As a Gen-X Kid, Movies That Blew My Mind, Cracked Me Up and Rocked My World! (1976-1984)
by RightOnDaddio | created - 10 Jan 2023 | updated - 1 month ago | PublicIncredible films from the late 1970’s to the early 1980’s that many don’t remember and Millennials and Gen-Z need to discover.
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1. On the Right Track (1981)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Romance
Lester is a homeless shoeshine boy living in a railway station. He's got this funny knack for picking the winning horses' names out of the paper while shining shoes. When word gets around, though, everyone wants a piece of the action.
Director: Lee Philips | Stars: Gary Coleman, Maureen Stapleton, Norman Fell, Michael Lembeck
Votes: 573
2. Treasure of the Four Crowns (1983)
PG | 97 min | Adventure, Fantasy
A group of adventurers are gathered together to retrieve some mystical gems which are in the possession of a deadly cult.
Director: Ferdinando Baldi | Stars: Tony Anthony, Ana Obregón, Gene Quintano, Jerry Lazarus
Votes: 744
3. The Private Eyes (1980)
PG | 91 min | Comedy, Mystery
Scotland Yard sends a goofy pair to check on foul play at a mansion outside 1920s London.
Director: Lang Elliott | Stars: Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Trisha Noble, Bernard Fox
Votes: 3,617 | Gross: $18.01M
4. Super Fuzz (1980)
PG | 97 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Red powder from a nuclear explosion gives a police officer super powers as long as he doesn't see anything red. He is eventually framed for murder and is unsuccessfully executed by many different methods.
Director: Sergio Corbucci | Stars: Terence Hill, Ernest Borgnine, Joanne Dru, Marc Lawrence
Votes: 8,185
5. The Last Shark (1981)
PG | 88 min | Horror
James Franciscus tries to save hundreds of swimmers in a coastal resort after a Great White Shark starts terrorizing the area.
Director: Enzo G. Castellari | Stars: James Franciscus, Vic Morrow, Micaela Pignatelli, Joshua Sinclair
Votes: 3,108
6. Caveman (1981)
PG | 91 min | Comedy, Romance
A caveman seeks revenge on a much larger competitor for the hand of a beautiful cavewoman.
Director: Carl Gottlieb | Stars: Ringo Starr, Dennis Quaid, Shelley Long, Jack Gilford
Votes: 8,611 | Gross: $15.97M
7. The Black Hole (1979)
PG | 98 min | Action, Sci-Fi
A research vessel finds a missing ship, commanded by a mysterious scientist, on the edge of a black hole.
Director: Gary Nelson | Stars: Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms
Votes: 27,982
8. The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981)
PG | 98 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The sole surviving Texas Ranger (Klinton Spilsbury) of an ambush arranged by outlaw leader Major Bartholomew "Butch" Cavendish (Christopher Lloyd) returns to fight back as a great masked western hero, The Lone Ranger.
Director: William A. Fraker | Stars: Klinton Spilsbury, Michael Horse, Christopher Lloyd, Matt Clark
Votes: 2,518 | Gross: $12.62M
9. Bugsy Malone (1976)
G | 93 min | Comedy, Crime, Family
The classic gangster story of Bugsy Malone told with an all-child cast.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Jodie Foster, Scott Baio, Florence Garland, John Cassisi
Votes: 19,444 | Gross: $2.78M
10. The Prize Fighter (1979)
PG | 99 min | Comedy
A mobster tricks an ex-boxer and his manager to take part in a series of (fixed) fights as part of a scheme to get his hands on an old boxing gym.
Director: Michael Preece | Stars: Tim Conway, Don Knotts, David Wayne, Robin Clarke
Votes: 395
11. Electric Dreams (1984)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
An artificially intelligent PC and his human owner find themselves in a romantic rivalry over a woman.
Director: Steve Barron | Stars: Lenny von Dohlen, Virginia Madsen, Maxwell Caulfield, Bud Cort
Votes: 10,019 | Gross: $2.19M
12. The Black Stallion (1979)
G | 118 min | Adventure, Family, Sport
After being shipwrecked with a magnificent horse off the coast of Africa in the 1940s, a boy bonds with the stallion, and trains him to race after their rescue.
Director: Carroll Ballard | Stars: Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney, Teri Garr, Clarence Muse
Votes: 14,038
13. Clash of the Titans (1981)
PG | 118 min | Action, Adventure, Family
Perseus must battle Medusa and the Kraken to save the Princess Andromeda.
Director: Desmond Davis | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Harry Hamlin, Claire Bloom, Maggie Smith
Votes: 47,731 | Gross: $41.09M
14. Krull (1983)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A prince and a fellowship of companions set out to rescue his bride from a fortress of alien invaders who have arrived on their home planet, Krull.
Director: Peter Yates | Stars: Ken Marshall, Lysette Anthony, Freddie Jones, Francesca Annis
Votes: 36,255 | Gross: $16.52M
15. Never Cry Wolf (1983)
PG | 105 min | Adventure, Drama
A government researcher, sent to research the "menace" of wolves in the north, learns about the true beneficial and positive nature of the species.
Director: Carroll Ballard | Stars: Charles Martin Smith, Brian Dennehy, Zachary Ittimangnaq, Samson Jorah
Votes: 8,783 | Gross: $29.60M
16. Watership Down (1978)
PG | 91 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
Hoping to escape destruction by human developers and save their community, a colony of rabbits, led by Hazel and Fiver, seek out a safe place to set up a new warren.
Directors: Martin Rosen, John Hubley | Stars: John Hurt, Richard Briers, Ralph Richardson, Michael Graham Cox
Votes: 39,417
17. Uncommon Valor (1983)
R | 105 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Ten years after his son went M.I.A. in Vietnam, U.S. Marine retired Colonel Jason Rhodes assembles a private rescue team to find Americans held in P.O.W. camps in Laos.
Director: Ted Kotcheff | Stars: Gene Hackman, Patrick Swayze, Robert Stack, Fred Ward
Votes: 11,650 | Gross: $30.50M
18. All Quiet on the Western Front (1979 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 150 min | Drama, War
A young soldier faces profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of World War I.
Director: Delbert Mann | Stars: Richard Thomas, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Ian Holm
Votes: 10,533
19. The Big Red One (1980)
R | 113 min | Drama, War
A hardened sergeant and the four core members of his infantry unit try to survive World War II as they move from battle to battle throughout Europe.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco
Votes: 21,390
20. 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: 20,091 | Gross: $35.86M
21. Firefox (1982)
PG | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A pilot is sent into the Soviet Union on a mission to steal a prototype jet fighter that can be partially controlled by a neuralink.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Freddie Jones, David Huffman, Warren Clarke
Votes: 29,261 | Gross: $46.71M
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