This is a list of notable Hollywood* movies released in the 1980s, with GEMs highlighted. Note that the list is sortable by each column. (Multiple levels of sorting are possible by sorting more than one column in succession, from lowest to highest.)
Most of the listed movies can be borrowed from your local public library in DVD form and are also available for streaming. Watching these movies online usually requires a small fee or a subscription to streaming platforms such as YouTube, Amazon Prime, Disney+ or Netflix. The ‘Video at’ column in the list below indicates one preferred streaming option to watch these movies online, though it may also be available on other platforms. A ‘$’ sign indicates a small fee (usually $3.99 or less) for viewing the film. In a few cases, the movie is available for free online viewing, and in these cases the direct link to watch the movie is provided in a separate column. [Note: the availability of movies on various platforms (especially the free ones) is constantly changing: the information is current as of mid-2023, but it is quite possible that the listed streaming option for a particular film could be outdated at a later time.]
Please share any comments or suggestions on this list by filling out this form. You can use the same form to express interest in becoming a contributor to the site.
* Some non-Hollywood movies are also included.
Year
Movie
GEM!
Director
Selected Cast
Video at
Link (free)
Wikipedia
More
1980
9 to 5
Colin Higgins
Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, Dabney Coleman, Sterling Hayden
YouTube $
1980
Airplane!
Jim Abrahams, David & Jerry Zucker
Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nelson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Peter Graves, Lloyd Bridges
YouTube $
1980
Atlantic City
Louis Malle
Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon
YouTube $
1980
Breaker Morant
Bruce Beresford
Edward Woodward, Bryan Brown, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Rod Mullinar
Tubi (free)
1980
Coal Miner's Daughter
Michael Apted
Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo, Levon Helm
YouTube $
1980
Elephant Man, The
David Lynch
Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller
YouTube $
1980
Empire Strikes Back, The
Irvin Kershner (George Lucas story)
Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, David Prowse
Disney+
1980
Gods Must Be Crazy, The
Jamie Uys
Nǃxau ǂToma, Sandra Prinsloo, Marius Weyers
1980
Mirror Crack'd, The
Guy Hamilton
Angela Lansbury, Elizabeth Taylor, Kim Novak, Rock Hudson, Edward Fox, Geraldine Chaplin, Tony Curtis
Prime Video
1980
Ordinary People
Robert Redford
Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, Timothy Hutton, Elizabeth McGovern
Prime Video
1980
Raging Bull
Martin Scorsese
Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci
YouTube $
1980
Superman II
Richard Lester
Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty, Terence Stamp, Sarah Douglas, Jack O'Halloran
YouTube $
1981
Absence of Malice
Sydney Pollack
Paul Newman, Sally Field
YouTube $
1981
Arthur
Steve Gordon
Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, John Gielgud
YouTube (free)
1981
Body Heat
Lawrence Kasdan
William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna
YouTube $
1981
Chariots of Fire
Hugh Hudson
Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Ian Holm
YouTube $
1981
Excalibur
John Boorman
Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicol Williamson, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi, Liam Neeson
YouTube $
1981
Eye of the Needle
Richard Marquand
Donald Sutherland, Kate Nelligan, Ian Bannen, Christopher Cazenove
Tubi (free)
1981
French Lieutenant's Woman, The
Karel Reisz
Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons
Tubi (free)
1981
On Golden Pond
Mark Rydell
Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon, Dabney Coleman, William Lanteau
YouTube (free)
1981
Ragtime
Milos Forman
Howard Rollins, James Cagney, Elizabeth McGovern, Mandy Patinkin, Brad Dourif
YouTube $$
1981
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Steven Spielberg
Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott
Disney+
1981
Reds
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson
Prime Video $
1981
Taps
Harold Becker
Tomothy Hutton, George C. Scott, Ronny Cox, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise
YouTube $
1982
Blade Runner
Ridley Scott
Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos
Tubi (free)
1982
Deathtrap
Sidney Lumet
Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Dyan Cannon
YouTube (free)
1982
E.T. the Extra-Terrestial
Steven Spielberg
Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace
YouTube $
1982
Gandhi
Richard Attenborough
Ben Kingsley, Edward Fox, Candice Bergen, Rohini Hattangadi, Roshan Seth, John Gielgud, Saeed Jaffrey, Martin Sheen, Geraldine James, Alyque Padamsee, Ian Charleson
YouTube $
1982
Officer and a Gentleman, An
Tayhor Hackford
Richard Gere, Debra Winger, Louis Gossett Jr.
