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[Flying_Phoenix]

Personally I think that cinema keeps getting better and better. Though I did find that there was a bit of a dip in the 90's excluding 1994 and the 80's were worse than the 70's.

In American film, the 1970's were king. In world film, it was likely the 1950's-1970's.

There are always good films produced, but I think it's totally reasonable to say that the 80's was a significantly worse decade than the one that precede it

Not to mention that the classics in the 70's have aged like fine wine. A Clock Work Orange is 40 years old now and still feels as fresh and polished as ever. Can't say that for most of the landmark 80's films.

I fear people aren't clicking your link.

I was always of a mind that 1939 was an impossible year to beat for classic films that stood the test of time.

As a cinema goer in 1984 seeing a lot of those films at the time, they were good, but few really stack up as classics despite what younger folks might feel.

Some of those 1939 titles

Gone With the Wind
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Ninotchka
Of Mice and Men
Stagecoach
The Wizard of Oz
Wuthering Heights
The Rules of the Game (La règle du jeu)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Young Mr. Lincoln
Dodge City
Only Angels Have Wings
At the Circus (Marx Brothers)
Babes in Arms
Dark Victory
The Hound of the Baskervilles (first in Sherlock Holmes series with Basil Rathbone)
Destry Rides Again
Gunga Din
Drums Along the Mohawk
The Four Feathers
The Roaring Twenties
The Man in the Iron Mask
The Women

Films pre-70's don't tend to age that well.

 

[FairyD]

The 70s is the best decade for cinema...EVER.

I fixed that for you.

 

[Anonymous Tipster]

Ctrl + F, "Robocop", Not found.


Looks like you meant to type 1987.

 

[CrocMother]

I hate the term "technically superior" when it comes to art. People should never try to quantify taste in creative arts.

 

[GavinGT]

1984 seems to have been the best year for comedy

Spoiler

(including Star Trek III)

, but 1939 was an amazing year.

1980 was up there as well:

http://www.imdb.com/year/1980

 

[ymmv]

Films pre-70's don't tend to age that well.

Bollocks. Every decade has a select number of movies that have become timeless and uncounted pieces of crap. The seventies aren't any better than the thirties or forties.

BTW 1940 was a very fine year too.

The Great Dictator
Pinocchio
Fantasia
The Grapes of Wrath
The Philadelphia Story
His Girl Friday
The Shop Around the Corner
The Thief of Bagdad
Waterloo Bridge
The Mark of Zorro
Christmas in July
All This and Heaven Too
Night Train to Munich
Pride and Prejudice
Remember the Night
The Mortal Storm
Gaslight
My Favorite Wife
plus the first cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry

 

[CrocMother]

By looking at various years I learned that Dracula, Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde all came out in the same year, 1931.

 

[GavinGT]

Bollocks. Every decade has a select number of movies that have become timeless and uncounted pieces of crap. The seventies aren't any better than the thirties or forties.

Wizard of Oz is the only pre-60s movie I can really stand watching. OK, that and Some Like it Hot.

Movies like Gone with the Wind and Citizen Kane don't play well to my modern sensibilities.

 

[threenote]

AMEN!

My man. You have good taste.

 

[GCX]

Wizard of Oz is the only pre-60s movie I can really stand watching. OK, that and Some Like it Hot.

You don't like Disney movies?

 

[threenote]

Films pre-70's don't tend to age that well.

are you fucking nuts?

 

[tokkun]

Bollocks. Every decade has a select number of movies that have become timeless and uncounted pieces of crap. The seventies aren't any better than the thirties or forties.

Realistically, if you took the top movies of the 30s and the top movies of the 70s and showed them to a modern audience, do you think you would get a similar response? I don't think so.

The issue isn't that the older movies are necessarily "bad", but rather that many of the key elements of what we consider to be "modern" cinematography and storytelling were still developing through the 50s and 60s. Movies from the 70s onward are much more similar to the expectations we've cultivated for audiences than those of the pre-70s.

 

[ymmv]

Wizard of Oz is the only pre-60s movie I can really stand watching. OK, that and Some Like it Hot.

Movies like Gone with the Wind and Citizen Kane don't play well to my modern prejudices.

Fixed.

