Funny Action Movies of the 80s

Comedy films flourished during the 1980s — a golden age of comedy in American cinema. Following a stretch of dark and gritty films released in the 1970s that reflected the nation's mood of disillusionment after Vietnam and Watergate, perhaps audiences were ready for something light and fun.

The result was a decade of unforgettable movies about airplanes, golf, time travel, and monsters. Major studios released hundreds of successful comedies throughout the decade, from the legendary Caddyshack, released in 1980, to 1989's When Harry Met Sally ...

24/7 Wall St. determined the best comedies of the decade by creating an index based on user ratings from IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes.

While all of the films featured on the list easily fit within the genre of comedy, they touch on an assortment of other categories, reflecting the vast creativity of the moment. There are mockumentaries, such as Zelig and This Is Spinal Tap; action movies, like The Stunt Manand Midnight Run; and even horror films like Gremlins and An American Werewolf in London. Some films, however, do away with all pretense and go straight for the jokes, such as the supremely silly Airplane!

Some directors are more represented than others on this list. Rob Reiner, John Hughes, and John Landis each have three of their films on the list. No one, however, is more represented than the famously prolific Woody Allen, who has the most movies on the list with six.

Some directors represented here are not generally known for their comedic work, yet still managed to create great comedies in the 80s. These include Martin Scorsese, Sidney Lumet, and John Carpenter.

Of course, the 1980s wouldn't have been such a golden age of humor without so many great comedic actors. The talent that graces our list includes Steve Martin, Bill Murray, John Candy, Lily Tomlin, and Eddie Murphy.

To determine the best comedy movies of the 1980s, 24/7 Wall St. created an index based on each film's Rotten Tomatoes average critic rating, Rotten Tomatoes' average audience rating, and IMDb average user rating. To be considered, each film had to have at least 10,000 total user ratings between IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, 10 approved Tomatometer critic reviews, and be classified as a comedy by IMDb. Films that were deemed as not sufficiently falling in the genre of comedy were removed.

We averaged the user ratings from Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb and weighted by the number of votes for each. The combined user rating was then averaged with the Rotten Tomatoes critic rating. Box office data is from IMDb and is not adjusted for inflation.

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75. Ruthless People (1986)

Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Starring: Bette Midler, Danny DeVito, Judge Reinhold
Domestic box office: $71.62 million

74. The War of the Roses (1989)

Director: Danny DeVito
Starring: Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito
Domestic box office: $86.89 million

73. Shag (1989)

Director: Zelda Barron
Starring: Phoebe Cates, Bridget Fonda, Scott Coffey
Domestic box office: $6.96 million

72. Eating Raoul (1982)

Director: Paul Bartel
Starring: Mary Woronov, Paul Bartel, Robert Beltran
Domestic box office: $1.1 million

71. Stripes (1981)

Director: Ivan Reitman
Starring: Bill Murray, John Candy, Harold Ramis
Domestic box office: $85.30 million

70. Real Genius (1985)

Director: Martha Coolidge
Starring: Val Kilmer, Gabriel Jarret, Michelle Meyrink
Domestic box office: $13.00 million

69. Shirley Valentine (1989)

Director: Lewis Gilbert
Starring: Pauline Collins, Tom Conti, Julia McKenzie
Domestic box office: $6.35 million

68. Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)

Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Paul Reubens, Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton
Domestic box office: $40.90 million

67. She's Gotta Have It (1986)

Director: Spike Lee
Starring: Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell
Domestic box office: $7.14 million

66. My Bodyguard (1980)

Director: Tony Bill
Starring: Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin, Matt Dillon
Domestic box office: $22.48 million

65. 48 Hrs. (1982)

Director: Walter Hill
Starring: Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy, Annette O'Toole
Domestic box office: $78.87 million

64. Top Secret! (1984)

Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Starring: Val Kilmer, Lucy Gutteridge, Peter Cushing
Domestic box office: $20.50 million

63. Arthur (1981)

Director: Steve Gordon
Starring: Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, John Gielgud
Domestic box office: $95.46 million

62. All of Me (1984)

Director: Carl Reiner
Starring: Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, Victoria Tennant
Domestic box office: $36.40 million

61. Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

Director: Frank Oz
Starring: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia
Domestic box office: $38.75 million

60. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Director: Amy Heckerling
Starring: Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold
Domestic box office: $27.09 million

59. Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun
Domestic box office: $11.10 million

58. Parenthood (1989)

Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen, Dianne Wiest
Domestic box office: $100.05 million

57. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Director: Martin Brest
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton
Domestic box office: $234.76 million

56. Deathtrap (1982)

Director: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Dyan Cannon
Domestic box office: $19.28 million

55. Prizzi's Honor (1985)

Director: John Huston
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, Robert Loggia
Domestic box office: $26.70 million

54. The Goonies (1985)

Director: Richard Donner
Starring: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen
Domestic box office: $61.50 million

53. Caddyshack (1980)

Director: Harold Ramis
Starring: Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray
Domestic box office: $39.85 million

52. The Sure Thing (1985)

Director: Rob Reiner
Starring: John Cusack, Daphne Zuniga, Anthony Edwards
Domestic box office: $18.14 million

51. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)

Director: Frank Oz
Starring: Steve Martin, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly
Domestic box office: $42.04 million

50. Beetlejuice (1988)

Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton
Domestic box office: $73.71 million

49. Risky Business (1983)

Director: Paul Brickman
Starring: Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Joe Pantoliano
Domestic box office: $63.50 million

