MY TOP 10s OF THE 1980S
1989
1 The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover France-Netherlands
Greenaway, Peter
2 The Killer
Hong Kong
Woo, John
3 Roger & Me
USA
Moore, Michael
4 Mystery Train
USA
Jarmusch, Jim
5 My 20th Century
Hungary
Enyedi, Ildiko
6 Monsieur Hire
France
Leconte, Patrice
7 Kiki's Delivery Service
Japan
Miyazaki, Hayao
8 A City of Sadness
Taiwan Hou
Hsiao-hsien
9 Do the Right Thing
USA
Lee, Spike
10 Jesus of Montreal
Canada-France Arcand, Denys
Honorable mention: Crimes and Misdemeanors. Critical
consensus: Do the Right Thing. This was the year that Peter Greenaway and
John Woo would both make the films for which they would become best known. Jim Jarmusch,
who had helped start the latest low-budget American indie movement with his 1984
Stranger Than Paradise, came out with one of his best works, Mystery Train.
Spike Lee, also in this "sub-genre," made his best film, Do the Right
Thing.
1988
1 My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro) Japan
Miyazaki, Hayao
2 Pelle the Conquerer
Denmark
August, Billie
3 Wings of Desire
Germany-France Wenders, Wim
4 Running on Empty
USA
Lumet, Sidney
5 Midnight Run
USA
Brest, Martin
6 La Lectrice
France
Deville, Michel
7 Drowning by Numbers
Britain
Greenaway, Peter
8 Salaam Bombay!
India
Nair, Mira
9 Akira
Japan
Katsuhiro Otomo
10 High Hopes
Britain
Leigh, Mike
Honorable mention: The Last Temptation of Christ; Powaqqatsi. Critical
consensus: The Decalogue. A strong year for films, anime produced two of its
enduring classics, Akira and Tonari no Totoro.
1987
1 Hope and Glory
Britain
Boorman, John
2 Dust in the Wind
Taiwan Hou
Hsiao-hsien
3 Full Metal Jacket
USA
Kubrick, Stanley
4 Red Sorghum
China
Yimou, Zhang
5 Law of Desire
Spain
Almodovar, Pedro
6 4 Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle France
Rohmer, Eric
7 Project A, Part II
Hong Kong Chan,
Jackie
8 City on Fire
Hong Kong
Lam, Ringo
9 The Princess Bride
USA
Reiner, Rob
10 Raising Arizona
USA
Coen, Joel
Honorable mention: A Chinese Ghost
Story; The Last Emperor; Where Is the Friend's Home?. Critical
consensus: The Dead. Zhang Yimou's first and best film, Red Sorghum,
came out this year.
1986
1 Tampopo
Japan
Itami, Juzo
2 Mauvais sang (Bad Blood)
France Carax,
Leos
3 Hannah and Her Sisters
USA
Allen, Woody
4 Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring France
Berri, Claude
5 Aliens
USA
Cameron, James
6 Peking Opera Blues
Hong Kong Tsui Hark
7 The Sacrifice
Sweden-France
Tarkovsky, Andrei
8 A Room with a View
Britain Ivory,
James
9 The Terrorizer
Taiwan-Hong Kong Yang, Edward
10 Laputa: Castle in the Sky
Japan
Miyazaki, Hayao
Honorable mention: Blue Velvet; Hibiscus Town; Platoon;
Summer (The Green Ray). Critical consensus: Blue Velvet. Hollywood's
age of the blockbuster was in full bloom by this time, and James Cameron became its icon
as Steven Spielberg began pursuing "more serious" subject matter. Cameron
produced Aliens, one of very few financially successful action films with a
woman playing the lead. Foreign films were beginning their distribution slide in the
United States, though Claude Berri's Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring
received a good reception.
1985
1 Ran
Japan
Kurosawa, Akira
2 The Time to Live and the Time to Die Taiwan
Hou Hsiao-hsien
3 My Life as a Dog
Sweden
Hallstrom, Lasse
4 Tapei Story
Taiwan
Yang, Edward
5 Come and See
Russia Klimov,
Elem
6 Brazil
USA
Gilliam, Terry
7 Police Story
Hong Kong
Chan, Jackie
8 Vagabond
France
Varda, Agnes
9 A Zed & Two Noughts
Britain-Netherlands Greenaway, Peter
10 Chronos
USA
Fricke, Ron
Honorable mention: Re-Animator, When Father Was Away on
Business. Critical consensus: Ran. Hou Hsaio-hsien's The Time
to Live and the Time to Die and Edward Yang's Tapei Story helped mark the
beginning of a decade of stunning films from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The
most famous of these directors were Hou, Yang, Tsai Ming-liang, Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige,
Tsui Hark, John Woo and Wong Kar Wai.
