The Eighties saw the rise and rise of the Hollywood blockbuster movie and of big studios dominating instead of filmmakers. There were also leaps made in visual and special effects, meaning audiences were seeing flying bicycles and soaring spaceships that actually looked like they were real rather than being done with a puppet and strings.
The Eighties is packed with nostalgia-heavy adventure films which families enjoyed at their local multiplex or video shop, but there were also avant garde horror films and explorations into the simmering racial tensions of the time on offer too.
And over in Britain, a renaissance in the film industry led by George Harrison's Handmade Films gave us enduring indie hits that captured the more endearing bits of ourselves.
Quentin Tarantino might have once said the Eighties were the worst decade for cinema, but these gems prove that the era was more influential than he gives it credit for.
Hollywood Shuffle (1987)
This smart, sharp, and still deeply relevant semi-autobiographical satire of director and co-writer Robert Townsend's attempts to make it in Hollywood as a black actor follows Bobby Taylor, a would-be star making ends meet with bit-parts in crappy productions which use light-skinned black men like him to stand in as Latino gang members. Uncertain of where he's headed in an industry that seems to literally only want Eddie Murphy, he wrestles with his conscience: bite the bullet, and conform to what a white industry wants its few black stars to be, or keep striking toward integrity? Thoughtful, funny, poignant stuff.
Local Hero (1983)
Bill Forsyth's gorgeous, lyrical, offbeat caper is as thoroughly lovely and mysterious as it was in 1983. Texas megalith Knox Oil and Gas sends executive Mac over to the west coast of Scotland to buy up a bit of beach which it can turn into a gigantic refinery, making everyone in the tiny village of Ferness stinking rich. The townspeople are delighted and can't wait to take Knox's filthy lucre – all but old Ben, the man who lives in a shack on the beach Knox wants. It's a fish out of water comedy that morphs into a meditation on community, belonging, and what home is worth. A very young Peter Capaldi supports as a young oilman who's got the hots for a scientist with webbed feet too.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Labelled “an instant classic” on its release, the stock of Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark has only risen over the years, its influence grown. In Thirties America, Harrison Ford’s archaeologist Dr Henry Walton Jones Jr – “Indy” – is recruited by Army Intelligence agents to beat the Nazis to finding the Ark of the Covenant, a relic they believe will render them invincible. Ably abetted by Karen Allen’s Marion and Denholm Elliott’s Brody, Ford embodies an action hero we can root for: charming, vulnerable and in over his head. As big on set-piece thrills as you’d expect from its ‘action adventure’ tag, Spielberg ensures he also packs the film with rich characters and whip-cracking dialogue. The decade’s two sequels are almost as good.
Stop Making Sense (1984)
Can it be that hard to translate live music to the screen? The paucity of great concert movies in the 36 years since this unimprovable Jonathan Demme-directed Talking Heads film suggests so. Shot over four nights in a Hollywood theatre, the idea that singer David Byrne starts solo and is joined by more and more band members with each song is a piece of theatrical genius. Famous for Byrne’s 'big suit' – actually only worn during one song, ‘Girlfriend is Better’ – which the frontman explained with typical logic: “I wanted to make my head appear smaller and the easiest way to do that was to make my body bigger.” Almost as good: 2020’s American Utopia – Spike Lee’s concert film of solo artist… David Byrne.
Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
What connects Watchmen, Madonna’s ‘Ray of Light’ and Grand Theft Auto IV? All of them have aped some aspect of this mesmerising experimental film. Consisting entirely of slow motion and time-lapse footage of locations across America, it juxtaposes them against Philip Glass’s bubbling electronic score, with the idea of showing how out of step civilisation is with nature (‘koyaanisqati’ means ‘unbalanced life’ in the Hopi language, spoken in parts of Arizona). Copyright issues meant it was unavailable for much of the Nineties, securing its cult status. You probably don’t need to see it more than once. But you do need to see it.
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
It's quite hard to comprehend just how big Eddie Murphy was in the Eighties, and quite how explosively he announced himself. His fast-talking, street-smart Axel Foley is a wild Detroit police officer who ends up on his last warning from his superior when his old friend Mikey is killed. Foley has to go behind his boss's back to investigate in the alien surrounds of Beverly Hills in LA. Completely unexpectedly, Kingsley Amis considered Beverly Hills Cop "a flawless masterpiece".
This is Spinal Tap (1984)
Calling a film 'endlessly quotable' isn't always much of an invitation to watch it – you end up just sort of waiting for The Funny Lines to arrive rather than watching it as a whole. When we call This is Spinal Tap endlessly quotable, though, it's in the sense that nearly every line of its script would be the funniest line in any other film. It's a mockumentary ("rockumentary, if you will") following the heavy metal band Spinal Tap as they traverse America on an increasingly desultory tour. Drummers explode, love-pumps are licked, gloves are smelt, and the band collapses in a shower of idiocy, hubris and childish bickering. It traverses that fine line identified by lead singer David St Hubbins, between stupid and clever. And, for the record, the best line in it is when the band visit Graceland and haltingly attempt three-part harmonies at Elvis's graveside.
"It really puts perspective on things though, doesn't it?" says Nigel.
"Too much," says David. "There's too much fucking perspective now."