YouTube $
1982
Rocky III
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone, Mr. T, Talia Shire, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith
Netflix
1982
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Nicholas Meyer
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Ricardo Montalban
Prime Video $
1982
Tootsie
Sydney Pollack
Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Bill Murray, Geena Davis
YouTube $
1982
Verdict, The
Sidney Lumet
Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, James Mason, Milo O'Shea
YouTube $
1983
Big Chill, The
Lawrence Kasdan
Kevin Kline, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Tom Berenger, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, JoBeth Williams
PlutoTV (free)
1983
Day After, The
Nicholas Meyer
Jason Robards, JoBeth Williams, Steve Guttenberg, John Lithgow
YouTube (free)
1983
Heat and Dust
James Ivory
Greta Scacchi, Shashi Kapoor, Julie Christie, Zakir Hussain, Christopher Cazenove, Nickolas Grace
YouTube $
1983
Return of the Jedi
Richard Marquand (George Lucas story)
Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, David Prowse, Frank Oz
Disney+
1983
Right Stuff, The
Philip Kaufman
Charles Frank, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Lance Henriksen, Scott Paulin, Dennis Quaid, Sam Shepard, Barbara Hershey
YouTube (free)
1983
Silkwood
Mike Nichols
Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher
1983
Terms of Endearment
James L. Brooks
Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Jeff Daniels, John Lithgow
YouTube $
1983
Testament
Lynne Littman
Jane Alexander, William Devane, Kevin Costner, Rebecca De Mornay
Prime Video $
1983
Trading Places
John Landis
Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Jamie Lee Curtis
YouTube $
1983
WarGames
John Badham
Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, Dabney Coleman, John Wood
Prime Video $
1984
Amadeus
Milos Forman
F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge
Prime Video
1984
Beverly Hills Cop
Martin Brest
Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Lisa Eilbacher, Ronny Cox, Steven Berkoff
PlutoTV (free)
1984
Karate Kid, The
John G. Avildsen
Ralph Macchio, Noriyuki "Pat" Morita, Elisabeth Shue, Billy Zabka, Martin Kove, Randee Heller
Tubi (free)
1984
Natural, The
Barry Levinson
Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Robert Duvall, Wilford Brimley
Prime Video $
1984
Passage to India, A
David Lean
Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, Peggy Ashcroft, James Fox, Alec Guinness
YouTube $
1984
Places in the Heart
Robert Benton
Sally Field, Danny Glover, John Malkovich, Lindsay Crouse, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan
YouTube $
1984
Romancing the Stone
Robert Zemeckis
Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito
YouTube $
1984
Soldier's Story, A
Norman Jewison
Howard Rollins, Adolph Caesar, Denzel Washington
YouTube $
1984
Splash
Ron Howard
Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, Eugene Levy, John Candy
Disney+
1984
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Leonard Nimoy
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei
YouTube $
1984
Terminator, The
James Cameron
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton
YouTube $
1984
Woman In Red, The
Gene Wilder
Gene Wilder, Kelly Le Brock, Charles Grodin, Gilda Radner, Joseph Bologna, Judith Ivey
PlutoTV (free)
1985
Back to the Future
Robert Zemeckis
Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
Tubi (free)
1985
Cocoon
Ron Howard
Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Steve Guttenberg, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, Tahnee Welch
1985
Color Purple, The
Steven Spielberg
Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Adolph Caesar, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery, Rae Dawn Chong
Tubi (free)
1985
Out of Africa
Sydney Pollack
Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Klaus Maria Brandauer
YouTube $
1985
Purple Rose of Cairo, The
Woody Allen
Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, Danny Aiello
Tubi (free)
1985
Witness
Peter Weir
Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Danny Glover, Viggo Mortensen, Josef Sommer
