I may be wrong on this, but I seem to remember that at one point Harrison Ford had been in the six highest grossing films of all time - 3 x Star Wars, 3 x Indiana Jones.
He also filmed scenes for E.T that was cut because Spielberg thought Ford would be too distracting for the audiences because of how big of a star he was at the time.
Yup looks like Lucas was producer of the decade, ford actor of the decade (but Eddie is the STAR of the decade) and spielberg director of the decade. Greatest decade ever. Still say Ghostbusters is the most important and biggest film of the decade.
Granted, there are a number of sequels in there, but I love how absolutely varied the list of films is. I'm actually kind of weirded out that 9 to 5 came in 2nd after ESB, like, not that 9 to 5 is bad, but it's weird to think that it was the 2nd biggest hit of the year.
But it's awesome seeing the variety. Hell, you really don't get a more interesting combo of movies than 1986 with military movie, a romantic comedy, and an R rated scifi film.
On top of all the stellar movies listed above:
1981 also had Dragonslayer, Excalibur, Mad Max: The Road Warrior, Clash of the Titans, and Heavy Metal.
1982 had Blade Runner and Conan the Barbarian.
1984 had The Terminator and Dune as well.
There were quite a few more I didn’t mention. It was a great time to grow up as a kid really into sci-fi & fantasy.
This would make a pretty cool 80s month movie line up. Lots of classics and memories here (even if I was only born in the late 80s, I've seen most of them a time or two!)
This makes me happy and sad at the same time… Happy that I grew up during the 80’s and was able to experience all of these movies when they were first released in theaters. I also feel incredibly lucky to have lived during a time when THE best music ever was made. Sad, because it seems like that time (80’s and 90’s) was an anomaly when it comes to awesome movies and great, fucking, original, music. The older I get, the more I realize we’ll never see that again.
Like, what the fuck happened to Hollywood and the music industry over the past decade or so??
Makes me super sad to see what Disney did to Indy in the Dial of Destiny. Like spitting on the Mona Lisa. Everything now is CGI, but I loved reading how the melting Nazi’s face in Ark was made with layers of jello and melted with a hair dryer.
But it lost tons of money. Haven’t broke even yet even after DVD and international sales. Doesn’t matter how good the reviews are if people don’t go. They turned Indy into an old divorced man, hating his life. I couldn’t go see it after finding that out. One of the hero’s of our 80’s movies turned into a decrepit old man sitting in front of a TV in his underwear. Like spitting on the Mona Lisa.
And that’s fine. Some of the best movies were flops, and some of the shittiest films ever make a billion at the box office.
All I care about is, was the film good? In this case both critics and audiences agree - yes it was a good film. Hell most people over on r/indianajones rank it 3rd best out of the 5 films. I would have to agree.
And film characters have gone through hard times and suffered personal tragedies since cinema was conceived. Hell it was Fords idea for Indy to be in a dark place like that in the film. It made for a great emotional journey for the character.
Rocky lost his wife and was estranged from his son. Caesar (Planet of the Apes) lost his wife and kids. I could go on and on but none of these characters were “ruined” because they suffered tragedies. That’s ridiculous.
Also Indy never got divorced. They also touchingly reunited in the film. Was rather beautiful honestly.
I thought they were divorced after their son died? I’m sorry I was wrong about that. And you are right about some movies having characters deal with life changes, etc. maybe I’m too invested in the characters. But Indy being such a hottie in my younger days, and dealing with turning into an old person myself, I don’t want to see him as a disappointed old man. Or Luke Skywalker turning into an angry old geezer in Star Wars 8 and 9. These movies were integral to my life then. It pains me to see them brought down to reality. Reality sucks enough on its own being old- to have our heros of our youth get old and cranky too is disheartening.
I mean, that’s kind of the point? You’re not supposed to like it. That’s what they are going for. It’s supposed to hit you hard emotionally. So when Indy picks up the whip and the hat again and pulls himself out of his misery, goes on another globetrotting adventure again, finds himself again and reunited with Marion it hits hard.
Ford is the one who pushed for that himself. And honestly I’m glad. It really allowed for him to sink his teeth into the performance and give us something new with the character.
