These Go To Eleven: The 10 Best Films Of The Eighties

Join us in our decade-based film retrospective, as we delve backwards all the way from 2009 to 1910. Most decade-based best movie lists grant you a whooping 50-100 entries, which makes perfect sense given all the years you have to take into consideration. But what if you were defining a decade in just ten films? Which movies would you recommend to somebody who might only watch a handful from a given decade? This week, we look back at the Eighties.

T.J. Barnard

Published: Nov 28, 2012 10:52 am

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5. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (Dir. Irvin Kershner)

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The sequel to Star Wars had a hell of a lot riding on its shoulders, so much so that George Lucas assigned Irvin Kershner as director, presumably to avoid taking the blame should it all go horribly wrong. But Kershner delivered a movie arguably superior to the original, making the storyline darker and more intimate, granting the Star Wars franchise added weight in the process. The centre of the movie is, of course, the revelation that Darth Vader is actually Luke Skywalker’s father, but the build-up to this infamous moment remains gripping in every sense of the word. Not only did the special effects get better, but so did the script, this time with Lawrence Kasdan taking over from George Lucas. The Empire Strikes Back, then, is a film to match its reputation: a fantasy masterpiece, and the best Star Wars film ever made.

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T.J. Barnard