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 Nov 28, 2012 10:52 am2014-05-11T22:46:26-05:00

3. Raging Bull (1980) (Dir. Martin Scorsese)

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From its beautifully-rendered, hypnotic opening title sequence, to its last very last scene which follows its broken hero into a life of mediocrity, Raging Bull feels like a defining work. Robert De Niro delivers his best ever performance as Jake La Motta, an ill-tempered middle-weight boxer whose inherent rage and sexual jealousy tear apart the lives of those around him. Martin Scorsese’s direction is impeccable, the picture filmed in crisp black and white that seems to cast the movie with a blunt, clear-headedness. Paul Schrader, who also worked with Scorsese and De Niro on Taxi Driver, delivers a script that is both heartbreaking and explosive. Three masters at work, and one perfect movie-going experience.

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