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The Best Movies of 1981 - Original Release   (86 Most Notable)

Sorted by Rank Year 1981 Links / LEGEND
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Years
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 RATING    TITLE   YEAR   DIRECTOR  COUNTRY MEDIA
# 1 for 1981, # 74 Overall Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 Spielberg, Steven USA DS
# 2 for 1981, # 190 Overall Chariots of Fire 1981 Hudson, Hugh UK DO
# 3 for 1981, # 229 Overall Reds 1981 Beatty, Warren USA DBOP
# 4 for 1981, # 275 Overall Das Boot 1981 Petersen, Wolfgang West Germany DB
# 5 for 1981, # 453 Overall Pixote 1981 Babenco, Hector Brazil Y
# 6 for 1981, # 582 Overall Diva 1981 Beineix, Jean-Jacques France DS
# 7 for 1981, # 638 Overall Gallipoli 1981 Weir, Peter Australia DO
# 8 for 1981, # 650 Overall The Road Warrior 1981 Miller, George Australia DBO
# 9 for 1981, # 670 Overall Mephisto 1981 Szabó, István West Germany / Hungary / Austria Y
# 10 for 1981, # 805 Overall Man of Iron 1981 Wajda, Andrzej Poland Y
# 11 for 1981, # 949 Overall On Golden Pond 1981 Rydell, Mark USA DOS
# 12 for 1981, # 998 Overall Lola 1981 Fassbinder, Rainer Werner West Germany Y
# 13 for 1981, # 1025 Overall Prince of the City 1981 Lumet, Sidney USA D
# 14 for 1981, # 1042 Overall Body Heat 1981 Kasdan, Lawrence USA DBOPS
# 15 for 1981, # 1173 Overall Cutter's Way 1981 Passer, Ivan USA Y
# 16 for 1981, # 1229 Overall Gregory's Girl 1981 Forsyth, Bill UK Y
# 17 for 1981, # 1233 Overall The Evil Dead 1981 Raimi, Sam USA DBOS
# 18 for 1981, # 1272 Overall An American Werewolf in London 1981 Landis, John USA / UK DB
# 19 for 1981, # 1403 Overall My Dinner with Andre 1981 Malle, Louis USA D
# 20 for 1981, # 1505 Overall Three Brothers 1981 Rosi, Francesco France / Italy Y
# 21 for 1981, # 1616 Overall The French Lieutenant's Woman 1981 Reisz, Karel UK Y
# 22 for 1981, # 1778 Overall Arthur 1981 Gordon, Steve USA YBOPS
# 23 for 1981, # 1786 Overall Time Bandits 1981 Gilliam, Terry UK DBOP
# 24 for 1981, # 1820 Overall Quest for Fire 1981 Annaud, Jean-Jacques Canada / France / USA YO
# 25 for 1981, # 1828 Overall Circle of Deceit 1981 Schlöndorff, Volker France / West Germany DO
# 26 for 1981, # 1837 Overall True Confessions 1981 Grosbard, Ulu USA D
# 27 for 1981, # 1904 Overall Modern Romance 1981 Brooks, Albert USA D
# 28 for 1981, # 1975 Overall Beau-père 1981 Blier, Bertrand France
# 29 for 1981, # 1977 Overall Mommie Dearest 1981 Perry, Frank USA DOP
# 30 for 1981, # 1985 Overall Marianne and Juliane 1981 von Trotta, Margarethe West Germany V
# 31 for 1981, # 1990 Overall The Chosen 1981 Kagan, Jeremy Paul USA D
# 32 for 1981, # 1997 Overall Absence of Malice 1981 Pollack, Sydney USA DBOP
# 33 for 1981, # 2040 Overall Southern Comfort 1981 Hill, Walter USA / Switzerland / UK D
# 34 for 1981, # 2057 Overall Smash Palace 1981 Donaldson, Roger New Zealand Y
# 35 for 1981, # 2074 Overall Blow Out 1981 De Palma, Brian USA DB
# 36 for 1981, # 2107 Overall The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man 1981 Bertolucci, Bernardo Italy
# 37 for 1981, # 2200 Overall Pennies from Heaven 1981 Ross, Herbert USA YOP
# 38 for 1981, # 2211 Overall Excalibur 1981 Boorman, John USA / UK DOP
# 38 for 1981, # 2211 Overall Whose Life Is It Anyway? 