Top 10 Quintessential 80's movies

[Hunter Rider]

No order needed and they don't necessarily need to be your favourite movies of the 80's, just the 10 that scream the decade to you, that evoke nostalgic feelings of the the 80's in all it's glory!. .

My 10;

 

[childeroland]

1. Chariots of Fire
2. The NeverEnding Story
3. The Goonies
4. Young Sherlock Holmes
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark
6. Annie
7. WarGames
8. The Black Stallion Returns
9. Some Kind of Wonderful
10. The Journey of Natty Gann

 

[Kuwolski]

- Beverly Hills Cop
- Tron
- Pee Wee's Big Adventure
- The Terminator
- Gremlins
- The Breakfast Club
- The Lost Boys
- Cobra
- The Karate Kid
- Return of the Jedi

 

[Silvermoth]

When I think of the 80s this is what I think of

 

[Mandon Knight]

In terms of how they shape & form the decade for me in terms of my own experiences both with the films and through the films themselves, in terms of my own life at the time of seeing them at the time, it goes a bit like this....

1) E.T.
2) Superman II
3) The Breakfast Club
4) The Empire Strikes Back
5) Some Kind of Wonderful
6) Back to the Future
7) Tron
8) Starman
9) Biggles : Adventures in Time
10) Gremlins

I feel I should now add the list from a 'generalist' decade point of view, at large, in terms of 'screaming 80's' as the thread says....

1) Ghostbusters - The defining 80's ensemble comedy

2) Wall Street - It is the 80's attitude

3) St Elmo's Fire - The Brat Pack's defining film

4) The Breakfast Club - John Hughes (the decade's director's tour de force)

5) Rambo : First Blood : Part II (The very definition of 80's action OTT)

6) Back to the Future - Spielberg's vision of support to Zemmekis & Gale's 80's sci-fi comedy gold

7) Commando - Arnie's response to said OTT 80's action

8) Die Hard - Best Action flick of the 80's and template to this day of 'one man verses enemy X in a confined space' films

9) The Thing - Practical SFX Magic & Carpenter's genius

10) Working Girl - included as it shows how feminism was seen in a horrific decade for the lack of understanding (see Wall Street for that attitude) and thankfully shows how far we've come, but more to do.

 

[PhasedPlasma101]

I'm not claiming it as THE movie of the 1980s but the first one that came to mind:

 

[StarLord]

Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Coming to America
National Lampoon's Vacation
Big Trouble in Little China
Beverly Hills Cop
Top Gun
Die Hard
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Robocop
The Terminator

 

[STARMAN]

Airplane
The Naked Gun
Karate Kid
Big
Top Gun
ET
An Officer and a Gentleman.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Die Hard
Robocop

 

[Hunter Rider]

Interesting reading through the lists, a few movies make most but there is plenty of variety, I think the 80's was an iconic decade for movies, people poke fun at the fashion and some of the excess gaudiness, but it had a lot of memorable films.

When I think of the 80s this is what I think of

It certainly had one of the most memorable songs of any 80's movie and of course that iconic dance sequence.

I'm not claiming it as THE movie of the 1980s but the first one that came to mind:

 

[CJ]

I was born in '85. I have vague memories of the decade but these films are the ones that stand out in my memory..

The Land Before Time
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Back to the Future
Beetlejuice
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
E.T
Big

I also really like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, (but I didn't actually watch it until 2001)

 

[Batmannerism]

No order needed and they don't necessarily need to be your favourite movies of the 80's, just the 10 that scream the decade to you, that evoke nostalgic feelings of the the 80's in all it's glory!. .

My 10;

Wall

In terms of how they shape & form the decade for me in terms of my own experiences both with the films and through the films themselves, in terms of my own life at the time of seeing them at the time, it goes a bit like this....

1) E.T.
2) Superman II
3) The Breakfast Club
4) The Empire Strikes Back
5) Some Kind of Wonderful
6) Back to the Future
7) Tron
8) Starman
9) Biggles : Adventures in Time
10) Gremlins

I feel I should now add the list from a 'generalist' decade point of view, at large, in terms of 'screaming 80's' as the thread says....

1) Ghostbusters - The defining 80's ensemble comedy

2) Wall Street - It is the 80's attitude

3) St Elmo's Fire - The Brat Pack's defining film

4) The Breakfast Club - John Hughes (the decade's director's tour de force)

5) Rambo : First Blood : Part II (The very definition of 80's action OTT)

6) Back to the Future - Spielberg's vision of support to Zemmekis & Gale's 80's sci-fi comedy gold

7) Commando - Arnie's response to said OTT 80's action

8) Die Hard - Best Action flick of the 80's and template to this day of 'one man verses enemy X in a confined space' films

9) The Thing - Practical SFX Magic & Carpenter's genius

10) Working Girl - included as it shows how feminism was seen in a horrific decade for the lack of understanding (see Wall Street for that attitude) and thankfully shows how far we've come, but more to do.

Okay, the above lists are pretty sublime. As I was a teenager in the 80s I remember them fondly, so mad respect to the OP.

I would add the following 80s flicks.

Although Star Trek IV is also a strong contender

Got to include this one, an 80s classic.

No 80s list is complete without Platoon IMO.

A couple of Harrison Ford classics, to me he embodies the early 80s leading man more than any other American actor.

For the number of references that this film receives.

Cemented Schwarzenegger as a key player in the action genre.