Top 50 Movies in 1986 - IMDb

Top 50 Movies in 1986

by xgtang247 | created - 12 Apr 2019 | updated - 12 Apr 2019 | Public
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1. Aliens (1986)

R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

84 Metascore

Decades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.

Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser

Votes: 762,773 | Gross: $85.16M

2. Platoon (1986)

R | 120 min | Drama, War

92 Metascore

Chris Taylor, a neophyte recruit in Vietnam, finds himself caught in a battle of wills between two sergeants, one good and the other evil. A shrewd examination of the brutality of war and the duality of man in conflict.

Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Keith David

Votes: 439,365 | Gross: $138.53M

3. Stand by Me (1986)

R | 89 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama

75 Metascore

A writer recounts a childhood journey with his friends to find the body of a missing boy.

Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell

Votes: 441,469 | Gross: $52.29M

4. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

PG-13 | 103 min | Comedy

61 Metascore

A popular high school student, admired by his peers, decides to take a day off from school and goes to extreme lengths to pull it off, to the chagrin of his Dean, who'll do anything to stop him.

Director: John Hughes | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones

Votes: 386,313 | Gross: $70.14M

5. Blue Velvet (1986)

R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

75 Metascore

The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.

Director: David Lynch | Stars: Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern

Votes: 215,639 | Gross: $8.55M

6. Castle in the Sky (1986)

PG | 125 min | Animation, Adventure, Family

78 Metascore

A young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Mayumi Tanaka, Keiko Yokozawa, Kotoe Hatsui, Minori Terada

Votes: 182,282

7. Top Gun (1986)

PG | 109 min | Action, Drama

50 Metascore

As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.

Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise, Tim Robbins, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer

Votes: 502,397 | Gross: $179.80M

8. The Fly (1986)

R | 96 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi

81 Metascore

A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.

Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz, Joy Boushel

Votes: 201,826 | Gross: $40.46M

9. The Name of the Rose (1986)

R | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

54 Metascore

An intellectually nonconformist friar investigates a series of mysterious deaths in an isolated abbey.

Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Sean Connery, Christian Slater, Helmut Qualtinger, Elya Baskin

Votes: 117,211 | Gross: $7.15M

10. Labyrinth (1986)

PG | 101 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy

50 Metascore

Sixteen-year-old Sarah must solve a labyrinth to rescue her baby brother when he is taken by the Goblin King.

Director: Jim Henson | Stars: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Froud, Shelley Thompson

Votes: 149,537 | Gross: $12.73M

11. Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

PG-13 | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

53 Metascore

A rough-and-tumble trucker and his side kick face off with an ancient sorcerer in a supernatural battle beneath Chinatown.

Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong

Votes: 153,902 | Gross: $11.10M

12. Highlander (1986)

R | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

24 Metascore

An immortal Scottish swordsman must confront the last of his immortal opponents, a murderously brutal barbarian who lusts for the fabled "Prize".

Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, Roxanne Hart

Votes: 147,389 | Gross: $5.90M

13. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama

90 Metascore

Between two Thanksgivings two years apart, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly.

Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Michael Caine, Barbara Hershey

Votes: 76,758 | Gross: $40.08M

14. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

PG | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

71 Metascore

To save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral James T. Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with it: humpback whales.

Director: Leonard Nimoy | Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan

Votes: 91,461 | Gross: $109.71M

15. Down by Law (1986)

R | 107 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

75 Metascore

Two men are framed and sent to jail, where they meet a murderer who helps them escape and leave the state.

Director: Jim Jarmusch | Stars: Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi

Votes: 55,279 | Gross: $1.44M

16. The Mission (1986)

PG | 125 min | Adventure, Drama, History

55 Metascore

Eighteenth-century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South American tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal.

Director: Roland Joffé | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally, Aidan Quinn

Votes: 65,676 | Gross: $17.22M

17. Manhunter (1986)

R | 120 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller

75 Metascore

Former FBI profiler Will Graham returns to service to pursue a deranged serial killer dubbed "the Tooth Fairy" by the media.

