1980s

view as simple top tens

1989

1 DO THE RIGHT THING (Spike Lee)
2 SWEETIE (Jane Campion)
3 CASUALTIES OF WAR (Brian De Palma)
4 THE CHURCH (Michele Soavi)
5 STREET OF NO RETURN (Samuel Fuller)
6 BLACK RAIN (Shohei Imamura)
7 VISIONS IN MEDITATION #2: MESA VERDE (Stan Brakhage)
8 SKIN DEEP (Blake Edwards)
9 ELEPHANT (Alan Clarke)
10 KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE (Hayao Miyazaki)
11 CAMP DE THIAROYE (Ousmane Sembene)
12 SAY ANYTHING… (Cameron Crowe)
13 DRUGSTORE COWBOY (Gus Van Sant)
14 THE OWL'S LEGACY (Chris Marker) [TV Series]
15 THE TIME OF THE GYPSIES (Emir Kusturica)
16 ALWAYS (Steven Spielberg)
17 THE CYCLIST (Mohsen Makhmalbaf)
18 THE 'BURBS (Joe Dante)
19 THE SEVENTH CONTINENT (Michael Haneke)
20 VIOLENT COP (Takeshi Kitano)
21 HE WAS ONCE (Mary Hestand)

1988

1 DAYS OF ECLIPSE (Alexander Sokurov)
2 DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES (Terence Davies)
3 MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (Hayao Miyazaki)
4 TALES FROM THE GIMLI HOSPITAL (Guy Maddin)
5 THEY LIVE (John Carpenter)
6 A SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING (Krzysztof Kieslowski)
7 TANNER '88 (Robert Altman) [TV Series]
8 THE THIN BLUE LINE (Errol Morris)
9 SUNSET (Blake Edwards)
10 THE MODERNS (Alan Rudolph)
11 FRANTIC (Roman Polanski)
12 THE FIRM (Alan Clarke)
13 WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (Robert Zemeckis)
14 THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING (Philip Kaufman)
15 MARIA (Alexander Sokurov)

1987


1 HOUSEKEEPING (Bill Forsyth)
2 WHERE IS THE FRIEND'S HOME? (Abbas Kiarostami)
3 RAISING ARIZONA (Joel Coen)
4 HOUSE OF GAMES (David Mamet)
5 INNERSPACE (Joe Dante)
6 FOUR ADVENTURES OF REINETTE AND MIRABELLE (Eric Rohmer)
7 KING LEAR (Jean-Luc Godard)
8 FULL METAL JACKET (Stanley Kubrick)
9 PRINCE OF DARKNESS (John Carpenter)
10 THREE O'CLOCK HIGH (Phil Joanou)
11 MOURNFUL INDIFFERENCE (Alexander Sokurov)
12 THE BIG EASY (Jim McBride)

1986

1 THE SACRIFICE (Andrei Tarkovsky)
2 MANHUNTER (Michael Mann)
3 BLUE VELVET (David Lynch)
4 THE SINGING DETECTIVE (Jon Amiel; created by Dennis Potter) [TV miniseries]
5 LE RAYON VERT (Eric Rohmer)
6 SHERMAN'S MARCH (Ross McElwee)
7 ROUTINE PLEASURES (Jean-Pierre Gorin)
8 ALIENS (James Cameron)
9 HEARTBREAK RIDGE (Clint Eastwood)
10 CRIME STORY (Abel Ferrara): "Pilot" [TV Program]
11 LAPUTA: CASTLE IN THE SKY (Hayao Miyazaki)

