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: Matserande
By: Crystal
  • 10. About Last Night
    The classic story of a one night stand gone awry
  • 9. St. Elmo's Fire
    The brat pack does it again!!!
  • 8. The Breakfast Club
    Everyone in this movie was great!
  • 7. Sixteen Candles
    The Geek!!! Anthony Michael Hall....WOW!!
  • 6. Witches of Eastwick
    There is just something about Jack Nicholson that drives me crazy!!!
  • 5. Mask
    Again...Eric Stoltz. Need I say more?!?
  • 4. Pretty in Pink
    I will forever love Ducky!!
  • 3. Some Kind Of Wonderful
    Eric Stoltz is so adorable....how could any girl NOT fall in love with him??
  • 2. The Goonies
    So funny!!! I bought it as soon as it came out on DVD
  • 1. The Lost Boys
    Awesome movie with some of my favorite actors!!
Wow! The eighties....gotta love 'em. It's so good to see a lot of the eighties actors on screen and tv again!!
By: Jerry in Gladstone Oregon
  • 10. At Close Range
    Sean Penn and Christopher Walken play son and estranged father to the hilt. Madonna's haunting, Live to Tell is the perfect movie song... and who doesn't love Mary Stuart Masterson?
  • 9. Trains, Planes & Automobiles
    Never has Thanksgiving had a better calling card of humor. John Candy and Steve Martin are excellent and the scene with the Rental Car Lady is absolutely hilarious
  • 8. Mystic Pizza
    Hands down, the best pre-Erin Brokovich role of Julia Roberts' career. This movie only gets better with time, and if you haven't seen this and you're a girl... turn in your skirt!
  • 7. Full Metal Jacket
    Stanley Kubrick released this after Platoon, and you know what... it was better.
  • 6. Arthur
    "Hobson, do you know what the worse thing of being me is?" "I would think your breath in the morning?" Can you think of a funnier, second by second film than Arthur? Nope, me neither. Sir John Gilgud, Dudley Moore and Liza Minelli... great cast, great movie
  • 5. Caddyshack
    Are you kidding me... need we say anymore about this no holds barred comedy with Carl the Gardner, Ty the Playboy, Judge Smales or the obnoxious Rodney Dangerfield character who no one wants in their snobby club? By the way, Dangerfield not being nominated for an Academy Award in this performance still to this day, ticks me off.
  • 4. Bronco Billy
    Clint Eastwood needs to be on everyone's list, for any decade in the past 5, because he's that good. Between his Every Which Way But Loose and Any Which Way You Can movies, a movie with little fanfare was Bronco Billy. Eastwood plays the title chracter, and his group of friends who make up Bronco Billy's Wild West Show is a bunch of people who had a dream, like he, to just be want they wanted to be and entertain people. Sandra Locke plays, Miss. Lily, and it's her role that brings out that softer side in Eastwood, we didn't see as much until the 90's. Great, funny, classy entertainment on a thin budget.
  • 3. Manhunter
    Ok, I realize most people saw the chracter Hannibal Lecter in the Silence of The Lambs, played by Anthony Hopkins. In Manhunter, released years earlier than Silence, Lecter is played by a virtual nobody in the movie. He is merely a big man in a cell, and he's scarier and more believable to me, as the all knowing "insane" pathological killer. William Petersen, known better for his role on CSI is incredible in the role later made famous by Jodie Foster, as the police detective who is trying to catch the "Tooth Fairy" by understanding Lecter's tendencies to understand what the "Tooth Fairy" might do next. Awesome... and much better than Silence of The Lambs... guaranteed.
  • 2. House of Games
    Joe Mantegna and Lindsay Crouse in a David Mamet classic that made Gene Siskel's Top 10 Films ever list (not bad). This movie is one of those "who-dunnits" where you truly are amazed by how the movie turns on itself, never cheating the audience, yet always keeping you on the edge of your seat. A masterpiece
  • 1. Say Anything
    John Cusack and Ione Skye did a masterpiece here, and they clebrated my graduating class, 1986, in the process. Love stories that were funny and poignant, like love truly is has never been better. Oh, and "In Your Eyes"... the way Lloyd Dobbler held up that boombox... who didn't wish he was that guy, doing that, or that girl, having a guy doing that? (have to add this) "Every song I've ever written is about Joe." "Dude, why do you hang around her, screwin' with her mind?" "Man, I've got all of her tapes... someday they're going to be valuable" Classic
I have a listing of the top 167, and counting, movies I've ever seen. Amongst those, currently, there are 38 from the 80's. Not making my list but still thought of highly, Risky Business, Amadeus, Sex Lies & Videotape, 9 - 5, Airplane!, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Stand By Me, STripes, A Christmas Story, Birdy, Lost In America, Bull Durham, Hollywood Shuffle, Diner, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid and Hannah & Her Sisters, to name a very few of the deserving. I hope you like my list, and if you haven't seen any of these, you owe it to yourself to see them... They're all Wonderful.
