What’s the Best “Best Picture” Winner from the 1980s?

02.21.12 | Chris Cummins | Movie PollsPrint this Post

Tags: 1980s movies

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Curt

I couldn't agree less. Actually I could if Ordinary People had won. Driving Miss Daisy was a fine film but it was in no way "better" than at least five of the other films listed. And this is why the Academy Awards are meaningless when used as a measure of film quality. Awards are worthless overall, the AA's more so than most.

Scottie

I really agree, Curt, Ordinary People was my first choice as well. Even though it's been a long time I still remember that it was a very moving film. Do you recall the scene at the end where Donald Southerland (sp?) is crying like a child and When Mary Tyler Moore asks him why, he tells her it's because he realizes that he doesn't love her anymore? Quite a scene.

Curt

I see that more votes are coming in so now Amadeus is the winner. This is confusing, why not wait until all votes are counted before releasing the results?
jfleming

The 80's have to be one of the worst decade for film I can think of. That said I voted for platoon even though its only an ok film.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=529388091 Gayle Feyrer

I agree with Curt about putting at least 5 films higer. Driving Miss Daisy would be at or toward the bottom of my list. Good theme, good acting, yes, but far more ordinary over all than Ordinary People. Daisy is all sort of pre-digested. I picked Ghandi, but Amedeus is a remarkable movie. Last Emperor is fascinating, but a bit chilly so I wasn't expecting people to respond to it particularly.

Mrs. Gee

How do you come up with the choices?
"Hoosiers", is the best out of all of them...but it is not listed. Go figure?

ADA

If you read the title of the poll, they came up with the list based on the films that won the "Best Picture" Academy Award for each year of the 1980s.

georgiacee

How do you compare such different types of movies? To my surprise most voters so far agreed with my choice of Amadeus. I don't buy many DVDs but I bought that one.
georgiacee

P. S. What scenes stay in your mind? Does that count? I still hurt for the little 5 year old emperor hiding his toy on the throne. Flying over Africa with that soaring background music will stay with me forever.
Mark Townsend

Of all the films I remembered and enjoyed in the 80s, NONE were on that list!!! "Chariots of Fire" was a good one I recalled watching on (ha ha) Betamax with my family so I chose that one.
Gary Vidmar

I agree with JFleming about the films of the eighties, most of them were bourgeois extensions of the kind of crap that began to pervade television as the cable industry became prominent. AMADEUS was an over-eager exploitation of a play, so it moves to the bottom of my list; instead, I'd take THE LAST EMPEROR from the bottom to the top, for it's sheer craftsmenship and bravura epic qualities. TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, RAIN MAN, ORDINARY PEOPLE, DRIVING MISS DAISY and CHARIOTS OF FIRE represent the eighties best: unsophisticated middle-class melodrama, full of the maudlin sentiment and splashy emotional content that now even define local and national TV news.
Rob in L.A.

Not a terribly inspiring list of titles. Especially since what is probably the most critically lauded Hollywood movie of the decade, Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull," lost out to the well-acted but otherwise unexceptional "Ordinary People."

I think that "Gandhi," "Platoon," and "Rain Man" are effective and affecting films, but they're not what I think of as the decade's best. "Driving Miss Daisy" struck me as a nostalgic and comforting reaction to the racial edginess of Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing," released the same year. As for "Amadeus," I liked the play (which I saw on London's West End), and its use of theatrical conventions (which the film jettisoned for cinematic ones), much better.

"The Last Emperor" was a visionary feast on a favorite subject of mine (Asian history) — and its use of a predominantly Asian cast was a plus for a Hollywood release — but it has some of the worst dialogue ever to win a Best Screenplay Oscar.

As I said, not a terribly inspiring decade, movie-wise. And in other respects, too.

Raymond

THE LAST EMPEROR was Nominated for 12 Oscars including Best Picture,and ended up winning a total of Nine Oscars including Best Picture,Best Director and Best Original Screenplay in 1987.

Carolyn

I just wish there was an Oscar for all. Every movie had a great message and in my opinion were all winners!
tim

None of the above.
patricia, Detroit

I voted for Out of Africa, but Thorn Birds was better and not on your list

richard finn

I believe The Thornbirds was a TV miniseries.

