Uncelebrated Movies of The Eighties and Nineties
by rodensweet | created - 14 Jun 2017 | updated - 06 Apr 2020 | PublicEverybody cherishes Goonies but what about Major Payne?
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1. Major Payne (1995)
PG-13 | 95 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
When a recently discharged Marine struggles to adjust to civilian life, his commanding officer brings him back to the military to train and lead a group of misfit JORTC cadets.
Director: Nick Castle | Stars: Damon Wayans, Michael Ironside, Bam Bam Bigelow, Joseph Blaire
Votes: 39,047 | Gross: $29.41M
2. Streets of Fire (1984)
PG | 93 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A mercenary is hired to rescue his ex-girlfriend, a singer who has been kidnapped by a motorcycle gang.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Michael Paré, Diane Lane, Rick Moranis, Amy Madigan
Votes: 24,268 | Gross: $8.09M
3. The Full Monty (1997)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Drama
Six unemployed steel workers form a male striptease act. The women cheer them on to go for "the full monty" - total nudity.
Director: Peter Cattaneo | Stars: Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Addy, Wim Snape
Votes: 114,158 | Gross: $45.95M
4. Toy Soldiers (1991)
R | 111 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A group of troublemaking boys decide to take a stand when terrorists seize control of their boarding school.
Director: Daniel Petrie Jr. | Stars: Sean Astin, Wil Wheaton, Keith Coogan, Andrew Divoff
Votes: 25,042 | Gross: $15.07M
5. Roadhouse 66 (1984)
R | 90 min | Action, Comedy, Romance
An ex-rock and roll star teams up with a naive young man to set things right in a small town where the local thugs rule unchallenged.
Director: John Mark Robinson | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Judge Reinhold, Kaaren Lee, Kate Vernon
Votes: 1,042
6. The Legend of Billie Jean (1985)
PG-13 | 96 min | Action, Drama
A Texas teenager cuts her hair short and becomes an outlaw martyr with her brother and friends.
Director: Matthew Robbins | Stars: Helen Slater, Christian Slater, Keith Gordon, Richard Bradford
Votes: 11,673 | Gross: $3.10M
7. 1941 (1979)
PG | 118 min | Action, Comedy, War
Hysterical Californians prepare for a Japanese invasion in the days after Pearl Harbor.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Treat Williams, Nancy Allen
Votes: 36,280 | Gross: $31.76M
8. RocketMan (1997)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi
Fred Z. Randall is a geeky spacecraft designer who gets the chance to make his dream come true and travel to Mars.
Director: Stuart Gillard | Stars: Harland Williams, Jessica Lundy, William Sadler, Jeffrey DeMunn
Votes: 10,421 | Gross: $15.45M
9. Bound (1996)
R | 109 min | Crime, Thriller
Tough ex-con Corky and her lover Violet concoct a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and pin the blame on Violet's crooked boyfriend Caesar.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano, John P. Ryan
Votes: 60,817 | Gross: $3.80M
10. Mystic Pizza (1988)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Three teenage girls come of age while working at a pizza parlor in the Connecticut town of Mystic.
Director: Donald Petrie | Stars: Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts, Lili Taylor, Vincent D'Onofrio
Votes: 32,497 | Gross: $12.79M
11. Dead Calm (1989)
R | 96 min | Horror, Thriller
After a tragedy, John Ingram and his wife Rae are spending some time isolated at sea, when they come across a stranger who has abandoned a sinking ship.
Director: Phillip Noyce | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill, Billy Zane, Rod Mullinar
Votes: 43,724 | Gross: $7.83M
12. Young Einstein (1988)
PG | 91 min | Comedy
Albert Einstein turns the science community upside down with his discoveries including a formula to put bubbles back in beer and rock n' roll.
Director: Yahoo Serious | Stars: Yahoo Serious, Odile Le Clezio, John Howard, Peewee Wilson
Votes: 9,283 | Gross: $11.54M
13. Pink Cadillac (1989)
PG-13 | 122 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Skip tracer Tommy looks for bail-jumper Lou Ann. Her crime is marrying Roy, who left counterfeit money in their mobile home and got her arrested. She leaves Roy in his pink Cadillac full of money. His psycho friends want their money back.
Director: Buddy Van Horn | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Bernadette Peters, Timothy Carhart, Tiffany Gail Robinson
Votes: 12,354 | Gross: $12.14M
14. The Meteor Man (1993)
PG | 100 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy
A high school teacher from a troubled inner city Washington D.C. neighborhood becomes a super-powered hero and takes on the gang that has been terrorizing his streets.
