Best Movies of 1986 by Rank
128
1
David Lynch
Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern, Hope Lange
Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller / Cult
USA
English
267
2
Woody Allen
Woody Allen, Barbara Hershey
Comedy / Romance / Drama
USA
English
368
4
Claude Berri
Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu
Drama / Period Film
France / Switzerland / Italy
French
442
5
Claude Berri
Yves Montand, Emmanuelle Béart, Daniel Auteuil
Drama
Italy / France / Switzerland
French
509
6
James Cameron
Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Lance Henriksen
Sci-Fi / Action / Thriller / Horror / Action
USA / UK
English
716
7
David Cronenberg
Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz, Joy Boushel
Horror / Sci-Fi / Drama
USA
English
948
8
Rob Reiner
Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell
Adventure / Drama / Family
USA
English
1048
9
Bertrand Tavernier
Dexter Gordon, François Cluzet, Gabrielle Haker, Sandra Reaves-Phillips
Drama / Music
USA / France
English
1130
10
Ross McElwee
Ross McElwee, Burt Reynolds, Charleen Swansea
Documentary / Biography
USA
English
1140
11
Denys Arcand
Dominique Michel, Dorothée Berryman, Louise Portal
Comedy / Drama
Canada
French
1161
12
Randa Haines
William Hurt, Marlee Matlin
Drama / Romance
USA
English
1245
14
John Hughes
Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones, Jennifer Grey
Comedy / Family / Cult
USA
English
1255
15
Hark Tsui
Brigitte Lin, Sally Yeh, Cherie Chung, Mark Cheng, Kenneth Tsang, Ma Wu
Comedy / Action / Drama
Hong Kong
Cantonese
1342
16
John McNaughton
Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold, Rick Paul, Flo Spink, Waleed B. Ali
Crime / Thriller / Horror / Biography / Adult
USA
English
1400
17
Spike Lee
Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell
Comedy / Romance
USA
English
1402
18
Andrei Tarkovsky
Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Allan Edwall,
Drama / Religion
Sweden / UK / France
Swedish
1422
19
Jim Jarmusch
Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi
Comedy / Drama
USA / West Germany
English
1586
20
Eric Rohmer
Marie Rivière, Amira Chemakhi, Sylvie Richez
Drama / Romance
France
French
1598
21
Federico Fellini
Giulietta Masina, Marcello Mastroianni, Franco Fabrizi
Comedy / Drama
Italy / France / West Germany
Italian
1708
22
Jean-Jacques Beineix
Jean-Hugues Anglade, Béatrice Dalle, Gérard Darmon
Comedy / Drama / Romance
France
French
1715
23
Zhuangzhuang Tian
Rigzin Tseshang, Jiji Dan, Jamco Jayang, Gaoba, Drashi
Drama
China
Mandarin
1721
24
Roland Joffé
Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons
Drama / History / Period Film / Religion
UK
English
1734
25
Tony Scott
Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt
Action / Drama / Romance / Family
USA
English
1813
26
Franco Zeffirelli
Plácido Domingo, Katia Ricciarelli
Drama / Musical
Italy / Netherlands
Italian
1830
27
Neil Jordan
Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine, Robbie Coltrane
Comedy / Thriller / Drama / Crime
UK
English
1853
28
Alex Cox
Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb, David Hayman, Debby Bishop
Drama / Music / Romance / Biography / Cult
UK / USA
English
1911
29
Michael Mann
William L. Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina
Drama / Thriller / Horror / Detective / Post-Noir / Crime / Cult
USA
English
1917
30
Jon Amiel
Michael Gambon, Patrick Malahide, Joanne Whalley, Lyndon Davies
Drama / Musical / Mystery / Thriller / Detective
Australia / UK
English
1942
31
Martin Scorsese
Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Drama / Sports
USA
English
1958
32
Derek Jarman
Nigel Terry, Sean Bean, Garry Cooper, Spencer Leigh, Tilda Swinton, Michael Gough
Biography / Drama / Period Film
UK
English
1961
33
Oliver Stone
James Woods, James Belushi, Michael Murphy, John Savage, Elpidia Carrillo
Drama / Thriller / War
USA
English
2027
34
Tim Hunter
Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye, Daniel Roebuck
Crime / Drama
USA
English
2100
35
Paul Mazursky
Nick Nolte, Bette Midler, Richard Dreyfuss, Little Richard
Comedy
USA
English
2163
36
Lizzie Borden
Louise Smith, Deborah Banks, Liz Caldwell, Marusia Zach, Amanda Goodwin
Drama
USA
English
2169
37
Francis Ford Coppola
Kathleen Turner, Nicolas Cage, Barry Miller, Catherine Hicks
Comedy / Drama / Romance / Fantasy
USA
English
2191
38
David Anspaugh
Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper, Sheb Wooley
Drama / Sports
USA
English
2284
39
Bertrand Blier
Gérard Depardieu, Michel Blanc, Miou-Miou, Michel Creton
Comedy / Drama
France
French
2364
40
Jonathan Demme
Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, George 'Red' Schwartz, Leib Lensky, Tracey Walter
Comedy / Drama / Crime / Romance
USA
English
2391
41
Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater
Comedy / Crime
USA
English
2402
42
Alain Resnais
Pierre Arditi, André Dussollier, Sabine Azéma
Drama / Romance
France
French
2420
43
Leonard Nimoy
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei
Adventure / Sci-Fi / Comedy / Family / Cult
USA
English
2470
44
Eliseo Subiela
Lorenzo Quinteros, Hugo Soto, Inés Vernengo, Cristina Scaramuzza
Drama / Sci-Fi
Argentina
Spanish
2477
45
Edward Zwick
Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, James Belushi, Elizabeth Perkins, George DiCenzo
Comedy / Drama / Romance
USA
English
2489
46
Peter Faiman
Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, John Meillon, David Gulpilil
Adventure / Comedy / Family
Australia
English
2502
47
John Carpenter
Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong, Victor Wong, Kate Burton
Action / Adventure / Comedy / Fantasy / Romance
USA
English
2510
48
Robert Mandel
Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy, Diane Venora, Cliff De Young, Mason Adams
Action / Crime / Thriller / Gangster / Detective
USA
English
2554
49
Hayao Miyazaki
James Van Der Beek, Anna Paquin, Mark Hamill, Cloris Leachman, Richard Dysart
Animation / Action / Adventure / Family / Sci-Fi / Fantasy
Japan
English
2585
50
Blake Edwards
Jack Lemmon, Julie Andrews, Sally Kellerman, Robert Loggia
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2592
51
Frank Oz
Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin
Comedy / Sci-Fi / Horror / Musical / Cult
USA
English
2597
52
David Seltzer
Corey Haim, Kerri Green, Charlie Sheen, Courtney Thorne-Smith
Comedy / Drama / Romance / Sports
USA
English
2612
53
Eugene Corr
Annabeth Gish, Jon Voight, JoBeth Williams, Ellen Barkin, Jay Underwood
Drama / Period Film
USA
English
2612
53
Peter Weir
Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, River Phoenix, Conrad Roberts, Andre Gregory
Adventure / Drama
USA
English
2612
53
Margarethe von Trotta
Barbara Sukowa, Daniel Olbrychski, Otto Sander, Adelheid Arndt, Jürgen Holtz
Biography / Drama
Czechoslovakia / West Germany
German
2612
53
Fielder Cook
Robin Williams, Richard B. Shull, David Bickford, Glenne Headly
Drama
USA
English
2628
54
Adrian Lyne
Mickey Rourke, Kim Basinger, Margaret Whitton, David Margulies
Drama / Romance
USA
English
2653
55
Jaime Humberto Hermosillo
Guillermina Alba, Guadalupe Del Toro, Letícia Lupercio, Arturo Meza
Comedy / Drama / Romance
Mexico
Spanish
2660
56
Bruce Beresford
Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2674
57
Alain Cavalier
Catherine Mouchet, Hélène Alexandridis, Aurore Prieto
Drama / Religion / Biography
France
French
2695
58
Howard Deutch
Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer, Andrew McCarthy, Harry Dean Stanton, Annie Potts
Comedy / Drama / Romance
USA
English
2695
58
Alan Clarke
Siobhan Finneran, Michelle Holmes, George Costigan, Lesley Sharp, Kulvinder Ghir
Comedy / Drama / Romance / Cult
UK
English
2696
59
Alan Metter
Rodney Dangerfield, Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Keith Gordon, Robert Downey Jr.
