The 10 Best Movies That Defined the '80s, Ranked (2024)

The 1980s was a very particular time for cinema. It began with the Heaven's Gate debacle, which effectively ended the period when auteurs like Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Cimino could spend tons of money however they wanted. In the wake of the enormously popular Jaws and Star Wars, studios also realized the full potential for summer blockbusters and film franchises. Star Wars and Aliens made science fiction especially popular, ushering in an era of movies that tried (and largely failed) to achieve the special effects and storytelling of these perfect sci-fi classics.

Then there's the '80s music (so much synthesizer), the outfits (leather, huge shoulders, etc.), and historical details like Soviet villains that show the impact the Cold War still had on popular culture. Some of these elements really got run into the ground and haven't aged quite well, as do some of the attitudes towards women, race, sexuality, and other topics. Occasionally, visionary pieces of work like The Shining, Amadeus, or Come and See appeared without adhering to common 80s tropes, but anomalies like those are not what this list is about. After all, most of the best movies of the '80s did not define the era. There are many to choose from, but the following works arguably best define '80s cinema for their stylistic choices, variety of genres, influences on other films, cultural significance, and/or reflection of that oh-so-strange and easily distinguishable decade.

10 'Wall Street' (1987)

Directed by Oliver Stone

A movie that's literally called Wall Street has to belong on a list about the '80s. Writer and director Oliver Stone had several big successes in this decade, and this movie was certainly one of them. It does better than most films from this period at capturing the rampant greed of Wall Street stockbrokers, which the 1980s were so infamous for that films in later decades (including American Psycho and The Wolf of Wall Street) would revisit the topic.

The iconic character Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) has several lines that perfectly summarize the mentality of someone who evaluated stock and real estate values unethically, including the seminal "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good." In the way it critiques how some men do whatever it takes to get ahead and how the top 1% owns half the country's wealth, Wall Street captures one of the most significant aspects of the '80s.

Wall Street

R

Crime

Drama

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Release Date

December 10, 1987

Cast

Charlie Sheen , Tamara Tunie , Franklin Cover , Chuck Pfeiffer , John C. McGinley , Hal Holbrook

Runtime

125 minutes

Writers

Stanley Weiser , Oliver Stone

9 'Top Gun' (1986)

Directed by Tony Scott

The opening scene of Top Gun alone is '80s enough to make this list: the drum sample in the score, "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins, a guy pumping his fist as naval planes take off. Add in a young Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer flying such planes extremely fast, and you've got a quintessential '80s movie that holds so much nostalgia value for people who saw it in theaters that a sequel was released to great commercial success over thirty-five years later.

Top Gun definitely has one of the most '80s soundtracks, and its portrayal of the U.S. Navy surely pumped up its Cold War-era fans. Its story about an arrogant pilot training (and playing beach volleyball) with other ripped pilots gives off a very '80s kind of cocky masculinity. From the film's overall aesthetic to Charlie's shoulder pads to Goose's mustache, Top Gun is undoubtedly a product of the tubular 1980s and one of its most defining cinematic touchstones.

Top Gun

PG

Drama

Action

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Release Date

May 16, 1986

Cast

Tom Cruise , Kelly McGillis , Val Kilmer , Anthony Edwards , Tom Skerritt

Runtime

110 minutes

Writers

Jack Epps Jr. , Jim Cash

8 'They Live' (1988)

Directed by John Carpenter

What would a list of what defined the '80s be without a John Carpenter movie? Though best known for horror (The Thing could have made this list), They Live is here instead. There are several reasons for this. First of all, the 1980s was very much a time for sci-fi B-movies, and They Live is one of the best cult-classic sci-fi movies that fall into this low-budget category. It also stars "Rowdy" Roddy Piper at the height of his powers, throwing out action one-liners with a very '80s-hero kind of charisma.

The biggest reason, however, would be its themes of consumption and subliminal messaging. When the main character puts those special sunglasses on and sees what mass marketing is telling people to do—"Obey," "Marry and Reproduce," "Watch TV," "No Independent Thought"—the audience understands this alien flick is really a satire of '80s capitalism, mindless acceptance of the media, and other social issues of the Reagan administration.

