MTDb › Best of › Adventure › 1980s
Best Adventure Movies of the 1980s
#1 The Empire Strikes Back (1980) · ★ 8.4 · 18,538 votes · 2h 4m · action, adventure, science-fictionThe epic saga continues as Luke Skywalker, in hopes of defeating the evil Galactic Empire, learns the ways of the Jedi from aging master Yoda. But Darth Vader is more determined th…
#2 Back to the Future (1985) · ★ 8.3 · 22,492 votes · 1h 56m · comedy, adventure, science-fictionEighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty mu…
#3 Castle in the Sky (1986) · ★ 8.0 · 4,826 votes · 2h 5m · action, fantasy, adventureA young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.…
#4 Return of the Jedi (1983) · ★ 7.9 · 17,265 votes · 2h 12m · action, adventure, science-fictionLuke Skywalker leads a mission to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, the Emperor prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star, and t…
#5 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) · ★ 7.9 · 13,971 votes · 1h 55m · action, adventureWhen Dr. Indiana Jones – the tweed-suited professor who just happens to be a celebrated archaeologist – is hired by the government to locate the legendary Ark of the Covenant, he f…
#6 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) · ★ 7.9 · 11,140 votes · 2h 7m · action, adventureIn 1938, an art collector appeals to eminent archaeologist Dr. Indiana Jones to embark on a search for the Holy Grail. Indy learns that a medieval historian has vanished while sear…
#7 Warriors of the Wind (1984) · ★ 7.9 · 4,221 votes · 1h 35m · fantasy, adventure, animationAfter a global war, the seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind remains one of the last strongholds on Earth untouched by a poisonous jungle and the powerful insects that g…
#8 Back to the Future Part II (1989) · ★ 7.8 · 14,344 votes · 1h 48m · comedy, adventure, science-fictionMarty and Doc are at it again as the time-traveling duo head to 2015 to nip some McFly family woes in the bud. But things go awry thanks to bully Biff Tannen and a pesky sports alm…
#9 Stand by Me (1986) · ★ 7.8 · 6,752 votes · 1h 29m · adventure, drama, crimeAfter learning that a boy their age has been accidentally killed near their rural homes, four boys decide to go see the body. Gordie, Vern, Chris, and Teddy encounter a mean junk m…
#10 The Princess Bride (1987) · ★ 7.7 · 5,305 votes · 1h 39m · comedy, fantasy, adventureIn this enchantingly cracked fairy tale, the beautiful Princess Buttercup and the dashing Westley must overcome staggering odds to find happiness amid six-fingered swordsmen, murde…
#11 Predator (1987) · ★ 7.6 · 9,465 votes · 1h 47m · action, adventure, thrillerA team of elite commandos on a secret mission in a Central American jungle come to find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.…
#12 Fitzcarraldo (1982) · ★ 7.6 · 919 votes · 2h 37m · adventure, dramaFitzcarraldo is a dreamer who plans to build an opera house in Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon, so, in order to finance his project, he embarks on an epic adventure to collect rubb…
#13 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) · ★ 7.5 · 12,305 votes · 1h 55m · fantasy, adventure, science-fictionAn alien is left behind on Earth and saved by the 10-year-old Elliott who decides to keep him hidden in his home. While a task force hunts for the extra-terrestrial, Elliott, his b…
#14 First Blood (1982) · ★ 7.5 · 7,144 votes · 1h 33m · action, adventure, thrillerWhen former Green Beret John Rambo is harassed by local law enforcement and arrested for vagrancy, he is forced to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war agains…
#15 The Goonies (1985) · ★ 7.5 · 6,430 votes · 1h 54m · comedy, adventure, familyYoung teen Mikey Walsh and his friends set off on a quest to find Pirate One-Eyed Willie's treasure in hopes of saving their homes from demolition. However, on their quest to find…
#16 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) · ★ 7.5 · 2,214 votes · 1h 53m · action, adventure, thrillerThe starship Enterprise and its crew is pulled back into action when old nemesis, Khan, steals a top secret device called Project Genesis.…
#17 Mad Max 2 (1981) · ★ 7.4 · 4,327 votes · 1h 36m · action, adventure, thrillerMax Rockatansky returns as the heroic loner who drives the dusty roads of a postapocalyptic Australian Outback in an unending search for gasoline. Arrayed against him and the other…
#18 The Abyss (1989) · ★ 7.4 · 3,612 votes · 2h 20m · action, adventure, thrillerA civilian oil rig crew is recruited to conduct a search and rescue effort when a nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks. One diver soon finds himself on a spectacular odyssey 25,000…
#19 The Big Blue (1988) · ★ 7.4 · 1,627 votes · 2h 48m · adventure, romance, dramaChildhood friends Jacques and Enzo share a passion for the danger of free diving. Jacques, following in the footsteps of his father, who died at sea when Jacques was a boy, harbors…
#20 The Mission (1986) · ★ 7.4 · 1,607 votes · 2h 5m · action, adventure, dramaWhen a Spanish Jesuit goes into the South American wilderness to build a mission in the hope of converting the Indians of the region, a slave hunter is converted and joins his miss…
