JJ -1981 The Best Of
by juliodejimenez | created - 24 May 2012 | updated - 5 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Scanners (1981)
R | 103 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A scientist trains a man with an advanced telepathic ability called "scanning" to stop a dangerous Scanner with extraordinary psychic powers from waging war against non scanners.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane
Votes: 61,725 | Gross: $14.23M
2. Lili Marleen (1981)
R | 120 min | Drama, Music, Romance
In 1938, a German singer falls in love with a Jewish composer in Zurich, who helps Jews flee Nazi Germany. She wants to help but is forced back to Germany. Her song "Lili Marleen" becomes a hit with soldiers and the Nazi top brass.
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Hanna Schygulla, Giancarlo Giannini, Mel Ferrer, Karl-Heinz von Hassel
Votes: 4,291
3. Hill Street Blues (1981–1987)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The lives and work of the staff of an inner city police precinct.
Stars: Daniel J. Travanti, Michael Warren, Bruce Weitz, James Sikking
Votes: 10,555
4. The Howling (1981)
R | 91 min | Horror
After a bizarre and near deadly encounter with a serial killer, a television newswoman is sent to a remote mountain resort whose residents may not be what they seem.
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, Christopher Stone
Votes: 40,178 | Gross: $17.99M
5. Subway Riders (1981)
120 min | Thriller
A Psychotic saxophone player (played both by Amos Poe and John Lurie) lures victims to deserted spots with his music and then guns them down.
Director: Amos Poe | Stars: Robbie Coltrane, Charlene Kaleina, Cookie Mueller, John Lurie
Votes: 162
6. Eyewitness (1981)
R | 103 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A janitor who claims he's seen a murder becomes romantically involved with the glamorous TV reporter covering the story.
Director: Peter Yates | Stars: William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Plummer, James Woods
Votes: 5,722 | Gross: $6.40M
7. Blood Wedding (1981)
Not Rated | 67 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A group of dancers puts Lorca's 'Blood Wedding' on stage, the tragic play about a married man who is still in love with his ex-girlfriend, and tries to reunite with her despite her planned wedding.
Director: Carlos Saura | Stars: Antonio Gades, Cristina Hoyos, Juan Antonio Jiménez, Carmen Villena
Votes: 1,957
8. Diva (1981)
R | 117 min | Crime, Music, Thriller
Two tapes, two Parisian mob killers, one corrupt policeman, an opera fan, a teenage thief, and the coolest philosopher ever filmed all twist their way through an intricate and stylish French-language thriller.
Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix | Stars: Wilhelmenia Fernandez, Frédéric Andréi, Roland Bertin, Richard Bohringer
Votes: 14,310 | Gross: $0.11M
9. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
The sensuous wife of a roadside diner proprietor and a rootless drifter begin a sordid, steamy affair and conspire to murder her Greek husband.
Director: Bob Rafelson | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange, John Colicos, Michael Lerner
Votes: 25,772 | Gross: $12.38M
10. Thief (1981)
R | 123 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ace safe cracker wants to do one last big heist for the mob before going straight.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson, Jim Belushi
Votes: 38,954 | Gross: $11.49M
11. Excalibur (1981)
PG | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Merlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi
Votes: 67,144 | Gross: $34.97M
12. Pixote (1980)
TV-MA | 128 min | Crime, Drama
The life of a boy on the streets of Sao Paulo, involved with crimes, prostitution, and drugs.
Director: Hector Babenco | Stars: Fernando Ramos da Silva, Jorge Julião, Gilberto Moura, Edilson Lino
Votes: 9,230
13. Escape from New York (1981)
R | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 157,428 | Gross: $25.24M
14. Possession (1981)
R | 124 min | Drama, Horror
A woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something much more sinister.
Director: Andrzej Zulawski | Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Margit Carstensen, Heinz Bennent
Votes: 42,800 | Gross: $1.11M
15. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
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: 1,036,646 | Gross: $248.16M
16. For Your Eyes Only (1981)
PG | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
Secret service agent James Bond is assigned to find a missing British vessel equipped with a weapons encryption device and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.
Director: John Glen | Stars: Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson
Votes: 108,273 | Gross: $62.30M
17. Victory (1981)
PG | 116 min | Drama, Sport, War
As allied P.O.W.s prepare for a soccer game against the German National Team to be played in Nazi-occupied Paris, the French Resistance and British officers are making plans for the team's escape.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, Pelé, Bobby Moore
Votes: 33,264 | Gross: $10.85M
18. Blow Out (1981)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A movie sound recordist accidentally records the evidence that proves that a car accident was actually murder and consequently finds himself in danger.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz
Votes: 63,224 | Gross: $13.75M
19. One from the Heart (1981)
R | 107 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A couple has a fight after living together 5 years in Las Vegas. They go out and celebrate 4th of July, each with a new partner. Breakup?