They Live

R

Action

Horror

Sci-Fi

Thriller

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Release Date

November 23, 1988

Cast

Roddy Piper , Keith David , Meg Foster , George Flower , Peter Jason , Raymond St. Jacques

Runtime

93

Writers

Ray Nelson , John Carpenter

7 'The Breakfast Club' (1985)

Directed by John Hughes

John Hughes comedies and the Brat Pack (including Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, and others) were among the most popular parts of the 1980s. Out of all the coming-of-age movies about teenagers, perhaps the one that best defined this decade would be the one that was released right smack in the middle of it: The Breakfast Club. As it turns out, it's for reasons both good and bad.

John's (Judd Nelson) glaringly obvious sexual harassment toward Claire (Ringwald) doesn't age well at all, and it's only made worse when they wind up together in the end. That is certainly a product of its time, reflecting the general attitude towards what was acceptable or forgivable behavior in the '80s. More charming aspects of the film include the staging and music from the iconic dancing scene, cementing The Breakfast Club as the defining teen movie of the time.

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6 'Scarface' (1983)

Directed by Brian de Palma

The 1980s were very much a time of excess; just look at Scarface: the cursing, the violence, the runtime, the drugs. The synthesizer-heavy score of this crime epic alone qualifies it as a movie that feels exceptionally '80s. The screenplay was written by Oliver Stone, the first big break in the decade that launched his career. Along with one of Al Pacino's most wonderfully over-the-top performances and plenty of one-liners, this movie was one of the period's biggest phenomenons.

As much as it inspired other films, Scarface can also be watched in terms of where American culture was at the time. The opening scene shows Tony trying to legally enter the United States from Cuba, at which point he is asked if he's attracted to men or ever dresses up like a woman—which immigrant petitioners were actually asked from the mid-'60s until 1990. Overall, Scarface encapsulates the time period and cinematic sensibility very well.

Scarface

R

Crime

Drama

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Release Date

December 9, 1983

Cast

Al Pacino , Steven Bauer , Michelle Pfeiffer , Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio , Robert Loggia , Miriam Colon

Runtime

170 minutes

Writers

Ben Hecht , Howard Hawks , Oliver Stone

5 'RoboCop' (1987)

Directed by Paul Verhoeven

RoboCop is one of the best tech-noir movies of all time, thanks in part to a sleek look and practical effects that hold up pretty well but still come across as '80s-level. Given that it's directed by Paul Verhoeven, this is one of those movies that both embraces its genre tropes and satirizes the culture that so cherishes them. The blood squibs are so overused in this cult classic that it's kind of hilarious and certainly a product of its time. Along with Scarface, this movie renders the inclusion of a slasher film on this list unnecessary.

The science fiction elements, the police-procedural tropes (including a cocaine shootout), the make-up on the guy's face who gets killed by acid near the end—it's all very specific to its time. These aren't insults, though; RoboCop treads a nice line between B-movie and greatness. The critiques of the militarization of the police, excessive force, capitalism, and the media together do a great job of helping people today understand America in the '80s (and beyond).

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4 'Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi' (1983)

Directed by Richard Marquand

One of the best sequels ever made, 1980's The Empire Strikes Back is too good to be on this list. 1983's Return of the Jedi, however, is not. It's easily the weirdest and sloppiest installment of the original trilogy. If a decade is going to be identified as the one with the greatest amount of creepy, campy, and narratively unnecessary puppetry, it's the '80s. While Yoda gives off an air of wisdom, those pesky Ewoks come across as silly excuses for children's toys.

The whole first section of the movie, with its odd music and clearly fake monsters in Jabba's Club, makes the viewer feel like they're watching one of the most acclaimed science fiction franchises turning into an absentminded B-movie in real-time. That random dance number makes the viewer wonder, "Why is this happening?" without a good answer, which is another marker of this particular decade. Interestingly, Return of the Jedi was both part of a hugely influential mega-hit and a mediocre product of its time.

