Criteria: These Greatest Movies of the 1980s are ranked according to their initial and lasting acclaim, influence as well as initial and lasting popularity.
Edited By: Tim, pauldrach, Bruno, Luuk
- Raiders of the Lost Ark - Steven Spielberg (1981)
- The Empire Strikes Back - Irvin Kershner (1980)
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Steven Spielberg (1982)
- The Terminator - James Cameron (1984)
- Blade Runner - Ridley Scott (1982)
- Raging Bull - Martin Scorsese (1980)
- Do the Right Thing - Spike Lee (1989)
- Back to the Future - Robert Zemeckis (1985)
- Die Hard - John McTiernan (1988)
- My Neighbor Totoro - Hayao Miyazaki (1988)
- Blue Velvet - David Lynch (1986)
- The Shining - Stanley Kubrick (1980)
- Aliens - James Cameron (1986)
- Amadeus - Miloš Forman (1984)
- Scarface - Brian De Palma (1983)
- Batman - Tim Burton (1989)
- Ghostbusters - Ivan Reitman (1984)
- Airplane! - Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams & David Zucker (1980)
- Ran - Akira Kurosawa (1985)
- Once upon a Time in America - Sergio Leone (1984)
- Akira - Katsuhiro Ōtomo (1988)
- Das Boot - Wolfgang Petersen (1981)
- The Thing - John Carpenter (1982)
- This Is Spinal Tap - Rob Reiner (1984)
- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior - George Miller (1981)
- The Elephant Man - David Lynch (1980)
- Cinema Paradiso - Giuseppe Tornatore (1988)
- Brazil - Terry Gilliam (1985)
- Shoah - Claude Lanzmann (1985)
- Platoon - Oliver Stone (1986)
- Wings of Desire - Wim Wenders (1987)
- Full Metal Jacket - Stanley Kubrick (1987)
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit - Robert Zemeckis (1988)
- Fanny and Alexander - Ingmar Bergman (1982)
- Paris, Texas - Wim Wenders (1984)
- Stranger than Paradise - Jim Jarmusch (1984)
- The Princess Bride - Rob Reiner (1987)
- The Breakfast Club - John Hughes (1985)
- Grave of the Fireflies - Isao Takahata (1988)
- Come and See - Elem Klimov (1985)
- Gandhi - Richard Attenborough (1982)
- Tootsie - Sydney Pollack (1982)
- The Evil Dead - Sam Raimi (1981)
- Stand by Me - Rob Reiner (1986)
- Dead Poets Society - Peter Weir (1989)
- When Harry Met Sally... - Rob Reiner (1989)
- Ferris Bueller's Day Off - John Hughes (1986)
- RoboCop - Paul Verhoeven (1987)
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind - Hayao Miyazaki (1984)
- A Nightmare on Elm Street - Wes Craven (1984)
- Rain Man - Barry Levinson (1988)
- The Fly - David Cronenberg (1986)
- The Blues Brothers - John Landis (1980)
- First Blood - Ted Kotcheff (1982)
- The Right Stuff - Philip Kaufman (1983)
- Videodrome - David Cronenberg (1983)
- An American Werewolf in London - John Landis (1981)
- Sex, Lies, and Videotape - Steven Soderbergh (1989)
- Michael Jackson: Thriller - John Landis (1983)
- The King of Comedy - Martin Scorsese (1982)
- Stop Making Sense - Jonathan Demme (1984)
- The Thin Blue Line - Errol Morris (1988)
- Fitzcarraldo - Werner Herzog (1982)
- Crimes and Misdemeanors - Woody Allen (1989)
- Police Story - Jackie Chan (1985)
- The Little Mermaid - John Musker & Ron Clements (1989)
- The Killer - John Woo (1989)
- Gremlins - Joe Dante (1984)
- Poltergeist - Tobe Hooper (1982)
- Beverly Hills Cop - Martin Brest (1984)
- Hannah and Her Sisters - Woody Allen (1986)
- Predator - John McTiernan (1987)
- The Verdict - Sidney Lumet (1982)
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High - Amy Heckerling (1982)
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - Nicholas Meyer (1982)
- The Last Emperor - Bernardo Bertolucci (1987)
- Au revoir les enfants - Louis Malle (1987)
- Evil Dead II - Sam Raimi (1987)
