TTT: Best Films of the 1980’s

/ beckmank

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday (TTT) brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish.

November 15: Movie Freebie — top ten all time favorite movies, top ten foreign films, top ten rom-coms, top ten 90’s movies, top ten action flicks, top ten tear-jerkers, top ten movies your favorite actor/actress is in, top ten movies with PoC leads, etc. etc.)

Oh my gosh if there is one thing I love (almost) as much as books, it’s movies. I love to watch movies. So what to do this week? Try to pick my all time top ten favorites? Select ten different categories and pick one favorite for each? Pick a specific genre or actor? I’ve already done one on Book to Film adaptations. So many ways this post could go…

I’m going to take a trip down memory lane this week with…

My top ten films from the 1980’s.

I love 80’s flicks, especially the comedies. To make this list, I typed out my favorite movies and then sorted by year. I’ve picked my favorite film for each year, and have a few honorable mentions thrown in. (Apparently, I really liked 1985.)

So without further ado…

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1980 – The Empire Strikes Back

Honestly, the original Star Wars (1977) is my absolute, favorite movie ever. So Empire gets my vote for best film of 1980.

1980 Honorable Mention: Caddyshack

1981 – Raiders of the Lost Ark 

All the Indy movies are great, but Raiders is the best one. Funny and action packed.

1982 – The Last Unicorn

This is a great story, but it always made me a little sad when we watched it.

1983 – National Lampoon’s Vacation 

There are several Vacation sequels out there, but nothing beats the original trek to Wally World.

1984: Ghostbusters 

Ghostbusters is just so funny. A go-to film at our house, and the boys in grey bring it every time.

1984 Honorable Mention: Police Academy 

1985 – The Goonies

Apparently 1985 was an AMAZING year for classic comedies. When I typed up my initial off-the-top-of-my-head 1980’s favorites list, I had FIVE films from 1985 pop up. FIVE. And I love them all. The Goonies takes the top spot as it’s another one I love to watch with my boys.

1985 Honorable Mentions: The Breakfast Club, Clue, Back to the Future, Real Genius

1986 – Stand By Me

It was tough to chose between these two films. I actually watch Ferris Bueller more than Stand By Me. But Stand By Me is just one of those special stories that stays with you forever. Such a great story.

1986 Honorable Mention: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 

1987 – The Princess Bride

This is probably my second favorite film, next to Star Wars. In fact, we just watched The Princess Bride on Saturday. As the Grandfather says, it has everything: “fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles.” One of the greatest films of all time. And often quoted in our house.

1987 Honorable Mention: Dirty Dancing

1988 – Beetlejuice

I especially enjoy watching the dinner party dance to Harry Belafonte’s Banana Boat song.

1988 Honorable Mentions: Dangerous Liasons, Heathers

1989 – Dead Poets Society

Carpe…Carpe Diem…Seize the day, boys…Make your lives extraordinary!

1989 Honorable Mentions: Batman, The Burbs, Steel Magnolias

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What about you? Are you a sucker for 1980’s movies like me? (Is there an ’80s movie that should be on this list that I missed?) What is your favorite film of all time? Are you like me where you can watch your favorites over and over? (Drives my poor husband crazy!) Sign off below, and link up to your own TTT if you’ve got one – I want to see your movie picks this week!

41 thoughts on “TTT: Best Films of the 1980’s”

    • Neverending Story is a great film too! Another one my brother and I watched all the time. That was a 1984. I was really trying to limit myself to just one pick per year with maybe one honorable mention, but then 1985 came along and messed that all up. 😉 When I first showed The Goonies to my boys, I was shocked at all the language in it. I did not remember it that way at all. I’m pretty sure we watched the edited-for-TV version. LOL

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      • Yes, I’m quite sure that I saw the TV edit of Goonies. I was thinking of Real Genius – I remember my parents renting it multiple times. When I watched it as an adult I was shocked at all the sexual content!
        My oldest is 11, and we’re starting to let him watch more PG-13 movies (with us). He watched Silverado with my husband the other day, which prompted a discussion about the N word (currently the worst word he knows) and how he should never, ever use it. On the one hand, I hate exposing him to stuff, but I figure it’s better he learns about it from me than from other kids. I do remember having to ask a friend what the C word meant (I was in college!).

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      • Yes!! I was going to let my oldest watch Real Genius a few years ago and I watched it again and then said, no! I think then they didn’t have the PG-13 rating, so it was just PG or R. Big difference from films now. (He is 12 now, so maybe next year I’ll let him see it? Or maybe I’ll just show him the popcorn scene. LOL) We are the same – started easing into the PG13 a couple of years ago with parental supervision. 🙂

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  11. Pretty sure one of the reasons I decided to go on that first date with my now husband is because he made a Princess Bride reference. Best movie ever! Would you believe I haven’t seen Ghostbusters? I think I was too young when it first came out and then I just haven’t gotten around to watching it. I’m hoping to fix that one soon. Great list!

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  12. Love Empire strikes Back and Raiders- such fun movies. The Goonies- ha ha. Awesome. And 1985 was a good year wasn’t it? I didn’t realize that was the year og the Breakfast Club and Back to the Future. Wow.

    The Princess Bride is amazing. And Dead Poets Society had a big impact on me when I saw it. I would add maybe Risky Business and Gremlins.

    Love how you broke this down.

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  15. Awesome list, and what a fun topic! The Princess Bride will always be one of my favorites, but it’s such fun to be reminded of all these other great movies too. Stand By Me still gets me teary eyed…

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