The ’80s were a great decade for film, and many of its movies remain popular four decades later.
In many ways, the ’80s paved the way for Hollywood’s turn towards blockbusters, but there were still serious films that could become breakout hits.
Watch With Us has selected our picks for the best movies of every year of the ’80s, and what we found is that the Academy Awards often got it wrong.
For all of the films that came out during this decade, we only agreed with the Oscar picks for Best Picture twice.
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The Best Movie of 1980: ‘Raging Bull’
How did Raging Bull fail to win Best Picture at the Oscars? It lost to Ordinary People, but Raging Bull is the film that movie lovers are still talking about 45 years later. And at least Robert De Niro got his Oscar for Best Actor for his performance as boxer Jake LaMotta. The film follows the rise and fall of LaMotta’s career in the ’40s.
As seen in the movie, LaMotta was a world-class talent in the ring. He was also incredibly self-destructive and had dysfunctional relationships with his wife, Vickie (Cathy Moriarty), and his brother, Joey LaMotta (Joe Pesci). This is one of director Martin Scorsese‘s greatest movies, and his choice to film it in black and white makes it seem timeless.
Raging Bull is streaming on Prime Video.
The Best Movie of 1981: ‘Chariots of Fire’
Chariots of Fire is a biopic about two British runners, Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) and Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), who competed at the 1924 Olympics. Although Abrahams and Liddell do cross paths, their stories are largely separate throughout the film. And they each have their own burdens to bear.
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Abrahams is Jewish and faces open discrimination during his attempts to earn a place among his country’s finest runners. Liddell is a devout Christian man who views his talent for running as a way to glorify God. Both men have compelling journeys, and this film cemented their place in history.
Chariots of Fire is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
The Best Movie of 1982: ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’
Steven Spielberg has made a lot of great movies over the last five decades, but E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial has a special place in our hearts. The animatronics and puppetry used to bring E.T. to life are still very convincing, and his distinctive voice was provided by the late Pat Welsh.
After being stranded on Earth, E.T. befriends a 10-year-old boy named Elliott Taylor (Henry Thomas), as well as his siblings, Gertie (Drew Barrymore) and Michael (Robert MacNaughton). E.T. ‘s presence adds a sense of magic to the Taylor family’s lives, but also danger as government agents hunt for the alien visitor. One of the film’s most iconic scenes, featuring E.T. levitating the bikes of Elliott and his friends, has become so famous that Spielberg still uses it for his Amblin Entertainment logo.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is streaming on Netflix.
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The Best Movie of 1983: ‘The Right Stuff’
There has been some debate about the historical accuracy of The Right Stuff, especially from the people who lived through the events depicted in it. Regardless of its veracity, this is a rousing epic about the space race and the Mercury Seven pilots who were the first U.S. astronauts: Scott Carpenter (Charles Frank), Gordon Cooper (Dennis Quaid), John Glenn (Ed Harris), Gus Grissom (Fred Ward), Wally Schirra (Lance Henriksen), Alan Shepard (Scott Glenn), and Deke Slayton (Scott Paulin).
The film chronicles the difficulties the pilots faced during training and their actual space missions. The Right Stuff also puts the focus on test pilot Chuck Yeager (Sam Shepard), the man who was denied a place among the Mercury Seven despite breaking the sound barrier.
The Right Stuff is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
The Best Movie of 1984: ‘Amadeus’
Amadeus was the Oscar-winner for 1984’s Best Picture award, and we can’t disagree with that pick. This film had such a stranglehold on pop culture that there are fans who don’t realize that the one-sided grudge that composer Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) had for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) was largely the invention of playwright Peter Shaffer rather than a historically accurate footnote.
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Abraham won Best Actor at the Oscars for his turn as Salieri, a man who is so jealous of Mozart’s musical talent that he vows to destroy his rival and humiliate him in front of God and men. This proves to be easier said than done, as Mozart’s music takes on a life of its own even as the composer risks his health by working nonstop.
