Best of 1980’s, a list by treb118

8.7

/11433/

81

/278/

82

/214/

4.5

/16063/

100

/37/

97

/117/

99

/4/

4.0

age 15+

Director Claude Lanzmann spent 11 years on this sprawling documentary about the Holocaust, conducting his own interviews and refusing to use a single frame of archival footage. Dividing Holocaust witnesses into three categories – survivors, bystanders, and perpetrators – Lanzmann presents testimonies from survivors of the Chelmno concentration camp, an Auschwitz escapee, and witnesses of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, as well as a chilling report of gas chambers from an SS officer at Treblinka.

90

9.3

/52040/

91

/1247/

86

/409/

4.5

/10157/

Carl Sagan covers a wide range of scientific subjects, including the origin of life and a perspective of our place in the universe.

86

8.9

/380412/

85

/14257/

82

/2232/

89

/131/

92

84

/16/

age 14+

A stand-up comedian and his three offbeat friends weather the pitfalls and payoffs of life in New York City in the '90s. It's a show about nothing.

90

8.7

/23669/

85

/1120/

83

/342/

4.7

/172044/

100

/71/

97

/571/

94

/15/

3.5

A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a career-spanning and cinematic performance that features creative choreography and visuals.

90

8.2

/149647/

80

/2532/

80

/1722/

4.5

/224656/

96

/94/

95

/2188/

97

/21/

4.0

Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.

87

86

8.7

/29246/

Trakt

79

/404/

79

/202/

4.2

/8847/

98

/43/

94

age 14+

A pair of longtime friends and former Texas Rangers crave one last adventure before hanging-up their spurs. After stealing over a thousand head of cattle from rustlers south of the border, they recruit an unlikely crew of hands to drive the herd 3,000 miles north to the grasslands of Montana.

90

8.5

/374856/

85

/9884/

84

/6266/

4.5

/1023250/

100

/50/

95

/5486/

94

/16/

8.5

/449120/

4.0

age 15+

In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.

86

9.0

/65381/

88

/976/

80

/290/

Only Fools and Horses.... Is a British sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally transmitted on BBC One from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until 2003. In working-class Peckham in south-east London, ambitious market trader Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter and his younger half-brother Rodney, explore their highs and lows in life, in particular their attempts to get rich. Initially not an immediate hit and receiving little promotion early on, it later achieved consistently high ratings, and the 1996 episode "Time on Our Hands" (originally billed as the series finale) holds the record for the biggest UK audience for a sitcom episode, attracting 24.3 million viewers. The series bears a significant influence on British culture, contributing several words and phrases to the English language.

85

8.6

/18619/

86

/534/

83

/160/

Satirical sitcom set in the office of a UK Cabinet minister, Jim Hacker MP, who struggles with Civil Service bureaucracy and political machinations as he tries to get on with government business.

89

8.7

/1486250/

86

/41552/

84

/17951/

4.4

/1968733/

93

/174/

97

/42486/

82

/25/

4.0

age 9+

The epic saga continues as Luke Skywalker, in hopes of defeating the evil Galactic Empire, learns the ways of the Jedi from aging master Yoda. But Darth Vader is more determined than ever to capture Luke. Meanwhile, rebel leader Princess Leia, cocky Han Solo, Chewbacca, and droids C-3PO and R2-D2 are thrown into various stages of capture, betrayal and despair.

89

8.1

/70851/

77

/952/

77

/847/

4.4

/70186/

100

/46/

94

/1018/

100

/8/

4.0

age 17+

As children in the loving Ekdahl family, Fanny and Alexander enjoy a happy life with their parents, who run a theater company. After their father dies unexpectedly, however, the siblings end up in a joyless home when their mother, Emilie, marries a stern bishop. The bleak situation gradually grows worse as the bishop becomes more controlling, but dedicated relatives make a valiant attempt to aid Emilie, Fanny and Alexander.

85

8.8

/39820/

84

/431/

86

/140/

4.3

/9700/

Based on an autobiographical novel by German World War II photographer Lothar-Guenther Buchheim, Das Boot follows the lives of a fearless U-Boat captain (Jurgen Prochnow) and his inexperienced crew as they patrol the Atlantic and Mediterranean in search of Allied vessels, taking turns as hunter and prey.

89

8.3

/119651/

82

/2946/

82

/1724/

4.6

/408767/

90

/60/

95

/929/

4.0

age 16+

The invasion of a village in Belarus by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.

85

8.6

/27474/

82

/644/

76

/215/

87

/69/

98

81

/6/

age 13+

A stranded spaceship pilot captured by mad scientists survives a blitz of cheesy B movies by riffing on them with his funny robot pals.

