Top Favorite Films of 1981

Directed by John Landis

Starring David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, Jenny Augtter, Brian Glover, Rik Mayall, John Woodvine, Don McKillop, Paul Kember, Sean Baker, David Schofield, Lila Kaye, Joe Belcher, Paddy Ryan, Anne Marie Davies, Colin Fernandes, Paul Kember, Michelle Brisgotti, Mark Fisher, Gordon Sterne, Paula Jacobs, Sydney Bromley, Geoffrey Burbridge, Brenda Cavendish, Cynthia Powell, Will Leighton, John Landis, Frank Singuineau, Christine Hargraves, Michael Carter, Ralph Morse, and Frank Oz

Directed by Joe Dante

Starring Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Robert Picardo, Christopher Stone, Dennis Dugan, Brenda Balaski, Kevin McCarthy, John Carradine, Slim Pickens, Margie Impert, Dick Miller, Noble Willingham, Sarina C. Grant, James Murtaugh, Forrest J. Ackerman, Jim McKrell, Kenneth Tobey, Meshach Taylor, Robert Hammond, John Sayles, Roger Corman, Jonathan Kaplan, and Elizabeth Brooks

Directed by Matthew Robbins

Starring Peter MacNicol, Caitlin Clarke, Ralph Richardson, John Hallam, Peter Eyre, Albert Salmi, Sydeny Bromley, Chloe Salaman, Emrys James, Roger Kemp, and Ian McDiarmid

Directed by Lucio Fulci

Starring Catriona McCall, David Warbeck, Cinzia Monreale, Antoine Saint John, Veronica Lazar, Larry Ray, Giovanni di Nava, Al Clover, Laura De Marchi, Lucio Fulci, and featuring voices of Cicely Browne and Pat Starke

Directed by John Carpenter

Starring Kurt Russell, Donald Pleasance, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgine, Season Hubley, Adrienne Barbeau, Issac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton, Frank Doubleday, John Diehl, Steven Ford, Nancy Stephens, Bob Minor, George "Buck" Flowers, Rodger Bumpass, Nick Castle, John Carpenter, and featuring voices of Debra Hill and Jamie Lee Curtis

Directed by Sam Raimi

Starring Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker, Richard DeManincor, Theresa Tilly, Ted Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Scott Spiegel, Sam Raimi, Robert G. Tapert, Tom Sullivan, and featuring voice of Bob Dorian

 

Directed by John Boorman

Starring Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cheri Lunghi, Paul Geoffrey, Nicol Williamson, Robert Addie, Gabriel Byrne, Keith Buckley, Liam Neeson, Corin Redgrave, Patrick Stewart, Ciaran Hinds, Clive Shift, Katrine Boorman, Niall O'Brien, Micheal Muldoon, Garret Keogh, Barbara Byrne, Hillary Joyalle, and Charley Boorman

Directed by John Glen

Starring Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Julian Glover, Cassandra Harris, Jill Bennett, Michael Gothard, John Wyman, Jack Hedley, Lois Maxwell, Desmond Llewellyn, Geoffrey Keen, Walter Gotell, James Villiers, Charles Dance, Sheena Easton, Stefan Kalipha, Graham Crowden, Cliff Curtis, William Hoyland, John Wells, Janet Brown, Jeremy Bulloch, John Hollis, Robert Reitty, Tula, and Michael G.Wilson

Directed by Steve Miner

Starring Amy Steel, John Furey, Adrienne King, Stuart Charno, Warrington Gillette, Walt Gorney, Marta Kober, Tom McBride, Bill Randolph, Laurie Marie Taylor, Russell Todd, Betsy Palmer, Cliff Cundey, and Jerry Wallace

Directed by John G. Avildsen

Starring John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Cathy Moriarty, Tino Insana, Tim Kazurinsky, Dale Two Eagles, Kathryn Walker, Lauren Marie Taylor, Dru Ann Chuckran, J.B. Friend, and P.L. Brown

Directed by Mel Brooks

Starring Mel Brooks, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Ron Carey, Gregory Hines, Sid Caeser, Pamela Stevenson, Shecky Greene, Mary Margaret Humes, Rudy De Luca, Leigh French, Michael Champion, Paul Mazursky, Howard Morris, Charlie Callas, John Hurt, Art Metrano, Jack Riley, Henny Youngman, Hugh Hefner, Pat McCormick, Barry Levinson, Sid Gould, Ronny Graham, Jackie Mason, Phil Leeds, Jack Carter, John Hillerman, Sydeny Lassick, Andrew Sachs, Spike Milligan, Nigel Hawthorne, Royce D. Applegate, Bea Arthur, and featuring voice of Orson Welles

Directed by George Miller

Starring Mel Gibson, Vernon Wells, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Virginia Hey, Max Phillips, Kjell Nilsson, William Zappa, Steven J. Spears, Arkie Whitley, Emil Minty, and featuring voice of Harold Baigent

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Starring Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey, John-Rhys Davies, Pat Roach, Denholm Elliott, Alfred Molina, Anthony Higgins, Vic Tablian, Don Fellows, Bill Reimbold, Fred Sorensen, Anthony Chinn, Christopher Fredrick, Kiran Shah, Frank Marshall, Vic Armstrong, Nick Gillard, Dennis Mullen, Michael Sheard, Wolf Kahler, and featuring voice of Frank Welker

Directed by Mark Rydell

Starring Henry Fonda, Katherine Hepburn, Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon, Dabney Coleman, William Lanteau, Troy Garrity, and Christopher Rydell

Directed by David Cronenberg

Starring Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Michael Ironside, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane, Louis Del Grande, Lee Broker, Mavor Moore, Adam Ludwig, Victor Knight, Leon Herbert, and William Hope

Directed by Michael Mann

Starring James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Wille Nelson, James Belushi, Robert Prosky, Tom Signorelli, Dennis Farina, William L. Petersen, Del Close, Michael Paul Chan, Karen Berger, Margot Charlior, Nick Nickeras, W.R. Brown, Norm Tobin, Walter Scott, Lora Staley, and Hal Frank

Directed by Terry Gilliam

Starring Michael Palin, John Cleese, Sean Connery, Shelly Duvall, Craig Warnock, Ralph Richardson, Kenny Baker, Peter Vaughan, Katherine Helmond, David Warner, David Rappaport, Malcolm Dixon, Michael Edmonds, Jack Purvis, Jim Broadbent and the voice of Tony Jay

Directed by Ivan Reitman

Starring Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, John Candy, P.J. Soles, Sean Young, John Larroquette, John Diehl, Judge Reinhold, William Lucking, Joe Flaherty, Dave Thomas, Timothy Busfield, Bill Paxton, Donald Gibb, Bill Paxton, John Voltstad, Lance DeGault, Roberta Leighton, Anton Pagan, Fran Ryan, Glenn Michael Jones, Nick Toth, Lois Hamilton, Glen Scherer, and Michael Flynn

Directed by Harold Becker

Starring Tom Cruise, Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Ronny Cox, George C. Scott, Evan Handler, Brendan Ward, Giancarlo Esposito, John P. Navin Jr., Wayne Tippet, Earl Hindman, and James Handy

Directed by Jim Henson

Starring Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Diana Rigg, John Cleese, Peter Ustinov, Peter Falk, Charles Grodin, Jack Warden, Bob Payne, Trevor Howard, and Danny John Jules

Directed by Art Steven, Ted Burman and Richard Rich

Featuring the voices of Corey Feldman, Kurt Russell, Mickey Rooney, Keith Coogan, Jeannette Nolan, John McIntire, John Fielder, Pat Buttram, Pearl Bailey, Jack Albertson, Paul Winchell and Sandy Duncan

Directed by Gerald Potterton

Featuring the voices of John Candy, Richard Romanus, Al Waxman, Harvey Atkin, Jackie Burroughs, August Schellenberg, John Vernon Eugene Levy, Rodger Bumpass, Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty, Caroline Semple, Alice Playten, George Touliatos, Douglas Kenney, Zal Yanovsky, Vlasta Vrana, Cedric Smith, and Percy Rodrigues

Directed by Brian DePalma

Starring John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz, Peter Boyden, Curt May, John Aquino, J. Patrick McNamara, John Coppolino Jr., Barbara Sigel, Robin Sherwood, Dick McGarvin, Tim Choate and John McMartin

Directed by Friz Freleng

Featuring the voices of Mel Branc, June Foray, Stan Freberg, Ralph James, Frank Nelson and Frank Welker

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen

Starring Jurgen Prochow, Herbert Gronenmeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch, Martin Semmelrogge, Bernd Tauber, Erwin Leder, and Martin May, Claude Oliver Rudolph, Günter Lamprecht, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Rita Cadillac, Sky du Mont, Otto Sander, Jan Fedder, Ralf Richter, and Oliver Strizel

Directed by Sidney Lumet

Starring Treat Williams, Jerry Orbach, Richard Foronjy, Don Billett, Kenny Marino, Carmine Cardidi, Bob Balaban, James Tolkan, Lindsay Crouse, Lane Smith, Peter Michael Goetz, Cynthia Nixon, Tony Page, Norman Parker, and Lance Henriksen

Directed by Lawrence Kasdan

Starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, J.A. Preston, Mickey Rourke, Kim Zimmer, Michael Ryan, Lanna Saunders, Thom Sharp, Larry Marko, and Jane Hallaren

Directed by Steve Gordon

Starring Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, John Gielgud, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Jill Eikenberry, Stephen Elliott, Ted Ross, Barney Martin, Thomas Barbour, Anne DeSalvo, Steve James, Paul Gleason, Lou Jacobi, Justine Johnston, Irving Metzman, Ramond Serra, Richard Hamilton, George Riddle, Lawrence Tierney, and Mark Margolis

