Best Thrillers of the 1980's
Submitted by ash_campbell on Wed, 09/03/2003 - 05:25
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- 1980: The Shining. Powerfully creepy adaptation of the Stephen King story by master Stanley Kubrick. This has it all; a great over-the-top performance from Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall’s female in hysterics, and taut editing.
- Best Foreign: The Long Good Friday. Bob Hoskins is a rough and tumble English gangster about to go big league, when everything comes to a head one Easter Weekend. Hoskins and Helen Mirren are excellent together, and there are some tough scenes in this one. Look for Pierce Brosnan in a bit part as the ‘First Irishman’.
- 1981: The Road Warrior. Mel Gibson was perfectly cast as the Outback’s anti-hero, and the use of the Australian scenery is impressive. The semi-trailer chase scene is one of the best in recent memory.
- Best Foreign: Diva. The most thrilling scene is a motorbike-Metro chase (it has to be seen to be believed), and the plot is serpentine without being ridiculous. Dominique Pinon creates a masterful thug in his little time on screen.
- 1982: Blade Runner Narrowly beats out John Carpenter’s The Thing, but Ridley Scott’s masterpiece is a beautiful mix of saturated colors, constant water, and the best adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story ever. Harrison Ford takes the right tack with a quiet and resilient Deckard, and Rutger Hauer gives a great performance.
- Best Foreign: Fitzcarraldo. Actor Klaus Kinski and director Werner Herzog returned to the jungles of Peru for another round after 1972’s Aguirre: Wrath of God. That these two did not kill each other may be the most amazing thing about it. Oh, the only thing more amazing than the plot of trying to carry an opera house over a mountain, is that they actually did it during filming.
- 1983: Scarface. Al Pacino buries himself in the role of a Cuban tough guy, and the result is a tremendous film that could have only been made by Brian De Palma. It has some of the best quotables from the 80’s.
- Best Foreign: Confidentially Yours. Francois Truffaut’s last film is a solid thriller with nice work from the leads, and realistic actions from the main character (I’d hide in my work or house, too). Great ending for a great director.
- 1984: Blood Simple. I’ve talked about this here. Believe me, it’s that good.
- Best Foreign: The Hit It’s not that great of a story; it’s the three leads, Terrence Stamp, John Hurt and Tim Roth all getting to show off some acting chops.
- 1985: Witness. Peter Weir’s thriller could have been put out forty years ago or today, and it would still be a hit. The themes of isolation, suspicion, and illicit romance are all adeptly handled here.
- Best Foreign: Ran Another film that I’ve blathered on about before, it’s pretty amazing, especially in the war scenes.
- 1986: Manhunter. Visually ahead of its time, Michael Mann is impressive in this taut predecessor of Silence of the Lambs. I really like Brian Cox’s characterization of Hannibal Leckter (they spell it with a ‘k’ in the film; go figure).
- Best Foreign: Mona Lisa. Another British suspense film, this has Michael Caine at his slimiest, and Bob Hoskins in the opposite extreme, but in the same mold, as his character from The Long Good Friday. It’s too bad that Cathy Tyson didn’t go onto bigger and better projects; she’s quite convincing here.
- 1987: House of Games. David Mamet’s dialogue and dark take on human nature take this from being a pretty straightforward thriller and imbue it with some real truths of human nature. Joe Mategna creates the first impression on a character type that he would (and continues) to hone over the next decade as the sleazy but irresistible con man.
- Best Foreign: Pathfinder. There is simply nothing out there quite like this. End of story.
- 1988: Serpent and the Rainbow. Sure, it’s flawed, but it’s a lot of fun too. How people could confuse Bill Pullman with Bill Paxton is beyond me; Pullman is leagues beyond Paxton as an actor.
- Best Foreign: Akira. Bizarre? Yes. Confusing? Very much so. Visually amazing? Most definitely.
- 1989: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Amazingly, Sean Connery is exactly what the franchise needed. I hope they don’t make a fourth one of these.
- Best Foreign: The Killer and The Vanishing. The former is John Woo at his best, and nobody makes bloodletting look as well as he does. The latter is a very scary film that has a breath-taking ending
Author Comments:
This is in the same series as this one about the 90’s.
I love this list and this series. I particularly like that you include a foreign release for each year. When you write "foreign" you are assuming a US perspective? Was The Road Warrior as US release or an Australian release? I know Mad Mad was Australian, but I'm not sure if its success caught the attention of Hollywood, which then made the follow-ups or not.
I am taking the US perspective, not the non-English one for foreign. I'm not sure if Mad Max was initially released in Australia or not, but it was filmed in New South Wales and doesn't inlcude any American actors, so it's close enough for me.
I'm still a bit confused, because it looks like you have The Road Warrior as your US pick for 1981, and Diva for your foreign pick. But your comment above suggests that it (or Mad Max) is a non-US candidate.
That's what I get for not paying enough attention to the question...I thought I had put Mad Max in the foreign category. Hmmm...maybe it's good enough just to say that Max is the best thriller from 1981 period, and that Diva is the best foreign if you take Max out of the running. Or you could say I screwed up.
Good enough for me!