MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > 1984 vs. 1999 movies

1984 vs. 1999 movies

posted 20 days ago by samoanjoes (52804)
44 replies | jump to latest

So my friend and I have been debating the following for years: he thinks 1984 is the bigger and better year for movies than 1999. I say it's 1999 and it's far and ahead better than 1984. What do you think? He are some of the highest ranked popular movies on IMDb of the respective years.

1984:
Ghostbusters
The Terminator
Beverly Hills Cop
Amadeus
Revenge of the Nerds
Gremlins
Once Upon a Time in America
Police Academy
The Karate Kid
Sixteen Candles
Footloose
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
The NeverEnding Story
Paris, Texas
A Nightmare on Elm Street
1984
Top Secret!
This Is Spinal Tap
The Killing Fields
Children of the Corn
Starman
Threads
Dune
Red Dawn
Splash

1999:
American Beauty
Fight Club
The Sixth Sense
Magnolia
The Matrix
Three Kings
Being John Malkovich
The Green Mile
Toy Story 2
The Insider
American Pie
Election
Office Space
Girl, Interrupted
Eyes Wide Shut
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Galaxy Quest
Dogma
The Cider House Rules
The Blair Witch Project
Payback
Sleepy Hollow
Go
The Iron Giant
The Mummy
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Deep Blue Sea

[–] parkerbot (6245) 20 days ago

It's close but I give it to 1984.

Just watched Beverly Hills Cop and it still holds up today.

[–] RoboReCop (2868) 20 days ago

Indeed, regarding 'Beverly Hills Cop'!

[–] BrandNewPoster (8165) 20 days ago

Based on my average imdb ratings, 1984 is a 7.03/10 and 1999 is a 6.89/10, so 1984 wins out of the two.

[–] samoanjoes (52804) 20 days ago

How did you get to this average? Did you calculate only for the movies I mentioned above?

[–] BrandNewPoster (8165) 20 days ago

No, imdb calculates it based on my ratings.

[–] samoanjoes (52804) 20 days ago

Really? How?

[–] BrandNewPoster (8165) 20 days ago

If you click on your user name and then activity, under "show more" there is top rated genres and "top rated years" which shows your average rating for several different years.

https://www.imdb.com/user/ur44669823/?ref_=nv_usr_prof_2

[–] samoanjoes (52804) 20 days ago

I never noticed the "see more". My highest rated year is 1959.

[–] BrandNewPoster (8165) 20 days ago

Now that I have helped you out, you have to be nice to me forever.

[–] samoanjoes (52804) 20 days ago

Depends. You might tag team with Kowalski.

[–] Mrmojo4700 (20737) 20 days ago

My vote would easily be for 1984. That’s a great list for that year you provided, and I could think of many more off the top of my head that I like a lot. It’s probably just my viewing habits, but none on the 1999 list do much for me.

[–] samoanjoes (52804) 20 days ago

None from 1999?

[–] Mrmojo4700 (20737) 20 days ago

I definitely don’t have any big favorites from 1999. I don’t doubt at all that many got the films on your list are really good, just not to my personal taste.

[–] VinceD (7651) 20 days ago

1984. There are lots of memorable titles on that one. There are a few on the 1999 list, but nowhere near as many.

[–] MartyDeniro (4106) 20 days ago

Your friend is right.

Blood Simple
The Natural
Places in the Heart
Repo Man
Romancing the Stone
A Soldier's Story
Broadway Danny Rose
Body Double
Gorky Park
Purple Rain
The Pope of Greenwich Village
Silkwood

[–] samoanjoes (52804) 20 days ago

Other than the first one, not big on any of those.

[–] MartyDeniro (4106) 20 days ago

But how are we defining bigger in "bigger and better"?

[–] samoanjoes (52804) 20 days ago

The movie could be a high score, but it needed to be a movie people have heard of enough so they could compare 1984 and 1999. I chose some low score films too because some people just like good fun.

[–] MaximRecoil (4233) 20 days ago

How is Children of the Corn among "the highest ranked popular movies on IMDb" for 1984? It only has a 5.6 rating on IMDb. And as much as I like Red Dawn, I don't see how it's one of the highest ranked movies either, since it only has a 6.3. Splash also only has a 6.3.

Also, Threads is a TV movie so it's not in the same category as a theatrical release. People tend to be more lenient when rating TV movies, just as they are when rating TV shows.

In any case, just going by your lists, 1984 for me. The movies on your 1999 list that I really like are:

The Matrix
Office Space
Payback (theatrical cut only)
The Sixth Sense (but it doesn't have much of a "rewatchability" factor, not counting an immediate rewatch after the first viewing just to make sure the twist holds water)

For 1984:

The Terminator
Beverly Hills Cop
Revenge of the Nerds
Police Academy
The Karate Kid
A Nightmare on Elm Street
This Is Spinal Tap
Red Dawn

[–] samoanjoes (52804) 20 days ago

I'm not sure what standard IMDb was going by. I believe there was some popularity being thrown in by using the amount of votes.

[–] MaximRecoil (4233) 20 days ago

Do you have a link to those two lists?

[–] samoanjoes (52804) 20 days ago

I can't find the 1984 one, but I believe this is the one I had for 1999.
https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?year=1999&title_type=feature

[–] MaximRecoil (4233) 20 days ago

There's no link in your post.

[–] samoanjoes (52804) 20 days ago

Yes there is.*

*Now

[–] MaximRecoil (4233) 20 days ago

That list is just sorted by popularity; ranking doesn't factor into it at all. It's also a different list than you posted. The first three on that list are The Matrix, Fight Club, and Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace:

https://i.imgur.com/TDl8kkL.png

[–] samoanjoes (52804) 19 days ago

I know. The list changes. Yesterday Phantom Menace was at 5.

[–] AndyKing1967 (34943) 20 days ago

1984.

[–] BillHicksFan (10238) 20 days ago

1984 - 7.10
1999 - 6.77

1984
Paris, Texas - 8/10
Love Streams - 8/10
The Karate Kid - 8/10
Stranger Than Paradise - 7.5/10

1999
American Beauty - 10/10
Magnolia - 8/10
Office Space - 7.5/10
Eyes Wide Shut - 7.5/10

[–] samoanjoes (52804) 20 days ago

No love for Fight Club?

[–] BillHicksFan (10238) 20 days ago

Na. This girl actually gave me her VHS right after it came out, but I fell asleep (and I'm an insomniac!) but woke up right before the end. I only liked the "Our generation didn't have a World War or Great Depression"

[–] samoanjoes (52804) 20 days ago

But if you're an insomniac, this movie is about you.