Prime Video $
1986
Aliens
James Cameron
Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, Carrie Henn
YouTube $
1986
Color of Money, The
Martin Scorsese
Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, John Turturro, Forest Whitaker
Prime Video $
1986
Room with a View, A
James Ivory
Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands, Denholm Elliott, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Daniel Day-Lewis
YouTube $
1986
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Leonard Nimoy
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Catherine Hicks
Prime Video $
1986
Top Gun
Tony Scott
Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Meg Ryan
PlutoTV (free)
1987
Fatal Attraction
Adrian Lyne
Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer
Prime Video $
1987
Full Metal Jacket
Stanley Kubrick
Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Ermey, Dorian Harewood, Arliss Howard
Tubi (free)
1987
Last Emperor, The
Bernardo Bertolucci
John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ying Ruocheng, Victor Wong
Prime Video $
1987
Moonstruck
Norman Jewison
Nicolas Cage, Cher, Vincent Gardenia, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello
PlutoTV (free)
1987
Princess Bride, The
Rob Reiner
Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, André the Giant, Fred Savage
Disney+
1987
RoboCop
Paul Verhoeven
Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer
YouTube (free)
1987
Three Men and a Baby
Leonard Nimoy
Tom Selleck, Ted Danson, Steve Guttenberg, Nancy Travis
Disney+
1987
Untouchables, The
Brian De Palma
Kevin Costner, Charles Martin Smith, Andy García, Robert De Niro, Sean Connery
Prime Video $
1987
Wall Street
Oliver Stone
Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah, Martin Sheen
Prime Video $
1988
Accidental Tourist, The
Lawrence Kasdan
William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis
YouTube (free)
1988
Accused, The
Jonathan Kaplan
Jodie Foster, Kelly McGillis
YouTube $
1988
Big
Penny Marshall
Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard
YouTube (free)
1988
Coming to America
John Landia
Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones
Netflix
1988
Die Hard
John McTiernan
Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, Alan Rickman
YouTube $
1988
Gorillas in the Mist
Michael Apted
Sigourney Weaver, Bryan Brown, Julie Harris
YouTube $
1988
Mississippi Burning
Alan Parker
Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe
Prime Video $
1988
Rain Man
Barry Levinson
Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise
Prime Video $
1988
Stand and Deliver
Ramón Menéndez
Edward James Olmos, Lou Diamond Phillips, Rosanna DeSoto, Andy García
Prime Video $
1988
Working Girl
Mike Nichols
Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, Melanie Griffith
YouTube $
1989
[Documentary] Roger & Me
Michael Moore
Real people [Michael Moore, GM CEO Roger B. Smith, Ronald Reagan + others]
YouTube $
1989
Batman
Tim Burton
Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger, Jack Nicholson
Prime Video
1989
Born on the Fourth of July
Oliver Stone
Tom Cruise, Kyra Sedgwick, Raymond J. Barry, Jerry Levine, Frank Whaley, Willem Dafoe
YouTube $
1989
Do the Right Thing
Spike Lee
Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro
YouTube $
1989
Driving Miss Daisy
Bruce Beresford
Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd, Patti LuPone, Esther Rolle
YouTube $
1989
Glory
Edward Zwick
Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman
YouTube $
1989
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Joe Johnston
Rick Moranis, Matt Frewer, Marcia Strassman, Kristine Sutherland
Disney+
1989
Parenthood
Ron Howard
Steve Martin, Tom Hulce, Rick Moranis, Martha Plimpton, Keanu Reeves, Jason Robards, Mary Steenburgen, Dianne Wiest
YouTube $
1989
Sex, Lies and Videotape
Steven Soderbergh
James Spader, Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher, Laura San Giacomo
YouTube $$
1989
War of the Roses, The
Danny DeVito
Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito
Prime Video $
1989
When Harry Met Sally
Rob Reiner
Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby