1980

Film Decades: 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • 9 to 5** – directed by Colin Higgins, starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, Dabney Coleman
  • The Agency, starring Robert Mitchum, Lee Majors, Valerie Perrine – (Canada)
  • Airplane!** – directed by Jim Abrams, David Zucker, & Jerry Zucker, starring Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Peter Graves, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
  • Alien Dead, directed by Fred Olen Ray, starring Buster Crabbe
  • Alligator, directed by Lewis Teague, starring Robert Forster, Robin Riker, and Michael Gazzo
  • Altered States – directed by Ken Russell, starring William Hurt & Blair Brown
  • American Gigolo, directed by Paul Schrader, starring Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton and Héctor Elizondo
  • Antropophagus, directed by Joe D’Amato, starring George Eastman, Tisa Farrow, Zora Kerova, Saverio Vallone, and Serena Grandi (Italy)
  • Any Which Way You Can – directed by Buddy Van Horn, starring Clint Eastwood, Geoffrey Lewis, William Smith, Barry Corbin, Ruth Gordon
  • Arrebato (Rapture), directed by Ivan Zulueta, starring Eusebio Poncela, and Cecilia Roth (Spain)
  • Atlantic City – directed by Louis Malle, starring Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, Kate Reid, Robert Joy, Hollis McLaren, Michel Piccoli, & Al Waxman – Canada/France – Golden Lion winner
  • The Awakening, starring Charlton Heston, Susannah York and Stephanie Zimbalist – (U.K.)
  • Babylon, starring Brinsley Forde – (U.K.)
  • A Bad Son – directed by Claude Sautet – France
  • Bad Timing – directed by Nicolas Roeg, starring Art Garfunkel, Theresa Russell, Harvey Keitel – UK
  • The Baltimore Bullet, starring James Coburn
  • Berlin Alexanderplatz – a TV mini-series directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, starring Gunther Lamprecht, Hanna Schygulla, Barbara Sukowa – (West Germany)
  • The Big Brawl, starring Jackie Chan – (Hong Kong/United States)
  • The Big Red One – directed by Samuel Fuller, starring Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine
  • Bizalom (Confidence), directed by István Szabó – (Hungary)
  • The Black Marble, directed by Harold Becker, starring Robert Foxworth, Paula Prentiss, Harry Dean Stanton
  • The Blood of Hussain, directed by Jamil Dehlavi – (Pakistan)
  • The Blue Lagoon, starring Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins
  • The Blues Brothers** – directed by John Landis, starring John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Cab Calloway, Carrie Fisher, John Candy, Henry Gibson
  • Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don’t Come Back!!)
  • Breaker Morant, directed by Bruce Beresford, starring Edward Woodward – (Australia)
  • Bronco Billy – directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, with Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis, Sam Bottoms, Scatman Crothers
  • Brubaker, directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Robert Redford, David Keith, Jane Alexander, Yaphet Kotto
  • Caboblanco, directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, Dominique Sanda
  • Caddyshack – directed by Harold Ramis, starring Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Bill Murray, Michael O’Keefe, Cindy Morgan
  • The Candidate (Der Kandidat), directed by Volker Schlöndorff – (West Germany)
  • Cannibal Holocaust, directed by Ruggero Deodato, starring Robert Kerman – (Italy)
  • Can’t Stop the Music, directed by Nancy Walker, starring Valerie Perrine, Bruce Jenner, Steve Guttenberg, Village People
  • Carny, starring Jodie Foster, Gary Busey and Robbie Robertson
  • Chann Pardesi, starring Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Om Puri – (India)
  • A Change of Seasons, starring Shirley MacLaine, Anthony Hopkins, Bo Derek
  • The Changeling – starring George C. Scott – Canada
  • Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie
  • Children’s Island (Barnens ö) – (Sweden)
  • La Cicala (The Cicada), starring Anthony Franciosa and Virna Lisi – (Italy)
  • City of Women – directed by Federico Fellini, starring Marcello Mastroianni – Italy
  • The Club, starring Jack Thompson – (Australia)
  • Coal Miner’s Daughter – directed by Michael Apted, starring Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, & Beverly D’Angelo
  • The Competition, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Amy Irving, Lee Remick, Sam Wanamaker
  • The Constant Factor (Constans) – (Poland)
  • The Crime of Cuenca (El crimen de Cuenca) – (Spain)
  • Cruising – directed by William Friedkin, starring Al Pacino
  • Cutting It Short (Postřižiny), directed by Jiří Menzel – (Czechoslovakia)
  • Dadar Kirti (Deeds of My Elder Brother) – (India)
  • Death Watch (La Mort en direct) – directed by Bertrand Tavernier, starring Romy Schneider and Harvey Keitel – (France)
  • Delusion directed by Alan Beattie, starring Patricia Pearcy and Joseph Cotten
  • Die Laughing, starring Robby Benson and Bud Cort
  • The Dogs of War – starring Christopher Walken – US/UK
  • Dostana (Friendship), starring Amitabh Bachchan – (India)
  • Dressed to Kill – directed by Brian De Palma, starring Michael Caine, Nancy Allen, Keith Gordon, Angie Dickinson
  • Elisita – (Spain)
  • The Elephant Man – directed by David Lynch, starring John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, John Gielgud, Anne Bancroft – US/UK
  • The Empire Strikes Back** – directed by Irvin Kershner, starring Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, & Frank Oz
  • Encounters of the Spooky Kind (Gui da gui), directed by and starring Sammo Hung – (Hong Kong)
  • Every Man for Himself – directed by Jean-Luc Godard, starring Jacques Dutronc & Isabelle Huppert – France
  • The Exterminator – starring Robert Ginty & Samantha Eggar
  • Fade to Black, starring Dennis Christopher
  • The Falls, directed by Peter Greenaway – (U.K.)
  • Fame, directed by Alan Parker, starring Irene Cara
  • Fatso – directed by and featuring Anne Bancroft, starring Dom DeLuise
  • The Final Countdown, starring Kirk Douglas, Katharine Ross, Martin Sheen
  • The First Deadly Sin – starring Frank Sinatra, David Dukes, Martin Gabel, Brenda Vaccaro, Faye Dunaway
  • First Family – directed by Buck Henry, starring Bob Newhart, Madeline Kahn, Gilda Radner
  • Flash Gordon, directed by Mike Hodges, starring Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Topol, Max von Sydow, Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed, & Ornella Muti – (US/UK)
  • The Fog – directed by John Carpenter, starring Adrienne Barbeau & Jamie Lee Curtis
  • Foolin’ Around, starring Gary Busey, Annette O’Toole, Eddie Albert, Cloris Leachman
  • Forbidden Zone – directed by Richard Elfman, starring Hervé Villechaize, Susan Tyrrell, Marie-Pascale Elfman, Gisele Lindley, Jan Stuart Schwartz, Virginia Rose, Ugh-Fudge Bwana, Phil Gordon, Hyman Diamond, Toshiro Boloney, Viva, Joe Spinell, The Kipper Kids, & Danny Elfman as The Devil
  • The Formula – starring George C. Scott & Marlon Brando
  • Foxes, directed by Adrian Lyne, starring Jodie Foster, Cherie Currie, Scott Baio and Adam Faith
  • Friday the 13th, directed by Sean S. Cunningham, starring Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King and Harry Crosby
  • The Gamekeeper, directed by Ken Loach – (U.K.)
  • Gamera: Super Monster (Uchu Kaijū Gamera) – (Japan)
  • Germany, Pale Mother (Deutschland bleiche Mutter), starring Eva Mattes – (West Germany)
  • Gilda Live, starring Gilda Radner, Father Guido Sarducci
  • Gloria – directed by John Cassavetes, starring Gena Rowlands
  • The Gods Must Be Crazy, directed by Jamie Uys, starring N!xau, Sandra Prinsloo and Marius Weyers – (South Africa)
  • Good Riddance – Canada
  • The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, a mockumentary directed by Julien Temple, featuring The Sex Pistols and Malcolm McLaren – (U.K.)