48. Gremlins (1984)

Director: Joe Dante
Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton
Domestic box office: $148.17 million

47. Something Wild (1986)

Director: Jonathan Demme
Starring: Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, George 'Red' Schwartz
Domestic box office: $8.36 million

46. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

Director: David Zucker
Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, O.J. Simpson
Domestic box office: $78.04 million

45. Stardust Memories (1980)

Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Woody Allen, Charlotte Rampling, Jessica Harper
Domestic box office: $10.39 million

44. Sixteen Candles (1984)

Director: John Hughes
Starring: Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Justin Henry
Domestic box office: $23.69 million

43. Better Off Dead … (1985)

Director: Savage Steve Holland
Starring: John Cusack, David Ogden Stiers, Kim Darby
Domestic box office: $10.30 million

42. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

Director: Barry Levinson
Starring: Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, Tung Thanh Tran
Domestic box office: $123.92 million

41. National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)

Director: Harold Ramis
Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Imogene Coca
Domestic box office: $61.40 million

40. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)

Director: Terry Gilliam
Starring: John Neville, Eric Idle, Sarah Polley
Domestic box office: $8.08 million

39. Torch Song Trilogy (1988)

Director: Paul Bogart
Starring: Anne Bancroft, Matthew Broderick, Harvey Fierstein
Domestic box office: $4.87 million

38. Polyester (1981)

Director: John Waters
Starring: Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey
Domestic box office: Not applicable.

37. Trading Places (1983)

Director: John Landis
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Ralph Bellamy
Domestic box office: $90.40 million

36. Bull Durham (1988)

Director: Ron Shelton
Starring: Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins
Domestic box office: $50.89 million

35. Moonstruck (1987)

Director: Norman Jewison
Starring: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis
Domestic box office: $80.64 million

34. Repo Man (1984)

Director: Alex Cox
Starring: Harry Dean Stanton, Emilio Estevez, Tracey Walter
Domestic box office: $3.57 million

33. Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)

Director: John Hughes
Starring: Steve Martin, John Candy, Laila Robins
Domestic box office: $49.53 million

32. The Blues Brothers (1980)

Director: John Landis
Starring: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Cab Calloway
Domestic box office: $57.23 million

31. An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Director: John Landis
Starring: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Joe Belcher
Domestic box office: $30.57 million

30. Tootsie (1982)

Director: Sydney Pollack
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr
Domestic box office: $177.20 million

29. Big (1988)

Director: Penny Marshall
Starring: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia
Domestic box office: $114.97 million

28. Lost in America (1985)

Director: Albert Brooks
Starring: Albert Brooks, Julie Hagerty, Sylvia Farrel
Domestic box office: $10.18 million

27. Raising Arizona (1987)

Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, Trey Wilson
Domestic box office: $22.85 million

26. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

Director: Charles Crichton, John Cleese
Starring: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline
Domestic box office: $63.49 million

25. When Harry Met Sally … (1989)

Director: Rob Reiner
Starring: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher
Domestic box office: $92.82 million

24. Hairspray (1988)

Director: John Waters
Starring: Sonny Bono, Ruth Brown, Divine
Domestic box office: $6.67 million

23. The Stunt Man (1980)

Director: Richard Rush
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey
Domestic box office: $7.06 million

22. Mystery Train (1989)

Director: Jim Jarmusch
Starring: Masatoshi Nagase, Yûki Kudô, Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Domestic box office: $0.37 million

21. Heathers (1988)

Director: Michael Lehmann
Starring: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty
Domestic box office: $1.11 million

20. Say Anything … (1989)

Director: Cameron Crowe
Starring: John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney
Domestic box office: $20.78 million

19. Ghostbusters (1984)

Director: Ivan Reitman
Starring: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver
Domestic box office: $238.63 million

18. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy
Domestic box office: $156.45 million

17. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Director: John Hughes
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara
Domestic box office: $70.14 million

16. Broadcast News (1987)

Director: James L. Brooks
Starring: William Hurt, Albert Brooks, Holly Hunter
Domestic box office: $51.25 million

15. My Favorite Year (1982)

Director: Richard Benjamin
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper
Domestic box office: $20.12 million

14. After Hours (1985)

Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Verna Bloom
Domestic box office: $10.60 million

13. Diner (1982)

Director: Barry Levinson
Starring: Steve Guttenberg, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon
Domestic box office: $14.10 million

12. Radio Days (1987)

Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Mike Starr
Domestic box office: $14.79 million

11. Victor Victoria (1982)

Director: Blake Edwards
Starring: Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston
Domestic box office: $21.93 million

10. Midnight Run (1988)

Director: Martin Brest
Starring: Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto
Domestic box office: $38.41 million

9. The Breakfast Club (1985)

Director: John Hughes
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald
Domestic box office: $45.88 million

8. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)

Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, Danny Aiello
Domestic box office: $10.63 million

7. Broadway Danny Rose (1984)

Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Nick Apollo Forte
Domestic box office: $10.60 million

6. Airplane! (1980)

Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Starring: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen
Domestic box office: $83.40 million

5. Zelig (1983)

Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Patrick Horgan
Domestic box office: $11.80 million

4. A Christmas Story (1983)

Director: Bob Clark
Starring: Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin
Domestic box office: $19.29 million

3. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Martin Landau, Woody Allen, Bill Bernstein
Domestic box office: $18.25 million

2. Back to the Future (1985)

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson
Domestic box office: $210.61 million

1. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

Director: Rob Reiner
Starring: Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest
Domestic box office: $0.19 million

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