From the 1960s to the 1990s, no decade of movie production was void of creativity. The introduction of new genres, cultural shifts, technology, and different innovations marked the nature of movies in the late 1990s. The introduction of action movie genres, science fiction, and horror movies characterized the 1970s era of Hollywood.
The 1980s saw a massive increase in the number of violent movies and nudity. These changes attracted a lot of criticisms. Nevertheless, it turned out those features were going to be permanent features of the American movie industry. The 1980s saw some names that have stood out so far in the industry. It was the decade most fans were going to get the last bit of these iconic figures.
Here are the most influential directors of the 1980s.
10. Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone introduced himself remarkably into the movie industry in the 1970s with the award-winning Midnight Express. The movie earned him his first Oscar award as the best academy and best-acted screenplay. Stone continued his outstanding success in the movie industry by introducing himself to the gangster genre. Stone wrote Scarface in 1983, a movie that was later directed by Brian D’ Parma.
Oliver Stone soon became a household name in the movie industry of the 1980s when he began his trilogy of the Vietnam War, where he took part as an infantry soldier. The first of those war trilogies was Platoon. Ever since, critics have highly rated the movie as one of the best war movies of all time. Platoon also earned Stone an Oscar award for best director. The second part of the trilogy was Born on the Fourth of July, which Olive Stone wrote and directed in 1989.
The highly skilled Stone reflected the greatness imparted to him by his professors, such as Martin Scorsese. He was a highly influential figure in the 80s.
9. Rob Reiner
Rob had a taste of what acting was like before moving into directing. He began his meritorious career by appearing on TV shows in the 1960s. He was famous for his humorous gestures, which made him a fan favorite. His role in the TV series All in the Family earned him two Emmy awards. He helped propel the show into America’s most-watched television program for five years. All these acting heroics made him a fan favorite when he began directing in the 1980s.
Although he was known for his humorous acts, Rob did not limit himself to a particular genre. His comic movies earned him more recognition in the 1980s. His comedies, such as When Harry Met Sally (1989) and Stand by Me (1986), earned him a lot of nominations and projected him as one of the best directors in the 1980s. Rob’s movies recorded huge commercial success in the 1980s.
8. Margarethe Von Trotta
This list would have been an incomplete list without mentioning this notable woman, Margarethe Von Trotta. She began her career with acting before moving into directing. She was popularly known for using her movies to agitate for an equal stand between males and females. Margarethe was undoubtedly the most famous female director in the 1980s. Her movies such as Three Sisters (1988), Sheer Madness (1983), and Sisters (1980) earned her a lot of recognition and awards. Her movie, Rosa Luxembourg (1986), waxed her up in controversies, aligning her with the revolutionary Rosa Luxembourg’s political ideologies. However, the film won several awards, and Margarethe continued to use her movies as a means of advocacy.
7. John Landis
John Landis was a familiar name in movie direction in the 1980s. He extended his sphere of influence when Michael Jackson invited him to create a video for Thriller in 1983. The song’s video, one of the best music videos of all time, was only a reflection of John’s intelligence. Though John was known for his comedy movies, he was one of the comedy-horror genre’s major pioneers. His famous movie that represented the genre was his 1981 American Werewolf in London. Landis also made a lot of comic movies, which included Three Amigos (1986), Coming to America (1988), and so many other comic movies. John was a very influential movie director in the 1980s, and his movies are still a classic with his unique styles.
6. Peter Weir
Peter was the leading figure in the Australian movie industry before eventually switching to America. His movies recorded huge commercial success. Though Peter was not a director attributed to one genre, his movies were a combination of different genres. The audiences in the 1980s well embraced this attribute. His famous movie Year of Loving Dangerously was one of the highest-grossing films of 1982. His most unique movie was a social science fiction comedy that extended to the 1990s, The Truman Show. It was one of Peter Weir’s classics.
He was unarguably one of the most influential directors in the 1980s.