Rufnek

"Best" is an extremely subjective designation, depending on what trips your trigger at the moment. I think Amadeus was spectacular but not particularly engaging. Platoon and Stone failed to impress. Rain Man is the only movie with Tom Cruise I've ever liked, mostly because Hoffman carried him on the back of his talent all through the film. Driving Miss Daisy was good: showed that a successful movie can be made without centering on teens and 20-somethings, and that a "road movie" can survive without a car-chase. Good story, good actors, good performances with Dan A. playing a grownup for a change. When Out of Africa was released, I was long since tired of Redford and thought Streep's main talent was she could do a lot of accents. I've since grown to appreciate her, but still don't care for Redford as an actor. Although taken from a good book, Terms of Endearment rolled off my knife, so to speak. Never could develop enough interest in the subject matter or especially the cast of Ordinary People to ever see it. Ghandi was a starmaker, but the story skimmed through history like a thrown stone skipping across water. As did the spectacular The Last Emperor--in reality, the empire was no better than the communists it caused to overthrow it. Of the bunch, Chariots of Fire was the only film that had any meaning to me: an athelete so good that he could fall, get up, and still win the race, and one who, despite pressure, put the principles of his religion above victory on the track. Plus I just liked its quite, understated tone and performances. But I don't expect anyone else to agree with my personal assessments and don't mind if they don't.
Keith Alan Burrows

Ordinary People is a crappy film?? Really?? Shows how idiotic Americans are. The whole list of films show such a wide range it is apples to oranges. I agree more with Curt, Gayle & Carolyn. And the 80's films all sucked? Really, Gary? You must be leading a charmed luxurious life in comparison to my unhappy childhood! I suppose since some of us as children lead "melodramatic lives, full of maudlin sentiment" we should just end it all (I suppose we aren't worthy of your loftiness & should avert our eyes in your presence). Films entertain for various reasons & we respond to them individually, so yes, the Oscar's are ridiculous, but almost every film has its merits. And, unlike Rob, most of us have to resort to films for entertainment as we cannot afford to travel the globe at the drop of a hat to see "real stage productions". TTFN.

jfleming

Not all of the films from the 80's sucked just most of the ones on this list.
Gary Vidmar

I will try and "cynic" to your level and enjoy the platitudinous idea that "films entertain for various reasons & we respond to them individually, so yes, the Oscar's are ridiculous, but almost every film has its merits". Sweet and considerate, but I would probably wear, at the very least, sunglasses in my presence, you corny fool you!
MrsD

Wow. I don't really appreciate the blanket statement about all Americans being idiotic. Speak for yourself and keep the gross generalizations out of it, please.
As far as the movies go, each of the 80's winners were really good, but not chosen by the people. Unfortunately, that's left up to a panel of elitists that rarely agree with the populace, and therefore don't really matter. A lot of great films were left off of the ballot. This century has demonstrated a decline in great ideas when it comes to cinema, even with the new technologies and computer generation. Sad really.

Jim

Not exactly world class movies for an entire decade. Can't say I loved any of them well enough to purchase any of the dvds (assuming they remain available). Bad decade for Hollywood!
dave castellarin

the poll ASKED what were the best WINNERS of the 80's all of the mentioned won some kind of award, but i was very dissapointed that RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, 1981 won absolutely NOTHING. this was the kind of movie that hollywood NEEDED back then as most others , just a bunch of boring nonsense. action and adventure family type is what was needed. OSCARS??? talk about politics of the worst kind. o.k everybody don't jump all over me

Rob in L.A.

Dave, not to split hairs, but for the record: in addition to being nominated for Best Picture (among other categories), "Raiders of the Lost Ark" won Oscars for Editing, Sound, Art Direction, and Visual Effects. So, it did win something.

dave castellarin

OOPS!!!! thank-you for that rob in L.A. we canadians are sometimes so forgetful
Raymond

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK was Nominated for Six Oscars including Best Picture and Best Original Score(John Williams) and won Four Oscars for Editing, Sound, Art Direction,and Visual Effects.

It was the top grossing film of 1981.

