1981: A Viewer's Guide
List activity
1.1K views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
59 titles
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordKaren AllenPaul FreemanIn 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsJürgen ProchnowHerbert GrönemeyerKlaus WennemannA German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.
- DirectorJean-Jacques BeineixStarsWilhelmenia FernandezFrédéric AndréiRoland BertinTwo tapes, two Parisian mob killers, one corrupt policeman, an opera fan, a teenage thief, and the coolest philosopher ever filmed all twist their way through an intricate and stylish French-language thriller.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsJames CagneyElizabeth McGovernHoward E. Rollins Jr.A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.
- DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsBarbara SukowaArmin Mueller-StahlMario AdorfA seductive cabaret singer-prostitute pits a corrupt building contractor against the new straight-arrow building commissioner, launching an outrageous plan to elevate herself in a world where everything-and everyone-is for sale.
- DirectorLawrence KasdanStarsWilliam HurtKathleen TurnerRichard CrennaDuring an extreme heatwave, a beautiful Florida woman and a seedy lawyer engage in an affair while plotting the murder of her rich husband.
- DirectorHugh HudsonStarsBen CrossIan CharlesonNicholas FarrellTwo British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsMel GibsonMark LeeBill KerrTwo Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey during World War I.
- DirectorUlu GrosbardStarsRobert De NiroRobert DuvallCharles DurningA worldly ambitious monsignor clashes with his older brother, a cynical Los Angeles homicide detective who is investigating the brutal murder of a young prostitute.
- DirectorHector BabencoStarsFernando Ramos da SilvaJorge JuliãoGilberto MouraThe life of a boy on the streets of Sao Paulo, involved with crimes, prostitution, and drugs.
- DirectorAlbert BrooksStarsAlbert BrooksKathryn HarroldTyann MeansAlbert Brooks directs himself as a successful film editor with far too many issues that affects the relationship between him and his remarkably patient girlfriend.
- DirectorIstván SzabóStarsKlaus Maria BrandauerIldikó BánságiKrystyna JandaIn early-1930s Germany, a passionate stage actor faces a dilemma: renounce his apolitical stance and comply with the Reich's doctrine, or face oblivion. But, Faustian bargains never end well. What is the price of success?
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsTreat WilliamsJerry OrbachRichard ForonjyA New York City narcotics detective reluctantly agrees to cooperate with a special commission investigating police corruption, and soon realises he's in over his head, and nobody can be trusted.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsKeith CarradinePowers BootheFred WardDuring a routine exercise, a team of National Guardsmen are threatened by angry and violent locals.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsGérard DepardieuFanny ArdantHenri GarcinTwo ex-lovers wind up living next door to each other with their respective spouses. Forbidden passions ensue.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsJohn TravoltaNancy AllenJohn LithgowA movie sound recordist accidentally records the evidence that proves that a car accident was actually murder and consequently finds himself in danger.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsJames CaanTuesday WeldWillie NelsonAn ace safe cracker wants to do one last big heist for the mob before going straight.
- DirectorBill ForsythStarsJohn Gordon SinclairDee HepburnJake D'ArcyGregory is a normal teen who is infatuated with a classmate. He must work to win her affection.
- DirectorIvan PasserStarsJeff BridgesJohn HeardLisa EichhornRichard spots a man dumping a body, and decides to expose the man he thinks is the culprit with his friend Alex Cutter.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsSean ConneryShelley DuvallJohn CleeseA young boy accidentally joins a band of time travelling dwarves, as they jump from era to era looking for treasure to steal.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsDavid NaughtonJenny AgutterJoe BelcherTwo American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
- DirectorSteve GordonStarsDudley MooreLiza MinnelliJohn GielgudAlcoholic billionaire playboy Arthur Bach must marry a woman he does not love, or he will be cut off from his $750,000,000 fortune. But when Arthur falls in love with a poor waitress, he must decide if he wants to choose love or money.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsPatrick MageeMimsy FarmerDavid WarbeckA professor with the psychic ability to communicate with the dead uses his powers on his pet cat in order to take vengeance upon his enemies.
- DirectorVolker SchlöndorffStarsBruno GanzHanna SchygullaJean CarmetA German journalist, escaping from broken marriage, goes to Lebanon to cover the civil war. Soon, he realizes that he can't handle the truth.
- DirectorBertrand TavernierStarsPhilippe NoiretIsabelle HuppertStéphane AudranA pathetic police chief, humiliated by everyone around him, suddenly wants a clean slate in life - and resorts to drastic means to do so.
- DirectorGary ShermanStarsJames FarentinoMelody AndersonJack AlbertsonSheriff Dan Gillis investigates eerie deaths in a sleepy coastal town.
- DirectorMichael LaughlinStarsMichael MurphyLouise FletcherDan ShorA scientist is experimenting with teenagers and turning them into murderers.Dead Kids
- DirectorCarlos SauraStarsBerta SocuéllamosJose Antonio Valdelomar GonzálezJesús AriasAngela begins to hang around with Pablo and his gang of young robbers.
- DirectorMatthew RobbinsStarsPeter MacNicolCaitlin ClarkeRalph RichardsonA young wizarding apprentice is sent to kill a dragon which has been devouring girls from a nearby kingdom.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellLee Van CleefErnest BorgnineIn 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him.
- DirectorRichard MarquandStarsDonald SutherlandKate NelliganStephen MacKennaA ruthless German spy, trying to get out of Britain with vital information about D-Day, must spend time with a young woman and her crippled husband.