Directed by Michael Wadleigh

Starring Albert Finney, Diane Verona, Edward James Olmos, Gregory Hines, Tom Noonan, Dick O'Neill, Peter Michael Goetz, Ralph Bell, Sam Gray, Raymond Serra, John McCurry, Reginald VelJohnson, James Tolkan, James Symington, Jeffrey Ware, Michael Wadleigh, Thomas Ryan, Victor Adnois, Roy Brocksmith, Tom Waits, Catlin O'Heaney, and featuring voices of Corey Burton, Linda Gray, Charles Howerton, Patricia Parris, Andre Tojka, Burt DeBenning, Mel Welles, and Dan Sturkie

Directed by J. Lee Thompson

Starring Mellisa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane, Sharon Acker, Frances Hyland, Tracey E. Bergman, Jack Blum, Lisa Langlois, Matt Craven, Richard Riebere, Vlasta Varna, Ron Lea, Griffith Brewer, Karen Stephan, Louis Del Grande, and Michael Saxon

Directed by Tobe Hopper

Starring Elizabeth Berridge, Shawn Carson, Jeanne Austin, Jack McDermott, Cooper Huckabee, William Finley, Kevin Conway, Susie Malnik, Sylvia Miles, Sid Raymond, and featuring voice of Allison Caine

Directed by Rick Rosenthal

Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasance, Dick Warlock, Charles Cypher, Jeffrey Kramer, Lance Guest, Pamela Susan Shoop, Billy Warlock, Dana Carvey, Ford Rainey, Cliff Emmich, Lucille Benson, Jonathan Prince, Hunter von Leer, Gloria Gifford, Tawny Moyer, Ana Alicia, Nancy Kyes, Pamela McMyer, Adam Gunn, Ty Mitchell, Nichole Drucker, and Dennis Holahan

Directed by Desmond Davis

Starring Laurence Olivier, Harry Hamlin, Claire Bloom, Ursula Andress, Maggie Smith, Jack Gwillim, Susan Fleetwood, Pat Roach, Judi Bowker, Burgess Meredith, Sian Phillips, Tim Piggott Smith, Neil McCarthy, and Donald Huston

Directed by George Mihalka

Starring Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, Neil Affleck, Alf Humphreys, Cynthia Dale, Keith Knight, Don Francks, Peter Cowper, Helen Udy, Terry Waterland, Carl Marotte, Tom Murchison, Patricia Hamilton, Larry Reynolds, and Pat Walsh

Directed by Gary Nelson and Bruce Malmuth

Stsrring Sylvester Stallone, Billy Dee Williams, Lindsay Wagner, Rutger Hauer, Paris Khambatta, Nigel Davenport, Hilary Thompson, Joe Spinell, Howard Stein, Jamie Gillis, Thomas Rosales Jr., Edward Fox, Brian Osborne, Robert Pugh, Catherine Mary Stewart, Jim Beaver, Jellybean Beneitz, Ralph Morse, and Gerald Murphy

Directed by John Irwin

Starring Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, John Houseman, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Alice Krige, Craig Wasson, Patricia Neal, Ken Olin, Robin Curtis, Tim Choate, Guy Boyd, Michael O'Neill, Robert Burr, Helena Carroll, James Greene, and Deborah Offner

Directed by Graham Baker

Starring Sam Neill, Rosssno Brazzi, Don Gordon, Lisa Harrow, Barnaby Holm, Mason Adams, Robert Arden, Leureen Willoughby, Marc Boyle, Milos Kirek, Thomas Duggan, Tony Vogel, Norman Bird, Eric Richard, Dick Anthony Williams, Al Matthews, Hazel Court, and Ruby Wax

Director by Peter Hyams

Starring Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, Frances Sternhagen, James Sikking, Kika Markham, Clarke Peters, Steven Berkoff, John Ratzenberger, Manning Redwood, Pat Starr, Hal Gailli, Angus McInnes, Stuart Milligan, Eugene Lipinski, Gary Olsen, and P.H. Moriarty

Directed by Tony Maylam

Starring Lou David, Brian Matthews, Holly Hunter, Leah Ayers, Jason Alexander, Larry Joshua, Ned Eisenberg, Fisher Stevens, Carrick Glenn, Carolyn Houlihan, Lou David, Sarah Chadoff, and George Parry

Directed by Franco Zeffirelli

Starring Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, James Spader, Shirley Knight, Don Murray, Beatrice Straight, Richard Kiley, Jami Gertz, Tom Cruise, Ian Ziering, Mark Arnold, Walt Gorney, Ron Perkins, Frank Ferrara, Robert Altman, and Penelope Milford

Directed by Hugh Hudson

Starring Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, John Gielgud, Nicholas Farrell, Dan Gerroll, Ian Holm, Lindsay Anderson, Alice Krige, Nigel Davenport, Cheryl Campbell, Dennis Christopher, Brad Davis, Patrick Magee, Peter Egan, Struan Rodger, and Peter Yelland

Directed by Menahem Golan

Starring Franco Nero, Sho Kosgui, Susan George, Christopher George, Alex Courtney, Will Hare, Zachi Noy, Constantine Gregory, Janoee Gamboa, Dale Ishimoto, Leo Martinez, Robert Wall, Michael Dudikoff, and Robert Wall