Purple Rain (1984)
In a lot of ways, this isn't a completely flawless film. It is, however, the best way of beginning to understand the 360-degree creative world of the greatest and most mysterious creative mind of the decade. It's set in Minneapolis and Prince acolytes and protégées everywhere – The Revolution, Apollonia, Dez Dickerson of the Modernaires and, most enjoyably, an extremely vampy Morris Day of The Time all feature – while Prince himself plays a purple-loving wunderkind called The Kid. In the course of trying to to get his band together, he finds love, deals with abusive parents, and finally finds deliverance through power balladeering rather than his filthy, dirty, unapologetically Prince funk. Still, there's more than enough of that to spare.
The Shining (1980)
Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's seminal horror movie features a tour-de-force performance from Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, a crazed writer who spends a weekend at the Overlook Hotel with his wife and son. King might have never warmed to the film but it's motifs, from the winding maze to the spooky twin girls in the hallway, even the geometric carpets, have gone on to influence horror ever since.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Never has pulling a sickie looked more glorious than in this timeless comedy about high schooler Ferris Buller (Matthew Broderick) who skips class and cavorts around Chicago for the afternoon instead. Sure, the stakes here are low, but Broderick's charm and the excellent Eighties fashion make very enjoyable entertainment.
Back to the Future (1985)
How many times have you seen Back to the Future? Ten? Fifteen? But its enduring magic is in the way that no matter how many times you see it, its alchemy draws you in all over again. Teenager Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) travelling back from 1985 to 1955 where he accidentally becomes the love interest of his future mother. It's the sort of thing that would definitely be a bit sketch in 2022 but in 1985 was all in good fun. We could stand here and quote it until Mr Peabody's pine tree recovers from being run over by the DeLorean, but it's worth noticing next time you watch it just how uncredibly fine-tuned the script is. Every gag, every aside, every little scrap of info in the first half gets its rejoinder in the second half. It's a technical marvel as well as a giddy joy.
Blade Runner (1982)
Loosely based on Philip K Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Ridley Scott's sci-fi thriller is up there with the very best of its genre, focusing on an ex-policeman turned special agent trying to exterminate a group of violent androids. The story has shades of a noir detective story as his mission sees him start to question himself.
ET (1982)
Steven Spielberg's story of the friendship between a lost alien and a 10-year-old boy is one of the most beloved in cinema, looking at ideas around commonality, compassion and difference. What on the surface feels like a sweet children's story about an alien on a flying bike turns into something genuinely moving.
Top Gun (1986)
Tom Cruise's most famous role sees him play Maverick Mitchell, a flyer who strives to be the very best in this action film which is steeped in Eighties Americana. There are also great performances from Val Kilmer and from Kelly McGillis, who plays Mitchell's gutsy flight instructor Charlie Blackwood.
Heathers (1988)
Long before Mean Girls came along, Heathers showed high school was a war-ground where the in-fighting and social climbing is as devastating as any physical attacks. Winona Ryder stars as Veronica, a reluctant member of the popular clique at school who takes them on with her new boyfriend JD (a dashing Christian Slater) before realising things aren't what they seem. Heathers is masterful in its black comedy and nailing of the perils of groupthink in teenagers. How very.
Die Hard (1988)
Thirty years since its release and Die Hard remains the quintessential American action movie, going on to spawn a string of sequels which never quite lived up to the promise of the original. In the role that catapulted him to fame, Bruce Willis plays NYPD John McClane who yippee-ki-yay-motherfuckers his way into the action movie pantheon when he finds his holiday festivities are under siege. It's also, as anyone on Twitter will tell you in December, the ultimate Christmas movie.
Do The Right Thing (1989)
Spike Lee's masterful story of 24 hours on a sweltering day in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn brings to life the people who live on the same block and the mounting racial tensions of the city. Lee manages to tell stories of the black experience which are moving and humorous in a story that keeps you gripped as things boil over.
Ghostbusters (1984)
Another plot where you wonder if this would make it out of the writing room these days, but story which is so weird it works, Ghostbusters has remained one of the most loved cult films of the Eighties. The story finds New York City under invasion from ghosts as a trio of former parapsychologists group together to exterminate the threat. "Who ya gonna call?' etc.
Raging Bull (1980)
Robert De Niro's Oscar-winning turn as Jake LaMotta, the world middleweight boxing champion nicknamed 'The Raging Bull', is transfixing in this Martin Scorsese-directed classic. There's also a stellar script from Scorsese stalwart Paul Schrader who was behind Taxi Driver, The Last Temptation of Christ and Bringing Out the Dead.
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Perhaps the most unflinching dramatisation of life on the frontline of the Vietnam War, Stanley Kubrick's 1987 film shows the dark comedy and bleak violence of combat in equal measure. Opening with a masterful sequence in basic training and a confrontation Lee Ermey and Vince D'Onofrio's character, Full Metal Jacket grabs you from the start and takes you on a strange and chilling journey.
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
With Nora Ephron on screenwriting duties, this will-they-won't-they love story set over 11 years is the gold standard of romantic comedies. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan play two graduates on a road trip together who years later are bought back together by fate. Sharp but not soppy, there's an iconic orgasm scene from Meg Ryan, the very good line: "When you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible”, and the even better insult, "You look like a normal person but actually you are the angel of death."
