Best Drama movies of 1980s

Actors : Betty Buckley, Wilford Brimley, Tess Harper, Robert Duvall,
Directors : Bruce Beresford,

A broken-down, middle-aged country singer gets a new wife, reaches out to his long-lost daughter, and tries to put his troubled life back together.

Actors : Amy Irving, Barbra Streisand, Mandy Patinkin, Nehemiah Persoff,
Directors : Barbra Streisand,

A Jewish girl disguises herself as a boy to enter religious training.

Actors : Anne Pitoniak, Anne Bancroft, Meg Tilly, Jane Fonda,
Directors : Norman Jewison,

When a naive novice nun is discovered with a dead newborn in her convent quarters, a court-appointed psychiatrist investigates her case.

Actors : Pat Hingle, Joyce Van Patten, Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn,
Directors : John Schlesinger,

The true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee and his drug pusher childhood friend who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union.

Actors : Vanessa Redgrave, Gary Oldman, Alfred Molina, Wallace Shawn,
Directors : Stephen Frears,

This film is the story of the spectacular life and violent death of British playwright Joe Orton. In his teens, Orton is befriended by the older, more reserved Kenneth Halliwell, and while ...

Actors : John Houseman, Fred Astaire, Alice Krige, Craig Wasson,
Directors : John Irvin,

Two generations of men find themselves haunted by the presence of a spectral woman. When the son of one of the elderly men returns to his hometown after his brother's mysterious death, they attempt to unravel her story.

Actors : Rolf Hoppe, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Ildikó Bánsági, Krystyna Janda,
Directors : István Szabó,

A German stage actor finds unexpected success and mixed blessings in the popularity of his performance in a Faustian play as the Nazis take power in pre-WWII Germany. As his associates and ...

Actors : Tom Cruise, John Stockwell, Jackie Earle Haley, John P. Navin Jr.,
Directors : Curtis Hanson,

Set in 1965, four rowdy teenage guys travel to Tijuana, Mexico for a night of partying when they are joined by a heartbroken housewife who is in town seeking a quick divorce.

Actors : Olga Mironova, Liubomiras Laucevicius, Vladas Bagdonas, Aleksey Kravchenko,
Directors : Elem Klimov,

After finding an old rifle, a young boy joins the Soviet resistance movement against ruthless German forces and experiences the horrors of World War II.

Actors : Susan Sarandon, James Spader, Kathy Bates, Jason Alexander,
Directors : Luis Mandoki,

Max Baron (James Spader) is a 27-year-old high-flying advertising executive still recovering from the death of his wife. One night he is in a bar when he meets Nora Baker (Susan Sarandon), ...

Actors : Donal McCann, Anjelica Huston, Helena Carroll, Cathleen Delany,
Directors : John Huston,

Gabriel Conroy and wife Greta attend an early January dinner with friends at the home of his spinster aunts, an evening which results in an epiphany for both of them.

Actors : Dennis Hopper, Debra Winger, Sami Frey, Theresa Russell,
Directors : Bob Rafelson,

A federal investigator tracks down a gold digging woman who moves from husband to husband, kills them and collects the inheritance.

Actors : Barbara Hershey, David Labiosa, Ron Silver, George Coe,
Directors : Sidney J. Furie,

Supposedly based partially on a true story, a woman is tormented and sexually molested by an invisible demon.

Actors : Sam Shepard, Jessica Lange, Bart Burns, Kim Stanley,
Directors : Graeme Clifford,

The story of Frances Farmer's meteoric rise to fame in Hollywood and the tragic turn her life took when she was blacklisted.

Actors : Art Evans, Howard E. Rollins Jr., Adolph Caesar, David Alan Grier,
Directors : Norman Jewison,

An African American officer investigates a murder in a racially charged situation in World War II.

Actors : Meryl Streep, Carroll Baker, Jack Nicholson, Michael O'Keefe,
Directors : Hector Babenco,

An alcoholic drifter spends Halloween in his home town of Albany, NY after returning there for the first time in decades.

Actors : Barbara Hershey, John Mahoney, Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito,
Directors : Barry Levinson,

A minor car accident drives two rival aluminum-siding salesmen to the ridiculous extremes of man versus man in 1963 Baltimore.

Actors : Leo Rossi, Kelly McGillis, Jodie Foster, Bernie Coulson,
Directors : Jonathan Kaplan,

After a young woman suffers a brutal gang rape in a bar one night, a prosecutor assists in bringing the perpetrators to justice, including the ones who encouraged and cheered on the attack.

Actors : Sonia Braga, Richard Bradford, Julie Carmen, Rubén Blades,
Directors : Robert Redford,

In Milagro, a small town in the American Southwest, Ladd Devine plans to build a major new resort development. While activist Ruby Archuleta and lawyer/newspaper editor Charlie Bloom ...

Actors : Meryl Streep, Jane Kaczmarek, Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro,
Directors : Ulu Grosbard,

During shopping for Christmas, Frank and Molly run into each other. This fleeting short moment will start to change their lives, when they recognize each other months later in the train ...