1985 IN FILM

My favourite films released in the U.S. in 1985. Top 30 & many honorables. 

(ballot)








30.         SILVER BULLET

.
                
29.      WHEN FATHER

 WAS AWAY ON BUSINESS

.

28.          ANGEL'S EGG

.

27.        SECRET HONOR

.

.

26.            TAIPEI STORY

.

.

25.            RENDEZ-VOUS

                     

24.              HEIMAT:

A CHRONICLE OF GERMANY

  [Theatrical roadshow version]

.

.

23.          RE-ANIMATOR

.

.

22.            CHRONOS

.

21.         LOST IN AMERICA

                      

20.              WHEN 

THE TENTH MONTH COMES

.
      MAN MARKED FOR DEATH:

19.   20 YEARS LATER

18.              WITNESS

.

17.           PHENOMENA

.

16.         POLICE STORY

.

                     
15.            GWEN,

  OR THE BOOK OF SAND

.

14.         RETURN TO OZ

13.    

TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.

                     
12.          MISHIMA: 

A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS

.

.

11.              THE STUFF

                
10.       NAUSICAÄ OF

THE VALLEY OF THE WIND

.

9.            AFTER HOURS

.

8.  

THE COMPANY OF WOLVES

.

7.          DAY OF THE DEAD

.

6.     BACK TO THE FUTURE

.

5.                    RAN 乱

.

4.   

PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE

.

3.                  BRAZIL

.

2.                    SHOAH

.

1.             BLOOD SIMPLE

***** 

ALSO ESSENTIAL! NOT RANKED. 

(other titles of '85 I loved that could've placed)

MR. VAMPIRE

YELLOW EARTH

BROKEN DOWN FILM

.

FANDANGO

.

THE HIT

.

MAD MAX

BEYOND THUNDERDOME

.
 

EXPLORERS

.

THE RETURN

OF THE LIVING DEAD

.
 

FEAR CITY

.
 

SMOOTH TALK

.

 TRANCES

.

THE HOME & THE WORLD

.
 

YEAR OF THE DRAGON

.
 

DIM SUM: 

A LITTLE BIT OF HEART

THE LEGEND OF

   THE STARDUST BROTHERS

HAIL MARY

.
 

JUST ONE OF THE GUYS

.

 THE GOONIES

.
 

THE 

PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO

.
 

MY LUCKY STARS

TWINKLE 

TWINKLE LUCKY STARS

 

THE EMERALD FOREST

.
 

YES, MADAM!

[IN THE LINE OF DUTY II:

THE POLICE ASSASSINS]

FOOL FOR LOVE

.
 

TOKYO-GA

.

THE BREAKFAST CLUB

.
 

PALE RIDER

.

THE FALCON 

AND THE SNOWMAN

.

 

DESERT HEARTS

.
 

PRIZZI'S HONOR

.

 

INSIGNIFICANCE

.
 

DESPERATELY 

SEEKING SUSAN

.

 SUBWAY

.

 28 UP

.
 

THE COLOR PURPLE

.
 

L'ART D'AIMER

.
 

DEATH OF A SALESMAN

.
 

KISS 

OF THE SPIDER WOMAN

.
 

FLESH + BLOOD

.

THE 

ANGELIC CONVERSATION

.
 

WHAT HAVE
I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?

.
 

REMO WILLIAMS: 

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

.
 

RUNAWAY TRAIN

.
 

ENEMY MINE

.

THE ADVENTURES OF
MARK TWAIN [COMET QUEST]

.

 MASK 

[126min Director's cut]

.
 

CLUE

.
 

BLISS

.

 

THOU 

SHALT NOT KILL... EXCEPT

.
 

LADYHAWKE

.
 

BETTER OFF DEAD

.
 

LIFEFORCE

INTO THE NIGHT

.
 

BILLY THE KID &

THE GREEN BAIZE VAMPIRE

PREHISTORIC BEAST

.
 

