Rllmuk's favourite films of the 80s

[Cheyenne]

Much like my other two lists, it's the last 5 that are problematic.

[mushashi]

I can't believe there's been so little 80's film love/voting!

Well it would actually give a solid basis for Hollywood's desire to remake successful films which have passed a certain age, most of the audience seem to have never bothered to watch the original old version(s). Can't wait for the RoboCop remake when they get it back on track.

[And]

1. The Empire Strikes Back

2. Raiders of the lost ark

3. Blade Runner

4. The Return of the Jedi

5. Aliens

6. Terminator

7. The Thing

8. Predator

9. Robocop

10. Ghostbusters

11. Ferris Buellers Day off

12. Wierd science

13. Batman

14. Full Metal Jacket

15. Die Hard

16. Lethal Weapon

17. Star Trek 2 the wrath of Khaaaaaaaaannnnnn!!!!

18. Highlander

19. Evil Dead 2

20. Trading Places

And a few whys

1. Empire strikes back - for my money the greatest and best film ever made. A childhood favourite, first film I was taken to the cinema to see, even though I was too young to get what was going on. Has it all, perfect scifi.

2. Raiders of the lost ark

A film you will never get bored of. Unbelievable scenes of epic swashbucklery, the perfect sunday afternoon film, when I am king this will be shown every bank holiday.

3. Bladerunner

Ridley Scott at the very top of his game, a dystopian nightmare which is utterly enthralling. Visually stunning with great performances from the leads.

All 3 have Harrison Ford, so ergo he must be the greatest actor of the 80's.

[Paradigm]

He's in a lot of good movies full stop. I imagine The Conversation will be high up on the '70s list...

[CandyBob]

1. Aliens

2. The Thing

3. Empire Strikes Back

4. Back to the Future

5. Blade Runner

6. My Neighbour Totoro

7. Cinema Paradiso

8. Raiders of the Lost Ark

9. Terminator

10. Withnail and I

11. Akira

12. Ferris Buellers Day Off

13. Brazil

14. Paris Texas

15. Ghostbusters

16. Big Trouble in Little China

17. Raging Bull

18. Evil Dead

19. Videodrome

20. Planes, Trains and Automobiles

[rumblecat]

1. Rumblefish

2. Diner

3. The Thing

4. Brazil

5. Raising Arizona

6. Gregory’s Girl

7. The Breakfast Club

8. Some Kind of Wonderful

9. Blue Velvet

10. Do The Right Thing

11. Trading Places

12. Drugstore Cowboy

13. Ghostbusters

14. Evil Dead 2

15. This is Spinal Tap

16. Restless Natives

17. Querelle

18. Planes Trains and Automobiles

19. Better Off Dead

20. Airplane!

Rumblefish was the clear winner for me. Just love the look and feel of the movie- the way Coppola goes for a weird German expressionist type cinema style, the brilliance of the percussive Stewart Copeland score, was a big fan of the SE Hinton books (The Outsiders, Rumblefish, That Was Then This Is Now) but mostly I always loved Rumblefish because it's such a weird film to make- taking a teen novel, shooting it that way, loading it up with actors like Hopper and Waites, chock full of swearing, throwbacks to fifties gang films etc.

[mushashi]

1. RoboCop

2. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

3. Aliens

4. Die Hard

5. Grave of the Fireflies

6. Full Metal Jacket

7. The Terminator

8. The Thing

9. Escape from New York

10. Big Trouble in Little China

11. A Better Tomorrow

12. Predator

13. The Transformers: The Movie

14. Brazil

15. Long xiong hu di (Armour of God)

16. Adventures in Babysitting

17. The Breakfast Club

18. Raiders of the Lost Ark

19. Blue Velvet

20. Bad Taste

Had to drop:

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!

The Emerald Forest

Remo: Unarmed and Dangerous

Stir Crazy

Runaway Train

Mad Max 2

Southern Comfort

Blade Runner

Conan the Barbarian

Tron

Risky Business

Scarface

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Trading Places

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

The Last Starfighter

Conan the Destroyer

Weird Science

The Hitcher

Laputa: Castle in the Sky

Maximum Overdrive

Fist of the North Star

No Way Out

The Running Man

Akira

My Neighbour Totoro

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

Lethal Weapon 2

Personally, ranking them is more just throwing them generally into a pile and pulling out which ones spark some love or admiration, I just put RoboCop on top for ED-209 really.

