1981
by antonio-delbono-234-126400 | created - 24 Feb 2012 | updated - 08 Mar 2021 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
Votes: 1,037,163 | Gross: $248.16M
2. Neighbors (1981)
R | 94 min | Comedy
A quiet man's peaceful suburban lifestyle is threatened by the new, obnoxious couple that moves in next door.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Kathryn Walker, Cathy Moriarty
Votes: 8,596 | Gross: $29.92M
3. Continental Divide (1981)
PG | 103 min | Comedy, Romance
A hard-nosed Chicago journalist has an unlikely love affair with an eagle researcher.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: John Belushi, Blair Brown, Allen Garfield, Carlin Glynn
Votes: 5,645 | Gross: $15.58M
4. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
R | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community escape a horde of bandits.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Max Phipps
Votes: 193,814 | Gross: $12.47M
5. Bianco, rosso e Verdone (1981)
110 min | Comedy
On Election Day, three Italians travel to their hometowns to vote.
Director: Carlo Verdone | Stars: Carlo Verdone, Elena Fabrizi, Irina Sanpiter, Angelo Infanti
Votes: 4,249
6. Christiane F. (1981)
R | 138 min | Biography, Drama
A teen girl in 1970s Berlin becomes addicted to heroin. Everything in her life slowly begins to distort and disappear as she befriends a small crew of junkies and falls in love with a drug-abusing male prostitute.
Director: Uli Edel | Stars: Natja Brunckhorst, Eberhard Auriga, Peggy Bussieck, Lothar Chamski
Votes: 29,438
7. Chariots of Fire (1981)
PG | 125 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Two British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.
Director: Hugh Hudson | Stars: Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Havers
Votes: 65,912 | Gross: $58.97M
8. Il marchese del Grillo (1981)
135 min | Comedy, History
A mischievous nobleman and his poor doppelganger get into serious troubles when a practical joke endangers the Pope.
Director: Mario Monicelli | Stars: Alberto Sordi, Paolo Stoppa, Caroline Berg, Riccardo Billi
Votes: 3,869
9. Escape from New York (1981)
R | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 157,591 | Gross: $25.24M
10. Victory (1981)
PG | 116 min | Drama, Sport, War
As allied P.O.W.s prepare for a soccer game against the German National Team to be played in Nazi-occupied Paris, the French Resistance and British officers are making plans for the team's escape.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, Pelé, Bobby Moore
Votes: 33,278 | Gross: $10.85M
11. Ricomincio da tre (1981)
110 min | Comedy
Gaetano, a young Neapolitan, decides to leave home, work and friends, to look for other moments of life and meet other people. He goes to Florence, to his aunt's home. In a clinic, where he... See full summary »
Director: Massimo Troisi | Stars: Massimo Troisi, Fiorenza Marchegiani, Lino Troisi, Deddi Savagnone
Votes: 2,939
12. Excalibur (1981)
PG | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Merlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi
Votes: 67,203 | Gross: $34.97M
13. Quest for Fire (1981)
R | 100 min | Adventure, Drama
This story takes place in prehistoric time when three tribesmen search for a new fire source.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nicholas Kadi, Rae Dawn Chong
Votes: 24,136 | Gross: $20.96M
14. History of the World: Part I (1981)
R | 92 min | Comedy, History, Musical
Mel Brooks brings his one-of-a-kind comic touch to the history of mankind covering events from the Old Testament to the French Revolution in a series of episodic comedy vignettes.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Mel Brooks, Gregory Hines, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn
Votes: 55,243 | Gross: $31.67M
15. On Golden Pond (1981)
PG | 109 min | Drama
Norman is a curmudgeon with an estranged relationship with his daughter Chelsea. At Golden Pond, he and his wife nevertheless agree to care for Billy, the son of Chelsea's new boyfriend, and a most unexpected relationship blooms.
Director: Mark Rydell | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon
Votes: 34,878 | Gross: $119.29M
16. Outland (1981)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
A federal marshal stationed at a mining colony on the Jupiter moon of Io uncovers a drug-smuggling conspiracy. He gets no help from the workers or authorities when he finds himself marked for murder.
Director: Peter Hyams | Stars: Sean Connery, Frances Sternhagen, Peter Boyle, James Sikking
Votes: 32,376 | Gross: $17.37M
17. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror
Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
Director: John Landis | Stars: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher, Griffin Dunne
Votes: 120,585 | Gross: $30.57M
18. The Fox and the Hound (1981)
G | 83 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
A fox named Tod and a hound named Copper vow to be best friends forever. But as Copper grows into a hunting dog, their unlikely friendship faces the ultimate test.
