What's everyone's top movies of 1980?

[HarryCanyon1982]

A nice beginning to a great decade for movies and i was born 2 years later.

My top 25.

1. The Empire Strikes Back.
2. The Elephant Man.
3. Cannibal Holocaust.
4. Raging Bull.
5. Airplane.
6. The Shining.
7. Shogun Assassin.
8. Watcher in the Woods.
9. Used Cars.
10. Caddyshack.
11. Blues Brothers.
12. The Fog.
13. Flash Gordon.
14. Stir Crazy.
15. Friday The 13th.
16. The Changeling.
17. Superman II.
18. Kagemusha.
19. Cheech and Chong's Next Movie.
20. House on The Edge of the Park.
21. Dressed To Kill.
22. The Final Countdown.
23. Maniac.
24. Animalympics.
25. Inferno.

Honorable mentions:
Motel Hell.
Altered States.
Bon Voyage Charlie Brown.
City of the Living Dead aka The Gates of Hell.
Terror Train.
Alligator.
The Gods Must Be Crazy.
Mother's Day.
Motel Hell.

 

[RandyS]

Minor nitpick: Wasn't Flash Gordon 1979, and Superman II, 1981?

That said, here are mine:

The Empire Strikes Back
Smokey and the Bandit II
Airplane

 

[Tosk]

Empire Strikes Back, Stir Crazy, Blues Brothers, Caddyshack, John Carpenter's The Fog, Used Cars, and Airplane!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

You mean there were movies OTHER than Airplane! that came out in 1980?

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmA7Nm4qvGE[/yt]

 

[HarryCanyon1982]

Minor nitpick: Wasn't Flash Gordon 1979, and Superman II, 1981?

That said, here are mine:

The Empire Strikes Back
Smokey and the Bandit II
Airplane

Superman 2 was made in 1980 with Richard Donner then after filming was finished, he was fired then a different film directed by Lester came out in 1981 with new shot footage.

Flash Gordon was filmed in 1979 and early 1980 and came out in the fall of 1980.

 

[RandyS]

Minor nitpick: Wasn't Flash Gordon 1979, and Superman II, 1981?

That said, here are mine:

The Empire Strikes Back
Smokey and the Bandit II
Airplane

Superman 2 was made in 1980 with Richard Donner then after filming was finished, he was fired then a different film directed by Lester came out in 1981 with new shot footage.

Flash Gordon was filmed in 1979 and early 1980 and came out in the fall of 1980.

Thanks. I knew the history of Superman II and distinctly remember seeing it in theaters in 1981 when I was 11.

I also saw Flash Gordon in the theater in its first run, but no longer remember when that was exactly.

 

[HarryCanyon1982]

You mean there were movies OTHER than Airplane! that came out in 1980?

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmA7Nm4qvGE[/yt]

Ever heard of Empire Strikes Back? biggest movie of 1980 and the decade opened with a bang.

Minor nitpick: Wasn't Flash Gordon 1979, and Superman II, 1981?

That said, here are mine:

The Empire Strikes Back
Smokey and the Bandit II
Airplane

Superman 2 was made in 1980 with Richard Donner then after filming was finished, he was fired then a different film directed by Lester came out in 1981 with new shot footage.

Flash Gordon was filmed in 1979 and early 1980 and came out in the fall of 1980.

Thanks. I knew the history of Superman II and distinctly remember seeing it in theaters in 1981 when I was 11.

I also saw Flash Gordon in the theater in its first run, but no longer remember when that was exactly.

My big brother saw Superman 2 in theaters at age 6 and saw Empire in theaters at 5/6/7/8 in original and re-issues. He even saw Flash Gordon.

 

[J.T.B.]

1. Breaker Morant
2. Raging Bull
3. The Shining
4. Melvin and Howard
5. The Blues Brothers
6. The Empire Strikes Back
7. Caddyshack
8. The Long Good Friday
9. The Elephant Man
10. Kagemusha

 

[RandyS]

You mean there were movies OTHER than Airplane! that came out in 1980?

Ever heard of Empire Strikes Back? biggest movie of 1980 and the decade opened with a bang.

Superman 2 was made in 1980 with Richard Donner then after filming was finished, he was fired then a different film directed by Lester came out in 1981 with new shot footage.

