Best movies of 1980s

Chariots of Fire(1981)

Combined Rating:
79
Combined Critics Rating: 75

Two British track athletes, one a determined Jew, and the other a devout Christian, compete in the 1924 Olympics.





This Is Spinal Tap(1984)

Combined Rating:
79
Combined Critics Rating: 71

Spinal Tap, one of England's loudest bands, is chronicled by film director Marty DiBergi on what proves to be a fateful tour.



Airplane!(1980)

Combined Rating:
78
Combined Critics Rating: 68

A man afraid to fly must ensure that a plane lands safely after the pilots become sick.



Superman II(1980)

Combined Rating:
78
Combined Critics Rating: 70

Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.



Das Boot(1981)

Combined Rating:
78
Combined Critics Rating: 69

The claustrophobic world of a WWII German U-boat; boredom, filth, and sheer terror.



Blue Velvet(1986)

Combined Rating:
78
Combined Critics Rating: 69

The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.



Die Hard(1988)

Combined Rating:
78
Combined Critics Rating: 67

John McClane, officer of the NYPD, tries to save his wife Holly Gennaro and several others that were taken hostage by German terrorist Hans Gruber during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.



A Fish Called Wanda(1988)

Combined Rating:
78
Combined Critics Rating: 69

In London, four very different people team up to commit armed robbery, then try to doublecross each other for the loot.



When Harry Met Sally...(1989)

Combined Rating:
78
Combined Critics Rating: 69

Harry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.



Poltergeist(1982)

Combined Rating:
77
Combined Critics Rating: 69

A family's home is haunted by a host of ghosts.



Tootsie(1982)

Combined Rating:
77
Combined Critics Rating: 69

Michael Dorsey, an unsuccessful actor, disguises himself as a woman in order to get a role on a trashy hospital soap.



Ghostbusters(1984)

Combined Rating:
77
Combined Critics Rating: 66

Three former parapsychology professors set up shop as a unique ghost removal service.



After Hours(1985)

Combined Rating:
77
Combined Critics Rating: 72

An ordinary word processor has the worst night of his life after he agrees to visit a girl in Soho whom he met that evening at a coffee shop.



Hannah and Her Sisters(1986)

Combined Rating:
77
Combined Critics Rating: 71

Between two Thanksgivings two years apart, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly.



Big(1988)

Combined Rating:
77
Combined Critics Rating: 67

After wishing to be made big, a teenage boy wakes the next morning to find himself mysteriously in the body of an adult.



Dead Poets Society(1989)

Combined Rating:
77
Combined Critics Rating: 67

English teacher John Keating inspires his students to look at poetry with a different perspective of authentic knowledge and feelings.



Misery(1990)

Combined Rating:
77
Combined Critics Rating: 67

After a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan of his novels, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare of captivity and abuse.



Dances with Wolves(1990)

Combined Rating:
77
Combined Critics Rating: 67

Lt. John Dunbar, exiled to a remote western Civil War outpost, befriends wolves and Indians, making him an intolerable aberration in the military.



Edward Scissorhands(1990)

Combined Rating:
76
Combined Critics Rating: 64

A gentle man, with scissors for hands, is brought into a new community after living in isolation.




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