Dana Rich

For me, it's a tie between "Gandhi" and "Rain Man" Both of those were great films. "Driving Miss Daisy" was definitely the most fun. "Terms of Endearment" maybe, maybe might have been watchable if the last 35 hours of the film was not watching Debra Winger die. Man, what a waste of time and money!
Hank Zangara

This list of dreary depressing dramas says more about The Academy in the 1980's than it does about the film industry. AMPAS has always been a bit stodgy, but in the 1980's there was a palpable fear of anything funny or fanciful. What about Raiders of the Lost Ark or The Empire Strikes Back or Ghostbusters? What about Beauty and the Beast or E.T. or Broadcast News? All four-star movies in my opinion, but no comedy or fantasy would be considered at that time. Times have changed -- a little, and now even Lord of the Rings is not only a contender, but a winner. Let's see how things fare this year ...
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=585923947 Patricia Parker

So many of my favorite films listed here, but I have to go with Ordinary People. This film made me feel so many emotions. Every scene was a roller coaster ride for me. The other films were great to, but this one has stayed with me for a very long time. Mary Tyler Moore was amazing as the mother who died emotionally along with her beloved son Buck.
TinyTim

Unlike a lot of poll questions here, these best of "best picture" decade questions are much simpler and more straightforward than most people take them. Here are the academy award winning pictures for each year of the 1980s (yes, I know it should be 81-90). The question is which of THESE movies do you prefer. If you think they all suck, then which one sucks the least? Comments about these movies and their worthiness, about other movies from that decade and about the decade in general are fine and perhaps interesting, but using them to evade or ignore the actual question is . . . well, it's not very productive. As for me, I've never seen about half of them, I didn't hate any of the ones I have seen, but I picked Amadeus because that's the one I'd most prefer to watch again tonight if offered the choice of those I've seen before.
TinyTim

Let me clarify, I don't mean to criticize anyone who offers their opinion about these movies and finds none of them worthy or anyone who suggests that other pictures from this era were more deserving of awards and acclaim. What I'm saying is that the poll question itself is simple and not open to debate. The few posts who can't seem to grasp that concept at all get a bit tiresome.
fred buschbaum

From a laymans viewpoint, I've seen all these films, and enjoyed all for various reasons. I voted for Out of Africa since the specticle and grandure of the continent I could feel Streeps pain and struggle, but, Redford was just window dressing. Amadeus would be 2nd on my list, a film about two people one so jealous of the others talent that it consumed his life. And with the music of Mozart running throughout, Oh my!
As
I said, enjoyed them all, but, have seen many better.
Donald Ness

Come back to the five and dime, Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean was my favorite film from the 80's
Andrew

Personal favorite, "Aliens". One of James Cameron's early pics.
jerry tunnell

platoon was the best war movie ever made. driving miss daisy was great. amadeus smelled al over the place. as a matter of fact the two i mentioned are the only two that deserved an award.

Raymond

PLATOON was in my perspective the greatest movie to ever be made about the Vietnam War,and possibly the greatest war movie ever made. It's no question why this movie was the big winner at the academy awards,winning an impressive Five Oscars including Best Director(Oliver Stone),and Best Picture of 1986. PLATOON was the movie that put Tom Bergener,
Willem Dafoe and a unknown Charlie Sheen on the Hollywood map!

Stormer

People seem to be missing the point here. These ARE the films that WON the Academy Award for Best Picture each year from 1980 to 1989. The question is "Which of these would you consider the Best of the Best for the 1980s"?

For me, it's really a toss-up between Ghandi, Amadeus, and Last Emperor for me.
Joan

What better way to learn about famous people than through a great bio-pic. I chose Gandhi and Amadeus. My daughter has used references to Rain Man in her college classes dealing with autism.
jim

I voted for "The Last Emperor", but I agree with those who pointed out that this was a flawed batch of movies. Big movies, but flawed, all.
phil

Any list that does not contain "Raging Bull" is a joke. Are you kidding? Can't take this whole deal for real at all now...
"Driving Miss Daisy" is a B feature compered to RB.
Please...
r-gordon-7

For me it was easy - "The Last Emperor" stands heads and shoulders above the other choices...
ww

Wow. Really? "Driving Miss Daisy" wins the poll? I've always considered it, along with "Greatest Show on Earth" and "Rain Man" as one of the very worst winners of Best Picture. How can it win this poll? Strangely, the winners of the 80's Oscars are not nearly as well-remembered as some of their nominated competitors: "Tootsie," "E.T.," "Raging Bull," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," etc.
artso

