Best of the '80s
by pajsi | created - 05 Oct 2013 | updated - 28 Oct 2017 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After the Rebel Alliance are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,378,289 | Gross: $290.48M
2. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
PG | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After rescuing Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, the Rebel Alliance attempt to destroy the second Death Star, while Luke struggles to help Darth Vader back from the dark side.
Director: Richard Marquand | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,120,395 | Gross: $309.13M
3. The Blue Lagoon (1980)
R | 104 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In the Victorian period, two children are shipwrecked on a tropical island in the South Pacific. With no adults to guide them, the two make a simple life together, unaware that sexual maturity will eventually intervene.
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: Brooke Shields, Christopher Atkins, Leo McKern, William Daniels
Votes: 76,461 | Gross: $58.85M
4. Airplane! (1980)
PG | 88 min | Comedy
After the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must safely land a commercial airplane full of passengers.
Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker | Stars: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Votes: 260,723 | Gross: $83.40M
5. 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: 1,036,071 | Gross: $248.16M
6. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
PG | 118 min | Action, Adventure
In 1935, Indiana Jones is tasked by Indian villagers with reclaiming a rock stolen from them by a secret cult beneath the catacombs of an ancient palace.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri
Votes: 534,856 | Gross: $179.87M
7. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure
In 1938, after his father goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones finds himself up against the Nazis again to stop them from obtaining its powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 810,296 | Gross: $197.17M
8. E.T. (1982)
PG | 115 min | Adventure, Family, Sci-Fi
A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace
Votes: 437,114 | Gross: $435.11M
9. Trading Places (1983)
R | 116 min | Comedy
A snobbish investor and a wily street con artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.
Director: John Landis | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche
Votes: 165,611 | Gross: $90.40M
10. Vacation (1983)
R | 98 min | Adventure, Comedy
The Griswold family's cross-country drive to the Walley World theme park proves to be much more arduous than they ever anticipated.
Director: Harold Ramis | Stars: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Imogene Coca, Randy Quaid
Votes: 120,027 | Gross: $61.40M
11. National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)
PG-13 | 95 min | Adventure, Comedy
The Griswolds win a vacation tour across Europe where the usual havoc ensues.
Director: Amy Heckerling | Stars: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Dana Hill, Jason Lively
Votes: 71,539 | Gross: $49.40M
12. Christmas Vacation (1989)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy
The Griswold family's plans for a big family Christmas predictably turn into a big disaster.
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik | Stars: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki
Votes: 220,023 | Gross: $71.32M
13. Police Academy (1984)
R | 96 min | Comedy
A group of good-hearted, but incompetent misfits enter the police academy, but the instructors there are not going to put up with their pranks.
Director: Hugh Wilson | Stars: Steve Guttenberg, G.W. Bailey, Kim Cattrall, Bubba Smith
Votes: 137,259 | Gross: $81.20M
14. Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)
PG-13 | 87 min | Comedy
When a new gang moves into town it's up to the screwball police team to stop them.
Directors: Jerry Paris, James Signorelli | Stars: Steve Guttenberg, Bubba Smith, David Graf, Michael Winslow
Votes: 59,153 | Gross: $55.60M
15. Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)
PG | 83 min | Comedy
The alumni of Commandant Lassard's Police Academy (1984) return to the school to train new recruits and prevent its closure.
