Oscar Nominated Movies 1981
by David-Grant | created - 31 Mar 2016 | updated - 31 Mar 2016 | PublicAll Feature Films Nominated at the 1981 Oscar Ceremony.
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1. Ordinary People (1980)
R | 124 min | Drama
The accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father and the guilt-ridden younger son.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, Timothy Hutton
Votes: 56,721 | Gross: $54.80M
2. Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The fictionalized life of singer Loretta Lynn, a girl who rose from humble beginnings to become a country music star in the 1960s/70s.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Levon Helm, Phyllis Boyens
Votes: 20,522 | Gross: $67.18M
3. The Elephant Man (1980)
PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of kindness, intelligence and sophistication.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud
Votes: 258,625
4. Raging Bull (1980)
R | 129 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
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: 380,499 | Gross: $23.38M
5. Tess (1979)
PG | 186 min | Drama, Romance
A strong-willed young peasant girl attracts the affection of two men.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Nastassja Kinski, Peter Firth, Leigh Lawson, John Collin
Votes: 18,295
6. The Great Santini (1979)
PG | 115 min | Drama
As he approaches manhood, Ben Meechum struggles to win the approval of his demanding alpha male father, an aggressively competitive, but frustrated Marine pilot.
Director: Lewis John Carlino | Stars: Robert Duvall, Blythe Danner, Michael O'Keefe, Lisa Jane Persky
Votes: 6,952
7. Tribute (1980)
PG | 121 min | Comedy, Drama
A shallow Broadway press agent learns he is dying just as his son by his ex-wife arrives for a visit.
Director: Bob Clark | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Robby Benson, Lee Remick, Colleen Dewhurst
Votes: 840
8. The Stunt Man (1980)
R | 131 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
A fugitive stumbles onto a movie set just when they need a new stunt man, takes the job as a way to hide out and falls for the leading lady while facing off with his manipulative director.
Director: Richard Rush | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey, Allen Garfield
Votes: 10,472 | Gross: $7.06M
9. Resurrection (1980)
PG | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy
A woman enters the afterlife briefly after a car crash that kills her husband. But she survives - and finds herself possessing strange powers.
Director: Daniel Petrie | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Sam Shepard, Richard Farnsworth, Roberts Blossom
Votes: 3,422 | Gross: $3.91M
10. Private Benjamin (1980)
R | 109 min | Comedy, War
A sheltered young high-society woman joins the United States Army on a whim and finds herself in a trickier situation than she ever expected.
Director: Howard Zieff | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante, Robert Webber
Votes: 28,706 | Gross: $69.85M
11. Gloria (1980)
PG | 123 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
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.
Director: John Cassavetes | Stars: Gena Rowlands, Buck Henry, Julie Carmen, Tony Knesich
Votes: 11,444
12. Melvin and Howard (1980)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Drama
The story of hard-luck Melvin E. Dummar, who claimed to have received a will naming him an heir to the fortune of Howard Hughes.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Paul Le Mat, Jason Robards, Elizabeth Cheshire, Mary Steenburgen
Votes: 5,308 | Gross: $4.31M
13. Inside Moves (1980)
PG | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Handicapped after an unsuccessful suicide attempt, a man finds common ground in the troubled souls at a local dive bar.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: John Savage, David Morse, Diana Scarwid, Amy Wright
Votes: 2,289
14. Brubaker (1980)
R | 131 min | Crime, Drama
The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg | Stars: Robert Redford, Yaphet Kotto, Morgan Freeman, Jane Alexander
Votes: 19,447 | Gross: $37.12M
15. Fame (1980)
R | 134 min | Drama, Music, Musical
A chronicle of the lives of several teenagers who attend a New York high school for students gifted in the performing arts.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Eddie Barth, Irene Cara, Lee Curreri, Laura Dean
Votes: 24,719 | Gross: $0.12M
16. My American Uncle (1980)
PG | 125 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The intersecting stories of three people who face difficult choices in life-changing situations are used to illustrate the theories espoused by Henri Laborit about human behavior and the relationship between the self and society.
Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Nicole Garcia, Roger Pierre, Nelly Borgeaud
Votes: 6,855
17. Breaker Morant (1980)
PG | 107 min | Drama, History, War
Three Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson, John Waters, Bryan Brown
Votes: 14,445 | Gross: $7.14M
18. The Blue Lagoon (1980)
R | 104 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In the Victorian period, two children are shipwrecked on a tropical island in the South Pacific. With no adults to guide them, the two make a simple life together, unaware that sexual maturity will eventually intervene.