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown - Pedro Almodóvar (1988)
- The Color Purple - Steven Spielberg (1985)
- The Sacrifice - Andrei Tarkovsky (1986)
- Down by Law - Jim Jarmusch (1986)
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - Steven Spielberg (1989)
- A City of Sadness - Hou Hsiao-Hsien (1989)
- Withnail & I - Bruce Robinson (1987)
- Lethal Weapon - Richard Donner (1987)
- The Untouchables - Brian De Palma (1987)
- A Fish Called Wanda - Charles Crichton (1988)
- Ordinary People - Robert Redford (1980)
- Kagemusha - Akira Kurosawa (1980)
- Chariots of Fire - Hugh Hudson (1981)
- Reds - Warren Beatty (1981)
- Sans soleil - Chris Marker (1983)
- The Killing Fields - Roland Joffé (1984)
- Blood Simple - Joel & Ethan Coen (1984)
- Return of the Jedi - Richard Marquand (1983)
- Terms of Endearment - James L. Brooks (1983)
- Blow Out - Brian De Palma (1981)
- Koyaanisqatsi - Godfrey Reggio (1982)
- Escape from New York - John Carpenter (1981)
- Conan the Barbarian - John Milius (1982)
- Castle in the Sky - Hayao Miyazaki (1986)
- Dangerous Liaisons - Stephen Frears (1988)
- Atlantic City - Louis Malle (1980)
- A Room with a View - James Ivory (1986)
- A Better Tomorrow - John Woo (1986)
- The Goonies - Richard Donner (1985)
- Where Is the Friend's Home? - Abbas Kiarostami (1985)
- Big - Penny Marshall (1988)
- The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! - David Zucker (1988)
- Pixote - Héctor Babenco (1980)
- 48 Hrs. - Walter Hill (1982)
- Tron - Steven Lisberger (1982)
- Raising Arizona - Joel & Ethan Coen (1987)
- Jean de Florette - Claude Berri (1986)
- Out of Africa - Sydney Pollack (1985)
- Top Gun - Tony Scott (1986)
- Diva - Jean-Jacques Beineix (1981)
- Excalibur - John Boorman (1981)
- Yellow Earth - Chen Kaige (1984)
- Field of Dreams - Phil Alden Robinson (1989)
- Witness - Peter Weir (1985)
- My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown - Jim Sheridan (1989)
- She's Gotta Have It - Spike Lee (1986)
- Friday the 13th - Sean S. Cunningham (1980)
- The Purple Rose of Cairo - Woody Allen (1985)
- Red Sorghum - Zhang Yimou (1988)
- My Life as a Dog - Lasse Hallström (1985)
- Midnight Run - Martin Brest (1988)
- L'argent - Robert Bresson (1983)
- Local Hero - Bill Forsyth (1983)
- The Big Chill - Lawrence Kasdan (1983)
- A Christmas Story - Bob Clark (1983)
- Born on the Fourth of July - Oliver Stone (1989)
- Broadcast News - James L. Brooks (1987)
- The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover - Peter Greenaway (1989)
- Zelig - Woody Allen (1983)
- Tampopo - Jūzō Itami (1985)
- Say Anything... - Cameron Crowe (1989)
- Drugstore Cowboy - Gus Van Sant (1989)
- Nostalghia - Andrei Tarkovsky (1983)
- The Big Red One - Samuel Fuller (1980)
- Love Streams - John Cassavetes (1984)
- A Short Film About Killing - Krzysztof Kieślowski (1988)
- Babette's Feast - Gabriel Axel (1987)
- After Hours - Martin Scorsese (1985)
- Pelle the Conqueror - Bille August (1987)
- Dirty Dancing - Emile Ardolino (1987)
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - Steven Spielberg (1984)
- Superman II - Richard Lester (1980)
- Coal Miner's Daughter - Michael Apted (1980)
- On Golden Pond - Mark Rydell (1981)
- The Karate Kid - John G. Avildsen (1984)
- My Dinner with Andre - Louis Malle (1981)
- WarGames - John Badham (1983)
- The Ballad of Narayama - Shōhei Imamura (1983)
- Trading Places - John Landis (1983)
- Possession - Andrzej Żuławski (1981)
- The Last Metro - François Truffaut (1980)
- Body Heat - Lawrence Kasdan (1981)
- Gallipoli - Peter Weir (1981)
- Mephisto - István Szabó (1981)
- The Vanishing - George Sluizer (1988)
- The Mission - Roland Joffé (1986)