5. Robert Altman
Robert Altman was an outstanding movie director who never won an Oscar. His failure to conform to the norm of movie directing in the 70s and 80s denied him several recognitions despite seven nominations. However, the lack of awards never disturbed Altman. His sense of humor and use of satires in the movie industry was exceptional.
Though Altman did not create a new genre, his satires were second to none, and even his colleagues would appreciate that. After he died in 2006, Alan Rudolph described his movie-style as “Altmanesque.” The term, according to Rudolph, was a way to acknowledge Altman’s use of featuring overlapping storylines and multiple protagonists in a natural way. After his death, several actors who worked with Altman hailed his leadership. He was described as someone who knows how to get the best out of actors. Altman cemented his place with one of the movie industry’s greatest brains of all time.
4. Ettore Scola
Scola was the most famous Italian movie director in the 1980s. Beyond the sphere of Italy, global audiences have recognized his movies.
Scola was a golden globe winner and a five-time nominee for the Oscars. He wrote and directed more than 40 movies in his 40-year career. Scola admitted to being fascinated by history. This fascination influenced his zest to develop ways for portraying history to his audience. Unsurprisingly, many of Scola’s movies had descriptions of history. He adopted the method to represent how several historical antecedents took place. Scola was undoubtedly one of the greatest movie directors of all time.
3. Robert Zemeckis
Zemeckis makes the top three of any lists of top directors or producers of the 1980s. He was not just interested in writing and directing movies; Zemeckis left an indelible footprint on the movie industry by creating visual effects. His films were notable for their special effects and use of computer graphics.
Zemeckis soon announced himself as a genius to the movie industry. He did so with the production of Romancing the Stone in 1984 and Back to the Future in 1985. It was his third movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which introduced him to winning accolades. Zemeckis gradually evolved into a household name in the closing stages of the 1980s.
2. Brian De Palma
Brian’s influence in the movie industry began way before the 1980s. He, alongside other notable directors like Steven Spielberg, Francis Coppola, John Carpenter, and Martin Scorsese, ushered in a new Hollywood era. Despite being famous before the 1980s, the decade was a spectacular one for Brian De Palma for so many reasons.
Aside from his introduction of the split-screen effect in the 1970s, Brian adopted the action movie genre in the 1980s. His movies in the 80s such as Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, Scarface, Body Double, and Untouchables. Extreme violence and nudity, features that earned Brian a lot of critics, characterized his movies.
However, Brian was a familiar name in the 1980s.
1. Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese is a man of all seasons. Starting his career in the 1960s, he made his name in the new Hollywood era of the 1970s. At the beginning of the 1980s, Scorsese had severe health issues. His health challenges are due to his cocaine addiction. His friend, who has featured in several of his movies, Robert De Niro, inspired Martin Scorsese to direct another movie and drop his addiction.
Whether Martin Scorsese knew what his last movie was is still mysterious. But there was something close to perfection about the movie. The Raging Bull earned a lot of recognition, and Martin got his first nomination for an Oscar director award. He later won his first Oscar director award in 1985 after the production of After Hours. Martin Scorsese earned nine Oscar nominations across the years, the highest of any living director and the second highest ever in the movie industry.
Conclusion
The 1970s may have been innovative, but the 1980s experienced many applications of more movie genres and classical movies. You may just have to create time to experience the high-quality movies enjoyed in the 1980s. Much of that honor belongs to the geniuses who put those scripts together and ensure their execution.
About the author
Author: Chris Ingledue
Contact: email
Bio: I am the founder and owner of Wheeljack’s Lab pop Culture and Toy Shop. My vision has always been to reunite customers with their favorite childhood toys and pop culture, triggering fond memories, and reigniting their imaginations. Every day, I work in the “lab” where it’s Christmas 365 days a year. I scour the internet, like when we had the Sears Catalog of yesteryear, for the next great treasure. Then, I await the arrival of the postman as if he were Santa Claus himself and helping collectors worldwide with their own versions of Christmas. Every day as a vintage toy buyer is an absolute joy!