Best Movies of 1986 by Rank
137
1
David Lynch
Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern, Hope Lange
Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller / Cult
USA
English
241
2
Woody Allen
Woody Allen, Barbara Hershey
Comedy / Romance / Drama
USA
English
357
3
Claude Berri
Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu
Drama / Period Film
France / Switzerland / Italy
French
421
5
Claude Berri
Yves Montand, Emmanuelle Béart, Daniel Auteuil
Drama
Italy / France / Switzerland
French
539
6
James Cameron
Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Lance Henriksen
Sci-Fi / Action / Thriller / Horror / Action
USA / UK
English
736
7
David Cronenberg
Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz, Joy Boushel
Horror / Sci-Fi / Drama
USA
English
965
8
Rob Reiner
Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell
Adventure / Drama / Family
USA
English
1070
9
Bertrand Tavernier
Dexter Gordon, François Cluzet, Gabrielle Haker, Sandra Reaves-Phillips
Drama / Music
USA / France
English
1102
10
Denys Arcand
Dominique Michel, Dorothée Berryman, Louise Portal
Comedy / Drama
Canada
French
1138
11
Randa Haines
William Hurt, Marlee Matlin
Drama / Romance
USA
English
1170
13
Ross McElwee
Ross McElwee, Burt Reynolds, Charleen Swansea
Documentary / Biography
USA
English
1293
14
John Hughes
Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones, Jennifer Grey
Comedy / Family / Cult
USA
English
1330
15
Andrei Tarkovsky
Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Allan Edwall,
Drama / Religion
Sweden / UK / France
Swedish
1332
16
Hark Tsui
Brigitte Lin, Sally Yeh, Cherie Chung, Mark Cheng, Kenneth Tsang, Ma Wu
Comedy / Action / Drama
Hong Kong
Cantonese
1358
17
John McNaughton
Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold, Rick Paul, Flo Spink, Waleed B. Ali
Crime / Thriller / Horror / Biography / Adult
USA
English
1405
18
Spike Lee
Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell
Comedy / Romance
USA
English
1475
19
Jim Jarmusch
Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi
Comedy / Drama
USA / West Germany
English
1496
20
Federico Fellini
Giulietta Masina, Marcello Mastroianni, Franco Fabrizi
Comedy / Drama
Italy / France / West Germany
Italian
1509
21
Eric Rohmer
Marie Rivière, Amira Chemakhi, Sylvie Richez
Drama / Romance
France
French
1562
22
Roland Joffé
Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons
Drama / History / Period Film / Religion
UK
English
1626
23
Jean-Jacques Beineix
Jean-Hugues Anglade, Béatrice Dalle, Gérard Darmon
Comedy / Drama / Romance
France
French
1702
24
Neil Jordan
Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine, Robbie Coltrane
Comedy / Thriller / Drama / Crime
UK
English
1737
25
Franco Zeffirelli
Plácido Domingo, Katia Ricciarelli
Drama / Musical
Italy / Netherlands
Italian
1765
26
Tony Scott
Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt
Action / Drama / Romance / Family
USA
English
1796
27
Alex Cox
Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb, David Hayman, Debby Bishop
Drama / Music / Romance / Biography / Cult
UK / USA
English
1808
28
Zhuangzhuang Tian
Rigzin Tseshang, Jiji Dan, Jamco Jayang, Gaoba, Drashi
Drama
China
Mandarin
1879
29
Michael Mann
William L. Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina
Drama / Thriller / Horror / Detective / Post-Noir / Crime / Cult
USA
English
1889
30
Martin Scorsese
Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Drama / Sports
USA
English
1927
31
Jon Amiel
Michael Gambon, Patrick Malahide, Joanne Whalley, Lyndon Davies
Drama / Musical / Mystery / Thriller / Detective
Australia / UK
English
1992
32
Oliver Stone
James Woods, James Belushi, Michael Murphy, John Savage, Elpidia Carrillo
Drama / Thriller / War
USA
English
2015
33
Tim Hunter
Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye, Daniel Roebuck
Crime / Drama
USA
English
2022
34
Derek Jarman
Nigel Terry, Sean Bean, Garry Cooper, Spencer Leigh, Tilda Swinton, Michael Gough
Biography / Drama / Period Film
UK
English
2026
35
Paul Mazursky
Nick Nolte, Bette Midler, Richard Dreyfuss, Little Richard
Comedy
USA
English
2047
36
Francis Ford Coppola
Kathleen Turner, Nicolas Cage, Barry Miller, Catherine Hicks
Comedy / Drama / Romance / Fantasy
USA
English
2164
37
David Anspaugh
Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper, Sheb Wooley
Drama / Sports
USA
English
2193
38
Lizzie Borden
Louise Smith, Deborah Banks, Liz Caldwell, Marusia Zach, Amanda Goodwin
Drama
USA
English
2196
39
Bertrand Blier
Gérard Depardieu, Michel Blanc, Miou-Miou, Michel Creton
Comedy / Drama
France
French
2305
40
Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater
Comedy / Crime
USA
English
2344
41
Jonathan Demme
Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, George 'Red' Schwartz, Leib Lensky, Tracey Walter
Comedy / Drama / Crime / Romance
USA
English
2396
42
Leonard Nimoy
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei
Adventure / Sci-Fi / Comedy / Family / Cult
USA
English
2420
43
Edward Zwick
Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, James Belushi, Elizabeth Perkins, George DiCenzo
Comedy / Drama / Romance
USA
English
2426
44
Eliseo Subiela
Lorenzo Quinteros, Hugo Soto, Inés Vernengo, Cristina Scaramuzza
Drama / Sci-Fi
Argentina
Spanish
2437
45
Alain Resnais
Pierre Arditi, André Dussollier, Sabine Azéma
Drama / Romance
France
French
2444
46
John Carpenter
Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong, Victor Wong, Kate Burton
Action / Adventure / Comedy / Fantasy / Romance
USA
English
2449
47
Robert Mandel
Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy, Diane Venora, Cliff De Young, Mason Adams
Action / Crime / Thriller / Gangster / Detective
USA
English
2465
48
Peter Faiman
Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, John Meillon, David Gulpilil
Adventure / Comedy / Family
Australia
English
2482
49
Frank Oz
Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin
Comedy / Sci-Fi / Horror / Musical / Cult
USA
English
2487
50
David Seltzer
Corey Haim, Kerri Green, Charlie Sheen, Courtney Thorne-Smith
Comedy / Drama / Romance / Sports
USA
English
2507
51
Blake Edwards
Jack Lemmon, Julie Andrews, Sally Kellerman, Robert Loggia
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2508
52
Alain Cavalier
Catherine Mouchet, Hélène Alexandridis, Aurore Prieto
Drama / Religion / Biography
France
French
2538
53
Hayao Miyazaki
James Van Der Beek, Anna Paquin, Mark Hamill, Cloris Leachman, Richard Dysart
Animation / Action / Adventure / Family / Sci-Fi / Fantasy
Japan
English
2547
54
Bruce Beresford
Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard
Comedy / Drama
USA
English
2565
55
Adrian Lyne
Mickey Rourke, Kim Basinger, Margaret Whitton, David Margulies
Drama / Romance
USA
English
2591
56
Eugene Corr
Annabeth Gish, Jon Voight, JoBeth Williams, Ellen Barkin, Jay Underwood
Drama / Period Film
USA
English
2591
56
Peter Weir
Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, River Phoenix, Conrad Roberts, Andre Gregory
Adventure / Drama
USA
English
2591
56
Margarethe von Trotta
Barbara Sukowa, Daniel Olbrychski, Otto Sander, Adelheid Arndt, Jürgen Holtz
Biography / Drama
Czechoslovakia / West Germany
German
2591
56
Fielder Cook
Robin Williams, Richard B. Shull, David Bickford, Glenne Headly
Drama
USA
English
2606
57
Wolfgang Glück
Tobias Engel, Sunnyi Melles, Heinz Trixner, Romuald Pekny
Drama / Period Film / Romance
Austria / West Germany
German
2608
58
Jaime Humberto Hermosillo
Guillermina Alba, Guadalupe Del Toro, Letícia Lupercio, Arturo Meza
Comedy / Drama / Romance
Mexico
Spanish
2628
59
Alan Metter
Rodney Dangerfield, Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Keith Gordon, Robert Downey Jr.
Comedy / Romance / Sports
USA
English
2628
59
Gene Saks
Richard Bright, Jonathan Silverman, Blythe Danner, James Handy, Bette Henritze
Comedy / Drama / Biography
USA
English
2628
59
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood, Marsha Mason, Everett McGill, Moses Gunn, Eileen Heckart
Drama / War / Action / Adventure / Comedy
USA
English
2628
59
Mike Nichols
Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels, Maureen Stapleton, Stockard Channing
Comedy / Drama / Romance
USA
English
2635
60
Jimmy T. Murakami
Peggy Ashcroft, John Mills, Robin Houston, James Russell, David Dundas
War / Animation / Drama
UK
English
2645
61
María Luisa Bemberg
Julie Christie, Nacha Guevara, Eduardo Pavlovsky, Gerardo Romano
Drama
Argentina / USA
English
2657
62
Howard Deutch
Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer, Andrew McCarthy, Harry Dean Stanton, Annie Potts
Comedy / Drama / Romance
