1983 Movies

To make this list a movie had to be made in 1983.  Obviously many movies made in 1982 earned box office dollars in 1983.  On the other side many movies made in 1983 made money in 1984 and later.   This page will looks at over 140 movies made in 1983.  The movies are listed in two massive tables that lets you rank the movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.

Our UMR Top 50 of 1983

1983 Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort 1983 Movies by movie titles and movie trailers
  • Sort 1983 Movies by the stars or in some cases the director of the movie.
  • Sort 1983 Movies by domestic adjusted box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort 1983 Movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each 1983 Movies received and how many Oscar® wins each 1983 Movies received.
  • Sort 1983 Movies by Ultimate Movie Ranking Score (UMR).  Our UMR score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
 

Top earners in 1983 for Adjusted USA Box Office:

Quigley’s 1983 Top 25 Box Office Stars

1. Clint Eastwood
2. Eddie Murphy
3. Sylvester Stallon
4. Burt Reynolds
5. John Travolta
6. Dustin Hoffam
7. Harrison Ford
8. Richard Gere
9. Chevy Chase
10. Tom Cruise
11. Sean Connery
12. Richard Pryor
13. Meryl Streep
14. Debra Winger
15. Roger Moore
16. Paul Newman
17. Teri Garr
18. Dudley Moore
19. Barbra Streisand
20. Goldie Hawn
21. Lou Gossett, Jr.
22. Al Pacino
23. Mark Hamill
24. Jane Fonda
25. Dany Aykroyd

23 thoughts on “1983 Movies

  1. Hello everybody,
    Very good year, i saw a lot of this films but as always i never count them because i think it is too long and then i am not sur about some titles.
    I like very much Terms of Endearment because Debra Winger and Jack Nicholson but my too favorites are without any questions War Games and Christine. I saw that one several times in theaters and on TV.
    In Christine there is a scene i found very …..sexy, that was when the young driver came to rebuild his car after one of her murder and suddenly something happened and he stopped everything and just say something like « show me « and then he fall in love with his car. May be i have to see a psycho but it was very well done and i love the American cars of the year 50 with the music of these years Presley, Nelson etc;
    The music band of the film was very good too;
    By the way, in my live i never fall in love with a car…ouf!!!
    Now hot days are gone, grey is coming so i drink a very good Sancerre to forget the good days but it is true that spring is finished.
    Have a nice day
    Pierre

    1. Hey Pierre….thanks for stopping by….sounds like you and glass of Sancerre are having a nice relaxing time. Good to see you are a fan of Terms of Endearment as well. Jack makes that movie very enjoyable to watch. I saw War Games in theaters…I can not believe that was 35 years ago. Matthew Broderick had a very nice run back then. I agree Christine has some great music…..and the combo of King and Carpenter is a good one. Hey…I know many friends that seem to love their cars more than their family…lol. Good stuff as always….good to hear from you.

  2. With your 1983 offering you are now of course going even deeper into the Modern Era of movies which historians regard as commencing in 1962. Some progress on your part! I have seen 5 of the Top 10 box office hits in your chart – Return of the Jedi, Terms of Endearment, Trading Places, Sudden Impact, Scarface.

    The following though were the movies that I personally most liked in 1983.
    Terms of Endearment
    Tender Mercies
    Trading Places
    The Dead Zone
    Sudden Impact
    Educating Rita
    Star Chamber – respectable 66% rating from you for this minor Douglas Jr flick
    Breathless – Only 58% from you here.

    Perhaps you compared Gere’s Breathless over-unfavourably with the 1960 French classic New Wave version “A bout de souffle” starring Jean Paul Belmondo and the tragic Jean Seberg which is 79% rated by IMDB

    Of those 8 my absolute faves were Terms of Endearment and Educating Rita. I was very surprised that Rita is ranked as low as No 30 for Review in the above table. I have always regarded it as one of Sir Maurice’s classics and indeed both he and Julie Walters were nominated for Oscars and won Golden Globes for it. I wonder whatever became of Julie in terms of movie stardom?

    However it was informative to see a comprehensive, clearly set out rundown of the movie marketplace of 1983 and of the critical ratings associated with the films of that year so “Vote Up!”

    1. Hey Bob…thanks for sharing your thoughts on these 1983 movies. That is now 64 years in a row with yearly reviews….closing the gap to the 2011 newer pages. Of your favorites…I have seen all of them…and with the exception of Breathless….I have enjoyed all of them. Educating Rita was not a huge box office success….which is what hurt it’s UMR score…when you sort by critic and audience score it does better….hitting the Top 20…as it comes in 18th place. Actually…if I update the website before going to bed…Educating Rita might have a better UMR ranking too. WoC had included a Metacritic score…and it gave Rita a score in the 50s…..I thought I had deleted most of those metacritic scores…but I missed it on Sir Michael’s greatest performance (according to him at lest)

      As for Breathless….yep IMDb rates it pretty high…but that is the only place my sources gave it that high of marks. As for Star Chamber…good movie…with a good Douglas performance. One of BERN1960’s favorite movies. Good feedback as always.