[Cheyenne]

You may as well call this the decade of Jackie Chan. I forced myself to limiting him to four appearances, but I could have easily squeezed in three more (just be glad I didn't put City Hunter into my 90's list). I adore Chan, and this decade had an incredible output from him, absolutely at the top of his game. Jackie Chan.

1. Police Story

2. Once Upon A Time In America

3. Robocop

4. Akira

5. Amadeus

6. Die Hard

7. Predator

8. Project A

9. My Neighbour Totoro

10. Ran

11. Grave Of The Fireflies

12. Re-Animator

13. Armour Of God

14. Starman

15. The Young Master

16. The Last Emperor

17. The Long Good Friday

18. Planes, Trains & Automobiles

19. Airplane!

20. The Land Before Time

Police Story gets the top spot for having the most momentous final shot of all time.

[tonymg]

1. The Sure Thing

2. When Harry Met Sally

3. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

4. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

5. Robocop

6. First Blood

7. Heathers

8. Blue Velvet

9. Gallipoli

10. Labyrinth

11. Die Hard

12. The Thing

13. Who Framed Roger Rabbit

14. The Little Mermaid

15. A Nightmare on Elm Street

16. Raiders of the Lost Ark

17. The Terminator

18. Aliens

19. Lost Boys

20. Stand by Me

[redbloodcell]

1. Back to the Future

2. Raiders of the Lost Ark

3. Blade Runner

4. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

5. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

6. The Terminator

7. Batman

8. Flight of the Navigator

9. Aliens

10. Die Hard

11. The Keep

12. Predator

13. Platoon

14. Scarface

15. Scrooged

16. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

17. The Blues Brothers

18. Ghostbusters

19. Back to the Future part II

20. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

Being an '80s child I have to admit my list is top heavy with a lot with films I love because of their affiliation with my childhood.

[Gorf King]

1. Nostalgia

2. Come and See

3. Once Upon A Time in America

4. Raging Bull

5. A Zed And Two Noughts

6. Blade Runner

7. The Thing

8. Cinema Paradiso

9. Local Hero

10. Hannah and Her Sisters

11. Raiders of the Lost Ark

12. Grave of the Fireflies

13. The Shining

14. Blue Velvet

15. Dead Ringers

16. Brazil

17. Witness

18. Die Hard

19. Jean de Florette

20. Manon des Sources

When you're late to the ball at the eleventh hour, you run the risk of turning up in a costume someone's worn before you, and better. Looking at others' lists that's how I feel about this one: it's made from the scraps of others' outfits, and you're always unsure about whether you should have added at least a different accessory to make yourself stand out a bit. Here in the 80s, I get the feeling that whatever I'd have added or taken away, there'd be nothing terribly different. Withnail and I, The Elephant Man, Gallipoli, Ran, Kagemusha, Midnight Run, Gregory's Girl, Manhunter, Angel Heart, Field of Dreams, A Short Film About Killing, Do The Right Thing, Mona Lisa, Rumblefish, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, Birdy, Last Exit To Brooklyn, Fanny and Alexander, a brace of Woody Allen films and about twenty or thirty others could have made it into this list and it'd still not have looked odd. But it also wouldn't have been any better balanced or truer to what I remember most fondly and with most admiration about this decade of film making, so I guess what is here will do as well as anything to represent one of the most varied and rich periods of cinema. For me, cinema in the 80s is a little like the music of the 80s: there was a real sense of adventure and novelty in the art form that produced some unique pieces of work, yet all you seem to read about lately is the cheese that made it big at the box office. I fear that a themed 80s night in cinema would be as grossly unrepresentative of what I remember as being so exciting about that decade as are those hideous, faux-ironic 80s music nights featuring little but big-haired, wide-shouldered slabs of pure commerciality.

