Comedy / Christmas
1983
A Christmas Story
Nine years old, a single-minded wish, and a narrator who never lets you forget it.
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The year was
1983
1983 mixed huge franchise movies with teen favourites, horror, crime and comedy. It was a year where established series continued while a new wave of films captured the style, music and attitude increasingly associated with the decade.
Return of the Jedi, Scarface, National Lampoon's Vacation, Flashdance, Risky Business, Christine and WarGames show just how broad the year's movies were, stretching from blockbuster spectacle to cult cinema.
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Essential movies from 1983
40 movies so far
Movies from 1983
Crime / Action / Thriller / Science Fiction
1983
Blue Thunder
A maverick pilot, a flying surveillance machine and a paranoid 1980s that still feels eerily familiar.
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Horror / Mystery / Drama / Thriller / Supernatural Horror / Supernatural / Fantasy / Action / Teen / Suspense / Science Fiction
1983
Christine
Obsession, adolescence and a car that won't let go.
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Horror / Drama / Thriller
1983
Cujo
A mother, a boy and a locked car — Donna Trenton holds the line.
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Horror / Science Fiction / Black Comedy
1983
De Lift
De Lift: corporate power and our relationship with technology, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Comedy
1983
Easy Money
Easy Money: family and parents protecting their children, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Comedy Drama / Comedy / Drama
1983
Educating Rita
A working‑class hairdresser, an exasperated tutor and a lesson that changes both of them.
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Romance / Musical / Drama / Dance
1983
Flashdance
Flashdance: family and mortality and lifespan, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Horror / Adventure / Thriller / Mystery / Natural Horror / Suspense / Drama / Action
1983
Jaws 3-D
Jaws 3-D: freedom and authority, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Comedy Drama / Comedy
1983
Local Hero
Local Hero: corporate power and greed, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Action / Martial Arts / Thriller / Crime
1983
Lone Wolf McQuade
Lone Wolf McQuade: heroism and parents protecting their children, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Musical / Comedy
1983
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
A very British banquet of bodily comedy, institutional savaging and one famously explosive dinner.
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Drama / Comedy
1983
Mr. Mom
Mr. Mom: family and consumerism, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Comedy
1983
National Lampoon's Vacation
A disastrously planned holiday that somehow still makes you laugh — and wince.
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Action / Spy
1983
Never Say Never Again
Sean Connery comes back, the nukes go missing, and the old Bond gets a very 1980s second act.
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Thriller / Action / Spy / Adventure
1983
Octopussy
A Fabergé egg, a travelling circus and the Cold War — Bond still does spectacle like a Trojan horse.
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Horror / Mystery / Thriller
1983
Psycho II
Psycho II: family and the safety of home, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Comedy Drama / Teen / Coming-of-age / Romantic Comedy / Comedy / Erotic
1983
Risky Business
A suburban teenager, a one‑night business and the day ambition learned to look dangerous.
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Gangster / Drama / Crime / Thriller / Crime Thriller / Crime Drama / Suspense / Police Procedural / Neo-noir / Action / Epic
1983
Scarface
A refugee's hunger for respect turns into reckless rule — and a very expensive mess.
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Horror / Slasher / Teen / LGBTQ-related
1983
Sleepaway Camp
Sleepaway Camp: family and parents protecting their children, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Science Fiction / Adventure / Fantasy / Action
1983
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi: mortality and lifespan and mortality, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Rape And Revenge / Action
1983
Sudden Impact
Sudden Impact: fear and friendship, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Science Fiction / Comedy / Action
1983
Superman III
Superman III: our relationship with technology and courage, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Romantic Comedy / Drama / Comedy Drama
1983
Terms of Endearment
A sharp, sentimental and sometimes infuriating love story — mostly between a mother and her impossible daughter.
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Drama / Musical
1983
The Big Chill
A funeral, a stack of records and a weekender where old promises get examined.
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Adventure / Family
1983
The Black Stallion Returns
The Black Stallion Returns: friendship and freedom, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Horror / Science Fiction / Political Thriller / Science Fiction Horror / Suspense / Thriller / Supernatural Horror / Psychological Thriller / Psychological Horror / Psychological Drama / Drama / Independent / Fantasy / Mystery / Supernatural
1983
The Dead Zone
A quiet schoolteacher, an awful glimpse of tomorrow and the heavy work of knowing too much.
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Horror / Erotic Thriller / Vampire / LGBTQ-related / Erotic / Thriller
1983
The Hunger
The Hunger: the safety of home and family, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Horror / War / Drama / Supernatural Horror / Fantasy / Suspense / Thriller / Mystery
1983
The Keep
The Keep: family and parents protecting their children, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Parody / Science Fiction / Science Fiction Comedy / Comedy Horror / Horror / Comedy
1983
The Man with Two Brains
The Man with Two Brains: love and authority, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Teen / Coming-of-age / Drama
1983
The Outsiders
Ponyboy's voice, a neighbourhood at war, and the moment childhood truly ends.
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Adventure / Drama / Historical
1983
The Right Stuff
A lone test pilot, a public spectacle — and the stubborn shape of American heroism.
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Comedy
1983
The Survivors
The Survivors: authority, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Comedy Drama / War
1983
To Be or Not to Be
To Be or Not to Be: family and the safety of home, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Comedy / Christmas
1983
Trading Places
A rigged bet, a culture-swap and Louis Winthorpe III — still very funny, still very sharp.
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Action / War / Drama
1983
Uncommon Valor
Uncommon Valor: parents protecting their children and family, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Romantic Comedy / Teen
1983
Valley Girl
Valley Girl: the safety of home and friendship, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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Body Horror / Science Fiction / Arthouse Science Fiction / Horror / Science Fiction Horror / Fantasy / Drama / Desire Horror Fiction
1983
Videodrome
Television as a drug, a weapon and a wound — and Max Renn is the addict in the middle of it.
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Thriller / Drama
1983
WarGames
A teenage prank that becomes national panic — and a neat little film about humans still being better at meaning than machines.
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Musical / Drama / LGBTQ-related
1983
Yentl
Yentl: family and love, and why this 1983 movie still matters.
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