Popular culture is obsessed with the ’80s—Stranger Things, anyone?—and it’s not hard to see why. The ’80s were a golden decade in film, boasting classic movies that you’ve likely seen many times before even if you were a ’90s or ’00s baby. Dirty Dancing, Footloose, E.T…so many of our golden coming-of-age films were born in the ’80s and have proven themselves to be very watchable in the decades since. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the films have aged well—on the contrary, a lot of these are problematic when looked at with the benefit of hindsight. Which doesn’t mean you can’t watch these movies, per se, but that it’s important to look at them through an analytical lens. We’ve added content warnings throughout to identify relevant subjects. (And if this list inspires you to take a walk down memory lane, take a gander at our list of the best ’90s and ’00s movies.)
45. ‘Ladyhawke’ (1985)
Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Broderick star in this romantic fantasy that, surprisingly, has no relation to 2018’s Lady Bird. Set in medieval France, Ladyhawke tells the story of a pickpocket and a knight on a journey to find love and defeat evil.
44. ‘Batman’ (1989)
CW: mental illness, suicide. Long before Robert Pattinson, Ben Affleck, or Christian Bale ever set foot in the Batcave, Michael Keaton took on the role of the Caped Crusader. This take on the famous superhero, also starring Jack Nicholson as a particularly unhinged Joker, went on to become the fourth highest-grossing film of the entire decade.
43. ‘Rain Man’ (1988)
CW: disability, mental illness, ableism. This story of Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) embarking on an eye-opening road trip with Raymond, the older autistic brother he never knew he had (played by Dustin Hoffman), ended up taking home half of the eight Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Hoffman.