BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR

YEAR BY YEAR

The 1980s

Continuing my series of posts on my favorite movies of each year, we now get to the crazy 80s.  The decade of the 1980's was my decade. I primarily grew up in the 80s.  In 1980, I was 9 and in 1990, I was 19.  I saw most of the movies of the decade except for R rated features as I was still too young but I saw most of them later in life on tape.  But what an interesting decade for movies it was!  

There were a couple of great biopic flicks of the decade mixed in with a few great action and adventure movies and a ton of sequels.  

So, in that vein I'm going to break with only one pick for each year and make three picks for each year:  a personal favorite pick, a best sequel pick, and an acclaimed pick.  

Note - By way of explanation about the acclaimed pick, this will be a movie that was highly lauded at the time or has come to be known as a classic of it's time.  

Also, the sequel pick will allow me to deal with the Star Wars sequels without having to make them my only pick for the year.  And why a sequel pick at all?  Now The Empire Strikes Back of 1980 and Return of the Jedi in 1983 are no doubt beloved and of high quality, but think of them as independent movies.  Can either stand on its own without their predecessors?  I would argue no, especially Empire which has absolutely no exposition and no real conclusion.  Jedi doesn't suffer as much as Empire does but without Empire, Jedi doesn't retain its emotional and cathartic power as a concluding chapter of a trilogy of movies.  Therefore, I can't pick Empire or Jedi as the best movie of their respective years as they are not really complete movie experiences. 

The only year that I'm going to have break my tri-pick is 1988 because the pickings were slim that year.  Also, for a few years I will mention some extra movies because the year was so packed with great movies that made an impact on me.

So, enough explanation and exposition and without further ado let's get to the picks.

1980

Personal Pick - The Jazz Singer

The Jazz Singer? You mean that movie with Neil Diamond?  Yep, that's the one. I picked this movie because not only am I a huge Neil Diamond fan, but this is a really enjoyable, well-made movie.  A remake of the first talking picture, this version was just right for the time and what great songs from Diamond.  I used to listen to the soundtrack to this movie all the time and I'm a legend at karaoke with "Love on the Rocks".  And if you understand my love for musicals, you may understand why I would enjoy a movie like this.

Best Sequel of the Year - The Empire Strikes Back

What can be said about Empire that hasn't already been said?  Some consider it the finest sequel ever and it can't be denied that it is truly great as all the characters are expanded upon and the plight of the heroes is heightened to an almost unbearable level leading to one of the greatest reveals and cliffhangers ever on film.  With another classic score by John Williams and a standout performance from Mark Hamill as my hero, Luke Skywalker, Empire stands as most people's easy pick for movie of the year, but due to it's transitory nature, I can't name it a complete film.  Therefore its placement here in the sequel category.

Sidenote - Runner-Up Best Sequel - Superman II

Superman returned to the big screen in 1981 with fantastic results taking off right where the first movie left off completing story elements from the first film.  Some consider the sequel even better than the original with an even better performance from Christopher Reeves and an iconic turn from Terence Stamp as General Zod.  A great sequel!

Acclaimed Pick - The Elephant Man

With an unforgettable performance from its lead actor and directed by David Lynch, The Elephant Man starring Jon Hurt and Anthony Hopkins is a biopic film shot in black and white, of staggering power and emotion almost to the point of being watchable only every once in a while but great nonetheless.

1981

Personal Pick - Raiders of the Lost Ark

George Lucas and Steven Speilberg team up and deliver one of the greatest adventure films of all time.  Indiana Jones became an iconic onscreen character expertly portrayed by Harrison Ford also featuring another iconic score from John Williams.  Adventure truly had a name after Raiders.

Sidenote - Classic Fantasy Films of 1981

Clash of the Titans - Excalibur - Dragonslayer

During the 80s the fantasy film made its presence felt with varying degrees of success.  Their were bad ones such as Krull in 1983 (bad mainly due to budgetary constraints) but there were also good ones such as those above.  Clash of the Titans was a Ray Harryhausen specialty, Excalibur is probably the best film on the Aurthurian legend, and Dragonslayer was a true fantasy sword and sorcery film.  Each one of them were formative films to me and were wonderful times at the movies.

Best Sequel of the Year - For Your Eyes Only

Although the James Bond movies are more just a series of movies with the same character instead of sequels, I'm going to put the best Roger Moore outing as Bond here.  For Your Eyes Only is one of the best Bond movies ever (though a few steps behind the Sean Connery-helmed movies).  A simplified Cold War plot with great action set pieces,chases, and a great Bond girl.  Moore applies his smooth take on the character and Bond comes out on top in a bit of an anticlimactic ending (and don't forget that theme song by the ravishing Sheena Easton).

Acclaimed Pick - Chariots of Fire

The Best Picture winner of the year is the story of the 1920 British Olympic Track team as told in this near perfect movie with an often parodied iconic score by Vangelis.  Though the movie may be a little slow, it builds to an amazing climax as Eric Lyddel runs to Olympic glory and the glory of God.  Amazing payoff.

1982

Personal Pick - The Thing

Though I didn't see it at the time due to its R rating, this remake was astonishing.  An amazing ensemble cast lead by Kurt Russell in his finest performance, The Thing showcased amazing creature and makeup effects in one of the greatest horror movies ever. 

Sidenote - Guilty Pleasure - The Beastmaster

Another of those fantasy movies of the 80s, The Beastmaster was, once again, a sword and sorcery epic that was action packed with beautiful cinematography and music.  I just had to mention this one.  And on the topic of fantasy movies, I also have to mention a film I didn't see at the time (once again due to its R rating) was Conan the Barbarian starring a brand new strongman named Arnold Schwarzenegger.  A very unique movie with very little dialogue but great cinematography and score by Basil Poledouris and a menacing performance by James Earl Jones, Conan was another fantasy movie of the 80s that has become iconic.

Best Sequel of the Year - (Tie) Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan/Rocky III

After a lackluster return of the original Star Trek cast in 1978 in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the cast once again returned in one of the best sequels ever with a villain from the original television series in a barn-storming performance by Ricardo Montalban and one of William Shatner and Leornard Nimoy's finest performances in an unexpected ending that set up future Trek movies.  No one realized that this would be the beginning of the Trek Trilogy but it lead to two later movies that I will address later.

Rocky was a good movie and a Best Picture winner.  Rocky II was a bit better as a complete movie with Rocky finally winning the big one.  Then along came Rocky III and it is IMHO the best Rocky movie of all of them.  The story came full circle with pathos and triumph and introduced the world to Mr T.  Sylvester Stallone gives a great performance as Rocky in his prime as an actor in one of the best sequels ever.

Acclaimed Pick - Gandhi

Ben Kingsley delivers one of the greatest performances ever on film in this biopic Best Picture winner.  From director Richard Attenborough, Gandhi is easily one of the greatest films of all time.  This film must not be overlooked and may be the greatest film of the 80s.

Side note - 1982 also saw the release of one of the most financially successful movies of all time in ET: the Extra-Terrestrial from Spielberg.  I've never been a huge fan of this movie but I have to mention the ending of the film which features a rapturous score accompaniment by John Williams.  For the final 15 minutes of the film, it's non-stop Williams' music, eventually subsuming most of the sound of the film in an exaltation of John Williams music.  It is a film conclusion for the ages and even if you haven't necessarily enjoyed the movie, that ending is worth the price of admission. 

So, I've covered the first three years of the decade and as this post is getting a bit long, I'll stop here and continue with the next three years in a later post.