The main countdown begins tomorrow with no 50…here’s the near misses in what, it must be said, is the weakest decade by far.
| 51 | The Ice Palace (Norway 1987…Per Blom) |
| 52 | Fitzcarraldo (West Germany 1982…Werner Herzog) |
| 53 | Jean de Florette (France 1986…Claude Berri) |
| 54 | Brazil (UK 1985…Terry Gilliam) |
| 55 | Aliens: the Special Edition (US 1986/1987…James Cameron) |
| 56 | Atlantic City (US/Canada 1980…Louis Malle) |
| 57 | The Jewel in the Crown (UK 1984…Jim O’Brien, Christopher Morahan) TV |
| 58 | Wings of Desire (West Germany 1987…Wim Wenders) |
| 59 | The Vanishing (Netherlands/France 1988…George Sluizer) |
| 60 | Do the Right Thing (US 1989…Spike Lee) |
| 61 | E.T: the extra terrestrial (US 1982…Steven Spielberg) |
| 62 | Pixote (Brazil 1981…Hector Babenco) |
| 63 | Made in Britain (UK 1982…Alan Clarke) TV |
| 64 | Yol (Turkey/Switzerland 1982…Serif Gören, Yilmaz Guney) |
| 65 | La Traviata (Italy 1982…Franco Zeffirelli) |
| 66 | The Empire Strikes Back: the Special Edition (US 1980/1997…Irwin Kershner) |
| 67 | Little Dorrit: Parts I & II (UK 1987…Christine Edzard) |
| 68 | Mephisto (Hungary 1981…Istvan Szabo) |
| 69 | Manon des Sources (France 1986…Claude Berri) |
| 70 | The Terminator (US 1984…James Cameron) |
| 71 | Pelle the Conqueror (Denmark 1987…Bille August) |
| 72 | Urotsukidoji Part I: The Legend of the Overfiend (Extended Version) (Japan 1987…Hideki Tarayama) |
| 73 | The Rainbow (UK 1988…Stuart Burge) TV |
| 74 | Parsifal (West Germany 1982…Hans-Jürgen Syberberg) |
| 75 | Distant Voices, Still Lives (UK 1988…Terence Davies) |
| 76 | The Makioka Sisters (Japan 1983…Kon Ichikawa) |
| 77 | Camp de Thiaroye (Senega 1987…Ousmane Sembene) |
| 78 | Sans Soleil (France 1983…Chris Marker) |
| 79 | Paris, Texas (West Germany/US 1984…Wim Wenders) |
| 80 | Alpine Fire (Switzerland 1985…Fredi R.Murer) |
| 81 | Why Has Bodhi Dharma Left for the East? (South Korea 1988…Bae Yong-kyun) |
| 82 | Man of Iron (Poland 1981…Andrzej Wajda) |
| 83 | Full Metal Jacket (US 1987…Stanley Kubrick) |
| 84 | Red Sorghum (China 1987…Zhang Yimou) |
| 85 | The Untouchables (US 1987…Brian de Palma) |
| 86 | The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (UK 1989…Peter Greenaway) |
| 87 | Vagabonde (France 1985…Agnès Varda) |
| 88 | Southern Comfort (US 1981…Walter Hill) |
| 89 | Jesus of Montreal (Canada 1989…Denys Arcand) |
| 90 | Betty Blue: Version Integrale (France 1986/1991…Jean-Jacques Beineix) |
| 91 | The Long Good Friday (UK 1980…John McKenzie) |
| 92 | The Killer (Hong Kong 1989…John Woo) |
| 93 | The Killing Fields (UK 1984…Roland Joffé) |
| 94 | The Unbearable Lightness of Being (US 1987…Philip Kaufman) |
| 95 | Henry V (UK 1989…Kenneth Branagh) |
| 96 | A Sunday in the Country (France 1984…Bertrand Tavernier) |
| 97 | My Neighbour Totoro (Japan 1988…Hayao Miyazaki) |
| 98 | Last Exit to Brooklyn (West Germany/US 1989…Uli Edel) |
| 99 | Body Heat (US 1981…Lawrence Kasdan) |
| 100 | The Executioner’s Song (European theatrical version) (US 1982…Lawrence Schiller) TV |
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Writers/Founders
I’ll say this: THIS IS GONNA SET SAM OFF ON WEEKS OF PROGNOSTICATION THAT WILL ENDUCE NIGHT SWEATS. And, I must admit, some of the choices you made here were a bit, in my opinion, surprising. Then again, this makes me even more interested to see what films will make your final cut. LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!!!!
