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Best Music Movies

of the 1980s

The 20 highest-rated music movies released between 1980 and 1989, ranked by IMDb score.

1

Stop Making Sense(1984)

8.7 IMDb100% RT94 Meta

A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest mu

2

Michael Jackson's Thriller(1983)

8.7 IMDb

A night at the movies turns terrifying when Michael and his date are attacked by zombies. Released at the height of Thriller’s success, the short film redefined the music video, broke racial barriers,

3

Amadeus(1984)

8.4 IMDb90% RT87 Meta

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

4

Koyaanisqatsi(1983)

8.2 IMDb91% RT72 Meta

Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration:

5

Pink Floyd: The Wall(1982)

8 IMDb73% RT47 Meta

A troubled rock star descends into madness in the midst of his physical and social isolation from everyone.

6

The Blues Brothers(1980)

7.9 IMDb71% RT60 Meta

Jake Blues, just released from prison, puts his old band back together to save the Catholic home where he and his brother Elwood were raised.

7

Victor/Victoria(1982)

7.6 IMDb97% RT84 Meta

A struggling female soprano finds work playing a male female impersonator, but it complicates her personal life.

8

Bird(1988)

7.1 IMDb81% RT78 Meta

Saxophone player Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker comes to New York in 1940 and is quickly noticed for his remarkable way of playing. He becomes a drug addict but his loving wife Chan tries to help him.

9

Dirty Dancing(1987)

7.1 IMDb72% RT65 Meta

Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer

10

Crossroads(1986)

7.1 IMDb76% RT55 Meta

A wanna-be blues guitar virtuoso seeks a long-lost song by legendary musician, Robert Johnson.

11

Leningrad Cowboys Go America(1989)

7 IMDb100% RT

The Leningrad Cowboys, a group of Siberian musicians, and their manager, travel to America seeking fame and fortune. As they cross the country, trying to get to a wedding in Mexico, they are followed

12

Hairspray(1988)

7 IMDb98% RT77 Meta

'Pleasantly plump' teenager Tracy Turnblad achieves her dream of becoming a regular on the Corny Collins Dance Show. Now a teen hero, she starts using her fame to speak out for the causes she believes

13

La Bamba(1987)

7 IMDb83% RT65 Meta

Los Angeles teenager Ritchie Valens becomes an overnight rock 'n' roll success in 1958, thanks to a love ballad called "Donna" that he wrote for his girlfriend. But as his star rises, Valens has confl

14

The Fabulous Baker Boys(1989)

6.9 IMDb97% RT85 Meta

The lives of two struggling musicians, who happen to be brothers, inevitably change when they team up with a beautiful, up-and-coming singer.

15

The Last Dragon(1985)

6.8 IMDb57% RT58 Meta

A young man searches for the "master" to obtain the final level of martial arts mastery known as the glow. Along the way he must fight an evil martial arts expert and rescue a beautiful singer from an

16

Heavy Metal(1981)

6.6 IMDb66% RT51 Meta

The embodiment of ultimate evil, a glowing orb terrorizes a young girl with bizarre stories of dark fantasy, eroticism and horror.

17

Fame(1980)

6.6 IMDb81% RT58 Meta

A chronicle of the lives of several teenagers who attend a New York high school for students gifted in the performing arts.

18

Purple Rain(1984)

6.5 IMDb74% RT55 Meta

A victim of his own anger, the Kid is a Minneapolis musician on the rise with his band, the Revolution, escaping a tumultuous home life through music. While trying to avoid making the same mistakes as

19

Moonwalker(1988)

6.1 IMDb

This fantastical movie inspired by the music of Michael Jackson features imaginative interpretations of hit tracks from the iconic 1987 album “Bad”.

20

Staying Alive(1983)

4.8 IMDb3% RT24 Meta

It's five years later and Tony Manero's Saturday Night Fever is still burning. Now he's strutting toward his biggest challenger yet - making it as a dancer on the Broadway stage.

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