Films of 1984
by thephantom-3 | created - 12 Dec 2015 | updated - 1 month ago | PublicThese started out as lists of my favorite films of each particular year of my life, and turned into ranked lists of the films that I saw from each particular year. I suppose that the top 10-15 could be considered my favorites, and the rest are just a loose ranking of the others that I saw.
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1. Ghostbusters (1984)
PG | 105 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Three parapsychologists forced out of their university funding set up shop as a unique ghost removal service in New York City, attracting frightened yet skeptical customers.
Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis
Votes: 450,101 | Gross: $238.63M
2. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
R | 91 min | Horror
Teenager Nancy Thompson must uncover the dark truth concealed by her parents after she and her friends become targets of the spirit of a serial killer with a bladed glove in their dreams, in which if they die, it kills them in real life.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund, John Saxon
Votes: 262,461 | Gross: $25.50M
3. The Terminator (1984)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity's future salvation.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield
Votes: 924,076 | Gross: $38.40M
4. Purple Rain (1984)
R | 111 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A young musician, tormented by an abusive situation at home, must contend with a rival singer, a burgeoning romance, and his own dissatisfied band, as his star begins to rise.
Director: Albert Magnoli | Stars: Prince, Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day, Olga Karlatos
Votes: 23,818 | Gross: $68.39M
5. Gremlins (1984)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
A young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, John Louie
Votes: 247,783 | Gross: $148.17M
6. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
R | 105 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A freewheeling Detroit cop pursuing a murder investigation finds himself dealing with the very different culture of Beverly Hills.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Lisa Eilbacher
Votes: 203,170 | Gross: $234.76M
7. The Karate Kid (1984)
PG | 126 min | Action, Drama, Family
A martial arts master agrees to teach karate to a bullied teenager.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue, Martin Kove
Votes: 244,448 | Gross: $90.82M
8. Amadeus (1984)
R | 160 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice
Votes: 428,005 | Gross: $51.97M
9. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
After being announced dead and taken to a morgue, Jason Voorhees spontaneously revives, escapes from the hospital, and stalks a group of friends renting a house in the countryside near Crystal Lake.
Director: Joseph Zito | Stars: Erich Anderson, Judie Aronson, Peter Barton, Kimberly Beck
Votes: 59,151 | Gross: $32.98M
10. Sixteen Candles (1984)
PG | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
A girl's "sweet" sixteenth birthday is anything but special: her family forgets about it, and she suffers from every embarrassment possible.
Director: John Hughes | Stars: Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Justin Henry, Michael Schoeffling
Votes: 126,326 | Gross: $23.69M
11. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
PG | 105 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Admiral Kirk and his bridge crew risk their careers stealing the decommissioned U.S.S. Enterprise to return to the restricted Genesis Planet to recover Spock's body.
Director: Leonard Nimoy | Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan
Votes: 86,160 | Gross: $76.47M
12. Red Dawn (1984)
PG-13 | 114 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
It is the dawn of World War III. In the west mountains of America, a group of teenagers band together to defend their town, and their country, from invading Soviet forces.
Director: John Milius | Stars: Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen
Votes: 63,072 | Gross: $38.38M
13. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
PG | 118 min | Action, Adventure
In 1935, Indiana Jones is tasked by Indian villagers with reclaiming a rock stolen from them by a secret cult beneath the catacombs of an ancient palace.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri
Votes: 535,228 | Gross: $179.87M
14. Romancing the Stone (1984)
PG | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A mousy romance novelist sets off for Colombia to ransom her kidnapped sister, and soon finds herself in the middle of a dangerous adventure hunting for treasure with a mercenary rogue.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito, Zack Norman
Votes: 103,302 | Gross: $76.57M
15. Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
R | 79 min | Horror, Thriller
Little Billy witnesses his parents getting killed by Santa after being warned by his senile grandpa that Santa punishes those who are naughty. Now Billy is 18 and out of the orphanage, and he has just become Santa himself.
Director: Charles E. Sellier Jr. | Stars: Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, Toni Nero, Robert Brian Wilson
Votes: 18,805 | Gross: $2.49M
16. Children of the Corn (1984)
R | 92 min | Horror, Thriller
A young couple is trapped in a remote town where a dangerous religious cult of children believes that everyone over age 18 must be killed.
