1981
by bernardochacur35 | created - 28 Jan 2012 | updated - 2 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Das Boot (1981)
R | 149 min | Drama, War
A German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch
Votes: 264,242 | Gross: $11.49M
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
Votes: 1,036,541 | Gross: $248.16M
3. Possession (1981)
R | 124 min | Drama, Horror
A woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something much more sinister.
Director: Andrzej Zulawski | Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Margit Carstensen, Heinz Bennent
Votes: 42,786 | Gross: $1.11M
4. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
R | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community escape a horde of bandits.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Max Phipps
Votes: 193,594 | Gross: $12.47M
5. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Horror
Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
Director: John Landis | Stars: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher, Griffin Dunne
Votes: 120,437 | Gross: $30.57M
6. The Evil Dead (1981)
NC-17 | 85 min | Horror
Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker
Votes: 232,311 | Gross: $2.40M
7. The Aviator's Wife (1981)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Romance
A young student is devastated when he finds that his girlfriend is cheating on him. In order to find out why she did it, he decides to spy on her and her lover.
Director: Éric Rohmer | Stars: Philippe Marlaud, Marie Rivière, Anne-Laure Meury, Mathieu Carrière
Votes: 5,177
8. Quest for Fire (1981)
R | 100 min | Adventure, Drama
This story takes place in prehistoric time when three tribesmen search for a new fire source.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nicholas Kadi, Rae Dawn Chong
Votes: 24,109 | Gross: $20.96M
9. The Beyond (1981)
R | 87 min | Horror
A young woman inherits an old hotel in Louisiana where, following a series of supernatural "accidents", she learns that the building was built over one of the entrances to Hell.
Director: Lucio Fulci | Stars: Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Cinzia Monreale, Antoine Saint-John
Votes: 25,295 | Gross: $0.12M
10. The Woman Next Door (1981)
R | 106 min | Drama, Romance
Two ex-lovers wind up living next door to each other with their respective spouses. Forbidden passions ensue.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Fanny Ardant, Henri Garcin, Michèle Baumgartner
Votes: 8,806
11. Reds (1981)
PG | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
A radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia, and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.
Director: Warren Beatty | Stars: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Edward Herrmann, Jerzy Kosinski
Votes: 24,707 | Gross: $40.38M
12. Ms .45 (1981)
R | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A timid and mute seamstress goes insane after being attacked and raped twice in one day, in which she takes to the streets of New York City after dark and randomly shoots men with a .45 caliber pistol.
Director: Abel Ferrara | Stars: Zoë Lund, Bogey, Albert Sinkys, Darlene Stuto
Votes: 12,524
13. Scanners (1981)
R | 103 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A scientist trains a man with an advanced telepathic ability called "scanning" to stop a dangerous Scanner with extraordinary psychic powers from waging war against non scanners.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane
Votes: 61,711 | Gross: $14.23M
14. The Howling (1981)
R | 91 min | Horror
After a bizarre and near deadly encounter with a serial killer, a television newswoman is sent to a remote mountain resort whose residents may not be what they seem.
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, Christopher Stone
Votes: 40,171 | Gross: $17.99M
15. Absence of Malice (1981)
PG | 116 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
When a prosecutor leaks to a Miami reporter that a liquor wholesaler is suspected in the murder of a union head, the man's life begins to unravel.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Paul Newman, Sally Field, Bob Balaban, Melinda Dillon
Votes: 14,753 | Gross: $40.72M
16. For Your Eyes Only (1981)
PG | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
Secret service agent James Bond is assigned to find a missing British vessel equipped with a weapons encryption device and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.
Director: John Glen | Stars: Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson
Votes: 108,261 | Gross: $62.30M
17. History of the World: Part I (1981)
R | 92 min | Comedy, History, Musical
Mel Brooks brings his one-of-a-kind comic touch to the history of mankind covering events from the Old Testament to the French Revolution in a series of episodic comedy vignettes.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Mel Brooks, Gregory Hines, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn
Votes: 55,209 | Gross: $31.67M
18. The Prowler (1981)
R | 89 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
An unknown killer, clad in World War II U.S. Army fatigues, stalks a small California town, bent on reliving a 35 year-old double murder by focusing on a group of college kids holding an annual graduation dance.