Director: Robert Townsend | Stars: Robert Townsend, Marla Gibbs, Eddie Griffin, Robert Guillaume
Votes: 8,830 | Gross: $8.02M
15. Matilda (1996)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
A girl gifted with a keen intellect and psychic powers uses both to get even with her callous family and free her kindly schoolteacher from the tyrannical grip of a sadistic headmistress.
Director: Danny DeVito | Stars: Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Mara Wilson, Embeth Davidtz
Votes: 174,771 | Gross: $33.08M
16. The Big Lebowski (1998)
R | 117 min | Comedy, Crime
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi
Votes: 860,910 | Gross: $17.50M
17. Dazed and Confused (1993)
R | 103 min | Comedy
The adventures of high school and junior high students on the last day of school in May 1976.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Jason London, Wiley Wiggins, Matthew McConaughey, Rory Cochrane
Votes: 199,809 | Gross: $7.99M
18. Steel Dawn (1987)
R | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In a post-apocalyptic world, a warrior wandering through the desert comes upon a group of settlers who are being menaced by the leader of a murderous gang who's after the water they control.
Director: Lance Hool | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, Anthony Zerbe, Christopher Neame
Votes: 5,534 | Gross: $0.56M
19. Map of the Human Heart (1992)
R | 109 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Arctic, 1965: Avik tells his story starting in 1931. A mapmaker flies Avik, then a preteen Eskimo boy with TB, to a hospital in Montreal where he meets Albertine. They meet again when Avik joins World War II in the UK.
Director: Vincent Ward | Stars: Jason Scott Lee, Anne Parillaud, Patrick Bergin, Robert Joamie
Votes: 3,431 | Gross: $2.81M
20. Untamed Heart (1993)
PG-13 | 102 min | Drama, Romance
A waitress hardly notices a shy busboy who secretly loves her; until one night she's attacked and he comes to her rescue. From there a relationship sparks but one secret could mean disaster for these fated lovers.
Director: Tony Bill | Stars: Christian Slater, Marisa Tomei, Rosie Perez, Kyle Secor
Votes: 15,476 | Gross: $18.90M
21. The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)
R | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
The accidental breakdown of an irrigation valve launches a hot confrontation between the mainly Latino farmers in a tiny New Mexico town and the real estate developers and politicians determined to acquire their land for a golf resort.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Rubén Blades, Richard Bradford, Sonia Braga, Julie Carmen
Votes: 6,854 | Gross: $13.83M
22. Explorers (1985)
PG | 109 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A boy obsessed with '50s sci-fi movies about aliens has a recurring dream about a blueprint of some kind, which he draws for his inventor friend. With the help of a third kid, they follow it and build themselves a spaceship. Now what?
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, Bobby Fite, Bradley Gregg
Votes: 23,744 | Gross: $9.87M
23. Mulholland Falls (1996)
R | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In 1950's Los Angeles, a special crime squad of the LAPD investigates the murder of a young woman.
Director: Lee Tamahori | Stars: Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Jennifer Connelly, Chazz Palminteri
Votes: 18,996 | Gross: $11.50M
24. Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985)
PG | 88 min | Comedy, Western
The Wild West goes wacko when the Greatest Fast-Drawin', Fancy-Dressin', Silver-Spurred, Geetar Playin', Singing Cowboy movie matinee idol Rex O'Herlihan hits the saddle in this cockeyed, affectionate send-up of the '40s B-movie Western.
Director: Hugh Wilson | Stars: Tom Berenger, G.W. Bailey, Marilu Henner, Andy Griffith
Votes: 2,563 | Gross: $6.09M
25. Loaded Weapon 1 (1993)
PG-13 | 84 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
In this Lethal Weapon (1987) spoof, two mismatched LA cops investigate a case involving cocaine-laced girl scout cookies.
Director: Gene Quintano | Stars: Emilio Estevez, Samuel L. Jackson, Jon Lovitz, Tim Curry
Votes: 51,202 | Gross: $27.98M
26. Smooth Talk (1985)
PG-13 | 92 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A free-spirited 15-year-old girl flirts with a dangerous stranger in the Northern California suburbs and must prepare herself for the frightening and traumatic consequences.
Director: Joyce Chopra | Stars: Treat Williams, Laura Dern, Mary Kay Place, Margaret Welsh
Votes: 3,396 | Gross: $0.02M
27. Foxes (1980)
R | 106 min | Drama
A group of four teenage girls come of age in the asphalt desert of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley arranged with a blazing soundtrack and endless drinking, drugs and sex.
Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Jodie Foster, Cherie Currie, Marilyn Kagan, Kandice Stroh
Votes: 5,027
28. Shy People (1987)
R | 118 min | Drama
New York journalist visits her distant cousin for the first time to write an article about her hard life in the bayous of Louisiana. Journalist's wild drug addicted daughter just adds to tensions between two families' cultures.
Director: Andrey Konchalovskiy | Stars: Jill Clayburgh, Barbara Hershey, Martha Plimpton, Merritt Butrick
Votes: 1,525 | Gross: $0.77M
29. Swing Shift (1984)
PG | 100 min | Drama, Romance, War
A woman finds romance when she takes a job at an aircraft plant to help make ends meet after her husband goes off to war.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Christine Lahti, Fred Ward
Votes: 5,408 | Gross: $6.65M
30. River's Edge (1986)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama
A high school slacker commits a shocking act and proceeds to let his friends in on the secret. However, the friends' reaction is almost as ambiguous and perplexing as the crime itself.
Director: Tim Hunter | Stars: Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye, Daniel Roebuck
Votes: 20,711 | Gross: $4.60M
31. The Hotel New Hampshire (1984)
R | 109 min | Comedy, Drama
A New Englander and his odd family run a hotel in Vienna, as unexpected events change their lives forever.
Director: Tony Richardson | Stars: Rob Lowe, Jodie Foster, Paul McCrane, Beau Bridges
Votes: 9,121 | Gross: $5.10M
32. Cookie's Fortune (1999)
PG-13 | 118 min | Comedy, Drama
Conflict arises in the small town of Holly Springs when an old woman's death causes a variety of reactions among family and friends.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Glenn Close, Julianne Moore, Liv Tyler, Chris O'Donnell
Votes: 13,826 | Gross: $10.92M
33. Three to Tango (1999)
PG-13 | 98 min | Comedy, Romance
A rich businessman's assumption that his new colleague is gay leads him to ask the man to keep an eye on his mistress. However, the man is not gay--and he begins to fall for the woman himself.
Director: Damon Santostefano | Stars: Neve Campbell, Matthew Perry, Dylan McDermott, Oliver Platt
Votes: 20,093 | Gross: $10.54M
34. The Education of Little Tree (1997)
PG | 112 min | Drama
Little Tree is an 8-year-old Cherokee boy who loses his parents during The Great Depression and begins living with his Indian grandparents and learning the Cherokee way of life.
Director: Richard Friedenberg | Stars: James Cromwell, Joseph Ashton, Tantoo Cardinal, Mika Boorem
Votes: 1,825 | Gross: $0.12M
35. The Playboys (1992)
PG-13 | 117 min | Drama, Romance
A young woman, Tara Maguire (Robin Wright) scandalizes her provincial Irish village in the 1950s by having a baby out of wedlock, and refusing to name the father. She has a rare beauty and ... See full summary »
Director: Gillies MacKinnon | Stars: Albert Finney, Aidan Quinn, Robin Wright, Milo O'Shea
Votes: 1,326 | Gross: $4.91M
36. Red Corner (1997)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
An American attorney on business in China is wrongfully arrested and put on trial for murder, with a female defense lawyer from the country the only key to proving his innocence.
Director: Jon Avnet | Stars: Richard Gere, Bai Ling, Bradley Whitford, Byron Mann
Votes: 18,317 | Gross: $22.42M
37. The Beast Within (1982)
R | 98 min | Horror
A young woman gets raped by a mysterious man-creature, and years later her son begins a horrific transformation into a similar beast.
Director: Philippe Mora | Stars: Ronny Cox, Bibi Besch, Paul Clemens, Don Gordon
Votes: 4,547 | Gross: $7.74M
38. UHF (1989)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
An unemployed visionary becomes the manager of a local television station. The station becomes a success, with all sorts of hilarious sight gags and wacky humor.
Director: Jay Levey | Stars: 'Weird Al' Yankovic, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, Michael Richards
Votes: 31,544 | Gross: $6.16M
39. Mystery Men (1999)
PG-13 | 121 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy
A group of inept amateur superheroes must try to save the day when a supervillain threatens to destroy a major superhero and the city.
Director: Kinka Usher | Stars: Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, William H. Macy, Hank Azaria
Votes: 70,652 | Gross: $29.76M
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