The 25 Best Films of the Eighties

Ultimately any "Best of" list is opinion, and mine is no different. I've seen a lot of different lists online of the "best" eighties films, but they seem to all revolve around the same set of movies. Labyrinth, Die Hard, Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, etc. Sure, those are all great films (except Labyrinth, fight me), but those lists get boring after awhile. So this is a list of my favorite movies from the 80's, and therefore to me they're the best.

The Top 25 Films of the Eighties

25. Vampire's Kiss
(1989, dir. Robert Bierman)


 

24. White Dog
(1982, dir. Samuel Fuller)

23. Paris, Texas
(1984, dir. Wim Wenders)

22. UHF
(1989, dir. Jay Levey)

21. Blow Out
(1981, dir. Brian De Palma)

20. Evil Dead II
(1987, dir. Sam Raimi)

19. Raising Arizona
(1987, dir. Joel & Ethan Coen)

18. Eating Raoul
(1982, dir. Paul Bartel)

17. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
(1988, dir. Penelope Spheeris)

16. Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
(1987, dir. Todd Haynes)

15. Stranger Than Paradise
(1984, dir. Jim Jarmusch)

14. The Last Temptation of Christ
(1988, dir. Martin Scorsese)

13. The Terminator
(1984, dir. James Cameron)

12. The Fly
(1986, dir. David Cronenberg)

11. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
(1989, dir. Peter Greenaway)

10. Videodrome 
(1983, dir. David Cronenberg)

9. Koyaanisqatsi
(1982, dir. Godfrey Reggio)

8. Stop Making Sense
(1984, dir. Jonathan Demme)

7. The Shining
(1980, dir. Stanley Kubrick)

6. The Thing
(1982, dir. John Carpenter)

5. Fitzcarraldo
(1982, dir. Werner Herzog)

4. Blade Runner 
(1982, dir. Ridley Scott)

3. Do The Right Thing
(1989, dir. Spike Lee)

2. Blue Velvet
(1986, dir. David Lynch)

1. The King of Comedy
(1983, dir. Martin Scorsese)

Honorable Mentions: Aliens, Sans soleil, The Blues Brothers, Repo Man, Heathers, This Is Spinal Tap, Robocop, Big Trouble In Little China, Full Metal Jacket, Broken Noses

Other Good 80's Movies: Thief, The 'Burbs, Jean de Florette, Pink Floyd The Wall, Raging Bull, The Road Warrior, Born In Flames, Ghostbusters, Shogun Assassin, Airplane!