Best movies of 1989
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- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRobin WilliamsRobert Sean LeonardEthan HawkeMaverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.9/10
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsTom CruiseBryan LarkinRaymond J. BarryThe biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.8/10
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsBilly CrystalMeg RyanCarrie FisherHarry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.8/10
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsDanny AielloOssie DavisRuby DeeOn the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.8/10
- DirectorHal HartleyStarsAdrienne ShellyRobert John BurkeChris CookeA man returns to his home town after serving a prison sentence for homicide, and finds that the details of the crime have been forgotten and replaced with local legends and rumors.8/10
- DirectorHarold BeckerStarsAl PacinoEllen BarkinJohn GoodmanA detective investigating a series of murders becomes involved with a woman who may be the culprit.8/10
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordSean ConneryAlison DoodyIn 1938, after his father goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones finds himself up against the Nazis again to stop them from obtaining its powers.8/10
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsMel GibsonDanny GloverJoe PesciRiggs and Murtaugh are on the trail of South African diplomats who are using their immunity to engage in criminal activities.8/10
- DirectorJim SheridanStarsDaniel Day-LewisBrenda FrickerAlison WhelanChristy Brown, born with cerebral palsy, learns to paint and write with his only controllable limb - his left foot.8/10
- DirectorTed KotcheffStarsAndrew McCarthyJonathan SilvermanCatherine Mary StewartTwo idiots try to pretend that their murdered employer is really alive, leading the hitman to attempt to track him down to finish him off.8/10
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsMichael KeatonJack NicholsonKim BasingerThe Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.8/10
- DirectorArthur HillerStarsRichard PryorGene WilderJoan SeveranceDave is deaf, and Wally is blind. They witness a murder, but it was Dave who was looking at her, and Wally who was listening.8/10
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsMorgan FreemanJessica TandyDan AykroydAn old Jewish woman and her African-American chauffeur in the American South have a relationship that grows and improves over the years.8/10
- DirectorJeremiah S. ChechikStarsChevy ChaseBeverly D'AngeloJuliette LewisThe Griswold family's plans for a big family Christmas predictably turn into a big disaster.8/10
- DirectorJohn WooStarsChow Yun-FatDanny LeeSally YehA disillusioned assassin accepts one last hit in hopes of using his earnings to restore vision to a singer he accidentally blinded.7.5/10
- DirectorPeter GreenawayStarsRichard BohringerMichael GambonHelen MirrenAt Le Hollandais gourmet restaurant, every night is filled with opulence, decadence and gluttony. But when the cook, a thief, his wife and her lover all come together, they unleash a shocking torrent of sex, food, murder and revenge.7.5/10
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydLea ThompsonAfter visiting 2015, Marty McFly must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes to 1985...without interfering with his first trip.7.5/10
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsMichael J. FoxSean PennDon HarveyDuring the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.7.5/10
- DirectorCameron CroweStarsJohn CusackIone SkyeJohn MahoneyA noble underachiever and a beautiful valedictorian fall in love the summer before she goes off to college.7/10
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJames SpaderAndie MacDowellPeter GallagherA sexually repressed woman's husband is having an affair with her sister. The arrival of a visitor with a rather unusual fetish changes everything.7/10
- DirectorJim JarmuschStarsMasatoshi NagaseYûki KudôScreamin' Jay HawkinsThree stories are connected by a Memphis hotel and the spirit of Elvis Presley.7/10
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsMartin LandauWoody AllenBill BernsteinAn ophthalmologist's mistress threatens to reveal their affair to his wife while a married documentary filmmaker is infatuated with another woman.7/10
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsKirsten DunstMinami TakayamaRei SakumaA young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.7/10
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsBirgit DollDieter BernerLeni TanzerA European family who plan on escaping to Australia seem caught up in their daily routine, only troubled by minor incidents. However, behind their apparent calm and repetitive existence, they are actually planning something sinister.7/10
