Hey all,
I have been having a really hard time finding good movies from the 80s that I haven't already seen before. Like all the teen movies I've pretty much seen.. if anyone could recommend some movies from the 80s that are not horror movies that would be great!
Thanks!
I went through this whole thread a few days back, and remembered the movie Repo Man (Emilio Estevez) from 1984.
I see it's been mentioned but I wanted to as well, along with After Hours. Both strange and funny, and have always stuck out for me after all this time.
Concerning Sid and Nancy, I once purchased a copy for a friend who collected a lot of movies, but he complained about two people's whose lives were going down the drain -- what's so great about that? Later he met his girlfriend and I mentioned S&N and she and her brother exclaimed, "Early Gary Oldman ! That's great !" Hahaha.
Yes I am totally thinking of checking those out. i'm such a nerd I want to make a list of all the suggestions and the years they were made...
Yes Sid and Nancy feels like a classic everyone should see to me, not sure why I feel this way. And until you said I had no idea it was Emilio Estevez in Repo Man and Gary Oldman in Sid and Nancy. Thats way cool :)
I guess your friend shouldn't have been so quick to judge..hahaha
Hi Daisy, just as a quick follow up, I wouldn't say my friend was necessarily "quick to judge," but S&N is a grim drama with the only humor is how effed up these people are (sometimes it's sorta funny). But it's very visceral, it has an immediacy to it, it's sort of electrifying w/o having special effects, so you have to appreciate the drama and performances. But if the story doesn't grab you -- a couple of junkies -- I guess that's legit. Maybe Midnight Cowboy isn't meant for everyone either..
But when his GF and her brother showed their enthusiasm, I had to chuckle. It's a pretty good movie, most people seem to think.
I wish the film Swimming Pool had come out in the 80s, but not even close -- 2003 !!
I would probably like it a I bet but would need to be in the right mood.. I was actually going to start a thread about movies about drugs and recovery, but I think I have enough to watch for right now. haha Sorry I said that about your friend, obviously it wouldn't be a movie for everyone. Some find it hard to watch movies with drug use, period.
shareI hope you enjoy them. I broke out my copy of Repo Man and just finished watching. I couldn't find my Sid and Nancy dvd.
shareThanks.. weird there is an Emilio Estevez movie I haven't heard of. How did you enjoy your re watch?
shareI'm glad you started this thread. I haven't thought of these two movies in years. Repo Man seems to have aged very well, imo. I watched it a lot in the 80s, when I thought I was a skateboard punk. Lol. I hadn't watched it since I bought the special edition tin in the early 00s. Long story short I really enjoyed my re watch.
shareWell your welcome..hehe. :) There are so many here I haven't even heard of, like Repo Man. I really appreciate everyone's input too, for that reason. I was googling and all I was coming up with was lame movies or ones I had already seen. Its so great to have everyone making suggestions cause they can be so random.
Glad to have reminded you of it and that you enjoyed re watching it :)
I thought of a couple more that I enjoyed that maybe weren't as well known.
Talk Radio-Eric Bogosian, Alec Baldwin
Legend of Billie Jean-Helen Slater, Christian Slater
Rivers Edge-Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves
Vision Quest-Matthew Modine, Linda Fiorentino
Jean de Florette- Gérard Depardieu and Manon of Spring
Lucas-Corey Haim, Charlie Sheen
Fanny and Alexander- Ingmar Bergman
Spoorloos is a Dutch suspense thriller that is outstanding.
Fanny and Alexander is a masterpiece IMO. Maybe not for everybody
My favorite of this list is Jean de Florette and Manon of Spring
In JdF there is a little girl. Manon is a sequel that takes place 20 years later after the girl grows up.
Absolutely adore these movies. Thanks for letting me ramble.
Since you mentioned M Depardieu, from 1982 we have The Return of Martin Guerre.
And someone may have mentioned Salvador (James Woods) (with good reason) but has anyone mentioned El Norte?
There's also a film I can't think of but it's set in Argentina (I think) where a couple are able to adopt a child, but the woman realizes the infant has likely been taken from an anti-government or just plain poor family, a stolen child. The name is on the edge of a VHS somewhere, but I can't think of it at the moment.
