The Best 1986 Movies, Ranked by Tomatometer

Critics Consensus: Bob Hoskins is outstanding in Mona Lisa, giving this stylish neo-noir a riveting centerpiece that sets it apart from similar stories.

Starring: Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine, Robbie Coltrane

Directed By: Neil Jordan

Critics Consensus: While Alien was a marvel of slow-building, atmospheric tension, Aliens packs a much more visceral punch, and features a typically strong performance from Sigourney Weaver.

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser

Directed By: James Cameron

Critics Consensus: David Cronenberg combines his trademark affinity for gore and horror with strongly developed characters, making The Fly a surprisingly affecting tragedy.

Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz, Joy Boushel

Directed By: David Cronenberg

Critics Consensus: It’s sometimes crude and tasteless, but Ruthless People wrings acid-soaked laughs out of its dark premise and gleefully misanthropic characters.

Starring: Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater

Directed By: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker

Critics Consensus: Smart, tender, and funny in equal measure, Hannah and Her Sisters is one of Woody Allen’s finest films.

Starring: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Michael Caine, Carrie Fisher

Directed By: Woody Allen

Critics Consensus: Boasting loads of quirky charm, a pair of likable leads, and confident direction from Jonathan Demme, Something Wild navigates its unpredictable tonal twists with room to spare.

Starring: Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, Ray Liotta, Margaret Colin

Directed By: Jonathan Demme

Critics Consensus: If audiences walk away from this subversive, surreal shocker not fully understanding the story, they might also walk away with a deeper perception of the potential of film storytelling.

Starring: Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern

Directed By: David Lynch

Critics Consensus: Remixing Roger Corman’s B-movie by way of the Off-Broadway musical, Little Shop of Horrors offers camp, horror and catchy tunes in equal measure — plus some inspired cameos by the likes of Steve Martin and Bill Murray.

Starring: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Steve Martin, Vincent Gardenia

Directed By: Frank Oz

Critics Consensus: Michael Mann introduces audiences to Hannibal Lecter for the first time in Manhunter, a modish thriller that fleshes out Thomas Harris’ heinous creations with an elegant, chilling detachment.

Starring: William Petersen, Kim Greist, Dennis Farina, Joan Allen

Directed By: Michael Mann

Critics Consensus: It may adhere to the sports underdog formula, but Hoosiers has been made with such loving craft, and features such excellent performances, that it’s hard to resist.

Starring: Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper, Sheb Wooley

Directed By: David Anspaugh

Critics Consensus: Informed by director Oliver Stone’s personal experiences in Vietnam, Platoon forgoes easy sermonizing in favor of a harrowing, ground-level view of war, bolstered by no-holds-barred performances from Charlie Sheen and Willem Dafoe.

Starring: Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, Forest Whitaker

Directed By: Oliver Stone

Critics Consensus: Visceral, energetic, and often very sad, Sid and Nancy is also a surprisingly touching love story, and Gary Oldman is outstanding as the late punk rock icon Sid Vicious.

Starring: Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb, David Hayman, Andrew Schofield

Directed By: Alex Cox

Critics Consensus: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is an effective, chilling profile of a killer that is sure to shock and disturb.

Starring: Michael Rooker, Tracy Arnold, Tom Towles, Anne Bartoletti

Directed By: John McNaughton

Critics Consensus: Stand by Me is a wise, nostalgic movie with a weird streak that captures both Stephen King’s voice and the trials of growing up.

Starring: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell

Directed By: Rob Reiner

Critics Consensus: Formally impressive, visually accomplished, and narratively rewarding, The Sacrifice places a fittingly solid capstone on a brilliant filmmaking career.

Starring: Erland Josephson, Allan Edwall, Susan Fleetwood, Valérie Mairesse

Directed By: Andrei Tarkovsky

Critics Consensus: That it’s inferior to the original goes without saying, but Paul Newman and Tom Cruise are a joy to watch, and Martin Scorsese’s direction is typically superb.

Starring: Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Helen Shaver

Directed By: Martin Scorsese

Critics Consensus: Matthew Broderick charms in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, a light and irrepressibly fun movie about being young and having fun.

Starring: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jennifer Grey

Directed By: John Hughes

Critics Consensus: Back to School gives Rodney Dangerfield plenty of room to riff — and supports the freewheeling funnyman with enough of a story to keep things interesting between punchlines.

Starring: Rodney Dangerfield, Sally Kellerman, Keith Gordon, Burt Young

Directed By: Alan Metter

Critics Consensus: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is perhaps the lightest and most purely enjoyable entry of the long-running series, emphasizing the eccentricities of the Enterprise’s crew.

Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Catherine Hicks, DeForest Kelley

Directed By: Leonard Nimoy

Critics Consensus: Exquisitely animated, An American Tail is a sweet, melancholy, immigrants story.

Directed By: Don Bluth

Critics Consensus: Molly Ringwald gives an outstanding performance in this sweet, intelligent teen comedy that takes an ancient premise and injects it with insight and wit.

Starring: Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer, Andrew McCarthy, Annie Potts

Directed By: Howard Deutch

Critics Consensus: Brimming with energy and packed with humor, Big Trouble in Little China distills kung fu B-movies as affectionately as it subverts them.

Starring: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong

Directed By: John Carpenter

Critics Consensus: The hard edges of E.M. Foster novel maybe sanded off, but what we get with A Room with a View is an eminently entertaining comedy with an intellectual approach to love.

Starring: Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, Julian Sands, Denholm Elliott

Directed By: James Ivory

Critics Consensus: Brought brilliantly to life by Dexter Gordon’s outstanding performance, Round Midnight is the rare jazz-inflected drama that matches the power of the music.

Starring: Dexter Gordon, François Cluzet, Gabrielle Haker, Sandra Reaves-Phillips

Directed By: Bertrand Tavernier

Critics Consensus: With a storytelling palette as rich and brilliant as its animation, Castle in the Sky thrillingly encapsulates Studio Ghibli’s unique strengths.

Directed By: Hayao Miyazaki

Critics Consensus: Mala Noche is a raw and gritty portrait of desire, doomed romance, and rejection — and marks debuting director Gus Van Sant as a filmmaker with a gratifyingly personal touch.

Starring: Tim Streeter, Doug Cooeyate, Ray Monge

Directed By: Gus Van Sant

Starring: Ti Lung, Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung, Emily Chu

Directed By: John Woo

Critics Consensus: With She’s Gotta Have It, Spike Lee delivered his bracing first shot across Hollywood’s bow — and set the template for the groundbreaking act to follow.

Starring: Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell, Spike Lee

Directed By: Spike Lee

Starring: Marie Rivière, Amira Chemakhi, Lisa Heredia, Basile Gervaise

Directed By: Éric Rohmer

Starring: Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu

Directed By: Claude Berri

Critics Consensus: Intertwining murder and seduction, Pedro Almodóvar’s Matador is a provocative thriller that will shock even the most adventurous moviegoers.

Starring: Assumpta Serna, Antonio Banderas, Nacho Martínez, Eva Cobo

Directed By: Pedro Almodóvar

Starring: Louise Smith, Amanda Goodwin, Ellen McElduff, Marusia Zach

Directed By: Lizzie Borden

Starring: Oliver Reed, Amanda Donohoe, Georgina Hale, Frances Barber

Directed By: Nicolas Roeg

Critics Consensus: Despite its somewhat disjointed narrative, Oliver Stone’s Salvador is a vivid and powerful political drama that sets an early tone for the director’s similarly provocative future projects.

Starring: James Woods, Jim Belushi, Michael Murphy, John Savage

Directed By: Oliver Stone

Critics Consensus: Infectiously easygoing charm and a leading man in the role he was born to play help Crocodile Dundee make the most of its familiar fish-out-of-water premise.

Starring: Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, Mark Blum, John Meillon

Directed By: Peter Faiman

Critics Consensus: Funny, original, and thoroughly cinematic, Down by Law represents writer-director Jim Jarmusch at his most ingratiating and evocative.

Starring: Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni, Ellen Barkin

Directed By: Jim Jarmusch

Critics Consensus: Peggy Sue Got Married may seem just another in a line of ’80s boomer nostalgia films, but none of the others have Kathleen Turner keen lead performance.

Starring: Kathleen Turner, Nicolas Cage, Kevin J. O'Connor, Barry Miller

Directed By: Francis Ford Coppola

Critics Consensus: Smart, twisty, and perfectly cast, the effects-assisted neo-noir F/X reminds viewers that a well-told story is the most special effect of all.

Starring: Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy, Diane Venora, Cliff DeYoung

Directed By: Robert Mandel

Starring: Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Mary Stuart Masterson, Chris Penn

Directed By: James Foley

Starring: Dominique Michel, Dorothée Berryman, Pierre Curzi, Rémy Girard

Directed By: Denys Arcand

Critics Consensus: Bolstered by impressive special effects and a charming performance from its young star, Flight of the Navigator holds up as a solidly entertaining bit of family-friendly sci-fi.

