1981

Academy winnerChariots of Fire poster

Chariots of Fire

Composite 68.32

vs
Should have wonRaiders of the Lost Ark poster

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Composite 82.22

The Academy's ballot

Your #1 was Raiders of the Lost Ark (#1).

The full slate

#1
Raiders of the Lost Ark poster

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

🎬 Nominee⭐ Top-rated🏛️ All-time great💰 Box office #1

Composite 82.22

Dir. Steven Spielberg · Harrison Ford · Karen Allen · Paul Freeman · John Rhys-Davies

IMDb 8.4 (1,111,936 votes) · TMDB 7.924

When Dr. Indiana Jones – the tweed-suited professor who just happens to be a celebrated archaeologist – is hired by the government to locate the legendary Ark of the Covenant, he finds himself up against the entire Nazi regime.

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#2
Das Boot poster

Das Boot (1981)

⭐ Top-rated🏛️ All-time great💰 Box office #7

Composite 81.13

Dir. Wolfgang Petersen · Jürgen Prochnow · Herbert Grönemeyer · Klaus Wennemann · Hubertus Bengsch

IMDb 8.3 (288,392 votes) · TMDB 8.079

A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War, but it soon becomes the hunted. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while stretching both the boat and themselves to their limits.

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#3
The Road Warrior poster

The Road Warrior (1981)

⭐ Top-rated

Composite 74.31

Dir. George Miller · Mel Gibson · Bruce Spence · Michael Preston · Max Phipps

IMDb 7.6 (213,677 votes) · TMDB 7.391

Max Rockatansky returns as the heroic loner who drives the dusty roads of a postapocalyptic Australian Outback in an unending search for gasoline. Arrayed against him and the other scraggly defendants of a fuel-depot encampment are the bizarre warriors commanded by the charismatic Lord Humungus, a violent leader whose scruples are as barren as the surrounding landscape.

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#4
An American Werewolf in London poster

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

⭐ Top-rated

Composite 73.2

Dir. John Landis · David Naughton · Jenny Agutter · Griffin Dunne · John Woodvine

IMDb 7.5 (134,985 votes) · TMDB 7.395

American tourists David and Jack are savagely attacked by an unidentified animal while hiking on the Yorkshire Moors. After retiring to the home of a beautiful nurse to recuperate, David soon begins experiencing disturbing changes to his body and mind.

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#5
The Evil Dead poster

The Evil Dead (1981)

⭐ Top-rated

Composite 72.2

Dir. Sam Raimi · Bruce Campbell · Ellen Sandweiss · Richard DeManincor · Betsy Baker

IMDb 7.3 (252,209 votes) · TMDB 7.278

In 1979, a group of college students find a Sumerian Book of the Dead in an old wilderness cabin they've rented for a weekend getaway.

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#6
Blow Out poster

Blow Out (1981)

⭐ Top-rated

Composite 71.7

Dir. Brian De Palma · John Travolta · Nancy Allen · John Lithgow · Dennis Franz

IMDb 7.4 (76,605 votes) · TMDB 7.355

While recording sound effects for a slasher flick, Jack Terry stumbles upon a real-life horror: a car careening off a bridge and into a river. Jack jumps into the water and fishes out Sally from the car, but the other passenger is already dead — a governor intending to run for president. As Jack does some investigating of his tapes, and starts a perilous romance with Sally, he enters a tangled web of conspiracy that might leave him dead.

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#7
My Dinner with Andre poster

My Dinner with Andre (1981)

⭐ Top-rated

Composite 71.15

Dir. Louis Malle · Andre Gregory · Wallace Shawn · Jean Lenauer · Roy Butler

IMDb 7.6 (30,705 votes) · TMDB 7.508

Two old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.

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#8
On Golden Pond poster

On Golden Pond (1981)

🎬 Nominee⭐ Top-rated💰 Box office #4

Composite 70.96

Dir. Mark Rydell · Katharine Hepburn · Henry Fonda · Jane Fonda · Doug McKeon

IMDb 7.6 (37,787 votes) · TMDB 7.274

For Norman and Ethel Thayer, this summer on golden pond is filled with conflict and resolution. When their daughter Chelsea arrives, the family is forced to renew the bonds of love and overcome the generational friction that has existed for years.