You have brought more great memories.
Salvador was good also The Onion Field. Which might be 70's. I'll have to check.
James Woods is underrated. IMO
Martin Guerre was very good. That reminded me of The Last Metro by Truffaut.
Although that might have been 70's also.
El Norte is another one I haven't thought about in decades.
I think you might be talking about The Official Story. Another one I haven't seen in ages.
Fitzcarraldo and My Life as a Dog just came to mind.
THE OFFICIAL STORY !! Wow, you are excellent. I thought the lead actress' first name was Norma (which it is - Aleandro) but I didn't pick her out of the name search (known for Son Of the Bride).
And you mentioning The Last Metro, suddenly I recalled Day For Night, but alas, it came out in 1973.
But Fitzcarraldo is a great choice. Werner Herzog made me think of Wim Wenders, who put out both Wings Of Desire and Paris, Texas in the 80s. We're covering some ground here !
(I have to admit, any of these may have been mentioned before, but I did read the thread so I'm genuinely not sure.)
Bravo !
Admittedly I didn't see this movie in the 80's I did see it about 10 years later. Time for a rewatch.
I have Day for Night on my DVR waiting to be watched again. Truffaut is one of my favorites.
If I didn't mention Wings I certainly should have. It is one of my top 10 movies of all time.
The story, the cinematography, the soundtrack is brilliant. Peter Falk is an angel ? Are you kidding me.
Too bad Hollywood destroyed it with City of Angels.
Last week I watched the directors cut of Until the End of the World. Which is close to 4 hrs long.
It's not a bad movie just not what I thought Wenders wanted it to be. It does have a great cast.
Which includes Solveig Dommartin who was in Wings. She did all her own stunts in that movie.
Unfortunately we lost her about 10 years ago. She was only in her 40's.
A very talented, beautiful actress.
I find it fascinating that a lot of people (including myself) dismiss the 80's as the decade of romantic teen comedies and action movies. Two of my favorite movies of all time come from this decade.
Wings of Desire and Cinema Paradiso.
That's basically why I started the thread. When I was looking online for 80s movies all that was coming up was lame stuff and I knew there had to be better stuff out there. And whoa ... lots to check out now. I'm going to make a list of them all with the years and organize it. I do appreciate everyone's input. :)
shareIt will always show what is popular not necessarily what is good.
This was a great way to get movies from several different perspectives.
Do you watch them all one year then the next or 1 from 80 then 1 from 81 etc... ?
You'll probably think I'm strange, but I'm trying to watch 1 movie per year for 100 years. I'm not going in order though and just kind of jumping around. I found when I was looking for 1980s movies I had either seen the movie, or it seemed lame. Then I started this thread, and I realize there are loads of good ones out there. So yeah I started with 1917 and will go up to 2017 (unless I don't finish until 2018 ;) Being the nerd I am I find it fun and I made a little blog for links to the movies if they are online.
share"You'll probably think I'm strange"
Daisy, you crossed that strange bridge a long time ago.
The only reason I know is because I was already on the other side waiting for you.
Welcome to strangeville. :P
I remember I did something like this when the AFI came out with the first list of
100 greatest films of all time. I had already seen a lot of them. I started with 100 and the plan
was to go to 1. That didn't work out so well. Maybe I got to 70. Over time I think I've seen most.
I hope it works out better for you.
It will be hard to pick out one movie for the entire year.
Sounds like a cool change of pace thing to do.
Yes, we may be strange..but a good strange. Thanks for the welcome! hah, you are too funny. :)
Yeah, I hope I finish it. Its for no purpose but to entertain me so if I don't ..oh well. But I would be watching movies anyways. Its so hard to choose just one per year. My love for classics is showing though because that's all I want to watch and I picked like 1 so far for 2000s.. anyways I should have been watching the Oscar Best Pic, but I have seen too many of those. A lot are ruled out because I've seen them. :)
And as long as you've seen them eventually its all good!
You're a better person than I am. I don't think I could pick just one movie per year.
