I had done this list a while ago, but that was before this year's 100 Years, 100 Songs. So here is an updated list, compiled from the AFI's 100 Years lists, of what they think the best movies of the 80s are. If you don't see John Hughes titles, "Top Gun" or other 80s faves on here, they just weren't chosen by the AFI's members. Don't kill the messenger...I've been wounded enough at work this week.
In order:
1.) "Platoon" (#83 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies list/#72 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills list)
2.) "Tootsie" (#62 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies list/#2 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
3.) "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" (#60 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies list/#10 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills list/#2 on AFI's 50 Greatest Heroes list for the character of Indiana Jones)
4.) "E.T The Extra-Terrestrial" (#25 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies list/#44 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills list)
5.) "Raging Bull" (#24 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies list/#51 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills list)
6.) "Good Morning Vietnam" (#100 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
7.) "Bull Durham" (#97 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
8.) "Beetlejuice" (#88 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
9.) "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" (#87 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies list)
10.) "Lost In America" (#84 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
11.) "Private Benjamin" (#82 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
12.) "Victor/Victoria" (#76 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
13.) "9 To 5" (#74 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list/#78 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Songs list for the song "9 To 5")
14.) "Caddyshack" (#71 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
15.) "Broadcast News" (#64 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
16.) "Beverly Hills Cop" (#63 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
17.) "Diner" (#57 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
18.) "Arthur" (#53 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list/#79 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Songs list for the song "Arthur's Theme [Best That You Can Do])
19.) "Big" (#42 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
20.) "Moonstruck" (#41 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list/#17 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Passions list)
21.) "Raising Arizona (#31 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
22.) "This Is Spinal Tap" (#29 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
23.) "Ghostbusters" (#28 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
24.) "When Harry Met Sally..." (#23 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list/#25 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Passions list/#60 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Songs list for the song "It Had To Be You")
25.) "A Fish Called Wanda" (#21 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
26.) "Airplane!' (#10 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
27.) "Blood Simple" (#98 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills list)
28.) "Blue Velvet" (#96 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills list/#36 on AFI's 50 Greatest Villains list for the character of Frank Booth)
29.) "Full Metal Jacket" (#95 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
30.) "Body Heat" (#92 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list/#94 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Passions list)
31.) "Poltergeist" (#84 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
32.) "Blade Runner" (#74 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list)
33.) "The Terminator" (#42 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills list/#22 on AFI's 50 Greatest Villains list for the character of the Terminator)
34.) "Die Hard" (#39 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills list/#46 on AFI's 50 Greatest Villains list for the character of Hans Gruber)
35.) "The Shining" (#29 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills list/#25 on AFI's 50 Greatest Villains list for the character of Jack Torrance)
36.) "Fatal Attraction" (#28 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills list/#7 on AFI's 50 Greatest Villains list for the character of Alex Forrest)
37.) "Dirty Dancing" (#93 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Passions list/#86 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Songs list for the song "[I've Had] The Time Of My Life")
38.) "Working Girl" (#91 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Passions list/#91 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Songs list for the song "Let The River Run")
39.) "The Princess Bride" (#88 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Passions list)
40.) "The Unbearable Lightness Of Being" (#87 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Passions list)
41.) "Witness" (#82 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Passions list)
42.) "Roxanne" (#72 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Passions list)
43.) "Reds" (#55 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Passions list)
44.) "An Officer And A Gentleman" (#29 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Passions list/#75 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Songs list for the song "Up Where We Belong")
45.) "On Golden Pond" (#22 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Passions list)
46.) "Out Of Africa" (#13 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Passions list)
47.) "Silkwood" (#47 on AFI's 50 Greatest Heroes list for the character of Karen Silkwood)
48.) "Batman" (#46 on AFI's 50 Greatest Heroes list for the character of Batman/#45 on AFI's 50 Greatest Villains list for the character of The Joker)
49.) "Mommie Dearest" (#41 on AFI's 50 Greatest Villains list for the character of Joan Crawford...Yeah, she was a real person, but she was also a character, excuse the pun)
50.) "A Nightmare On Elm Street" (#40 on AFI's 50 Greatest Villains list for the character of Freddy Krueger)
51.) "Wall Street" (#24 on AFI's 50 Greatest Villains list for the character of Gordon Gekko)
52.) "Gandhi" (#21 on AFI's 50 Greatest Heroes list for the role of Mahatma Gandhi...Another real person, personified by the great Ben Kingsley)
53.) "Aliens" (#8 on AFI's 50 Greatest Heroes list for the role of Ellen Ripley)
54.) "The Empire Strikes Back" (#3 on AFI's 50 Greatest Villains list for the character of Darth Vader)
55.) "Risky Business" (#100 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Songs list for the song "Old Time Rock And Roll")
56.) "Footloose" (#96 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Songs list for the song "Footloose")
57.) "The Big Chill" (#94 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Songs list for the song "Ain't Too Proud To Beg")
58.) "Flashdance" (#55 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Songs list for the song "Flashdance...What A Feeling")
59.) "Fame" (#51 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Songs list for the song "Fame")
60.) "Beaches" (#44 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Songs list for the song "Wind Beneath My Wings")
61.) "Do The Right Thing" (#40 for the song "Fight The Power")
This list will be updated again when AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movie Quotes list is revealed. What 80s faves will join the list?
Who knows? All you need to know is that the preceding 61 movies are what the AFI considers the cream of the crop. As they might say on TCM, "These are the essentials!"
