Your favorite year for movies..

[Figuremod73]

Long before we had an actual videostore in my very small hometown, we use to rent from Western Auto. They would usually only have two copies of any given movie, so we would have to almost do a stakeout to rent the latest releases.

I miss those days of summer in the mid-eighties when I would walk half a mile to that store. In one trip I would rent a movie (later NES games to), a few comics, cards, rack toys, swanie swifty fountain drinks, and candy.

It was fun back then always waiting for the latest cool films to come out. I watched Entertainment Tonight eagerly to see what was going to be released. I do wish there had been more Fantasy films though. (Really, I still wish there was more films similar to Conan being released)

[madmarva]

82 was a really good year. Superman II and Raiders both came out in the summer of 81. That's a pretty good double feature.

[Zemo]

I wasn't alive for it, but 1939 was a great year:

Wizard of Oz — Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Margaret Hamilton,
Of Mice and Men — Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr.
Son of Frankenstein – Basil Rathbone Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi
Tarzan Finds a Son — Johnny Weismuller, Maureen O'Sullivan
Hounds of Baskerville and Adventures of Sherlock Holmes — Rathbone and Nigel Bruce
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington — Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur and Claude Raines
Destry Rides Again — Stewart and Marlene Deitrich
Stagecoach — John Wayne. Claire Trevor and John Carradine
Gone With the Wind — Clark Gable, Viven Leigh, Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel
Hunchback of Notre Dame — Charles Laughton and Marureen O'Hara
Dodge City — Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland
Drums Along the Mohawk — Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert
Gunga Din — Cary Grant
Jesse James — Tyrone Power and Fonda
Gulliver's Travels — animated
The Little Princess — Shirley Temple
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — Mickey Rooney
Dark Victory —Bettie Davis, Humphrey Bogart and Ronald Regan
At the Circus — Marx Brothers
Another Thin Man — William Powell and Myrna Loy
Tower of London - Rathbone and Karloff

That's a pretty damn impressive list!

[Mikey]

1980 was a good year

[Bronxboykev]

I wasn't alive for it, but 1939 was a great year:

Wizard of Oz — Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Margaret Hamilton,
Of Mice and Men — Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr.
Son of Frankenstein – Basil Rathbone Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi
Tarzan Finds a Son — Johnny Weismuller, Maureen O'Sullivan
Hounds of Baskerville and Adventures of Sherlock Holmes — Rathbone and Nigel Bruce
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington — Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur and Claude Raines
Destry Rides Again — Stewart and Marlene Deitrich
Stagecoach — John Wayne. Claire Trevor and John Carradine
Gone With the Wind — Clark Gable, Viven Leigh, Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel
Hunchback of Notre Dame — Charles Laughton and Marureen O'Hara
Dodge City — Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland
Drums Along the Mohawk — Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert
Gunga Din — Cary Grant
Jesse James — Tyrone Power and Fonda
Gulliver's Travels — animated
The Little Princess — Shirley Temple
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — Mickey Rooney
Dark Victory —Bettie Davis, Humphrey Bogart and Ronald Regan
At the Circus — Marx Brothers
Another Thin Man — William Powell and Myrna Loy
Tower of London - Rathbone and Karloff

I was going to list this year as well... Watched many of these with My dad, who is still with Us God bless, Gunga Din is our absolute favorite... We could go back and forth with the lines like we were in the movie lol

Actually surprised that this hasn't been remade... The Rat pack did it and called it the Seargents 3... Would love to see how they would interpit this today?

[huedell]

Therea re so many years that could be championed by me because of a few key films. How about 1994 with Shawshank and Pulp Fiction, right?

But... the easy choice... to have a year stand above the rest... has got be a pure "QUANITY" thing.

1984 has got to be "it" for me in that regard.

Ya got:

GHOSTBUSTERS
BEVERLY HILLS COP
INDIANA JONES & THE TEMPLE OF DOOM
GREMLINS
REVENGE OF THE NERDS
THE FLAMINGO KID
THIS IS SPINAL TAP
SPLASH
THE TERMINATOR
...are all VERY much some of my TOP TOP TOP favorites.

Then there are other movies I really like:

JOHNNY DANGEROUSLY, DREAMSCAPE, MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN, ALL OF ME, PURPLE RAIN, FOOTLOOSE,
ROMANCING THE STONE, RUNAWAY, SIXTEEN CANDLES, SUPERGIRL, TEACHERS, TOP SECRET!

THEN there are the ones that I KNOW some of YOU guys like, even if I'm not totally into them:
BACHELOR PARTY, THE NATURAL, AMADEUS, RED DAWN, POLICE ACADEMY, BLIND DATE, DUNE,
NEVERENDING STORY, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, REPO MAN, STAR TREK III

I gotta check other years better maybe... but 1984, at the moment seems far and away, the best for me personally.

[ddgaff1132]

I'd have to say Spring of 77 to 1981. (I might be off on the dates) Star Wars, Superman and Raiders of the Lost Ark. I seen all with my Dad, in theaters. Believe it or not, My Dad had to drag me to see Star Wars. I think Superman was a Christmas release. Raiders was the last we seen together and Dad liked the most. After these I was old enough to go to the Movies with friends or by myself.

[Allie Fox]

Great topic. My first thought was 1984 but after some of these posts. . .

