1981

Zorro, The Gay Blade is a 1981 feature film. This comedy features George Hamilton in a Golden Globe-nominated dual role as both Don Diego de la Vega (Zorro) and his gay twin brother Bunny Wigglesworth, né Ramon De La Vega.

Zoot Suit is a 1981 film adaptation of the Broadway play Zoot Suit. Both the play and film were written and directed by Luis Valdez. The film stars Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos — both reprising their roles from the stage production —, and Tyne Daly. Many members of the cast of the Broadway production also appeared in the film. Like the play, the film features music from Daniel Valdez and Lalo Guerrero, the "father of Chicano music."

Woman Who Exposes Herself is a 1981 Japanese film directed by Masaru Konuma and starring Maiko Kazama. It is the third film in the four part "The Woman Who ..." series which Nikkatsu produced in 1981-1982 as part of their Roman porno series to showcase the talents of Maiko Kazama as a successor to Naomi Tani who had retired in 1979.

The Woman Next Door (French: La Femme d'à côté) is a 1981 French film directed by François Truffaut. It was the 39th highest grossing film of the year, with a total of 1,087,600 admissions in France.

Wolfen is a 1981 American crime horror film directed by Michael Wadleigh and starring Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Gregory Hines and Edward James Olmos. It is an adaptation of Whitley Strieber's 1978 novel The Wolfen.

Will: G. Gordon Liddy is an American television movie which first aired on NBC in January 1982. The film depicts the rise and fall of Watergate co-conspirator G. Gordon Liddy. Liddy was portrayed by two different actors: American actor Robert Conrad played Liddy as an adult and child-actor Danny Lloyd portrayed him in his youth. Other figures associated with the Watergate scandal and portrayed in this film include Jeb Magruder and John Dean. The movie was directed by Robert Lieberman and was based on Liddy's 1980 autobiography.

Whose Life Is It Anyway? is a 1981 film adapted by Brian Clark and Reginald Rose from a 1972 television movie and Clark's play of the same title. The film is directed by John Badham and stars Richard Dreyfuss.

Vernon, Florida is a 1981 documentary film produced and directed by Errol Morris profiling various residents living within the town of Vernon, Florida. Originally titled Nub City, this follow-up to Gates of Heaven was initially focused on residents of the Southern town who cut off their own limbs as a way to collect insurance money. After Morris's life was threatened by the subjects of the film, he re-worked Nub City into Vernon, Florida.

Variola Vera is a 1982 Yugoslav film directed by Goran Markovic. The subject of the film is the 1972 outbreak of smallpox in Yugoslavia, more specifically the events related to the epidemic and the subsequent quarantine at Belgrade's General Hospital. Although inspired by the real events, the movie features elements of horror.

Outlaw: The Saga of Gisli (Icelandic: Útlaginn) is an Icelandic film adaptation of the Gísla saga, the story of a blood feud set in 10th-century Iceland. It was directed by Ágúst Guðmundsson in 1981.

Les Uns et les Autres is a 1981 French film by Claude Lelouch. The film is a musical epic and it is widely considered as the director's best work with Un Homme et une Femme. It won the Technical Grand Prize at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. In the United States, it was distributed under the name Boléro in reference to Maurice Ravel's orchestral piece, used in the film. The film was very successful in France with 3,234,549 admissions and was the 6th highest grossing film of the year.

Under the Rainbow is a 1981 comedy film starring Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher, Eve Arden, and Billy Barty.

Tuck Everlasting is a 1981 American film based on Natalie Babbitt's 1975 children's book of the same title.

The True Story of Ah Q is a 1981 Chinese drama film directed by Fan Cen. It was entered into the 1982 Cannes Film Festival. It is based on the short story of the same name by author Lu Xun.

True Confessions is a 1981 crime film directed by Ulu Grosbard, loosely based on the Black Dahlia murder case of 1947. The film stars Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall as the brothers Spellacy, was produced by Chartoff-Winkler Productions and is adapted from the novel of the same name by John Gregory Dunne: he wrote the screenplay with his wife, Joan Didion.

