To make this list a movie had to be made in 1986. Obviously many movies made in 1985 earned box office dollars in 1986. On the other side many movies made in 1986 made money in 1986 and later. This page will looks at over 200 movies made in 1986. 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 1986
1986 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 1986 Movies by movie titles and movie trailers
- Sort 1986 Movies by the stars or in some cases the director of the movie.
- Sort 1986 Movies by domestic adjusted box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort 1986 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 1986 Movies received and how many Oscar® wins each 1986 Movies received.
- Sort 1986 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 1986 for Adjusted USA Box Office:
Quigley’s 1986 Top Stars List
1. Tom Cruise
2. Eddie Murpy
3. Paul Hogan
4. Rodney Dangerfield
5. Bette Midler
6. Sylvester Stallone
7. Clint Eastwood
8. Whoopi Goldberg
9. Kathleen Turner
10. Paul Newman
11. Michael J. Fox
12. Sigourney Weaver
13. Robert Redford
14. Ralph Macchio
15. Chevy Chase
16. Jane Fonda
17. Matthew Broderick
18. Michael Douglas
19. Harrison Ford
20. Woody Allen
21. Rob Lowe
22. Leonard Nimoy
23. William Shatner
24. Meryl Streep
25. William Hurt
70 The Decline of the American Empire (1986) Dominique Michel
1986 Oscar
Best Foreign Language Film
The Decline of the American Empire
Please update your oscar nomination appropriately
Hey Sidney……The Decline of the American Empire’s Oscar nomination is now listed in the table…good eye.
64 ‘Round Midnight (1986) Dexter Gordon
Oscars:
1987 Awards
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Dexter Gordon
Round Midnight
Best Music, Original Score
WINNER
Round Midnight
Herbie Hancock
Please adjust Oscar nominations appropriately
Hey Sidney…Round Midnight’s 2 Oscar nominations and win are now listed in the table. As always….thank you.
I can only remember seeing 26 of these movies, most of them on the big screen when they came out, but I’m sure I have forgotten some. I recently re-watched Stand By Me with my kids, and it was as good now as it was then. Other favorites from 1986: The Name of the Rose, Blue Velvet (yes weird, but mesmerized me at the time and still holds up), The Mission (one of Enio Morricone’s great scores), Hannah and her Sisters, Platoon, Down By Law and Jean de Florette. I was glad to see the French Canadian film, The Decline of the American Empire on your list, by one of Canada’s most famous director, Denys Arcand, who went on to make a number of other very interesting films. Great work as always!
“The old is dying and the new cannot be born.” [Antonio Gramsci]
I’ve explained before how the 1980s were very much a limbo decade for me in respect of going to the movies because most of my classic era idols had either passed away or else were no longer the important and/or creative stars that they once were and many of the post 1970s film thespians that I came to like did not come into their own as mega stars [at least in my perception] until the late eighties/early nineties
Examples of the latter who still entertain me are, with in brackets the film that first gained them my affections Denzel Washington [Philadelphia 1993] Julia Roberts [Pretty Woman 1990] Patrick Swayze albeit briefly [Dirty Dancing 1987] Bruce Willis [Sunset 1988, although a flop and because of the Tom Mix connection but despite that greedy wife of Brucie’s] Kevin Costner, a great personal friend of Reagan [Field of Dreams 1989] Morgan Freeman [Robin Hood 1991] Sandra Bullock despite that press agent of hers [A Time to Kill 1995] and Russell Crowe – “There are men too gentle to live among wolves.”![LA Confidential 1997]
Accordingly I saw only 4 of the Top 10 biggest box office hits in the table above. My favourite movies in 1986 were Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Aliens, and Hoosiers [aka Best Shot]. I have also seen Karate Kid 2 several times as I have enjoyed watching that one with my grandson who was strongly into the Kid’s adventures.
Whether or not I have seen the films concerned though I have always had an academic historical interest in how movies performed in the marketplace in any and every year so I welcome this comprehensive statistical survey of 1986. “Vote Up!”
1986 I’m embarrassed to say but Soul Man was my best picture. Films I saw in theaters back then by your list ( you have ties and some missing numbers) are
1 – 7
9 – 33
35 – 39 (you have 2 38’s)
42
43
45
48 (you have no 49)
51 – 56 (you have 2 56’s, I only so Lucas in the theater)
57 – 64 (no 61 listed)
67 (both pictures listed)
69
71 (only Crossroads)
74
75
80
81
86
88 – 90
94
96
100
101
104
106
111
115
122 – 125
128 – 131
133
134
136 – 140
142
144
146
148
150
151
153
154
156
157
159
163
165
167 – 170
175
176
178 – 181
183
185 – 191
193
196
202
205
209 (you have no 206. 207 or 208)
You also have Basil Rathbone listed for The Great Mouse Detective ( I think he died in 1967).
The following 47 1986 pictures I have seen for the first time since December 1992. Usual key, film, studio, cast listed (unlikely the modern we get), date seen, source (TV channel, DVD or tape).
9 1/2 WEEKS 1986 MGM MICKEY ROURKE KIM BASINGER 4/10 2003 MAX
ADVENTURES OF THE AMERICAN RABBIT (CARTOON) 1986 CLUBHOUSE/ATLANTIC XXX XXX 2/5 1996 DIS
AT CLOSE RANGE 1986 ORI SEAN PENN CHRISTOPHER WALKEN 9/21 2004 TRUE
BAD GIRL’S DORMITORY 1986 FILMS AROUND THE WORLD 4/18 1993 USA
BELIZARE THE CAJUN 1986 SKOURAS ARMANDE ASSANTE 3/16 1996 BRAVO
BETTER TOMORROW (H.K.) 1986 CINEMA CITY 5/9 1993 TAPE
BIGGLES: ADVENTURES IN TIME 1986 COMPACT YELLOWBILL/TAMBORINE XXX XXX 4/5 1998 STZ
BOY IN BLUE (CAN.) 1986 FOX NICOLAS CAGE 5/29 1997 TMC
DARK OF THE NIGHT (NZ) 1986 QUARTET FILMS 5/31 1994 55
DESERT BLOOM 1986 COL 9/27 1995 LIFE
DETECTIVE SCHOOL DROPOUTS 1986 CAN XXX XXX 1/6 1996 COM
DOWN BY LAW 1986 ISLAND XXX XXX 2/19 1997 TMC
DR. OTTO AND THE RIDDLE OF THE GOLDEN BEAM 1986 12/24 1995 USA
FUTURE HUNTERS 1986 LIGHTHOUSE PICTURES 9/6 2012 DVD
GALLAGHER’S TRAVELS (AUSTRALIA) 1986 J.C. WILLIAMSON 7/26 1994 55
HEATHCLIFF: THE MOVIE (CAR.) 1986 CLUBHOUSE/ATLANTIC XXX XXX 12/9 1996 DIS
HOME OF THE BRAVE (CONCERT) 1986 CINECOM 3/20 1995 BRAVO
HYPER SAPIEN: PEOPLE FROM ANOTHER STAR (CAN.) 1986 TRI 8/16 2012 DVD
KILLER PARTY 1986 MGM 11/27 2016 TCM
LA GUERRERA VENGADORA 2 (MEX.) 1986 CINEMATOCATICA FERNANDEZ 12/1 1998 TAPE
LADY JANE 1986 PAR 12/21 1995 BRAVO
LET’S GET HARRY 1986 TRI XXX XXX 3/1 2004 ENC
LONGSHOT, THE 1986 ORI 11/8 1993 55
MONA LISA (U.K.) 1986 ISLAND 8/8 1995 BRAVO
MY LETTER TO GRACE 1986 8/2 2010 DVD
MY LITTLE PONY 1986 DEG 9/18 1995 DIS
NIGHT MOTHER 1986 UNI SISSY SPACEK ANNE BANCROFT 6/27 2005 DRA
NINJA PROTECTOR 1986 RFD 5/7 2012 DVD
OPPOSING FORCE 1986 ORI 9/4 1995 TMC
PEKING OPERA BLUES (H.K.) 1986 CINEMA CITY 1/9 1993 T-M
PRETTY SMART 1986 NW 9/4 1996 COM
QUICKSILVER 1986 COL KEVIN BACON 11/13 1996 55
R.E.M.’S ROAD MOVIE (CONCERT) 1986 SATELITE 8/10 1997 13
RED HEADED STRANGER 1986 ALIVE XXX XXX 3/28 2002 WEST
RIDERS OF THE STORM (U.K.) 1986 MIRAMAX 12/22 1995 55
ROUTINE PLEASURES (DOC.) 1986 11/24 2016 TCM
SALVADOR 1986 HEMDALE 10/20 1995 USA
SHADOWS ON THE WALL 1986 12/30 1995 55
SHANGHAI EXPRESS (H.K.) 1986 XXX XXX 12/3 2000 TAPE
SID AND NANCY 1986 MGM GARY OLDMAN 11/5 2002 LOVE
SIZZLE BEACH USA 1986 TROMA 1/10 1995 TMC
SNO-LINE 1986 VANDAM INTL. 11/10 1994 55
ST. JOHN IN EXILE 1986 ALPHA-OMEGSA 3/12 2015 DVD
THERESE (FR.) 1986 CIRCLE FILMS XXX XXX 4/11 1997 BRAVO
TOBY MCTEAGUE (CAN.) 1986 INTL SPERCTAFILM 7/19 2013 DVD
WHISTLE BLOWER (U.K.) 1986 HEMDALE MICHAEL CAINE JAMES FOX 5/27 2004 MYST
WHOOPEE BOYS 1986 PAR XXX XXX 1/29 1996 COM
WHOOPS APOCALYPSE 1986 ITC XXX XXX 12/12 1996 COM
Hey Dan
1. Thanks for the breakdown and lists of your 1986 Movie watching history…truly impressive.
2. Sometimes when the list is so big…it takes the database/website connection longer to get the numbers in order….most of those issues have been fixed.
3. Basil Rathbone has an “archived” voice credit in this one….so I included it…..he is the all-time best Sherlock Holmes….in my humble opinion.
4. I have your tally at over 150…..a little hard to count with my numbers missing you up….so hail to the Dan….though…my tally is not too far behind you……I suspect….my totals will get closer and closer towards yours as we approach todays movies…but I also suspect…I will never top your tally.
5. Not sure why there are movies listed at 208 and 209…my database says there are only 207 movies…that is a glitch for WoC….lol.
6. Good stuff as always.
dan, great list. how do you do it? seeing so many movies and remembering them? delightful.
no apologies, I liked soul man a very hot topic and well done . thanks for sharing.