- DirectorDanny DeVitoStarsMichael DouglasKathleen TurnerDanny DeVitoA married couple tries everything to drive each other out of the house in a vicious divorce battle.7/10
- DirectorJohn D. HancockStarsSam ElliottCloris LeachmanRutanya AldaA farm girl nurses a wounded reindeer she believes is one of Santa's, hoping to bring it back to health in time for Christmas. Her holiday spirit inspires those around her, something her disheartened father is having trouble understanding.7/10
- DirectorÉric RohmerStarsAnne TeyssèdreHugues QuesterFlorence DarelSimple conversations engender complicated human interactions. Jeanne is open and even-tempered, a philosophy teacher at a lycée. Her fiancé is away and she doesn't want to stay at his messy flat; she's loaned hers to a cousin, so she accepts the invitation of Natasha, a music student whom she meets at a party, to sleep in her father Igor's bedroom because he's always with his young girlfriend, Eve. Natasha tells Jeanne a story of a missing necklace and her suspicions of Eve. They all meet at dinner, then again at Igor's country house. Is Natasha scheming to get Igor and Jeanne together alone? Once alone, what determines how they choose to act? And the necklace, what of it?7/10
- DirectorRobert RadlerStarsEric RobertsJames Earl JonesSally KirklandA team from the United States is going to compete against Korea in a Tae Kwon Do tournament. The team consists of fighters from all over the country - can they overcome their rivalry and work together to win?7/10
- DirectorAndrey KonchalovskiyAlbert MagnoliStarsSylvester StalloneKurt RussellTeri HatcherFramed by their ruthless arch-nemesis, a pair of mismatched LAPD officers must put their differences aside to get even with the brutal crime baron who sent them to rot in a maximum-security prison.7/10
- DirectorAlejandro JodorowskyStarsAxel JodorowskyBlanca GuerraGuy StockwellA former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his armless mother - the leader of a strange religious cult - and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name as he becomes "her arms".7/10
- DirectorJohn DahlStarsVal KilmerJoanne WhalleyPat MulliganA young detective becomes involved with a beautiful woman on the run from the mob and her psychopath boyfriend.7/10
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsMatt DillonKelly LynchJames Le GrosA pharmacy-robbing dope fiend and his crew pop pills and evade the law.7/10
- DirectorJane CampionStarsGeneviève LemonKaren ColstonTom LycosAn introspective young woman's life is upturned by the arrival of her maladjusted sister.7/10
- DirectorJacques RivetteStarsBulle OgierBenoît RégentFejria DelibaA drama following 4 women at stage school. Considered by some to be the summation of director Jacques Rivette's work as a whole.7/10
- DirectorJames CameronStarsEd HarrisMary Elizabeth MastrantonioMichael BiehnA civilian diving team is enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and faces danger while encountering an alien aquatic species.7/10
- DirectorHerbert RossStarsShirley MacLaineOlympia DukakisSally FieldA young beautician, newly arrived in a small Louisiana town, finds work at the local salon, where a small group of women share a close bond of friendship, and welcome her into the fold.7/10
- DirectorJay LeveyStars'Weird Al' YankovicVictoria JacksonKevin McCarthyAn unemployed visionary becomes the manager of a local television station. The station becomes a success, with all sorts of hilarious sight gags and wacky humor.7/10
- DirectorDon BluthGary GoldmanDan KuensterStarsDom DeLuiseBurt ReynoldsLoni AndersonA canine angel, Charlie, sneaks back to earth from heaven but ends up befriending an orphan girl who can speak to animals. In the process, Charlie learns that friendship is the most heavenly gift of all.7/10
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsMatthew BroderickDenzel WashingtonCary ElwesRobert Gould Shaw leads the U.S. Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices from both his own Union Army, and the Confederates.7/10
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsTomorô TaguchiKei FujiwaraNobu KanaokaA businessman accidentally kills The Metal Fetishist, who gets his revenge by slowly turning the man into a grotesque hybrid of flesh and rusty metal.7/10
- DirectorMick JacksonStarsGary OldmanDennis HopperFrances McDormandIn 1955 Florida, a Korean vet has a breakdown and is incarcerated in a "maximum security" mental health prison, where patients are abused.7/10
- DirectorJohn GlenStarsTimothy DaltonRobert DaviCarey LowellA vengeful James Bond goes rogue to infiltrate and take down the organization of a drug lord who has murdered his friend's new wife and left him near death.7/10