1985

1 VAGABOND (Agnès Varda)
2 AFTER HOURS (Martin Scorsese)
3 CRIME WAVE (John Paizs)
4 PALE RIDER (Clint Eastwood)
5 TAMPOPO (Juzo Itami)
6 THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (Dan O'Bannon)
7 HAIL MARY (Jean-Luc Godard)
8 INTO THE NIGHT (John Landis)
9 LOST IN AMERICA (Albert Brooks)
10 THE TWILIGHT ZONE: "Little Boy Lost" (Tommy Lee Wallace) [TV Program]
11 DETECTIVE (Jean-Luc Godard)
12 RAN (Akira Kurosawa)
13 COME AND SEE (Elem Klimov)
14 DAY OF THE DEAD (George A. Romero)
15 EXPLORERS (Joe Dante)

1984

1 STRANGER THAN PARADISE (Jim Jarmusch)
2 THE NEVERENDING STORY (Wolfgang Petersen)
3 STREETS OF FIRE (Walter Hill)
4 FULL MOON IN PARIS (Eric Rohmer)
5 THE KILLING FIELDS (Roland Joffé)
6 THE SPIRIT OF CHARLES LINDBERGH (Orson Welles)
7 REPO MAN (Alex Cox)
8 LOVE STREAMS (John Cassavetes)
9 THE HIT (Stephen Frears)
10 NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WINDS (Hayao Miyazaki)
11 ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (Sergio Leone)
12 BLOOD SIMPLE (Joel Coen)
13 PARIS, TEXAS (Wim Wenders)
14 STANDARD GAUGE (Morgan Fisher)

1983

1 L'ARGENT (Robert Bresson)
2 À NOS AMOURS (Maurice Pialat)
3 SANS SOLEIL (Chris Marker)
4 CHRISTINE (John Carpenter)
5 THREE CROWNS OF THE SAILOR (Raoul Ruiz)
6 ZU: WARRIORS FROM THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN (Tsui Hark)
7 CRACKING UP (Jerry Lewis)
8 MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE (Nagisa Oshima)
9 UNCOMMON VALOR (Ted Kotcheff)
10 NEVER CRY WOLF (Carroll Ballard)
11 RETURN OF THE JEDI (Richard Marquand)
12 VIDEODROME (David Cronenberg)

1982

1 BLADE RUNNER (Ridley Scott)
2 WHITE DOG (Samuel Fuller)
3 BALLAD OF NARAYAMA (Shohei Imamura)
4 NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS (Taviani brothers)
5 POLTERGEIST (Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg)
6 THE THING (John Carpenter)
7 EUREKA (Nicolas Roeg)
8 HONKYTONK MAN (Clint Eastwood)
9 THE DREAMERS (Orson Welles) [Munich construction]
10 LE BEAU MARIAGE (Eric Rohmer)
11 ONE FROM THE HEART (Francis Ford Coppola)
12 THE GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF HOME (Hou Hsiao-hsien)

1981

1 MODERN ROMANCE (Albert Brooks)
2 CUTTER'S WAY (Ivan Passer)
3 SPRINGTIME IN GREENLAND (John Paisz)
4 ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (John Carpenter)
5 DRAGONSLAYER (Matthew Robbins)
6 THIEF (Michael Mann)
7 LOLA (Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
8 THE HOWLING (Joe Dante)
9 FRANCISCA (Manoel de Oliveira)
10 KNIGHTRIDERS (George A. Romero)
11 SOUTHERN COMFORT (Walter Hill)

1980


1 HEAVEN'S GATE (Michael Cimino)
2 DRESSED TO KILL (Brian De Palma)
3 THE BIG RED ONE (Samuel Fuller)
4 THE LONG RIDERS (Walter Hill)
5 THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (Irvin Kershner)
6 BAD TIMING: A SENSUAL OBSESSION (Nicolas Roeg)
7 RAGING BULL (Martin Scorsese)
8 ZIGEUNERWEISEN (Seijun Suzuki)
9 LE VOYAGE EN DOUCE (Michel Deville)
10 THE ELEPHANT MAN (David Lynch)
11 GROWN-UPS (Mike Leigh)
12 CATHERINE DE HEILBRONN (Eric Rohmer) [TV Program]

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