Curated by SceneIt · United States
Revisit standout releases from 1980 through 1989, selected for viewers who want a strong starting point instead of an exhaustive catalog.
Updated 2026-08-03 · Ratings from TMDB
Titles are ranked by TMDB audience rating with a minimum vote threshold, then checked for relevance to the release decade.
1987 · TMDB 7.8/10 · 1,512 votes
Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1987 · TMDB 7.8/10 · 6,246 votes
Elliot Ness, an ambitious prohibition agent, is determined to take down Al Capone. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1988 · TMDB 7.8/10 · 7,201 votes
When car dealer Charlie Babbitt learns that his estranged father has died, he returns home to Cincinnati, where he discovers that he has a savant older brother named Raymond and that his father's $3 million fortune is being left to the mental institution in which Raymond lives. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1986 · TMDB 7.7/10 · 5,192 votes
As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1984 · TMDB 7.7/10 · 1,192 votes
Two 20th-century friends accidentally stumble into the year 1492, where they meet a charming teen and try to alter history. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1985 · TMDB 7.7/10 · 2,006 votes
An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1985 · TMDB 7.7/10 · 8,619 votes
Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1980 · TMDB 7.7/10 · 4,609 votes
Jake Blues, just released from prison, puts his old band back together to save the Catholic home where he and his brother Elwood were raised. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1986 · TMDB 7.7/10 · 622 votes
Alexander, a journalist, philosopher and retired actor, celebrates a birthday with friends and family when it is announced that nuclear war has begun. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1987 · TMDB 7.7/10 · 5,194 votes
In this enchantingly cracked fairy tale, the beautiful Princess Buttercup and the dashing Westley must overcome staggering odds to find happiness amid six-fingered swordsmen, murderous princes, Sicilians and rodents of unusual size. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1985 · TMDB 7.7/10 · 600 votes
In the ruins of a strange city, a young girl takes care of a large egg she holds carefully in her arms. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1984 · TMDB 7.7/10 · 14,842 votes
In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1986 · TMDB 7.7/10 · 619 votes
In a rural French village, an old man and his only remaining relative cast their covetous eyes on an adjoining vacant property. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1988 · TMDB 7.7/10 · 1,986 votes
Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1983 · TMDB 7.7/10 · 994 votes
Ebenezer Scrooge is far too greedy to understand that Christmas is a time for kindness and generosity. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1985 · TMDB 7.7/10 · 3,765 votes
Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1981 · TMDB 7.6/10 · 706 votes
Gaetano, a young Neapolitan, decides to leave home, work and friends, to look for other moments of life and meet other people. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1982 · TMDB 7.6/10 · 895 votes
Fitzcarraldo is a dreamer who plans to build an opera house in Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon, so, in order to finance his project, he embarks on an epic adventure to collect rubber, a very profitable product, in a remote and unexplored region of the rainforest. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1987 · TMDB 7.6/10 · 621 votes
After his lover rejects him, Maurice attempts to come to terms with his sexuality within the restrictiveness of Edwardian society. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.
1986 · TMDB 7.6/10 · 3,877 votes
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child. This title fits the list's theme and selection thresholds.