1980s Best Movies

Johnny Dangerously (1984)

Johnny Kelly (Michael Keaton) lives a double life: at home, he’s the good apple, looking after his ailing mother (Maureen Stapleton) and sexually obsessed brother, Tommy (Griffin Dunne). But his not-so-secret life is as Johnny Dangerously, an up-and-coming criminal being groomed by local gangster Jocko Dundee (Peter Boyle). Johnny’s crime money puts Tommy through law school, but, when his brother becomes district attorney, Johnny must protect him from the murderous Danny Vermin (Joe Piscopo).

The Color of Money (1986)

Former pool hustler “Fast Eddie” Felson (Paul Newman) decides he wants to return to the game by taking a pupil. He meets talented but green Vincent Lauria (Tom Cruise) and proposes a partnership. As they tour pool halls, Eddie teaches Vincent the tricks of scamming, but he eventually grows frustrated with Vincent’s showboat antics, leading to an argument and a falling-out. Eddie takes up playing again and soon crosses paths with Vincent as an opponent.

Back to The Beach (1987)

1950s movie darlings Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello take a break from their normal Midwestern routine to visit their daughter at her southern California beach apartment. At first bewildered by the new wave lifestyle they encounter, Frankie and Annette soon join the fun to become a beach couple of the 1980s.

Innerspace (1987)

A scientifically miniaturized marine unexpectedly finds himself floating around the body of a hypochondriac and trying to outwit saboteurs who want the device that shrank him. Attempts by his colleagues to retrieve the little man – protected inside a tiny submersible – are hampered by the would-be thieves.

Purple Rain (1984)

A victim of his own anger, the Kid (Prince) is a Minneapolis musician on the rise with his band, the Revolution, escaping a tumultuous home life through music. While trying to avoid making the same mistakes as his truculent father (Clarence Williams III), the Kid navigates the club scene and a rocky relationship with a captivating singer, Apollonia (Apollonia Kotero). But another musician, Morris (Morris Day), looks to steal the Kid’s spotlight — and his girl.

The Cannonball Run (1981)

Contestants in a cross-country car race from Connecticut to California include a speed-loving racing driver disguised as an ambulance driver and his dimwitted sidekick, a pair of Ferrari-driving priests, and a James Bond-type character kitted out with secret weapons. Jackie Chan appears in one of his first US film roles.

My Science Project (1985)

Michael (John Stockwell) and his girlfriend Ellie (Danielle von Zerneck) break into a military junkyard to find a science project for Michael’s class. They instead discover a strange glowing orb that absorbs electricity. When the orb begins to blend past, present, and future, it’s up to Michael and Ellie to stop the orb and save mankind.

The Final Countdown (1980)

A Pacific aircraft carrier enters a time warp and finds itself transported from 1980 to 1941 – just before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The captain is forced to decide whether to strike at the approaching Japanese fleet and change the entire course of World War II.