Director: Fritz Kiersch | Stars: Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, R.G. Armstrong, John Franklin
Votes: 57,327 | Gross: $14.57M
17. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
R | 82 min | Comedy, Music
Spinal Tap, one of England's loudest bands, is chronicled by film director Marty DiBergi on what proves to be a fateful tour.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Kimberly Stringer
Votes: 147,353 | Gross: $4.74M
18. Beat Street (1984)
PG | 105 min | Drama, Music
An aspiring DJ from the South Bronx and his best friend, a promoter, try to get into show business by exposing people to hip-hop music and the local culture.
Director: Stan Lathan | Stars: Rae Dawn Chong, Guy Davis, Jon Chardiet, Leon W. Grant
Votes: 4,328 | Gross: $16.60M
19. Breakin' (1984)
PG | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A struggling young jazz dancer meets up with two break-dancers. Together they become the sensation of the street crowds.
Director: Joel Silberg | Stars: Lucinda Dickey, Adolfo Quinones, Michael Chambers, Ben Lokey
Votes: 7,241 | Gross: $38.68M
20. Johnny Dangerously (1984)
PG-13 | 90 min | Comedy, Crime
Set in the 1930s, an honest, good-hearted man is forced to turn to a life of crime to finance his neurotic mother's sky-rocketing medical bills.
Director: Amy Heckerling | Stars: Michael Keaton, Joe Piscopo, Marilu Henner, Maureen Stapleton
Votes: 16,408
21. Oh, God! You Devil (1984)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Fantasy
George Burns returns as God, and as Satan. They battle over the soul of a young rock star who is willing to sell his soul to the devil.
Director: Paul Bogart | Stars: George Burns, Ted Wass, Ron Silver, Roxanne Hart
Votes: 2,741 | Gross: $21.54M
22. Revenge of the Nerds (1984)
R | 90 min | Comedy
At Adams College, a group of bullied outcasts and misfits resolve to fight back for their peace and self-respect.
Director: Jeff Kanew | Stars: Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Timothy Busfield, Andrew Cassese
Votes: 58,370 | Gross: $40.90M
23. Cloak & Dagger (1984)
PG | 101 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
A young boy and his imaginary friend end up on the run while in possession of a top-secret spy gadget.
Director: Richard Franklin | Stars: Henry Thomas, Dabney Coleman, Michael Murphy, Christina Nigra
Votes: 8,368 | Gross: $9.72M
24. The Last Starfighter (1984)
PG | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
High schooler Alex Rogan conquers the Starfighter video game, only to find out it was just a test, and is transported to another planet. He has been recruited to join a team of the best starfighters to defend their world from the attack.
Director: Nick Castle | Stars: Lance Guest, Robert Preston, Kay E. Kuter, Dan Mason
Votes: 46,021 | Gross: $28.73M
25. Starman (1984)
PG | 115 min | Romance, Sci-Fi
An alien takes the form of a young Wisconsin widow's husband and makes her drive him to his departure point in Arizona. Distrustful government agents, along with a more ambivalent scientist, give pursuit in hopes of intercepting them.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith, Richard Jaeckel
Votes: 52,159 | Gross: $28.70M
26. Suburbia (1983)
R | 94 min | Drama, Thriller
When household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society.
Director: Penelope Spheeris | Stars: Chris Pedersen, Bill Coyne, Jennifer Clay, Timothy O'Brien
Votes: 6,011
27. The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
G | 94 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Kermit and his friends go to New York City to get their musical on Broadway only to find it's a more difficult task than they anticipated.
Director: Frank Oz | Stars: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire
Votes: 22,714 | Gross: $25.53M
28. Top Secret! (1984)
PG | 90 min | Comedy, Crime, Music
An American rock and roll singer is invited to a cultural festival in East Germany in order to distract from a plot to destroy NATO submarines, but he accidentally becomes involved in a resistance plot to rescue an imprisoned scientist.
Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker | Stars: Val Kilmer, Omar Sharif, Jeremy Kemp, Warren Clarke
Votes: 73,038 | Gross: $20.50M
29. The NeverEnding Story (1984)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A troubled boy dives into a wondrous fantasy world through the pages of a mysterious book.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach, Gerald McRaney
Votes: 156,930 | Gross: $20.16M
30. Footloose (1984)
PG | 107 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A city teenager moves to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned, and his rebellious spirit shakes up the populace.
Director: Herbert Ross | Stars: Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 92,266 | Gross: $80.04M
31. Tank (1984)
PG | 113 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
Sergeant Major Zack arrives at a new army base with his wife, son and Sherman tank. One night at a bar he "stops" a pimp/deputy from beating a girl. The corrupt sheriff uses Zack's son for revenge and Zack uses his tank.
