Best Movies of 1989 by Rank
56
1
Spike Lee
Ossie Davis, Danny Aiello, Giancarlo Esposito, Richard Edson, Spike Lee
Comedy / Drama / Crime
USA
English
142
2
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Miroslaw Baka, Henryk Baranowski, Artur Barcis, Aleksander Bardini
Drama
Poland
Polish
398
3
Woody Allen
Woody Allen, Martin Landau, Anjelica Huston, Mia Farrow
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
430
4
Rob Reiner
Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby
Comedy / Romance
USA
English
511
5
Phil Alden Robinson
Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta
Fantasy / Drama / Sports / Family
USA
English
554
6
Oliver Stone
Tom Cruise, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava, Josh Evans, Jamie Talisman
Drama / War / Biography
USA
English
562
7
Jim Sheridan
Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker
Drama / Biography
Ireland / UK
English
566
8
Steven Soderbergh
James Spader, Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher
Drama
USA
English
792
9
Gus Van Sant
Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, James LeGros, Heather Graham
Crime / Drama
USA
English
798
10
Denys Arcand
Lothaire Bluteau, Catherine Wilkening
Drama / Religion
Canada / France
French
920
12
Bruce Beresford
Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy
Drama / Comedy / Period Film
USA
English
950
13
John Woo
Yun-Fat Chow, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Kong Chu, Kenneth Tsang, Fui-On Shing
Action / Crime / Drama / Thriller / Gangster / Detective
Hong Kong
Cantonese
952
14
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Simon Shepherd, James Larkin
Action / Drama / War / History / Epic / Biography
UK
English
999
15
Edward Zwick
Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes
Drama / War / Action / History / Epic
USA
English
1169
16
Cameron Crowe
John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney, Lili Taylor
Drama / Romance / Comedy
USA
English
1239
17
Patrice Leconte
Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire, Luc Thuillier
Crime / Thriller / Drama / Post-Noir
France
French
1245
18
Aki Kaurismäki
Matti Pellonpää, Kari Väänänen
Adventure / Comedy / Music
Finland / Sweden
English
1257
19
Tim Burton
Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl
Action / Thriller / Crime / Fantasy / Comic
USA / UK
English
1314
20
Kira Muratova
Olga Antonova, Sergei Popov, Galina Zakhurdayeva, Natalya Buzko
Drama / Comedy
Soviet Union
Russian
1423
21
Hsiao-hsien Hou
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Jack Kao, Li Tian-lu, Sung Young Chen
Drama / War / Period Film
Taiwan
Taiwanese
1426
22
Peter Weir
Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles, Gale Hansen
Drama
USA
English
1636
23
Paul Mazursky
Ron Silver, Anjelica Huston, Lena Olin, Malgorzata Zajaczkowska
Drama / Comedy / Romance
USA
English
1643
24
Peter Greenaway
Richard Bohringer, Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, Alan Howard
Drama / Horror / Comedy
France / Netherlands / UK
English
1773
25
Steven Kloves
Jeff Bridges, Michelle Pfeiffer, Beau Bridges, Ellie Raab
Drama / Romance / Music
USA
English
1792
26
Bertrand Blier
Gérard Depardieu, Josiane Balasko, Carole Bouquet
Comedy / Drama / Romance
France
French
1835
27
Hal Hartley
Adrienne Shelly, Robert John Burke, Chris Cooke, Julia McNeal, Katherine Mayfield
Comedy / Drama / Romance
USA
English
1837
28
Uli Edel
Stephen Lang, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Burt Young, Peter Dobson
Drama / Crime
USA / UK / West Germany
English
1907
30
Danny DeVito
Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
1928
31
Idrissa Ouedraogo
Fatimata Sanga, Noufou Ouédraogo, Roukietou Barry, Adama Ouédraogo
Family / Drama
Burkina Faso / Switzerland / France
Mòoré
1960
32
Bertrand Tavernier
Philippe Noiret, Sabine Azéma, Pascale Vignal
Drama / Period Film / Romance
France
French
2069
33
Ildikó Enyedi
Dorota Segda, Oleg Yankovsky, Paulus Manker
Comedy / Drama / Period Film
Hungary / West Germany / Cuba
Hungarian
2079
34