Tree of Knowledge is a 1981 Danish coming-of-age drama directed by Nils Malmros. The film details the lives of 17 teenage schoolmates in 1950s Denmark. Shooting on location at the high school which he had attended, Malmros took two years to film the action, so the cast members reflected the real life physical and emotional development of their characters. Film Critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote "The Tree of Knowledge is the truest and most moving film I have ever seen about the experience of puberty... a creative act of memory about exactly what it was like to be 13 in 1953."

Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man (Italian: La tragedia di un uomo ridicolo) is a 1981 Italian film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. It stars Anouk Aimée and Ugo Tognazzi, who was awarded the Best Male Actor Award at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival for his performance. In his review, Vincent Canby describes the film as, "Bernardo Bertolucci's very good, cerebrally tantalizing new film, Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man, the story of what may or may not be a terrorist kidnapping of the sort that has been making Italian headlines with increasing frequency in recent years."

Time Bandits is a 1981 British fantasy film co-written, produced, and directed by Terry Gilliam, and starring Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, David Warner, and Craig Warnock.

Ticket to Heaven is a 1981 Canadian film about the recruiting of a man into a group portrayed to be a cult, and his life in the group until forcibly extracted by his family and friends. The film was based on the nonfiction book Moon Webs by Josh Freed and was directed by Ralph L. Thomas. It was released on DVD on June 20, 1998.

Threshold is a 1981 drama/science fiction film from Canada, directed by Richard Pearce. It starred Donald Sutherland and Jeff Goldblum. The film was nominated for eight Genie Awards in 1983 and won three of them. Sutherland also won best actor at the 1982 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for his performance.Filmed on location at the then newly constructed Ottawa General Hospital.

Three Brothers (Italian: Tre fratelli) is a 1981 Italian film based on a work by Andrei Platonov. It was directed by Francesco Rosi and stars Philippe Noiret, Vittorio Mezzogiorno, Michele Placido and Charles Vanel.

This Is Elvis is a 1981 documentary film directed by Andrew Solt and Malcolm Leo, based on the life of Elvis Presley. It combined archival footage with reenactments, and voice-over narration by pop singer Ral Donner, imitating Presley's speaking voice. It was screened out of competition at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. The film grossed $2 million at the box office in the U.S./Canada, ranking #92 for 1981.

Thief is a 1981 neo-noir film written and directed by Michael Mann and based on the 1975 novel The Home Invaders: Confessions of a Cat Burglar by "Frank Hohimer" (the pen name of real-life jewel thief John Seybold). The film stars James Caan as the titular thief and Tuesday Weld as his girlfriend.

They All Laughed is a 1981 directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara, John Ritter, Colleen Camp, Patti Hansen, and Dorothy Stratten. The movie was based on a screenplay by Bogdanovich and Blaine Novak. It takes its name from the George and Ira Gershwin song "They All Laughed."

Teheran 43 is a 1981 USSR-France-Switzerland drama film made by Mosfilm, Mediterraneo Cine and Pro Dis Film, directed by Aleksandr Alov and Vladimir Naumov.

Taxi zum Klo is a 1981 film written by, directed by, and starring Frank Ripploh. The story of a schoolteacher and the contrasts between his public and private lives, the film documents gay culture in West Berlin in the period in which it was made. Ripploh has stated that much of the film was autobiographical. The name literally means Taxi to the Toilet (or "Taxi to the John", etc.), that being a place for casual gay sex.

Tattoo is a 1981 thriller film directed by Bob Brooks and starring Bruce Dern and Maud Adams. The film was nominated for a Razzie Awards for Worst Actor for Dern, and was the last film that Joseph E. Levine ever produced.

Tarzan, the Ape Man is a 1981 adventure film directed by John Derek and starring his wife Bo Derek, Miles O'Keeffe, Richard Harris, and John Phillip Law. The screenplay by Tom Rowe and Gary Goddard is loosely based on the novel Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, but from the point of view of Jane Parker.

Taps is a 1981 drama film starring George C. Scott and Timothy Hutton, with Ronny Cox, Tom Cruise, Sean Penn (his acting debut), and Evan Handler in supporting roles. Hutton was nominated for a Golden Globe award in 1982. The film was directed by Harold Becker from a screenplay by Robert Mark Kamen, James Lineberger, and Darryl Ponicsan, based on Devery Freeman's 1979 novel Father Sky. The original music score was composed by Maurice Jarre.

