1981 in film.

Top ten box-office films of 1981:

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. On Golden Pond
3. Superman II
4. Arthur
5. Stripes
6. The Cannonball Run
7. Chariots of Fire
8. For Your Eyes Only
9. The Four Seasons
10. Time Bandits

What are your top three films for 1981? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be:

1. Blow Out
2. Mad Max 2
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark

What are some of the forgotten gems from the year? What is overrated? What did you discover at a young age and what did you discover later?

YEARS IN FILM • forum.chorus.fm

 

Are the 1980's the worst decade in modern movies?

 

1. Thief
2. Blow Out
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark

Thief is an incredible movie and it's still like, 5th best Mann

 

1. Blow Out
2. Thief
3. An American Werewolf in London

fuck Landis tho

 

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. On Golden Pond
3. Escape from New York

Excruciating cuts:
The Road Warrior
Arthur

Movies I really like:
Das Boot
Gallipoli
Dragonslayer
Reds
Modern Romance
The Great Muppet Caper
Body Heat

Good ones:
Ragtime
An American Werewolf in London
Chariots of Fire
S.O.B.
Absence of Malice
The Fox and the Hound
Man of Iron
Clash of the Titans
The Evil Dead

Solid/Fine:
Stripes
Quest for Fire
For Your Eyes Only
Scanners
Time Bandits
Only When I Laugh
The French Lieutenant's Woman

Not a fan:
Too Early, Too Late
History of the World Part I
Outland
Porky's

 

1. Possession
2. Das Boot
3. Thief

Possession is probably my favourite film from the 80's, so chaotic and fun. Isabelle Adjani gives one of my favourite performances of all time, truly unhinged. Also love Ms. 45, Max Max 2 and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

1. Possession
2. Documenteur
3. The Aviator's Wife

Some other noteworthy and/or underseen films: Neige, Le pont du nord, The Mystery of Oberwald, Too Early/Too Late, The Story of Woo Viet, Ms. 45

 

1. Possession
2. Blow Out
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark

thief was close!

 

For mainstream Hollywood its a heavy favorite, though honestly the 2010s might come close for what was largely making money/winning awards. I say this without actually having sat down and compared the two

 

The 2010's are far better in terms of quality releases, while much worse in terms of box office. Soderbergh's Sex, Lies, and Videotape helped to open up the independent scene which is responsible for many of the great films in an age where the studios rely more and more on the blockbuster.

 

Definitely seems like a weaker year

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. Das Boot
3. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

Haven’t seen Possession or Blow Out. Sounds like I need to.

 

everyone watch Possession if you haven't. it's a unique experience.

 

80s rule you friggin dorks!

 

Really need to watch Possession, been on my “to watch” list for ages, maybe this will give me the motivation to check it out this week - though the Euros are going to cut into my film watching time this month.

 

Dazed and Confused didn't come out until 1983.

 

“The decade Gremlins came out is bad” - stupid motherfuckers

 

I’ve been doing away with the notion that there is such thing as a bad year/decade for film. It may not all be right in front of your face - and I find this to be especially the case in the 80s and 90s, where a lot of the great European and Asian films have just ended up buried with time or never made their way onto more accessible formats (seriously, look at any of the line ups from the prestige Euro festivals in this period and you’ll discover so many unknown works by major/recognized auteurs) - but any amount of digging will reveal at least a dozen noteworthy films every year. I’ve been on a wide ranging deep dive into Japanese cinema for some 14 months now and from the silent-era up until last year, I’ve discovered so many incredible films that have made little to no impact on the western canon. And this is all just within on country. I’m sure the same could be found within the national cinema of at least two dozen other countries.

The Western canon offers a really great foundation. I leaned into it very heavily for many years. But for me nothing beats discovering an unknown masterpiece.

 

The New Batch or bust

 

80s through to the mid 90s were an absolutely fantastic time period for Hong Kong cinema at the very least, which I watch a lot of.

 

Although I think Das Boot is a sensational film I haven't seen it enough to consider it a favorite but these three definitely are favorites of mine -

1. Mad Max 2
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. An American Werewolf in London

This is without a doubt one of the strongest years we have looked at so far as the following I enjoy the hell out of; Roadgames, Reds, Wolfen, The Evil Dead, Eye of the Needle, Thief, The Black Cat, The Howling, Body Heat, Clash of the Titans, Scanners, Ghost Story, Blow Out, Southern Comfort, For Your Eyes Only, Outland, Dead & Buried, Excalibur, and Night Hawks.

 

1. Thief
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. The Fox and the Hound

 

1. The Aviator's Wife
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. Pixote

Eric Rohmer is someone that I hadn't seen any of until about 12 months ago, but I watched all of his "Comedies and Proverbs" series in a short space of time, and absolutely loved them. The Aviator's Wife is one of my favourites of them - really simple and charming look at love and chance, with our characters meeting by chance and wandering around the city chatting - without necessarily having a future together. I am almost certain that Richard Linklater will have been inspired by it for the Before films, so if you like them, you really should check this out. There's also a lot of Hong Sang-Soo in Rohmer's films as well - despite being a pretty new convert to him, it's easy to see his influence in a lot of contemporary "indie" cinema.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is just a perfect action blockbuster film. I actually watched this yesterday because my partner had never seen it (but she loved the Jackie Chan rip off that came out in the late 80s), it's simple and visual storytelling done extremely well.

Third was a bit harder, but I went for Pixote , which is a pretty violent and bleak film about poor adolescents in Brazil, getting drawn into organised crime. Filmed mostly with non-professional local actors (and the lead actor was killed a few years later in a police shoot out), it's like if City of God was made by Roberto Rossellini. Not a fun watch, but certainly worth tracking down.

Other good stuff that I like this year is Evil Dead, Scanners, The Prodigal Son, The Imp and Bewitched.

By the sounds of it I need to watch Blow Out and Thief.

 

everyone should watch heat

 

Thief is probably the GOAT Chicago movie right? What else is up there?