USA
English
2657
62
Alan Clarke
Siobhan Finneran, Michelle Holmes, George Costigan, Lesley Sharp, Kulvinder Ghir
Comedy / Drama / Romance / Cult
UK
English
2661
63
John Lasseter
Short / Animation / Experimental / Family / Comedy
USA
English (No Dialogue)
2688
64
Sergey Solovyov
Vyacheslav Ilyushchenko, Liubomiras Laucevicius, Lyudmila Saveleva, Sultan Bapov
Drama
Soviet Union
Russian
2688
64
Francesco Maselli
Valeria Golino, Blas Roca-Rey, Livio Panieri, Luigi Diberti, Gabriella Giorgelli
Drama / Romance
Italy
Italian
2690
65
Reinhard Hauff
Ulrich Pleitgen, Ulrich Tukur, Therese Affolter, Sabine Wegner, Hans Kremer
Crime / Drama / History / Action / Adventure
West Germany
German
2694
66
Marshall Brickman
John Lithgow, Richard Council, Robert Schenkkan, Paul Austin, Adrian Sparks
Comedy / Thriller
USA
English
2697
67
Kei Kumai
Eiji Okuda, Ken Watanabe, Takahiro Tamura, Kyôko Kishida, Mikio Narita
Drama / War
Japan
Japanese
2712
68
James Foley
Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Mary Stuart Masterson, Chris Penn, Millie Perkins
Crime / Romance / Drama
USA
English
2712
68
Walter Hill
Ralph Macchio, Joe Seneca, Jami Gertz, Joe Morton, Robert Judd, Steve Vai
Drama / Music
USA
English
2712
68
John Frankenheimer
Roy Scheider, Ann-Margret, Vanity, John Glover, Robert Trebor, Lonny Chapman
Action / Mystery / Thriller / Crime
USA
English
2712
68
Bruce Beresford
Justine Saunders, Kristina Nehm, Bob Maza, Kylie Belling, Denis Walker
Drama
Australia
English
2712
68
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson, Joy Askew, Adrian Belew, William S. Burroughs, Richard Landry
Music
USA
English
2712
68
Terry Zwigoff
Howard Armstrong, Ted Bogan, Cab Calloway, Les Blank, Alan Governar
Documentary / Music / Biography
USA
English
2712
68
Michael Dinner
Judge Reinhold, Meg Tilly, Cleavant Derricks, Joe Mantegna, Jacques d'Amboise
Comedy / Romance
USA
English
2712
68
Robert Mandel
Michael Keaton, Maria Conchita Alonso, Ajay Naidu, Max Wright, Lara Jill Miller
Comedy / Romance / Drama
USA
English
2712
68
David Byrne
David Byrne, John Goodman, Annie McEnroe, Jo Harvey Allen, Spalding Gray
Musical / Comedy / Cult
USA
English
2712
68
Simon Langton
Michael Caine, James Fox, Nigel Havers, John Gielgud, Felicity Dean, Barry Foster
Thriller / Spy
UK
English
2712
68
Brian De Palma
Danny DeVito, Joe Piscopo, Harvey Keitel, Ray Sharkey, Dan Hedaya, Lou Albano
Comedy / Crime / Gangster
USA
English
2713
69
Alan Alda
Alan Alda, Michael Caine, Michelle Pfeiffer, Bob Hoskins, Lise Hilboldt
Comedy / Romance
USA
English
2716
70
John Akomfrah
Pervaiz Khan, Meera Syal, Yvonne Weekes
Documentary
UK
English
2719
71
Julien Temple
Patsy Kensit, Eddie O'Connell, David Bowie, James Fox, Ray Davies
Drama / Musical / Romance
UK
English
2719
71
Leon Marr
Martha Henry, Neil Munro, Anne Butler, Vince Metcalfe, Janet Bailey
Drama
Canada
English
2719
71
Bill Hobin, Stan Harris
George Burns, Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Johnny Carson, Buddy Hackett, Ann-Margret
Comedy
USA
English
2719
71
Tobe Hooper
Karen Black, Hunter Carson, Timothy Bottoms, Laraine Newman, James Karen
Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller
USA
English
2719
71
Pedro Almodóvar
Assumpta Serna, Antonio Banderas, Nacho Martínez, Eva Cobo, Julieta Serrano
Drama / Thriller / Crime
Spain
Spanish
2719
71
John N. Smith
Pat Dillon, Fabian Gibbs, Sylvie Clarke, Debbie Grant
Drama
Canada
English
2740
72
Leos Carax
Michel Piccoli, Juliette Binoche, Denis Lavant, Hans Meyer
Crime / Romance / Drama
France
French
2751
73
Raoul Ruiz
Sylvain Thirolle, Roch Leibovici, Bénédicte Sire
Drama / Fantasy / Experimental
France
French
2751
73
Sara Driver
Suzanne Fletcher, Ann Magnuson, Dexter Lee, Stephen Chen
Drama / Fantasy / Mystery
USA / West Germany
English
2751
73
Peter Thompson
Peter Thompson
Documentary / Experimental / Crime
USA
English
2751
73
Peter Thompson
Peter Thompson
Documentary / History / Experimental / War
USA
English
2761
74
Edward Yang
Cora Miao, Li-Chun Lee, Shih-Chieh King, Pao-Ming Ku, Ming Liu, An Wang
Crime / Drama
Taiwan
Mandarin
2763
75
Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay
Feliks Stawinski
Short / Experimental
UK
English
2776
76
Euthana Mukdasanit
Suriya Yaovasang, Vasana Pholyiem, Suchow Phongvilai, Rome Isra
Drama
Thailand
Thai