Tales of Ordinary Madness (it: Storie di ordinaria follia) (fr: Contes de la folie ordinaire) is a 1981 film by Italian director Marco Ferreri. It was shot in English in the USA, featuring Ben Gazzara and Ornella Muti in the leading roles. The film's title and subject matter are based on the works and the person of US poet Charles Bukowski, including the short story The Most Beautiful Woman in Town (published by City Lights Publishing in the 1972 collection Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness).

Take This Job and Shove It is a 1981 film starring Robert Hays, Barbara Hershey, Art Carney, and David Keith, and directed by Gus Trikonis.

Suddenly at Midnight is a 1981 South Korean horror film directed by Ko Young-nam.

Student Bodies is a 1981 comedy film written and directed by Mickey Rose, with an uncredited Michael Ritchie co-directing. A spoof of slasher horror films such as Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Prom Night., Student Bodies was the first film to satirize the thriving slasher film genre. A prominent feature of the film is a body count that is superimposed onscreen whenever a death occurs.

Stripes is a 1981 American military comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman, starring Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates, P. J. Soles, Sean Young and John Candy. Several actors including John Larroquette, John Diehl, Conrad Dunn and Judge Reinhold were featured in their first significant film roles. Joe Flaherty, Dave Thomas, Timothy Busfield and Bill Paxton also appear early in their careers.

Strange Behavior (original title Dead Kids) is a 1981 mystery horror film directed by Michael Laughlin, written by Bill Condon, and starring Michael Murphy. It is a homage to the pulp horror films of the 1950s. The film was intended as the first installment of the Strange Trilogy which was cancelled after the second installment, Strange Invaders, failed to attract a large enough audience.

Strange Affair (French: Une étrange affaire) is a 1981 French drama film directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre, and starring Michel Piccoli, Gérard Lanvin and Nathalie Baye.

Station (駅 STATION, Eki Station?) is a 1981 Japanese film directed by Yasuo Furuhata. Among many awards, it was chosen as Best Film at the Japan Academy Prize ceremony.

Sphinx is a 1981 American adventure film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. The screenplay by John Byrum is based on the 1979 novel of the same title by Robin Cook.

Southern Comfort is a 1981 American action/thriller film directed by Walter Hill and written by Michael Kane, and Hill and his longtime collaborator David Giler. It stars Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Fred Ward, T. K. Carter, Franklyn Seales, and Peter Coyote. The film, set in 1973, features a Louisiana Army National Guard squad of nine on weekend maneuvers in rural bayou country as they antagonize some local Cajun people and become hunted.

Sogni d'oro (internationally released as Sweet Dreams and Golden Dreams) is a 1981 Italian comedy-drama film directed, written and starred by Nanni Moretti. It entered the 38th Venice International Film Festival, in which won the Special Jury Prize.

Smash Palace is a New Zealand feature film, released in 1981. The film chronicles a former race car driver (played by Bruno Lawrence) who inadvertently helps ruin his own marriage, then kidnaps his daughter (Greer Robson). Lawrence's character runs a carwrecking yard in an isolated area of New Zealand's North Island. Smash Palace was the second feature directed by Roger Donaldson. Critical acclaim in the United States won him interest from Hollywood, and the chance to direct the first of a number of films financed outside of New Zealand, The Bounty.

The Sixth is a 1981 Soviet film directed by Samvel Gasparov at Gorky Film Studio.

The Simple-Minded Murderer (Swedish: Den enfaldige mördaren) is a 1982 Swedish drama film directed by Hans Alfredson, starring Stellan Skarsgård, as the feeble-minded Sven Olsson.

Shaolin and Wu Tang is a 1983 film directed by Hong Kong martial artist Gordon Liu. The film is about the rivalry between the martial arts schools Shaolin and Wu Tang. It is also called Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang in the Master Killer Collection.

