The Best Movies of 1981   (89) Most Notable
Sorted by Rank
 RATING   TITLE   YEAR   DIRECTOR  COUNTRY MEDIA
# 1 for 1981, # 77 Overall Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 Spielberg, Steven USA BDS
# 2 for 1981, # 214 Overall Chariots of Fire 1981 Hudson, Hugh UK BD
# 3 for 1981, # 236 Overall Reds 1981 Beatty, Warren USA BD
# 4 for 1981, # 325 Overall Das Boot 1981 Petersen, Wolfgang West Germany BD
# 5 for 1981, # 419 Overall Pixote 1981 Babenco, Hector Brazil Y
# 6 for 1981, # 573 Overall Diva 1981 Beineix, Jean-Jacques France DS
# 7 for 1981, # 600 Overall The Road Warrior 1981 Miller, George Australia BD
# 8 for 1981, # 612 Overall Gallipoli 1981 Weir, Peter Australia D
# 9 for 1981, # 616 Overall Mephisto 1981 Szabó, István West Germany / Hungary / Austria Y
# 10 for 1981, # 743 Overall Man of Iron 1981 Wajda, Andrzej Poland Y
# 11 for 1981, # 1008 Overall Prince of the City 1981 Lumet, Sidney USA D
# 12 for 1981, # 1014 Overall On Golden Pond 1981 Rydell, Mark USA DS
# 13 for 1981, # 1028 Overall Body Heat 1981 Kasdan, Lawrence USA BDS
# 14 for 1981, # 1058 Overall Lola 1981 Fassbinder, Rainer Werner West Germany BY
# 15 for 1981, # 1078 Overall An American Werewolf in London 1981 Landis, John USA / UK BD
# 16 for 1981, # 1120 Overall Gregory's Girl 1981 Forsyth, Bill UK Y
# 17 for 1981, # 1360 Overall My Dinner with Andre 1981 Malle, Louis USA BD
# 18 for 1981, # 1414 Overall Cutter's Way 1981 Passer, Ivan USA Y
# 19 for 1981, # 1450 Overall The Evil Dead 1981 Raimi, Sam USA BDS
# 20 for 1981, # 1573 Overall The French Lieutenant's Woman 1981 Reisz, Karel UK BD
# 21 for 1981, # 1688 Overall Three Brothers 1981 Rosi, Francesco France / Italy BD
# 22 for 1981, # 1728 Overall Arthur 1981 Gordon, Steve USA BYS
# 23 for 1981, # 1747 Overall Time Bandits 1981 Gilliam, Terry UK BD
# 24 for 1981, # 1765 Overall Quest for Fire 1981 Annaud, Jean-Jacques Canada / France / USA Y
# 25 for 1981, # 1878 Overall Absence of Malice 1981 Pollack, Sydney USA BD
# 26 for 1981, # 1901 Overall Mommie Dearest 1981 Perry, Frank USA BD
# 27 for 1981, # 1914 Overall The Chosen 1981 Kagan, Jeremy Paul USA D
# 28 for 1981, # 2005 Overall Blow Out 1981 De Palma, Brian USA BD
# 29 for 1981, # 2069 Overall Circle of Deceit 1981 Schlöndorff, Volker France / West Germany D
# 30 for 1981, # 2079 Overall True Confessions 1981 Grosbard, Ulu USA BD
# 31 for 1981, # 2131 Overall Excalibur 1981 Boorman, John USA / UK D
# 31 for 1981, # 2131 Overall Southern Comfort 1981 Hill, Walter USA / Switzerland / UK D
# 31 for 1981, # 2131 Overall Whose Life Is It Anyway? 1981 Badham, John USA D
# 32 for 1981, # 2167 Overall Pennies from Heaven 1981 Ross, Herbert USA Y
# 33 for 1981, # 2178 Overall Ragtime 1981 Forman, Milos USA D
# 34 for 1981, # 2196 Overall Modern Romance 1981 Brooks, Albert USA BD
# 35 for 1981, # 2198 Overall The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man 1981 Bertolucci, Bernardo Italy
# 36 for 1981, # 2221 Overall Beau-père 1981 Blier, Bertrand France
# 37 for 1981, # 2257 Overall Smash Palace 1981 Donaldson, Roger New Zealand Y
# 38 for 1981, # 2375 Overall Marianne and Juliane 1981 von Trotta, Margarethe West Germany V
# 39 for 1981, # 2383 Overall The Four Seasons 1981 Alda, Alan USA Y
# 40 for 1981, # 2401 Overall Clash of the Titans 1981 Davis, Desmond UK BDS
# 40 for 1981, # 2401 Overall Stripes 1981 Reitman, Ivan USA BD
# 40 for 1981, # 2401 Overall Wolfen 1981 Wadleigh, Michael USA BD
# 41 for 1981, # 2420 Overall Escape from New York 1981 Carpenter, John UK / USA BDS
# 42 for 1981, # 2452 Overall