      1. HI BRUCE

        Fine comprehensive response to my 1983 post to you. Encouraging information about Rita and if Bern too liked Star Chamber I’m in good company.

        Star Chamber is one of two Mike Douglas movies that I really liked in the days before he became a big star and was merely “Kirk Douglas’ son” or Karl Malden’s cop partner in TV’s Streets of San Francisco [1972-77].

        The other one was Running [1979]. I liked it that in that one to triumph courageous Mike didn’t have to show off by running up and down steps in Philly!

        You give Running just a 57% rating but I suppose unlike you and Joel, you and I can’t agree on EVERYTHING – lightning doesn’t strike twice as the saying goes! It didn’t have great box office either but slightly better than Star Chamber.

        Hal Holbrook who was in Star Chamber is one of my all-time fave minor supporting actors.

        1. Hey Bob…I am starting to notice something about the database….some of the stars have a review percentage from the totals in 2011. Lots of reviews have been added over the last 7 years. Plus WoC added in all the Metacritic scores…..so I am wondering how we can keep up with the constantly changing review scores. A check check on Running seems to indicate it has not changed much since doing this page. FYI. I remember I wrote and published a Kirk and Michael page on the same day back in the Hub Pages days….Kirk has been a lot more popular when it comes to views,

          1. HI BRUCE

            My data base has a lot in it but probably about 300th or less of what’s in your overall site so I am amazed that you keep it as up-to-date as you do.

            IMDB agrees with you and not me about Running as it gives the film just a 59% rating

  3. I have seen 18 of these movies.

    The HIGHEST rated film I have seen is Terms of Endearment.

    The highest rated film I have NOT seen is Star Wars Return of the Jedi.

    The LOWEST rated film I have seen is Curse of the Pink Panther.

    Top 10 Movies I have Seen:
    Terms of Endearment, Trading Places, Risky Business, The Big Chill, Yentl

    11-20 Movie I Have Seen:
    Sudden Impact, Octopussy, Flashdance, Never Say Never Again, The Dresser, A Christmas Story

    The Other Films I Have Seen:
    The Dead Zone
    The Meaning of Life
    The King of Comedy
    The Outsiders
    All The Right Moves
    The Pirates of Penzance
    Man, Woman, and Child
    Curse of the Pink Panther

    Favourite 1983 Movies:
    Terms of Endearment
    Risky Business
    The Big Chill
    Octopussy
    The Pirates of Penzance
    The Dead Zone

    1. Hey Flora.
      1. A tally of 18 is not too bad…I think that is slightly up over the 1982 page.
      2. Still amazed that you have not seen a single Star Wars movie….however…part 3 is not one of my favorites…the movie gets overrun by some muppets…and is a letdown to the stellar part 2.
      3. I have seen 17 of the 18 you have seen…I have never seen Yentl from start to finish…maybe one day I will.
      4. Our your favorites….right there with you on Terms of Endearment, Risky Business and The Dead Zone…for awhile The Dead Zone was the best King movie…but I would give Shawshank and Green Mile the edge now.
      5. Sorry you suffered through Curse of the Pink Panther…that is a horrible movie….a cash grab by Blake Edwards.
      Thanks for the visit, the comment, the tally and for sharing your thoughts on this 1983 movies.

  4. A good movie year in my opinion. I have not seen nearly as many as you have, but there are some favorites here. Terms of Endearment being my favorite. The relationship between Shirley Maclaine and Deborah Winger reminds me of my relationship with my mother. Thankfully, cancer has not been in our life, but lots of other parts of the movie have been. So I am glad to see you ranking it first. Also love Educating Rita, Yentl and Heat and Dust. Glad to see you are continuing your yearly reviews.

    1. Hey Helakoski….thanks for checking out our 1983 page…and thanks for sharing the memory of you, your mom and Terms of Endearment. Glad “cancer” has not been apart of your history with your mom. I love Terms of Endearment….originally it was because of Jack’s supporting role…but as time has passed…MacLaine’s performance has become my favorite part.

      I have only seen 1 of your other favorites…Educating Rita…which has one of the best Michael Caine performances in it…..added bonus…it is Michael Caine’s personal favorite performance. I have not seen Yentl…but I recently watched Heat and Dust……I thought that one was ok. Glad you are happy to see the yearly reviews continue. Good stuff.

  5. I have seen 80 of these movies….including 8 of them in theaters. My Top 10 in alphabetical order.

    Christmas Story
    Eddie and the Cruisers
    Educating Rita
    Fire and Ice
    The King of Comedy
    Liquid Sky
    Sudden Impact
    Terms of Endearment
    Vacation
    War Games

    Zelig just misses our Top 10,

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