Only if I picked it out of a hat maybe.
The thing with the AFI list is they were good movies but a lot of them would not be on
my list of my favorite 100 movies.
I watch my movies on feeling. What do I feel like.
Lately I've been on an obscure foreign movie kick. So far most that I have seen I have loved.
I usually get disappointed when I watch anything new.
It was a great period for indie/arthouse/foreign films. I also used to go to a lot of repertory houses that played older movies, for example there were 5 remastered Alfred Hitchcock films that were re-released in theaters in 1983. They were considered "the missing Hitchcocks" so when they were re-released it was a big deal and they got a new audience.
Rear Window,
Vertigo,
The Man who knew too much,
Rope,
The Trouble With Harry
So they were kind of an 80's trend even though they are much older.
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I was in high school and college in the 80s , I worked in 2 movie theaters during the 80s, so I probably saw more films in that decade than in any other decade of my life. so I'll list some of my favorites that I went to in theaters as a young adult.
Spetters 1980 (I went to this with my then boyfriend and his friend, both of whom later went on to work in the film special effects industry and one of them worked on another Paul Verhoven movie, all tracing back to both of them watching this movie when they were still teens. This movie also got both of them interested in motorcycles. So it was like a seminal moment.)
Gregory's Girl 1980
Dance Craze 1981
Reds 1981
Ragtime 1981
Diva 1981
The Hunger 1982
Fanny and Alexander 1982
And the Ship Sails On 1983
Videodrome 1983
Amadeus 1984
The brother from another planet 1984
Another Country 1984
Body Double 1984
Comfort and Joy 1984
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension 1984
A Room with a View 1985
Flesh + Blood 1985
Brazil 1985
After Hours 1985
Gothic 1986
The Fly 1986
Robocop 1987
Full Metal Jacket 1987
The lost boys 1987
Chinese ghost story 1987
Siesta 1987
Aria 1987
Raising Arizona 1987
Dead Ringers 1988
Lair of the white worm 1988
Salome's Last Dance 1988
Santa Sangre 1989
honorable mentions:
Nosferatu the Vampyre (came out in 1979 but I saw it multiple times in the 80s in theaters)
Quadrophenia (came out in 1979 but I saw it multiple times in the 80s in theaters)
Also these I forgot
Flash Gordon 1980 with the Queen soundtrack!
Rude Boy 1980
Stardust Memories 1980
Excalibur 1981
Christiane F. 1981
Gallipoli 1981
Polyester 1981
The THing 1982
Blade Runner 1982
Dark Crystal 1982
Cat People 1982
Fitzcarraldo 1982
The Right Stuff 1983
Dune 1984
Repo Man 1984
This Is Spinal Tap 1984
Stranger than Paradise 1984
Reckless 1984
Stop Making Sense 1984 (and I also saw this Talking Heads tour twice)
Broadway Danny Rose 1984
Choose Me 1984
Trouble in Mind 1985
Legend 1985
My Beautiful Laundrette 1985
After Hours 1985
Re-animator 1985
Ran 1985
Labyrinth 1986
Absolute Beginners 1986
Something Wild 1986
The Mosquito Coast 1986
River's Edge 1986
Blue Velvet 1986
Wings of Desire 1987
Freeway 1988
Stormy Monday 1988
Hairspray 1988
Last Exit to Brooklyn 1989
Mystery Train 1989
New York Stories 1989
☠️
shareI added a bunch to my list
Rude Boy 1980
Stardust Memories 1980
Gallipoli 1981
The THing 1982
Blade Runner 1982
Dark Crystal 1982
Cat People 1982
The Right Stuff 1983
Dune 1984
Repo Man 1984
Stranger than Paradise 1984
Reckless 1984
Stop Making Sense 1984 (and I also saw this Talking Heads tour twice)
Broadway Danny Rose 1984
After Hours 1985
Re-animator 1985
Labyrinth 1986
Something Wild 1986
The Mosquito Coast 1986
River's Edge 1986
Blue Velvet 1986
Wings of Desire 1987
Mystery Train 1989
New York Stories 1989
☠️
shareStranger than Paradise was a big cult favorite when I was in college, I saw it multiple times and it revived the career of Screamin Jay Hawkins with white college kids and he went on tour after that movie and I saw him live in I think 1985.
whoah you had to watch every movie all the way through? How are there enough hours in a day?
