman 2
  • 8. Back to the Future, part 1 ('85)
    It's getting closer to 2015. Where's the flying cars and Mr. Fusion?
  • 7. Return of the Jedi ('83)
  • 6. Raiders of the Lost Ark ('81)
    classic
  • 5. E.T. ('82)
    There need to be more movies that really capture what childhood was like (i.e., Goonies, It, Stand by Me)
  • 4. Top Gun ('86)
    remember when Bruckheimer used to produce good films?
  • 3. The Abyss ('89)
    Probably the most underated film ever. (Another of Cameron's, of course)
  • 2. Aliens ('86)
    A rare triumph of a sequel. The first was great. The second was better. Score one more for Cameron
  • 1. The Terminator ('84)
    the breakthrough film for Hollywood's most talented director, James Cameron
Cameron, get off your butt and make another movie.
By: Glen Doolan
  • 10. Lost Boys
    Super cool.
  • 9. Licence to Drive
    Had to fit Corey Haim and Corey Feldman into the list somewhere.
  • 8. Ghostbusters
    One of the funniest movies of the 80s, and showing Murray and Ackroyd at their best.
  • 7. Ferris
    Absolutely fantastic. A perfect film for Jennifer Grey... who also deserves to have 'dirty dancing' in the list.
  • 6. Weird Science.
    Anthony Michael Hall at his best.
  • 5. Empire of the Sun.
    Spielberg at his best.... with the best music since 'platoon'.
  • 4. Pump up the Volume
    Technically, a 1990 movie. But deserves to be regarded with all the John Hughes films about high school.
  • 3. Stand by me
    I get something out of this movie even after watching it 20 times.
  • 2. The Breakfast Club
    The definitive 80's movie.... with the soundtrack of the 80's.
  • 1. 16 Candles
    Me and my friends all wanted a girl like Molly.... still do.
The runners up - Heathers, Goonies, Karate Kid, Red October, Pretty in Pink, Gods must be crazy, Big trouble in little china, Raiders of the lost ark.
By: Allison Reimers
  • 10. Bull Durham
    Hot, hot, hot and I don't even care for baseball. Kevin Costner was amazing and Susan Sarandon smouldered.
  • 9. Die Hard
    Another good old action movie. Loved the cop on the outside with the Twinkies and crazed bad guy Alexander Gudonov.
  • 8. Batman
    Saw this in July 2 weeks before my first baby arrived. Don't know if I went to the theater more for the movie or for the air conditioning. No one has made a better comic book villian than Jack Nicholson's Joker. Collin Ferrell should have watched it before he signed on for Daredevil.
  • 7. Lethal Weapon
    Boy they've driven the buddy cop movie into the ground haven't they? This was where it all started and, in the beginning, it was pretty darn good. I saw this one in the theater 4 times and sorry but it wasn't to look at Danny Glover.
  • 6. Dark Crystal
    Jim Henson was a genius. Even though this movie missed the mark slightly the effort alone was astonishing. One of the first really good fantasy worlds put on the screen.
  • 5. Risky Business
    I snuck into this one when I was 16. You can't beat a movie with a character named Guido the Killer Pimp!
  • 4. Terminator
    The original and the best. Low budget, dark, grungy and scary as hell.
  • 3. Tess of the D'Urbervilles
    Nastasia Kinski was so beautiful in this film. I think it was the first really grown-up movie I saw in the theater and I'm still waiting for the dvd.
  • 2. Platoon
    When Adagio for Strings plays at the end of this movie as the helicopter is taking Charlie Sheen away I tear up every time thinking about the loss of innocence that comes with war.
  • 1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
    This movie took my breath away. It was funny, scary and relentlessly exciting and when I left the theater I was totally in love with Harrison Ford.
By: Sara
By: Imran Mohammed
  • 10. Commando (1985)
    Arnie at his very very best!! This is also one of the most violent films ever and showcases Arnie as the one-man army he was born to be!! A great cheesy 80s soundtrack too ensures its such a great 80s film!
  • 9. Day Of The Dead (1985)
    Part of George Romero's Trilogy Of The Dead, this film has the best zombie effects you will EVER see!!! A great great film!
  • 8. The Living Daylights (1987)
    My fave James Bond film, and rightly so! Its a great movie with my fave Bond actor, Timothy Dalton with that kick ass Aston Martin V8 Coupe. Why cant I have rockets behind my fog-lights!!!
  • 7. E.T (1982)
    The first 80s film I saw cos my mum taped it for me when I was 2 months old. Thank god she did, endless hours of fun this film is!
  • 6. The Terminator (1984)
    Along with RoboCop, this si my fave Sci-Fi film ever. Who does NOT like this film? Thought so, nobody!
  • 5. The Breakfast Club (1985)
    Believe it or not, I just saw this film a week ago for the first time, why didnt I see it back then!!?? Such a good film!! Characterises school-kids PERFECTLY!!
  • 4. Batman (1989)
    One of the first 80s films I saw, a great, dark and broody movie that just kicks ass, just like Batman did to Joker!
  • 3. Back To The Future II (1989)
    Once again, this film made me want to grow up to be Michael J. Fox!
  • 2. Back To The Future (1985)
    Self-explanatory, one of the best films ever... nuff said
  • 1. RoboCop (1987)
    My fave, this film just oozes class! For 1980s standards, RoboCops costume was absolutly fantastic. Very violent, the way I like it! RoboCops gun is still my no.1 christmas present!

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