- DirectorFrancis VeberStarsNick NolteMartin ShortSarah Rowland DoroffA reformed bank robber is taken hostage by a desperate man during a bank hold up, but is forced to go on the run with his captor when they're both mistakenly thought to be in cahoots.7/10
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsMichael DouglasAndy GarciaKen TakakuraTwo NYC cops arrest a Yakuza member and must escort him when he's extradited to Japan.7/10
- DirectorAndrew DavisStarsGene HackmanTommy Lee JonesJoanna CassidyExperienced Green Beret sergeant Johnny Gallagher is escorting a prisoner, Airborne Ranger Thomas Boyette, back to the US, but Boyette escapes and Gallagher must risk life and limb to catch him.7/10
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsRichard DreyfussHolly HunterBrad JohnsonThe spirit of a recently deceased expert pilot mentors a newer pilot while watching him fall in love with the girlfriend that he left behind.7/10
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsRutger HauerTerry O'QuinnBrandon CallA blind Vietnam vet, trained as a swordfighter, comes to America and helps to rescue the son of a fellow soldier.7/10
- DirectorJim McBrideStarsDennis QuaidWinona RyderJohn DoeThe life and career of wildly controversial rock 'n' roll star Jerry Lee Lewis.7/10
- DirectorJoe JohnstonStarsRick MoranisMatt FrewerMarcia StrassmanThe scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the father searches for them.7/10
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsTom HanksBruce DernCarrie FisherAn overstressed suburbanite and his neighbors are convinced that the new family on the block is part of a murderous Satanic cult.6.5/10
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsColin FirthAnnette BeningMeg TillyFrance before 1789: When a widow hears that her lover is to marry her cousin's daughter, she asks the playboy Valmont to take the girl's virginity. But first she bets him, with her body as prize, to seduce a virtuous, young, married woman.6.5/10
- DirectorJean-Claude BrisseauStarsVanessa ParadisBruno CremerLudmila MikaëlFrancois, 49, is a happily married teacher. Concerned that rebellious student Mathilde is going to be expelled he sets out to help her but is soon drawn into a passionate relationship with her which has devastating consequences.6.5/10
- DirectorRon HowardStarsSteve MartinMary SteenburgenDianne WiestFour Buckman siblings attempt to raise their children - each in their own different style - and deal with the joys and sorrows that the process brings.6.5/10
- DirectorRowdy HerringtonStarsPatrick SwayzeKelly LynchSam ElliottA bouncer hired to clean up the baddest honkytonk in a Missouri town. Armed with a black belt in karate and a degree in philosophy, Patrick Swayze sets out to tame the Double Deuce for its owner.6/10
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsNicole KidmanSam NeillBilly ZaneAfter a tragedy, John Ingram and his wife Rae are spending some time isolated at sea, when they come across a stranger who has abandoned a sinking ship.6/10
- DirectorPhil Alden RobinsonStarsKevin CostnerJames Earl JonesRay LiottaIowa farmer Ray Kinsella is inspired by a voice he can't ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe. Supported by his wife, Ray begins the quest by turning his ordinary cornfield into a place where dreams can come true.6/10
- DirectorBrian YuznaStarsBilly WarlockConcetta D'AgneseBen SlackAn ordinary teenage boy discovers his family is part of a gruesome orgy cult for the social elite.6/10
- DirectorSteve KlovesStarsJeff BridgesMichelle PfeifferBeau BridgesThe lives of two struggling musicians, who happen to be brothers, inevitably change when they team up with a beautiful, up-and-coming singer.6/10
- DirectorIvan ReitmanStarsBill MurrayDan AykroydSigourney WeaverThe discovery of a massive river of ectoplasm and a resurgence of spectral activity allows the staff of Ghostbusters to revive the business.6/10
- DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsKenneth BranaghDerek JacobiSimon ShepherdIn the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.6/10
- DirectorRon ClementsJohn MuskerStarsJodi BensonSamuel E. WrightRene AuberjonoisA mermaid princess makes a Faustian bargain in an attempt to become human and win a prince's love.6/10
- DirectorDavid S. WardStarsTom BerengerCharlie SheenCorbin BernsenThe new owner of the Cleveland Indians puts together a purposely horrible team so they'll lose and she can move the team. But when the plot is uncovered, they start winning just to spite her.6/10
- DirectorEmile ArdolinoStarsCybill ShepherdRobert Downey Jr.Ryan O'NealA reincarnated man unknowingly falls in love with his own daughter from his previous life. Once he realizes this, he tries to end their relationship before angels erase his memory.6/10