Weakest as in the overall number of good films, or the overall quality of good films? Because just judging from the castoffs in this preamble list, you left off some pretty good flicks. I expect the rest of the decade must be fairly impressive. Or your take on it, at least.
Overall numbers really, and if I was compiling a list of the greatest hundred films of all time, I doubt more than 3 or 4 would make it from this decade.
There will be some surprises for people, some films I rate a lot higher than some, the odd one people may not have seen, but really once we get to this era and beyond there should be no “never heard of this” cries from most people.
I’m not sure I really buy that the 80s were an especially weak decade. There were old masters primarily known for work in previous decades — Godard, Rivette, Rohmer, Bergman — making some of their best films. There were brilliant new talents — Jarmusch, Mann, Haynes, Van Sant — making their first films. There were guys like Lynch and Cronenberg developing their signature styles further. There were the last works of Fassbinder and Tarkovsky. It was Woody Allen’s strongest decade, with one masterpiece after another. There were great avant-garde films by Jarman, Brakhage, Su Friedrich, etc. And on and on and on… I can’t pretend I’ve counted up all the good films from various decades to compare them, but it doesn’t seem to me like the 80s really lacked for good films.
Personally, I have never bought into the idea that the 80’s were especially bad, as some others here have, and your defense here is food for thought, Ed.
Hmm, problem is that for me Van Sant and Jarmusch never made anything close to a great film, Haynes did Far from Heaven and a couple of others not far behind, but I didn’t like the Karen Carpenter film. Allen, to me, just had Hannah and Her Sisters in the 80s. I admired Crimes and Misdemeanors, Zelig and a couple of others on an intellectual level, but found them minor works compared to Hannah or Manhattan or even his early 70s laughriots.
Of all the decades, the 1980s has the least entries in my book of any decade by some distance, and even then quite a few were TV entries. The 1970s had given us Coppola, Scorsese, Malick and Lynch, but though the latter only made his major films in the 1980s – I was never a fan of Eraserhead – Coppola and Malick did nothing and new directors were few and far between. The Coens arrived, but they didn’t achieve major works until the 1990s, and though others like Soderbergh appeared towards the end of the decade, the 1990s gave us great works from the Coens, Stillman, Egoyan, Fincher, Payne, Paul Thomas Anderson, even Tarantino for the coolios, and then there was Yimou coming to his best in China, Kieslowski’s golden last hurrah, Von Trier’s rise to prominence along with Dogme, Tarr reached his apex, Rivette reinvented himself again, Altman and Malick came back from the dead, Moodysson, Kore-Eda, Sokurov and others all shone, while the resurrection of Loach and Leigh in the UK spawned the emergence of a new generation – Carine Adler, Danny Boyle, Gary Oldman’s Nil by Mouth, Tim Roth’s The War Zone, and Lynne Ramsay as well as being an inspiration, like Bresson, on the Dardenne Brothers.
In the end, however, my great works won’t be everyone’s and one man’s Vom Trier is another’s Jarmusch.
Van Sant made ELEPHANT. That is a very great film, one of the best of the new millenium in my view.
Lot’s of quality here, and quite a few that i’ve haven’t seen. the eighties to me seems like the ‘strangest’ decade, i’m not sure if it was because it was the first decade for the personal vhs, and (relatively) cheap camcorders… but indies from the fringes really pushed everything for me in the eighties. sure, most of it was shlock trash– but that’s something i like from time to time. i’ll definitely be going through this and seeing anything i haven’t.
this list (and the coming top 50) is VERY intriguing to me as my number one ‘Wings of Desire’ comes in at 58(!)…
Jamie, I really can’t wait to see what you come up with. I know many people who are with you on WINGS.
i’m doing my finishing touches right now.
looking back at this list i am again baffled ‘Aliens’ places ahead of ‘Wings of Desire’… we can do this all day though.
Haha! It is rather curious, but I’m inclined to agree. But yes, we can go back and forth all day on this. Looking forward to your list.
Hell, I’m baffled to see “Aliens” ahead of “Empire”. Cameron’s good, but he’s not THAT good.
I’m beginning to wonder if I placed “Wings” high enough. I’d better not overthink it, lest we all fall prey to list-envy.
I didn’t only forget LOCAL HERO, but also a French film called DIVA. I will insert them.
