Can someone tell me what the best movie of the 80's is?

[CMonster]

For fans of fantasy/comedy I vote for Back To The Future (1985). For fans of romance/musicals, I vote for Dirty Dancing (1987). For female fans, it helps that Michael J Fox and Patrick Swayze are both hunks.

I've heard women say they like Swayze. But Michael J Fox? That's a new one.

He gets some bonus love because he makes a great martini....shaken, not stirred.

[Stewball]

[martryn]

My personal vote goes to Empire Strikes Back. It's also my favorite film of all time, so that helps. I'm a huge fan of Star Wars.

If I had to go for a few more:
Amadeus, Grave of the Fireflies, and Last Crusade. Some people say that Raiders is a better film. I would say it's close, but would disagree. Love Sean Connery and Harrison Ford together on screen.

[bowfinger]

I would definitely agree that Last Crusade is my fav Indi movie, however, if we have to pick a movie and one movie only that is representative of the 80s in more than one way, I would have to say that that movie could only be E.T.

I'm not a spielberg fan, nor is E.T. one of my top ranked movies, but if I have to be objective about it, I'd say that E.T. appeals to so many different emotions that it crosses over boundaries that are set by movies themsevles, and it trancends nationality, age, gender, genre choices etc.

Without E.T. 80s wouldn't be the same.

PS. The original post mentions Princess Bride, which was also one my fav movies of all times, until I read the book at a very later age and wacthed it again. Now, it feels like a trailer of the whole story. I mean, you can make a movie just out of Inigo's backstory, and without it "My name is Inigo Montaya, you killed my father, prepare to die" feels almost whimsical in the movie.

[MmzHrrdb]

In my opinion an easy answer to an average decade of films compared to the 1970's and 1990's. I think the best film of the 1980's is Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull"(1980). Some other films from the 80's that I think are great: Irvin Kershner's "Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back"(1980), Stanley Kubricks' "The Shining"(1980), and Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner"(1982).

A few other good ones are: Milos Forman's "Amadeus"(1984), Terry Gilliam's "Brazil"(1985), and Robert Zemeckis' "Back To The Future"(1985).

[avgcrtckr]

Here are the 80's films that are in the collection of Best of criticker: Top 250 (http://www.criticker.com/?fl&filter=e29978) (sorted by decreasing popularity)
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Raging Bull (1980)
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Das Boot (1981)
Ran (1985)
Paris, Texas (1984)
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Come and See (1985)
A Short Film About Love (1988)
Time of the Gypsies (1988)
A Short Film About Killing (1988)
Sans soleil (1983)
Muhsin Bey (1987)
Dimensions of Dialogue (1982)
Tampopo (1985)
L' Homme qui plantait des arbres (1987)
For All Mankind (1989)
Love Streams (1984)
Shoah (1985)
Mis (1981)
Kong bu fen zi (1986)
Yuki Yukite shingun (1987)
Balkan Spy (1984)
Streetwise (1984)
Moonlighting (1982)

[Neonman]

Some of my faves would be: Distant Voices Still Lives, The Sacrifice, Meaning of Life, Once Upon a Time in America, Possession, The Seventh Continent. For some reason, I think that the only two objectively great films I've seen are The Sacrifice and Raging Bull, so I'd say either of those two.

[nauru]

I'd say Cinema Paradiso is the best movie of the 80s.

[m3tan]

Let's not forget the vastly underrated Empire of the Sun. It really holds up well even today. One really important litmus test for me about the 80's is how well the movie stands the test of time. There are so many 80's movies that we thought were wonderful at the time but seem terribly dated now. A few I can barely sit through now are Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ghostbusters,Terminator, Aliens, Return of the Jedi...

[Massey23]

Thinking of the 80's, several names cross my mind. First and foremost it has to be Steven Spielberg's iconic sci-fi adventure movie Extraterrestrial (E.T.) which unexpectedly surpassed Star Wars to become the highest grossing movie ever released. Then comes The Terminator which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and made him the ultimate superhero of all time. Blue Velvet was another unusual movie of the times which stood out from the others as one of the decade's most experimental and daring films.