I probably watched every movie we got at my theater, but it was only a 3-plex and they didn't always change all 3 movies every week. Some of them we'd keep for a month or more if it was still selling tickets. Like Platoon, we kept that for months.
The great thing was that all the theaters in the bay area had an agreement with eachother to give passes to other theater's employees, even if it was different chains or independent houses. So I could go see movies all over for free, not just the ones at my own theater.
☠️
I keep thinking of more
Fitzcarraldo 1982
My Beautiful Laundrette 1985
Freeway 1988
Stormy Monday 1988
Last Exit to Brooklyn 1989
That's quite the list, PK! Some great ones I forgot and some I haven't heard of. I remember really liking the atmosphere in The Hunger. The Thing is one of my favourite movies btw. I can't believe I forgot that one!
share My friends and I were big Bowie fans, so we'd see anything he was in but then I also loved the movie after his character died. That was also the first time I heard or saw the band Bauhaus, and I loved them. The opening scene of The Hunger is still one of the best opening scenes ever. Just the dark slick stylish atmosphere of it, it had such glamour.
I forgot to add 'Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence' (1983)
Oh, that opening scene is great! I should re-watch the film, it's been too long since I've seen it. And though I haven't listened to much Bauhaus, I still love that song.
share'American Horror Story: Hotel' had a scene that was a real homage to the opening scene of 'The Hunger'. Where Lady Gaga and her lover go out and pick up some victims and the song playing is She Wants Revenge 'Tear You Apart' which is another dark spooky sexy song in that 80's vein (although they are not an 80's band, but they sound like they could have been).
Those two scenes and those 2 songs are some all time favorites.
And to link them even more, I have seen She Wants Revenge opening for Peter Murphy in concert.
I forgot about that AHS scene. And I really thought "Tear You Apart" was an 80's song /a favourite since I heard it on the show/. Those She Wants Revenge folks really did a great job at recreating that sound!
shareYeah they are strongly influenced by 80s synth-heavy bands and they definitely can hold their own next to the real thing. I love She Wants Revenge's first album, I got it when it came out but then I rediscovered it when it was in AHS.
That Hotel season of AHS had a phenomenal soundtrack.
Joy Division
New Order
Rammstein
Sisters of Mercy
Siouxsie & the Banshees
Bauhaus
Peter Murphy
Bryan Ferry
The Cure
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Depeche Mode
Nick Cave
Visage
Giorgio Moroder
The Stone Roses
Marianne Faithfull
Mazzy Star
I can't think of many movies or tv shows that have hit more of my musical sweet spots.
I have to go listen to that album now!
I remember that season having a great soundtrack! I like me some synth, and 80's music in general /though I'm not so good with whole albums in the last, oh idk, since digital became a thing/.
Of course you like The Hunger.
You live it.
So strange the answers you seek are right in front of your face.
Even when you think you're not good at something.
Sometimes things fall right into your lap.
I do live it! I live all those vampire movies. Later I'm going for a little slaughter in the Tittie Twister. Wish me luck!
Also, I sense a clue being thrown my way.
I do wish you luck . Even though I don't think you'll need it.
Just remember to duck and don't take any wooden nickels. (an old saying) It seems to fit in this instance.
Oh, it's a clue baby.
Wow, that's an awesome list. :) So nice to see The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth on your list, I'm kind of a Henson freak so I've seen those a million times. ;) A lot of good movies I have seen on there and lots I haven't. The Fly I remember freaking me out so bad I had wished my parents didn't let me watch it. haha.
Thanks though, I will definitely look closer and check out some of these for sure.
Great list of films. I really enjoyed the Irish efforts like Comfort and Joy and a couple others by the same director.
And Stranger Than Paradise is an absolute left-field favorite. I think it's filmed in B&W, and it's so funny and low-key. Thanks for mentioning it.
I am choking the alligator
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