85

8.3

/24234/

81

/902/

78

/409/

91

/32/

96

In this cult parody of cop dramas, replete with farce and sight gags, Lieutenant Frank Drebin and his fellow officers from Police Squad bungle their way though crime investigations.

88

8.4

/1100583/

82

/29799/

79

/13288/

4.2

/1158968/

94

/157/

96

/26533/

86

/17/

4.0

age 11+

When Dr. Indiana Jones – the tweed-suited professor who just happens to be a celebrated archaeologist – is hired by the government to locate the legendary Ark of the Covenant, he finds himself up against the entire Nazi regime.

84

8.6

/464104/

82

/24269/

80

/10525/

85

/141/

87

/16/

age 12+

Set in Springfield, the average American town, the show focuses on the antics and everyday adventures of the Simpson family; Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, as well as a virtual cast of thousands. Since the beginning, the series has been a pop culture icon, attracting hundreds of celebrities to guest star. The show has also made name for itself in its fearless satirical take on politics, media and American life in general.

87

8.1

/405729/

78

/5821/

79

/4610/

4.2

/521776/

92

/151/

93

/7166/

90

/28/

4.0

age 17+

The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.

84

8.8

/101738/

85

/7361/

84

/4722/

8.2

/894290/

age 14+

Now happily married and with a son, martial arts champion Goku must defend Earth from a series of extraterrestrial invaders bent on destruction.

87

7.9

/122413/

78

/3479/

77

/1922/

4.4

/477967/

92

/150/

89

/3366/

93

/26/

4.0

age 16+

Salvatore "Sal" Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.

84

8.7

/27029/

84

/542/

81

/241/

Sherlock Holmes uses his abilities to take on cases by private clients and those that the Scotland Yard are unable to solve, along with his friend Dr. Watson.

87

8.4

/285538/

82

/4641/

81

/2406/

4.3

/101514/

98

/55/

96

/2946/

85

/16/

age 15+

A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War, but it soon becomes the hunted. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while stretching both the boat and themselves to their limits.

84

8.6

/14485/

85

/438/

83

/131/

James Hacker MP the Government's bumbling minister for Administrative Affairs is propelled along the corridors of power to the very pinnacle of politics - No. 10. Could this have possibly have been managed by his trusted Permanent Private Secretary, the formidably political Sir Humphrey Appleby who must move to the “Top Job” in Downing Street to support him, together with his much put upon PPS Bernard Wolley. What could possibly go wrong?

87

8.5

/1430885/

85

/47175/

83

/21262/

4.2

/2405392/

92

/118/

95

/40116/

88

/27/

3.5

age 10+

Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by rekindling his parents' romance and - with the help of his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown - return to 1985.

87

8.2

/3546/

81

/165/

75

/64/

4.4

/17109/

100

/12/

4.0

This documentary about teenagers living on the streets in Seattle began as a magazine article. The film follows nine teenagers who discuss how they live by panhandling, prostitution, and petty theft.

84

83

8.4

/11602/

81

/413/

74

/92/

100

/27/

83

/7/

age 15+

The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson.

87

7.9

/26071/

80

/983/

78

/407/

4.3

/140198/

100

/58/

93

/725/

87

/18/

4.0

In this humorous paean to the joys of food, a pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside shop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner, Tampopo, begs them to help her turn her establishment into a paragon of the "art of noodle-soup making". Interspersed are satirical vignettes about the importance of food to different aspects of human life.

83

8.0

/43367/

84

/2694/

79

/519/

85

/29/

89

Black Adder traces the deeply cynical and self-serving lineage of various Edmund Blackadders throughout British history, from the muck of the Middle Ages to the frontline of the First World War.

87

8.1

/137833/

80

/3092/

81

/2115/

4.4

/622721/

95

/58/

93

/1253/

81

/13/

4.0

A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his family and disappeared four years earlier.

86

83

8.9

/34522/

85

/369/

85

/91/

4.6

/28723/

Dekalog (pronounced [dɛˈkalɔk]) is a 1989 Polish drama television miniseries directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski and co-written by Kieślowski with Krzysztof Piesiewicz, with music by Zbigniew Preisner. It consists of ten one-hour films, inspired by the decalogue of the Ten Commandments for thematic inspiration and an overarching structure, grapple deftly with complex moral and existential questions concerning life, death, love, hate, truth, and the passage of time. Each installment explores characters facing one or several moral or ethical dilemmas as they reside in an austere housing project in 1980s Poland, whose lives become subtly intertwined as they face emotional dilemmas that are at once deeply personal and universally human.

