Musical from the 1980s: the best movies
24 musical films from the 1980s, ranked by audience rating. The best of the decade, and it still holds up tonight. Updated 25 September 2026
Queen: Live at Wembley Stadium leads with 8.5 out of 10, ahead of Stop Making Sense (8.3). Ratings range from 7.1 to 8.5. All were released between 1980 and 1989.
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Queen: Live at Wembley Stadium
One of the world's biggest bands returns to the scene of their Live Aid triumph (one year earlier in 1985) to play all their greatest hits in front of a packed Wembley Stadium.
Stop Making Sense
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 musicians for a career-spanning and cinematic performance that features creative choreography and visuals.
Michael Jackson's Thriller
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, and became the first inducted into the U.S. National Film Registry.
Amadeus
Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Pink Floyd: The Wall
A troubled rock star descends into madness in the midst of his physical and social isolation from everyone.
Koyaanisqatsi
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: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.
The Blues Brothers
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.
Possibly in Michigan
A musical horror story about two young women who are stalked through a shopping mall by a cannibal. He follows them home, and here the victims become the aggressors.
Style Wars
Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant's PBS documentary tracks the rise and fall of subway graffiti in New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Sugar Pie Lady
In the harsh times of the small time crime in Istanbul, a conscientious police officer Cumali is recognized by the police chief Ziver Bey who sees Cumali as a threat and matches him with Sekerpare, a famous harlot.
Prince: Sign 'o' the Times
In 1987, to capitalize on his growing success in Europe, Prince toured extensively to promote the album of the same name and sales increased accordingly. However, the United States remained resistant to his latest album, and sales began to drop; it was at this point that Prince decided to film a live concert promoting the new material, for eventual distribution to theaters in America. Featuring the band that accompanied Prince on his 1987 Sign o' the Times Tour, including dancer Cat Glover, keyboardist Boni Boyer, bassist Levi Seacer, Jr., guitarist Miko Weaver, drummer Sheila E. and former member of The Revolution keyboardist Dr. Fink, the film sees the group perform live on stage (although "U Got the Look" is represented by its promotional music video).
This Is Spinal Tap
"This Is Spinal Tap" shines a light on the self-contained universe of a metal band struggling to get back on the charts, including everything from its complicated history of ups and downs, gold albums, name changes and undersold concert dates, along with the full host of requisite groupies, promoters, hangers-on and historians, sessions, release events and those special behind-the-scenes moments that keep it all real.
Crossroads
A wanna-be blues guitar virtuoso seeks a long-lost song by legendary musician, Robert Johnson.
Arabesque
Sener and Müjde, who can never come together because of endless obstacles and misunderstandings, slowly drift into the plaintive world of arabesque music.
Dirty Dancing
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—and unexpectedly falling in love.
La Bamba
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 conflicts with his jealous brother, Bob, and becomes haunted by a recurring nightmare of a plane crash just as he begins his first national tour alongside Buddy Holly.
Victor/Victoria
A struggling female soprano finds work playing a male female impersonator, but it complicates her personal life.
Gauche the Cellist
Gauche is a diligent but mediocre cellist who plays for a small town orchestra and the local cinema in the early 20th century. He struggles during rehearsals and is often berated by his conductor during preparations for an upcoming performance of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony. Over the course of four nights, Gauche is visited at his mill house home by talking animals as he is practicing.
Coal Miner's Daughter
Biography of Loretta Lynn, a country and western singer that came from poverty to fame.
¡Sufre, mamón!
This biopic tells how the pop-rock group Hombres G was formed amidst rivalries, pranks and love affairs, with the musicians themselves as the protagonists.
The Decline of Western Civilization
The Los Angeles punk music scene circa 1980 is the focus of this film. With Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline, Circle Jerks, Fear, Germs, and X.
Yellow Earth
A communist soldier is sent to a remote region of China in order to collect folk songs. Staying with a peasant family (a widower with two small children), he discovers a community whose way of life is completely alien to him, but he gradually wins their trust.
Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales
If Bugs Bunny were to direct his signature inquiry--"What's up, doc?"--toward the modern-day Warner Bros. creative team, he wouldn't be far off. For 1001 Rabbit Tales, they've doctored up a batch of classic cartoons featuring the carrot muncher and his bumbling comrades and bundled them, near seamlessly, into a feature-length film. Here's the premise: Bugs and Daffy, both book salesmen, are competing to sell the most copies of a kids' book. Instead of burrowing a beeline to his sales territory (he should have made a left at Albuquerque), Bugs ends up in the castle of Yosemite Sam, here a harem-leading honcho. Sam's pain-in-the-spurs son, Prince Abalaba, needs somebody to read him stories; Bugs, who'd sooner take the job than suffer the alternative, that involving being boiled in oil, signs on.
U2: Rattle and Hum
A concert movie on an unprecedented scale, Rattle And Hum captures U2 - on and off the stage - during their triumphant Joshua Tree tour. From the giant technicolour stadium celebrations to the black-and-white intensity of the indoor shows, this is U2 at their best. Follow the group across America, exploring new influences, playing with the legendary B.B. King from Dublin to Graceland.
What to know before choosing
The musical is the hardest genre to recommend to someone who does not watch them: it asks you to accept its convention at the first song, or nothing works at all. The catalogue is narrow and votes are few, which forces the floor down for this page to exist. That is not a flaw in the selection — it is the real state of a genre that produces little and concentrates its audience.
The 1980s produced the grammar of the mainstream film as we still know it. It is also the decade with the widest gap between the best and the worst films, because production was massive and budgets wildly uneven. Read the ratings here alongside the vote counts: a well-rated, heavily voted 1980s film has passed forty years of examination.
Frequently asked questions
How were these 24 films chosen?
They come from the TMDB catalogue, filtered on audience rating and on a minimum number of votes — without that second filter, a film rated 9 out of 10 by eleven people would outrank a classic. No place is for sale: no platform, distributor or studio can enter this list other than by being well rated.
Which film in this list is rated highest?
Queen: Live at Wembley Stadium (1986), with 8.5 out of 10 from 176 audience votes.
Where can I watch these films?
Taro eira shows, film by film, which platforms carry it in the UK and at what price — subscription, rental or purchase. The per-platform lists are further down this page.
How often does this list change?
It is recomputed every day. Ratings move slowly, catalogues move fast: availability is what mostly pushes titles in and out.
Do I need an account?
No. Taro eira is free, asks for no account and no subscription, and the two-or-three-question flow works without installing anything.
See also
- Musical
- Musical from the 2020s
- Musical from the 2010s
- Musical from the 2000s
- Musical from the 1990s
- Musical from the 1970s
- Musical before 1970
- Action from the 1980s
- Adventure from the 1980s
- Animation from the 1980s
- Comedy from the 1980s
- Crime from the 1980s
- Documentary from the 1980s
- Drama from the 1980s
- Family from the 1980s
- Fantasy from the 1980s
- Biopic from the 1980s
- Horror from the 1980s
- Romance from the 1980s
- Sci-fi from the 1980s
- Thriller from the 1980s
- War from the 1980s
- Western from the 1980s
How this list is built
Films come from the TMDB catalogue, filtered on audience rating and vote count, then cross-checked against real availability in the country. No paid placement, no partnerships. How we choose the films.
Film data and posters: TMDB. This app uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.