Amadeus is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
The Best Movie of 1985: ‘Ran’
Ran is one of the dark horse picks on this list, although it did pick up three Oscars. Director Akira Kurosawa was a cinematic genius, and his dazzling reinvention of William Shakespeare‘s King Lear turned it into a samurai epic set in Japan’s past. Tatsuya Nakadai stars as Hidetora Ichimonji, a warlord who decides to pass on his empire to his three sons, Taro (Akira Terao), Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu) and Saburo (Daisuke Ryu).
If you remember reading King Lear, then you shouldn’t be surprised to hear that Hidetora’s one truly loyal child, Saburo, is exiled while his brothers turn on their father and each other. The battle sequences are beautifully filmed and give the story a greater scale than most filmmakers would ever dream of attempting to achieve.
Ran is streaming on Tubi.
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The Best Movie of 1986: ‘Platoon’
Platoon is the third and final Best Picture winner on this list. Writer and director Oliver Stone drew upon his own life and service in Vietnam when creating the story of Platoon. His depictions of the battles were very realistic for the time, and it’s a visually arresting war movie.
Charlie Sheen leads the cast as Chris Taylor, a seemingly normal man at this point in his tour of duty. Taylor’s commanding officer, Lt. Wolfe (Mark Moses), is advised by two soldiers who represent the best and worst aspects of humanity: Staff Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger) and Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe). Taylor gravitates more towards the latter rather than the former, but that doesn’t end this cycle of violence.
Platoon is streaming on Tubi.
The Best Movie of 1987: ‘Broadcast News’
Broadcast News is a snapshot in time of the nightly news network shows in the ’80s, and yet some of the themes are still relevant today. That includes the continual shift towards more sensational news stories, questions about journalistic ethics and mass layoffs in media.
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The late William Hurt plays Tom Grunick, a young anchor on the rise at the network who catches the eye of a veteran producer, Jane Craig (Holly Hunter). Tom’s approach to the news is completely antithetical to her own, but that doesn’t stop Jane from having an office romance with him. Jane’s best friend and colleague, Aaron Altman (Albert Brooks), feels threatened by that because of his own desire for Jane and because Tom is racing to the top of the industry while Aaron is struggling to advance to an anchor position.
Broadcast News is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
The Best Movie of 1988: ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’
From a technical perspective alone, Who Framed Roger Rabbit was groundbreaking for the convincing way it combined live-action and animated characters in the same world. The Academy Awards gave it a Special Achievement Oscar, as well as three other wins, including Best Visual Effects. There’s also something special about the film’s unprecedented crossover between Disney and Warner Bros. cartoon icons that has never been repeated.
All of that would have been for nothing if Who Framed Roger Rabbit wasn’t a fantastic movie, even without the special effects. Bob Hoskins gave the performance of his life as private investigator Eddie Valiant, a man who never got over the murder of his brother at the hands of a Toon. This would be a 1940s noir movie if Eddie weren’t surrounded by animated characters like Roger Rabbit (Charles Fleischer), a Toon actor who desperately needs Valiant’s help to beat a bogus murder charge.
Hoskins was the perfect straight man for the comedic lunacy of Roger and the other cartoons, and yet just serious enough to give his character pathos. This is the kind of film that the Oscars wouldn’t dare to name Best Picture, and yet it’s the best movie of 1988 by a wide margin.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is streaming on Disney+.
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The Best Movie of 1989: ‘Glory’
Would you believe that Driving Miss Daisy won Best Picture for the same year that Glory was released? This film wasn’t even nominated for that Academy Award, although Denzel Washington won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his turn as Private Trip.
Glory follows the story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the very first army regiments comprised primarily of African American soldiers. During the Civil War, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick) takes charge of the 54th and struggles to relate to the former slaves and freedmen under his command. Shaw and Trip don’t see eye-to-eye, and the latter doesn’t necessarily believe that the war will improve anything for Black men and women. But when Shaw and the 54th find their common purpose, they leave their mark on the country.
Glory is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
To be considered “the best,” these films and series can be visually engaging, intellectually stimulating or simply just fun to watch, but the one trait they must have is that they are all, in some way, entertaining. We then check which platform they are streaming on and how you can access them as a subscriber. No algorithm nonsense or paid endorsements here — our recommendations are based purely on our love and interest for the films and shows we love.
