53rd Academy Awards (1980)
by Erinaceus | created - 24 Dec 2015 | updated - 24 Dec 2015 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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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
Winner - Best Picture Winner - Best Director for Robert Redford Nominated - Best Actress for Mary Tyler Moore Winner - Best Supporting Actor for Timothy Hutton Nominated - Best Supporting Actor for Judd Hirsch Winner - Best Adapted Screenplay for Alvin Sargent
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
Nominated - Best Picture Winner - Best Actress for Sissy Spacek Nominated - Best Adapted Screenplay for Tom Rickman Nominated - Best Film Editing for Arthur Schmidt Nominated - Best Art Direction Nominated - Best Cinematography for Ralf D. Bode Nominated - Best Sound
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: 258,623
Nominated - Best Picture Nominated - Best Director for David Lynch Nominated - Best Actor for John Hurt Nominated - Best Adapted Screenplay for Christopher DeVore, Eric Bergren and David Lynch Nominated - Best Film Editing for Anne V. Coates Nominated - Best Original Score John Morris Nominated - Best Art Direction Nominated - Best Costume Design for Patricia Norris
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: 380,496 | Gross: $23.38M
Nominated - Best Picture Nominated - Best Director for Martin Scorsese Winner - Best Actor for Robert De Niro Nominated - Best Supporting Actor for Joe Pesci Nominated - Best Supporting Actress for Cathy Moriarty Winner - Best Film Editing for Thelma Schoonmaker Nominated - Best Cinematography for Michael Chapman Nominated - Best Sound
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
Nominated - Best Picture Nominated - Best Director for Roman Polanski Nominated - Best Original Score for Philippe Sarde Winner - Best Art Direction Winner - Best Cinematography for Geoffrey Unsworth and Ghislain Cloquet Winner - Best Costume Design for Anthony Powell
6. 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
Nominated - Best Director for Richard Rush Nominated - Best Actor for Peter O'Toole Nominated - Best Adapted Screenplay for Lawrence B. Marcus and Richard Rush
7. 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
Nominated - Best Actor for Robert Duvall Nominated - Best Supporting Actor for Michael O'Keefe
8. 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
Nominated - Best Actor for Jack Lemmon
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
Nominated - Best Actress for Ellen Burstyn Nominated - Best Supporting Actress for Eva Le Gallienne
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
Nominated - Best Actress for Goldie Hawn Nominated - Best Supporting Actress for Eileen Brennan Nominated - Best Original Screenplay for Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer and Harvey Miller
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
Nominated - Best Actress for Gena Rowlands
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
Nominated - Best Supporting Actor for Jason Robarbs Winner - Best Supporting Actress for Mary Steenburgen Winner - Best Original Screenplay for Bo Goldman
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
Nominated - Best Supporting Actress for Diana Scarwid
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
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay for W. D. Richter and Arthur Ross
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: 24,718 | Gross: $0.12M
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay for Christopher Gore Nominated - Best Film Editing for Gerry Hambling Winner - Best Original Score for Michael Gore Winner - Best Original Song for "Fame" Nominated - Best Original Song for "Out Here on My Own" Nominated - Best Sound
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
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay for Jean Gruault
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: 14,444 | Gross: $7.14M
Nominated - Best Adapted Screenplay for Jonathan Hardy, David Stevens and Bruce Beresford
18. 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
Winner - Best Foreign Language Film (U.S.S.R.)
19. 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
Nominated - Best Foreign Language Film (Hungary)
20. 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: 38,214
Nominated - Best Foreign Language Film (Japan) Nominated - Best Art Direction
21. 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
Nominated - Best Foreign Language Film (France)
22. 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
Nominated - Best Foreign Language Film (Spain)
23. 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
Nominated - Best Film Editing for David Blewitt Nominated - Best Original Song for "People Alone"
24. From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China (1979)
G | 84 min | Documentary, Music
Isaac Stern's cultural tour of China is seen, with the master violinist performing and mentoring young Chinese musicians. He visits rehearsals of the Peking Opera, meeting with their ... See full summary »
Director: Murray Lerner | Stars: Isaac Stern, David Golub, Delun Li, Ching-Ling Soong
Votes: 511
Winner - Best Documentary Feature
25. Agee (1980)
Unrated | 98 min | Documentary
Agee is the only film biography of a major American writer to be nominated for and Academy Award. Ever.
Director: Ross Spears | Stars: James Agee, Mia Agee, Mae Burroughs, Jimmy Carter
Votes: 53
Nominated - Best Documentary Feature
26. The Day After Trinity (1981)
Not Rated | 88 min | Documentary, Biography
Scientists and witnesses involved in the creation and testing of the first ever atomic bomb reflect on the Manhattan project and its fascinating leader, J. Robert Oppenheimer, who upon ... See full summary »
Director: Jon Else | Stars: Hans Bethe, Holm Bursom, Haakon Chevalier, Stirling Colgate
Votes: 1,235
Nominated - Best Documentary Feature
27. Front Line (1979)
56 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A profile of Tasmanian-born combat cameraman Neil Davis, particularly his time in South Vietnam and Cambodia in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Director: David Bradbury | Stars: Richard Oxenburgh, Neil Davis
Votes: 48
Nominated - Best Documentary Feature
28. The Yellow Star: The Persecution of the Jews in Europe - 1933-1945 (1981)
89 min | Documentary, Drama, History
With a great archive footage coming from 16 countries, this Oscar nominated documentary briefly presents some of the most important facts about the Nazist persecution against Jews in Europe, starting with Hitler's rise to the power.