#21 The Secret of NIMH (1982) · ★ 7.4 · 981 votes · 1h 23m · fantasy, adventure, dramaA widowed field mouse must move her family -- including an ailing son -- to escape a farmer's plow. Aided by a crow and a pack of superintelligent, escaped lab rats, the brave moth…
#22 The Right Stuff (1983) · ★ 7.4 · 975 votes · 3h 13m · adventure, drama, historyAt the dawn of the Space Race, seven test pilots set out to become the first American astronauts to enter space. However, the road to making history brings momentous challenges.…
#23 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) · ★ 7.3 · 10,408 votes · 1h 58m · action, adventureAfter arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone. He agrees – and stumbles upon a secret cult plotting a terrible plan in the catacom…
#24 Lethal Weapon (1987) · ★ 7.3 · 5,232 votes · 1h 50m · action, comedy, adventureA veteran cop and an unstable detective become partners who must put their differences aside in order to bring down a heroin-smuggling ring run by ex-Special Forces.…
#25 Labyrinth (1986) · ★ 7.3 · 2,867 votes · 1h 41m · fantasy, adventure, familyFrustrated with babysitting on yet another weekend night, Sarah, a teenager with an active imagination, summons the Goblins to take her baby stepbrother away. When little Toby actu…
#26 The Last Unicorn (1982) · ★ 7.3 · 621 votes · 1h 33m · fantasy, adventure, animationA unicorn learns from a riddle-speaking butterfly that she is supposedly the last of her kind, all the others having been herded away by the monstrous Red Bull. The unicorn sets ou…
#27 Project A (1983) · ★ 7.3 · 595 votes · 1h 45m · action, comedy, adventureIn late 19th century Hong Kong, the British may rule the land, but the pirates rule the waters. Coast Guard officer Dragon Ma is determined that his beloved Coast Guard will not be…
#28 The NeverEnding Story (1984) · ★ 7.2 · 4,524 votes · 1h 41m · fantasy, adventure, dramaWhile hiding from bullies in his school's attic, a young boy discovers the extraordinary land of Fantasia, through a magical book called The Neverending Story. The book tells the t…
#29 The Fox and the Hound (1981) · ★ 7.2 · 3,596 votes · 1h 22m · adventure, drama, animationWhen a feisty little fox named Tod is adopted into a farm family, he quickly becomes friends with a fun and adorable hound puppy named Copper. Life is full of hilarious adventures…
#30 Big Trouble in Little China (1986) · ★ 7.2 · 3,396 votes · 1h 40m · action, comedy, fantasyTruck driver Jack Burton gets embroiled in a supernatural battle when his best friend Wang Chi's green-eyed fiancée is kidnapped by henchmen of the sorcerer Lo Pan, who must marry…
#31 The Land Before Time (1988) · ★ 7.2 · 2,836 votes · 1h 9m · adventure, drama, animationAn orphaned brontosaurus named Littlefoot sets off in search of the legendary Great Valley. A land of lush vegetation where the dinosaurs can thrive and live in peace. Along the wa…
#32 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) · ★ 7.2 · 1,728 votes · 1h 58m · adventure, science-fictionWhen a huge alien probe enters the galaxy and begins to vaporize Earth's oceans, Kirk and his crew must travel back in time in order to bring back whales and save the planet.…
#33 The Dark Crystal (1982) · ★ 7.2 · 1,317 votes · 1h 33m · fantasy, adventure, animationOn another planet in the distant past, a Gelfling embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of a magical crystal and restore order to his world, before the grotesque race of Ske…
#34 The Professional (1981) · ★ 7.2 · 615 votes · 1h 48m · action, adventure, thrillerJosselin Beaumont, a French secret agent, is tasked with assassinating Njala, the president for life of Malawi in Africa. A shift in French policy means that assassinating Njala is…
#35 Top Gun (1986) · ★ 7.1 · 9,954 votes · 1h 50m · action, adventure, romanceFor Lieutenant Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell and his friend and co-pilot Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw, being accepted into an elite training school for fighter pilots is a dream come true. But…
#36 The Great Mouse Detective (1986) · ★ 7.1 · 1,824 votes · 1h 14m · adventure, animation, familyWhen the diabolical Professor Ratigan kidnaps London's master toymaker, the brilliant master of disguise Basil of Baker Street and his trusted sidekick Dawson try to elude the ulti…
#37 National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) · ★ 7.1 · 1,817 votes · 1h 39m · comedy, adventureClark Griswold is on a quest to take his family to the Walley World theme park for a vacation, but things don't go exactly as planned.…
#38 La Chèvre (1981) · ★ 7.1 · 739 votes · 1h 34m · comedy, adventure, crimeWhen the boss' unlucky daughter is missing in South America, Campana is sent to watch the boss' most unlucky employee who is sent as a private detective in hopes he can duplicate t…
#39 The Transformers: The Movie (1986) · ★ 7.1 · 645 votes · 1h 25m · action, adventure, science-fictionThe 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 fr…
#40 The Bear (1988) · ★ 7.1 · 536 votes · 1h 37m · adventure, drama, familyAn orphan bear cub hooks up with an adult male as they try to dodge human hunters.…