Phillip Noyce
Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill, Billy Zane, Rod Mullinar
Horror / Thriller
Australia / USA
English
2126
35
Joris Ivens, Marceline Loridan Ivens
Henxiang Han, Joris Ivens, Guilian Liu, Zhuang Liu, Hong Wang
Documentary / Comedy / Drama
France / UK / West Germany / Netherlands
French
2159
36
Ron Clements, John Musker
Jodi Benson, Samuel E. Wright, Christopher Daniel Barnes
Family / Animation / Comedy / Musical / Romance / Fantasy
USA
English
2214
37
Michael Lehmann
Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk
Comedy / Crime / Drama / Romance / Cult
USA
English
2306
38
Jane Campion
Geneviève Lemon, Karen Colston, Tom Lycos, Jon Darling
Drama / Comedy
Australia
English
2351
39
Steven Spielberg
Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Alison Doody, John Rhys-Davies
Action / Adventure / Comedy / Family
USA
English
2366
40
Ron Howard
Steve Martin, Dianne Wiest, Dennis Dugan, Mary Steenburgen, Paul Linke
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2385
41
Nancy Savoca
Annabella Sciorra, Ron Eldard, Aida Turturro, Roger Rignack
Comedy / Romance
USA
English
2396
42
Jon Amiel
Vittorio Duse, Joseph Long, Anita Zagaria, Eileen Way, Vittorio Amandola
Comedy / Drama / Romance
UK / USA
English
2416
43
Costa-Gavras
Jessica Lange, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Frederic Forrest, Donald Moffat, Lukas Haas
Drama / Thriller / Mystery
USA
English
2452
44
Lewis Gilbert
Pauline Collins, Tom Conti, Julia McKenzie, Alison Steadman
Comedy / Romance / Drama
UK / USA
English
2498
45
Jim Jarmusch
Masatoshi Nagase, Youki Kudoh, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Cinqué Lee
Comedy / Crime / Drama
USA / Japan
English
2498
45
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Axel Jodorowsky, Blanca Guerra, Guy Stockwell, Thelma Tixou
Drama / Horror / Mystery / Thriller / Fantasy / Experimental
Mexico / Italy
English
2558
46
Carl Schenkel
Denzel Washington, Robert Townsend, James Fox, Mimi Rogers
Crime / Mystery
USA
English
2559
47
Pat O'Neill
Beth Block, George Lockwood, Joel Loriman
Documentary / Experimental
USA
English
2591
48
Hayao Miyazaki
Minami Takayama, Rei Sakuma, Kappei Yamaguchi, Keiko Toda, Mieko Nobusawa
Animation / Family / Fantasy / Comedy / Adventure
Japan
Japanese
2591
48
Maggie Greenwald
Loretta Gross, Andrew Lee Barrett, Jackson Sims, Steve Monroe, Cathy Haase
Drama / Post-Noir / Crime
USA
English
2591
48
Harold Becker
Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman, Michael Rooker, William Hickey
Crime / Thriller / Drama / Detective
USA
English
2591
48
Michael Haneke
Dieter Berner, Udo Samel, Leni Tanzer, Silvia Fenz, Birgit Doll, Robert Dietl
Drama
Austria
German
2606
49
Kaspar Rostrup
Frits Helmuth, Mikael Helmuth, Ghita Nørby, Rikke Bendsen
Drama
Denmark
Danish
2606
49
Jacobo Morales
Tommy Muñiz, Gladys Rodríguez, Johanna Rosaly
Comedy / Romance
Puerto Rico
Spanish
2635
50
Derek Jarman
Nathaniel Parker, Tilda Swinton, Laurence Olivier, Patricia Hayes
Drama / War
UK
English
2646
51
Coline Serreau
Daniel Auteuil, Firmine Richard, Pierre Vernier, Maxime Leroux, Gilles Privat
Comedy / Romance
France
French
2657
52
Stephen Herek
Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin, Terry Camilleri, Dan Shor, Tony Steedman
Adventure / Comedy / Sci-Fi
USA
English
2657
52
Bob Balaban
Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt, Sandy Dennis, Bryan Madorsky, Juno Mills Cockell
Comedy / Drama / Horror / Mystery / Period Film / Cult
Canada / USA
English
2657
52
Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano, Maiko Kawakami, Makoto Ashikawa, Shirô Sano, Sei Hiraizumi
Action / Crime / Drama / Thriller / Gangster / Detective
Japan
Japanese
2661
53
Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
Dustin Hoffman, Sara Lewinstein, David Mandell, Suzi Mandell, Sallie Perryman
Documentary / History / Biography
USA
English
2661
53
Adam Davidson
Scotty Bloch, Clebert Ford, Bernard Johnson, Paul Sarnoff
Short / Drama / Comedy
USA
English
2672
54
Wendell B. Harris Jr.