Starring: Joey Cramer, Veronica Cartwright, Cliff DeYoung, Sarah Jessica Parker

Directed By: Randal Kleiser

Starring: Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard

Directed By: Bruce Beresford

Starring: Nigel Terry, Sean Bean, Michael Gough, Tilda Swinton

Directed By: Derek Jarman

Critics Consensus: Children of a Lesser God transcends its transparently noble goals thanks to a pair of absorbing performances from William Hurt and Marlee Matlin.

Starring: William Hurt, Marlee Matlin, Piper Laurie, Philip Bosco

Directed By: Randa Haines

Starring: Yves Montand, Daniel Auteuil, Emmanuelle Béart, Hippolyte Girardot

Directed By: Claude Berri

Critics Consensus: The Great Mouse Detective may not rank with Disney’s classics, but it’s an amiable, entertaining picture with some stylishly dark visuals.

Directed By: John Musker, Ron Clements, David Michener, Burny Mattinson

Critics Consensus: Harrison Ford capably tackles a tough, unlikable role, producing a fascinating and strange character study.

Starring: Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, River Phoenix, Jadrien Steele

Directed By: Peter Weir

Starring: Béatrice Dalle, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Consuelo De Haviland, Clémentine Célarié

Directed By: Jean-Jacques Beineix

Critics Consensus: An enjoyable farce that relocates Jean Renoir’s Boudu Saved From Drowning to ’80s California, offering fine comedic performances from Nick Nolte, Richard Dreyfuss and Bette Midler.

Starring: Nick Nolte, Richard Dreyfuss, Bette Midler, Little Richard

Directed By: Paul Mazursky

Critics Consensus: Its kitschy leanings may wear thin on some, but True Stories is a disarmingly big-hearted, dreamy vision of Americana.

Starring: David Byrne, Swoosie Kurtz, John Goodman, Annie McEnroe

Directed By: David Byrne

Starring: Corey Haim, Kerri Green, Charlie Sheen, Courtney Thorne-Smith

Directed By: David Seltzer

Starring: Alan Alda, Michael Caine, Michelle Pfeiffer, Bob Hoskins

Directed By: Alan Alda

Critics Consensus: Though it sacrifices some depth in its characterizations, From Beyond stands as a stunningly grotesque Lovecraft adaptation with a dazzling blend of chilling effects and brainy, cosmic horror.

Starring: Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Ted Sorel, Ken Foree

Directed By: Stuart Gordon

Starring: Jason Lively, Steve Marshall, Jill Whitlow, Tom Atkins

Directed By: Fred Dekker

Starring: Ralph Macchio, Joe Seneca, Jami Gertz, Joe Morton

Directed By: Walter Hill

Starring: Eddie O'Connell, Patsy Kensit-Healy, David Bowie, James Fox

Directed By: Julien Temple

Starring: Sean Connery, F. Murray Abraham, Elya Baskin, Christian Slater

Directed By: Jean-Jacques Annaud

Starring: Jackie Chan, Alan Tam, Rosamund Kwan, Lola Forner

Directed By: Jackie Chan

Critics Consensus: People hate Highlander because it’s cheesy, bombastic, and absurd. And people love it for the same reasons.

Starring: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Roxanne Hart, Clancy Brown

Directed By: Russell Mulcahy

Critics Consensus: About Last Night will perturb fans of the original stage play by sanding down its pricklier edges, but an amiable cast and sexual frankness make this a pleasantly grounded romantic comedy.

Starring: Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Jim Belushi, Elizabeth Perkins

Directed By: Edward Zwick

Critics Consensus: With Heartbreak Ridge, director Clint Eastwood gets one of his best performances out of himself, even if the story struggles to engage.

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Marsha Mason, Everett McGill, Moses Gunn

Directed By: Clint Eastwood

Critics Consensus: The Mission is a well-meaning epic given delicate heft by its sumptuous visuals and a standout score by Ennio Morricone, but its staid presentation never stirs an emotional investment in its characters.

Starring: Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally, Liam Neeson

Directed By: Roland Joffé

Critics Consensus: Running Scared struggles to strike a consistent balance between violent action and humor, but the chemistry between its well-matched leads keeps things entertaining.

Starring: Gregory Hines, Billy Crystal, Jimmy Smits, Steven Bauer

Directed By: Peter Hyams

Critics Consensus: Its journey is never quite as revelatory as it could be, but The Hitcher stands as a white-knuckle vision of horror, bolstered by Rutger Hauer’s menacing performance.