  • Hangar 18, starring Darren McGavin and Robert Vaughn
  • Health (a.k.a. H.E.A.L.T.H.) – directed by Robert Altman, starring Carol Burnett, Lauren Bacall, Glenda Jackson, James Garner
  • Heart Beat – starring Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, John Heard
  • He Knows You’re Alone, starring Don Scardino and Caitlin O’Heaney
  • Heaven’s Gate – directed by Michael Cimino, starring Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, Isabelle Huppert, John Hurt, Sam Waterston, Jeff Bridges
  • Herbie Goes Bananas – directed by Vincent McEveety, starring Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman and Charles Martin Smith
  • Hero at Large, starring John Ritter and Anne Archer
  • Hey Babe!, starring Yasmine Bleeth and Buddy Hackett – (Canada)
  • Hirak Rajar Deshe (Kingdom of Diamonds), directed by Satyajit Ray – (India)
  • The Hit (Trhák) – (Czechoslovakia)
  • Home Movies – directed by Brian De Palma, starring Kirk Douglas, Vincent Gardenia, Gerrit Graham, Nancy Allen
  • Hopscotch – directed by Ronald Neame, starring Walter Matthau & Glenda Jackson
  • How to Beat the High Cost of Living, starring Susan Saint James, Jessica Lange, Jane Curtin, Dabney Coleman, Richard Benjamin
  • Humanoids from the Deep, starring Vic Morrow, Doug McClure, Ann Turkel
  • The Hunter – directed by Buzz Kulik, starring Steve McQueen, Kathryn Harrold, LeVar Burton, Ben Johnson, Eli Wallach
  • The Idolmaker, directed by Taylor Hackford, starring Ray Sharkey and Peter Gallagher
  • Inferno, directed by Dario Argento – (Italy)
  • Inside Moves – directed by Richard Donner, starring John Savage, David Morse, Diana Scarwid
  • The Island – directed by Michael Ritchie, starring Michael Caine
  • It’s My Turn, directed by Claudia Weill, starring Jill Clayburgh, Michael Douglas, Charles Grodin
  • Jane Austen in Manhattan – directed by James Ivory, starring Anne Baxter, Robert Powell, Michael Wager, Sean Young, Charles McCaughan, & Tim Choate
  • The Jazz Singer, starring Neil Diamond, Lucie Arnaz, Laurence Olivier
  • Just Tell Me What You Want, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Ali MacGraw, Alan King, Peter Weller, Myrna Loy
  • Karz (In Debt), starring Rishi Kapoor – (India)
  • Kagemusha – directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kenichi Hagiwara – Japan
  • Khubsoorat, starring Ashok Kumar and Rekha – (India)
  • Klondike Fever, starring Jeff East, Rod Steiger, Angie Dickinson, Gordon Pinsent – (Canada)
  • Ladies’ Choice (Dami Kanyat), directed by Ivan Andonov, starring Stefan Danailov – (Bulgaria)
  • The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark, starring Elliott Gould, Geneviève Bujold, Ricky Schroder
  • The Last Married Couple in America – starring Natalie Wood, George Segal, Valerie Harper, Richard Benjamin
  • The Last Metro (Le dernier metro) – directed by François Truffaut, starring Catherine Deneuve & Gérard Depardieu – France
  • The Last Witness (Choehuui jeungin) – (South Korea)
  • The Lathe of Heaven, starring Bruce Davison
  • Legend of Tianyun Mountain (Tiān yún shān chuán qí) – (China)
  • The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter, a documentary film
  • Little Darlings, starring Tatum O’Neal, Kristy McNichol, Armand Assante and Matt Dillon
  • Little Miss Marker, starring Walter Matthau, Julie Andrews, Tony Curtis, Bob Newhart
  • The Long Good Friday – directed by John Mackenzie, starring Bob Hoskins & Helen Mirren – UK
  • The Long Riders – directed by Walter Hill, starring David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine, James Keach, Stacy Keach, Dennis Quaid, Randy Quaid, Christopher Guest, & Nicholas Guest
  • Loulou – starring Isabelle Huppert & Gérard Depardieu – France)l
  • Loving Couples – directed by Jack Smight, starring Shirley MacLaine, James Coburn, Stephen Collins, Susan Sarandon
  • The Man with Bogart’s Face – starring Robert Sacchi, Misty Rowe, Victor Buono, Yvonne De Carlo, Herbert Lom
  • Manila by Night – Philippines
  • McVicar, directed by Tom Clegg, starring Roger Daltrey, Adam Faith, Cheryl Campbell – (U.K.)
  • Melvin and Howard – directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Paul Le Mat, Jason Robards, Mary Steenburgen
  • Midnight Madness
  • The Mirror Crack’d – directed by Guy Hamilton, starring Angela Lansbury, Elizabeth Taylor, Kim Novak, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson – UK
  • Mon oncle d’Amérique – directed by Alain Resnais, starring Gérard Depardieu – France
  • Motel Hell, starring Rory Calhoun
  • Mother’s Day, starring Nancy Hendrickson
  • The Mountain Men, starring Charlton Heston and Brian Keith
  • My Bodyguard, directed by Tony Bill, starring Matt Dillon, Adam Baldwin, Chris Makepeace, Martin Mull
  • The Nest (El Nido) – (Spain)
  • Nightkill, starring Robert Mitchum
  • Nijinsky – directed by Herbert Ross, starring Alan Bates, Leslie Browne, George De La Peña, Alan Badel, Colin Blakely,& Carla Fracci
  • The Ninth Configuration, directed by William Peter Blatty, starring Stacy Keach, Scott Wilson, Jason Miller
  • O Megalexandros (Alexander the Great), directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos – (Greece)
  • Oh, God! Book II, starring George Burns
  • Oh! Heavenly Dog – directed by Joe Camp, starring Chevy Chase, Jane Seymour, & Omar Sharif
  • One Trick Pony, written by and starring Paul Simon, with Blair Brown, Joan Hackett, Rip Torn
  • The Orchestra Conductor (Dyrygent), directed by Andrzej Wajda, starring John Gielgud – (Poland)
  • Ordinary People, directed by Robert Redford, starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Timothy Hutton, Judd Hirsch, Elizabeth McGovern
  • Out of the Blue – directed by and starring Dennis Hopper, with Linda Manz, Raymond Burr – Canada
  • Pepi, Luci, Bom – directed by Pedro Almodóvar – Spain
    Palermo or Wolfsburg – West Germany
  • Permanent Vacation – directed by Jim Jarmusch
  • The Pilot, directed by and starring Cliff Robertson, with Diane Baker and Gordon MacRae
  • Playing for Time, directed by Daniel Mann, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Jane Alexander
  • Popeye – directed by Robert Altman, starring Robin Williams & Shelley Duvall
  • Pray TV, starring Dabney Coleman
  • Private Benjamin, directed by Howard Zieff, starring Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante, Robert Webber, Harry Dean Stanton
  • The Private Eyes, starring Tim Conway and Don Knotts
  • Prom Night – starring Leslie Nielsen & Jamie Lee Curtis
  • Qurbani (Sacrifice), directed by and starring Feroz Khan – (India)
  • Raging Bull** – directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty
  • Resurrection, starring Ellen Burstyn and Eva Le Gallienne
  • The Return of the King – starring the voices of Orson Bean, John Huston, William Conrad
  • Return of the Secaucus 7 – directed by John Sayles, starring Bruce MacDonald, Maggie Renzi, Adam LeFevre, Maggie Cousineau, Gordon Clapp, Jean Passanante, & David Strathairn
  • El Retorno del Hombre Lobo (Return of the Werewolf) – (Spain)
  • Roadie – directed by Alan Rudolph, starring Meat Loaf and Kaki Hunter
  • Le Roi et l’oiseau (The King and the Mocking Bird), animated film – (France)
  • Rockshow, concert film featuring Paul McCartney and Wings – (U.K.)
  • Rough Cut – directed by Don Siegel, starring Burt Reynolds, Lesley-Anne Down, David Niven
  • Rude Boy, a rockumentary featuring The Clash – (U.K.)
  • Sällskapsresan (The Charter Trip), directed by and starring Lasse Åberg – (Sweden)
  • The Sea Wolves, starring Gregory Peck, David Niven, Roger Moore – (UK/US/Switzerland)
  • See You in the Next War (enja u sledećem ratu) – (Yugoslavia)
  • Seems Like Old Times – starring Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase & Charles Grodin
  • Serial, starring Martin Mull, Tuesday Weld, Christopher Lee, Bill Macy, Sally Kellerman, Tom Smothers
  • The Shining** – directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers
  • Simon – directed Marshall Brickman, starring Alan Arkin, Madeline Kahn, Austin Pendleton, Judy Graubart, William Finley, Wallace Shawn, Jayant, & Max Wright
  • A Small Circle of Friends, starring Brad Davis and Karen Allen
  • Smokey and the Bandit II – directed by Hal Needham, starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, & Dom DeLuise
  • Solo Sunny – (East Germany)
  • Somewhere in Time, starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour
  • Special Treatment (Poseban tretman) – (Yugoslavia)
  • Stardust Memories – directed by and starring Woody Allen, with Charlotte Rampling & Jessica Harper
  • Stir Crazy – directed by Sidney Poitier, starring Richard Pryor & Gene Wilder
  • Stalker, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and released in 1979 but later released in 1980
  • The Stunt Man, directed by Richard Rush, starring Peter O’Toole, Barbara Hershey, Steve Railsback
  • Sunday Lovers – starring Gene Wilder, Roger Moore, Lino Ventura
  • Superman II – directed by Richard Lester (replacing Richard Donner), starring Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Terence Stamp
  • Terror Train, starring Ben Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Hart Bochner
  • La terrazza (The Terrace), starring Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio Gassman, Ugo Tognazzi – (Italy)
  • That Sinking Feeling, directed by Bill Forsyth, starring John Gordon Sinclair – (U.K.)
  • Those Lips, Those Eyes, starring Frank Langella, Glynnis O’Connor, Tom Hulce
  • Times Square, directed by Allen Moyle, starring Robin Johnson, Trini Alvarado, Tim Curry
  • To Love the Damned (Maledetti vi amerò) – (Italy)
  • Tom Horn – starring Steve McQueen, Richard Farnsworth, Linda Evans, Slim Pickens
  • Tribute – starring Jack Lemmon – (Canada)
  • Twelve Months (Sekai Meisaku Douwa Mori wa Ikiteiru / Dvenadtsat mesyatsev) – (Japan/U.S.S.R.)
  • The Unseen, starring Barbara Bach and Stephen Furst
  • Up the Academy – directed by Robert Downey Sr., starring Wendell Brown, Tommy Citera, Ron Leibman, Harry Teinowitz, Hutch Parker, Ralph Macchio, Tom Poston, King Coleman, & Barbara Bach
  • Urban Cowboy, directed by James Bridges, starring John Travolta, Debra Winger, Scott Glenn, Madolyn Smith, Barry Corbin
  • Used Cars – directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Kurt Russell, Deborah Harmon, Jack Warden, Gerrit Graham
  • Virus (Fukkatsu no hi), starring Sonny Chiba and Glenn Ford – (Japan)
  • Le Voyage en douce, starring Dominique Sanda and Geraldine Chaplin – (France)
  • Waiter, Scarper! (Vrchní, prchni!) – (Czechoslovakia)
  • The Watcher in the Woods, starring Bette Davis – (UK/US)
  • When Time Ran Out – starring Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, William Holden, Burgess Meredith, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons
  • Where the Buffalo Roam – directed by Art Linson, starring Bill Murray & Peter Boyle
  • Wholly Moses!, starring Dudley Moore, Laraine Newman, Paul Sand, Dom DeLuise
  • Who’s Singin’ Over There? (Ko to tamo peva) – (Yugoslavia)
  • Why Would I Lie?, starring Treat Williams, Lisa Eichhorn, Valerie Curtin
  • Willie & Phil, directed by Paul Mazursky, starring Margot Kidder, Ray Sharkey, Michael Ontkean
  • Windows – starring Talia Shire & Elizabeth Ashley
  • Witches’ Brew, starring Teri Garr and Richard Benjamin
  • Xanadu – starring Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck, Gene Kelly
  • The Young Master (Shi di chu ma), directed by and starring Jackie Chan – (Hong Kong)
  • Yūgure made – (Japan)
  • Zigeunerweisen – directed by Seijun Suzuki – Japan