By: Amanda
  • 10. Parenthood
    I loove Steve Martin! this is a funny movie...I love it!!!
  • 9. Back to the Future
    Who doesn't love Marty singing "Johnny B Goode"?
  • 8. Edward Scissorhands
    Johnny Depp...nuff said
  • 7. Flashdance
    fun, who doesn't love this movie?
  • 6. Footloose
    I love movies that make you wanna dance (see 1 and 7)
  • 5. Stand By Me
    I love friendship, suspense, and drama filled movies. It rocks!!
  • 4. The Goonies
    fun, adventurous, nuff said...
  • 3. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
    soo much fun. love it!
  • 2. The Breakfast Club
    fun,original, its awesome I love it!!
  • 1. Dirty Dancing
    looove it!! not just my fave 80s movie, my fave of all time.
By: Kat
  • 10. Revenge of the Nerds
    This movie was my becon of hope. Haha.
  • 9. The Neverending Story
    I grew up loving this movie so much that I bought a big shaggy white dog and named him Urgle.
  • 8. Beetlejuice
    God, this movie is just so much fun. Tim Burton is a god among men, in my opinion. He's a genius.
  • 7. Footloose
    This movie taught me how to dance. I know it's corny, but seriously, if I had never seen this movie, I would be a wallflower, not to mention I wouldn't know how to play chicken. ;)
  • 6. A Christmas Story
    This movie is one that everyone on Earth should see. Who doesn't see themselves in the little face of Ralphie, if even for a little bit?
  • 5. Flashdance
    I can't watch this movie and sit still at the same time. I always have to end up getting off the couch and dancing around the living room when the song 'She's a Maniac' comes on.
  • 4. Dirty Dancing
    "Nobody puts Baby in the corner." Best. Line. Ever.
  • 3. The Breakfast Club
    I just watched this movie the other night. I used to call it my Saturday movie, cause when I was younger I would watch it every Saturday morning instead of cartoons like all the other kids my age.
  • 2. The Princess Bride
    God this movie was georgous. I loved every second of it as a kid and grew up saying phrases from it, like "Yes, you're very smart. Shut up."
  • 1. Ferris Beuller's Day Off
    Ever since I first saw this movie, I've always wanted to jump a float and start singing, "Donke Shoen..."
I watch too many 80's movies for a kid my age....*sigh*
By: sparkie
By: Andrew Squire
The eighties was a decade of high school classics, teen adventure and new ambitions.
By: Mysha
  • 10. Beetlejuice
    Winona was the perfect early Goth!!!
  • 9. Time Bandits
    Perfect
  • 8. Princess Bride
    One of the best movies of all time!
  • 7. Back To The Future
    It was a great story and was very entertaining!
  • 6. Ferris Buellers Day Off
    I laughed alot!
  • 5. Goonies
    so perfect!!!
  • 4. The Outsiders
    Amazing...true to the book in every way!!!
  • 3. Pretty in Pink
    I liked this one it was true to what really goes on with teens!!!
  • 2. Sixteen Candles
    I liked it because every teen has felt at one point forgotten about and alone!!!
  • 1. Breakfast Club
    This movie really illistrates how social groups put pressure on who you can hang out with! I loved it!!!!
All these movies may have been before my time but I love them any way...they all have a certain style theat makes them fun to watch!!!
By: Mysha
  • 10. Beetlejuice
    Winona was the perfect early Goth!!!
  • 9. Time Bandits
    Perfect
  • 8. Princess Bride
    One of the best movies of all time!
  • 7. Back to the future
    It was a great story and was very entertaining!
  • 6. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
    I laughed alot!
  • 5. Goonies
    so perfect!!!
  • 4. The Outsiders
    Amazing...true to the book in every way!!!
  • 3. Pretty in Pink
    I liked this one it was true to what really goes on with teens!!!
  • 2. Sixteen Candles
    I liked it because every teen has felt at one point forgotten about and alone!!!
  • 1. Breakfast Club
    This movie really illistrates how social groups put pressure on who you can hang out with! I loved it!!!!
