The Best Films Ever Made - 1988
by dziwnytenswiat | created - 15 Nov 2017 | updated - 22 Jan 2022 | PublicThe rules: My rating x 3, 6 male/female rating ( 18, 30, 45), 1000 voters rating, US- and Non-US voters rating. Only films with a better rating than 7,00
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1. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
R | 174 min | Drama, Romance
A filmmaker recalls his childhood when falling in love with the pictures at the cinema of his home village and forms a deep friendship with the cinema's projectionist.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Philippe Noiret, Enzo Cannavale, Antonella Attili, Isa Danieli
Votes: 282,584 | Gross: $11.99M
8,78
2. Time of the Gypsies (1988)
R | 142 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
In this luminous tale set in the area around Sarajevo and in Italy, Perhan, an engaging young Romany (gypsy) with telekinetic powers, is seduced by the quick-cash world of petty crime, which threatens to destroy him and those he loves.
Director: Emir Kusturica | Stars: Davor Dujmovic, Bora Todorovic, Ljubica Adzovic, Husnija Hasimovic
Votes: 32,681 | Gross: $0.28M
8,56
3. The Cold Summer of 1953 (1988)
101 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Former political inmates Sergei and Nikolai live as exiles in a remote Siberian village. After the general Soviet gulag amnesty of 1953 8 pardoned common criminals terrorize the inhabitants.
Director: Aleksandr Proshkin | Stars: Valeriy Priyomykhov, Anatoliy Papanov, Viktor Stepanov, Nina Usatova
Votes: 2,545
8,36
4. Imagine: John Lennon (1988)
R | 100 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
A biography of the rock music star.
Director: Andrew Solt | Stars: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney, George Harrison
Votes: 5,179 | Gross: $3.75M
8,18
5. Ariel (1988)
Not Rated | 72 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
A Finnish man goes to the city to find a job after the mine where he worked is closed and his father commits suicide.
Director: Aki Kaurismäki | Stars: Turo Pajala, Susanna Haavisto, Matti Pellonpää, Eetu Hilkamo
Votes: 8,285
8,13
6. Another Woman (1988)
PG | 81 min | Drama
Facing a mid-life crisis, a woman rents an apartment next to a psychiatrist's office to write a new book, only to become drawn to the plight of a pregnant woman seeking that doctor's help.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Gena Rowlands, Mia Farrow, Ian Holm, Blythe Danner
Votes: 15,035 | Gross: $1.56M
8,05
7. Salaam Bombay! (1988)
Not Rated | 113 min | Crime, Drama
Young Krishna struggles to survive among the drug dealers, pimps, and prostitutes in the back alleys and gutters of India.
Director: Mira Nair | Stars: Shafiq Syed, Anjaan, Amrit Patel, Murari Sharma
Votes: 10,087 | Gross: $2.08M
7,94
8. Bird (1988)
R | 161 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The troubled life and career of jazz musician Charlie "Bird" Parker.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Forest Whitaker, Diane Venora, Michael Zelniker, Samuel E. Wright
Votes: 13,469 | Gross: $2.18M
7,92
9. The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Not Rated | 101 min | Documentary, Crime
A film that successfully argued that a man was wrongly convicted for murder by a corrupt justice system in Dallas County, Texas.
Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Randall Adams, David Harris, Gus Rose, Jackie Johnson
Votes: 25,876 | Gross: $1.21M
7,91
10. High Hopes (1988)
PG | 108 min | Comedy, Drama
The life of a working class couple living in London and their complicated relationships with other members of the family.
Director: Mike Leigh | Stars: Phil Davis, Ruth Sheen, Edna Doré, Philip Jackson
Votes: 5,779 | Gross: $1.19M
7,84
11. Damnation (1988)
120 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A lonely barfly falls in love with a married bar singer.
Director: Béla Tarr | Stars: Miklós Székely B., Vali Kerekes, Gyula Pauer, György Cserhalmi
Votes: 6,756
7,83
12. A Short Film About Killing (1988)
Not Rated | 84 min | Crime, Drama
A soon-to-be lawyer crosses his path with a taxi driver and a young sinister man.
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski | Stars: Miroslaw Baka, Krzysztof Globisz, Jan Tesarz, Zbigniew Zapasiewicz
Votes: 22,388
7,81
13. Ubit drakona (1988)
123 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Dragon, a bloody dictator, is challenged by Lancelot, who comes to save the girl, and to liberate the people.