Not that there's anything wrong with the cheese: as part of a balanced diet it, alongside doughnuts, can form many a guilt-free treat. Die Hard is a prime example of this. It had to be in there, this king of action movies. Nothing else in the genre is as tight, well-paced and scripted, as dramatically satisfying, as McLain's immaculately manly trajectory through Nakatomi Plaza. It's also the best Christmas film since Fanny and Alexander (sadly omitted) and a more than passable romantic comedy, so it packs three genres efficiently within its taut frame. It's never been bettered, and I doubt it ever will. Raiders, although obviously an action movie, works the other side of the fence - the same one as Star Wars - with its deliberately retro Saturday morning matinee stylings weaving their magic in a more archly knowing way on the audience's expectations (when McClane references Roy Rogers it's a simple, yet effective, callout; when Indy does the same thing with his antecedents it's woven into the very fabric of the film).

Those two giants span the action movie globe for me, and in including them I have to waive others I might have included instead - the fantastic and ever-watchable Predator being one, and Aliens being the other. (Predator I particularly regret not finding space for, but Aliens - although a great action film - is growing less appealing with each passing year. Part of its appeal has always been the giant on whose shoulders it has stood, and my increasing dislike of something that first really took off in the 80s - the franchisation of cinema - I also detect in its somewhat indulgent approach. The Age of Reboots is the demon child of the Age of Franchises, and I'll always hold a grudge against those who first sniffed out the box office potential of what has become known as 'fan service'. So, sorry, but no auctioneer sequels can be permitted into this list. (The franchise follow ups to Die Hard and Raiders can also be detected by their marked inferiority to the originals, of course.))

Rant over, I leave myself little time in which to say anything about the films that really do deserve to be in there. Come and See is simply the best war film ever made. It shares a raw sense of the ugliness and loss of war with Grave of the Fireflies, another emotionally distressing film that makes you marvel at the capacity of the medium to tell honest truths in such a way that you'll be entertained as well as enlightened by the depiction of something so wasteful and squalid as mass murder. They're both astonishing works of art, like Picasso, like Stravinsky, and savage and tender as hell.

The French brace at 18 and 19 (EDIT: now 19 and 20) I couldn't leave out, simply because they're the best and most memorable folk tales - honest stories of revenge, greed and deception among the peasantry - that I've ever seen. Claude Berri takes a simple story and populates it with such memorable characters and enchanting cinematography that it's almost an archetype - he's like the Disney of live action here, and his tale of folly and desire is a perfectly realised fable that deserves a place in the hall of classics rather than as a vehicle for a series of lager commercials. Ah, the 80s - how you sold your soul so that future generations could see nothing but the shallows of your baser instincts.

At 23:48 on deadline day I'd better hurry up. Z00 vied with a couple of other Greenaways for inclusion and won out due largely to its having one of the best closing scenes ever in cinema - although it was a close call. I love this film and those immediately preceding and following it in the director's portfolio almost equally, and they represent almost above all others that spirit of originality in 80s cinema that I mentioned earlier. Once Upon A Time In America I feel has almost as great a claim, surprisingly, to this spirit: coming from Leone it's an almost deceitful work in its sly cleverness, and if you subscribe to the 'dream' theory you'll love it above all his other films. If not, you might simply regard it as a great gangster movie with a superb Morricone score and fantastic performances from the actors, which in itself might have made the top 20 grade.

23:54: I'll have to miss something out here. The Thing: an unparalleled atmosphere in a heady mix of horror and paranoia that will never be improved upon (please, for the sake of all fucks, DO NOT FUCKING 'REBOOT' this motherfucker). Witness is my favourite Weir film of the 80s, again largely due to the director's uncanny knack of generating an appropriate, almost other-worldly atmosphere. Look out for him again in the 70s list.

23:57: Ah, bollocks to it - you'll have read all the rest somewhere else anyway. Nostalgia is one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. It's also a difficult one, a trait it shares with many of the director's 70s films. It shouldn't put you off seeing it.

EDIT: Woo hoo - 23:59. Apols for the brevity of some comments and the complete omission of those I never got round to, but I wanted to get this in before the time limit, however arbitrary it might be, mainly for my own sake: I'd have been mulling over it all year if given the chance, so I wanted to simply put it all together in real time right at the end just to keep it as short as possible. Only a partial success there, but better than the alternative.

EDIT 2: Oh, for fuck's sake. I appear to have two films at #16...

EDIT 3: Fixed. Bye, American Werewolf in London. *sniff*

[lordcookie]

I really need to see Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources again as I have only ever seen them within the confines of a high school French class which really isn't the ideal environment.