Short Working Day (Polish: Krótki dzień pracy) is a Polish film directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski. Written by Kieślowski and Hanna Krall, the film is about the workers protests in June '76 in Radom, as seen from the perspective of the local Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party. The film is based on real events, but the characters are fictional. Short Working Day was filmed in 1981, but had its official premiere on television only in 1996. During these 15 years, however, it was shown many times in film clubs and at special movie show-times.

Shock Treatment is a 1981 American musical-black comedy film and a follow-up to the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. While not an outright sequel, the film does feature several characters from the film portrayed by different actors and several Rocky Horror actors portraying new characters. It was written by Richard O'Brien and Jim Sharman. The film was also directed by Jim Sharman, and produced by Lou Adler.

Shikake-nin Baian is a 1981 Japanese film directed by Yasuo Furuhata.

Shaukeen is a 1982 Hindi-language Indian feature film directed by Basu Chatterjee, starring Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt, A.K. Hangal, Rati Agnihotri and Mithun Chakraborty

Sharky's Machine is a 1981 drama thriller film directed by Burt Reynolds, who stars in the title role. It is an adaptation of William Diehl's first novel Sharky's Machine (1978), with a screenplay by Gerald Di Pego. It also stars Vittorio Gassman, Brian Keith, Charles Durning, Earl Holliman, Bernie Casey, Henry Silva, Darryl Hickman, Richard Libertini and Rachel Ward.

Scanners is a 1981 American science-fiction horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring Jennifer O'Neill, Steven Lack, Michael Ironside, and Patrick McGoohan. In the film, "scanners" are people with unusual telepathic and telekinetic powers. ConSec, a purveyor of weaponry and security systems searches out scanners to use them for its own purposes. The film's plot concerns the attempt by Darryl Revok, a renegade scanner, to wage a war against ConSec. Another scanner, Cameron Vale, is dispatched by ConSec to stop Revok.

Saturday the 14th is a 1981 American horror-comedy film starring real-life husband and wife Paula Prentiss and Richard Benjamin, co-written and directed by Howard R. Cohen and produced by Julie Corman.

The Salamander (also known as Morris West's The Salamander) is a 1981 thriller film directed by Peter Zinner, at his directorial debut. The film is based on a novel with the same name by Morris West.

S.O.B. is a 1981 American film comedy written and directed by Blake Edwards. It stars Julie Andrews (Edwards' spouse in real life) and Richard Mulligan. Also appearing are Robert Preston, Larry Hagman, Robert Vaughn, Robert Webber, Loretta Swit, Shelley Winters and, in his last movie appearance, William Holden.

Ruckus is a 1980 comedy-drama film starring Dirk Benedict and Linda Blair.

Rollover is a 1981 political and financial thriller directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Jane Fonda and Kris Kristofferson. The film was nominated for a Razzie Awards for Worst Actor for Kristofferson.

Road Games (also known as Roadgames) is a 1981 Australian thriller film directed by Richard Franklin. The film stars Stacy Keach as a truck driver, and Jamie Lee Curtis as a hitchhiker.

Rhythm of a Crime is a Croatian film released in Yugoslavia in 1981, directed by Zoran Tadic, starring Ivica Vidovic and Fabijan Sovagovic. It is based on Dobri duh Zagreba, a novel by Pavao Pavlicic.

Rich and Famous is a 1981 American drama film directed by George Cukor, the final film of his long career. The screenplay by Gerald Ayres is based on the 1941 play Old Acquaintance by John Van Druten, which was filmed with Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins in 1943 under its original title.

Reds is a 1981 American epic drama film co-written, produced and directed by Warren Beatty. The picture centers on the life and career of John Reed, the journalist and writer who chronicled the Russian Revolution in his book Ten Days That Shook the World. Beatty stars in the lead role alongside Diane Keaton as Louise Bryant and Jack Nicholson as Eugene O'Neill.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (later marketed as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan was from a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It was produced by Frank Marshall for Lucasfilm Ltd., with Lucas and Howard Kazanjian as executive producers. Starring Harrison Ford, it was the first installment in the Indiana Jones film franchise to be released, though it is the second in internal chronological order. It pits Indiana Jones (Ford) against a group of Nazis who are searching for the Ark of the Covenant, which Adolf Hitler believes will make his army invincible. The film co-stars Karen Allen as Indiana's former lover, Marion Ravenwood; Paul Freeman as Indiana's nemesis, French archaeologist René Belloq; John Rhys-Davies as Indiana's sidekick, Sallah; Ronald Lacey as Gestapo agent Arnold Toht; and Denholm Elliott as Indiana's colleague, Marcus Brody.

