40 Favorite Films of 1987
by Blue_Leaf | created - 03 Oct 2014 | updated - 30 Aug 2017 | PublicI am working on completing a list of my 1000 Favorite Films of All Time so these smaller lists will come in handy later. 1987 is one of favorite years for film. There is such diversity in genre and the quality is exceptional in all cases. Great acting, writing and directing.
Great year for horror films!
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1. 84 Charing Cross Road (1987)
PG | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
True story of a transatlantic business correspondence about used books that developed into a close friendship.
Director: David Hugh Jones | Stars: Anne Bancroft, Anthony Hopkins, Judi Dench, Jean De Baer
Votes: 11,218 | Gross: $1.08M
2. Angel Heart (1987)
X | 113 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A private investigator is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre to track down a singer named Johnny Favorite. But the investigation takes an unexpected and somber turn.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet, Charlotte Rampling
Votes: 95,793 | Gross: $17.19M
3. Goodbye, Children (1987)
PG | 104 min | Drama, War
A French boarding school run by priests seems to be a haven from World War II until a new student arrives. Occupying the next bed in the dormitory to the top student in his class, the two young boys begin to form a bond.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Gaspard Manesse, Raphael Fejtö, Francine Racette, Stanislas Carré de Malberg
Votes: 36,114 | Gross: $4.54M
Top 1000
4. Babette's Feast (1987)
G | 103 min | Drama
During the late 19th century, a strict religious community in a Danish village takes in a French refugee from the Franco-Prussian War as a servant to the late pastor's daughters.
Director: Gabriel Axel | Stars: Stéphane Audran, Bodil Kjer, Birgitte Federspiel, Jarl Kulle
Votes: 22,028 | Gross: $4.40M
Top 1000
5. Bagdad Cafe (1987)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, Drama
A lonely German woman ends up in the most desolate motel on Earth and decides to make it brighter.
Director: Percy Adlon | Stars: Marianne Sägebrecht, CCH Pounder, Jack Palance, Christine Kaufmann
Votes: 15,191 | Gross: $3.59M
6. The Bedroom Window (1987)
R | 112 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A young executive starts an affair with his boss's wife which then escalates into a nightmare after he lies to the police in order to protect her.
Director: Curtis Hanson | Stars: Steve Guttenberg, Elizabeth McGovern, Isabelle Huppert, Paul Shenar
Votes: 6,807 | Gross: $12.64M
7. Black Widow (1987)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A federal investigator tracks down a gold-digging woman who moves from husband to husband to kill them and collect the inheritance.
Director: Bob Rafelson | Stars: Debra Winger, Theresa Russell, Sami Frey, Dennis Hopper
Votes: 11,010 | Gross: $25.21M
8. Broadcast News (1987)
R | 133 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Take two rival television reporters: one handsome, one talented, both male. Add one producer, female. Mix well, and watch the sparks fly.
Director: James L. Brooks | Stars: William Hurt, Albert Brooks, Holly Hunter, Robert Prosky
Votes: 34,100 | Gross: $51.25M
9. The Dead (1987)
PG | 83 min | Drama
Gabriel Conroy and wife Gretta attend an early January dinner with friends at the home of his spinster aunts, an evening which results in an epiphany for both of them.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Anjelica Huston, Donal McCann, Helena Carroll, Cathleen Delany
Votes: 8,896 | Gross: $4.37M
10. Dead of Winter (1987)
R | 100 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A fledgling actress is lured to a remote mansion for a screen-test, soon discovering she is actually a prisoner in the middle of a blackmail plot.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Mary Steenburgen, Roddy McDowall, Jan Rubes, William Russ
Votes: 4,677 | Gross: $2.41M
11. Empire of the Sun (1987)
PG | 153 min | Drama, War
A young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation of China during World War II.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers
Votes: 134,270 | Gross: $22.24M
12. Evil Dead II (1987)
R | 84 min | Comedy, Horror
Ash Williams, the lone survivor of an earlier onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits, holes up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley DePaiva
Votes: 181,873 | Gross: $5.92M
13. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
R | 116 min | Drama, War
A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Baldwin
Votes: 790,157 | Gross: $46.36M
14. Hellraiser (1987)
R | 94 min | Horror, Thriller
A woman discovers the newly resurrected, partially formed, body of her brother-in-law and lover. She starts killing for him to revitalize his body and escape the demonic beings that are pursuing him after he escaped their underworld.
Director: Clive Barker | Stars: Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Sean Chapman
Votes: 140,468 | Gross: $14.56M
15. The Hidden (1987)
R | 97 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A cop and an FBI agent race for answers after law abiding people suddenly become violent criminals.
Director: Jack Sholder | Stars: Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Nouri, Claudia Christian, Clarence Felder
Votes: 22,594 | Gross: $9.75M
16. Hope and Glory (1987)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Bill, a young boy living on the outskirts of London experiences the exhilaration of World War II. During this period, Bill learns about sex, death, love, hypocrisy, and the faults of adults as he prowls the ruins of bombed houses.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Sarah Miles, David Hayman, Sebastian Rice-Edwards, Geraldine Muir
Votes: 14,594 | Gross: $10.02M
17. House of Games (1987)
R | 102 min | Crime, Thriller
A psychiatrist comes to the aid of a compulsive gambler and is led by a smooth-talking grifter into the shadowy but compelling world of stings, scams, and con men.
Director: David Mamet | Stars: Lindsay Crouse, Joe Mantegna, Mike Nussbaum, Lilia Skala
Votes: 24,036 | Gross: $2.59M
Top 1000
18. Housekeeping (1987)
PG | 116 min | Comedy, Drama
After their mother commits suicide, two sisters end up living with their kind but peculiar aunt in their grandmother's old house in a small 1950s town.