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#9
Christiane F. poster

Christiane F. (1981)

⭐ Top-rated

Composite 70.56

Dir. Uli Edel · Natja Brunckhorst · Thomas Haustein · Jens Kuphal · Rainer Woelk

IMDb 7.5 (35,242 votes) · TMDB 7.334

A teen girl in 1970s Berlin becomes addicted to heroin. Everything in her life slowly begins to distort and disappear as she befriends a small crew of junkies and falls in love with a drug-abusing male prostitute.

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#10
The Fox and the Hound poster

The Fox and the Hound (1981)

⭐ Top-rated

Composite 70.5

Dir. Richard Rich · Mickey Rooney · Kurt Russell · Pearl Bailey · Jack Albertson

IMDb 7.2 (110,670 votes) · TMDB 7.153

When a feisty little fox named Tod is adopted into a farm family, he quickly becomes friends with a fun and adorable hound puppy named Copper. Life is full of hilarious adventures until Copper is expected to take on his role as a hunting dog -- and the object of his search is his best friend!

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#11
Thief poster

Thief (1981)

⭐ Top-rated

Composite 70.48

Dir. Michael Mann · James Caan · Tuesday Weld · Robert Prosky · Willie Nelson

IMDb 7.4 (50,302 votes) · TMDB 7.2

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

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#12
Excalibur poster

Excalibur (1981)

⭐ Top-rated

Composite 70.05

Dir. John Boorman · Nigel Terry · Nicol Williamson · Helen Mirren · Nicholas Clay

IMDb 7.3 (73,750 votes) · TMDB 7.0

Arthur fulfills his fate by bringing together the Knights of the Round Table at Camelot and unifying the country. However, this flawed monarch faces greater tests ahead in pursuit of love, the Holy Grail, and his nation's survival.

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#13
Escape from New York poster

Escape from New York (1981)

⭐ Top-rated

Composite 70.01

Dir. John Carpenter · Kurt Russell · Lee Van Cleef · Ernest Borgnine · Donald Pleasence

IMDb 7.1 (173,430 votes) · TMDB 7.05

In a world ravaged by crime, the entire island of Manhattan has been converted into a walled prison where brutal prisoners roam free. After the US president crash-lands inside, war hero Snake Plissken has 24 hours to bring him back.

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#14
Gallipoli poster

Gallipoli (1981)

⭐ Top-rated

Composite 69.85

Dir. Peter Weir · Mel Gibson · Mark Lee · Bill Kerr · Harold Hopkins

IMDb 7.4 (44,729 votes) · TMDB 7.067

Two Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

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#15
Body Heat poster

Body Heat (1981)

⭐ Top-rated

Composite 69.58

Dir. Lawrence Kasdan · William Hurt · Kathleen Turner · Richard Crenna · Ted Danson

IMDb 7.4 (44,138 votes) · TMDB 6.986

During an extreme heatwave, a beautiful Florida woman and a seedy lawyer engage in an affair while plotting the murder of her rich husband.

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#16
Chariots of Fire poster

Chariots of Fire (1981)

🏆 Winner💰 Box office #10

Composite 68.32

Dir. Hugh Hudson · Ben Cross · Ian Charleson · Cheryl Campbell · Alice Krige

IMDb 7.1 (71,152 votes) · TMDB 6.786

In the class-obsessed and religiously divided UK of the early 1920s, two determined young runners train for the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric Liddell, a devout Christian born to Scottish missionaries in China, sees running as part of his worship of God's glory and refuses to train or compete on the Sabbath. Harold Abrahams overcomes anti-Semitism and class bias, but neglects his beloved sweetheart in his single-minded quest.

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#17
Reds poster

Reds (1981)

🎬 Nominee

Composite 67.9

Dir. Warren Beatty · Warren Beatty · Diane Keaton · Edward Herrmann · Jerzy Kosiński

IMDb 7.3 (26,844 votes) · TMDB 6.9

An account of the revolutionary years of the legendary American journalist John Reed, who shared his adventurous professional life with his radical commitment to the socialist revolution in Russia, his dream of spreading its principles among the members of the American working class, and his troubled romantic relationship with the writer Louise Bryant.