- DirectorRobert M. YoungStarsWillem DafoeEdward James OlmosRobert LoggiaIn Greece during World War II, a young Jewish boxer, his girlfriend, and their families are sent to Auschwitz. When the camp guards learn of his boxing abilities, they force him to participate in weekly boxing matches.6/10
- DirectorAtom EgoyanStarsMichael McManusArsinée KhanjianGabrielle RoseA lonely woman stalks a co-worker by obsessively watching videos he appears in. He is an actor trying to get a part in a new TV movie, written by his lover. She has written about her brother's death, but is losing control of the project.6/10
- DirectorWalter HillStarsMickey RourkeEllen BarkinElizabeth McGovernAfter being double crossed and thrown in jail, a deformed gangster gets a new face and rehabilitation, but his desire for revenge looms.6/10
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsRobert De NiroSean PennDemi MooreTwo fugitives pass themselves off as priests in the hope of evading capture and passing the police blockade at the border with Canada.6/10
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsSean ConneryDustin HoffmanMatthew BroderickAn ex professor offers Adam $1,000,000 to "get" some plasma from a high tech company's lab. Adam asks his criminal grandpa for help. Can they convince Adam's now honest dad to join?6/10
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsJohn CandyMacaulay CulkinJean Louisa KellyLaid back commitment-phobe Buck babysits his brother's rebellious teenage daughter and her cute younger brother and sister.6/10
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsDanny MulheronDonna AkerstenStuart DevenieMultiple animals and insects experience the sleazier side of show business while working on a variety show.6/10
- DirectorRoland JofféStarsPaul NewmanDwight SchultzBonnie BedeliaThis film reenacts the Manhattan Project, the secret WWII project, and the first atomic bombs designed, built, and tested in Los Alamos.6/10
- DirectorMary LambertStarsDale MidkiffDenise CrosbyFred GwynneAfter tragedy strikes, a grieving father discovers an ancient burial ground behind his home with the power to raise the dead.6/10
- DirectorMaciej DejczerStarsWojciech KlataRafal ZimowskiKama KowalewskaBased on a true story dating back to 1985 when two Polish boys, a teenager and his little brother, escaped from communist Poland all the way to Sweden, hidden under a truck. In the movie, their destination has been changed to Denmark.6/10
- DirectorEuzhan PalcyStarsDonald SutherlandJanet SuzmanZakes MokaeA white middle class South African suburbanite with no interest in politics agrees to help his black gardener find his jailed son. His investigation opens his eyes to the horrors committed by the secret police and turns him into a target.6/10
- DirectorWaldemar KrzystekStarsKrzysztof KolbergerAgnieszka KowalskaDorota SegdaEvents are set in December of 1981: mobs of buyers descend on an already depleted supermarket. Most of the film happens on a ship carrying Poles on a cruise. Most passengers, however, have already decided to jump ship when it docks in Hamburg. One of the passengers is a dissident high school teacher sent abroad by Solidarity. He is carrying addresses of underground printing offices, contact points, etc. to sympathizers abroad in case the labor union is banned in Poland. He is under surveillance of the secret police, anxious to get their hands on the info. When the ship is in the middle of the Baltic sea, martial law is declared and the ship is militarized. The captain announces he will turn and return the home port. Many anguished passengers put the life vests on and jump into the sea, where they are picked up by two German ships. The teacher, however, decides to return to Poland and continue the struggle for freedom.6/10
- DirectorAmy HeckerlingStarsJohn TravoltaKirstie AlleyOlympia DukakisAfter a single, career-minded woman is left on her own to give birth to the child of a married man, she finds a new romantic chance in a cab driver. Meanwhile, the point-of-view of the newborn baby is narrated through voice-over.6/10
- DirectorJohn IrvinStarsPatrick SwayzeLiam NeesonAdam BaldwinTruman, a Chicago cop, sets out to find the killer of his brother. Meanwhile, another of his brothers, Briar (a hillbilly) decides to find the killer himself.6/10
- DirectorRod DanielStarsJim BelushiMel HarrisKevin TigheTo stop an elusive criminal, a maverick detective enlists the aid of a police dog who's an unusually intelligent smart alec.6/10
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsYoshiko TanakaKazuo KitamuraEtsuko IchiharaThe story of the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing, based on Masuji Ibuse's novel.