87

8.5

/313776/

84

/4805/

84

/4690/

4.5

/417211/

90

/84/

96

/5148/

80

/21/

3.5

age 14+

A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.

82

8.0

/67217/

78

/2335/

76

/635/

87

/94/

95

81

/17/

age 13+

The story about a blue-collar Boston bar run by former sports star Sam Malone and the quirky and wonderful people who worked and drank there.

87

8.4

/463137/

81

/7930/

80

/4589/

4.3

/476825/

90

/159/

95

/7757/

87

/28/

4.0

age 15+

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

82

8.4

/43347/

79

/1270/

83

/1058/

82

/9/

age 12+

The story of Kevin Arnold facing the trials and tribulations of youth while growing up during the 1960s and 70s. Told through narration from an adult Kevin, Kevin faces the difficulties of maintaining relationships and friendships on his enthralling journey into adulthood.

87

8.1

/423823/

82

/16595/

81

/8530/

4.2

/1731055/

94

/63/

94

/7768/

87

/16/

8.2

/745549/

4.0

age 5+

Two sisters move to the country with their father in order to be closer to their hospitalized mother, and discover the surrounding trees are inhabited by Totoros, magical spirits of the forest. When the youngest runs away from home, the older sister seeks help from the spirits to find her.

82

8.4

/12316/

83

/940/

84

/1371/

7.7

/107787/

Ages ago, the goddess Athena was served by fighters called Saints who channeled the power of the Cosmos within them. Now a youth named Seiya has trained to become a Saint himself by earning the mystical Cloth of Pegasus. He is joined by other Saints with Cloths of their own to fight for Athena.

82

8.5

/75021/

83

/5616/

82

/3292/

87

/25/

78

7.9

/715994/

age 10+

Young Goku sets off on a quest with his teenage friend Bulma to find the seven Dragon Balls, which grant whoever possesses them a single wish.

86

7.9

/82971/

78

/1476/

78

/1452/

4.3

/173331/

95

/65/

93

/2055/

79

/9/

4.0

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. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds — with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk — that it might be possible for him to take human form.

82

7.5

/21368/

73

/637/

73

/393/

100

/7/

91

age 7+

When Adam, Prince of the planet Eternia, raises his magic sword he transforms into He-Man (the most powerful man in the universe). With his allies and friends, he battles the evil Skeletor and his minions to protect the secrets of Castle Greyskull.

86

8.0

/38179/

78

/673/

75

/705/

4.2

/49189/

97

/36/

93

/731/

88

/18/

4.0

age 12+

Au revoir les enfants tells a heartbreaking story of friendship and devastating loss concerning two boys living in Nazi-occupied France. At a provincial Catholic boarding school, the precocious youths enjoy true camaraderie—until a secret is revealed. Based on events from writer-director Malle’s own childhood, the film is a subtle, precisely observed tale of courage, cowardice, and tragic awakening.

82

8.4

/38975/

83

/2371/

80

/416/

The adventures of the last human alive and his friends, stranded three million years into deep space on the mining ship Red Dwarf.

86

8.1

/3259/

77

/155/

74

/73/

4.1

/4308/

100

/13/

92

/72/

4.0

Just two years away from turning 30, participants in Michael Apted's documentary series are facing serious questions of identity and purpose, wondering whether they've found their place in the world.

86

7.9

/10484/

79

/308/

79

/226/

4.2

/46599/

94

/17/

93

/134/

4.0

10-year-old Pixote endures torture, degradation, and corruption at a local youth detention center where two of its members are murdered by policemen who frame Lilica, a 17-year-old trans hustler. Pixote helps Lilica and three other boys escape and they start to make their living by a life of crime which only escalates to more violence and death.

81

8.7

/147731/

86

/9517/

84

/1666/

92

/77/

90

51

/8/

age 10+

Follow the intergalactic adventures of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and his loyal crew aboard the all-new USS Enterprise NCC-1701D, as they explore new worlds.

86

8.1

/22175/

81

/567/

79

/416/

4.4

/113171/

100

/11/

91

/86/

An 8-year-old boy must return his friend's notebook he took by mistake, lest his friend be punished by expulsion from school.

88

81

9.0

/6658/

88

/272/

87

/84/

9.0

/86135/

War rages between the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance. With two new brilliant young leaders at the helm, anything can happen in this military space opera.

81

8.3

/10272/

82

/498/

79

/127/

A British comedy television series with turns of phrase and elaborate wordplay, written by and starring former Cambridge Footlights members Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.

86

7.8

/84377/

76

/1378/

75

/985/

3.9

/61380/

98

/45/

92

/1439/

97

/18/