Were the 1980s the Greatest Decade for Movies?

My favorite films from every year I’ve been alive (1978–1989)

There I was, happily working on a new story — one that has nothing to do with Star Wars, if you can believe it — when Paul Combs abruptly tossed a grenade-like prompt into my lap and left my concentration riddled with shrapnel. The prompt: my favorite films from every year I’ve been alive. A better writer would’ve ignored the notification and gone about their business, but I am a weak man. So now I’ll be writing about Star Wars again, after all. Direct your complaints accordingly.

Simon Dillon, who was also tagged on Paul’s prompt, gamely suggested we limit ourselves to only one film for George Lucas and Steven Spielberg during the 80s, or, somewhat masochistically, none of their films at all. While I admire Simon’s chutzpah, these two men simply loom too large to disqualify them in favor of a more egalitarian field.

As I mentioned in my About Me, I was born roughly 9 months after Star Wars premiered in 1977. I’m not going to get into debates about when a fetus becomes a person, but I think we can all agree I was with my mom physically, spiritually, and no doubt emotionally, and thus, Star Wars: A New Hope should at least merit honorable mention, even if I wasn’t technically born until 1978.

So now we come to it: were the 1980s are the greatest film era ever or is that only the childhood Kool-Aid talking? Let’s find out, but first we need to deal with two pesky years from the 70s.

1978: Superman: The Movie. Superman is a bit creaky by modern standards. The pacing is slooooow; the film has a runtime of 2 hours and 23 minutes, but the last time I watched it, it felt more like 3 and a half hours. That said, the film still soars. Christopher Reeves is perhaps the best superhero casting the genre has ever seen. Gene Hackmen is delightfully zany as Lex Luthor. John Williams’ score may be the finest of his magnificent career. Despite many subsequent attempts, this film — and its sequel — remains the best cinematic version of Superman.

Grease was also a dark horse candidate here. I don't generally like musicals — actually I kinda hate them — but Grease is an exception.

1979: Alien. I originally had The Muppet Movie pencilled in here. The Muppets are simply foundational and I will always love Kermit the Frog. But I just couldn't put them over Alien, one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all-time. I’m not much of a horror guy — I believe the technical term is scaredy-cat — so this one doesn't get a ton of play at my house. But every time I watch it, I am amazed at how thrilling it is. A masterwork of atmospheric horror and understated world-building.

1980: Flash Gordon. Flash! Ah-ah! Saviour of the universe!

Kidding!

1980 (for real): The Empire Strikes Back. Surprising absolutely nobody, my favorite movie of 1980 is the best Star Wars anything ever made. One of these days I really should write an article explaining why I hold Empire in such esteem. Here’s the short version: the deepening mythos, the introduction of Yoda, everything to do with Darth Vader, Han Solo at his most Han Solo-ness, the darker vibe, the score, Boba Fett, and the romantic subplot. What. A. Film.

1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark. A rousing adventure with my favorite actor in the role best suited to his strengths. Yes, Harrison Ford is better as Indiana Jones than he is Han Solo. I said it. Let’s move on and pretend this never happened.

1982: E.T. This was a hard year to pick. Consider some of the other choices: Blade Runner, The Thing, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. I also (briefly) considered The Beastmaster and Conan the Barbarian, as I am a huge fantasy nerd.

But I was mostly just flirting. E.T. is a one-of-a-kind wonder, the kind of film that leaves you changed. There is a magic to the film that is palpable. Watching it makes me feel like a kid again.

1983: Return of the Jedi. I know. How original.

Return of the Jedi is the first movie I remember going to see in the theater. It’s a good movie but a distant third compared to the preceding Star Wars films, and has been surpassed by a few later entries. All of this is to say: I genuinely tried to justify putting anything other than Jedi at this spot. But as much as I love Trading Places, it just doesn’t compare.