Director: Mark Zakharov | Stars: Aleksandr Abdulov, Oleg Yankovskiy, Evgeniy Leonov, Vyacheslav Tikhonov
Votes: 1,994
7,79
14. Red Sorghum (1988)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, History, Romance
When a leprous winery owner in 1930s China dies a few days after his arranged marriage, his young widow is forced to run the winery to make a living while contending with bandits, her drunkard lover, and the invading Japanese army.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Gong Li, Wen Jiang, Rujun Teng, Ji Liu
Votes: 9,860
7,78
15. Running on Empty (1988)
PG-13 | 116 min | Crime, Drama, Music
The eldest son of a fugitive family comes of age and wants to live his own life.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: River Phoenix, Christine Lahti, Judd Hirsch, Jonas Abry
Votes: 17,890 | Gross: $2.84M
7,78
16. Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)
PG-13 | 84 min | Drama, Music
The lives of an English working-class family are told out of order in a free-associative manner. The first part, "Distant Voices", focuses on the father's role in the family. The second part, "Still Lives", focuses on his children.
Director: Terence Davies | Stars: Pete Postlethwaite, Freda Dowie, Angela Walsh, Dean Williams
Votes: 5,148 | Gross: $0.69M
7,74
17. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
R | 88 min | Comedy, Drama
A television actress encounters a variety of eccentric characters after embarking on a journey to discover why her lover abruptly left her.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, Rossy de Palma
Votes: 46,401 | Gross: $7.18M
7,68
18. A Short Film About Love (1988)
Not Rated | 87 min | Drama, Romance
A naive inexperienced young man spies on a woman who lives across the courtyard, and falls in love with her. He starts using tricks which he hopes will lead to them meeting.
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski | Stars: Grazyna Szapolowska, Olaf Lubaszenko, Stefania Iwinska, Piotr Machalica
Votes: 26,046
7,68
19. A World Apart (1988)
PG | 113 min | Drama
1963. Thirteen year old Molly Roth, the eldest of three offspring of Gus and Diana Roth, lives a carefree life as part of the affluent white minority in South Africa. Race is a non-issue ... See full summary »
Director: Chris Menges | Stars: Barbara Hershey, David Suchet, Jodhi May, Jeroen Krabbé
Votes: 1,797 | Gross: $2.33M
7,63
20. Landscape in the Mist (1988)
TV-MA | 127 min | Drama
Two children journey the long road to Germany to find the man they believe to be their father.
Director: Theodoros Angelopoulos | Stars: Michalis Zeke, Tania Palaiologou, Stratos Tzortzoglou, Eva Kotamanidou
Votes: 9,634
7,63
21. Die Hard (1988)
R | 132 min | Action, Thriller
A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson
Votes: 944,527 | Gross: $83.01M
7,63
22. Mississippi Burning (1988)
R | 128 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two F.B.I. Agents with wildly different styles arrive in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of some civil rights activists.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand, Brad Dourif
Votes: 110,778 | Gross: $34.60M
7,60
23. The South (1988)
R | 127 min | Drama
The movie starts while Floreal, the main protagonist, was being released from the prison when the military coup ended in 1983. He is estranged to his former life because of his last few ... See full summary »
Director: Fernando E. Solanas | Stars: Susú Pecoraro, Miguel Ángel Solá, Philippe Léotard, Lito Cruz
Votes: 1,065
7,53
24. Ashik Kerib (1988)
73 min | Drama
A talented but poor minstrel is forced to wander throughout the world because of impossibility to be with his true love - a rich merchant's daughter.
Directors: Sergei Parajanov, Dodo Abashidze | Stars: Yuri Mgoyan, Sofiko Chiaureli, Ramaz Chkhikvadze, Konstantin Stepankov
Votes: 2,247
7,50
25. Torch Song Trilogy (1988)
R | 120 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Arnold is a gay man working as drag queen in 1971 NYC. He meets a handsome bisexual man.
Director: Paul Bogart | Stars: Anne Bancroft, Matthew Broderick, Harvey Fierstein, Brian Kerwin
Votes: 7,812 | Gross: $4.87M
7,49
26. Zerograd (1988)
103 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Going on a business trip, the hero of the film suddenly finds himself in a fantastic city. It is very similar to our world, only the hidden absurdity of everyday life here has become apparent.