All these movies may have been before my time but I love them any way...they all have a certain style theat makes them fun to watch!!!
By: rebecca
Ralph Macchio..Ralph Macchio...but I'd have to go with Rob Lowe.
By: 80's fanatic
By: Steve Dimig
  • 10. Eating Raoul
    Underrated comedy. A hint of indie films to come.
  • 9. Color Purple
    The first hint that Spielberg could do something more than Raiders of the Lost Ark type fluff. This is still the only thing I like Oprah in.
  • 8. Raising Arizona
    I moved to Arizona in 1989 and it really was like the movie.
  • 7. Blue Velvet
    The weirdest movie I ever saw at the time.
  • 6. Paris, Texas
    I guess I am a sucker for Nastassia Kinski. Great sound track too.
  • 5. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
    What can I say? This is what High School was really like in So Cal (where I grew up) at the time. I related much more to this movie than say Breakfast Club or something like that.
  • 4. Rumble Fish
    I don't know why, but I loved this movie and still do.
  • 3. Blade Runner
    Very Dark and underrated sci-fi.
  • 2. The Shining
    I saw this movie opening weekend and it was the most scared I had ever been at a movie. I didn't let my friends know that though.
  • 1. Raging Bull
    Brilliant.
By: MELSA
By: Brian Long
  • 10. Platoon
    Never got too watch in 80's(too young) but have seen since and wot a film!
  • 9. The Karate Kid
    How many of us joined karate lessons....lol
  • 8. Back To The Future
    Wot a cool car....Wasn't einstein lucky?????
  • 7. Ghostbusters
    How many of s ran around the park shouting "Ghostbusters!!"
  • 6. E.T
    Phone home!!!! thats all i gotta say
  • 5. Return Of The Jedi
    Not as good as star wars but still a hit
  • 4. Weird Science
    just brought it on VHS.....cool!
  • 3. Stand By Me
    Remember the days when you were 13!!
  • 2. Top Gun
    Cooll movie "just a walk in the park"
  • 1. Electric Dreams
    Just can't buy anywhere, excellent movie about a computer and the vision they had then
the music in the 80's was so cool. I love listening to it and remembering it
By: Colin Henry (in no specific order)
Starwars, Breakfast club, Maximum Overdrive, Young guns 1-2, Friday the 13’Th (all), Nightmare on Elm Street(all), Rocky1-6, Porky’s 1-2, The last star fighter, Titanic (old), Blade 1-3, The burning, Cube 1-3, Mad Max 1-3, Braveheart, Highlander (all) and Leprechaun (All)
By: Colin Henry (in no specific order)
Starwars, Breakfast club, Maximum Overdrive, Young guns 1-2, Friday the 13’Th (all), Nightmare on Elm Street(all), Rocky1-6, Porky’s 1-2, The last star fighter, Titanic (old), Blade 1-3, The burning, Cube 1-3, Mad Max 1-3, Braveheart, Highlander (all) and Leprechaun (All)
By: river'sgirl
  • 10. Gremlins
    my favorite part is whe they are watching snow white, hi ho, hi ho.....
  • 9. The Karate Kid(s)
    wax on, wax off.
  • 8. Sixteen Candles
    long duk dong!
  • 7. Back To The Future(s)
    mc fly!
  • 6. The Breakfast Club
    i heard a ruckus!
  • 5. Explorers
    cute and little ethan hawke and river phoenix!
  • 4. The Outsiders
    kind of cheesy but has all the hot and great actors in one!
  • 3. PRETTY IN PINK
    one word: andrew mccarthy
  • 2. The Goonies
    adios sinorita!
  • 1. Stand By Me
    this is the best! river phoenix was so hot and played this role so perfect! R.I.P!
By: BAILEY
  • 10. The Breakfest Club
    A nerd,a perfect girl,a jock,a reble,a freak they make a perfect combo
  • 9. Raiders Of The Lost Ark
  • 8. Dead Line
    He can prevent the future
  • 7. The Nightmare On Elm Street
    1,2 Freddy coming for you 3,4 you better lock your door 5,6 better get your crusafix 7,8 better stay awake 9,10 never sleep again
  • 6. The Temple of Doom
    Harrison Ford was soooo awesome in this movie!!!
  • 5. Lost Boys
  • 4. Back to the future part 2
    Hello Mickfly!
  • 3. The Shining
    Here's Johnny!
  • 2. Sixteen Candles
    How would you feel if some one forgot your 16th bithday?
  • 1. The Goonies
    Hey you guys! I adore Data!
By: Karyshma

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