Best Movies of 1980 by Rank
18
1
Martin Scorsese
Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent, Nicholas Colasanto
Drama / Biography / Sports
USA
English
143
2
Louis Malle
Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, Michel Piccoli, Hollis McLaren, Robert Joy
Crime / Drama / Romance / Gangster / Post-Noir
USA / Canada / France
English
325
3
Stanley Kubrick
Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers
Horror / Thriller / Cult
UK
English
333
4
Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack
Comedy / Family / Cult
USA
English
340
5
David Lynch
Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud
Drama / Biography / Period Film / Cult
UK / USA
English
371
6
Irvin Kershner
Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels
Sci-Fi / Action / Adventure / Fantasy / Family / Cult
USA
English
397
7
Samuel Fuller
Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco
Action / Drama / War
USA
English
481
9
Akira Kurosawa
Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki
Drama / War / Epic / History
Japan
Japanese
541
10
Michael Apted
Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones
Drama / Music / Biography
USA
English
600
11
Alain Resnais
Gérard Depardieu, Nicole Garcia
Drama / Comedy
France
French
609
12
François Truffaut
Catherine Deneuve, Gérard Depardieu
Drama / Romance / War
France
French
828
14
Bruce Beresford
Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson, John Waters, Bryan Brown
Drama / War
Australia
English
831
15
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Günter Lamprecht, Elisabeth Trissenaar, Karin Baal
Drama / Epic / Period Film / History
Italy / West Germany
German
1044
16
John Mackenzie
Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Dave King, Bryan Marshall
Drama / Thriller / Crime / Gangster
UK
English
1258
17
Richard Rush
Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey, Allen Garfield
Action / Romance / Comedy / Thriller / Drama
USA
English
1266
18
Maurice Pialat
Isabelle Huppert, Gérard Depardieu, Guy Marchand, Humbert Balsan
Drama / Romance / Crime
France
French
1333
19
Nicolas Roeg
Art Garfunkel, Theresa Russell, Harvey Keitel, Denholm Elliott, Daniel Massey
Drama / Mystery / Thriller
UK
English
1360
20
Michael Cimino
Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Sam Waterston
Western / Drama / Epic / Cult
USA
English
1555
21
Paul Schrader
Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, Hector Elizondo, Nina Van Pallandt
Drama / Crime / Romance / Thriller
USA
English
1808
22
Brian De Palma
Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Keith Gordon
Horror / Thriller / Mystery
USA
English
1830
23
John Cassavetes
Gena Rowlands, Buck Henry, Julie Carmen, John Adames
Drama / Thriller / Crime / Gangster
USA
English
1846
24
John Landis
John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin
Comedy / Musical / Adventure / Action
USA
English
1873
25
Alan Parker
Irene Cara, Paul McCrane, Barry Miller, Gene Anthony Ray
Drama / Musical
USA
English
1988
26
Errol Morris
Lucille Billingsley, Zella Graham, Cal Harberts, Dan Harberts
Documentary
USA
English
2033
27
William Peter Blatty
Stacy Keach, Scott Wilson, Jason Miller, Ed Flanders
Drama / Sci-Fi / Thriller / Comedy / Cult
USA
English
2133
28
Jean-Luc Godard
Isabelle Huppert, Jacques Dutronc, Nathalie Baye, Roland Amstutz
Drama
France / Austria / West Germany / Switzerland
French
2136
29
John Sayles
Bruce MacDonald II, Maggie Renzi, Adam LeFevre
Drama / Comedy
USA
English
2196
30
Tony Bill
Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin, Matt Dillon, Paul Quandt
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2255
31
István Szabó
Ildikó Bánsági, Péter Andorai
Drama / War / Romance
Hungary
Hungarian
2308
32
Krzysztof Zanussi
