Ten must-rewatch films from the 1980s

Movieweb published a list by Soniya Hinduja on Jan 24, 2026, 8:01 PM EST recommending ten classic 1980s films to revisit this year.

The roundup spans blockbusters, comedies, coming‑of‑age dramas, fantasy and animation, with entries including Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (set on a hot Brooklyn day and anchored by Public Enemy's "Fight the Power"), Brian De Palma's Casualties of War (a Vietnam‑era moral drama featuring Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn), Rob Reiner's Stand by Me (adapted from Stephen King's novella), Pretty in Pink, Ladyhawke, Spielberg's E.T. (noted for John Williams's score and its status as the highest‑grossing film of its time in 1982), The Empire Strikes Back, Airplane!, John Boorman's Excalibur, and Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira with its Neo‑Tokyo vision and Geinoh Yamashirogumi score.

The piece argues these films remain relevant and influential decades later and encourages readers to revisit them; it closes by inviting people to drop their favorite '80s rewatch in the comments.

Key Topics

Culture, Akira, Excalibur, Stand By Me, Spike Lee