For me, cinema in the 80s is a little like the music of the 80s: there was a real sense of adventure and novelty in the art form that produced some unique pieces of work, yet all you seem to read about lately is the cheese that made it big at the box office. I fear that a themed 80s night in cinema would be a grossly unrepresentative of what I remember as being so exciting about that decade as are those hideous, faux-ironic 80s music nights featuring little but big-haired, wide-shouldered slabs of pure commerciality.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. I still love the cheesy 80s stuff but music and film was not as bereft of innovation and quality as many people like to say it is during the decade.

[Darragh]

Probably more than any other decade, this list is very much a subjective one - many of these films are indelibly linked in my mind to happy times in my childhood, while there are others that I remember very fondly for knocking my socks off just as I was starting to get into film in my early teens. It can be difficult to see past those things in the interest of fairness (especially when I'm already...an hour late with my submissions!) This one will probably end up being the hardest one to put together for me, and the order of the list would likely change dramatically if I were to re-arrange the 20 films a month from now. There's also a fair few flicks in this thread that I really need to get around to watching, and have added to my Amazon Wishlist for future purchase. Anyway, here we go!

1. Brazil (1985, Terry Gilliam)

2. Back To The Future (1985, Robert Zemeckis)

3. Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)

4. Once Upon A Time In America (1984, Sergio Leone)

5. Raging Bull (1980, Martin Scorsese)

6. The Thing (1982, John Carpenter)

7. Fitzcarraldo (1982, Werner Herzog)

8. Blue Velvet (1986, David Lynch)

9. This Is Spinal Tap (1984, Rob Reiner)

10. Local Hero (1983, Bill Forsyth)

11. Brewster's Millions (1985, Walter Hill)

12. Hannah And Her Sisters (1986, Woody Allen)

13. Down By Law (1986, Jim Jarmusch)

14. Die Hard (1988, John McTiernan)

15. Commando (1985, Mark L. Lester)

16. Zelig (1983, Woody Allen)

17. The Terminator (1984, James Cameron)

18. Aliens (1986, James Cameron)

19. Akira (1988, Katsuhiro Ôtomo)

20. The Abyss (1989, James Cameron)

[Chosty]

Results are in!

It sure is an action-packed, testosterone-laden top 20 - all the usual 80s suspects are present and correct, although it's interesting how there are three clusters of favourites (more obvious when you look at the graph below).

1. Blade Runner [513 | 36]

2. Raiders of the Lost Ark [504 | 33]

3. The Empire Strikes Back [446 | 29]

4. Back to the Future [429 | 31]

5. Die Hard [408 | 32]

6. Aliens [394 | 30]

7. The Thing [375 | 30]

8. RoboCop [372 | 30]

9. The Terminator [367 | 28]

10. Predator [221 | 20]

11. Ghostbusters [206 | 22]

12. Blue Velvet [196 | 17]

13. The Shining [166 | 13]

14. Brazil [160 | 13]

15. Trading Places [158 | 13]

16. Commando [156 | 15]

17. ET [154 | 12]

18. This is Spinal Tap [145 | 14]

19. Big Trouble in Little China [139 | 12]

20. The Breakfast Club [132 | 10]

21. My Neighbour Totoro [130 | 10]

22. Ferris Bueller's Day Off [126 | 13]

23. Raging Bull [121 | 10]

24. The Goonies [102 | 8]

25. Escape From New York [99 | 7]

26. Grave of the Fireflies [94 | 8]

27. Return of the Jedi [93 | 8]

28. Akira [88 | 9]

29. Full Metal Jacket [86 | 7]

30. Once Upon a Time in America [77 | 5]

31. The Elephant Man [75 | 8]

32. The Blues Brothers [73 | 7]

33. Beverly Hills Cop [69 | 8]

=34. Gremlins [64 | 7]

=34. The Princess Bride [64 | 6]

=36. Highlander [61 | 6]

=36. Lethal Weapon [61 | 6]

38. Midnight Run [56 | 7]

39. Batman [55 | 6]

=40. First Blood [54 | 5]

=40. Platoon [54 | 7]

=40. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan [54 | 5]

=40. Videodrome [54 | 5]

=40. Withnail & I [54 | 5]