1984
1 Amadeus
USA
Forman, Milos
2 Hail Mary
France-Switzerland Godard,
Jean-Luc
3 A Summer at Grandpa's
Taiwan Hou
Hsaio-hsien
4 The Terminator
USA
Cameron, James
5 This Is Spinal Tap
USA
Reiner, Rob
6 Paris, Texas
Germany-France
Wenders, Wim
7 The Times of Harvey Milk
USA
Epstein, Robert
8 Once Upon a Time in America
USA Leone, Sergio
9 My Friend Ivan Lapshin
Russia Gherman,
Alexei
10 Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind Japan
Miyazaki,
Hayao
Honorable mention: Indiana
Jones and the Temple of Doom; Repo Man. Critical
consensus: Once Upon a Time in America.
1983
1 Koyaanisqatsi
USA
Reggio, Godfrey
2 The King of Comedy
USA
Scorsese, Martin
3 Fanny and Alexander
Sweden
Bergman, Ingmar
4 First Name: Carmen
France-Switzerland Godard, Jean-Luc
5 Local Hero
Britain
Forsyth, Bill
6 Nostalghia
Italy
Tarkovsky, Andrei
7 Return of the Jedi
USA
Marquand, Richard
8 Terms of Endearment
USA
Brooks, James L.
9 Octopussy
Britain
Glen, John
10 National Lampoon's Vacation
USA Ramis, Harold
Critical consensus: Fanny and Alexander. Ingmar Bergman more or less retired
from film directing with Fanny and Alexander.
1982
1 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
USA
Meyer, Nicholas
2 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
USA
Spielberg, Steven
3 The Night of the Shooting Stars
Italy
Taviani brothers
4 Burden of Dreams
USA
Blank, Les
5 Fitzcarraldo
Germany
Herzog, Werner
6 On Top of the Whale
Netherlands
Ruiz, Raul
7 Passion
France-Switzerland Godard, Jean-Luc
8 Danton
France-Poland Wajda, Andrzej
9 Conan the Barbarian
USA
Milius, John
10 Moonlighting
Britain
Skolimowski, Jerzy
Honorable
mention: Blade Runner; Fast Times at Ridgemont High; Poltergeist;
The World According to Garp. Critical consensus: Blade Runner.
1981
1 Whose Life Is It, Anyway?
USA Badham, John
2 The Road Warrior (Mad Max 2)
Australia Miller, George
3 Atlantic City
Canada-France Malle,
Louis
4 My Dinner With Andre
USA Malle,
Louis
5 Excalibur
Britain
Boorman, John
6 Raiders of the Lost Ark
USA
Spielberg, Steven
7 Beau Pere
France
Blier, Bertrand
8 Heavy Metal
Canada
Potterton, Gerald
9 Pennies From
Heaven
USA
Ross, Herbert
10 Dragonslayer
USA
Robbins, Matthew
Honorable mention: The Howling; Stripes.
Critical consensus: Raiders of the Lost Ark.
1980
1 The Empire Strikes Back
USA
Kershner, Irvin
2 Mon Oncle d'Amerique
France
Resnais, Alain
3 Raging Bull
USA
Scorsese, Martin
4 Berlin Alexanderplatz
Germany
Fassbinder, Rainer W.
5 Kagemusha
Japan
Kurosawa, Akira
6 The Falls
Britain
Greenaway, Peter
7 The Aviator's Wife
France Rohmer,
Eric
8 Superman II
USA Lester,
Richard
9 Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession Britain
Roeg, Nicolas
10 The Shining
USA
Kubrick, Stanley
Critical consensus: Raging Bull. Honorable mention: From Mao
to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China; The Long Good Friday; The Shining. Raging
Bull could be seen as the last gasp of America's Golden Age films of the 1970s in
which filmmakers like Scorsese, Altman, Ashby, and Coppola pursued the Great American
Film, not the great profit-making film. Meanwhile, Fassbinder would produce his
masterpiece, the 15-hour plus Berlin Alexanderplatz. Fassbinder died 2 years later
after his last film Querelle.