Who knows?

[Mongoose1983]

I wasn't alive for it, but 1939 was a great year:

Wizard of Oz — Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Margaret Hamilton,
Of Mice and Men — Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr.
Son of Frankenstein – Basil Rathbone Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi
Tarzan Finds a Son — Johnny Weismuller, Maureen O'Sullivan
Hounds of Baskerville and Adventures of Sherlock Holmes — Rathbone and Nigel Bruce
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington — Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur and Claude Raines
Destry Rides Again — Stewart and Marlene Deitrich
Stagecoach — John Wayne. Claire Trevor and John Carradine
Gone With the Wind — Clark Gable, Viven Leigh, Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel
Hunchback of Notre Dame — Charles Laughton and Marureen O'Hara
Dodge City — Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland
Drums Along the Mohawk — Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert
Gunga Din — Cary Grant
Jesse James — Tyrone Power and Fonda
Gulliver's Travels — animated
The Little Princess — Shirley Temple
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — Mickey Rooney
Dark Victory —Bettie Davis, Humphrey Bogart and Ronald Regan
At the Circus — Marx Brothers
Another Thin Man — William Powell and Myrna Loy
Tower of London - Rathbone and Karloff

How could it be possible you're missing one of my three all-time favorite movies which, in fact, is from 1939? Samuel Goldwyn's "Wuthering Heights" with Merle Oberon, David Niven, and Lawrence Olivier.

I was going to say the 70's for many of the movies that have already been mentioned here, though the early 80's were also awesome for movies. Rocky, Empire Strikes Back, Bobby Deerfield, Saturday Night Fever, Airplane!, E.T., Jaws, The Exorcist, The Omen, King Kong, Urban Cowboy, Godfather, I mean, I can stay remembering awesome movies for hours, if not days on and on, but remembering 1939 and not going back to Wuthering Heights.

[The Batman Professor]

1982 and 2005 are a tie for me.

BATMAN BEGINS
KING KONG
NARNIA
EPISODE III
SIN CITY
CORPSE BRIDE
FANTASTIC FOUR
HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
LEGEND OF ZORRO
WAR OF THE WORLDS
HARRY POTTER
WEDDING CRASHERS
MUNICH
DEVIL'S REJECTS
LAND OF THE DEAD

Some I liked better than others, but still a kickin' year!

[huedell]

Great topic. My first thought was 1984 but after some of these posts. . .

Who knows?

It's interesting to look at the year your namesake's flick was released. It's scary to see what films (includng MOSQUITO COAST) were knocked outta the top 20 in favor of star vehicles (COBRA) and sequels (POLTERGEIST 2) that are nowhere NEAR as good. LABYRINTH is another underrated by box-office film from 1986. And I don't care what anyone says, 1986's THREE AMIGOS is one of my favorite movies of all-time!

Oddly weak in it's own "coasting on funes" way though... it's cool that DIE HARD and ROBOCOP were right immediately on the horizon.

[Spawn67]

Cant forget FAST TIMES AT RIGEMOUNT HIGH came out in 1982 as well.

I was in 3rd grade that year and we took a field trip to see ANNIE. Our music teacher took us. It was torture watching that in my star wars/ Indiana Jones filled mind but a good memory I can look back on.

[huedell]

After a day's scouring, save the 1939 mention, I can't consider anything even coming close to:
GHOSTBUSTERS, BEVERLY HILLS COP; INDIANA JONES & THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, GREMLINS, REVENGE OF THE NERDS,
THIS IS SPINAL TAP, THE TERMINATOR, FOOTLOOSE, THE NATURAL, AMADEUS, RED DAWN, POLICE ACADEMY, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET.

[Donkey Hoatie]

That 1939 lineup is impressive. All great movies, but not a bunch of those would be considered my "favorites."

I almost went with 1977 simple on Star Wars alone. I can't think of another movie that had such an effect on me for the course of my entire life.

But, for me, it's actually a much more recent year, 2007. Consider these as my top-10 favorites from that year:

No Country for Old Men
Once
There Will Be Blood
Juno
American Gangster
Atonement
Michael Clayton
Zodiac
August Rush
3:10 to Yuma

These are all movies I enjoyed immensely on an artistic level and actually rank both No Country for Old Men and Once in my top 10 favorite movies of all time. And sure, there's also a bunch of popcorn/flicks that I'm not terribly fond of, but other people seemed to like:

Spiderman 3
Shrek 3
Transformers
Pirates of the Carribbean: At World's End
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
I am Legend
The Bourne Ultimatum
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
300
The Simpsons
Knocked Up
Superbad
Beowulf

[Allie Fox]

It's interesting to look at the year your namesake's flick was released. It's scary to see what films (includng MOSQUITO COAST) were knocked outta the top 20 in favor of star vehicles (COBRA) and sequels (POLTERGEIST 2) that are nowhere NEAR as good. LABYRINTH is another underrated by box-office film from 1986. And I don't care what anyone says, 1986's THREE AMIGOS is one of my favorite movies of all-time!

Oddly weak in it's own "coasting on funes" way though... it's cool that DIE HARD and ROBOCOP were right immediately on the horizon.

True. However the book, The Mosquito Coast was published in 1982. Allie Fox became my favorite character when I read it in 1984. I'm not too big a fan of the movie.