The Boat Is Full 1981 Imhoof, Markus Switzerland / West Germany / Austria Y
# 43 for 1981, # 2472 Overall Zoot Suit 1981 Valdez, Luis USA Y
# 44 for 1981, # 2492 Overall Eijanaika 1981 Imamura, Shohei Japan Y
# 45 for 1981, # 2499 Overall All Night Long 1981 Tramont, Jean-Claude USA BD
# 45 for 1981, # 2499 Overall The Aviator's Wife 1981 Rohmer, Eric France D
# 45 for 1981, # 2499 Overall From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China 1981 Lerner, Murray USA D
# 45 for 1981, # 2499 Overall Tuck Everlasting 1981 Keller, Frederick King USA
# 46 for 1981, # 2531 Overall Ticket to Heaven 1981 Thomas, Ralph L. Canada D
# 47 for 1981, # 2564 Overall Thief 1981 Mann, Michael USA BD
# 48 for 1981, # 2590 Overall Eye of the Needle 1981 Marquand, Richard UK DS
# 48 for 1981, # 2590 Overall Eyewitness 1981 Yates, Peter USA D
# 48 for 1981, # 2590 Overall For Your Eyes Only 1981 Glen, John UK / USA BDS
# 48 for 1981, # 2590 Overall Fort Apache, the Bronx 1981 Petrie, Daniel USA D
# 48 for 1981, # 2590 Overall The Great Muppet Caper 1981 Henson, Jim UK DS
# 48 for 1981, # 2590 Overall Heavy Metal 1981 Potterton, Gerald Canada DS
# 48 for 1981, # 2590 Overall The Howling 1981 Dante, Joe USA DS
# 48 for 1981, # 2590 Overall Polyester 1981 Waters, John USA BD
# 48 for 1981, # 2590 Overall The Postman Always Rings Twice 1981 Rafelson, Bob USA / West Germany D
# 48 for 1981, # 2590 Overall Scanners 1981 Cronenberg, David Canada BDS
# 48 for 1981, # 2590 Overall Taps 1981 Becker, Harold USA BD
# 49 for 1981, # 2650 Overall Muddy River 1981 Oguri, Kôhei Japan
# 50 for 1981, # 2654 Overall The Decline of Western Civilization 1981 Spheeris, Penelope USA BDS
# 51 for 1981, # 2670 Overall Outland 1981 Hyams, Peter UK BDS
# 52 for 1981, # 2676 Overall Light Years Away 1981 Tanner, Alain Switzerland / France
# 53 for 1981, # 2679 Overall La Chèvre 1981 Veber, Francis France / Mexico Y
# 54 for 1981, # 2681 Overall Four Friends 1981 Penn, Arthur USA D
# 54 for 1981, # 2681 Overall Montenegro 1981 Makavejev, Dusan Sweden / UK V
# 54 for 1981, # 2681 Overall The Tree of Knowledge 1981 Malmros, Nils Denmark
# 55 for 1981, # 2687 Overall Taxi zum Klo 1981 Ripploh, Frank West Germany
# 56 for 1981, # 2688 Overall S.O.B. 1981 Edwards, Blake USA BD
# 57 for 1981, # 2690 Overall The Woman Next Door 1981 Truffaut, François France YS
# 58 for 1981, # 2691 Overall History of the World: Part I 1981 Brooks, Mel USA BD
# 58 for 1981, # 2691 Overall Orderly or Unorderly 1981 Kiarostami, Abbas Iran
# 58 for 1981, # 2691 Overall Two Portraits 1981 Thompson, Peter USA
# 58 for 1981, # 2691 Overall The Vulture 1981 Yosha, Yaki Israel
# 58 for 1981, # 2691 Overall You Are Not I 1981 Driver, Sara USA
# 59 for 1981, # 2700 Overall Christiane F. 1981 Edel, Uli West Germany D
# 59 for 1981, # 2700 Overall Raggedy Man 1981 Fisk, Jack USA BD
# 59 for 1981, # 2700 Overall This Is Elvis 1981 Leo, Malcolm / Solt, Andrew USA D
# 60 for 1981, # 2707 Overall Buddy Buddy 1981 Wilder, Billy USA
# 61 for 1981, # 2741 Overall Possession 1981 Zulawski, Andrzej France / West Germany BS
# 62 for 1981, # 2749 Overall Do You Remember Dolly Bell? 1981 Kusturica, Emir Yugoslavia Y
# 62 for 1981, # 2749 Overall Francisca 1981 de Oliveira, Manoel Portugal
# 62 for 1981, # 2749 Overall They All Laughed 1981 Bogdanovich, Peter USA Y
 RATING   TITLE   YEAR   DIRECTOR  COUNTRY MEDIA
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Media Availability Codes (Amazon.com)
T   Theaters (US)
B   Blu-ray Disc
D   DVD
V   VHS
Y   Yes (DVD or VHS, unspecified)
S   Soundtrack