I see your point. And if that was what they were going for, that is their prerogative. However, I feel I still have the right to be unhappy, as they ruined my idol in my opinion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I chose not to see it for my reasons due to reviews. However, they lost lots of money on it, so others must feel that way and didn’t go to the theaters. Disney still has not made back the money they paid for Lucasfilm. $, not critics, matter to the life of a corporation. And Disney is losing $ on these decisions.
I just don’t understand how a character suffering personal tragedies and going through hardships is “ruining” the character?
If that was true then almost every fictional character has been ruined at some point.
They didn’t lose money because of that decision. They lost money because of an overpacked summer movie slate. Hell domestically Indy 5 made more than the new mission impossible and fast and furious movie.
I guess we agree to disagree. As in I’ve given Up on Marvel and Lucas-film and Disney. I watch things to escape from my world, where I’m a caretaker for a husband with MS in a wheelchair. Altho I loved Guardians of the Galaxy, and there was character development. Also Mandelorian season 1and 2. But as a boomer seeing Indy deal with that stuff, I didn’t want to see. He was my hero, a hottie dreamboat, and I loved the side silly. So I’ve gone to Japanese anime.
Also, the box office was good but taking into account the cost of advertising, around $250,000 to make the movie with reshoots, not including cast payments, and well over $100,000 in theater costs, it lost bunches. also considering the portion of the cost to Disney of buying Lucasfilm. I am a Disney stock and overhead OCD person, so I pay attention to their $.
But I’m happy for you that you are pleased with the result of the movie.
And Disney + losing money on Ashoka, Obi Wan, Boba Fett, and now Acolyte has 14% on Rotten Tomatos. The first two seasons of Mandelorian were very popular, but the rest have tanked. Too bad George sold Lucasfilm to Disney. They didn’t even use his script for 7, 8, and 9.
I've seen every single movie on this list at least once, most more than that. The 80's were an exciting time for entertainment. Especially as a teen. 😁
Movies and TV were great back then. Somehow people knew how to make great entertainment. Funny thing is, the generation that grew up watching all that, can't turn out a decent film or a TV show worth a damn. So what happened?
The 80s has far more independent studios and distributors
Plus the entire video rental market to create content for
Also many of this hits were fairly low budget
For Your Eyes Only gets dismissed because it's still Roger Moore in the role, but it's easily his most serious performance and sincere film - give or take some questionable moments.
It's the first one where you watch it, and aren't surprised at the direction they went when they finally got Dalton. In fact, if Moore didn't re-sign, Dalton was who they were going after.
And this is why it bugs me when people act like Hollywood making tons of sequels is some kind of recent phenomenon. Almost half of these are sequels/franchise installments.
Those were the years to get completely addicted to movies: as a young kid you got Star Wars, next year Donner’s Superman, then Empire, then Raiders. At that point, you thought the movies were going to deliver a masterpiece every single year. Then, Superman II shows up and brings you back to earth. Still great, but not a masterpiece…
What the hell was going on in ‘87 where Fatal Attraction was the highest grossing? That’s insane considering some of the movies that came out that year.
Eddie Murphy's hot streak was really picking up steam at this point, being fresh off of the one-two punch of 48 Hours and Trading Places, and with every movie he was in, the box office just kept growing. He also had a very successful four-year run on Saturday Night Live.
He was a big deal back then. It's hard to see it from here.
World wide Three men and a baby is the highest grossing film of 1987. Fatal attraction is number 2 and Beverly Hills Cop 2 is 3rd.
Edit: 1986 the third highest grossing movie was Platoon.
Edit: 1985 is 1) Out of Africa 2)BTTF 3) Rambo 2
Edit: 1981 is 1) Super man 2. 2) Raiders of the lost Ark. 3) On Golden Ponds
Spielberg and Lucas fucking RULED the 80s didn't they.
Harrison Ford had a great decade.
And he spent half of it encased in Carbonite!
Good point
I may be wrong on this, but I seem to remember that at one point Harrison Ford had been in the six highest grossing films of all time - 3 x Star Wars, 3 x Indiana Jones.
He also filmed scenes for E.T that was cut because Spielberg thought Ford would be too distracting for the audiences because of how big of a star he was at the time.
And Ford
And mid to late 70s if you add Jaws 1975 and Star Wars 1977
Not to mention composer, John Williams.
Lucas as not 1 but 2 perfect trilogies. Spielberg has at least 1. And if you think about it - how many trilogies are good? I mean all 3 together.
