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Top Films by Year (1980-1983)

**--Won Academy Award for Best Picture.
*--Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

1980

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Raging Bull* Martin Scorsese 18
2 The Empire Strikes Back Irvin Kershner 43
3 The Shining Stanley Kubrick 87
4 Airplane! Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker 175
5 The Blues Brothers John Landis 293
6 The Elephant Man* David Lynch 421
7 Caddyshack Harold Ramis 467
8 Ordinary People** Robert Redford 481
9 The Long Good Friday John Mackenzie 499
10 Atlantic City* Louis Malle 529
11 The Big Red One Samuel Fuller 619
12 'Breaker' Morant Bruce Beresford 829
13 Coal Miner's Daughter* Michael Apted 935
14 Kagemusha Akira Kurosawa 1061
15 Friday the 13th Sean S. Cunningham 1156
16 Berlin Alexanderplatz Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1233
17 Mon oncle d'Amérique Alain Resnais 1300
18 Dressed to Kill Brian De Palma 1325
19 Superman II Richard Lester 1387
20 Heaven's Gate Michael Cimino 1410
21 Flash Gordon Mike Hodges 1477
22 Fame Alan Parker 1486
23 The Stunt Man Richard Rush 1540
24 Altered States Ken Russell 1644
25 American Gigolo Paul Schrader 1701
26 The Last Metro François Truffaut 1739
27 Nine to Five Colin Higgins 1741
28 Gloria John Cassavetes 1752
29 Private Benjamin Howard Zieff 1796
30 Melvin and Howard Jonathan Demme 1824
31 Cannibal Holocaust Ruggero Deodato 1857
32 The Fog John Carpenter 2047
33 Stir Crazy Sidney Poitier 2265
34 My Bodyguard Tony Bill 2295
35 The Changeling Peter Medak 2335

1981

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Raiders of the Lost Ark* Steven Spielberg 29
2 Das Boot Wolfgang Petersen 194
3 The Road Warrior George Miller 306
4 Chariots of Fire** Hugh Hudson 320
5 The Evil Dead Sam Raimi 404
6 An American Werewolf in London John Landis 438
7 Reds* Warren Beatty 588
8 Gallipoli Peter Weir 598
9 Gregory's Girl Bill Forsyth 626
10 Body Heat Lawrence Kasdan 634
11 Killer of Sheep Charles Burnett 667
12 Diva Jean-Jacques Beineix 669
13 On Golden Pond* Mark Rydell 804
14 Escape from New York John Carpenter 974
15 Time Bandits Terry Gilliam 1081
16 Excalibur John Boorman 1111
17 My Dinner with Andre Louis Malle 1139
18 Mephisto István Szabó 1179
19 Arthur Steve Gordon 1197
20 Blow Out Brian De Palma 1287
21 Pixote Hector Babenco 1298
22 The Gods Must Be Crazy Jamie Uys 1502
23 Cutter's Way Ivan Passer 1621
24 The Howling Joe Dante 1698
25 Stripes Ivan Reitman 1730
26 The French Lieutenant's Woman Karel Reisz 1867
27 Pennies from Heaven Herbert Ross 1875
28 Victory John Huston 1896
29 The Postman Always Rings Twice Bob Rafelson 1951
30 Prince of the City Sidney Lumet 1995
31 Mommie Dearest Frank Perry 2036
32 Clash of the Titans Desmond Davis 2064
33 Lola Rainer Werner Fassbinder 2290

1982

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Blade Runner Ridley Scott 21
2 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial* Steven Spielberg 23
3 Tootsie* Sydney Pollack 197
4 The Thing John Carpenter 210
5 Gandhi** Richard Attenborough 251
6 Fanny and Alexander Ingmar Bergman 276
7 Fast Times at Ridgemont High Amy Heckerling 424
8 The King of Comedy Martin Scorsese 475
9 Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan Nicholas Meyer 507
10 Fitzcarraldo Werner Herzog 541
11 Diner Barry Levinson 646
12 Poltergeist Tobe Hooper 691
13 Tron Steven Lisberger 703
14 Sophie's Choice Alan J. Pakula 823
15 The Verdict* Sidney Lumet 831
16 Koyaanisqatsi Godfrey Reggio 1014
17 An Officer and a Gentleman Taylor Hackford 1134
18 The Year of Living Dangerously Peter Weir 1189
19 The Draughtsman's Contract Peter Greenaway 1198
20 48 Hrs. Walter Hill 1210
21 First Blood Ted Kotcheff 1223
22 Pink Floyd the Wall Alan Parker 1331
23 My Favorite Year Richard Benjamin 1337
24 Victor/Victoria Blake Edwards 1433
25 Burden of Dreams Les Blank 1609
26 Conan the Barbarian John Milius 1672
27 Missing* Costa-Gavras 1676
28 The Secret of NIMH Don Bluth 1859
29 Personal Best Robert Towne 2057
30 Moonlighting Jerzy Skolimowski 2088
31 Annie John Huston 2110
32 Rocky III Sylvester Stallone 2117
33 Yol Serif Gören and Yilmaz Güney 2137
34 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid Carl Reiner 2187
35 The Night of the Shooting Stars Paolo and Vittorio Taviani 2190
36 Liquid Sky Slava Tsukerman 2191
37 The World According to Garp George Roy Hill 2384

1983

Rank Title Director(s) Overall
Rank
1 Return of the Jedi Richard Marquand 178
2 Scarface Brian De Palma 239
3 Terms of Endearment** James L. Brooks 330
4 The Right Stuff* Philip Kaufman 371
5 Videodrome David Cronenberg 455
6 Local Hero Bill Forsyth 462
7 A Christmas Story Bob Clark 642
8 Trading Places John Landis 811
9 Risky Business Paul Brickman 870
10 The Big Chill* Lawrence Kasdan 1029
11 Sans soleil Chris Marker 1033
12 Silkwood Mike Nichols 1051
13 L'Argent Robert Bresson 1141
14 Zelig Woody Allen 1269
15 El Norte Gregory Nava 1316
16 The Ballad of Narayama Shohei Imamura 1344
17 Flashdance Adrian Lyne 1466
18 Tender Mercies* Bruce Beresford 1526
19 Ŕ nos amours Maurice Pialat 1611
20 Nostalgia Andrei Tarkovsky 1675
21 The Dead Zone David Cronenberg 1714
22 The Hunger Tony Scott 1777
23 The Man with Two Brains Carl Reiner 1795
24 National Lampoon's Vacation Harold Ramis 1865
25 Rumble Fish Francis Ford Coppola 1974
26 Entre Nous Diane Kurys 2042
27 Educating Rita Lewis Gilbert 2102
28 The Outsiders Francis Ford Coppola 2182
29 Valley Girl Martha Coolidge 2211
30 Danton Andrzej Wajda 2326
31 Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones 2369

**--Won Academy Award for Best Picture.
*--Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

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This page was last modified on June 14, 2011