The 1980s were a decade filled with excess, but at the movie theater, there was plenty of great stuff worth checking out. From action movies that stand the test of time to more independent fare, the decade was filled with movies that were destined to become classics, and in the decades since, that’s exactly what’s happened.
While naming the best movies of the 1980s is an exercise that necessarily requires some exclusion, we’ve done our best to narrow down the best films of the decade below. If you’re looking for a specific genre, we’ve also run down the best horror movies of the 1980s and the best action movies of the 1980s.
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Blue Velvet (1986)
120m
Genre
Mystery, Thriller, Crime
Stars
Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper
Directed by
David Lynch
Watch on Amazon
David Lynch had been working in Hollywood for almost a decade by the time Blue Velvet hit theaters, but this may be the first movie he ever made that fully defined the director’s obsessions. The film, which tells the story of a young man who becomes wrapped up in a murder investigation after finding a severed ear in the middle of the woods, is all about the ways that the niceness of the suburbs hides a deeper and truer darkness and the ways in which a person can be simultaneously intrigued and repulsed by that darkness. It’s a bewitching, horrific film.
Raging Bull (1980)
129m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci
Directed by
Martin Scorsese
Watch on Amazon
One of Martin Scorsese’s undeniable masterpieces, Raging Bull tells the story of Jake La Motta, a one-time boxing champion who was never fully able to get out of his own way. Over the course of the movie, we watch as Jake alienates everyone in his life, from his wife to his brother, and finds himself incapable of doing anything without resorting to violence. Robert De Niro’s central performance is one of the best of his career, and the movie itself is a study of the way men bottle up their emotions to the detriment of themselves and those around them.
Blade Runner (1982)
118m
Genre
Science Fiction, Drama, Thriller
Stars
Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young
Directed by
Ridley Scott
Watch on Amazon
An era-defining sci-fi classic, Blade Runner may be one of the more influential movies ever made. Of course, influential movies don’t have to be good, but Blade Runner manages to be both. The film is set in a future where androids known as replicants exist alongside humanity, and humans have also colonized parts of the galaxy. It follows Deckard, a private investigator assigned to take down a group of rogue replicants who have started to disobey their orders. Blade Runner is an examination of what makes us human, and it also features some of the most astounding production design of the decade.
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Of all the movies on this list, Do the Right Thing is the one that remains the most profoundly relevant. The film tells the story of the largely Black residents of a single block in Brooklyn on the hottest day of the year. Racial tensions on the block heighten as the day wears on, and the community must reckon with all of the ways they feel marginalized even within their own circle of influence. The movie’s shocking but inevitable conclusion will leave you with plenty to think about, and also remind you how little progress we’ve made since 1989.
Ran (1985)
160m
Genre
Action, Drama, History
Stars
Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu
Directed by
Akira Kurosawa
Watch on Amazon
Akira Kurosawa was one of the great masters in the history of cinema, and Ran was his last great epic. Adapted from King Lear, the story follows a warlord who decides to divide his kingdom up among his three sons. As they begin to turn on one another, though, we see the kingdom brought to its knees as they battle for ultimate control. Featuring stunning and elaborate set pieces, some wonderful performances, and a wistful tone, Ran is a reminder that a father’s most lasting legacy is ultimately whatever his children do after he’s gone.
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
103m
Genre
Crime, Documentary
Stars
Randall Adams, David Harris, Gus Rose
Directed by
Errol Morris
Watch on Netflix
One of the most pivotal true crime stories ever told, The Thin Blue Line examines, in sometimes excruciating detail, the case of a man who was wrongfully imprisoned for killing a cop. The argument made by the film was so convincing that authorities actually took another look at the case, but The Thin Blue Line is not one this list just because it had a real-world impact. So much of modern true crime owes this movie a debt, but this documentary is more careful and precise than most modern products, and it’s riveting in part because it becomes so interested in the details.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
115m
Genre
Adventure, Action
Stars
Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman
Directed by
Steven Spielberg
Watch on Amazon
Steven Spielberg had a pretty good run in the 1980s, but Raiders of the Lost Ark may be the pinnacle of it. The film that introduced us to Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark is a rip-roaring adventure film that features what amounts to a pretty impeccable script, which Spielberg directs to perfection. Raiders of the Lost Ark is probably the best place to start if you want a great adventure film featuring a top-tier Harrison Ford performance. The sequels vary in quality, but this first installment is about as good as big-budget filmmaking gets.
sex, lies, and videotape (1989)
101m
Genre
Drama
Stars
Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher, James Spader
Directed by
Steven Soderbergh
Watch on Amazon
An unusual, deeply captivating indie from Steven Soderbergh near the beginning of his career, Sex, Lies, and Videotape details the love lives of a quartet of characters as they bounce off of one another. The film’s central hook is a drifter who stays with a married couple and slowly reveals that he likes to film women as they talk about their sexual desires. That videotaping ultimately leads several of the film’s central characters to startling revelations about their own lives, and the movie feels like a thoughtful and somewhat revolutionary look at what it means to actually say what you want in the bedroom.
The Thing (1982)
109m
Genre
Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction
Stars
Kurt Russell, Keith David, Wilford Brimley
Directed by
John Carpenter
Watch on Peacock
John Carpenter’s magnum opus, The Thing tells the story of a group of researchers living in the middle of the arctic who take in a dog and discover that it’s actually an alien capable of becoming anything it kills. As the crew begins to suspect that someone among them is picking them off, they go to increasingly elaborate measures to hunt out the imposter. Thrilling from beginning to end, The Thing also features incredible effects sequences, and never lets up on the tension that provides it with its defining rhythm. Kurt Russell has truly never been better.