Director: Karen Shakhnazarov | Stars: Leonid Filatov, Oleg Basilashvili, Vladimir Menshov, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan
Votes: 2,553
7,48
27. Rain Man (1988)
R | 133 min | Drama
After a selfish L.A. yuppie learns his estranged father left a fortune to an autistic-savant brother in Ohio that he didn't know existed, he absconds with his brother and sets out across the country, hoping to gain a larger inheritance.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino, Gerald R. Molen
Votes: 546,173 | Gross: $178.80M
7,47
28. Life Is a Long Quiet River (1988)
90 min | Comedy
A revengeful nurse switches a girl and a boy at birth. They are raised in two radically different families. When the switch is revealed many years later, the now teenagers and families need to cope with their new environments.
Director: Étienne Chatiliez | Stars: Benoît Magimel, Hélène Vincent, Valérie Lalande, Tara Römer
Votes: 4,720 | Gross: $0.19M
7,45
29. On the Silver Globe (1988)
Unrated | 166 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A team of astronauts land on an inhabitable planet and form a society. Many years later, a single astronaut is sent to the planet and becomes a messiah.
Director: Andrzej Zulawski | Stars: Andrzej Seweryn, Jerzy Trela, Grazyna Dylag, Waldemar Kownacki
Votes: 4,557
7,43
30. The Vanishing (1988)
Not Rated | 107 min | Mystery, Thriller
Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation. They stop at a busy service station and Saskia is abducted. After three years and no sign of Saskia, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor.
Director: George Sluizer | Stars: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege, Gwen Eckhaus
Votes: 44,054
7,43
31. Drowning by Numbers (1988)
R | 118 min | Comedy, Drama
Three generations of women share the same problem--marriage woes--and want to put an end to it.
Director: Peter Greenaway | Stars: Bernard Hill, Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson, Joely Richardson
Votes: 10,962 | Gross: $0.42M
7,42
32. Midnight Run (1988)
R | 126 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A bounty hunter pursues a former Mafia accountant who is also being chased by a rival bounty hunter, the F.B.I., and his old mob boss after jumping bail.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton
Votes: 94,136 | Gross: $38.41M
7,41
33. The Beast of War (1988)
R | 111 min | Adventure, Drama, War
A Soviet tank and its warring crew become separated from their patrol and lost in an Afghan valley with a group of vengeance-seeking rebels on their tracks.
Director: Kevin Reynolds | Stars: George Dzundza, Jason Patric, Steven Bauer, Stephen Baldwin
Votes: 10,677 | Gross: $0.16M
7,39
34. Beetlejuice (1988)
PG | 92 min | Comedy, Fantasy
The spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home, and hire a malicious spirit to drive them out.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, Annie McEnroe
Votes: 339,604 | Gross: $73.71M
7,37
35. The Possessed (1988)
116 min | Drama
In 1870 Russia, a group of young and idealistic anarchists plots to overthrow the established order through violent means.
Director: Andrzej Wajda | Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Jutta Lampe, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Bernard Blier
Votes: 669
7,29
36. Sound and Fury (1988)
95 min | Drama
Bruno is 14. When his grandmother dies, he returns to Bagnolet with his mother who is rarely there. At school he meets Jean-Roger, who introduces him to a group of delinquents.
Director: Jean-Claude Brisseau | Stars: Vincent Gasperitsch, María Luisa García, François Négret, Bruno Cremer
Votes: 1,157
7,29
37. A Few Days with Me (1988)
PG-13 | 131 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Martial's mother owns a chain of supermarkets. He had spent some years in a mental hospital because of pervasive indolence. Hoping that an active task may improve his condition, he is sent ... See full summary »
Director: Claude Sautet | Stars: Daniel Auteuil, Sandrine Bonnaire, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Dominique Lavanant
Votes: 1,209
7,27
38. The Bear (1988)
PG | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
An orphan bear cub hooks up with an adult male as they try to dodge human hunters.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Tchéky Karyo, Bart the Bear, Youk the Bear, Jack Wallace
Votes: 19,066 | Gross: $31.75M
7,27
39. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
R | 171 min | Drama, Romance
Central Europe, 1968: A Czech doctor with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, Lena Olin, Derek de Lint
Votes: 38,614 | Gross: $10.01M
7,24
40. Chocolat (1988)
PG-13 | 105 min | Drama
A French woman returns to her childhood home in Cameroon - formerly a colonial outpost - where she's flooded by memories, particularly of Protée, her servant.