Starring: Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jeffrey DeMunn

Directed By: Robert Harmon

Critics Consensus: Amiable and good-natured but also shallow and predictable, Short Circuit is hardly as deep or emotionally resonant as E.T. — though Johnny Five makes for a charming robot protagonist.

Starring: Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg, Fisher Stevens, Austin Pendleton

Directed By: John Badham

Critics Consensus: A surprisingly dark, emotional, and almost excessively cynical experience for Transformers fans.

Directed By: Nelson Shin

Starring: Jane Fonda, Jeff Bridges, Raul Julia, Diane Salinger

Directed By: Sidney Lumet

Critics Consensus: While it can’t come close to the original’s elemental horror, Psycho III makes a persuasive — and blackly funny — case for itself as a sequel.

Starring: Anthony Perkins, Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey, Roberta Maxwell

Directed By: Anthony Perkins

Critics Consensus: April Fool’s Day takes a decent stab at deconstructing the slasher genre, but an underwhelming story keeps it from really sinking in.

Starring: Deborah Foreman, Griffin O'Neal, Deborah Goodrich, Jay Baker

Directed By: Fred Walton

Starring: Jack Lemmon, Julie Andrews, Sally Kellerman, Robert Loggia

Directed By: Blake Edwards

Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Julian Sands, Natasha Richardson, Myriam Cyr

Directed By: Ken Russell

Critics Consensus: Though it features some of the most memorable and electrifying aerial footage shot with an expert eye for action, Top Gun offers too little for non-adolescent viewers to chew on when its characters aren’t in the air.

Starring: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards, Val Kilmer

Directed By: Tony Scott

Critics Consensus: 9 1/2 Weeks‘ famously steamy sex scenes titillate though the drama unfolding between the beddings is relatively standard for the genre.

Starring: Mickey Rourke, Kim Basinger, Margaret Whitton, David Margulies

Directed By: Adrian Lyne

Starring: Kelli Maroney, Tony O'Dell, John Terlesky, Russell Todd

Directed By: Jim Wynorski

Critics Consensus: While Critters ekes out some fun from a game cast and screwball tone, the titular monsters fail to deliver the credible menace that makes a creature feature satisfying.

Starring: Dee Wallace, M. Emmet Walsh, Terrence Mann, Billy Green Bush

Directed By: Stephen Herek

Critics Consensus: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 shocks with a gonzo blend of over-the-top humor and gore, but without the tense atmosphere of its predecessor, the stakes feel lower.

Starring: Dennis Hopper, Caroline Williams, Bill Johnson, Jim Siedow

Directed By: Tobe Hooper

Starring: Todd Allen, Tawny Kitaen, Stephen Nichols, Kathleen Wilhoite

Directed By: Kevin Tenney

Critics Consensus: Like countless sequels, The Karate Kid Part II tries upping the stakes without straying too far from formula — and suffers diminishing returns as a result.

Starring: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Martin Kove, Nobu McCarthy

Directed By: John G. Avildsen

Critics Consensus: Three Amigos! stars a trio of gifted comedians and has an agreeably silly sense of humor, but they’re often adrift in a dawdling story with too few laugh-out-loud moments.

Starring: Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Patrice Martinez

Directed By: John Landis

Starring: John Cusack, Demi Moore, Joel Murray, Curtis Armstrong

Directed By: Savage Steve Holland

Starring: Goldie Hawn, Nipsey Russell, Swoosie Kurtz, Robyn Lively

Directed By: Michael Ritchie

Starring: Danny DeVito, Joe Piscopo, Harvey Keitel, Ray Sharkey

Directed By: Brian De Palma

Starring: Walter Matthau, Cris Campion, Charlotte Lewis, Damien Thomas

Directed By: Roman Polanski

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Charles Dance, Charlotte Lewis, Victor Wong

Directed By: Michael Ritchie

Critics Consensus: A disengaged Sylvester Stallone plays the titular Cobra with no bite in this leaden action thriller, queasily fixated on wanton carnage and nothing else.

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Brigitte Nielsen, Reni Santoni, Andrew Robinson

Directed By: George P. Cosmatos

Starring: Chuck Norris, Lee Marvin, Hanna Schygulla, Martin Balsam

Directed By: Menahem Golan

Starring: Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, Yeardley Smith

Directed By: Stephen King

Starring: Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner, Dom DeLuise, Jonathan Pryce

Directed By: Gene Wilder