45. Scarface [52 | 5]

46. Stand by Me [51 | 5]

=47. Castle in the Sky [50 | 5]

=47. The Lost Boys [50 | 5]

49. An American Werewolf in London [49 | 5]

50. Flight of the Navigator [48 | 5]

=51. Local Hero [46 | 5]

=51. The Vanishing [46 | 6]

=53. Do the Right Thing [44 | 15]

=53. Raising Arizona [44 | 4]

=53. Ran [44 | 5]

=56. Paris, Texas [43 | 4]

=56. The Fly [43 | 4]

=58. Hannah and Her Sisters [42 | 5]

=58. The Killer [42 | 4]

60. Come and See [41 | 5]

61. Planes, Trains and Automobiles [40 | 6]

62. When Harry Met Sally [39 | 2]

63. Fletch [38 | 3]

=64. Airplane! [36 | 7]

=64. Weird Science [36 | 3]

66. Heathers [35 | 4]

67. Labyrinth [34 | 3]

=68. a2010 [33 | 3]

=68. Evil Dead [33 | 4]

=68. Fanny and Alexander [32 | 2]

=68. The Sure Thing [32 | 4]

72. The Naked Gun [31 | 3]

=73. Cinema Paradiso [30 | 3]

=73. Superman II [30 | 2]

=75. Big [29 | 6]

=75. Dead Ringers [29 | 3]

=75. Gregory’s Girl [29 | 3]

=75. Nostalgia [29 | 2]

79. After Hours [28 | 3]

=80. Manhunter [27 | 3]

=80. Police Story [27 | 2]

=82. Starman [26 | 2]

=82. The Long Good Friday [26 | 4]

=84. Amadeus [24 | 3]

=84. Beetlejuice [24 | 2]

=84. Das Boot [24 | 3]

=84. The King of Comedy [24 | 3]

88. Re-Animator [23 | 2]

=89. Armour of God [22 | 3]

=89. Koyaanisqatsi [22 | 2]

=89. Summer School [22 | 2]

=89. Top Gun [22 | 2]

=93. Altered States [21 | 2]

=93. Better Off Dead [21 | 3]

=93. Gandahar [21 | 2]

=93. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade [21 | 2]

=97. At Close Range [20 | 1]

=97. Coming to America [20 | 1]

=97. Crimes and Misdemeanours [20 | 1]

=97. De Vierde Man [20 | 2]

=97. Mad Max 2 [20 | 3]

=97. Rumblefish [20 | 1]

=103. A Nightmare on Elm Street [19 | 3]

=103. Day of the Dead [19 | 2]

=103. Diner [19 | 1]

=103. Field of Dreams [19 | 2]

=103. L'Argent [19 | 1]

=103. Wargames [19 | 1]

=103. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? [19 | 2]

=110. A Zed & Two Noughts [18 | 2]

=110. Blood Simple [18 | 1]

=110. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind [18 | 1]

=110. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension [18 | 1]

=110. The Cook, The Thief, The Wife and Her Lover [18 | 1]

=115. A City of Sadness [17 | 1]

=115. Beverly Hills Cop II [17 | 1]

=115. Fitzcarraldo [17 | 2]

=115. Hot Pursuit [17 | 1]

=115. Kiki's Delivery Service [17 | 1]

=115. Les Maitres Du Temps (Time Masters) [17 | 1]

=115. Letters from a Dead Man [17 | 3]

=115. Pixote [17 | 1]

=115. Police Academy 3 [17 | 1]

=124. À nos amours [16 | 2]

=124. Clue [16 | 1]

=124. Comrades [16 | 1]

=124. Dragnet [16 | 2]

=124. Friday the 13th [16 | 2]

=124. Patlabor: The Movie [16 | 1]

=124. Purple Rain [16 | 2]

=124. The Dark Crystal [16 | 2]

=124. The Return of the Living Dead [16 | 2]

=133. A Better Tomorrow [15 | 2]

=133. Flash Gordon [15 | 2]

=133. La Ville des Pirates [15 | 1]

=133. Poltergeist [15 | 1]

=133. Rain Man [15 | 1]

=133. Tetsuo [15 | 1]

=133. The Karate Kid [15 | 2]

=133. The Last Emperor [15 | 2]