Director: Marvin J. Chomsky | Stars: James Garner, Shirley Jones, C. Thomas Howell, Mark Herrier
Votes: 4,681 | Gross: $14.13M
32. Splash (1983)
PG | 111 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
A young man is reunited with a mermaid he briefly encountered as a boy and falls in love with her without knowing her secret.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, Eugene Levy, John Candy
Votes: 83,415 | Gross: $62.10M
33. Police Academy (1984)
R | 96 min | Comedy
The mayor declares that anyone can enroll in the police academy irrespective of their physical condition or education level, and many misfits descend on the academy, including a young troublemaker who's forced to apply or go to jail.
Director: Hugh Wilson | Stars: Steve Guttenberg, G.W. Bailey, Kim Cattrall, Bubba Smith
Votes: 137,397 | Gross: $81.20M
34. Dreamscape (1984)
PG-13 | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A man who can enter and manipulate people's dreams is recruited by a government agency to help cure the President of the United States of his nightmares about nuclear war but stumbles upon an assassination plot.
Director: Joseph Ruben | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Max von Sydow, Christopher Plummer, Eddie Albert
Votes: 18,155 | Gross: $11.48M
35. Secret Honor (1984)
Not Rated | 90 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A fictionalized former President Richard M. Nixon offers a solitary, stream-of-consciousness reflection on his life and political career - and the "true" reasons for the Watergate scandal and his resignation.
Director: Robert Altman | Star: Philip Baker Hall
Votes: 3,386
36. Firestarter (1984)
R | 114 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A couple who participated in a potent medical experiment gain telepathic ability and then have a child who is pyrokinetic.
Director: Mark L. Lester | Stars: Drew Barrymore, David Keith, Freddie Jones, Heather Locklear
Votes: 36,902 | Gross: $15.10M
37. Supergirl (1984)
PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After losing a powerful orb, Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin, comes to Earth to retrieve it and instead finds herself up against a wicked witch.
Director: Jeannot Szwarc | Stars: Helen Slater, Faye Dunaway, Peter O'Toole, Mia Farrow
Votes: 24,025 | Gross: $13.60M
38. Best Defense (1984)
R | 94 min | Comedy, War
A military weapons engineer struggles to do his job responsibly, while a hapless tank commander has to live with the consequences in combat years later.
Director: Willard Huyck | Stars: Dudley Moore, Eddie Murphy, Kate Capshaw, George Dzundza
Votes: 6,417 | Gross: $19.27M
39. Dune (1984)
PG-13 | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A Duke's son leads desert warriors against the galactic emperor and his father's evil nemesis to free their desert world from the emperor's rule.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Kyle MacLachlan, Virginia Madsen, Francesca Annis, Leonardo Cimino
Votes: 179,419 | Gross: $30.93M
40. The Toxic Avenger (1984)
R | 82 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
Tromaville has a monstrous new hero. The Toxic Avenger is born when meek mop boy Melvin falls into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers will have a lot to lose.
Directors: Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman | Stars: Andree Maranda, Mitch Cohen, Jennifer Babtist, Cindy Manion
Votes: 32,145
41. C.H.U.D. (1984)
R | 88 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
A bizarre series of sudden disappearances on the streets of New York City seems to point toward something unsavory living in the sewers.
Director: Douglas Cheek | Stars: John Heard, Daniel Stern, Christopher Curry, Kim Greist
Votes: 13,970 | Gross: $4.65M
42. Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984)
PG | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
A developer tries to bulldoze a community recreation center. The local breakdancers try to stop it.
Director: Sam Firstenberg | Stars: Lucinda Dickey, Adolfo Quinones, Michael Chambers, Susie Coelho
Votes: 4,791 | Gross: $15.10M
43. Ghoulies (1984)
PG-13 | 81 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
A young man and his girlfriend move into an old mansion home, where he becomes possessed by a desire to control ancient demons.
Director: Luca Bercovici | Stars: Peter Liapis, Lisa Pelikan, Michael Des Barres, Jack Nance
Votes: 10,390 | Gross: $35.00M
44. Razorback (1984)
R | 95 min | Horror, Thriller
As a vicious wild boar terrorizes the Australian outback, the husband of one of the victims is joined by a hunter and a farmer in a search for the beast.
Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Gregory Harrison, Arkie Whiteley, Bill Kerr, Chris Haywood
Votes: 7,877 | Gross: $0.15M
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