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

PG

Action

Adventure

Sci-Fi

Fantasy

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Release Date

May 25, 1983

Cast

Mark Hamill , Carrie Fisher , Harrison Ford , James Earl Jones , Billy Dee Williams , Ian McDiarmid , Peter Mayhew , Anthony Daniels , Kenny Baker , David Prowse , Frank Oz , Sebastian Shaw , Alec Guinness

Runtime

131 Minutes

Writers

Lawrence Kasdan , George Lucas

3 'The Terminator' (1984)

Directed by James Cameron

At least one Arnold Schwarzenegger movie is required on any respectable list about the '80s, and director James Cameron arguably brought the best out of him in The Terminator. This action-packed thriller about an extremely sophisticated and human-like machine traveling back in time to kill the mother of the future leader of a resistance movement was very influential to science fiction. Also, The Terminator is extremely quotable; it has plentiful one-liners that heavily influenced the action genre in the '80s and beyond.

There are smaller details, too, like Sarah Connor's (Linda Hamilton) big hair and pretty impressive special effects. Then there's everything about that nightclub where the Terminator tracks Sarah down: the pay phone, a popped collar, the music, the clothing in general, etc. Along with a score that is very '80s (and yet actually holds up well), The Terminator is one of the biggest cultural events of the decade.

The Terminator

R

Action

Sci-Fi

Thriller

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Release Date

October 26, 1984

Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger , Michael Biehn , Linda Hamilton , Paul Winfield , Lance Henriksen , Bess Motta

Runtime

107 Minutes

Writers

James Cameron , Gale Anne Hurd , William Wisher

2 'Gremlins' (1984)

Directed by Joe Dante

Somehow, it's Steven Spielberg who presents Gremlins, though he didn't direct it. This movie has so many things we associate with the '80s that it's hard to know where to begin. It's got the music, the off-putting puppetry, the fog, the outdated special effects, and the stereotypically old and wise Asian-American man. At one point, a Polaroid camera is used to attack a rather off-putting gremlin (what the Mogwai turn into), which does not look real at all to viewers today.

This bizarre B-movie is a cross between horror and comedy, making for one of the weirdest Christmas films ever made. It's also one of the two movies responsible for the creation of the PG-13 rating, marking it a rather pivotal point in cinema history that is very specific to the mid-'80s. Along with the campy tone, what comes across as an MTV music parody in a bar, and the film's enduring impact on our culture, Gremlins cemented itself as one of the most '80s movies ever.

Gremlins

PG

Comedy

Fantasy

Horror

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Release Date

June 7, 1984

Cast

Phoebe Cates , Corey Feldman , Zach Galligan , Hoyt Axton , Polly Holliday , Howie Mandel

Runtime

106 minutes

Writers

Chris Columbus

1 'Rocky IV' (1985)

Directed by Sylvester Stallone

Calling a movie "very '80s" isn't always a compliment, and that definitely goes for Rocky IV. What a weird film, beginning with two spinning boxing gloves to represent America and the Soviet Union as "Eye of the Tiger" plays alongside audio from the climax of 1982's Rocky III (which includes Mr. T). The amount of '80s culture packed in here is absurd, and this movie is so campy and borderline sci-fi that the viewer is almost as confused as Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) when he's brought into the ring and finds James Brown singing "Living in America" in a garish spectacle that goes on for too long.

Along with the synthesizer-heavy score, Paulie's birthday robot, and its existence as a totally unnecessary story that's so far removed from its roots that one can hardly recognize it, Rocky IVrepresents all of those bizarre '80s sequels of popular franchises. Meanwhile, the anti-Soviet message here is so aggressive that it could only come from this decade. Far worse than most other Rocky movies, the fourth has remained in the cultural consciousness primarily because it is so, so '80s.

Rocky IV

PG

Sport

Drama

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Release Date

November 27, 1985

Cast

Sylvester Stallone , Talia Shire , Burt Young , Carl Weathers , Brigitte Nielsen , Tony Burton , Michael Pataki , Dolph Lundgren

Runtime

91 minutes

Writers

Sylvester Stallone

NEXT: 'The 25 Greatest Movies of the 1980s, Ranked'

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