19801981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1980 Movies

Take a nostalgic look back at the top movies of 1980, celebrating the films, directors and actors that defined the year and left a lasting legacy in the world of entertainment.

1980 Academy Awards

The Blues Brothers
Written by: John Landis, Dan Aykroyd
Directed by: John Landis
Starring: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Cab Calloway
Country: United States of America
Outline: Two brothers reunite their blues band and embark on a mission from God to save the Catholic orphanage where they were raised.
source: imdb.com
Airplane!
Written by: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Directed by: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Starring: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen
Country: United States of America
Outline: After the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must safely land a commercial airplane full of passengers.
source: imdb.com
Coal Miner’s Daughter
Written by: Loretta Lynn, George Vecsey, Thomas Rickman
Directed by: Michael Apted
Starring: Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo
Country: United States of America
Outline: The fictionalized life of singer Loretta Lynn, a girl who rose from humble beginnings to become a country music star in the 1960s/70s.
source: imdb.com
The Gods Must Be Crazy
Written by: Jamie Uys
Directed by: Jamie Uys
Starring: N!xau, Marius Weyers, Sandra Prinsloo
Country: South Africa
Outline: A bushman from the Kalahari Desert discovers a Coca-Cola bottle that he believes is a gift from the gods, leading him on a journey to return it.
source: imdb.com
Stir Crazy
Written by: Bruce Jay Friedman, Andrew Bergman
Directed by: Sidney Poitier
Starring: Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Georg Stanford Brown
Country: United States of America
Outline: Two friends are framed for a bank robbery and sent to prison, where they become a hit with the other inmates by staging a musical revue.
source: imdb.com
Private Benjamin
Written by: Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer, Harvey Miller
Directed by: Howard Zieff
Starring: Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante, Robert Webber, Sam Wanamaker, Barbara Barrie, Mary Kay Place, Harry Dean Stanton, Albert Brooks
Country: United States of America
Outline: Judy Benjamin, a 28-year-old Jewish woman from a sheltered wealthy upbringing, enlists in the U.S. Army after her husband's sudden death. She undergoes basic training, leading to personal growth and self-discovery.
source: en.wikipedia.org
Any Which Way You Can
Written by: Raymond G. Alverson, Earl Felton
Directed by: Buddy Van Horn
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Geoffrey Lewis, Orville Sherman
Country: United States of America
Outline: Philo Beddoe, a trucker and bare-knuckle boxer, returns to the ring to fight a new opponent while dealing with his personal life.
source: imdb.com
The Blue Lagoon
Written by: Douglas Day Stewart
Directed by: Randal Kleiser
Starring: Brooke Shields, Christopher Atkins, Leo McKern, William Daniels, Alan Hopgood, Elva Josephson, Glenis Levestam, Emmeline Robinson, John Meillon
Country: United States of America
Outline: Two young cousins are shipwrecked on a tropical island in the South Pacific, where they grow up and fall in love, unaware of the dangers of their new world.
source: imdb.com
Smokey and the Bandit II
Written by: Hal Needham, Charles Shyer, Harvey Miller
Directed by: Hal Needham
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Paul Williams, Mike Henry, Pat McCormick, Paul T. Smith, John Steadman, David Huddleston
Country: United States of America
Outline: The Bandit is hired on to drive a tractor-trailer rig to deliver a load of contraband beer to Texarkana, while the Sheriff pursues him.
source: imdb.com
The Shining
Written by: Stanley Kubrick, Diane Johnson
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers
Country: United States of America
Outline: Jack Torrance takes a job as the winter caretaker of the isolated Overlook Hotel, where he descends into madness, endangering his wife and son.
source: imdb.com
The Elephant Man
Written by: David Lynch, Christopher De Vore, Eric Bergren
Directed by: David Lynch
Starring: John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller
Country: United States of America
Outline: The life of John Merrick, a severely deformed man in 19th-century London, who is rescued from a life of exploitation by a compassionate doctor.
source: imdb.com
Raging Bull
Written by: Paul Schrader, Mardik Martin
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Frank Vincent, Nicholas Colasanto
Country: United States of America
Outline: The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper led him to the top of the ring, but destroyed his life outside it.
source: imdb.com
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears
Written by: Valentin Chernykh
Directed by: Vladimir Menshov
Starring: Irina Muravyova, Aleksei Batalov, Raisa Ryazanova, Oleg Tabakov, Aleksandr Fatyushin
Outline: The lives of three women in Moscow are followed over a period of 20 years, as they navigate love, career, and personal growth.
source: imdb.com
Kagemusha
Written by: Akira Kurosawa, Masato Ide, Hideo Oguni
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kenichi Hagiwara, Daisuke Ryu, Tatsuya Mihashi
Country: Japan
Outline: A petty thief is recruited to impersonate a dying warlord in feudal Japan, leading to unforeseen consequences.
source: imdb.com
The Long Good Friday
Directed by: John Mackenzie
Country: United States of America
Outline: An up-and-coming gangster is tested by the insurgence of an unknown, very powerful threat.
source: imdb.com
On the Nickel
Directed by: Ralph Waite
source: imdb.com