Director: Joseph Zito | Stars: Vicky Dawson, Christopher Goutman, Lawrence Tierney, Farley Granger
Votes: 12,995
19. Victory (1981)
PG | 116 min | Drama, Sport, War
As allied P.O.W.s prepare for a soccer game against the German National Team to be played in Nazi-occupied Paris, the French Resistance and British officers are making plans for the team's escape.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, Pelé, Bobby Moore
Votes: 33,260 | Gross: $10.85M
20. Freak Orlando (1981)
126 min | Comedy, Fantasy
In the form of a "small theater of the world", a history of the world from its beginnings to our day, including the errors, the incompetence, the thirst for power, the fear, the madness, ... See full summary »
Director: Ulrike Ottinger | Stars: Magdalena Montezuma, Delphine Seyrig, Albert Heins, Claudio Pantoja
Votes: 372
21. Os Saltimbancos Trapalhões (1981)
95 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Four humble and goofy employees of a prominent circus, all of them with a natural comedic talent, rebel against their tyrannical boss and his unscrupulous illusionist assistant.
Director: J.B. Tanko | Stars: Renato Aragão, Dedé Santana, Mussum, Zacarias
Votes: 786
22. Game of Death II (1980)
R | 96 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
After Billy Lo is killed while seeking the murderers of his friend, his brother Bobby goes all out to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Directors: See-Yuen Ng, Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Corey Yuen | Stars: Bruce Lee, Tae-jeong Kim, Jeong-lee Hwang, Roy Horan
Votes: 3,614
23. A Opção (1981)
87 min | Drama
The saga of rural women who decide to leave the countryside and get into prostitution. Their miserable lives are marked by fortuitous meetings with truck drivers, pimps, thieves and lunatics.
Director: Ozualdo Ribeiro Candeias | Stars: Carmem Angélica, Vilma Camargo, Nere de Passy, Jairo Ferreira
Votes: 68
24. Knightriders (1981)
R | 146 min | Action, Drama
A medieval reenactment troupe struggles to maintain its family-like dynamic amid pressure from local authorities, interest from talent agents, and their "King's" delusions of grandeur.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Ed Harris, Gary Lahti, Tom Savini, Amy Ingersoll
Votes: 5,468
25. Thief (1981)
R | 123 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ace safe cracker wants to do one last big heist for the mob before going straight.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson, Jim Belushi
Votes: 38,940 | Gross: $11.49M
26. Blow Out (1981)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A movie sound recordist accidentally records the evidence that proves that a car accident was actually murder and consequently finds himself in danger.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz
Votes: 63,211 | Gross: $13.75M
27. My Dinner with Andre (1981)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
Two old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Andre Gregory, Wallace Shawn, Jean Lenauer, Roy Butler
Votes: 25,759 | Gross: $5.25M
28. Pixote (1980)
TV-MA | 128 min | Crime, Drama
The life of a boy on the streets of Sao Paulo, involved with crimes, prostitution, and drugs.
Director: Hector Babenco | Stars: Fernando Ramos da Silva, Jorge Julião, Gilberto Moura, Edilson Lino
Votes: 9,226
29. One from the Heart (1981)
R | 107 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A couple has a fight after living together 5 years in Las Vegas. They go out and celebrate 4th of July, each with a new partner. Breakup?
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Raul Julia, Nastassja Kinski
Votes: 7,223 | Gross: $0.64M
30. Vernon, Florida (1981)
Not Rated | 55 min | Documentary
A documentary on the eccentric residents of Vernon, Florida.
Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Albert Bitterling, Roscoe Collins, George Harris, Joe Payne
Votes: 3,586
31. Arabic Numeral Series 12 (1981)
27 min | Short
An experimental film by Stan Brakhage combining flashing lights and colors. This is part of the Arabic Numeral Series.
Director: Stan Brakhage
Votes: 202
32. Unconscious London Strata (1981)
22 min | Short
An experimental short by Stan Brakhage combining lights, colors, and film.
Director: Stan Brakhage
Votes: 217
33. Merry-Go-Round (1980)
Not Rated | 160 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Elizabeth sends telegrams to her old boyfriend Ben in NYC and to her younger sister Leo in Rome to join her in Paris, where she is selling her dead father's estate. When Ben and Leo arrive, a mysterious adventure begins.
Director: Jacques Rivette | Stars: Maria Schneider, Joe Dallesandro, Danièle Gégauff, Sylvie Matton
Votes: 607
34. Escape from New York (1981)
R | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 157,403 | Gross: $25.24M
35. Southern Comfort (1981)
R | 106 min | Action, Thriller
During a routine exercise, a team of National Guardsmen are threatened by angry and violent locals.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Fred Ward, Franklyn Seales
Votes: 21,892 | Gross: $5.00M
36. Le Pont du Nord (1981)
Not Rated | 129 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
Young unhinged female ex-con with a motorcycle helps a sickly young homeless woman in red discover what the map of Paris she took from her gangster boyfriend leads to.