Wendell B. Harris Jr., Angela Leslie, Amina Fakir, Paula McGee
Drama / Comedy / Biography
USA
English
2688
55
Otar Iosseliani
Sigalon Sagna, Saly Badji, Binta Cissé, Marie-Christine Dieme, Fatou Seydi
Comedy / Drama
France / West Germany / Italy / Senegal
French
2689
56
Harun Farocki
Documentary / War / History
West Germany
German
2694
57
Euzhan Palcy
Donald Sutherland, Susan Sarandon, Marlon Brando, Janet Suzman, Zakes Mokae
Drama / Thriller
USA
English
2694
57
Randal Kleiser
Jesse Birdsall, Jane Horrocks, Helena Bonham Carter, Pat Heywood, Bryan Pringle
Comedy / Drama / Romance
UK
English
2694
57
Michael Caton-Jones
John Hurt, Joanne Whalley, Bridget Fonda, Ian McKellen, Leslie Phillips
Drama / History / Period Film
UK / USA
English
2697
58
Ziniu Wu
Chong Peipei, Qi Zhao, Ruolei Liu, Yaming Ge, Zeru Tao, Xiang Zongi, Min Sun
Drama / War
China
Mandarin
2712
59
Shohei Imamura
Yoshiko Tanaka, Kazuo Kitamura, Etsuko Ichihara, Shoichi Ozawa, Norihei Miki
Drama / War
Japan
Japanese
2712
59
Ron Shelton
Paul Newman, Lolita Davidovich, Jerry Hardin, Gailard Sartain, Jeffrey DeMunn
Biography / Drama / Comedy / Romance
USA
English
2712
59
Emile Ardolino
Cybill Shepherd, Robert Downey Jr., Ryan O'Neal, Mary Stuart Masterson
Comedy / Romance / Fantasy
USA
English
2712
59
Joel Schumacher
Ted Danson, Isabella Rossellini, Sean Young, William L. Petersen, Lloyd Bridges
Comedy / Romance / Drama
USA
English
2712
59
Caleb Deschanel
Aidan Quinn, Elvis Payne, Richard D. Sharp, Colin Bruce, William Hootkins
Drama / Adventure
UK / USA
English
2712
59
Walter Hill
Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Elizabeth McGovern, Morgan Freeman, Forest Whitaker
Crime / Drama / Gangster
USA
English
2712
59
Richard Donner
Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Joss Ackland, Derrick O'Connor, Patsy Kensit
Action / Comedy / Crime / Thriller / Detective
USA
English
2712
59
John Glen
Timothy Dalton, Carey Lowell, Robert Davi, Talisa Soto, Anthony Zerbe
Action / Crime / Drama / Thriller / Spy / Family / Cult
UK / USA
English
2712
59
Thomas Schlamme
Holly Hunter, Mary Steenburgen, Tim Robbins, Alfre Woodard, Scott Glenn
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2712
59
Charles Lane
Charles Lane, Nicole Alysia, Sandye Wilson, Darnell Williams, Trula Hoosier
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2712
59
Mel Smith
Jeff Goldblum, Rowan Atkinson, Emma Thompson, Geraldine James, Anna Massey
Comedy / Romance
UK
English
2712
59
Milos Forman
Colin Firth, Annette Bening, Meg Tilly, Fairuza Balk, Siân Phillips
Drama / Romance / Period Film
France / USA
English
2719
60
Michel Legrand
Sabine Azéma, Annie Girardot, Matthieu Rozé, Christoph Moosbrugger
Drama / Comedy / War
France
French
2719
60
Kevin Brownlow, David Gill
