Best Movies of 1980
The 50 highest rated movies released in 1980, ranked by viewer ratings on TMDB. Only titles with enough votes to count are included, so one-off five-star ratings can't skew the list.
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1
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
The epic saga continues as Luke Skywalker, in hopes of defeating the evil Galactic Empire, learns the ways of the Jedi from aging master Yoda. But Darth Vader is more determined than ever to capture Luke. Meanwhile, rebel leader Princess…
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2
The Shining (1980)
Jack Torrance accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter. But they aren't prepared for the madness that lurks within.
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3
The Elephant Man (1980)
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity.
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4
Raging Bull (1980)
The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.
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5
Pixote (1980)
10-year-old Pixote endures torture, degradation, and corruption at a local youth detention center where two of its members are murdered by policemen who frame Lilica, a 17-year-old trans hustler. Pixote helps Lilica and three other boys…
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6
Kagemusha (1980)
A feudal epic presenting the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. The impostor becomes comfortable living his life among nobility, but his…
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7
The King and the Mockingbird (1980)
A young shepherdess and a chimneysweep plan to get married and escape the clutches of a tyrannical king in love with her, assisted by the guile of a cheeky mockingbird, the king's archenemy.
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8
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Just released from prison, Jake Blues puts his old band back together with his brother Elwood to save the Catholic home where they were raised.
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9
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1980)
Living together in a workers' dorm, Katerina and her friends are determined to make it in Moscow. But when a boorish cameraman forces himself on her, Katerina finds herself pregnant and alone as her friends move on. Twenty years later,…
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10
Somewhere in Time (1980)
Young writer Richard Collier is met on the opening night of his first play by an old lady who begs him to "Come back to me". Mystified, he tries to find out about her, and learns that she is a famous stage actress from the early twentieth…
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11
Ordinary People (1980)
Beth, Calvin, and their son Conrad are living in the aftermath of the death of the other son. Conrad is overcome by grief and misplaced guilt to the extent of a suicide attempt. He is in therapy. Beth had always preferred his brother and is…
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12
Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980)
Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American. But after the death of…
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13
Airplane! (1980)
An ex-fighter pilot is forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.
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14
The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
A Coca-Cola bottle dropped from an airplane raises havoc among a normally peaceful tribe of African bushmen who believe it to be a utensil of the gods.
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15
Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
Biography of Loretta Lynn, a country and western singer who went from poverty to fame.
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16
The Last Metro (1980)
In occupied Paris, an actress wed to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Nazis while doing both of their jobs.
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17
The Long Good Friday (1980)
In the late 1970s, Cockney crime boss Harold Shand, a gangster trying to become a legitimate property mogul, has big plans to get the American Mafia to bankroll his transformation of a derelict area of London into the possible venue for a…
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18
The Taming of the Scoundrel (1980)
A rich farmer is well known for being very unkind. He's misanthropic, misogynous and cantankerous. Until he meets by chance a gorgeous girl...
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19
Fun Is Beautiful (1980)
Three characters' misadventures in semi-deserted, summertime Rome: a dim-witted mama's boy falls for a tourist; a would-be womanizer struggles to find company for his sex tourism trip to Kraków; a hippie is drawn into his father's schemes…
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20
Brubaker (1980)
The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.
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21
The Young Master (1980)
Youthful martial arts master Lung is searching for his missing brother, when he is mistaken for a criminal on the run. He must prove his innocence by solving the case himself, while local lawmen and merciless mercenaries are hot on his…
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22
Nine to Five (1980)
Three female employees of a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot find a way to turn the tables on him.
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23
The Changeling (1980)
After a tragic event happens, composer John Russell moves to Seattle to try to overcome it and build a new and peaceful life in a lonely big house that has been uninhabited for many years. But, soon after, the obscure history of such an old…
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24
City of Women (1980)
The charismatic Snaporaz encounters an alluring woman on a train and pursues her through a forest. He ends up at a hotel populated by women gathered for a feminist conference, where he is an unwanted presence. Snaporaz soon discovers he’s…
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25
Dressed to Kill (1980)
After witnessing a mysterious woman brutally slay a homemaker, prostitute Liz Blake finds herself trapped in a dangerous situation. While the police thinks she is the murderer, the real killer is intent on silencing her only witness.
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26
Stardust Memories (1980)
While attending a retrospect of his work, a filmmaker recalls his life and his loves: the inspirations for his films.
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27
Gloria (1980)
When a young boy's family is killed by the mob, their tough neighbor Gloria becomes his reluctant guardian. In possession of a book that the gangsters want, the pair go on the run in New York.