=133. The Man with Two Brains [15 | 1]

=133. The Meaning of Life [15 | 1]

=133. The Natural [15 | 1]

=144. Breathless [14 | 1]

=144. Brewster's Millions [14 | 2]

=144. Stir Crazy [14 | 1]

=144. The 'burbs [14 | 2]

=144. The Ninth Configuration [14 | 1]

=144. The Secret of My Success [14 | 1]

=150. A Fish Called Wanda [13 | 1]

=150. About Last Night [13 | 1]

=150. Angel Heart [13 | 2]

=150. Bad Timing [13 | 2]

=150. Distant Voices, Still Lives [13 | 1]

=150. Project A [13 | 1]

=150. Scrooged [13 | 2]

=150. Some Kind of Wonderful [13 | 1]

=150. The Running Man [13 | 1]

=159. Gallipoli [12 | 1]

=159. Lamb [12 | 1]

=159. Something Wild [12 | 2]

=159. The Untouchables [12 | 2]

=159. Transformers: The Movie [12 | 3]

=164. Dead Poet's Society [11 | 1]

=164. Dune [11 | 1]

=164. Evil Dead 2 [11 | 3]

=164. Rece do góry [11 | 1]

=164. St Elmo's Fire [11 | 1]

=164. Working Girl [11 | 1]

=170. Back to the Future part II [10 | 2]

=170. Hellraiser [10 | 1]

=170. Jean de Florette [10 | 2]

=170. Repo Man [10 | 1]

=170. Something Wicked This Way Comes [10 | 1]

=170. The Keep [10 | 14]

=170. The King and the Mockingbird [10 | 2]

=177. A Short Film About Love [9 | 1]

=177. Crocodile Dundee [9 | 1]

=177. Drugstore Cowboy [9 | 1]

=177. Near Dark [9 | 1]

=177. Sign o the Times [9 | 1]

=177. Stop Making Sense [9 | 1]

=177. The Three Amigos [9 | 1]

=177. Witness [9 | 2]

=185. Down By Law [8 | 1]

=185. Manon des Sources [8 | 2]

=185. Real Genius [8 | 1]

=185. The Quiet Earth [8 | 2]

=185. The Seventh Continent [8 | 2]

=190. The Abyss [7 | 3]

=190. The Little Mermaid [7 | 1]

=190. Tron [7 | 3]

=190. Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? [7 | 1]

=194. Masters of the Universe [6 | 1]

=194. Pale Rider [6 | 1]

=194. Rambo: First Blood Part II [6 | 1]

=194. Restless Natives [6 | 2]

=194. Society [6 | 1]

=194. Tango and Cash [6 | 1]

=194. The Fox and the Hound [6 | 1]

=194. The Young Master [6 | 1]

=202. Adventures in Babysitting [5 | 1]

=202. Body Heat [5 | 1]

=202. Ganheddo [5 | 1]

=202. Rita, Sue and Bob Too [5 | 1]

=202. Rocky IV [5 | 1]

=202. Southern Comfort [5 | 1]

=202. The Asthenic Syndrome [5 | 1]

=202. The Company of Wolves [5 | 1]

=202. Time Bandits [5 | 1]

=202. Uncle Buck [5 | 1]

=202. Zelig [5 | 1]

=213. Born on the Fourth of July [4 | 1]

=213. Parenthood [4 | 1]

=213. Prince of Darkness [4 | 1]

=213. Querelle [4 | 1]

=213. The Right Stuff [4 | 1]

=213. They Live [4 | 1]

=213. War Games [4 | 1]

=220. 48 Hrs [3 | 1]

=220. Cutter's Way [3 | 1]

=220. Death Wish 3 [3 | 1]

=220. Hamburger Hill [3 | 1]

=220. Return To Oz [3 | 1]

=220. Short Circuit [3 | 2]

=220. To Live and Die in LA [3 | 2]

=227. City Slickers [2 | 1]

=227. Miracle Mile [2 | 1]

=227. Teen Wolf [2 | 1]

=227. The Hitcher [2 | 1]

=227. The Living Daylights [2 | 1]

=227. The Prodigal Son [2 | 1]

=233. Bad Taste [1 | 1]

=233. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure [1 | 1]

=233. Cocoon [1 | 1]

=233. For All Mankind [1 | 1]

=233. Landscape in the Mist [1 | 1]

=233. L'Ange [1 | 1]

=233. Legend of a Fighter [1 | 1]

=233. Scanners [1 | 1]

=233. Street Trash [1 | 1]

=233. The Land Before Time [1 | 1]

=233. The Plague Dogs [1 | 1]

=233. Wheels on Meals [1 | 1]

Gorf's comments thusly...