Director: Claire Denis | Stars: Isaach De Bankolé, Giulia Boschi, François Cluzet, Jean-Claude Adelin
Votes: 4,462 | Gross: $2.32M
7,23
41. Story of Women (1988)
108 min | Drama, History, Romance
A housewife in Nazi-occupied France struggles to make ends meet when her husband returns home after being wounded in the war.
Director: Claude Chabrol | Stars: Isabelle Huppert, François Cluzet, Marie Trintignant, Nils Tavernier
Votes: 5,735 | Gross: $0.44M
7,20
42. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
R | 108 min | Comedy, Crime
In London, four very different people team up on a jewel heist, then try to double-cross one another for the loot, complicated by their efforts to fool a very proper barrister.
Directors: Charles Crichton, John Cleese | Stars: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin
Votes: 153,801 | Gross: $63.49M
7,20
43. Willow (1988)
PG | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young farmer is chosen to undertake a perilous journey in order to protect a special baby from an evil queen.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Warwick Davis, Jean Marsh
Votes: 129,762 | Gross: $57.27M
7,17
44. The Accused (1988)
R | 111 min | Crime, Drama
After a young woman suffers a brutal gang rape in a bar one night, a prosecutor assists in bringing the perpetrators to justice, including the ones who encouraged and cheered on the attack.
Director: Jonathan Kaplan | Stars: Kelly McGillis, Jodie Foster, Bernie Coulson, Leo Rossi
Votes: 39,980 | Gross: $32.07M
7,16
45. Dead Ringers (1988)
R | 116 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
Twin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jeremy Irons, Geneviève Bujold, Heidi von Palleske, Barbara Gordon
Votes: 53,502 | Gross: $9.13M
7,16
46. Ödipussi (1988)
88 min | Comedy, Romance
Gray-haired furniture retailer Paul Winkelmann still has his dinner cooked and his laundry done by his mother. He spends his evenings playing Scrabble with Mama's friends and discussing the... See full summary »
Director: Vicco von Bülow | Stars: Vicco von Bülow, Katharina Brauren, Evelyn Hamann, Edda Seippel
Votes: 4,343
7,11
47. Frantic (1988)
R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In a hotel room in Paris, a doctor comes out of the shower and finds that his wife has disappeared. He soon finds himself caught up in a world of intrigue, espionage, gangsters, drugs and murder.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Harrison Ford, Betty Buckley, Emmanuelle Seigner, Djiby Soumare
Votes: 57,749 | Gross: $17.64M
7,10
48. Gorillas in the Mist (1988)
PG-13 | 129 min | Biography, Drama
The story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Bryan Brown, Julie Harris, John Omirah Miluwi
Votes: 29,165 | Gross: $24.72M
7,08
49. Without a Clue (1988)
PG | 107 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
A drunken Sherlock Holmes is really just a cover for the real detective, Dr. Watson.
Director: Thom Eberhardt | Stars: Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, Jeffrey Jones, Lysette Anthony
Votes: 11,102 | Gross: $8.54M
7,05
50. Little Vera (1988)
Unrated | 110 min | Drama, Romance
A teenage girl, who has just finished school feels trapped and aimless in her ordinary Russian family, supported by an alcoholic father, in a dull industrial town.
Director: Vasili Pichul | Stars: Natalya Negoda, Andrey Sokolov, Yuriy Nazarov, Lyudmila Zaytseva
Votes: 2,163 | Gross: $1.26M
7,03
51. The Needle (1988)
81 min | Drama, Thriller
Moro returns to Alma Ata to collect money owed to him. While waiting out an unexpected delay, he visits his former girlfriend Dina, and discovers she has become a morphine addict. He ... See full summary »
Director: Rashid Nugmanov | Stars: Viktor Tsoy, Marina Smirnova, Pyotr Mamonov, Aleksandr Bashirov
Votes: 2,930
7,03
52. Colors (1988)
R | 120 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An experienced cop and his rookie partner patrol the streets of East Los Angeles while trying to keep the gang violence under control.
Director: Dennis Hopper | Stars: Sean Penn, Robert Duvall, Maria Conchita Alonso, Randy Brooks
Votes: 29,791 | Gross: $46.62M
7,01
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