Top 100 80's Films...

[Craig]

3rd - 144 points on 12 lists

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082971/?ref_=nv_sr_1

 

[Craig]

2nd - 163 points on 11 lists

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080684/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

 

[Craig]

1st - 170 points on 13 lists

Back to the Future (1985) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/?ref_=nv_sr_1

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

The De Palma vote was split, allowing George Lucas and such like to sneak through on the rails. We should've organised, like conservative Christians at a Republican primary. FFS.

Mines:

Spoiler: TLDR

18th - 70 points on 7 lists

RoboCop (1987) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093870/?ref_=nv_sr_2

Orion make the best trailers..

6 of the 20 on my list are of this flavour...maximalist weirdo sf with some sort of dystopic tech bent, vectors for sledgehammer satire. This wasn't my highest placed but it's probs the exemplar of the type. I remember first seeing it when I was a kid (via hilarious sanitised ITV dub: "flip you muthalover!", or whatever) and verily browning my pants at one of those failed prototype robots. Stop motion no longer gives me a conniption, but it's still ace, funny and manic but also quite earnest and melancholy, not least cos the characters are more well rounded and realised that one might expect to find in a film like this. It seems to me that quite a lot of contemporary superhero movies are trying pick this same scab, self aware action movies with the hero as Christ like figure, dying for our sins, sacrificing his own humanity to protect that of others, rebirth etc, but none that I have seen (Nolan Bat-dirges included) do it with anything like the same wit and facility. Quite alarmingly violent too, which makes for an odd, slightly counter intuitive time capsule now that Hollywood studios don't really go in for that sort of thing any more.

6th - 132 points on 11 lists

Die Hard (1988) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095016/?ref_=nv_sr_1

6th on my list and probs the lowest that'd have legit chance of making some sort of Desert Island DVDs longlist. Ostensibly an 80s muscle man action film, and to blame for about 100 generally bad "one man with gun trapped in building/plane/boat/white house sized by terrorists" imitators, but this is so well written. Gently subversive gender politics, some great (and equally sly) back and forth refracting the American movie hero archetype thru the western as well. All that John Wayne/Roy Rogers stuff is GOLD. Also some sort of high water mark/end point aesthetically too, the American action movie before Hong Kong.

 

[Cardsfan]

Cheers for doing it Craig, good fun to follow.

 

[Spirederman]

Yah BTTF!!!

 

[SALTIRE]

I don't begrudge Back To The Future top spot, it's always a great watch on the telly and very 80's.

 

[EvertonPaul]

Thought Big Trouble in Little China would have been higher up on the list.

 

[Ginola14]

The De Palma vote was split, allowing George Lucas and such like to sneak through on the rails. We should've organised, like conservative Christians at a Republican primary. FFS.

Mines:

Spoiler: TLDR

6th on my list and probs the lowest that'd have legit chance of making some sort of Desert Island DVDs longlist. Ostensibly an 80s muscle man action film, and to blame for about 100 generally bad "one man with gun trapped in building/plane/boat/white house sized by terrorists" imitators, but this is so well written. Gently subversive gender politics, some great (and equally sly) back and forth refracting the American movie hero archetype thru the western as well. All that John Wayne/Roy Rogers stuff is GOLD. Also some sort of high water mark/end point aesthetically too, the American action movie before Hong Kong.

I've always liked you. Behind that gentleman facade, there lies a "The Word" everyman!

 

[Tilbury]

Well fuck you all, apart from the other 2 who had Stand By Me on their lists.

That was my Greatest Film Of The 80's, my number 1.

Can't believe that it's fallen short of the Top 20. Still it seems as though the other 2 posters who included it (Reveal Yourselves To Me) also rated it rather highly with the 20 off from my vote, it left 29 points so an average of 14.5 scored from the other 2 voters. I wanna know who you are. Did another one of you have it at No1 and one at No11??

I want details!!

Bit late but yeh it was my number one as well! Very very low.

 

[silkyman]

Brilliant thread, thanks Craig!!! Going to run back through it and fire up Amazon for the few I've not seen!

90s next yeah?!?!?

 

[Oaf]

Ghostbusters was my number 1, so a 5th place finish isn't too bad. Absolutely love Empire Strikes back and B2TF, so can't argue with those being one and two.

Cheers for running this Craig.