1981 Badham, John USA D
# 39 for 1981, # 2233 Overall The Boat Is Full 1981 Imhoof, Markus Switzerland / West Germany / Austria Y
# 40 for 1981, # 2238 Overall Eijanaika 1981 Imamura, Shohei Japan Y
# 41 for 1981, # 2245 Overall All Night Long 1981 Tramont, Jean-Claude USA D
# 41 for 1981, # 2245 Overall The Aviator's Wife 1981 Rohmer, Eric France D
# 41 for 1981, # 2245 Overall From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China 1981 Lerner, Murray USA D
# 41 for 1981, # 2245 Overall Tuck Everlasting 1981 Keller, Frederick King USA
# 42 for 1981, # 2251 Overall Ragtime 1981 Forman, Milos USA YOP
# 43 for 1981, # 2261 Overall Thief 1981 Mann, Michael USA Y
# 44 for 1981, # 2272 Overall Ticket to Heaven 1981 Thomas, Ralph L. Canada D
# 45 for 1981, # 2378 Overall History of the World: Part I 1981 Brooks, Mel USA DB
# 45 for 1981, # 2378 Overall Orderly or Unorderly 1981 Kiarostami, Abbas Iran
# 45 for 1981, # 2378 Overall Two Portraits 1981 Thompson, Peter USA
# 45 for 1981, # 2378 Overall The Vulture 1981 Yosha, Yaki Israel
# 45 for 1981, # 2378 Overall You Are Not I 1981 Driver, Sara USA
# 46 for 1981, # 2381 Overall The Four Seasons 1981 Alda, Alan USA Y
# 46 for 1981, # 2381 Overall Outland 1981 Hyams, Peter UK DOPS
# 47 for 1981, # 2387 Overall Muddy River 1981 Oguri, Kôhei Japan
# 48 for 1981, # 2389 Overall Clash of the Titans 1981 Davis, Desmond UK DBOS
# 48 for 1981, # 2389 Overall Light Years Away 1981 Tanner, Alain Switzerland / France
# 48 for 1981, # 2389 Overall Stripes 1981 Reitman, Ivan USA DBO
# 48 for 1981, # 2389 Overall Wolfen 1981 Wadleigh, Michael USA D
# 49 for 1981, # 2391 Overall La Chèvre 1981 Veber, Francis France / Mexico YO
# 50 for 1981, # 2394 Overall Four Friends 1981 Penn, Arthur USA D
# 50 for 1981, # 2394 Overall Montenegro 1981 Makavejev, Dusan Sweden / UK V
# 50 for 1981, # 2394 Overall The Tree of Knowledge 1981 Malmros, Nils Denmark
# 51 for 1981, # 2398 Overall Escape from New York 1981 Carpenter, John UK / USA DBS
# 52 for 1981, # 2399 Overall Taxi zum Klo 1981 Ripploh, Frank West Germany
# 53 for 1981, # 2400 Overall S.O.B. 1981 Edwards, Blake USA Y
# 53 for 1981, # 2400 Overall Zoot Suit 1981 Valdez, Luis USA YO
# 54 for 1981, # 2401 Overall The Woman Next Door 1981 Truffaut, François France YS
# 55 for 1981, # 2411 Overall Christiane F. 1981 Edel, Uli West Germany D
# 55 for 1981, # 2411 Overall Raggedy Man 1981 Fisk, Jack USA DO
# 55 for 1981, # 2411 Overall This Is Elvis 1981 Leo, Malcolm / Solt, Andrew USA DOP
# 56 for 1981, # 2432 Overall Eye of the Needle 1981 Marquand, Richard UK DS
# 56 for 1981, # 2432 Overall Eyewitness 1981 Yates, Peter USA D
# 56 for 1981, # 2432 Overall For Your Eyes Only 1981 Glen, John UK / USA DBS
# 56 for 1981, # 2432 Overall Fort Apache, the Bronx 1981 Petrie, Daniel USA D
# 56 for 1981, # 2432 Overall The Great Muppet Caper 1981 Henson, Jim UK DOPS
# 56 for 1981, # 2432 Overall Heavy Metal 1981 Potterton, Gerald Canada DS
# 56 for 1981, # 2432 Overall The Howling 1981 Dante, Joe USA DS
# 56 for 1981, # 2432 Overall Polyester 1981 Waters, John USA DOP
# 56 for 1981, # 2432 Overall The Postman Always Rings Twice 1981 Rafelson, Bob USA / West Germany DOP
# 56 for 1981, # 2432 Overall Scanners 1981 Cronenberg, David Canada DS
# 56 for 1981, # 2432 Overall Taps 1981 Becker, Harold USA DB
# 57 for 1981, # 2436 Overall Do You Remember Dolly Bell? 1981 Kusturica, Emir Yugoslavia Y
# 57 for 1981, # 2436 Overall Francisca 1981 de Oliveira, Manoel Portugal
# 57 for 1981, # 2436 Overall They All Laughed 1981 Bogdanovich, Peter USA Y
 RATING    TITLE   YEAR   DIRECTOR  COUNTRY MEDIA
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Year 1981 Links
Wikipedia  -  events, top-grossing films, births, deaths
Internet Movie Database  -  films, awards, births, deaths, events
Media Availability Codes (Amazon.com)
D   DVD
V   VHS
Y   Yes (DVD or VHS, unspecified)
B   Blu-ray Disc
O   On Demand Video Download
P   Preview Trailer
S   Soundtrack
 
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