City of the Living Dead (1980)

City of the Living Dead (1980)

[4] A priest's suicide triggers a zombie apocalypse in this loose sequel to Zombie (aka, Zombie 2), both directed by Lucio Fulci. The story here is silly and the movie takes a lot of detours. The dead priest opening the…
Urban Cowboy (1980)

Urban Cowboy (1980)

[6] John Travolta and Debra Winger star as impetuous young lovers who meet at a Houston honky-tonk bar, get married, and struggle to keep their relationship together. I enjoyed the first half of the movie more than the second. You…
Altered States (1980)

Altered States (1980)

[4] William Hurt makes his big-screen debut in this blend of psychedelia and cockamamy psychology based on a novel by Paddy Chayefsky (Network). Hurt plays a college professor of science who experiments with drugs inside isolation tanks to, oh, I…
Cruising (1980)

Cruising (1980)

[8] Al Pacino plays a New York police detective who goes deep under cover within the city's S&M community to catch a serial killer preying on gay men. Director William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection) stirred controversy for his…
The Blue Lagoon (1980)

The Blue Lagoon (1980)

[6] There's no denying the pervasive corniness of Randal Kleiser's adaptation of The Blue Lagoon. Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins play teenagers who have grown up in isolation on a remote island after being shipwrecked as children. The film half-asses…
Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)

Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)

[5] Eternal opportunist Roger Corman piggy-backs on the success of Star Wars with this low-budget space adventure about a young man who assembles a rag-tag team of mercenaries to protect his people when another race threatens enslavement. Battle Beyond the…
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

[10] After deciding directing wasn't his favorite thing to do, George Lucas enticed his former professor Irvin Kershner (Eyes of Laura Mars, Return of a Man Called Horse) to helm the dark second act of the famous trilogy. The Empire…
Ordinary People (1980)

Ordinary People (1980)

[10]

Robert Redford directs this adaptation of Judith Guest’s novel, about a family reeling from the accidental death of the eldest child. Unlike so many dramas, it’s what you don’t see and what isn’t said that makes Ordinary People such a gut-wrenching, powerfully moving film.

Timothy Hutton, Donald Sutherland, and Mary Tyler Moore give superb performances as family members struggling to reconnect with one another after the tragedy. Hutton won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his raw, riveting portrayal of young Conrad Jarrett.  Moore plays his mother, an emotionally unavailable woman barricading herself from further distress by ignoring her family’s problems, even after Conrad tries to take his own life. Sutherland plays the father, the mediator between mother and son, desperately trying to hold his family together. Judd Hirsch appears as Conrad’s therapist, a savior shrink who forces Conrad to confront his guilt and fear. 

The Shining (1980)

The Shining (1980)

[9] Stanley Kubrick takes on Stephen King, and while it may not be the most faithful adaptation, The Shining is a gorgeously crafted plunge into fear and insanity. Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duvall play a husband and wife who take…