Entertainment: Major Films of the 1980’s
The one hundred titles listed here are a representative sampling of 1980’s films that are regarded as signifi-
cant because of their box-office success, their Academy Award honors, or their critical reputations. Entries
that include “See alsomain entry” have a full essay inThe Eighties in America. All references to awards refer to the
Academy Awards given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
1980
Airplane!(Howard W. Koch/Paramount; dir. Jim
Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker) This
hugely popular satire of disaster films inspired
numerous other spoofs of film genres. Features
deadpan performances by veteran actors Lloyd
Bridges, Peter Graves, and Robert Stack, sparking
a second career for Leslie Nielsen as a comic ac-
tor.See alsomain entry.
Caddyshack (Orion/Warner Bros.; dir. Harold
Ramis) Slapstick golf farce pokes fun at rich peo-
ple played by Rodney Dangerfield and Chevy
Chase. Bill Murray dominates the hilarity as psy-
chotic groundskeeper trying, at all costs, to rid his
course of gophers.
Coal Miner’s Daughter (Universal; dir. Michael
Apted) Sissy Spacek won an Oscar for her por-
trayal of country singer Loretta Lynn. The film
traces Lynn’s rise from Kentucky poverty to fame
and focuses on her happy marriage to Mooney
Lynn (Tommy Lee Jones) and her friendship with
ill-fated singer Patsy Cline (Beverly D’Angelo).
The Elephant Man(Brooks Films/Paramount; dir.
David Lynch) The true story of the hideously de-
formed John Merrick (John Hurt), a sideshow
freak in Victorian London until rescued by Dr.
Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins).
The Empire Strikes Back(Lucasfilm/Twentieth
Century-Fox; dir. Irvin Kershner) Considered by
many fans to be the best of theStar Warsse-
ries, this sequel to the original finds Luke Sky-
walker (Mark Hamill) absorbing wisdom from
Yoda (voice of Frank Oz) and discovering a secret
about Darth Vader (voice of James Earl Jones,
body of David Prowse). The film won Oscars for
sound and special effects.See alsomain entry.
Fame(MGM/United Artists; dir. Alan Parker) A
singer (Irene Cara), a dancer (Gene Anthony
Ray), and an actor (Paul McCrane) are among
the students at New York’s High School for the
Performing Arts. The film won Oscars for Mi-
chael Gore’s score and the title song by Gore
and Dean Pitchford. Some of the actors contin-
ued their roles in the 1982-1987 television series.
Friday the 13th(Sean S. Cunningham/Paramount;
dir. Sean S. Cunningham) A summer camp cook
(Betsy Palmer) seeks revenge for the accidental
death of her son, Jason (Ari Lehman), twenty-five
years earlier. Followed by several sequels, this grisly
horror film helped popularize the decapitation-
of-vacuous-teenagers genre. A young Kevin Ba-
con plays one victim.
Ordinary People(Wildwood/Paramount; dir. Rob-
ert Redford) A teenager (Timothy Hutton) feels
guilty for the drowning death of his brother and
is not helped by his harsh parents (Mary Tyler
Moore and Donald Sutherland). The adaptation
of Judith Guest’s novel won Oscars for Best Pic-
ture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor
(Hutton) and for Alvin Sargent’s screenplay.See
alsomain entry.
Raging Bull(United Artists; dir. Martin Scorsese)
Scorsese’s portrait of brutal middleweight boxer
Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro) is one of the di-
rector’s most acclaimed films. Some critics’ polls
have named it the best film of the decade. De Niro
and editor Thelma Schoonmaker won Oscars.See
alsomain entry.
The Shining(Stanley Kubrick/Warner Bros.; dir.
Stanley Kubrick) Accompanied by his wife (Shel-
ley Duvall) and young son (Danny Lloyd), a writer
(Jack Nicholson) becomes winter caretaker of
a remote mountain hotel and slowly sinks into
madness. Kubrick’s adaptation of a Stephen King
novel was critically lambasted but has slowly at-
tained cult status.1981
Arthur(Orion/Warner Bros.; dir. Steve Gordon) Ar-
thur (Dudley Moore), an alcoholic millionaire,
resists an arranged marriage to a socialite (Jill
Eikenberry) and falls for a shoplifter (Liza Min-
nelli). The film was a hit despite its anachronis-
tic 1930’s premise. As Arthur’s butler and father