Director: Jacques Rivette | Stars: Bulle Ogier, Pascale Ogier, Pierre Clémenti, Jean-François Stévenin
Votes: 1,337 | Gross: $0.01M
37. The Empire of Desire (1981)
110 min | Drama, Comedy
Sandra is a rich widow who wants to know the beach house her late husband has left her. She goes there with her lover Odilon, an unscrupulous young man whose studies she's supporting. ... See full summary »
Director: Carlos Reichenbach | Stars: Roberto Miranda, Benjamin Cattan, Márcia Fraga, Meiry Vieira
Votes: 146
38. Modern Romance (1981)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
Albert Brooks directs himself as a successful film editor with far too many issues that affects the relationship between him and his remarkably patient girlfriend.
Director: Albert Brooks | Stars: Albert Brooks, Kathryn Harrold, Tyann Means, Bruno Kirby
Votes: 4,710 | Gross: $2.86M
39. Noel por Noel (1981)
10 min | Short, Documentary
Homage to the great Brazillian samba songwriter Noel Rosa (1910-1937)
Director: Rogério Sganzerla | Star: Noel Rosa
Votes: 38
40. The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
Not Rated | 100 min | Documentary, History, Music
A look into the Los Angeles punk rock scene, that was largely ignored by the rock music press of the time.
Director: Penelope Spheeris | Stars: Eugene Tatu, Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline
Votes: 4,867
41. The Burning (1981)
R | 91 min | Horror
A former summer camp caretaker, horribly burned from a prank gone wrong, lurks around an upstate New York summer camp bent on killing the teenagers responsible for his disfigurement.
Director: Tony Maylam | Stars: Brian Matthews, Leah Ayres, Brian Backer, Larry Joshua
Votes: 22,267
42. Francisca (1981)
166 min | Biography, Drama
The life of a young man, son of an English officer who lets himself become a prisoner of love resulting in fatalism and disgrace.
Director: Manoel de Oliveira | Stars: Teresa Menezes, Diogo Dória, Mário Barroso, Francisco Brás
Votes: 609
43. Road Games (1981)
PG | 101 min | Mystery, Thriller
A laid-back American truck driver in south Australia suspects that the driver of a green van is killing young women along his route, and plays a game of cat-and-mouse to catch him.
Director: Richard Franklin | Stars: Stacy Keach, Jamie Lee Curtis, Marion Edward, Grant Page
Votes: 9,088
44. The House by the Cemetery (1981)
Not Rated | 86 min | Horror
A New England home is terrorized by a series of murders, unbeknownst to the guests that a gruesome secret is hiding in the basement.
Director: Lucio Fulci | Stars: Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Ania Pieroni, Giovanni Frezza
Votes: 16,246
45. Dead & Buried (1981)
R | 94 min | Horror, Mystery
Sheriff Dan Gillis investigates eerie deaths in a sleepy coastal town.
Director: Gary Sherman | Stars: James Farentino, Melody Anderson, Jack Albertson, Dennis Redfield
Votes: 14,900 | Gross: $0.22M
46. Smash Palace (1981)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Thriller
After the break-up of his marriage, a racing driver sets out to get back his daughter - at any cost.
Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Bruno Lawrence, Anna Maria Monticelli, Greer Robson-Kirk, Keith Aberdein
Votes: 1,167
47. Prince of the City (1981)
R | 167 min | Crime, Drama
A New York City narcotics detective reluctantly agrees to cooperate with a special commission investigating police corruption, and soon realises he's in over his head, and nobody can be trusted.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Treat Williams, Jerry Orbach, Richard Foronjy, Don Billett
Votes: 9,518 | Gross: $8.12M
48. School in the Crosshairs (1981)
90 min | Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Mitamura Yuka (Hiroko Yakushimaru) is a normal shy middle school student that has psychic powers. When a new student with similar powers begins to show her skills by stealing the student ... See full summary »
Director: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi | Stars: Hiroko Yakushimaru, Ryôichi Takayanagi, Masami Hasegawa, Miyoko Akaza
Votes: 499
49. Mobile Suit Gundam I (1981)
TV-PG | 137 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A teenage boy must fight in an interplanetary war as the only available pilot to a revolutionary new giant battle robot.
Directors: Ryôji Fujiwara, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Eikichi Kojika, Shin'ya Sadamitsu | Stars: Tôru Furuya, Hirotaka Suzuoki, Shôzô Îzuka, Toshio Furukawa
Votes: 2,236
50. Mobile Suit Gundam II: Soldiers of Sorrow (1981)
139 min | Animation, Action, Drama
After managing to survive attacks by Zeon's Char Aznable and Garma Zabi, the crew of Federation warship White Base and its mobile suits battle Zeon forces (Ramba Ral, Ma Kube, Tri-Stars, ... See full summary »
Directors: Osamu Sekita, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Ryôji Fujiwara, Hiromichi Matano, Shin'ya Sadamitsu | Stars: Tôru Furuya, Shûichi Ikeda, Hirotaka Suzuoki, Fuyumi Shiraishi
Votes: 1,569
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