Flash Gordon was filmed in 1979 and early 1980 and came out in the fall of 1980.

Thanks. I knew the history of Superman II and distinctly remember seeing it in theaters in 1981 when I was 11.

I also saw Flash Gordon in the theater in its first run, but no longer remember when that was exactly.

My big brother saw Superman 2 in theaters at age 6 and saw Empire in theaters at 5/6/7/8 in original and re-issues. He even saw Flash Gordon.

Didn't you?

 

[Christopher]

Superman 2 was made in 1980 with Richard Donner then after filming was finished, he was fired then a different film directed by Lester came out in 1981 with new shot footage.

That's not correct. Donner was fired when the film was less than 3/4 finished, which is why the so-called "Richard Donner Cut" DVD release from 2006 still contains a lot of material shot by Richard Lester. The only version of the film that ever had a wide theatrical release was the final Lester version. And Donner's material was actually shot in 1977, back-to-back with filming for the 1978 Superman: The Movie, with the Lester reshoots/completion occurring in 1979.

You must be confusing this with the fact that the final film was released in Australia, several European countries, Argentina, and Brazil in December 1980 before coming to the US and other countries in 1981. Not two different versions of the film, just different release dates for the same version. So yes, it was a 1980 film in some countries, but it was a 1981 film in the countries that most of this board's members are from, including the US, the UK, and Germany.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_II:_The_Richard_Donner_Cut

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081573/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_ql_9

By the way, I remember that when I saw Superman: The Movie in the theater when I was 10 years old, it ended with the caption, "Next year: Superman II." So at the time, they evidently intended or hoped to get the sequel out by 1979.

 

[JWPlatt]

Looking at the IMDB list, I saw a shocking number of movies in 1980 (about one per week as a college student):

http://www.imdb.com/search/title?year=1980,1980&title_type=feature&sort=moviemeter,asc

I generally like every movie I choose to see, so I'll just state my #1:

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

 

[Gaith]

Well, the OP's list certainly makes me grateful to be living in the Golden Age of Geekdom... one ESB alone does not a great genre year make.

 

[HarryCanyon1982]

You mean there were movies OTHER than Airplane! that came out in 1980?

Ever heard of Empire Strikes Back? biggest movie of 1980 and the decade opened with a bang.

Thanks. I knew the history of Superman II and distinctly remember seeing it in theaters in 1981 when I was 11.

I also saw Flash Gordon in the theater in its first run, but no longer remember when that was exactly.

My big brother saw Superman 2 in theaters at age 6 and saw Empire in theaters at 5/6/7/8 in original and re-issues. He even saw Flash Gordon.

Didn't you?

No was born 1982.

 

[Dude111]

1. The Empire Strikes Back
2. Airplane
3. The Shining
4. Used Cars
5. Flash Gordon
6. Friday The 13th
7. Superman II
8) Hopscotch

 

[Starbreaker]

The Empire Strikes Back
Friday the 13th
The Shining

uh... I don't think i'm that big into 80's movies

 

[MacLeod]

And for a trip down memory lane a list of films released in 1980

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_in_film

 

[Galileo7]

1. Empire Strikes Back
2. Flash Gordon
3. The Fog
4. The Shining
5. Airplane
6. Caddyshack
7. Blues Brothers

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Tops: The Empire Strikes Back, Airplane, Caddyshack, Blues Brothers

2nd tier: Flash Gordon, Friday The 13th, Superman II, Cheech and Chong's Next Movie, The Final Countdown

Altered States (more than an honorable mention, I saw this one in the theater at 13 and was suitably disturbed by it)

The Gods Must Be Crazy (way beyond an honorable mention for me. I own the DVD of this, plus part II and the made in China parts 3,4 & 5)

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Dirty Dancing
The Princess Bride
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Indiana Jones trilogy
The Little Mermaid
Ghostbusters
Beetlejuice
The Goonies

 

[Mojochi]

Clint Eastwood's Bronco Billy & Any Which Way You Can deserve a mention in here

But my top 5 comedies
The Blues Brothers
Airplane
Caddyshack
Stir Crazy
9 to 5

Top 5 dramas
The Shining
The Empire Strikes Back
Raging Bull
The Elephant Man
Brubaker