Directors: Ted Berman, Richard Rich, Art Stevens, David Hand, Wolfgang Reitherman | Stars: Mickey Rooney, Kurt Russell, Pearl Bailey, Jack Albertson
Votes: 101,983 | Gross: $63.46M
19. The Cannonball Run (1981)
PG | 95 min | Action, Comedy, Sport
A wide variety of eccentric competitors participate in a wild and illegal cross-country road race. However, the eccentric entrants will do anything to win the road race, including low-down, dirty tricks.
Director: Hal Needham | Stars: Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise
Votes: 39,970 | Gross: $72.18M
20. La Chèvre (1981)
91 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
A daughter of a millionaire, distinguished by incredible bad luck, goes missing. The idea how to find her is either insane or brilliant - to send after her an equally unlucky person.
Director: Francis Veber | Stars: Pierre Richard, Gérard Depardieu, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Corynne Charbit
Votes: 10,637
21. Gallipoli (1981)
PG | 110 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Two Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey during World War I.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Mel Gibson, Mark Lee, Bill Kerr, Harold Hopkins
Votes: 41,979 | Gross: $5.73M
22. Madly in Love (1981)
102 min | Comedy, Romance
Barnaba, a rude bus driver who enjoys the attention of women, one day meets Principessa Cristina, the princess of a local principality.
Directors: Franco Castellano, Giuseppe Moccia | Stars: Adriano Celentano, Ornella Muti, Adolfo Celi, Milla Sannoner
Votes: 4,242
23. The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)
R | 124 min | Drama, Romance
Anna and Mike portray two characters in a film set in 19th century England who fall in love despite the fact that Mike's character is engaged.
Director: Karel Reisz | Stars: Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Hilton McRae, Emily Morgan
Votes: 15,096 | Gross: $22.60M
24. Absence of Malice (1981)
PG | 116 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
When a prosecutor leaks to a Miami reporter that a liquor wholesaler is suspected in the murder of a union head, the man's life begins to unravel.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Paul Newman, Sally Field, Bob Balaban, Melinda Dillon
Votes: 14,764 | Gross: $40.72M
25. I fichissimi (1981)
90 min | Comedy, Romance
Mechanic Romeo and grocery deliverer Felice lead two rival gangs and the local discotheque is not big enough for the both of them. When Romeo falls for Felice's sister, conveniently called ... See full summary »
Director: Carlo Vanzina | Stars: Jerry Calà, Diego Abatantuono, Simona Mariani, Mauro Di Francesco
Votes: 467
26. Heavy Metal (1981)
R | 86 min | Animation, Adventure, Fantasy
A glowing green orb that embodies ultimate evil terrorizes a young girl with an anthology of bizarre and fantastic stories.
Directors: Gerald Potterton, John Bruno, John Halas, Julian Harris, Jimmy T. Murakami, Barrie Nelson, Paul Sabella, Jack Stokes, Pino Van Lamsweerde, Harold Whitaker | Stars: Richard Romanus, John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Don Francks
Votes: 38,181
27. Taps (I) (1981)
PG | 126 min | Drama
Military cadets take extreme measures to ensure the future of their academy when its existence is threatened by local condo developers.
Director: Harold Becker | Stars: George C. Scott, Timothy Hutton, Ronny Cox, Sean Penn
Votes: 20,101 | Gross: $35.86M
28. Fort Apache the Bronx (1981)
R | 125 min | Crime, Drama
In New York City, South Bronx's main police precinct is nicknamed Fort Apache by its employees who feel like troopers surrounded by hostiles in a wild west isolated outpost.
Director: Daniel Petrie | Stars: Paul Newman, Edward Asner, Ken Wahl, Danny Aiello
Votes: 6,988 | Gross: $29.20M
29. Polyester (1981)
R | 86 min | Comedy
A suburban housewife's world falls apart when she finds that her pornographer husband is serially unfaithful to her, her daughter is pregnant, and her son is suspected of being the foot-fetishist who's been breaking local women's feet.
Director: John Waters | Stars: Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, David Samson
Votes: 9,009
30. This Is Elvis (1981)
PG | 110 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
The life and career of Elvis Presley are chronicled in home movies, concert footage, and dramatizations. Subjects include early performances, army service, Ed Sullivan Show appearance, marriage, 1968 comeback, health decline and death.
Directors: Malcolm Leo, Andrew Solt | Stars: Elvis Presley, David Scott, Paul Boensch III, Johnny Harra
Votes: 1,645 | Gross: $2.03M
31. The Evil Dead (1981)
NC-17 | 85 min | Horror
Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker
Votes: 232,480 | Gross: $2.40M
32. For Your Eyes Only (1981)
PG | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
Secret service agent James Bond is assigned to find a missing British vessel equipped with a weapons encryption device and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.
Director: John Glen | Stars: Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson
Votes: 108,325 | Gross: $62.30M
33. Stripes (1981)
R | 106 min | Comedy, War
Two friends who are dissatisfied with their jobs decide to join the army for a bit of fun.
Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Bill Murray, John Candy, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates
Votes: 80,042 | Gross: $85.30M
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