- DirectorPeter YatesStarsWilliam HurtSigourney WeaverChristopher PlummerA janitor who claims he's seen a murder becomes romantically involved with the glamorous TV reporter covering the story.
- DirectorEd BianchiStarsLauren BacallJames GarnerMichael BiehnDouglas, a record salesman, is an obsessive fan of actress Sally Ross. When his letters are rejected, he strikes out at her and her loved ones.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsCraig WassonJodi ThelenMichael HuddlestonA group of four friends form strong bonds while in high school in the early 1960s, then desperately cling to that love during the turbulent counterculture movement and social upheavals that marked the end of the decade.
- DirectorUlrike OttingerStarsMagdalena MontezumaDelphine SeyrigAlbert HeinsIn the form of a "small theater of the world", a history of the world from its beginnings to our day, including the errors, the incompetence, the thirst for power, the fear, the madness, the cruelty and the commonplace, in a story of five episodes.
- DirectorKarel ReiszStarsMeryl StreepJeremy IronsHilton McRaeAnna and Mike portray two characters in a film set in 19th century England who fall in love despite the fact that Mike's character is engaged.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsElizabeth BerridgeShawn CarsonJeanne AustinFour teenagers visit a local carnival for a night of innocent amusement, but soon discover that nothing there is innocent or amusing.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsCatriona MacCollPaolo MalcoAnia PieroniA New England home is terrorized by a series of murders, unbeknownst to the guests that a gruesome secret is hiding in the basement.
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsDee WallacePatrick MacneeDennis DuganAfter a bizarre and near deadly encounter with a serial killer, a television newswoman is sent to a remote mountain resort whose residents may not be what they seem.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsGraham GreenCarolyn NicholsonTony PittsMick and Alan, two friends who have just left school, are full of dreams for the future. But against the background of Thatcher's Britain, the two soon wake up to reality. From acclaimed Director Ken Loach.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowMonty MontgomeryStarsWillem DafoeJ. Don FergusonRobert GordonTrouble ensues when a motorcycle gang stops in a small southern town while heading to the races at Daytona.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsJerzy RadziwilowiczKrystyna JandaMarian OpaniaA few years after the events of Man of Marble (1977), a journalist investigates Mateusz Birkut's son Maciek Tomczyk, now an activist leading a shipyard strike.
- DirectorMargarethe von TrottaStarsJutta LampeBarbara SukowaRüdiger VoglerTwo sisters both fight for women's rights. Juliane is a journalist and Marianne a terrorist. When Marianne is jailed, Juliane feels obligated to help her despite their differing views on how to live.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsJuliet BertoAgnès VardaJudy BacaAgnes Varda's documentary on murals in Los Angeles.
- DirectorAbel FerraraStarsZoë LundBogeyAlbert SinkysA timid and mute seamstress goes insane after being attacked and raped twice in one day, in which she takes to the streets of New York City after dark and randomly shoots men with a .45 caliber pistol.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsAndre GregoryWallace ShawnJean LenauerTwo old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.
- DirectorMark RydellStarsKatharine HepburnHenry FondaJane FondaNorman is a curmudgeon with an estranged relationship with his daughter Chelsea. At Golden Pond, he and his wife nevertheless agree to care for Billy, the son of Chelsea's new boyfriend, and a most unexpected relationship blooms.
- DirectorJohn WatersStarsDivineTab HunterEdith MasseyA suburban housewife's world falls apart when she finds that her pornographer husband is serially unfaithful to her, her daughter is pregnant, and her son is suspected of being the foot-fetishist who's been breaking local women's feet.
- DirectorJack FiskStarsSissy SpacekEric RobertsSam ShepardA divorcee with two sons has an affair with a young sailor passing through her Texas town in 1944.
- DirectorWarren BeattyStarsWarren BeattyDiane KeatonEdward HerrmannA radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia, and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.
- DirectorGeorge MillerStarsMel GibsonBruce SpenceMichael PrestonIn the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community escape a horde of bandits.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJennifer O'NeillStephen LackPatrick McGoohanA scientist trains a man with an advanced telepathic ability called "scanning" to stop a dangerous Scanner with extraordinary psychic powers from waging war against non scanners.
- DirectorMarcell JankovicsStarsGyörgy CserhalmiVera PapGyula SzabóIn this dreamlike Hungarian folk myth, a horse goddess gives birth to three powerful brothers who set out into the Underworld to save three princesses from three evil dragons and reclaim their ancestors' lost kingdom.
- DirectorWalerian BorowczykStarsUdo KierMarina PierroPatrick MageeIn 19th century London, a sex maniac sneaks into the engagement party of Dr. Henry Jekyll and Miss Fanny Osbourne, turning the event into a nightmarish whirlpool of murder and debauchery.
- DirectorIvan ReitmanStarsBill MurrayJohn CandyHarold RamisTwo friends who are dissatisfied with their jobs decide to join the army for a bit of fun.
- DirectorFrancesco RosiStarsPhilippe NoiretMichele PlacidoVittorio MezzogiornoThree men face their mother's death.
- DirectorAhmed El MaanouniStarsLarbi BatmaNass-El GhiwaneAbderrahman PacoThe very popular Moroccan group Nass-El Ghiwane are filmed, in performances, meetings, interviews, and collaborations with other musicians.
- DirectorAndrzej ZulawskiStarsIsabelle AdjaniSam NeillMargit CarstensenA woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something much more sinister.
- DirectorBruce MalmuthGary NelsonStarsSylvester StalloneRutger HauerBilly Dee WilliamsWhen one of Europe's most lethal terrorists shows up in New York, an elite undercover cop is assigned to take him down by any means necessary.