The Best Film of the '80's was Raging Bull...case closed!
Nils Goering

Once more here is the proper order for the 'Best' of the 80's Best picture winners:

CHARIOTS OF FIRE
PLATOON
OUT OF AFRICA
AMADEUS
RAIN MAN
DRIVING MISS DAISY
TERMS OF ENDEARMENT
GHANDI
LAST EMPEROR
ORDINARY PEOPLE

I agree with an earlier contributor that the 80s was a poor decade for films - except for the Indiana Jones and Batman franchises.
GUNNY KOON USMC Ret

HELL, THAT'S EASY.... "THE D.I. WITH JACK WEBB", OH, DID YOU SAY THE 1980'S...SORRY. (NO I'M NOT!) SEMPER FI MAC!
Lenny Cassioppi

If I had to pick from your list, it would be Gandhi.
Pat

"Raging Bull" should have won--and that would be my pick as Best Winner of the 80's

Raymond

RAGING BULL in 1980 was Nominated for Five Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director(Scorsese).
It won the Best Actor Oscar for Robert DeNiro in 1980 and also the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Joe Pesci.

RAGING BULL was a masterpiece of filmmaking! HANDS DOWN!

William Arthur Grove

Raging Bull was for the most part, poorly edited. The Best Picture award should go to the best technical aspects as well as the acting and dialogue.

Alfie

From this list, Amadeus, Out of Africa, Platoon and Rain Man are among those 'classics' in my collection. Africa and Amadeus stood above the other two. Finally, "Amadeus," with superb acting, set decoration, costuming, sublime musical score, attention to period detail, story line and intelligent script, received my vote as best from this list. The problem with "Africa" was that the country itself was a star of the film (which is not a bad thing, but this knocked it out of final consideration).

Soapies, though enjoyable (such as Terms of Endearment, Ordinary People, Driving Miss Daisy, and perhaps Rain Man), seem to be outclassed by the rest of this lineup. Right now, 'Daisy' is the fronrunner. Nice - but far from the best on this particular list.
Bob Abbott

History isn't kind to Academy Award winners is it. These aren't the favorite movies of the 80's. They pick particularly humourless movies and so it seems they've always done. I voted for Chariots of Fire because I occasionally catch myself humming the tune from it and I didn't fall asleep while watching it.
Ethan the Searcher

Someone here stated the 80s were a bad decade for films. UNTRUE! Most every Critic's list has Raging Bull as the Best American film ever made {Some would disagree with that & say The Searchers or The DI}. So let's leave it off the following list. Vote for the best or the favorite of these 80s films.
ET. Raiders of the Lost Ark. Blade Runner. The Empire Strikes Back. Airplane. The Terminator. Die Hard. The Princess Bride. Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Scarface. A Christmas Story! Back to the Future. The Color Purple. Return of the Jedi. Bull Durham. Aliens. The Road Warrior. Ferris Bueller. Stand By Me.
Nightmare on Elm Street is more enduring and entertaining than most of the Award winners. The Academy was into High Brow pretentiousness & downright boring films. Some great actors & directors made their names in the above flicks. Who directed ET? Who directed Ghandi? {I haven't the faintest idea. Do you?}
Aliens & The Road Warrior are my favs.

jfleming

The 80's were and awful decade for film. And who in there right mind could consider Driving Miss Daisy highbrow its middle of the road. There were great films in the 80's but they were buried under a massive pile of crap that was (and still is) mainstream cinema.

jfleming

ps. The only thing in the middle of the are white lines and roadkill.
jfleming

ps. The only thing in the middle of the road are white lines and roadkill.

Rob in L.A.

Ethan, "Gandhi" was directed by Sir Richard Attenborough, who won Best Director that year.

Raymond

Ethan,

GANDHI was Richard Attenborough's masterpiece of the 1980's and it was the movie the launched an unknown actor by the name of Ben Kingsley to international success.

GANDHI in 1982 won Eight Oscars including Best Picture,and Best Director(Attenborough),and also Best Actor(Ben Kingsley)

Tito Pannaggi

Walter Hill's "STREETS OF FIRE" (1984)!!!

