Annual Top Tens: 1980s (grouped by year of premiere; very much a work in progress)

1989

ALWAYS (Steven Spielberg)
STREET OF NO RETURN (Sam Fuller)
GANG OF FOUR (Jacques Rivette)
A CITY OF SADNESS (Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
DO THE RIGHT THING (Spike Lee)
THE KILLER (John Woo)
CASUALTIES OF WAR (Brian De Palma)
JOHNNY HANDSOME (Walter Hill)
HOMEWORK (Abbas Kiarostami)
WILD SEARCH (Ringo Lam)

A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon (Tsui Hark); Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (Steven Spielberg); Kiki's Delivery Service (Hayao Miyazaki); Sex, Lies, and Videotape (Steven Soderbergh); Violent Cop (Takeshi Kitano).

1988

SCHOOL ON FIRE (Ringo Lam)
DEAD RINGERS (David Cronenberg)
KUNG FU MASTER (Agnes Varda)
THEY LIVE (John Carpenter)
STORY OF WOMEN (Claude Chabrol)
MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO (Hayao Miyazaki)
HIGH HOPES (Mike Leigh)
AKIRA (Katsuhiro Otomo)
THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (Martin Scorsese)
BIRD (Clint Eastwood)

Grave of the Fireflies (Isao Takahata); Die Hard (John McTiernan); Alice (Jan Švankmajer); Patty Hearst (Paul Schrader); Chocolat (Claire Denis).

1987

ROBOCOP (Paul Verhoeven)
PRINCE OF DARKNESS (John Carpenter)
WHERE IS THE FRIEND'S HOME? (Abbas Kiarostami)
CITY ON FIRE (Ringo Lam)
PRISON ON FIRE (Ringo Lam)
EMPIRE OF THE SUN (Steven Spielberg)
DAUGHTER OF THE NILE (Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
UNDER THE SUN OF SATAN (Maurice Pialat)
MASKS (Claude Chabrol)
EXTREME PREJUDICE (Walter Hill)

A Better Tomorrow II (John Woo); Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders); Predator (John McTiernan); The Untouchables (Brian De Palma); Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick).

1986

THE FLY (David Cronenberg)
THE TERRORIZERS (Edward Yang)
PEKING OPERA BLUES (Tsui Hark)
HIS MOTORBIKE, HER ISLAND (Nobuhiko Obayashi)
PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED (Francis Ford Coppola)
SOMETHING WILD (Jonathan Demme)
MANHUNTER (Michael Mann)
A BETTER TOMORROW (John Woo)
THE GREEN RAY (Eric Rohmer)
DUST IN THE WIND (Hou Hsiao-Hsien)

Mauvais Sang (Leos Carax); The Color of Money (Martin Scorsese); Castle in the Sky (Hayao Miyazaki); Blue Velvet (David Lynch), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (Tobe Hooper).

1985

DAY OF THE DEAD (George A. Romero)
LIFEFORCE (Tobe Hooper)
PALE RIDER (Clint Eastwood)
A TIME TO LIVE, A TIME TO DIE (Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
MISHIMA: A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS (Paul Schrader)
WUTHERING HEIGHTS (Jacques Rivette)
TAIPEI STORY (Edward Yang)
POLICE (Maurice Pialat)
STEAMING (Joseph Losey)
THE COLOR PURPLE (Steven Spielberg)

Ran (Akira Kurosawa); Four Days in July (Mike Leigh); Re-Animator (Stuart Gordon); Brewster's Millions (Walter Hill).

1984

STARMAN (John Carpenter)
STREETS OF FIRE (Walter Hill)
BODY DOUBLE (Brian De Palma)
LOVE IN A FALLEN CITY (Ann Hui)
THE DESERTED CITY (Nobuhiko Obayashi)
EIGHT DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER (Lau Kar-leung)
NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (Hayao Miyazaki)
STOP MAKING SENSE (Jonathan Demme)
A SUMMER AT GRANDPA'S (Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
THIEVES AFTER DARK (Sam Fuller)

Love On The Ground (Jacques Rivette); Once Upon A Time In America (Sergio Leone); Stranger Than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch).

1983

L'ARGENT (Robert Bresson)
RUMBLE FISH (Francis Ford Coppola)
A NOS AMOURS (Maurice Pialat)
THE DEAD ZONE (David Cronenberg)
THE LITTLE GIRL WHO CONQUERED TIME (Nobuhiko Obayashi)
SCARFACE (Brian De Palma)
THE BOYS FROM FENGKUEI (Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
THE OUTSIDERS (Francis Ford Coppola)
SUDDEN IMPACT (Clint Eastwood)
PAULINE AT THE BEACH (Eric Rohmer)

Meantime (Mike Leigh); Christine (John Carpenter); Videodrome (David Cronenberg); The Hunger (Tony Scott).

1982

BOAT PEOPLE (Ann Hui)
HOME SWEET HOME (Mike Leigh)
THE THING (John Carpenter)
WHITE DOG (Sam Fuller)
CAT PEOPLE (Paul Schrader)
THE KING OF COMEDY (Martin Scorsese)
E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL (Steven Spielberg)
HONKYTONK MAN (Clint Eastwood)
THE GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF HOME (Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
FIREFOX (Clint Eastwood)

Poltergeist (Tobe Hooper); 48 Hrs. (Walter Hill).

1981

BLOW OUT (Brian De Palma)
SOUTHERN COMFORT (Walter Hill)
LE PONT DU NORD (Jacques Rivette)
THE STORY OF WOO VIET (Ann Hui)
MS. 45 (Abel Ferrara)
THE FUNHOUSE (Tobe Hooper)
SCANNERS (David Cronenberg)
THIEF (Michael Mann)
SCHOOL IN THE CROSSHAIRS (Nobuhiko Obayashi)
LOVE MASSACRE (Patrick Tam)

...All The Marbles (Robert Aldrich); Escape From New York (John Carpenter); Raiders of The Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg); Knightriders (George A. Romero); Possession (Andrzej Żuławski).

1980

THE FOG (John Carpenter)
THE BIG RED ONE (Sam Fuller)
GROWN UPS (Mike Leigh)
DANGEROUS ENCOUNTERS OF THE FIRST KIND (Tsui Hark)
AMERICAN GIGOLO (Paul Schrader)
THE SHINING (Stanley Kubrick)
THE SWORD (Patrick Tam)
LOULOU (Maurice Pialat)
DRESSED TO KILL (Brian De Palma)
BRONCO BILLY (Clint Eastwood)

Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese); The Long Riders (Walter Hill); Inferno (Dario Argento).