This might not have been as great of a decade as the one that came before it or even after it, but Ill be damned if I’m gonna call this a weak decade. This was the decade where Scorsese really made his mark. Too many people argue over his overrated 70s films and forget that he made his greatest films in the 80s. Raging Bull might be his crowning achievement and he continued making a good number of underrated masterpieces like After Hours and my favorite of his films, The Last Temptation of Christ. Also this was also the decade where one of the greatest directors of the modern era (and my favorite living director) David Cronenberg made 5 incredible films including his two masterpieces: Videodromes in 83 and Dead Ringers in 88 (my pick for the best film of the 80s). Other directors would also make their best films this decade also: Jarmusch (Down by Law), Milos Forman (I don’t care what people say, Amadeus was his best film), Ridley Scott (Bladerunner) David Lynch (Blue Velvet, though Muholland Dr is a very close second), Sam Raimi (you cant fuck with Evil Dead II) Woody Allan (Crimes and Misdemeanors) and Wolfgang Peterson (Das Boot). Also this was a decade where great Directors made some of their final masterpieces like Cassavetes with Love Streams, Kubrick with The Shining and Full Metal Jacket, and of course the great Kurosawa with Ran and Kagemusha. And before I end my rant about 80s cinema, I just want to finish by saying that Gus Van Sant has made great films. I totally agree with Sam about Elephant being one of them (I also loved another film he did this decade called Paranoid Park) and though Van Sant didn’t make his magnum opus in this decade (My Own Private Idaho for me), Drugstore Cowboy was pretty damn fantastic.
AnubhavBist… I have tendency to agree and disagree on a lot of what you said. I DO agree that while this is the weakest decade it still produced some tremendous work. But where I will DISAGREE is on Scorsese. The films he made in the 70’s are far from over-rated. TAXI DRIVER, MEAN STREETS, THE LAST WALTZ all deserved the tremendous critical notices they received. The 80’s indeed produced masterworks like RAGING BULL and LAST TEMPTATION (the best film he ever made) but it wasn’t the solitary decade in which he produced more than ONE great film. The 90’s saw KUNDUN, THE AGE OF INNOCENCE and, of course, GOODFELLA’S. In my mind though, it’s this PRESENT decade that has seen the great director veer from his usual style and venture into extreme realms of visual and stylistic bravado. THE AVIATOR is an immensely impressive period piece. GANGS OF NEW YORK, while split by the critics at the time, could reveal itself as a film to stand up with CHRIST.
As for Kubrick, I think ALL of his films are tremendous. Stanley is one of the great thinking and questioning directors. I think FULL METAL JACKET is a War film that can stand up with the best war films ever made. BUT: In this decade there is ONLY THE SHINING. This film stands with PATHS OF GLORY, BARRY LYNDON, 2001, CLOCKWORK as one of the signature works by an artist pushing out the inside of the envelope in style, composition, screenwriting and performance. Just about every element of this film is on the mark. Recently watched, I am amazed by a film that ONLY Stanley could have put together. It’s a horror film that asks deep questions about self failure and the mirrors life puts in front of us to see the failings we create for ourself. I believe our own Allan, through deducing his tastes from previous count-downs will agree that THE SHINING is a seminal work by one of the great directors. I’ll predict this film in Allan’s top 10 of the decade. THE SHINING is one of the 80’s best films.
Woody Allen, on the other hand is one of our most prolific directors. He bangs out a film a year without fail. To say the 80’s is his best decade is really just a matter of taste. Some like his work in the 70’s best because he blances the first half of the decade with his screwball comedies and levels that ten year span with his more matured yuck-yucks. The 90’s saw a similar balancing act with films like ANOTHER WOMAN (sorrowly under-rated) and light hearted jokey films like MIGHTY APHRODITE. He has gems in each ten year span. The 70’s saw LOVE AND DEATH balanced by MANHATTAN and INTERIORS. The @resent decade sees MATCH POINT balanced by his most recent film WHATEVER WORKS. Are the 80’s his best years? Only if you think his best film came from them. I have a favorite decade-The 70’s. But I think his best film is CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS (1989). Woody’s hard to nail down cause he’s everywhere.
Great feedback Dennis. I didn’t mean to say that the 80s were the best decade for Woody Allan. I just thought he made his masterwork in that decade. I totally agree that he was most prolific in the 70s. Its hard to argue when he released both Annie Hall and Manhattan in that span of time. But I still stick to my word that Jim Jarmusch, Ridley Scott, Milos Forman, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Wolfang Peterson, Woody Allan, and David Cronenberg each made their best film (again in my opinion) in this decade. Again its a decade that gets a bad rep for basically having a series of terrible Oscar winner (with the exception of one) and bad generic teen comedies (this was the decade that introduced the
world to Porky’s). But its one that should never be overlooked.