Director: Bill Forsyth | Stars: Christine Lahti, Sara Walker, Andrea Burchill, Anne Pitoniak
Votes: 2,923 | Gross: $1.08M
Top 1000
19. The Last Emperor (1987)
PG-13 | 163 min | Biography, Drama, History
Bernardo Bertolucci's Oscar-winning dramatisation of the life story of China's last emperor, Pu Yi.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ruocheng Ying
Votes: 111,482 | Gross: $43.98M
20. Matewan (1987)
PG-13 | 135 min | Drama, History
A labor union organizer comes to an embattled mining community brutally and violently dominated and harassed by the mining company.
Director: John Sayles | Stars: Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell, Will Oldham
Votes: 8,908 | Gross: $1.68M
21. Near Dark (1987)
R | 94 min | Horror
A small-town farmer's son reluctantly joins a traveling group of vampires after he is bitten by a beautiful drifter.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton
Votes: 44,718 | Gross: $3.37M
22. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
R | 96 min | Fantasy, Horror
A psychiatrist familiar with knife-wielding dream demon Freddy Krueger helps teens at a mental hospital battle the killer who is invading their dreams.
Director: Chuck Russell | Stars: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Craig Wasson, Patricia Arquette
Votes: 90,264 | Gross: $44.79M
23. No Way Out (1987)
R | 114 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A coverup and witchhunt occur after a politician accidentally kills his mistress.
Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, Sean Young, Will Patton
Votes: 45,930 | Gross: $35.51M
24. Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Drama
A Chicago advertising man must struggle to travel home from New York for Thanksgiving, with a lovable oaf of a shower-curtain-ring salesman as his only companion.
Director: John Hughes | Stars: Steve Martin, John Candy, Laila Robins, Michael McKean
Votes: 160,188 | Gross: $49.53M
25. Predator (1987)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall, Elpidia Carrillo
Votes: 454,651 | Gross: $59.74M
26. Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
R | 105 min | Biography, Drama
Biographer John Lahr is writing a book about playwright Joe Orton. Joe and Kenneth meet at drama school and live together for ten years as lovers and collaborators. Both want to be writers, but only one of them is successful.
Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Gary Oldman, Alfred Molina, Vanessa Redgrave, Wallace Shawn
Votes: 6,536 | Gross: $1.65M
27. The Princess Bride (1987)
PG | 98 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A bedridden boy's grandfather reads him the story of a farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon
Votes: 450,850 | Gross: $30.86M
Top 1000
28. Radio Days (1987)
PG | 88 min | Comedy
A nostalgic look at radio's golden age focusing on one ordinary family and the various performers in the medium.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Mike Starr, Paul Herman
Votes: 36,307 | Gross: $14.79M
29. Raising Arizona (1987)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Crime
When a childless couple--an ex-con and an ex-cop--decide to help themselves to one of another family's quintuplets, their lives become more complicated than they anticipated.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, Trey Wilson, John Goodman
Votes: 150,302 | Gross: $22.85M
30. 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: 9,871
31. RoboCop (1987)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox
Votes: 282,989 | Gross: $53.42M
32. Roxanne (1987)
PG | 107 min | Comedy, Romance
The large-nosed C.D. Bales is in love with the beautiful Roxanne; she falls for his personality but another man's looks.
Director: Fred Schepisi | Stars: Steve Martin, Daryl Hannah, Rick Rossovich, Shelley Duvall
Votes: 47,668 | Gross: $40.05M
33. The Stepfather (1987)
R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
After murdering his entire family, a man marries a widow with a teenage daughter in another town and prepares to do it all over again.
Director: Joseph Ruben | Stars: Terry O'Quinn, Jill Schoelen, Shelley Hack, Charles Lanyer
Votes: 18,182 | Gross: $2.49M
34. Swimming to Cambodia (1987)
R | 85 min | Comedy, Drama
Spalding Gray discusses his participation in the film The Killing Fields (1984) and the background story about the troubles of Cambodia.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Spalding Gray, Sam Waterston, Ira Wheeler
Votes: 2,373 | Gross: $1.09M
Top 1000
35. 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: 330,719 | Gross: $76.27M
36. The Whales of August (1987)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama
Two aged sisters reflect on life and the past during a late summer day in Maine.
Director: Lindsay Anderson | Stars: Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, Vincent Price, Ann Sothern
Votes: 5,290 | Gross: $1.34M
37. Wings of Desire (1987)
PG-13 | 128 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
An angel tires of his purely ethereal life of merely overseeing the human activity of Berlin's residents, and longs for the tangible joys of physical existence when he falls in love with a mortal.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois
Votes: 76,974 | Gross: $3.33M
Top 1000
38. Wish You Were Here (1987)
R | 88 min | Comedy, Drama
In a staid English seaside town after the Second World War, young Lynda grows up with her widowed father and younger sister. She eventually becomes pregnant by an acquaintance of her father.
Director: David Leland | Stars: Emily Lloyd, Trudi Cavanagh, Clare Clifford, Barbara Durkin
Votes: 3,334 | Gross: $3.28M
Top 1000
39. Withnail & I (1987)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Drama
In 1969, two substance-abusing, unemployed actors retreat to the countryside for a holiday that proves disastrous.
Director: Bruce Robinson | Stars: Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths, Ralph Brown
Votes: 47,888 | Gross: $1.54M
40. The Year My Voice Broke (1987)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama, Romance
In rural 1960s Australia, a boy watches helplessly as his best friend falls in love with a small-time criminal, setting off a violent chain of events.
Director: John Duigan | Stars: Noah Taylor, Loene Carmen, Ben Mendelsohn, Graeme Blundell
Votes: 2,278 | Gross: $0.21M
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