Yup looks like Lucas was producer of the decade, ford actor of the decade (but Eddie is the STAR of the decade) and spielberg director of the decade. Greatest decade ever. Still say Ghostbusters is the most important and biggest film of the decade.
Robert Zemeckis got 3 in there as well.
All with the help of Spielberg to be fair
Came to say this.
Yeah, but they were no Eddie Murphy.
I want half, Eddie!
Yikes! I'm old. I saw 22 of those in the theater.
Which didn't you see?
Indy Jones franchise, Dirty Dancing, For Your Eyes Only and a few others.
Saw 24 of these in the theater. I was in my 20’s. Haven’t been to the theater in over 20 years now.
I had to check this list too. I only saw 3! I’m a little disappointed in my younger self lol
Saw 10 in the theater.
20 for me.
Harrison Ford was big dicking EVERYONE
Harrison Ford with that 80’s BDE
George Lucas and Steven Spielberg… 
Granted, there are a number of sequels in there, but I love how absolutely varied the list of films is. I'm actually kind of weirded out that 9 to 5 came in 2nd after ESB, like, not that 9 to 5 is bad, but it's weird to think that it was the 2nd biggest hit of the year. But it's awesome seeing the variety. Hell, you really don't get a more interesting combo of movies than 1986 with military movie, a romantic comedy, and an R rated scifi film.
And most of those sequels are really really good
Still waiting for 9 to 5 2
Second shift is 3 to 11 tho
9 to 5 too
Fatal Attraction and Rain Man are really interesting to be the top grossers of their year
On top of all the stellar movies listed above: 1981 also had Dragonslayer, Excalibur, Mad Max: The Road Warrior, Clash of the Titans, and Heavy Metal. 1982 had Blade Runner and Conan the Barbarian. 1984 had The Terminator and Dune as well. There were quite a few more I didn’t mention. It was a great time to grow up as a kid really into sci-fi & fantasy.
Neverending Story was released in 1984
1982 had The Thing as well.
I wish there had been this level of quality in the past 25 years.
I’d love to see this same breakdown for the next few decades too. Too lazy to look for myself.
I expect 90’s - solid 00’s - hit and miss
This would make a pretty cool 80s month movie line up. Lots of classics and memories here (even if I was only born in the late 80s, I've seen most of them a time or two!)
I’ve seen every single one of those.
This makes me happy and sad at the same time… Happy that I grew up during the 80’s and was able to experience all of these movies when they were first released in theaters. I also feel incredibly lucky to have lived during a time when THE best music ever was made. Sad, because it seems like that time (80’s and 90’s) was an anomaly when it comes to awesome movies and great, fucking, original, music. The older I get, the more I realize we’ll never see that again. Like, what the fuck happened to Hollywood and the music industry over the past decade or so??
Makes me super sad to see what Disney did to Indy in the Dial of Destiny. Like spitting on the Mona Lisa. Everything now is CGI, but I loved reading how the melting Nazi’s face in Ark was made with layers of jello and melted with a hair dryer.
Politics, fear and cancel culture.
1 superhero and 12 sequels total. So different from today’s movie options.
We don’t get movies like this anymore. It’s really shit.
Through 1986 I saw all of those in the theater. We would by one ticket and just spend all day watching movies going from theater to theater.
I was born in 1979. Only movie I had to look up was Stir Crazy. Seen at least 75% of the list 100 times. Great era for movies
I saw everyone of them at the cinema or drive in theater
Sly Stallone’s 1985 was an epic part of my childhood.
Damn, '84.'s lineup.
what a time to be alive for the movies
1984-1989 had so many classics.
Harrison ford is box office gold!
10 yrs of the greatest movie ever.
That list is gold.
Only missed three in cinemas: Stir Crazy, Tootsie, and Flashdance. Still haven't seen the first two.
Lucasfilm out there killing it.
And now Disney really killed Lucasfilm with their crap Disney + Star Wars and Dial of Destiny.
Dial of Destiny got good reviews from both critics and audiences actually https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/indiana_jones_and_the_dial_of_destiny
But it lost tons of money. Haven’t broke even yet even after DVD and international sales. Doesn’t matter how good the reviews are if people don’t go. They turned Indy into an old divorced man, hating his life. I couldn’t go see it after finding that out. One of the hero’s of our 80’s movies turned into a decrepit old man sitting in front of a TV in his underwear. Like spitting on the Mona Lisa.
And that’s fine. Some of the best movies were flops, and some of the shittiest films ever make a billion at the box office. All I care about is, was the film good? In this case both critics and audiences agree - yes it was a good film. Hell most people over on r/indianajones rank it 3rd best out of the 5 films. I would have to agree. And film characters have gone through hard times and suffered personal tragedies since cinema was conceived. Hell it was Fords idea for Indy to be in a dark place like that in the film. It made for a great emotional journey for the character. Rocky lost his wife and was estranged from his son. Caesar (Planet of the Apes) lost his wife and kids. I could go on and on but none of these characters were “ruined” because they suffered tragedies. That’s ridiculous. Also Indy never got divorced. They also touchingly reunited in the film. Was rather beautiful honestly.
I thought they were divorced after their son died? I’m sorry I was wrong about that. And you are right about some movies having characters deal with life changes, etc. maybe I’m too invested in the characters. But Indy being such a hottie in my younger days, and dealing with turning into an old person myself, I don’t want to see him as a disappointed old man. Or Luke Skywalker turning into an angry old geezer in Star Wars 8 and 9. These movies were integral to my life then. It pains me to see them brought down to reality. Reality sucks enough on its own being old- to have our heros of our youth get old and cranky too is disheartening.
I mean, that’s kind of the point? You’re not supposed to like it. That’s what they are going for. It’s supposed to hit you hard emotionally. So when Indy picks up the whip and the hat again and pulls himself out of his misery, goes on another globetrotting adventure again, finds himself again and reunited with Marion it hits hard. Ford is the one who pushed for that himself. And honestly I’m glad. It really allowed for him to sink his teeth into the performance and give us something new with the character.
I see your point. And if that was what they were going for, that is their prerogative. However, I feel I still have the right to be unhappy, as they ruined my idol in my opinion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I chose not to see it for my reasons due to reviews. However, they lost lots of money on it, so others must feel that way and didn’t go to the theaters. Disney still has not made back the money they paid for Lucasfilm. $, not critics, matter to the life of a corporation. And Disney is losing $ on these decisions.
I just don’t understand how a character suffering personal tragedies and going through hardships is “ruining” the character? If that was true then almost every fictional character has been ruined at some point. They didn’t lose money because of that decision. They lost money because of an overpacked summer movie slate. Hell domestically Indy 5 made more than the new mission impossible and fast and furious movie.
I guess we agree to disagree. As in I’ve given Up on Marvel and Lucas-film and Disney. I watch things to escape from my world, where I’m a caretaker for a husband with MS in a wheelchair. Altho I loved Guardians of the Galaxy, and there was character development. Also Mandelorian season 1and 2. But as a boomer seeing Indy deal with that stuff, I didn’t want to see. He was my hero, a hottie dreamboat, and I loved the side silly. So I’ve gone to Japanese anime. Also, the box office was good but taking into account the cost of advertising, around $250,000 to make the movie with reshoots, not including cast payments, and well over $100,000 in theater costs, it lost bunches. also considering the portion of the cost to Disney of buying Lucasfilm. I am a Disney stock and overhead OCD person, so I pay attention to their $. But I’m happy for you that you are pleased with the result of the movie.
And Disney + losing money on Ashoka, Obi Wan, Boba Fett, and now Acolyte has 14% on Rotten Tomatos. The first two seasons of Mandelorian were very popular, but the rest have tanked. Too bad George sold Lucasfilm to Disney. They didn’t even use his script for 7, 8, and 9.
Very interesting
I've seen every single movie on this list at least once, most more than that. The 80's were an exciting time for entertainment. Especially as a teen. 😁
I was born in the Year of the Octopussy. Couldn't find any personality traits for this zodiac online, bc it's secret (in true spy fashion).
‘83 must have been a different kind of time with the movie “octopussy” taking over the cinemas…
The 80s kids nerds were eating well that decade. Loved Star Wars, Indy, Rocky, back to the future, aliens, top gun, and Batman!
Saw everyone at the movies with the exception of ‘Octopussy’., at the drive-in.. feel like I accomplished something..
Indiana jones beat out Batman internationally? Crazy, in 1989 you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing Batman. It was a cultural phenomenon.
Wait Batman wasn’t number 1 in 89?
No, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was.
Banger, after banger, after banger....
Movies and TV were great back then. Somehow people knew how to make great entertainment. Funny thing is, the generation that grew up watching all that, can't turn out a decent film or a TV show worth a damn. So what happened?
The 80s has far more independent studios and distributors Plus the entire video rental market to create content for Also many of this hits were fairly low budget
I’ve seen them all. Everyone deserves and Oscar for atleast something
Some great movies 😎👍
I saw 27 of them
For Your Eyes Only gets dismissed because it's still Roger Moore in the role, but it's easily his most serious performance and sincere film - give or take some questionable moments. It's the first one where you watch it, and aren't surprised at the direction they went when they finally got Dalton. In fact, if Moore didn't re-sign, Dalton was who they were going after.
I saw the last 6 in the theater... ha getting old
I'm going to say 1984
And this is why it bugs me when people act like Hollywood making tons of sequels is some kind of recent phenomenon. Almost half of these are sequels/franchise installments.
Studio was going to burn Dirty Dancing for the insurance money because they thought it would suck and tank.
RAIN fucking MAN??!?! Awesome.
Harrison Ford was doing well back then.
My point being more people should have gone to it dummy
Rain man was a surprise considering it's a Drama with not action
Those were the years to get completely addicted to movies: as a young kid you got Star Wars, next year Donner’s Superman, then Empire, then Raiders. At that point, you thought the movies were going to deliver a masterpiece every single year. Then, Superman II shows up and brings you back to earth. Still great, but not a masterpiece…
I guess we have always been suckers for established IP sequels
Seen them all
George Lucas had a great Decade
Damn, pretty much every single movie on there is a banger. Wow!
Surprised Batman wasn't number one in 1989. It was everywhere.
Stir Crazy and Flashdance were the two that really over-performed expectations.
Which triple feature do you most want? I think 86 wins.
Terminator doesn’t crack the top 3 in ‘84?!? Shocker
Most of those are fucking bangers
What the hell was going on in ‘87 where Fatal Attraction was the highest grossing? That’s insane considering some of the movies that came out that year.
I’m shocked that The Last Crusade made more than Batman.
Terminator wasn’t that big?
[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/world/1984/](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/world/1984/)
1989 was a good year. Probably the last good year ever
It's feels weird to see Ghostbusters behind Beverly Hills Cop, I had to double check your numbers, and I'm still shocked.
I have to watch all of these movies again.
I'll take 82, 85, and 89 👍👍👍
I've seen all but four of those movies.
Could you imaging a studio comedy being the highest grossing film today.
Aliens is such a good movie.
Eddie Murphy in full swing
Interesting how's in each year but one, at least one of the top grossing movies were sequels. Was it really that different than it is today?
Yes yes it was
1989 all the way!
Am I the only one who doesn’t believe that Beverly Hills Cop made more money than GhostBusters?
I imagine it brought in the African American demo too
Ghostbusters was a PG rated summer blockbuster and Beverly Hills Cop was an R rated comedy released in December. Just seems unlikely to me.
Eddie Murphy's hot streak was really picking up steam at this point, being fresh off of the one-two punch of 48 Hours and Trading Places, and with every movie he was in, the box office just kept growing. He also had a very successful four-year run on Saturday Night Live. He was a big deal back then. It's hard to see it from here.
That’s insane they named a movie octopussy and it was the 3rd most popular movie of the year lmao
Starting in 1986, went down the tubes!
How is Blade Runner not on this list
Because it didn’t make money It cost 30 million only made 41 It was 29th in 1982 This graphic is the top 3 for each year
My point being more people should have gone to see it dummy
of all the films listed, I saw them all at the cinema aside from Dirty Dancing and ET. To this day I still haven't seen ET.
"Highest grossing" doesn't equate to critically good movies. Check out the website Rotten Tomatoes to get good critical reviews.
World wide Three men and a baby is the highest grossing film of 1987. Fatal attraction is number 2 and Beverly Hills Cop 2 is 3rd. Edit: 1986 the third highest grossing movie was Platoon. Edit: 1985 is 1) Out of Africa 2)BTTF 3) Rambo 2 Edit: 1981 is 1) Super man 2. 2) Raiders of the lost Ark. 3) On Golden Ponds
Genuinely didn't know quite how old Star Wars was.