Comedy / Romance / Sports
USA
English
2696
59
Gene Saks
Richard Bright, Jonathan Silverman, Blythe Danner, James Handy, Bette Henritze
Comedy / Drama / Biography
USA
English
2696
59
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood, Marsha Mason, Everett McGill, Moses Gunn, Eileen Heckart
Drama / War / Action / Adventure / Comedy
USA
English
2696
59
Mike Nichols
Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels, Maureen Stapleton, Stockard Channing
Comedy / Drama / Romance
USA
English
2698
60
Jimmy T. Murakami
Peggy Ashcroft, John Mills, Robin Houston, James Russell, David Dundas
War / Animation / Drama
UK
English
2716
61
Wolfgang Glück
Tobias Engel, Sunnyi Melles, Heinz Trixner, Romuald Pekny
Drama / Period Film / Romance
Austria / West Germany
German
2746
62
María Luisa Bemberg
Julie Christie, Nacha Guevara, Eduardo Pavlovsky, Gerardo Romano
Drama
Argentina / USA
English
2762
63
John Lasseter
Short / Animation / Experimental / Family / Comedy
USA
English (No Dialogue)
2781
64
Alan Alda
Alan Alda, Michael Caine, Michelle Pfeiffer, Bob Hoskins, Lise Hilboldt
Comedy / Romance
USA
English
2785
65
Leos Carax
Michel Piccoli, Juliette Binoche, Denis Lavant, Hans Meyer
Crime / Romance / Drama
France
French
2789
66
Marshall Brickman
John Lithgow, Richard Council, Robert Schenkkan, Paul Austin, Adrian Sparks
Comedy / Thriller
USA
English
2798
67
Raoul Ruiz
Sylvain Thirolle, Roch Leibovici, Bénédicte Sire
Drama / Fantasy / Experimental
France
French
2798
67
Sara Driver
Suzanne Fletcher, Ann Magnuson, Dexter Lee, Stephen Chen
Drama / Fantasy / Mystery
USA / West Germany
English
2798
67
Peter Thompson
Peter Thompson
Documentary / Experimental / Crime
USA
English
2798
67
Peter Thompson
Peter Thompson
Documentary / History / Experimental / War
USA
English
2807
68
James Foley
Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Mary Stuart Masterson, Chris Penn, Millie Perkins
Crime / Romance / Drama
USA
English
2807
68
Walter Hill
Ralph Macchio, Joe Seneca, Jami Gertz, Joe Morton, Robert Judd, Steve Vai
Drama / Music
USA
English
2807
68
John Frankenheimer
Roy Scheider, Ann-Margret, Vanity, John Glover, Robert Trebor, Lonny Chapman
Action / Mystery / Thriller / Crime
USA
English
2807
68
Bruce Beresford
Justine Saunders, Kristina Nehm, Bob Maza, Kylie Belling, Denis Walker
Drama
Australia
English
2807
68
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson, Joy Askew, Adrian Belew, William S. Burroughs, Richard Landry
Music
USA
English
2807
68
Terry Zwigoff
Howard Armstrong, Ted Bogan, Cab Calloway, Les Blank, Alan Governar
Documentary / Music / Biography
USA
English
2807
68
Michael Dinner
Judge Reinhold, Meg Tilly, Cleavant Derricks, Joe Mantegna, Jacques d'Amboise
Comedy / Romance
USA
English
2807
68
Robert Mandel
Michael Keaton, Maria Conchita Alonso, Ajay Naidu, Max Wright, Lara Jill Miller
Comedy / Romance / Drama
USA
English
2807
68
David Byrne
David Byrne, John Goodman, Annie McEnroe, Jo Harvey Allen, Spalding Gray
Musical / Comedy / Cult
USA
English
2807
68
Simon Langton
Michael Caine, James Fox, Nigel Havers, John Gielgud, Felicity Dean, Barry Foster
Thriller / Spy
UK
English
2807
68
Brian De Palma
Danny DeVito, Joe Piscopo, Harvey Keitel, Ray Sharkey, Dan Hedaya, Lou Albano
Comedy / Crime / Gangster
USA
English
2813
69
Julien Temple
Patsy Kensit, Eddie O'Connell, David Bowie, James Fox, Ray Davies
Drama / Musical / Romance
UK
English
2813
69
Leon Marr
Martha Henry, Neil Munro, Anne Butler, Vince Metcalfe, Janet Bailey
Drama
Canada
English
2813
69
Bill Hobin, Stan Harris
George Burns, Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Johnny Carson, Buddy Hackett, Ann-Margret
Comedy
USA
English
2813
69
Tobe Hooper
Karen Black, Hunter Carson, Timothy Bottoms, Laraine Newman, James Karen
Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller
USA
English
2813
69
Pedro Almodóvar
Assumpta Serna, Antonio Banderas, Nacho Martínez, Eva Cobo, Julieta Serrano
Drama / Thriller / Crime
Spain
Spanish
2813
69
John N. Smith
Pat Dillon, Fabian Gibbs, Sylvie Clarke, Debbie Grant
Drama
Canada
English
2822
70
John Akomfrah
Pervaiz Khan, Meera Syal, Yvonne Weekes
Documentary
UK
English
2851
71
Edward Yang
Cora Miao, Li-Chun Lee, Shih-Chieh King, Pao-Ming Ku, Ming Liu, An Wang
Crime / Drama
Taiwan
Mandarin
2855
72
Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay
Feliks Stawinski
Short / Experimental
UK
English
2866
73
Euthana Mukdasanit
Suriya Yaovasang, Vasana Pholyiem, Suchow Phongvilai, Rome Isra
Drama
Thailand
Thai