Director: Jerry Paris | Stars: Steve Guttenberg, Bubba Smith, David Graf, Michael Winslow
Votes: 48,596 | Gross: $43.58M
16. The Karate Kid (1984)
PG | 126 min | Action, Drama, Family
A martial arts master agrees to teach karate to a bullied teenager.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue, Martin Kove
Votes: 244,233 | Gross: $90.82M
17. The Karate Kid Part II (1986)
PG | 113 min | Action, Family, Sport
Daniel accompanies his mentor, Mr. Miyagi, to Miyagi's childhood home in Okinawa. Miyagi visits his dying father and confronts his old rival, while Daniel falls in love and inadvertently makes a new rival of his own.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Pat Morita, Ralph Macchio, Pat E. Johnson, Bruce Malmuth
Votes: 98,788 | Gross: $115.10M
18. Scarface (1983)
R | 170 min | Crime, Drama
In 1980 Miami, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel and succumbs to greed.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Votes: 915,378 | Gross: $45.60M
19. The NeverEnding Story (1984)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A troubled boy dives into a wondrous fantasy world through the pages of a mysterious book.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach, Gerald McRaney
Votes: 156,764 | Gross: $20.16M
20. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
R | 105 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A freewheeling Detroit cop pursuing a murder investigation finds himself dealing with the very different culture of Beverly Hills.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Lisa Eilbacher
Votes: 202,681 | Gross: $234.76M
21. Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
R | 100 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills to help Taggart and Rosewood investigate Chief Bogomil's near-fatal shooting and the series of "alphabet crimes" associated with it.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, Jürgen Prochnow, Ronny Cox
Votes: 130,139 | Gross: $153.67M
22. Back to the Future (1985)
PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
Votes: 1,305,232 | Gross: $210.61M
23. Back to the Future Part II (1989)
PG | 108 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
After visiting 2015, Marty McFly must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes to 1985...without interfering with his first trip.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Tom Wilson
Votes: 571,933 | Gross: $118.50M
24. The Money Pit (1986)
PG | 91 min | Comedy
A young couple struggles to repair a hopelessly dilapidated house.
Director: Richard Benjamin | Stars: Tom Hanks, Shelley Long, Alexander Godunov, Maureen Stapleton
Votes: 62,160 | Gross: $37.50M
25. Top Gun (1986)
PG | 109 min | Action, Drama
As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise, Tim Robbins, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer
Votes: 502,005 | Gross: $179.80M
26. Three Amigos! (1986)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Western
Three actors accept an invitation to a Mexican village to perform their onscreen bandit fighter roles, unaware that it is the real thing.
Director: John Landis | Stars: Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Martin Short, Alfonso Arau
Votes: 83,500 | Gross: $39.25M
27. The Golden Child (1986)
PG-13 | 94 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A private detective specializing in missing children is charged with the task of finding a special child whom dark forces want to eliminate.
Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Eddie Murphy, J.L. Reate, Charles Dance, Charlotte Lewis
Votes: 59,339 | Gross: $79.82M
28. Lethal Weapon (1987)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Two newly paired cops who are complete opposites must put aside their differences in order to catch a gang of drug smugglers.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Mitchell Ryan
Votes: 276,136 | Gross: $65.21M
29. Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
R | 114 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Riggs and Murtaugh are on the trail of South African diplomats who are using their immunity to engage in criminal activities.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Patsy Kensit
Votes: 188,638 | Gross: $147.25M
30. The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
R | 118 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
Three single women in a picturesque village have their wishes granted, at a cost, when a mysterious and flamboyant man arrives in their lives.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer
Votes: 77,114 | Gross: $63.77M
31. Spaceballs (1987)
PG | 96 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
A star-pilot for hire and his trusty sidekick must come to the rescue of a princess and save Planet Druidia from the clutches of the evil Spaceballs.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Mel Brooks, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman
Votes: 206,258 | Gross: $38.12M
32. Dirty Dancing (I) (1987)
PG-13 | 100 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances "Baby" Houseman falls in love with the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle.
Director: Emile Ardolino | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes
Votes: 256,080 | Gross: $0.62M
33. Bloodsport (1988)
R | 92 min | Action, Biography, Drama
"Bloodsport" follows Frank Dux, an American martial artist serving in the military, who decides to leave the army to compete in a martial arts tournament in Hong Kong where fights to the death can occur.