William Arthur Grove

Are you being facetious, or do you really have your head up a certain orifice?

Martin Stumacher

They're all good. I had almost forgotten how many films came out of that era. It almost challenged the films from the golden age. I would say that Chariots of Fire and Out of Africa were very special. One of your respondents was right. Where was Hoosiers. It's perhaps the best film made about high school basketball.
Alice

"Ghandi" is my vote. A film can never capture all historical details; however, "Ghandi" does a very good job of it. My husband who is Indian is always captivated with the film; it's as if he is watching it for the first time. From settings to costumes to actors it's number one for the 80's.
Frank DeCavalcante

I really have grown to detest the Academy Awards. The choices always eliminate anything very controversial or unusual. The eighties, as was pointed out by many others, was an unusually bad period for American movies, and the fact that Ordinary People won symbolizes just how ordinary almost nearly all the decade's choices actually were. All of the movies were respectable ones Its just a shame that the safe and grand movies on the list were chosen over such daring films as Raging Bull, Sophies CHoice or The Conformist.

Rob in L.A.

Frank, Bertolucci's "The Conformist" was released in 1970.

Rita

I voted for Terms of Endearment, my other choice would have been Driving Miss Daisy. I agree with an earlier posting, not all the movies from the 80's sucked, just the ones on this list. I would prefer most any movie from the 40's than those on this list. The Academy Awards don't mean a thing to me, just a waste a time and lots of money.
Lisa

A lot of good films listed but I voted for one of my all time favorites, Ordinary People. If a movie moves me to cry everytime I see it, then I personally believe it's a good one. Another great movie from 1980 is The Elephant Man. I sob everytime at the end.
geraldRR

"Quest For Fire" (1981) was the best love story of the decade and the makeup effects were truly oscar worthy.

Raymond

"QUEST FOR FIRE"

The Rae Dawn Chong nude scene that had boys in HEAT!
Man,did she have a nice sweet piece of brown sugar!

And she surely spreaded even further when she did a full nude cover for Playboy in 1981.

ed cohen

I agree with what most of you are feeling about the Academy Awards. They'e generally meaningless and exist for a network to pull in some viewer ratings. The best example I can think of is when "Rocky", which is a nice film, beat out "Network", which is a work of art. Rocky grossed millions, Network did not. Herein lies the political and economic aspects of the Academy Awards.
Art

IMHO. Movies made after the 70's have a shelf life, like a trend. I don't see people raving about 80's movies in 70 years, the way we rave over movies from the 30's and 40's today. In quality, you'll get better on television.
SLH

Okay my turn for a rant that doesn't answer the question, but begs to be given some thought imo.

I don't think I've seen even part of an Oscar telecast since sometime late in the 1980's early 90's. As far as I am concrned there have been maybe 2 or 3 decent movies a decade since the 1970's. I'm not as old as you might think, but I do have some requirements that may be old fashioned when it comes to a good movie. I want to see real acting, I want to forget who is acting and believe they are who they are portraying. I want to be entertained not preached to or fed someone's PC agenda. My DVD collection is mostly movies from the 1930's -1960's with a few 70's,80's and so on. Give me an actor or actress today who doesn't have perfect teeth, flawless skin, and stick thin, they all seem to come out of some plastic mold. Maybe today when they go to Hollywood they all receive the Stepford treatment ? Give me good British TV over anything coming out of Hollywood today. At least you see some talent and real people, they even use a lot of older actors and actresses (yes I refuse to call them all actors, I rather like some distinction between men and women) who have real wrinkles and not so perfect teeth !!!!
Walt Bales

The list of Oscar winners has some good films (I voted for Chariots), many of my favs didn't win the Oscar. Here's my alternate best ten (in no order): ET, Raiders, Alien, Die Hard, A Christmas Story, Terminator, Airplane, Bull Durham, Back to the Future, and of course Raging Bull.
frank pienkosky

Platoon....you had to be there...
Helen

I picked Chariots of Fire. It was the most memorable and inspirational for me. I loved so many movies from the '80s, but this list is for Best Picture Oscar winners, not all my 80's favorites.

I cannot watch Terms of Endearment without a box of Kleenix, Driving Miss Daisy without thinking of my growing up in the 60's, Rain Man without remembering my stricken family members and Amadeus without the historical soundtrack. These are good for my emotions, but they are not my favorites on the list.