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Raul Julia, Nastassja Kinski
Votes: 7,228 | Gross: $0.64M
20. Prince of the City (1981)
R | 167 min | Crime, Drama
A New York City narcotics detective reluctantly agrees to cooperate with a special commission investigating police corruption, and soon realises he's in over his head, and nobody can be trusted.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Treat Williams, Jerry Orbach, Richard Foronjy, Don Billett
Votes: 9,518 | Gross: $8.12M
21. Lola (1981)
R | 115 min | Drama, Romance
A seductive cabaret singer-prostitute pits a corrupt building contractor against the new straight-arrow building commissioner, launching an outrageous plan to elevate herself in a world where everything-and everyone-is for sale.
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Barbara Sukowa, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Mario Adorf, Matthias Fuchs
Votes: 6,822
22. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror
Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
Director: John Landis | Stars: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher, Griffin Dunne
Votes: 120,454 | Gross: $30.57M
23. The Skin (1981)
Not Rated | 131 min | Drama, War
After the Allies liberate Naples in 1943, the life for the locals is not much easier, especially for women. Many sacrifice their dignity and morale to survive.
Director: Liliana Cavani | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Ken Marshall, Alexandra King, Carlo Giuffrè
Votes: 1,292
24. Body Heat (1981)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
During an extreme heatwave, a beautiful Florida woman and a seedy lawyer engage in an affair while plotting the murder of her rich husband.
Director: Lawrence Kasdan | Stars: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson
Votes: 40,121 | Gross: $24.06M
25. Sweet Dreams (1981)
105 min | Comedy, Drama
Michele criticizes the film industry and its inhabitants, and is particularly embattled with a Neapolitan director making a musical about the 1968 student demonstrations. At the same time, ... See full summary »
Director: Nanni Moretti | Stars: Nanni Moretti, Dario Cantarelli, Nicola Di Pinto, Alessandro Haber
Votes: 1,290
26. Das Boot (1981)
R | 149 min | Drama, War
A German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch
Votes: 264,271 | Gross: $11.49M
27. The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)
R | 124 min | Drama, Romance
Anna and Mike portray two characters in a film set in 19th century England who fall in love despite the fact that Mike's character is engaged.
Director: Karel Reisz | Stars: Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Hilton McRae, Emily Morgan
Votes: 15,065 | Gross: $22.60M
28. Southern Comfort (1981)
R | 106 min | Action, Thriller
During a routine exercise, a team of National Guardsmen are threatened by angry and violent locals.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Fred Ward, Franklyn Seales
Votes: 21,895 | Gross: $5.00M
29. True Confessions (1981)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama
A worldly ambitious monsignor clashes with his older brother, a cynical Los Angeles homicide detective who is investigating the brutal murder of a young prostitute.
Director: Ulu Grosbard | Stars: Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Charles Durning, Kenneth McMillan
Votes: 8,858 | Gross: $10.20M
30. The Woman Next Door (1981)
R | 106 min | Drama, Romance
Two ex-lovers wind up living next door to each other with their respective spouses. Forbidden passions ensue.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Fanny Ardant, Henri Garcin, Michèle Baumgartner
Votes: 8,808
31. Brideshead Revisited (1981)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, Romance
The life, friendships and romances of the protagonist Charles Ryder-including his friendship with the Flytes, a family of wealthy English Catholics who live in a palatial mansion called Brideshead Castle.
Stars: Jeremy Irons, Diana Quick, Roger Milner, Phoebe Nicholls
Votes: 8,036
32. The Evil Dead (1981)
NC-17 | 85 min | Horror
Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker
Votes: 232,335 | Gross: $2.40M
33. Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981)
R | 119 min | Comedy, Drama
Ken Harrison is an artist who makes sculptures. One day he is involved in a car accident, and is paralyzed from his neck down. All he can do is talk, and he wants to die. In hospital he ... See full summary »
Director: John Badham | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, John Cassavetes, Christine Lahti, Bob Balaban
Votes: 3,550 | Gross: $8.21M
34. Reds (1981)
PG | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
A radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia, and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.
Director: Warren Beatty | Stars: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Edward Herrmann, Jerzy Kosinski
Votes: 24,711 | Gross: $40.38M
35. On Golden Pond (1981)
PG | 109 min | Drama
Norman is a curmudgeon with an estranged relationship with his daughter Chelsea. At Golden Pond, he and his wife nevertheless agree to care for Billy, the son of Chelsea's new boyfriend, and a most unexpected relationship blooms.
Director: Mark Rydell | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon
Votes: 34,848 | Gross: $119.29M
36. Pennies from Heaven (1981)
R | 108 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
During the Great Depression, a sheet-music salesman seeks to escape his dreary life through popular music and a love affair with an innocent schoolteacher.
Director: Herbert Ross | Stars: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Jessica Harper, Vernel Bagneris
Votes: 6,175 | Gross: $9.18M
37. Quest for Fire (1981)
R | 100 min | Adventure, Drama
This story takes place in prehistoric time when three tribesmen search for a new fire source.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nicholas Kadi, Rae Dawn Chong
Votes: 24,112 | Gross: $20.96M
38. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
R | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community escape a horde of bandits.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Max Phipps
Votes: 193,627 | Gross: $12.47M
39. Fantasma d'amore (1981)
96 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Over two decades after their affair ended, a married man is haunted by the presence of his former lover.
Director: Dino Risi | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Romy Schneider, Eva Maria Meineke, Wolfgang Preiss
Votes: 819
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