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#18
Atlantic City poster

Atlantic City (1981)

🎬 Nominee

Composite 66.95

Dir. Louis Malle · Burt Lancaster · Susan Sarandon · Kate Reid · Michel Piccoli

IMDb 7.3 (19,755 votes) · TMDB 6.791

In a corrupt city, a small-time gangster and the estranged wife of a pot dealer find themselves thrown together in an escapade of love, money, drugs and danger.

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#19
Stripes poster

Stripes (1981)

💰 Box office #6

Composite 66.28

Dir. Ivan Reitman · Bill Murray · Harold Ramis · Warren Oates · P. J. Soles

IMDb 6.8 (86,226 votes) · TMDB 6.57

Hard-luck cabbie John Winger, directionless after being fired from his job and dumped by his girlfriend, enlists in the U.S. Army with his close pal, Russell Ziskey. After his barely satisfactory performance in basic training, the irreverent Winger emerges as the figurehead for a ragtag band of misfits. However, his hijinks threaten to cause an international scandal when he inadvertently commandeers a military assault vehicle behind enemy lines.

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#20
For Your Eyes Only poster

For Your Eyes Only (1981)

💰 Box office #2

Composite 65.84

Dir. John Glen · Roger Moore · Carole Bouquet · Chaim Topol · Julian Glover

IMDb 6.7 (116,765 votes) · TMDB 6.544

A British spy ship has sunk and on board was a hi-tech encryption device. James Bond is sent to find the device that holds British launching instructions before the enemy Soviets get to it first.

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#21
Arthur poster

Arthur (1981)

💰 Box office #5

Composite 65.54

Dir. Steve Gordon · Dudley Moore · Liza Minnelli · John Gielgud · Geraldine Fitzgerald

IMDb 6.9 (33,700 votes) · TMDB 6.5

Arthur is a 30-year-old child who will inherit $750 million if he complies with his family's demands and marries the woman of their choosing.

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#22
Fort Apache, the Bronx poster

Fort Apache, the Bronx (1981)

💰 Box office #9

Composite 63.43

Dir. Daniel Petrie · Paul Newman · Ed Asner · Ken Wahl · Danny Aiello

IMDb 6.7 (7,800 votes) · TMDB 6.5

From the sight of a police officer this movie depicts the life in New York's infamous South Bronx. In the center is "Fort Apache", as the officers call their police station, which really seems like an outpost in enemy's country. The story follows officer Murphy, who seems to be a tough cynic, but in truth he's a moralist with a sense for justice.

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#23
Porky's poster

Porky's (1981)

💰 Box office #3

Composite 62.48

Dir. Bob Clark · Dan Monahan · Mark Herrier · Wyatt Knight · Roger Wilson

IMDb 6.2 (49,016 votes) · TMDB 6.406

In 1954 Florida, a group of high school boys head to a strip club in the Everglades in an attempt to lose their collective virginity. When the club's owner and his sheriff brother swindle them out of their money and embarrass them, the boys plan revenge.

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#24
The Cannonball Run poster

The Cannonball Run (1981)

💰 Box office #8

Composite 61.86

Dir. Hal Needham · Burt Reynolds · Roger Moore · Farrah Fawcett · Dom DeLuise

IMDb 6.2 (43,820 votes) · TMDB 6.2

A cross-country road race is based on an actual event, the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, organized by Brock Yates to protest the 55 mph speed limit then in effect in the U.S. The Cannonball was named for Erwin G. "Cannonball" Baker, who in the roaring 20's rode his motorcycle across the country. Many of the characters are based on ruses developed by real Cannonball racers over the several years that the event was run.

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How scoring works: films are ranked by a composite of a weighted (Bayesian) IMDb rating — the same method as the IMDb Top 250, so a high score from few voters can't outrank a strong score from many — blended with TMDB. Box office is a tiebreaker and a badge, never part of the score. Raw IMDb ratings and vote counts are shown on each card.