FLETCH

A-HA: TAKE ON ME

THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER

*****

1985 
TOP 10

1. BLOOD SIMPLE (Coen bros.)
2. SHOAH (Lanzmann)
3. BRAZIL (Gilliam)
4. PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE (Burton)
5. RAN (Kurosawa)
6. BACK TO THE FUTURE (Zemeckis)
7. DAY OF THE DEAD (Romero)
8. THE COMPANY OF WOLVES (Jordan)
9. AFTER HOURS (Scorsese)
10. NAUSICAÄ (Miyazaki)
11. THE STUFF (Cohen)
12. MISHIMA: LIFE IN 4 CHAPTERS (Schrader)
13. TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. (Friedkin)
14. RETURN TO OZ (Murch)
15. GWEN: BOOK OF SAND (Laguionie)
16. POLICE STORY (Chan)
17. PHENOMENA (Argento)
18. WITNESS (Weir)
19. CABRA MARCADO PARA MORRER (Coutinho)
20. WHEN 10TH MONTH COMES (D.Nhat Minh)
21. LOST IN AMERICA (A.Brooks)
22. CHRONOS (Fricke)
23. RE-ANIMATOR (S.Gordon)
24. RENDEZ-VOUS (Téchiné)
25. TAIPEI STORY (Yang)
26. SECRET HONOR (Altman)
27. ANGEL'S EGG (Mamoru Oshii)
28. WHEN FATHER WAS AWAY ON BIZ (Kusturica)
29. HEIMAT - theatrical cut (Reitz)
30. SILVER BULLET (Attias)

RUNNER UP
MR VAMPIRE (Ricky Lau), YELLOW EARTH (Kaige), BROKEN DOWN FILM (Osamu Tezuka), FANDANGO (Reynolds), THE HIT (Frears), MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME (Miller), EXPLORERS (Dante), RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (O'Bannon), FEAR CITY (Ferrara), SMOOTH TALK (Joyce Chopra), TRANCES (El-Maanouni), HOME & THE WORLD (S.Ray), YEAR OF THE DRAGON (Cimino), DIM SUM (W.Wang), LEGEND OF STARDUST BROTHERS (Macoto Tezuka), HAIL MARY (Godard), JUST ONE OF THE GUYS (Lisa Gottlieb), THE GOONIES (Donner), PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO (Allen), MY LUCKY STARS (Hung), EMERALD FOREST (Boorman), TWINKLE TWINKLE LUCKY STARS (Hung), IN THE LINE OF DUTY 2 (Yuen), FOOL FOR LOVE (Altman), TOKYO-GA (Wenders), BREAKFAST CLUB (Hughes), PALE RIDER (Eastwood), FALCON & THE SNOWMAN (Schlesinger), DESERT HEARTS (Donna Deitch), PRIZZI'S HONOR (Huston), INSIGNIFICANCE (Roeg), DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN (Susan Seidelman), SUBWAY (Besson), 28 UP (Apted), b(Spielberg), L'ART D'AIMER (Smolders), DEATH OF A SALESMAN (Schlöndorff), KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN (Babenco), FLESH + BLOOD (Verhoeven), ANGELIC CONVERSATION (Jarman), WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS (Almodovar), REMO WILLIAMS (Hamilton), RUNAWAY TRAIN (Konchalovsky), ENEMY MINE (Peterson), ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN (Vinton), MASK (Bogdanovich), CLUE (J.Lynn), BLISS (R.Lawrence), STRYKER'S WAR (J.Becker), LADYHAWKE (Donner), BETTER OFF DEAD (Holland), LIFEFORCE (Hooper), INTO THE NIGHT (Landis), BILLY THE KID & GREEN BAIZE VAMPIRE (Clarke), PREHISTORIC BEAST (Tippet), FLETCH (Ritchie), A-HA: TAKE ON ME

(Barron), THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER (Mollberg)