Most Deserving 80's Film on National Film Registry (list #1)

by jalapenoman | created - 31 Dec 2015 | updated - 31 Dec 2015 | Public

The National Film Preservation Board selects twenty-five movies each year to be on the National Film Registry. The list includes feature films, documentaries, short subjects, and animated shorts. Which of these 1980's films on that registry is most deserving of its place on this list of historically significant films?

Discuss here: http://www.imdb.com/board/bd0000088/flat/252128886

Please DO NOT vote for your favorite film. Vote for the one that you think is most historically deserving of being on this list.

Note: There are so many 80's films on the Registry that they had to be broken into two lists.

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1. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

82 Metascore

After the Rebel Alliance are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.

Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams

Votes: 1,379,305 | Gross: $290.48M

2. Return of the Secaucus Seven (1980)

R | 104 min | Drama

Seven former college friends, along with a few new friends, gather for a weekend reunion at a summer house in New Hampshire to reminisce about the good old days, when they got arrested on the way to a protest in Washington, DC.

Director: John Sayles | Stars: Bruce MacDonald, Maggie Renzi, Adam LeFevre, Maggie Cousineau

Votes: 2,227 | Gross: $2.00M

(Note: This is listed as a 1980 film by the NFR, though it is listed as a 1979 film on IMDb.)

3. Raging Bull (1980)

R | 129 min | Biography, Drama, Sport

90 Metascore

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.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent

Votes: 380,096 | Gross: $23.38M

4. Moon Breath Beat (1980)

5 min | Animation, Short

An animated short by Lisze Bechtold in which a woman and her two cats battle the forces of nature.

Director: Lisze Bechtold

Votes: 132

5. The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter (1980)

65 min | Documentary, History, War

Documentary about women working in factories during WWII and resultant loss of jobs after the war. Five women tell their stories. Fascinating clips of racist, sexist propaganda of the era.

Director: Connie Field | Stars: Lola Weixel, Margaret Wright, Lyn Childs, Gladys Belcher

Votes: 338

6. Hours for Jerome (1982)

45 min | Documentary

It is a "silent tone poem" recording the daily events of Dorsky and his partner, artist Jerome Hiler around Lake Owassa in New Jersey and in Manhattan.

Director: Nathaniel Dorsky | Stars: Nathaniel Dorsky, Jerome Hiler

Votes: 22

(Note: Parts 1 and 2, 1980 and 1982 per NFR)

7. Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers (1980)

Not Rated | 51 min | Documentary, History

A documentary on the history of garlic. Blank interviews chefs, garlic lovers, and historians about the their love of the 'stinking rose.'

Director: Les Blank | Stars: Anzonini Del Puerto, Kathleen Bendel, Harrod Blank, Mary T. Brown

Votes: 883

8. Atlantic City (1980)

R | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

85 Metascore

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.

Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, Kate Reid, Michel Piccoli

Votes: 18,290

9. Airplane! (1980)

PG | 88 min | Comedy

78 Metascore

After the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must safely land a commercial airplane full of passengers.

Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker | Stars: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Votes: 260,985 | Gross: $83.40M

10. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure

86 Metascore

In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies

Votes: 1,036,652 | Gross: $248.16M

11. Tootsie (1982)

PG | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

88 Metascore

Michael Dorsey, an unsuccessful actor, disguises himself as a woman in order to get a role on a trashy hospital soap.

Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman

Votes: 114,600 | Gross: $177.20M

12. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama

61 Metascore

A group of Southern California high school students are enjoying their most important subjects: sex, drugs and rock n' roll.

Director: Amy Heckerling | Stars: Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Robert Romanus

Votes: 115,699 | Gross: $27.09M

13. E.T. (1982)

PG | 115 min | Adventure, Family, Sci-Fi

92 Metascore

A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace

Votes: 437,380 | Gross: $435.11M

14. Chan Is Missing (1982)

Not Rated | 76 min | Drama, Mystery

85 Metascore

Two cab drivers search San Francisco's Chinatown for the mysterious Chan, who disappeared with their $4000.

Director: Wayne Wang | Stars: Wood Moy, Marc Hayashi, Laureen Chew, Peter Wang

Votes: 1,853

15. Blade Runner (1982)

R | 117 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

84 Metascore

A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos

Votes: 822,854 | Gross: $32.87M

16. The Right Stuff (1983)

PG | 193 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

91 Metascore

The U.S. space program's development from the breaking of the sound barrier to selection of the Mercury 7 astronauts, from a group of test pilots with a more seat-of-the-pants approach than the program's more cautious engineers preferred.

Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid

Votes: 65,333 | Gross: $21.50M

17. Michael Jackson: Thriller (1983 Music Video)

PG | 13 min | Horror, Music

A night at the movies turns into a nightmare when Michael and his date are attacked by a hoard of bloodthirsty zombies - only a "Thriller" can save them now.

Director: John Landis | Stars: Michael Jackson, Ola Ray, Forrest J. Ackerman, Reed Armstrong

Votes: 18,551

18. Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

Not Rated | 86 min | Documentary, Music

72 Metascore

A collection of expertly photographed phenomena with no conventional plot. The footage focuses on the relationship between nature, humanity, and technology.

Director: Godfrey Reggio | Stars: Edward Asner, Pat Benatar, Jerry Brown, Johnny Carson

Votes: 41,464 | Gross: $1.72M

19. El Norte (1983)

R | 141 min | Adventure, Drama

75 Metascore

After their family is killed in a government massacre, siblings Enrique and Rosa flee Guatemala and embark on a perilous journey to "El Norte": the United States.

Director: Gregory Nava | Stars: Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez, David Villalpando, Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Alicia del Lago

Votes: 5,590

20. A Christmas Story (1983)

PG | 93 min | Comedy, Family

77 Metascore

In the 1940s, a young boy named Ralphie Parker attempts to convince his parents, teacher, and Santa Claus that a Red Ryder Range 200 Shot BB gun really is the perfect Christmas gift.

Director: Bob Clark | Stars: Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Scott Schwartz

Votes: 168,603 | Gross: $20.61M

21. The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)

Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary, Biography, History

A documentary of the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first elected gay city supervisor.

Director: Rob Epstein | Stars: Harvey Fierstein, Harvey Milk, Anne Kronenberg, Tory Hartmann

Votes: 6,573 | Gross: $0.01M

22. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

R | 82 min | Comedy, Music

92 Metascore

Spinal Tap, one of England's loudest bands, is chronicled by film director Marty DiBergi on what proves to be a fateful tour.

Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Kimberly Stringer

Votes: 147,336 | Gross: $4.74M



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