Best Films of The 80s (V2) [Poll][Dead] - Movies & TV

Hayden

Location: CDMX

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A nos amours,
cinema, paradiso,
nostalgia,
that day on the beach,
in the blue sea,
in the white foam…
I want to return to that day,
sans soleil,
a flor do mar,
toute une nuit—

When the wind blows
on the silver globe
stranger than paradise,
the time to live and
the time to die
near dark
as tears go by,
—Darkness
—Light,
—Darkness
Begotten!
the meaning of life
dust in the wind—

To sleep,
as to dream,
from beyond
damnation—
from beyond
the sacrifice—
from beyond
wings of desire—
o sangue!
black rain!
if I die,
forgive me,
bablyon / utopia /
forest of bliss /
castle in the sky /
Could one imagine?
arising from the surface
once more,
a better tomorrow—

Is it easy to be young?
The shining road
remains to be seen…
the narrow bridge
before my eyes
landscape in the mist—

Our voice of earth,
memory, and future,
threads the journey
out of the blue—
Yesterday?
time stands still…
blind…
meantime,
they live,
missing pieces,
somewhere in time,
and the ship sails on—

The gist/ rules:

BEA composes a list of our 100 favourite films of the 1980s. (Again! V2!). All lists will be PMed to me or posted in this thread, maxing out at 100. The final list will be 100 films. I'll be accepting lists of any denotation up to 100. The size of your list determines its weight. Films must be longer than 40 minutes. Films must have an international premiere date between January 1st 1980 and December 31st 1989. Documentaries are allowed. Miniseries (i.e. the entire Dekalog) are not. Comedy specials will not be accepted either. Live concerts will be discouraged, but not banned.

SUBCATAGORY
—10 Best Music Scores
Which you may submit up to 25, but the final lists will be the top 10.
(Music scores will only account for original material)

The Original list

Lists will also be accepted in IMDb and Letterboxd format. Deadline will be November 20th.

Ineligible Releases:
Deklog (in entirety)
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Vincent

Eligible Releases:
Shoah
A Short Film About Love
A Short Film About Killing
Das Boot
Fanny & Alexander
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

Notes:
—More notes will come if things get complicated

Last edited by Hayden on 11/21/2022 12:44; edited 8 times in total

BozoTyrannus

Gender: Male
Age: 31

Shoot. The 80s are my weakest decade. This is going to take me a while to assemble.
_________________
I wanna take Sean Penn
And take Sean Bean
Put 'em in a blender
And make Sean Pean

Applerill
Autistic Princess <3

Gender: Female
Age: 30
Location: Chicago

1. Police Story
2. So Is this
3. Pink Floyd The Wall
4. Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
5. Near Death
6. Polyester
7. Damnation
8. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
9. Landscape in the Mist
10. Robocop
11. Tetsuo: The Iron Man
12. For All Mankind
13. City of Pirates
14. Streetwise
15. Come and See
16. Heathers
17. Children of Darkness
18. The Killer
19. One Day Pina Asked
20. Neko z Alenky
21. Das Boot
22. Hail Mary
23. Re-Animator
24. Shoah
25. Grave of the Fireflies
26. Evil Dead II
27. Possession
28. Too Early Too Late
29. The Breakfast Club
30. Brazil
31. Mystery Train
32. The Naked Gun
33. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
34. L'Argent
35. Ethnic Notions
36. Predator
37. Damned If You Don't
38. Blue Velvet
39. Big
40. Christine
41. The Seventh Continent
42. Blood Simple
43. Cinema Paradiso
44. My Life As a Dog
45. Bad Timing
46. Guinea Pig: Flowers of Flesh and Blood
47. Route One USA
48. Rhinestone
49. Landscape Suicide
50. The Sacrifice
51. Things
52. Love Streams
53. Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years
54. Something Wild
55. Crimes & Misdemeanors
56. Ms. 45
57. ET
58. Mishima
59 Illuminated Texts
60. Sweetie
61. The Prodigal Planet (the final entry in that Thief in the Night series)
62. Personal Problems
63. Unsane
64. Roger & Me
65. The Cook, the Thief, the Wife & Her Lover
66. Mommie Dearest
67. The Karate Kid
68. Secret Honor
69. Near Dark
70. Drugstore Cowboy
71. Leningrad Cowboys Go America
72. Do the Right Thing
73. Fall Guy
74. The Thin Blue Line
75. Taxi Zum Klo

Last edited by Applerill on 11/03/2022 20:16; edited 4 times in total

BozoTyrannus

Gender: Male
Age: 31

Alright, let's give this a go:

1. Brazil
2. Ran
3. Amadeus
4. The Sacrifice
5. Grave of the Fireflies
6. Crimes and Misdemeanors
7. Blade Runner
8. Cinema Paradiso
9. Fitzcarraldo
10. Nostalghia
11. Stardust Memories
12. The Princess Bride
13. Come and See
14. Airplane!
15. Stop Making Sense
16. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
17. Joker The King of Comedy
18. Elephant Man
19. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension
20. Raising Arizona
21. Henry V
22. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
23. The Ballad of Narayama
24. Alice (Něco z Alenky)
25. A City of Sadness
26. The Killing Fields
27. Chronopolis
28. Time Banidts
29. Burden of Dreams
30. La Traviata
31. Koyaanisqatsi
32. Yeelen
33. Down by Law
34. Pink Floyd - The Wall
35. Strange Brew
36. The Vanishing
37. Aliens
38. Rigoletto
39. Batman
40. ...and the Ship Sails On
41. Zelig
42. A Short Film About Love
43. Heaven's Gate [Director's Cut, if that counts]
44. Kagemusha
45. Pennies From Heaven
46. The Living Daylights
47. Paris, Texas
48. Shoah
49. The Stuff
50. Le Bal
51. Sans Soleil
52. A Short Film About Killing
53. Au Revoir les Enfants
54. Little Shop of Horrors
55. The Stunt Man
56. Babette's Feast
57. Blues Brothers
58. On the Silver Globe
59. Naked Gun
60. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
61. The Purple Rose of Cairo
62. The Mission
63. After Hours
64. Salaam Bombay!
65. Where is the Friend's Home?
66. Dead Poets Society
67. Creepozoids
68. Driving Miss Daisy
69. Monty Python's the Meaning of Life
70. Sophie's Choice
71. Chocolat
72. The Breakfast Club
73. Terms of Endearment
74. Hannah and Her Sisters
75. They Live
76. Distant Voices, Still Lives
77. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
78. The Last Emperor
79. Good Morning, Vietnam
80. Camille Claudel
81. Tucker: The Man and His Dream
82. On Golden Pond
83. Licence to Kill
84. My Favorite Year
85. Empire of the Sun
86. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
87. Little Dorrit
88. Raiders of the Lost Ark
89. Otello
90. Pelle the Conqueror
91. Romancing the Stone
92. Mon oncle d'Amerique
93. Pale Rider
94. Reds
95. One From the Heart
96. Escape From New York
97. Cobra Verde
98. Tron
99. Pagliacci
100. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

(if the director's cut of Heaven's Gate is ineligible, or anything else, then my #101 would be Footloose, so you could slot that in as necessary)
_________________
I wanna take Sean Penn
And take Sean Bean
Put 'em in a blender
And make Sean Pean

Hayden

Location: CDMX

BozoTyrannus wrote:

Alright, let's give this a go:

(if the director's cut of Heaven's Gate is ineligible, or anything else, then my #101 would be Footloose, so you could slot that in as necessary)

List looks good Bozo Smile

Between you and Charli, I'm expecting some changes before the deadline Mr. Green

As far as Heaven's Gate goes, I'll make a note you opted for the DC, but at the end of the day any edition of the film will be tallied under one title. (I've never seen it — if I'm missing vital detail, or if it isn't a traditional director's cut, let me know).

I've tallied a draft of my list, and the three submissions combined already have over 200 individual titles. Looking forward to how this turns out. I have ~20 films I wanna check out during the duration of the poll— I think some people might be surprised with a couple of the 'classics' I haven't seen from the 80s... hoping to come across a copy of Manoel’s Destinies too, been looking for that for a while.

theblueboy

I can’t remember if Brazil is my favourite film of the 80s or if I only like it because I think it is the sort of thing I should like Laughing

CA Dreamin

Gender: Male
Location: LA

A good friend and fellow buff were once talking about the best and worst decades for cinema, and we came to the agreement the 80s was the weakest decade. Not as many masterpieces as the other decades, some of the better 80s films haven't aged well, some of the worst 80s films became instant MST3K fodder. Hoping to find some new appreciation for these years.

According to my stats, I've seen only about 145 films from 1980-84, whereas I've seen about 210 from 1985-89, so I plan to concentrate on the early half of the 80s while this poll runs. Please post some recs.

Hayden

Location: CDMX

CA Dreamin wrote:

A good friend and fellow buff were once talking about the best and worst decades for cinema, and we came to the agreement the 80s was the weakest decade. Not as many masterpieces as the other decades, some of the better 80s films haven't aged well, some of the worst 80s films became instant MST3K fodder. Hoping to find some new appreciation for these years.

According to my stats, I've seen only about 145 films from 1980-84, whereas I've seen about 210 from 1985-89, so I plan to concentrate on the early half of the 80s while this poll runs. Please post some recs.

I know this isn't what I'm supposed to be saying right after opening an 80s poll, but I think you could also count me in on that agreement. It's not that the 80s were bad— the highs are quite high— but it seems to land in last place by default for me since the... (30s? I might take the 80s over the 30s).