Director: Michael Mann | Stars: William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox

Votes: 80,901 | Gross: $8.62M

18. The Color of Money (1986)

R | 119 min | Drama, Sport

77 Metascore

Fast Eddie Felson teaches a cocky but immensely talented protégé the ropes of pool hustling, which in turn inspires him to make an unlikely comeback.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Helen Shaver

Votes: 93,239 | Gross: $52.29M

19. Hoosiers (1986)

PG | 114 min | Drama, Sport

77 Metascore

A coach with a checkered past and a local drunk train a small-town high school basketball team to become a top contender for the state championship in 1950s Indiana.

Director: David Anspaugh | Stars: Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper, Sheb Wooley

Votes: 51,061 | Gross: $28.61M

20. Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Horror, Musical

81 Metascore

A nerdy florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed.

Director: Frank Oz | Stars: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Levi Stubbs

Votes: 86,333 | Gross: $38.75M

21. Pretty in Pink (1986)

PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

56 Metascore

A poor girl must choose between the affections of dating her childhood sweetheart or a rich but sensitive playboy.

Director: Howard Deutch | Stars: Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer, Harry Dean Stanton, Annie Potts

Votes: 88,546 | Gross: $40.47M

22. Crocodile Dundee (1986)

PG-13 | 97 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

62 Metascore

An American reporter goes to the Australian outback to meet an eccentric crocodile poacher and invites him to New York City.

Director: Peter Faiman | Stars: Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, John Meillon, David Gulpilil

Votes: 115,418 | Gross: $174.64M

23. The Hitcher (1986)

R | 97 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller

32 Metascore

A young man who escapes the clutches of a murderous hitchhiker is subsequently stalked by the hitcher and framed for his crimes.

Director: Robert Harmon | Stars: Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jeffrey DeMunn

Votes: 52,522 | Gross: $5.84M

24. The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

G | 74 min | Animation, Adventure, Family

73 Metascore

Basil, the rodent Sherlock Holmes, investigates the kidnapping of a toy maker and uncovers its link to his archenemy, Professor Ratigan.

Directors: Ron Clements, Burny Mattinson, David Michener, John Musker | Stars: Vincent Price, Barrie Ingham, Val Bettin, Susanne Pollatschek

Votes: 54,382 | Gross: $38.60M

25. Jean de Florette (1986)

PG | 120 min | Comedy, Drama

A greedy landowner and his backward nephew conspire to block the only water source for an adjoining property in order to bankrupt the owner and force him to sell.

Director: Claude Berri | Stars: Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu

Votes: 27,540 | Gross: $4.94M

26. The Transformers: The Movie (1986)

PG | 84 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

43 Metascore

The Autobots must stop a colossal planet consuming robot who goes after the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. At the same time, they must defend themselves against an all-out attack from the Decepticons.

Director: Nelson Shin | Stars: Orson Welles, Robert Stack, Leonard Nimoy, Norman Alden

Votes: 41,936 | Gross: $5.85M

27. The Sacrifice (1986)

PG | 149 min | Drama

At the dawn of World War III, a man searches for a way to restore peace to the world and finds he must give something in return.

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Allan Edwall, Guðrún Gísladóttir

Votes: 30,969 | Gross: $0.30M

28. An American Tail (1986)

G | 80 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

38 Metascore

While emigrating to the United States, a young Russian mouse gets separated from his family and must relocate them while trying to survive in a new country.

Director: Don Bluth | Stars: Dom DeLuise, Christopher Plummer, Erica Yohn, Nehemiah Persoff

Votes: 58,034 | Gross: $47.48M

29. Manon of the Spring (1986)

PG | 113 min | Drama

A beautiful but shy shepherdess plots vengeance on the men whose greedy conspiracy to acquire her father's land caused his death years earlier.

Director: Claude Berri | Stars: Yves Montand, Emmanuelle Béart, Daniel Auteuil, Hippolyte Girardot

Votes: 23,948 | Gross: $3.94M

30. Flight of the Navigator (1986)

PG | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family

64 Metascore

In 1978, a boy travels eight years into the future and has an adventure with an intelligent, wisecracking alien ship.

Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: Joey Cramer, Paul Reubens, Cliff De Young, Veronica Cartwright

Votes: 51,683 | Gross: $18.56M

31. Three Amigos! (1986)

PG | 104 min | Comedy, Western

52 Metascore

Three actors accept an invitation to a Mexican village to perform their onscreen bandit fighter roles, unaware that it is the real thing.

Director: John Landis | Stars: Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Martin Short, Alfonso Arau

Votes: 83,613 | Gross: $39.25M

32. Short Circuit (1986)

PG | 98 min | Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi

50 Metascore

Number 5 of a group of experimental robots in a lab is electrocuted, suddenly becomes intelligent, and escapes.

Director: John Badham | Stars: Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg, Fisher Stevens, Austin Pendleton

Votes: 66,310 | Gross: $40.70M

33. Sid and Nancy (1986)

R | 112 min | Biography, Drama, Music

76 Metascore

The relationship between Sid Vicious, bassist for British punk group Sex Pistols, and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen is portrayed.

Director: Alex Cox | Stars: Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb, David Hayman, Debby Bishop

Votes: 34,675 | Gross: $2.83M

34. A Better Tomorrow (1986)

Not Rated | 95 min | Action, Crime, Drama

78 Metascore

A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.

Director: John Woo | Stars: Lung Ti, Leslie Cheung, Chow Yun-Fat, Emily Chu

Votes: 25,454

35. Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

R | 130 min | Drama, War

53 Metascore

Hard-nosed, hard-living Marine Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway clashes with his superiors and his ex-wife as he takes command of a spoiled recon platoon with a bad attitude.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Marsha Mason, Everett McGill, Moses Gunn

Votes: 48,186 | Gross: $42.72M

36. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

Unrated | 83 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

80 Metascore

Arriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.

Director: John McNaughton | Stars: Michael Rooker, Tracy Arnold, Tom Towles, Mary Demas

Votes: 40,420 | Gross: $0.61M

37. Salvador (1986)

R | 122 min | Drama, History, Thriller

69 Metascore

A burnt-out photojournalist becomes involved in a Central American revolution.

Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: James Woods, Jim Belushi, Michael Murphy, John Savage

Votes: 23,141

38. Kin-dza-dza! (1986)

PG-13 | 135 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi

Two Russians push the wrong button on a strange device and end up on the telepathic planet Pluke with its strange societal norms.

Director: Georgiy Daneliya | Stars: Stanislav Lyubshin, Evgeniy Leonov, Yuriy Yakovlev, Levan Gabriadze

Votes: 13,750

39. Betty Blue (1986)

Unrated | 119 min | Drama, Romance

56 Metascore

A lackadaisical handyman and aspiring novelist tries to support his younger girlfriend as she slowly succumbs to madness.

Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix | Stars: Jean-Hugues Anglade, Béatrice Dalle, Gérard Darmon, Consuelo De Haviland

Votes: 23,341 | Gross: $2.00M

40. Ruthless People (1986)

R | 93 min | Comedy, Crime

78 Metascore

A couple cheated by a vile businessman kidnaps his wife in retaliation, not knowing that their enemy is delighted that they did.

Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker | Stars: Bette Midler, Danny DeVito, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater

Votes: 30,513 | Gross: $71.62M

41. Cat City (1986)

Unrated | 96 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

An agent delivers plans to save mice from a feline syndicate dedicated to eradicating rodents.

Director: Béla Ternovszky | Stars: Miklós Benedek, Gyula Bodrogi, Ilona Béres, Péter Haumann

Votes: 10,763

42. Armour of God (1986)

R | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

Asian Hawk (Jackie Chan) and his bumbling sidekick are sent on a quest through Europe to find a mysterious treasure held by a shadowy organization of monks.

Directors: Jackie Chan, Eric Tsang | Stars: Jackie Chan, Alan Tam, Lola Forner, Rosamund Kwan

Votes: 22,045

43. Mona Lisa (1986)

R | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

85 Metascore

A man recently released from prison manages to get a job driving a call girl from customer to customer.

Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine, Robbie Coltrane

Votes: 18,696 | Gross: $5.79M

44. Children of a Lesser God (1986)

R | 119 min | Drama, Romance