Harold Lloyd, Lindsay Anderson, Hal Roach, Harvey Parry, Jack Lemmon
Documentary / Biography / History / Music / Romance
UK
English
2719
60
Christopher Morahan
Michael York, Patricia Hodge, Michael Gambon, Ralph Michael, Tina Earl
Drama / War / Spy
UK
English
2719
60
Bruce McDonald
Valerie Buhagiar, Gerry Quigley, Larry Hudson, Bruce McDonald, Shaun Bowring
Drama / Action / Adventure / Comedy / Cult
Canada
English
2719
60
Atom Egoyan
Michael McManus, Arsinée Khanjian, Gabrielle Rose, Tony Nardi
Drama
Canada
English
2719
60
Nick Castle
Gregory Hines, Sammy Davis Jr., Suzzanne Douglass, Savion Glover
Drama / Crime / Music / Romance
USA
English
2730
61
David S. Ward
Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, Margaret Whitton, James Gammon
Comedy / Sports
USA
English
2751
62
Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet
Andreas Yon Rauch, Vladimir Baratta, Howard Vernon
Short / Drama
France
German
2751
62
Jean-Marie Straub, Danièle Huillet
Danièle Huillet
Documentary
France / West Germany
German
2751
62
Abbas Kiarostami
Babak Ahmadpoor, Farhang Akhavan, Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh
Documentary
Iran
Persian
2751
62
Clarence Fok Yiu-leung
Maggie Cheung, Biao Yuen, Wah Yuen, Sarah Lee, Alvina Kong
Action / Romance / Sci-Fi / Comedy / Fantasy
Hong Kong
Cantonese
2751
62
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Roya Nonahali, Mahmud Bigham, Ebrahim Abadi, Mohsen Zaehtab
Drama
Iran
Persian
2751
62
Emile de Antonio
Emile de Antonio, John Cage, Nancy de Antonio
Documentary / Biography
UK / USA
English
2755
63
Al Reinert
Jim Lovell, Russell Schweickart, Eugene Cernan, Michael Collins, Charles Conrad
Documentary / History
USA
English
2756
64
Nanni Moretti
Nanni Moretti, Silvio Orlando, Mariella Valentini, Alfonso Santagata
Comedy / Sports / Drama
Italy / France
Italian
2757
65
Alan Clarke
Gary Walker, Bill Hamilton, Michael Foyle, Danny Small, Robert J. Taylor
Short / Crime / Drama
UK
English
2765
66
Ulrike Ottinger
Delphine Seyrig, Irm Hermann, Gillian Scalici, Peter Kern, Jacinta, Else Nabu
Comedy / Drama / Action / Adventure
West Germany / France
German
2765
66
Robert Kramer
Jesse Jackson, Paul McIsaac, Pat Robertson
Documentary
UK / France / Italy
English
2768
67
James Cameron
Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn, Leo Burmester, Todd Graff
Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi / Thriller / Romance
USA
English
2776
68
Bahram Beizai
Susan Taslimi, Parvis Pourhosseini, Adnan Afravian
Drama / Adventure
Iran
Persian
2776
68
Tracey Moffatt
Akira Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Gentle, Agnes Hardwick, Marcia Langton
Short / Drama
Australia
English
NR
-
Robert Zemeckis
Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson, Elisabeth Shue
Action / Adventure / Comedy / Sci-Fi
USA
English