For me, cinema in the 80s is a little like the music of the 80s: there was a real sense of adventure and novelty in the art form that produced some unique pieces of work, yet all you seem to read about lately is the cheese that made it big at the box office. I fear that a themed 80s night in cinema would be as grossly unrepresentative of what I remember as being so exciting about that decade as are those hideous, faux-ironic 80s music nights featuring little but big-haired, wide-shouldered slabs of pure commerciality.

...really struck a chord with me when compiling the results. The top 20 will always grab the headlines but I think it's from about the middle of the results onwards where you find the most interesting films. It's certainly here that I take a lot and add to my 'must watch' list.

Some initial stats:

- Forumites who voted: 54

- Individual valid votes: 992

- Number of different films: 244

Data spreadsheet here.

[lordcookie]

Thanks again Chosty for compiling the list.

When we did a 'Best of Rllmuk' list a few years ago (just one big list rather than split into decades) Aliens was the clear winner so it is surprising to see it only make sixth place here. I'm disappointed to see My Neighbour Totoro narrowly miss out on a top 20 finish.

I take it the '60s thread goes up this week then?

[Goose]

Great work again, Chosty. I think that's a pretty damn good top 20!

[Chosty]

I take it the '60s thread goes up this week then?

Yes...'shortly'.

[Gorf King]

When we did a 'Best of Rllmuk' list a few years ago (just one big list rather than split into decades) Aliens was the clear winner so it is surprising to see it only make sixth place here.

I can't even remember that. Perhaps I didn't take part. If I did, I can bet my list will have changed over the past few years, and I suspect a few others' opinions may have too, which could account for Aliens falling down the list a bit. I think this by-the-decade approach has forced people to put more effort into the lists anyway (although that top ten is completely predictable and safe except, perhaps, for the placement of Aliens relative to some other forum favourites. I can only imagine not many have bought the Blu-ray yet!).

Thanks for putting the time into this again, Chosty.

[Vemsie]

Predictable and safe it might be, but that's some of the finest genre cinema ever produced. Robocop is still too low though.

[lordcookie]

I can't even remember that. Perhaps I didn't take part.

http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?showtopic=161620&view=findpost&p=4251699'>Here is the topic.

[Gorf King]

Predictable and safe it might be, but that's some of the finest genre cinema ever produced.

Yes, they're all very good films. In fact, there's not one film in the top twenty that I don't like a lot. But look at, for example, the 00s list and contrast the variety in there with the top ten in the 80s list. Like I've said before, I think it may partly be an age thing - if you looked at a similar forum to this twenty years in the future and polled their top twenty films of the 00s, it'd look very different to ours, as we were (are) around contemporaneously and are keen to see everything, rather than mostly seeing the blockbusters or the 'classics' of received future wisdom. I do think that makes a difference.

[And]

Thanks Chosty,

My Top 3 are the top 3 per rllmuk, albeit in a different order, a surprisingly pleasing outcome.

[Professor Puzzles]

Ghostbusters at number 11? I can live with that.

[Couch Corpse]

When we did a 'Best of Rllmuk' list a few years ago (just one big list rather than split into decades) Aliens was the clear winner so it is surprising to see it only make sixth place here. I'm disappointed to see My Neighbour Totoro narrowly miss out on a top 20 finish.

There was no positional weight to the votes, perhaps a compilation of the top films when this has concluded will give a fairer representation.

[Ork1927]

Damn - forgot to vote, and if I had, Raiders would have won as I haven't seen Bladerunner since I was a kid so need to revisit.

Princess Bride is a bit low - it's got Andre the Giant in it for Gods sake

[Darragh]

I can't believe I forgot to vote for Back to the Future.

[Professor Puzzles]

I can't believe nobody voted for 'Little Shop of Horrors', not even me!

[Chosty]

It was on my long list for a while.