Chariots of Fire has the most meaning for me, most inspiration to do what your faith allows, to watch people win in spite of the odds. Love it still, watch it still, I always feel really good after watching this one again and again.
John Small

To be perfectly honest, I didn't care for any of them.
tlynette

LOL! I kinda agree with John Small a little. I mean, the ones I saw were okay, but I'm in no hurry to see them again. The best movie of the 80's to me, was Robert Townsend's "Holllywood Shuffle!" Gonzo filmmaking and biting satire -- loved it!
scribe_well

I used to be an 80s film snob, but my nephew (who grew up in the 80s and whom I have introduced to countless movies from Hollywood's golden and silver ages)convinced me otherwise. Indeed, some of my own favorite films are products of the 80s (RAIDERS, STAR TREK II, POLTERGEIST, ALIENS, GHOSTBUSTERS, HOPSCOTCH and others too numerous to list). The problem, then as now, is the Academy's penchant for snubbing "fun" or "popular" films in favor of more "artistic" endeavors, or rewarding them with technical Oscars and a pat on the back. If you really want to slog through a cinematic wasteland, check out the 90s--or the 2000s!

Raymond

HOPSCOTCH??? You're kidding me? That Walter Matthau flick REALLY sucked at the boxoffice in 1981.

YOU FORGOT THE OTHER GREAT MOVIES OF THE 1980'S:
"THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER"
"THE BLUES BROTHERS"
"ALTERED STATES"
"FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH"
"BACK TO THE FUTURE"
"E.T."
"GHOSTBUSTERS"
"TRADING PLACES"
"48 HOURS"
"BEVERLY HILLS COP"
"TOP GUN"
"CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD"
"MASK"
"DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS"
"PURPLE RAIN"-the debut of PRINCE!
"FIELD OF DREAMS"
"FATAL ATTRACTION"
"LETHAL WEAPON"
"THE TERMINATOR"

Jim

Somebody forgot"Raiders of the Lost Arc".So I voted for Platoon.
Laura B.

Wow I'm shocked to see my pick, The Last Emperor, at the bottom of the list. I adored that film.

KC

Me too.

movie fan

Agree that this is not a stellar list compared with some other decades (the two "Godfather" films come to mind). For me it was hard to choose between Chariots of Fire, the Last Emperor, Amadeus and Gandhi. Never saw "Driving Miss Daisy" because I thought it was hopelessly anachronistic and bordering on racist. The Last Emperor was one of them most visually beautiful films I have ever seen, as well as having an incredibly complex and gripping storyline. I finally chose "Chariots" because of all the films, this is one that I think you could watch in any decade and still be moved and inspired.
http://www.facebook.com/SusieHardinHeidarifar Susan Heidarifar

Is it any wonder the teens and college students went to Rock Concerts rather than the movies? I know after the "Disney" movies, and a very few others, there just were not enough movies for those that age to watch. Why do you think "pot" was so prevalent? There was not a lot to do, and with class size growing, schools closing (when not prepared), there was no place for the "kids" to go. That is too bad. Perhaps I liked Amadeus since I liked Classical music, sang both the Mozart and Bach (better, I think) Requiems.
With Presidents being shot, politics going haywire, Vietnam Vets coming out - it was a hard time for "us" to understand "This is growing up"? I just did the best I could for myself, with interest rates about 20%, took out student loans while working 3 (+) jobs at college to pay for it, and supplement my loan (paid back).
I can remember seeing some horror movies at our "local" theater about 1980. They scared me to death. I like the old movies now as they are happy and fun to watch, but we didn't have them. Young gals at that age want entertainment, but when you don't have it, people get together, and peer pressure starts.
In hindsight, really I still don't like most 80m movies. Bacterial infections invading the world. People eating people due to lack of food, etc. (I did like 2001, and a few others - but mainly early movies on TV, and even a couple soaps - while younger, just to sit with friends and eat popcorn or whatever.)
I ended up working for one of the most successful producer/directors who changed the face of the 70's movies, especially for the younger set, as well as the old - with the old "good vs. evil", and original, custom made "SP EFX". (IF you cannot figure this movie SET out, then you don't know a good thing.)
This trilogy (now VI and perhaps one more + others) were, along with a another of his "trilogies" were new, good and changed the face of the 'gap' which needed filling in between the fall of the studio system, lack of good writers, etc. and movies the under 20 (25?) crowd wanted to see. I know I saw more rock concerts than any movies -which are still being played on the top radio stations in most areas as well as Europe.
Growing up in the Berkeley, CA area, could have really been bad, had I not been a self-starter, and though I was caught up in High School in what "everyone" was doing, got myself together and found studying and even working enjoyable - more so than the movies coming out, then.
Thanks to the producers who broke out and brought the movies back which were and still are good. Today, I think 1939 was the best year, Also, musicals, etc. from my early period in the 60's, and some later, basically from the 30's to mid-60's, are and will be the "grown up" treasures we will (never?) see made again, unless re-made, which are rarely, if ever, as good as the originals.
I have to thank TCM for re-introducing the "oldies but goodies" for us who were too young (1950's+) to see on TV, as well as the periods.
Thanks for my say, and to all who have contributed to the successful movies of "their" day - which are still being played!
PS: I did see "The Actress" and was surprised to see a BW, subtitled movie - like the 20's - which was good today; otherwise, again, my choices today are limited to what I go to see, and can watch many of the good ole' movies I had no access to now again, again, and again via DVDs!