Director: Dieter Hildebrandt | Stars: Alexander Scourby, Holger Hagen, Helga Mayer-Maynard, Simon Wiesenthal
Votes: 115
Nominated - Best Documentary Feature
29. Karl Hess: Toward Liberty (1980)
26 min | Documentary, Short, Biography
A look at Karl Hess, libertarian intellectual and activist, from his background as a magazine editor in his youth to his work as a Republican speechwriter, as he became simultaneously a ... See full summary »
Directors: Roland Hallé, Peter W. Ladue | Stars: Karl Hess, Kevin Burns, Barry Goldwater, Adolf Hitler
Votes: 74
Winner - Best Documentary Short
30. Don't Mess with Bill (1980)
11 min | Documentary, Short
At eighty-four, Bill Underwood is a specialist in his own brand of self defense, which he still teaches to police, students and senior citizens.
Nominated - Best Documentary Short
31. The Eruption of Mount St. Helens! (1980)
25 min | Documentary, Short
Marvel at the awesome power of nature as photography displays the change evoked by a massive volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens and the renewal process which followed when the entire ... See full summary »
Director: George Casey | Star: Robert Foxworth
Votes: 175
Nominated - Best Documentary Short
32. It's the Same World (1981)
20 min | Documentary, Short
It's the Same World depicts disabled individuals across the globe who seek full participation and equality.
Director: Dick Young | Star: Tom Sullivan
Votes: 16
Nominated - Best Documentary Short
33. Luther Metke at 94 (1980)
27 min | Documentary, Short
This documentary short is about 94-year-old Luther Metke who has been building cabins since he was 15. It also recounts his time in the Spanish-American War and his family life.
Director: Jorge Preloran
Votes: 24
Nominated - Best Documentary Short
34. The Dollar Bottom (1981)
G | 33 min | Short
Light-hearted tale about an enterprising Edinburgh boarding school boy who sets up an insurance scheme for fellow pupils in 1953 against getting caned, which quickly earns him a small fortune
Director: Roger Christian | Stars: Robert Urquhart, Rikki Fulton, Jonathan McNeil, Angus Kittler Reid
Votes: 47
Winner - Best Live Action Short
35. Fall Line (1981)
G | 12 min | Short, Sport
Visually spectacular film about a recent development of extreme skiing, climbing to the top of one the peaks in the Grand Tetons and skiing down the extreme slopes. It follows one skier, Steve Shea, who had a exciting dangerous trip down..
Director: Bob Carmichael
Votes: 30
Nominated - Best Live Action Short
36. A Jury of Her Peers (1980)
30 min | Short, Crime, Drama
A farm woman is accused of murdering her husband in early 1900's Midwest America.
Director: Sally Heckel | Stars: Diane de Lorian, Dorothy Lancaster, Sheila Hinchliffe, Mark Margolis
Votes: 69
Nominated - Best Live Action Short
37. The Fly (1980)
3 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
A fine day in the life of a fly presented completely from the fly's point of view. A fine day until something dreary happens, that is.
Director: Ferenc Rofusz
Votes: 1,990
Winner - Best Animated Short
38. Tout rien (1978)
11 min | Animation, Short
An illustration of beings in a world where countless plant and animal species rapidly become extinct, and resources run dry due to greed. However, it is possible to avoid disaster by conserving and sharing what we have.
Director: Frédéric Back
Votes: 419
Nominated - Best Animated Short
39. History of the World in Three Minutes Flat (1980)
4 min | Animation, Short
An interpretation of the history of the World in Three Minutes.
Director: Michael Mills | Stars: Vlasta Vrana, Michael Mills
Votes: 190
Nominated - Best Animated Short
40. 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: 38,662 | Gross: $19.85M
Nominated - Best Original Score for John Corigliano Nominated - Best Sound
41. 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: 1,380,996 | Gross: $290.48M
Nominated - Best Original Score for John Williams Nominated - Best Art Direction Winner - Best Sound
42. 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
Nominated - Best Original Song for "9 to 5"
43. 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
Nominated - Best Original Song for "On the Road Again"
44. 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: 76,614 | Gross: $58.85M
Nominated - Best Cinematography for Nestor Almendros
45. 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
Nominated - Best Cinematography for James Crabe
46. 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
Nominated - Best Costume Design for Anna Senior
47. 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: 32,564 | Gross: $9.71M
Nominated - Best Costume Design for Jean-Pierre Dorleac
48. 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
Nominated - Best Costume Design for Paul Zastupnevich
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