Top 25

Top 25 ’80s Movies

As I mentioned, the past two Top 25 lists have been dedicated to the movies and music from the first full decade I lived through.

For Pt. 2, I will offer up my Top 25 ’80s movies.

I spent more time in the ’80s watching movies than television. And when you look at kids films in the ’80s there was dark undertone to them. Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, the Goonies, The Secret of NIMH and The Monster Squad were pretty scary.

Of course, who wouldn’t love John Hughes productions, Richard Donner action flicks and John Candy comedies. There may be a few on my list that may elicit eye rolls from some, but these are my favourites.

25. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-25 What: Raising Arizona
Year: 1987
Cast
: Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, John Goodman, William Forsythe and Frances McDormand
Director: Ethan and Joel Coen
Best Quote: “Son, you got a panty on your head.” ~Man in pickup
24. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-24 What: Runaway
Year: 1984
Cast
: Tom Selleck, Cynthia Rhodes and Gene Simmons
Director: Michael Crichton
Best Quote: “Congratulations, guys, you just staked out a roll of toilet paper.” ~Ramsay
23. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-23 What: Die Hard
Year: 1988
Cast
: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia and Reginald VelJohnson
Director: John McTiernan
Best Quote: (written) “Now I have a machine gun, Ho-Ho-Ho.”  ~John McClane
22. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-22 What: Critters
Year: 1986
Cast
: Dee Wallace, M. Emmet Walsh and Scott Grimes
Director: Stephen Herek
Best Quote: “They have weapons” ~Critter
21. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-21 What: Labyrinth
Year: 1986
Cast
: David Bowie, Jennifer Connolly, Brian Henson and Frank Oz
Director: Jim Henson
Best Quote: “And Hoggle, if she ever kisses you, I’ll turn you into a prince … Prince of the Land of Stench.” ~Jareth
20. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-20 What: The Untouchables
Year: 1987
Cast
: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith and Robert De Niro
Director: Brian De Palma
Best Quote: “I want you to get this fuck where he breathes! I want you to find this nancy-boy Eliot Ness, I want him DEAD! I want his family DEAD! I want his house burned to the GROUND! I wanna go there in the middle of the night and I wanna PISS ON HIS ASHES!” ~Al Capone
19. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-19 What: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Year: 1986
Cast
: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara and Jeffrey Jones
Director: John Hughes
Best Quote: “Pardon my French, but Cameron is so tight that if you stuck a lump of coal up his ass, in two weeks you’d have a diamond.” ~Bueller
18. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-18 What: This is Spinal Tap
Year: 1984
Cast
: Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest
Director: Rob Reiner
Best Quote: “Hello Cleveland!” ~Derek Smalls
17. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-17 What: Weekend at Bernie’s
Year: 1989
Cast
: Andrew McCarthy, Jonathan Silverman and Terry Kiser
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Best Quote: “What kind of a host invites you to his house for the weekend and dies on you?” ~Larry Wilson
16. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-16 What: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Year: 1989
Cast
: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Eliot and Alison Doody
Director: Steven Spielberg
Best Quote: “Don’t call me junior” ~Indiana Jones
15. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-15 What: The Monster Squad
Year: 1987
Cast
: Andrew Gower, Robby Kiger, Stephen Macht and Mary Ellen Trainor
Director: Fred Dekker
Best Quote:
Wolfman’s got nards!” ~Horace
14. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-14 What: Uncle Buck
Year: 1989
Cast
: John Candy, Jean Louisa Kelly, Gaby Hoffman, Macaulay Culkin and Amy Madigan
Director: John Hughes
Best Quote: “Take this quarter, go downtown, and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face! Good day to you, madam.” ~Buck Russell
13. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-13 What: Poltergeist
Year: 1982
Cast
: Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Heather O’Rourke, Dominique Dunne and Zelda Rubinstein
Director: Tobe Hooper
Best Quote: “Now clear your minds. It knows what scares you. It has from the very beginning. Don’t give it any help, it knows too much already.” ~Tangina
12. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-12 What: Lethal Weapon
Year: 1987
Cast
: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover and Gary Busey
Director: Richard Donner
Best Quote:
Roger Murtaugh: “God hates me. That’s what it is.”
Martin Riggs: “Hate him back; it works for me.”
11. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-11 What: The ‘Burbs
Year: 1989
Cast
: Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Rick Ducommun, Corey Feldman and Henry Gibson
Director: Joe Dante
Best Quote: “I think the message to, uh, psychos, fanatics, murderers, nutcases all over the world is, uh, “do not mess with suburbanites”. Because, uh, frankly we’re just not gonna take it any more.” ~Art Weingartner
10. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-10 What: Batman
Year: 1989
Cast
: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger
Director: Tim Burton
Best Quote: “Never rub another man’s rhubarb.” ~The Joker
9. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-09 What: The Great Outdoors
Year: 1988
Cast
: John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Stephanie Faracy and Annette Benning
Director: Howard Deutch
Best Quote: “I don’t want to hear any more about anyone blowing anything out of their ass.” ~Connie Ripley
8. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-08 What: Romancing the Stone
Year: 1984
Cast
: Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito, Zack Norman and Alfonso Arau
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Best Quote: “Dammit man, the Doobie Brothers broke up! Shit! When did that happen?” ~Jack Colton
7. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-07 What: Police Academy
Year: 1984
Cast
: Steve Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall, G.W. Bailey, Bubba Smith
and George Gaynes
Director: Hugh Wilson
Best Quote: “Don’t move, dirtbag!” ~Cadet Laverne Hooks
6. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-06 What: Ghost Busters
Year: 1984
Cast
: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts and Ernie Hudson
Director: Ivan Reitman
Best Quote: “She’s not my girlfriend. I find her interesting because she’s a client and because she sleeps above her covers …
four feet above her covers. She barks, she drools, she claws!” ~Dr. Peter Venkman
5. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-05 What: Big Trouble in Little China
Year: 1986
Cast: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong and Victor Wong
Director: John Carpenter
Best Quote: “It’s all in the reflexes.” ~Jack Burton
4. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-04 What: Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
Year: 1982
Cast: Steve Martin, Rachel Ward, Carl Reiner and Reni Santoni
Director: Carl Reiner
Best Quote: “It’s all right. It’s just a bullet. My wife Carmelita will suck it out. Go ahead. And don’t worry about your pajamas. I’ll take care of them!” ~Carlos Rodriguez
3. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-03 What: High Spirits
Year
: 1988
Cast
: Steve Gutenberg, Peter O’Toole, Daryl Hannah and Beverly D’Angelo.
Director
: Neil Jordan
Best Quote
: “Sir, once again I must remind you that my first name is not ‘dick’. Nor is my surname ‘face’. It is simply ‘Peter’. ‘Peter Plunkett’. No, I was not given a middle name but I’m sure if I had, my mother would not have chosen ‘shit-for-brains peckerhead’.”~Peter Plunkett
2. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-02 What: The Goonies
Year: 1985
Cast: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton and Ke Huy Quan.
Director: Richard Donner
Best Quote: “The marijuana goes in the top drawer. The cocaine and speed go in the second drawer. And the heroin goes in the bottom drawer. Always separate the drugs.” ~Mouth (in Spanish)
1. BB-Top-25-80s-Movies-01 What: Empire of the Sun
Year: 1987
Cast: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers and Joe Pantoliano
Director: Steven Spielberg
Best Quote: “I can’t remember what my parents look like.” ~Jim Graham

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