1984: The Karate Kid. Where 1983 was a bit bare bones for options, 1984 is a cornucopia of delights. I would seriously consider several of the following films above Return of the Jedi, had they released a year sooner: The Terminator, Gremlins, Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Heck, even Police Academy, Romancing the Stone, Revenge of the Nerds, and Ice Pirates are fun movies. 1984 has a lot going for it.

But The Karate Kid just hits at another level for me personally. It, along with The Goonies and Back to the Future, form a core of movies that are deeply meaningful to me because they all hit at the right time. Yeah, Daniel can be whiny and annoying, but he was a sight better than those Cobra Kai yuppies. Plus Elisabeth Shue was hella cute. The best part remains the tournament montage at the end of the film. Nothings ever gonna keep you down!

1985: Back to the Future. One of my all-time favorite films. I know there's no such thing as a perfect film, but Back to the Future is a perfect film. Allow past-me to explain:

Expertly constructed, lean and mean, not a wasted bit of dialogue or a scene out of place. The cast is pitch-perfect, led of course by Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd; I especially appreciate Crispin Glover’s neurotic performance. The score is iconic, with an assist from Huey Lewis and the News. And, despite the potential for shenanigans that time travel seems to invite, the plot is easy to follow yet still surprising, in large part because the movie isn’t really about time travel at all. ~ Eric Pierce, from The Fantasy and Fallacy of Time Travel

1986: Aliens. Everything that made the original great, turned up to 11. Of the two, I prefer Aliens and its frenetic action to the dread horror of the original Alien film. Plus, you know — Sigourney Weaver in a mech suit. But it is the addition of the gung-ho Marines that I love the most. Unlike the first time around, humanity face the Xenomorphs with eyes open and armed to the teeth. And we still get our asses kicked.

I ever-so-briefly flirted with Top Gun here. Quite frankly, Kenny Loggins and the rest of the soundtrack is emblazoned on my heart. Plus there are some cool cinematics. But the film itself is just not as good as you remember.

Game over, man.

1987: Predator. Arnold at his best? I guess that’s probably Terminator 2, though I wonder — is telling someone that their best performance came when they played an emotionless robot only damning with faint praise?

You can practically smell the testosterone oozing from Predator as the film pits a bevy of macho, macho men against the titular alien hunter. There is a singular kind of sadistic joy in watching the Predator pick of the seasoned soldiers one-by-one. And, of course, the final battle is epic.

This film is also endlessly quotable. Among some of the many lines I still use to this day:

• “What’s the matter? The CIA got you pushing too many pencils?”
• “Get to the chopper!”
• “If it bleeds, we can kill it.”

1988: Die Hard. Die Hard is quite possibly the greatest action movie ever. Bruce Willis’ John McClain is an actually believable everyman, Hans Gruber is a deliciously devious baddie, and the trapped-in-a-highrise conceit is inspired. Toss in another ridiculously quotable script and exciting set pieces, and there’s little wonder that people — mostly dudes — have been trying to convince their loved ones it’s a Christmas movie, just so they have an excuse to watch it again (it’s not, by the way).

1989: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Oh, look: another Spielberg film. That’s three altogether, if you’re counting at home; maybe Simon was onto something when he suggested we limit ourselves to one.

Crusade is my favorite of the Indiana Jones films. It has the series’ best action scenes and most of its funniest moments, but it is the lovingly adversarial relationship between Indy and his father, played wonderfully by Sean Connery, that puts Crusade over the top. Their reconciliation belongs in the Field of Dreams tier of father-son scenes that make grown men cry.

I left a ton of great movies on the cutting room floor. Here’s a snippet of additional films I looked at along the way, that I didn’t already mention above: Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, Batman, The Goonies, Beetlejuice, Big, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Rain Man, Glory, Hoosiers, The Naked Gun, Stand By Me, Crocodile Dundee, 48 Hours, and, of course, Spaceballs.

So what do you think? Were the 80s the greatest decade for movies? Accounting for personal taste, it’s impossible to come to a definitive answer.

But also, yes.

Eric writes about pop culture. Not a Medium member? Join today to access Fanfare’s entire story catalog, plus every other story hosted on Medium.