If you really only like Wizard of Oz and Some Like It Hot, it can only mean that you haven't tried watching older movies. You probably haven't seen the best works by Hitchcock, Ford, Kurosawa, Lang, Renoir, Wyler, Kazan, Wilder, etc. You haven't seen any silent movies, don't know a thing about film noir...

 

[Kuran]

Watch Paris, Texas and Repo Man!

 

[PhoncipleBone]

http://www.imdb.com/year/1994/

Much better.

Shawshank Redemption
Pulp Fiction
Forrest Gump
The Lion King
Leon: The Professional
Interview with the Vampire
True Lies
Stargate
Clerks
Street Fighter (Movie of the decade)

The best year for movies in the 90s was 1999.

Fight Club
American Beauty
The Matrix
Green Mile
American Pie
Sixth Sense
Office Space
Toy Story 2
Magnolia
Eyes Wide Shut
Virgin Suicides
Dogma
Being John Malkovich
The Insider
Three Kings
Iron Giant
Boys Dont Cry
Talented Mr. Ripley
Tarzan
Galaxy Quest
Sleepy Hollow
South Park
Payback
Thomas Crown Affair
Man on the Moon
Go
Election
Arlington Road
Bowfinger (underrated)
The Limey
Baby Geniuses (kidding)

 

[Satyamdas]

OP, you present strong, strong evidence. I was ready to declare your statement unlikely until I looked at the list.

Blood Simple, Beat Street, and Amadeus alone raise that year to an almost untouchable height, even with Dune dragging it down several notches.

Karate Kid, Nerds, Terminator, Beverly Hills Cop, Spinal Tap, etc. These are all great, great, movies and while there are many more, I must present the unsung hero which undoubtedly raises 1984 to iconic status in the pantheon of film history.

That film (not "movie", fucking FILM) is:

If any of you film snob heathens have not seen this, rectify yourselves posthaste. This shit is GODLIKE.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

1990 says get outta town!

1. Goodfellas (1990)
2. Home Alone (1990)
3. The Godfather: Part III (1990)
4. Total Recall (1990)
5. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
6. Pretty Woman (1990)
7. Dances with Wolves (1990)
8. Ghost (1990)
9. Back to the Future Part III (1990)
10. The Hunt for Red October (1990)
11. Die Hard 2 (1990)
12. Misery (1990)
13. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
14. Awakenings (1990)
15. Tremors (1990)
17. Jacob's Ladder (1990)
18. Miller's Crossing (1990)
19. Cry-Baby (1990)
20. Dick Tracy (1990)
21. Wild at Heart (1990)
22. Kindergarten Cop (1990)
23. Predator 2 (1990)
24. Troll 2 (1990)
25. Days of Thunder (1990)
26. Problem Child (1990)
27. Flatliners (1990)
28. Rocky V (1990)
29. RoboCop 2 (1990)
30. Lord of the Flies (1990)
31. Wild Orchid (1990)
32. Henry & June (1990)
33. Revenge (1990)
34. Darkman (1990)
35. Presumed Innocent (1990)
36. The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
37. Hamlet (1990)
38. King of New York (1990)
39. The Witches (1990)
40. Mermaids (1990)
41. Young Guns II (1990)
42. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
43. State of Grace (1990)
44. Shocking Dark (1990)
45. My Blue Heaven (1990)
46. The Rookie (1990)
47. Internal Affairs (1990)
48. Lionheart (1990)
49. Begotten (1990)
50. Le mari de la coiffeuse (1990)

 

[Salvor.Hardin]

1990 says get outta town!

The year of bad sequels?

 

[DonasaurusRex]

The year of bad sequels?

yeah seriously TMNT can only do so much..sheesh.

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

2010
http://www.imdb.com/search/title?year=2010,2010&title_type=feature&sort=moviemeter,asc

 

[Dreams-Visions]

2010
http://www.imdb.com/search/title?year=2010,2010&title_type=feature&sort=moviemeter,asc

There were some really good movies released last year. Probably the best year of this new century.

Shockingly good, relative to other years.

 

[Yaboosh]

There were some really good movies released last year. Probably the best year of this new century.

Shockingly good, relative to other years.

As was already posted, I think 2007 gives last year a run for its money with the quartet of No Country, There Will Be Blood, Ratatouille and Zodiac.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

As was already posted, I think 2007 gives last year a run for its money with the quartet of No Country, There Will Be Blood, Ratatouille and Zodiac.

Dump Zodiac and indeed 2007 was a solid year (I just didn't care for the film at all). NC and TWBB could challenge the 2 best films from any year ever. But 2010 simply had *more* of a good thing.

IMO

 

[runlikehell]

24. Troll 2 (1990)

Can't be serious

 

[MikeTyson]

Tom God damn Hanks

 

[low-G]

I think we can all agree on the following: By 2001, humanity's best years were over.

Was listening to Axel F before I clicked on this thread.

 

[MPW]

http://www.imdb.com/search/title?year=1984,1984&title_type=feature&sort=moviemeter,asc

Can you really beat this list? I don't think it's possible.

Edit - 1985 comes close.

lol no

1999 (fight club, american beauty, matrix) and 1983 (scarface > all)

 

[Threi]

looking at all the lists...gunna have to go with 1994 on this one

 

[Masaki_]

yeah man I love overrated hollywood blockbusters too

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

http://www.imdb.com/search/title?year=1984,1984&title_type=feature&sort=moviemeter,asc

Can you really beat this list? I don't think it's possible.

Edit - 1985 comes close.

GOOD GOD that is an amazing list. The first page of that link has more excellent movies than every movie in the past decade!

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

I would go with 1977

http://www.imdb.com/search/title?year=1977,1977&title_type=feature&sort=moviemeter,asc

Saturady Night Fever and Smokey and the Bandit for Camp/70s bliss. Breaker, Breaker with Chuck Norris.

....someone finally mentioned it!!!
I have an excuse to post this

Feel free to use!

 

[Always-honest]

some gaffers weren't even born.
But yeah, great year for cinema. i was amazed at how many of those movies i actually watched.

 

[Jo Shishido's Cheeks]

Who else has been as prolific and successful in such runs? Billy Wilder and...? (Edit: And probably Woody Allen in the '70s, from Bananas to Manhattan.)

Well in terms of prolificity Preston Sturges has got Hughes, Allen and even Wilder beat. He wrote and directed some brilliant films, eight of which were made between 1940 and 1944.
Its staggering to think such a body of work was produced in only 4 years and I sincerely doubt any director will be as prolific ever again.

 

[Nick Laslett]

It really does. These are just some of his '80s movies:

1989 Uncle Buck (written by)
1987 Planes, Trains & Automobiles (written by)
1987 Some Kind of Wonderful (written by)
1986 Ferris Bueller's Day Off (written by)
1986 Pretty in Pink (written by)
1985 Weird Science (written by)
1985 The Breakfast Club (written by)
1984 Sixteen Candles (written by)
1983 Vacation (screenplay / short story "Vacation '58")
1983 Mr. Mom (written by)

I don't love all those movies, but that's an astounding six- or seven-year run for a screenwriter. Who else has been as prolific and successful in such runs? Billy Wilder and...? (Edit: And probably Woody Allen in the '70s, from Bananas to Manhattan.)

I saw most of these when the actually came out. I always had a real soft spot for Hughes, especially The Breakfast Club as that was essentially the blue print for my teenage years.

But ultimately my interest in film meant I investigated the classic and find it hard to give much weight to Hughes accomplishments, no matter how entertaining they are.

For me nothing beats the Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger run of films in the 40's

1948 The Red Shoes

1947 Black Narcissus

1946 A Matter of Life & Death aka Stairway to Heaven

1945 'I Know Where I'm Going!

1944 A Canterbury Tale

1943 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

1942 One of Our Aircraft Is Missing

1941 49th Parallel

The four bolded films are masterpieces of cinema. The fact that these were made during the war or a short time after is even more impressive.

 

[scar tissue]

more like: 1984 - best movie ever?
yes

 

[ToxicAdam]

1984 was the best year ever.

Pretty much. You had Prince, Michael Jackson and Madonna all breaking through that year also.

 

[Satyamdas]

But ultimately my interest in film meant I investigated the classic and find it hard to give much weight to Hughes accomplishments, no matter how entertaining they are.