http://www.facebook.com/SusieHardinHeidarifar Susan Heidarifar

Excuse me, CORRECTIONS:
1)I meant the movie(s) which got "scared me" or got me off them were in the 1960's: horror, too adult, etc.
2) The Musical's from the 30's, to especially (chg to color) 50's (and a few 60's)+ epics were also good.
3)Now, "they" seem to rate the family movies first.
(Sorry for the error/s in the year - putting 1980 not 1960 - BIG DIFFERENCE after GL and SS came out, plus a few more a little later!)I could care less about the AA now - who wins or loses. I see DVDs at my sisters, only since she wants to be up on everything. Thanks.
SUE

Raymond

I'm surprised that NO ONE here mentioned THE COLOR PURPLE from 1985.

There were two films that were huge critically acclaimed hits that came out around the Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday season of 1985

OUT OF AFRICA was Nominated for 12 Oscars in 1985 for Best Picture,Best Director(Sydney Pollack),
Best Actress(Meryl Streep),Best Actor(Robert Redford),Best Original Score(John Barry). The Film Won Seven Oscars including Best Picture,and Best Director(Sydney Pollack).

THE COLOR PURPLE was Nominated for an impressive 13 Oscars in 1985 including Best Picture, Best Director(Steven Spielburg),Best Actress(Whoopi Goldberg),Best Supporting Actress(Oprah Winfrey),
Best Supporting Actor(Adolph Caesar),not to mention Best Original Score(Quincy Jones,who for the first time Spielburg did not get John Williams to composed the film score of this movie). And LOST the Best Picture and Best Director Oscar for OUT OF AFRICA. In Short,THE COLOR PURPLE didn't win. But it was the first time that a movie of this measure was Oscar nominated because of its all-star African-American cast ranging from Danny Glover to Whoopi Goldberg,Laurence Fishburne,and Rae Dawn Chong to Margaret Avery.
Pete

In Rain Man, either Tom Cruise or Dustin Hoffman could have won an Oscar for Best Actor. Both were very good. I believe that Hoffman did win for that. Stop me if I'm wrong.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001712750537 Mark Conlan

This just goes to show how unreliable the Academy Award for Best Picture really is. The best film of the 1980's by far -- both in terms of having been made then and depicting just what the decade was about culturally and morally -- was Woody Allen's masterpiece, "Hannah and Her Sisters." None of the 10 films on this list come anywhere near the eloquence, insight and vivid mix of comedy and drama of Allen's film.
William Arthur Grove

I picked Chariots of Fire because its the only movie that I can remember anything in it. Even though, as Siskel and Ebert said, it was like watching Masterpiece Theatre. Nothing wrong with that, but it shouldn't really be taken as a movie theater entry.
Raysson

GANDHI was the darling of 1982 Oscars winning a total of eight including Best Picture.
The movie that put an unknown stage actor named Ben Kingsley into international status.

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