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: Brooke Shields, Christopher Atkins, Leo McKern, William Daniels
Votes: 76,615 | Gross: $58.85M
19. The Formula (1980)
R | 117 min | Crime, Thriller
The synthetic fuel production formula, invented by the Nazis at the end of World War II, is sought after by some who aim to sell it, and by others who wish to destroy it.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: George C. Scott, Marlon Brando, Marthe Keller, John Gielgud
Votes: 2,910
20. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
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: 1,381,008 | Gross: $290.48M
21. Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior (1980)
PG | 162 min | Drama, History, War
A petty thief with an utter resemblance to a samurai warlord is hired as the lord's double. When the warlord later dies the thief is forced to take up arms in his place.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ken'ichi Hagiwara, Jinpachi Nezu
Votes: 38,216
22. My Brilliant Career (1979)
G | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A proud young woman in early 20th century Australia must choose between marriage and independence.
Director: Gillian Armstrong | Stars: Judy Davis, Sam Neill, Wendy Hughes, Robert Grubb
Votes: 4,803
23. Somewhere in Time (1980)
PG | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A Chicago playwright uses self-hypnosis to travel back in time and meet the actress whose vintage portrait hangs in a grand hotel.
Director: Jeannot Szwarc | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, Christopher Plummer, Teresa Wright
Votes: 32,565 | Gross: $9.71M
24. When Time Ran Out... (1980)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
An active volcano threatens a south Pacific island resort and its guests as a power struggle ensues between the property's developer and a drilling foreman.
Director: James Goldstone | Stars: Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, William Holden, Edward Albert
Votes: 3,206 | Gross: $1.70M
25. Altered States (1980)
R | 102 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A psycho-physiologist experiments with drugs and a sensory-deprivation tank and has visions he believes are genetic memories.
Director: Ken Russell | Stars: William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid
Votes: 38,663 | Gross: $19.85M
26. The Competition (1980)
PG | 123 min | Drama, Romance, Music
Paul Dietrich, at almost 30 years old, is a fading piano prodigy. Heidi Schoonover is a talented young pianist with a promising future. When Paul hears of an upcoming competition that could make his career, he dedicates himself to winning.
Director: Joel Oliansky | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Amy Irving, Lee Remick, Sam Wanamaker
Votes: 2,849 | Gross: $14.29M
27. Nine to Five (1980)
PG | 109 min | Comedy
Three female employees of a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot find a way to turn the tables on him.
Director: Colin Higgins | Stars: Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, Dabney Coleman
Votes: 39,443 | Gross: $103.29M
28. Honeysuckle Rose (1980)
PG | 119 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Buck is a country singer on the road caught in a romantic triangle with Viv and Lily, the daughter of his longtime musical sidekick.
Director: Jerry Schatzberg | Stars: Willie Nelson, Dyan Cannon, Amy Irving, Slim Pickens
Votes: 1,882 | Gross: $17.82M
29. Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1980)
PG | 150 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Three young provincial women come to Moscow in search of what people in all the capitals of the world are looking for - love, happiness and prosperity. Their destinies develop exactly as the character of each of the girls suggests.
Director: Vladimir Menshov | Stars: Vera Alentova, Aleksey Batalov, Irina Muravyova, Aleksandr Fatyushin
Votes: 14,301 | Gross: $2.50M
30. Confidence (1980)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama
During WW2 Hungarian resistance hides a married couple from the officials. The woman is sent to act as the wife of one of the resistance members who is also in hiding and pretending to be somebody else. They slowly begin to fall in love.
Director: István Szabó | Stars: Ildikó Bánsági, Péter Andorai, Oszkárné Gombik, Károly Csáki
Votes: 1,037
31. The Last Metro (1980)
PG | 131 min | Drama, Romance, War
In occupied Paris, an actress married to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Germans while doing both of their jobs.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Gérard Depardieu, Jean Poiret, Andréa Ferréol
Votes: 15,832
32. The Nest (1980)
PG | 97 min | Drama
In a town near Salamanca, an eccentric 60-year-old widower is captivated by an imp, a precocious 13-year-old. Alejandro is wealthy and alone, passing time with music, chess, and his shotgun... See full summary »
Director: Jaime de Armiñán | Stars: Héctor Alterio, Ana Torrent, Luis Politti, Agustín González
Votes: 632
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