Seriously dude, I can totally understand a preference for classic cinema. And I can easily understand not liking much of Hughes' post-'90 output. But to say that his accomplishments don't hold much weight? Really?!

I am fucking LOATHE to call anyone a film snob, or elitist, or anything disparaging like that just because their tastes skew different than mine, but I'll be damned if I can come up with another word which describes the type of person who possesses the unbridled hubris necessary to make that statement. For shame, dude. For fucking shame.

Spoiler

I don't really think you are a snob or a bad guy. I just am astonished you can look at Hughes' output and say that it doesn't hold much weight. Next you're gonna tell me Mel Brooks is a hack.

 

[A.KU.MU]

1982.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

some gaffers weren't even born.
But yeah, great year for cinema. i was amazed at how many of those movies i actually watched.

I'm more amazed at how many of those movies i actually own. Twenty-seven. :O

 

[Nick Laslett]

My personal favourite year is 1962. Nothing can beat 1939.

But the films of 1962 make it the year for me.

Lawrence of Arabia - The greatest film ever made.
The Manchurian Candidate - pulled from circulation for many years after Kennedy assassination.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - John Ford's last western
Jules and Jim - Francois Truffaut
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? - Bette Davis/Joan Crawford and Robert Aldrich's direction.
Birdman of Alcatraz - Burt Lancaster's best performance.
The Exterminating Angel - Luis Buñuel
Cape Fear - much better than the remake.
To Kill A Mocking Bird - classic novel, made into a fine film, Gregory Peck's signature role
An Autumn Afternoon - Yasujirô Ozu
Lolita - Stanley Kubrick
Days of Wine and Roses - Blake Edwards best film
Last Year at Marienbad - Alain Resnais
Sweet Bird of Youth - Paul Newman
Ride the High Country - Sam Peckinpah
The Miracle Worker - Helen Keller story
Lonely Are the Brave - Kirk Douglas' favourite of his movies
L'Eclisse - Final part of Michelangelo Antonioni's alienation trilogy
The Tale of Zatoichi - blind wandering samurai, first in the long running series
Knife in the Water - Polanski debut feature
Carnival of Souls - The precursor to Night of the Living Dead

Also . . .
The 300 Spartans - inspiration for Frank Miller's graphic novel
How The West Was Won - Cinerama
King Kong vs. Godzilla - third Godzilla film, first to feature King Kong.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Awesome year for film. 1984 was the year they instituted the PG-13, primarily due to Red Dawn I believe. Can you even fathom that movie getting a PG-13 in today's climate? For that matter, how the fuckin hell did Temple of Doom get a PG?? Hearts being ripped out of chests!

Temple of Doom, and Gremlins too I believe, caused PG13 to be created after they were released. So PG-13 didn't exist til right after their release.

80s were awesome.

 

[Lackmus]

Yup Nineteen Eighty-Four was a damn good movie.

Really gave me a good graphical vision of Orwells thoughts och beliefs.

 

[TheChewyWaffles]

I think the OP mistyped - 1994 / 1995 were the two best years of cinema ever.

 

[captive]

Awesome year for film. 1984 was the year they instituted the PG-13, primarily due to Red Dawn I believe. Can you even fathom that movie getting a PG-13 in today's climate? For that matter, how the fuckin hell did Temple of Doom get a PG?? Hearts being ripped out of chests!

parents and kids were less pussy and nanny state back then. Now theres one f bomb and its instant R rating.

 

[Mortrialus]

1984 was released in 1984. Interesting.

 

[Enco]

1994, 2007 and 2008 for me.

 

[Messypandas]

1984 was released in 1984. Interesting.

The year of the movie. The movie of the year!

 

[Timber]

It's all about 1955.

All that Heaven Allows
Les Diaboliques
East of Eden
The Far Country
Kiss Me Deadly
The Ladykillers
Lola Montes
The Man from Laramie
Night and Fog
The Night of the Hunter
Ordet
Pather Panchali
Rebel Without a Cause
Rififi
Smiles of a Summer Night
Il Bidone
To Catch a Thief

insane

 

[Expendable.]

Since I've been alive, definitely 2007.

 

[Ondore]

1984 was a great year for everything (and I'm not just saying that because I was born then). But for movies, I'd have to go to 1994.