7 Movies From the 1980s You Forgot Were Awesome

There are any number of films from the 1980s that are considered classics today. Some of them were seen as such at the time, including Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Airplane!, Raging Bull, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and the like. Others took time to be seen as the masterworks they are, e.g. Blade Runner, The Thing, and The Shining. But these following movies? They have their fans, but we’d be hard-pressed to say they’re viewed as classics of 1980s cinema. Yet they very much deserve to be seen in the same light as those aforementioned films.

From a few crime movies to a classic about selling cars, all of these ’80s flicks are well worth your time. Give them a shot come movie night.

7) Midnight Run

Buddy comedies are a well-worn subgenre of the movie industry, and Midnight Run is one of the best. Between this and 48 Hrs. it’s hard to say which one is the best of the ’80s.

It all comes down to chemistry and how well the two leads can play diametrically opposite characters. And, in the case of Midnight Run, Robert De Niro makes for the perfect bounty hunter to Charles Grodin’s on-the-run white collar criminal. We believe De Niro’s frustration just as much as we believe Grodin’s desperation, and in time their growing bond becomes equally convincing.

6) Used Cars

For the most part, Kurt Russell is known for being an action star. But he’s just as formidable a grinning comedian, as was proved by Robert Zemeckis’ Used Cars, Russell’s very first adult role after spending over a decade as a child actor in live-action Disney movies (though he still voiced Copper the next year in The Fox and the Hound, so he wasn’t entirely done with the Mouse House).

Watching characters try to one-up each other is a staple of the comedy genre, and it’s a testament to Used Cars that such a competitive nature is a major part of the plot, yet it never gets old. On top of Russell’s charismatic lead role, Joe Flaherty (Freaks and Geeks) and Jack Wardon (Heaven Can Wait) also turn in in particularly memorable supporting performances.

Stream Used Cars for free with ads on The Roku Channel.

5) Halloween III: Season of the Witch

Halloween III: Season of the Witch was supposed to turn the Michael Myers franchise into more of an anthology franchise, but it didn’t pan out. People were disappointed not to see the masked killer they got to not know in Halloween and Halloween II.

But time has been incredibly kind to the outright wacky Halloween III. Not all of it makes sense, but for those who can get something out of a movie about a plot to kill kids with Halloween masks and the existence of killer robots, this is the movie for you.

4) Silkwood

Silkwood isn’t a feel-good movie, but it is a necessary watch. It’s a devastating look at how doing the right thing always seems to carry a heavy price when the altruist is facing a money-focused giant.

As is true with any Meryl Streep movie, her performance is certainly a highlight, but so too is the work by Cher (even better here than she was in Moonstruck) and Kurt Russell. Toss in assured direction by Mike Nichols and this is the ultimate whistleblower companion piece to Erin Brockovich.

Stream Silkwood for free on Hoopla.

3) The Dead Zone

The Dead Zone is a well-respected Stephen King movie, but it shouldn’t just be seen as an excellent Kind adaptation…it should be seen as one of the very best. It’s also an important entry in David Cronenberg’s catalogue, showing him to be a unique artist who can nonetheless merge his sensibilities with another unique artist’s established tone.

Like the book upon which it’s based, The Dead Zone‘s plot clicks along at a perfect pace. It’s almost like a superhero origin story, starting in tragedy before moving onto its protagonist getting a special skill which he uses to help folks before ultimately stopping a true monster.

Stream The Dead Zone on fuboTV.

2) Thief

Before Heat and The Last of the Mohicans, Michael Mann made his directorial debut with the stylish, intimate neo-noir classic Thief. Starring the late James Caan as a safecracker who is ready to put his illegal career in the past, it’s a character-focused piece that does a great job of making the viewer feel the walls closing in on the protagonist.

With a few intense heist sequences, a solid script by Mann, and note-perfect performances by Caan and Tuesday Weld, Thief is a winner. Not to mention, it has a soundtrack by Tangerine Dream, and per usual their compositions couldn’t be any more fitting.

Stream Thief on MGM+.

1) To Live and Die in L.A.

William Friedkin’s name is primarily known for The French Connection and The Exorcist, but To Live and Die in L.A. is just as fantastic. It makes you feel like you’re in ’80s Los Angeles even more than Miami Vice.

Speaking of Miami Vice, that’s a good comparison to this film. To Live and Die in L.A. is essentially a gritty, unpredictable version of that show. And, like Miami Vice, it has a top-tier soundtrack. Between Manhunter and this, William Petersen’s brief career as a leading man movie star certainly had found itself grounded in a particular type of tone, and it works perfectly in both. Plus, you get a pre-Platoon Willem Dafoe in the villain role. To Live and Die in L.A. is a delight that keeps you on the edge of your seat all throughout.

Stream To Live and Die in L.A. on The Roku Channel.

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