- Vagabond - Agnès Varda (1985)
- Henry V - Kenneth Branagh (1989)
- Glory - Edward Zwick (1989)
- The Abyss - James Cameron (1989)
- Mon oncle d'Amérique - Alain Resnais (1980)
- Missing - Costa-Gavras (1982)
- Sophie's Choice - Alan J. Pakula (1982)
- Yol - Yılmaz Güney & Şerif Gören (1982)
- Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence - Nagisa Ōshima (1983)
- Broadway Danny Rose - Woody Allen (1984)
- Repo Man - Alex Cox (1984)
- Heaven's Gate - Michael Cimino (1980)
- Dressed to Kill - Brian De Palma (1980)
- Caddyshack - Harold Ramis (1980)
- The Dead - John Huston (1987)
- Moonstruck - Norman Jewison (1987)
- Fatal Attraction - Adrian Lyne (1987)
- Manon of the Spring - Claude Berri (1986)
- Dead Ringers - David Cronenberg (1988)
- The Return of the Living Dead - Dan O'Bannon (1985)
- Re-Animator - Stuart Gordon (1985)
- Mississippi Burning - Alan Parker (1988)
- Kiss of the Spider Woman - Héctor Babenco (1985)
- Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - John McNaughton (1986)
- Flashdance - Adrian Lyne (1983)
- The Gods Must Be Crazy - Jamie Uys (1980)
- Roger & Me - Michael Moore (1989)
- Heathers - Michael Lehmann (1989)
- Good Morning, Vietnam - Barry Levinson (1987)
- Empire of the Sun - Steven Spielberg (1987)
- Time Bandits - Terry Gilliam (1981)
- Manhunter - Michael Mann (1986)
- Beetlejuice - Tim Burton (1988)
- The Last Temptation of Christ - Martin Scorsese (1988)
- Arthur - Steve Gordon (1981)
- Thief - Michael Mann (1981)
- Hoosiers - David Anspaugh (1986)
- Big Trouble in Little China - John Carpenter (1986)
- The Secret of NIMH - Don Bluth (1982)
- Alice - Jan Švankmajer (1988)
- Landscape in the Mist - Theodoros Angelopoulos (1988)
- Wall Street - Oliver Stone (1987)
- Victor/Victoria - Blake Edwards (1982)
- Diner - Barry Levinson (1982)
- Betty Blue - Jean-Jacques Beineix (1986)
- Prizzi's Honor - John Huston (1985)
- My Beautiful Laundrette - Stephen Frears (1985)
- The Time to Live and the Time to Die - Hou Hsiao-Hsien (1985)
- Back to the Future Part II - Robert Zemeckis (1989)
- Driving Miss Daisy - Bruce Beresford (1989)
- Planes, Trains and Automobiles - John Hughes (1987)
- The Natural - Barry Levinson (1984)
- Birdy - Alan Parker (1984)
- A Passage to India - David Lean (1984)
- Pink Floyd: The Wall - Alan Parker (1982)
- American Gigolo - Paul Schrader (1980)
- Fame - Alan Parker (1980)
- Tender Mercies - Bruce Beresford (1983)
- Risky Business - Paul Brickman (1983)
- The Long Good Friday - John Mackenzie (1980)
- Stardust Memories - Woody Allen (1980)
- Cannibal Holocaust - Ruggero Deodato (1980)
- Bull Durham - Ron Shelton (1988)
- Cocoon - Ron Howard (1985)
- Near Dark - Kathryn Bigelow (1987)
- Rumble Fish - Francis Ford Coppola (1983)
- The Fourth Man - Paul Verhoeven (1983)
- Time of the Gypsies - Emir Kusturica (1988)
- Distant Voices, Still Lives - Terence Davies (1988)
- À nos amours - Maurice Pialat (1983)
- A Sunday in the Country - Bertrand Tavernier (1984)
- The Times of Harvey Milk - Rob Epstein (1984)
- The Decline of Western Civilization - Penelope Spheeris (1981)
- Breaker Morant - Bruce Beresford (1980)
- The Changeling - Peter Medak (1980)
- Salaam Bombay! - Mira Nair (1988)
- Quest for Fire - Jean-Jacques Annaud (1981)
- El sur - Víctor Erice (1983)
- El Norte - Gregory Nava (1983)
- Hellraiser - Clive Barker (1987)
- Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters - Paul Schrader (1985)
- Eddie Murphy Delirious - Bruce Gowers (1983)
- The Decline of the American Empire - Denys Arcand (1986)
- Round Midnight - Bertrand Tavernier (1986)
- Silkwood - Mike Nichols (1983)
- Gregory's Girl - Bill Forsyth (1980)