At the same time, the 80s were phenomenal— cinema culture was wildly on point. Blockbusters were booming, comedies were a blast, drive-ins/3D glasses/videocassette/that THX room-rattling explosion/start of indie culture, etc... the thing that put the most pressure on the 80s was the rapidly changing technological scene (same applies for music). A lot of the early-stage tech that started in the 80s didn't quite make it out of the 80s Laughing

. It's this awkward teenage phase of cinema.

I would never call the 80s bad— maybe not a fav, and I...erm... wasn't alive for it— but it was unmistakably a vibe.

(I'm sorry— I can write better than this, my mind is mush today)

Also, interesting personal stat. I wouldn't be too surprised if I'm somewhat the same. As far as recs from '80-84 go, here as some lesser-watched titles that will all be on my list—

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Pixote (Brazil, 1980)

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Muddy River (Japan, 1981)

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Boat People (Hong Kong, 1982)

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Toute une nuit (Belgium/France, 1982)

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That Day, on the Beach (Taiwan, 1983)

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El Sur (Spain, 1983)

No descriptions. Go in blind. Have fun.

Tha1ChiefRocka
Yeah, well hey, I'm really sorry.

Location: Kansas

1 Wings of Desire
2 Thief
3 Blood Simple
4 Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
5 Altered States
6 Predator
7 Die Hard
8 To Live And Die In LA
9 A Better Tomorrow
10 Santa Sangre
11 The Evil Dead
12 Police Story
13 The Empire Strikes Back
14 Back to the Future
15 The Last Crusade
16 Field Of Dreams
17 Ms 45
18 Raging Bull
19 This Is Spinal Tap
20 Evil Dead 2
21 Day of the Dead
22 Society
23 The Shining
24 Manhunter
25 Who Framed Roger Rabbit
26 Raiders of the Lost Ark
27 The Naked Gun
28 Airplane
29 Blow Out
30 Broadcast News
31 UHF
32 Modern Romance
33 Blade Runner
34 Opera
35 Terms of Endearment
36 Miracle Mile
37 Withnail and I
38 Akira
39 Terminator
40 Threads
41 Trading Places
42 Blues Brothers
43 Big
44 Ferris Bueller's Day Off
45 Opera
46 The Long Good Friday
47 Basket Case
48 Aliens
49 Midnight Run
50 Raising Arizona
51 Better Off Dead
52 Pee Wee's Big Adventure
53 Beetlejuice
54 Return of the Jedi
55 Stand by Me
56 The Burbs
57 Ghostbusters
58 Vacation
59 They Live
60 The Church

Still in the very long and drawn out process of going back and rewatching many movies. (While simultaneously trying to watch some new as well) Here's a few for now, and I'm sure this will change a bit by the time we make this final.

Also, I never knew that 'Dead Poet's Society' was rated that highly on Letterboxd. I've kind of come to not like that movie after becoming a teacher. Very Happy

CA Dreamin

Gender: Male
Location: LA

Hayden wrote:

I know this isn't what I'm supposed to be saying right after opening an 80s poll, but I think you could also count me in on that agreement. It's not that the 80s were bad— the highs are quite high— but it seems to land in last place by default for me since the... (30s? I might take the 80s over the 30s).

At the same time, the 80s were phenomenal— cinema culture was wildly on point. Blockbusters were booming, comedies were a blast, drive-ins/3D glasses/videocassette/that THX room-rattling explosion/start of indie culture, etc... the thing that put the most pressure on the 80s was the rapidly changing technological scene (same applies for music). A lot of the early-stage tech that started in the 80s didn't quite make it out of the 80s Laughing

. It's this awkward teenage phase of cinema.

I would never call the 80s bad— maybe not a fav, and I...erm... wasn't alive for it— but it was unmistakably a vibe.

Also, interesting personal stat. I wouldn't be too surprised if I'm somewhat the same. As far as recs from '80-84 go, here as some lesser-watched titles that will all be on my list—

Oof, the 30s wasn't a strong decade either. On second thought, the 30s might be my least favorite with the 80s 2nd to last.

I really like the description of the 80s as the "awkward teenage phase of cinema." Feels like it has 3 meanings. 1) As already mentioned, the fast changes technology. 3D, the cable TV market, the VHS/BetaMax war, THX sound...there was a lot of experimentation during these years, producing both long-lasting changes to the industry, and short-lived trens. 2) It seems like the 80s were a transitional era of big name directors. The 50s, 60s, and 70s saw numerous fine directors. However, by the 80s, many of them were dead or past their prime, and there wasn't a large influx of new directors to take their places, not right away at least. The Coens, Kieslowski, Linklater, Haneke, Wong Kar Wai, Soderbergh, Tarr, Tarantino, LVT...all these directors got their starts in the 80s, but would not make their best films until the 90s or later. Thus it felt like the 80s were an awkward in-between era, not to say there weren't masterpieces made, just that there were fewer of them. Lastly, the 80s felt like a teenage phase of cinema in the literal sense. No era had as much teenage representation on film as the 80s.

Anyway, thx for the recs, 3 of those are on the CC and added to my watchlist.