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28
Return to the 36th Chamber (1980)
The workers of a dye factory have their pay cut by 20% when the factory owner brings in some Manchu thugs to try and increase production. Desperate to reclaim their full wages, the workers hire an actor to impersonate a priest and kung-fu…
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29
Atlantic City (1980)
In a corrupt city, a small-time gangster and the estranged wife of a pot dealer find themselves thrown together in an escapade of love, money, drugs and danger.
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30
The Fog (1980)
Strange things begin to occur as a tiny California coastal town prepares to commemorate its centenary. Inanimate objects spring eerily to life; Rev. Malone stumbles upon a dark secret about the town's founding; radio announcer Stevie…
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31
Superman II (1980)
Three Kryptonian criminals led by General Zod team up with Lex Luthor to conquer Earth, forcing a depowered Superman to regain his strength and stop them.
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32
Heaven's Gate (1980)
Harvard graduate James Averill serves as the sheriff of prosperous Jackson County, Wyoming, standing at the center of a conflict between impoverished immigrants and affluent cattle farmers. Politically connected ranchers enlist mercenary…
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33
Altered States (1980)
A research scientist explores the boundaries and frontiers of human consciousness. Using sensory deprivation and hallucinogenic mixtures from Native American shamans, he explores these altered states of cognizance and finds that memory,…
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34
The Big Red One (1980)
A veteran sergeant of World War I leads a squad in World War II, always in the company of the survivor Pvt. Griff, the writer Pvt. Zab, the Sicilian Pvt. Vinci and Pvt. Johnson, in Vichy French Africa, Sicily, D-Day at Omaha Beach, Belgium…
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35
Fantozzi Against the Wind (1980)
The third film in the saga of the unlucky clerk Ugo Fantozzi, played by its creator, Paolo Villaggio.
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36
The Long Riders (1980)
The origins, exploits and the ultimate fate of the James gang is told in a sympathetic portrayal of the bank robbers made up of brothers who begin their legendary bank raids because of revenge.
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37
The Final Countdown (1980)
During routine manoeuvres near Hawaii in 1980, the aircraft-carrier USS Nimitz is caught in a strange vortex-like storm, throwing the ship back in time to 1941—mere hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
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38
Inferno (1980)
A young man returns from Rome to his sister's satanic New York apartment house.
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39
Cruising (1980)
When New York is caught in the grip of a sadistic serial killer who preys on patrons of the city's underground bars, rookie cop Steve Burns infiltrates the gay S&M subculture to try and lure him out of the shadows.
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40
The Party (1980)
A thirteen-year-old French girl deals with moving to a new city and school in Paris, while at the same time her parents are getting a divorce.
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41
Caddyshack (1980)
At an exclusive country club, an ambitious young caddy, Danny Noonan, eagerly pursues a caddy scholarship in hopes of attending college and, in turn, avoiding a job at the lumber yard. In order to succeed, he must first win the favour of…
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42
Stir Crazy (1980)
New Yorkers Skip Donahue and Harry Monroe have no jobs and no prospects, so they decide to flee the city and find work elsewhere, landing jobs wearing woodpecker costumes to promote the opening of a bank. When their feathery costumes are…
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43
Urban Cowboy (1980)
After moving to Pasadena, Texas, country boy Bud Davis starts hanging around a bar called Gilley's, where he falls in love with Sissy, a cowgirl who believes the sexes are equal. They eventually marry, but their relationship is turbulent…
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44
Super Fuzz (1980)
While delivering a parking ticket to a small village in the Florida everglades, Officer Dave Speed finds himself in the middle of a radiation experiment conducted by the American government and NASA, where a detonated nuclear missile gives…
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45
City of the Living Dead (1980)
A psychic seemingly dies of fright during a séance where she sees a vision of a Dunwich priest hanging himself in a church cemetery. New York City reporter Peter Bell investigates and learns that the priest's suicide has somehow opened a…
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46
The Under-Gifted (1980)
The story centers around a graduating class of "less-gifted" students in a private Versailles high school. Only a miracle has brought the students this far along, and after a practical joke misfires and the whole school is dynamited, the…
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47
Fame (1980)
A chronicle of the lives of several teenagers who attend a New York high school for students gifted in the performing arts.
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48
Used Cars (1980)
When the owner of a struggling used car lot is killed, it's up to the lot's hot-shot salesman to save the property from falling into the hands of the owner's ruthless brother and used-car rival.
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49
Friday the 13th (1980)
Camp counselors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to reopen a summer camp that was the site of a child's drowning.
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50
Maniac (1980)
A psychotic man, troubled by his childhood abuse, kills and mutilates young women and local models on the streets of New York City.