Director: Newt Arnold | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb, Leah Ayres, Norman Burton
Votes: 93,878 | Gross: $11.81M
34. Three Men and a Baby (1987)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Jack Holden and his friends, Peter and Michael, spend most of their time having flings with several women in their apartment. Their life changes when a mysterious baby appears at their doorstep.
Director: Leonard Nimoy | Stars: Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, Ted Danson, Nancy Travis
Votes: 57,854 | Gross: $167.78M
35. Big (1988)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
After wishing to be made big, a teenage boy wakes the next morning to find himself mysteriously in the body of an adult.
Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard
Votes: 239,750 | Gross: $114.97M
36. Coming to America (1988)
R | 117 min | Comedy, Romance
An extremely pampered African prince travels to Queens, New York and goes undercover to find a wife that he can respect for her intelligence and strong will.
Director: John Landis | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Paul Bates, Garcelle Beauvais, Feather
Votes: 223,374 | Gross: $128.15M
37. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
PG-13 | 85 min | Comedy, Crime
Incompetent police Detective Frank Drebin must foil an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.
Director: David Zucker | Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, O.J. Simpson, Ricardo Montalban
Votes: 184,639 | Gross: $78.76M
38. 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: 546,148 | Gross: $178.80M
39. K-9 (1989)
PG-13 | 101 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
To stop an elusive criminal, a maverick detective enlists the aid of a police dog who's an unusually intelligent smart alec.
Director: Rod Daniel | Stars: Jim Belushi, Mel Harris, Kevin Tighe, Ed O'Neill
Votes: 35,591 | Gross: $43.25M
40. See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Crime
Dave is deaf, and Wally is blind. They witness a murder, but it was Dave who was looking at her, and Wally who was listening.
Director: Arthur Hiller | Stars: Richard Pryor, Gene Wilder, Joan Severance, Kevin Spacey
Votes: 58,314 | Gross: $46.91M
41. Batman (1989)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure
The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl
Votes: 403,906 | Gross: $251.19M
42. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
PG | 93 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
The scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the father searches for them.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Rick Moranis, Matt Frewer, Marcia Strassman, Kristine Sutherland
Votes: 166,173 | Gross: $130.72M
43. Turner & Hooch (1989)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A detective must adopt a rambunctious dog in order to help him find a killer.
Director: Roger Spottiswoode | Stars: Tom Hanks, Mare Winningham, Craig T. Nelson, Reginald VelJohnson
Votes: 76,278 | Gross: $71.08M
44. Kickboxer (1989)
R | 97 min | Action, Sport, Thriller
Kurt Sloane must learn the ancient kick boxing art of Muay Thai in order to avenge his brother.
Directors: Mark DiSalle, David Worth | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Alexio, Dennis Chan, Michel Qissi
Votes: 60,795 | Gross: $14.70M
45. Look Who's Talking (1989)
PG-13 | 93 min | Comedy
After a single, career-minded woman is left on her own to give birth to the child of a married man, she finds a new romantic chance in a cab driver. Meanwhile, the point-of-view of the newborn baby is narrated through voice-over.
Director: Amy Heckerling | Stars: John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, Olympia Dukakis, George Segal
Votes: 86,822 | Gross: $140.09M
46. Harlem Nights (1989)
R | 116 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
During the 1930s, a New York City illegal gambling house owner and his associates must deal with strong competition, gangsters, and corrupt cops in order to stay in business.
Director: Eddie Murphy | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Danny Aiello
Votes: 24,768 | Gross: $60.86M
47. The Untouchables (1987)
R | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
During Prohibition, Treasury agent Eliot Ness sets out to stop ruthless Chicago gangster Al Capone, and assembles a small, incorruptible team to help him.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Charles Martin Smith
Votes: 330,513 | Gross: $76.27M
48. The Breakfast Club (1985)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
Five high school students meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a great deal more in common than they thought.
Director: John Hughes | Stars: Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy
Votes: 436,070 | Gross: $45.88M
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