Maja Komorowska, Tadeusz Lomnicki, Magda Jaroszowna
Drama / Comedy
Poland
Polish
2308
32
Ingmar Bergman
Robert Atzorn, Heinz Bennent, Martin Benrath, Toni Berger
Drama / Crime
West Germany / Sweden
German
2308
32
Daniel Petrie
Ellen Burstyn, Sam Shepard, Richard Farnsworth, Roberts Blossom
Drama / Fantasy / Religion
USA
English
2323
33
Jamie Uys
Marius Weyers, Sandra Prinsloo, N!xau, Louw Verwey, Michael Thys, Nic De Jager
Action / Comedy / Adventure / Cult
Botswana
English
2323
33
Walter Hill
David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine, James Keach, Stacy Keach
Western
USA
English
2401
34
Richard Lester, Richard Donner
Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper
Action / Adventure / Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Romance / Crime / Family / Comic
UK
English
2450
35
Sean S. Cunningham
Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Jeannine Taylor
Horror / Mystery / Thriller / Crime
USA
English
2505
36
Ken Russell
William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid, Thaao Penghlis
Drama / Horror / Sci-Fi / Fantasy
USA
English
2505
36
Robert Altman
Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall, Ray Walston, Paul Dooley, Paul L. Smith
Adventure / Comedy / Musical / Comic
USA
English
2527
37
Harold Ramis
Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, Bill Murray
Comedy / Sports / Cult
USA
English
2608
38
Micheline Lanctôt
Andrée Pelletier, Jocelyn Bérubé, Paul Dion, Marcel Sabourin
Romance / Drama
Canada
French
2608
38
Moshé Mizrahi
Simone Signoret, Jean Rochefort, Delphine Seyrig, Gilette Barbier, Marion Loran
Drama / Romance
France
French
2608
38
Robert Houston, Kenji Misumi, David Weisman
Tomisaburo Wakayama, Kayo Matsuo, Minoru Ohki, Akiji Kobayashi, Shin Kishida
Action / Adventure / Drama
Japan / USA
English
2608
38
Stephen Wallace
Bryan Brown, Max Phipps, Dennis Miller, Garry Waddell, Phil Motherwell
Action / Drama / Thriller / Crime
Australia
English
2662
39
Dennis Hopper
Linda Manz, Dennis Hopper, Sharon Farrell, Don Gordon
Drama
Canada
English
2691
40
Julien Temple
Malcolm McLaren, Sid Vicious, Steve Jones, Paul Cook, John Lydon, Ronald Biggs
Documentary / Drama / Comedy / Music / Biography
UK
English
2691
40
Christopher Petit
David Beames, Lisa Kreuzer, Sandy Ratcliff, Andrew Byatt, Sue Jones-Davies
Drama / Mystery / Crime
UK / West Germany
English
2691
40
Jack Hazan, David Mingay
Ray Gange, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Nicky 'Topper' Headon
Drama / Musical / Biography
UK
English
2691
40
Steve Roberts
Trevor Howard, Patrick Magee, Denise Coffey, J.G. Devlin, Harry Fowler, Sheila Reid
Comedy / Fantasy
UK
English
2692
41
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis, Scatman Crothers, Bill McKinney
Adventure / Drama / Romance / Western / Comedy
USA
English
2692
41
Stuart Rosenberg, Bob Rafelson
Robert Redford, Yaphet Kotto, Morgan Freeman, Jane Alexander, Murray Hamilton
Drama
USA
English
2692
41
John Irvin
Christopher Walken, Tom Berenger, Colin Blakely, Hugh Millais, Paul Freeman
Adventure / War / Action / Drama
UK
English
2692
41
Mike Hodges
Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Max von Sydow, Topol, Ornella Muti, Timothy Dalton
Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi / Thriller / Comic / Fantasy / Comedy / Cult
USA / UK
English
2692
41
John Carpenter
Jamie Lee Curtis, Adrienne Barbeau, Janet Leigh, John Houseman, Tom Atkins
Horror / Mystery / Thriller
USA
English
2692
41
James Caan
James Caan, Jill Eikenberry, Robert Viharo, Joe Grifasi, Barbra Rae
Drama / Gangster
USA
English
2692
41
Ronald Neame
Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Sam Waterston, Ned Beatty, Herbert Lom
Comedy / Spy / Action / Thriller
USA
English
2692
41
Colin Higgins
Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, Dabney Coleman, Sterling Hayden
Comedy / Music / Fantasy
USA
English
2692
41
Howard Zieff
Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante, Robert Webber, Sam Wanamaker
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2692
41
Paul Lynch
Leslie Nielsen; Jamie Lee Curtis; Casey Stevens; Eddie Benton; Antoinette Bower
Horror / Mystery / Thriller
Canada
English
2692
41
Jay Sandrich
Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, Charles Grodin, Robert Guillaume, Harold Gould
Comedy / Romance / Caper
USA
English
2692
41
Woody Allen
Woody Allen, Charlotte Rampling, Jessica Harper, Marie-Christine Barrault
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2692
41
Sidney Poitier
Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Georg Stanford Brown, JoBeth Williams
Comedy / Crime
USA
English
2692
41
James Bridges
John Travolta, Debra Winger, Scott Glenn, Madolyn Smith Osborne, Barry Corbin
Drama / Romance
USA
English
2692
41
Robert Zemeckis
Kurt Russell, Jack Warden, Gerrit Graham, Frank McRae, Deborah Harmon
Comedy
USA
English
2692
41
Paul Mazursky
Michael Ontkean, Margot Kidder, Ray Sharkey, Jan Miner, Tom Brennan
Comedy / Drama / Romance
USA
English
2758
42
Les Blank
Antzonini Del Puerto, Kathleen Bendel, Harrod Blank, Mary T. Brown
Documentary
USA
English
2758
42
Connie Field
Wanita Allen, Gladys Belcher, Lyn Childs, Lola Weixel
Documentary / History / Biography / War
USA
English
2791
43
Taylor Hackford
Ray Sharkey, Tovah Feldshuh, Peter Gallagher, Paul Land
Drama / Musical / Romance
USA
English
2791
43
Goran Paskaljevic
Ljuba Tadic, Danilo 'Bata' Stojkovic, Dusica Zegarac, Milan Srdoc
Drama / Comedy
Yugoslavia
Serbo-Croatian
2794
44
Mike Leigh
Brenda Blethyn, Janine Duvitski, Sam Kelly, Lesley Manville
Comedy / Drama
UK
English
2794
44
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis, Susan Oliver, Roger C. Carmel, Deanna Lund
Comedy
USA
English
2794
44
William Klein
Little Richard
Documentary / Music
West Germany
French
2802
45
Krzysztof Zanussi
Tadeusz Bradecki, Malgorzata Zajaczkowska, Cezary Morawski
Drama
Poland
Polish
2803
46
Harold Becker
Robert Foxworth, Paula Prentiss, Harry Dean Stanton, Barbara Babcock
Crime / Romance / Comedy / Drama / Detective
USA
English
2803
46
Michael Ritchie
Bette Midler, Jocelyn Brown, Ula Hedwig, Diva Gray, Irving Sudrow
Comedy / Music
USA
English
2803
46
Robert M. Young
Paul Simon, Blair Brown, Rip Torn, Joan Hackett, Allen Garfield, Mare Winningham
Drama / Musical
USA
English
2809
47
Kevin Brownlow, David Gill
Clara Bow, Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Greta Garbo, Lillian Gish
Documentary
UK
English
2834
48
Glauber Rocha
Maurício do Valle, Jece Valadão, Antonio Pitanga, Tarcísio Meira
Drama / Fantasy / History / Sci-Fi / War / Religion / Epic / Experimental
Brazil
Portuguese
2862
49
Ishmael Bernal
Charito Solis, Johnny Wilson, Orestes Ojeda, Gina Alajar
Drama
Philippines
Filipino
2862
49
Helma Sanders-Brahms
Eva Mattes, Ernst Jacobi, Elisabeth Stepanek, Angelika Thomas
Drama / War
West Germany
German
2862
49
Dario Argento
Leigh McCloskey, Irene Miracle, Eleonora Giorgi, Daria Nicolodi
Drama / Horror / Mystery / Cult
Italy
English
2862
49
Yvonne Rainer
Annette Michelson, Gabor Vernon, Vito Acconci, Yvonne Rainer
Drama / Experimental
USA / UK / West Germany
English
2862
49
Slobodan Sijan
Pavle Vujisic, Dragan Nikolic, Danilo 'Bata' Stojkovic
Comedy / Drama / War
Yugoslavia
Serbo-Croatian
NR
-
Jeannot Szwarc
Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, Christopher Plummer, Teresa Wright, Bill Erwin
Drama / Romance / Fantasy / Cult
USA
English
NR
-
William Wiard
Steve McQueen, Linda Evans, Richard Farnsworth, Billy Green Bush, Slim Pickens
Western / Biography
USA
English