And yet, for all my belly-aching and pleading the cases of KUBRICK, SCORSESE and WOODY, I think it all gets shot to shit by two names when it comes to this decade. I won’t write an essay here. I won’t spout off as an authority of any kind. However, I think a serious study of the films in this decade will reveal two supreme geniuses. One an old master, the other (in this decade 1980) emmerging and reaching for the brass ring. I’ll just say: INGMAR BERGMAN and KRIESTOPH KEISLOWSKI. Nuff said. That’s where I’m heading.
I would say there were four great choices for BEST PICTURE in the 80’s. 1987-THE LAST EMPEROR (Bertolucci) 1984-AMADEUS (Forman) 1982-GANDHI (Attenborough) 1981-CHARIOTS OF FIRE (Hudson). The 2 worst choices in this decade, my opinion, were: 1988-RAIN MAN (Levinson) 1986-PLATOON (Stone)
Dennis, I’ll give you The Last Emperor and Amadeus, excellent films (if far better in the later director’s cuts and if the latter wasn’t the best film of its year), but Gandhi was a standard biopic of little interest beyond Attenborough’s staging of set pieces and the central performance, Chariots of Fire did more damage for the British filmindustry than good and was little more than okay (actors better than film). Far worse were Ordinary People (ordinary film, good performances), Terms of Endearment (mediocre) and Out of Africa (not even that good). I’ll give you Rain Man (well-acted but manipulative and downright tedious in places) and of course Driving Me Crazy setting new standards for ineptitude in AMPAS voting. To be fair, I’ll give you Platoon, even Stone made a better film that year in Salvador. Needless to say, won’t say what I think should win, it would rather spoil any countdown surprises.
I’m astounded that you continue to trash Driving Miss Daisy. It will be included in my own 80’s poll list. I agree with Sam that it’s deeply-moving. And why did Pauline Kael love it, if it was so awful?
I have to agree with Allan, Gandi was not an exceptional film. Outside an exceptional lead performance, the film moves too slow and fails to really be visually interesting. The best films of 1982 were Bladerunner and Das Boot. Haven’t seen Chariot of Fire or Last Emperor, though my favorite films from 87 were Evil Dead II and Full Metal Jacket. Can’t remember many flicks i liked from 81 outside of Raiders of the lost Ark. And I personally think Amadeus was the best film of 1984, and i understand that great films like Once Upon a Time America was released about that time too. I just love the flick. I’m still not sure why Platoon gets any attention or how Oliver Stone was awarded an Oscar over David Lynch for Blue Velvet. The even bigger mystery was how Sydney Pollack won best director over John Huston and Akira Kurosawa?
Sorry to see Atlantic City is so low.
I’m sorry, but I have to disagree with your assessment of the 1980s. With any decade, it’s easy to come across over 100 great movies, and this one is no different. As I said in my intro to my 101 BEST FILMS OF THE 1980s article:
Having followed the stellar 1970s, and heavily steeped with former movie star Ronald Reagan’s culture-changing presidential agenda (at least in its latter half), the 1980s may seem at first glance as a nadir for cinema (especially since the decade itself was, in my opinion, the beginning of the end for serious movies). But I find nothing worthy of burial in this list. All titles cited that were released before 1983 are suitable for inclusion in the golden age of the previous decade, and those that came afterwards are only VERY slightly weaker. Among those doing some of their best work in this decade: Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Philip Kaufman, Terry Gilliam, Stanley Kubrick, John Huston, Sidney Lumet, Jonathan Demme, Albert Brooks, and Steven Spielberg. Plus we have the emergence of Alex Cox, Jim Jaramusch, Bill Forsyth, Steven Soderburgh, Joel and Ethan Coen, Ross McElwee, and Sam Raimi. Not a bad batch of filmmakers there.
The article is at http://filmicability.blogspot.com/2009/07/master-list-14-my-101-favorite-1980s.html
Well Dean, you do make an excellent argument there! Those people are all formidable. And I see we again are in major agreement, as FANNY AND ALEXANDER is my own #1 film of the 80’s too. Dean, I will copy and paste the contents of your link on the onrunning tab of 80’s ballots over our site header. Check it all out when you get a chance. We have almost 200 comments already and maybe a dozen ballots.