Ragtime is a 1981 American drama film, directed by Miloš Forman, based on 1975 historical novel Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow. The action takes place in and around New York City, New Rochelle, and Atlantic City in the 1900s, including fictionalized references to actual people and events of the time. The film features the final film appearances of James Cagney and Pat O'Brien; early appearances, in small parts, by Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Daniels, Fran Drescher and John Ratzenberger; and an uncredited appearance from Jack Nicholson. The music score was composed by Randy Newman. The film was nominated for eight Oscars.

Raggedy Man is a 1981 film starring Eric Roberts and Sissy Spacek. It was filmed in Lockhart, Texas. The story is about people in the small Texas town of Gregory during World War II.

Race for the Yankee Zephyr is a 1981 New Zealand suspense, action, thriller film directed by David Hemmings and starring Ken Wahl, Lesley Ann Warren, George Peppard and Donald Pleasence.

Quest for Fire (French: La Guerre du feu) is a 1981 film adaptation of the 1911 Belgian novel by J.-H. Rosny. Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and adapted by Gérard Brach, the film stars Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nameer El-Kadi, and Rae Dawn Chong. It won the Academy Award for Makeup. Michael D. Moore was the associate producer in charge of action and animal scenes.

Quartet is a 1981 Merchant Ivory Film, starring Isabelle Adjani, Maggie Smith, Anthony Higgins and Alan Bates, set in 1927 Paris. It premiered at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival and was an entry for the Sélection Officielle (Official Selection). It was adapted from the novel by the same name by Jean Rhys.

The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper is a 1981 film about infamous aircraft hijacker D. B. Cooper, who escaped with $200,000 after leaping from the back of a plane. The bulk of the film fictionalizes Cooper's escape after he landed on the ground.

The Prodigal Son is a 1981 Hong Kong martial arts film starring Yuen Biao, and also written and directed by Sammo Hung, who also co-stars in the film. The film was released on 22 December 1981 and grossed HK$ 9,150,729. The film was nominated for two Hong Kong Film Awards and won the award for Best Action choreography.

Private Lessons is an American comedy film released in 1981. The film starred Sylvia Kristel, Howard Hesseman, Eric Brown, and Ed Begley, Jr.

Prince of the City (1981) is an American crime drama film about an NYPD officer who chooses to expose police corruption for idealistic reasons. The character of Daniel Ciello (played by Treat Williams) was based on real-life NYPD Narcotics Detective Robert Leuci and the script was based on Robert Daley's 1978 book of the same name. The film was directed by Sidney Lumet and also featured Jerry Orbach.

Priest of Love is a British biographical film about D. H. Lawrence and his wife Frieda (née Von Richthofen). It was produced and directed by Christopher Miles and co-produced by Andrew Donally. The screenplay was by Alan Plater from the biography A Priest of Love by Harry T. Moore. The music score was by Francis James Brown and Stanley Joseph Seeger, credited jointly as "Joseph James", the cinematography by Ted Moore.

The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1981 film adaptation of the 1934 novel by the same name by James M. Cain. The film was produced by Lorimar in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and originally released theatrically in North America by Paramount Pictures. This version, based on a screenplay by David Mamet and directed by Bob Rafelson, starred Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange. The film was shot in Santa Barbara, California.

Possession is a 1981 French-German horror film directed by Andrzej Zulawski and starring Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill. The plot obliquely follows the relationship between an international spy and his wife, who begins exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking him for a divorce. Filmed in Berlin in 1980, the film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, where Isabelle Adjani won the award for Best Actress for her performance. The film later developed a cult following.

Polyester is a 1981 American black comedy film directed, produced, and written by John Waters, and starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, and Mink Stole. It was filmed in Waters' native Baltimore, Maryland, and features a gimmick called "Odorama", whereby viewers could smell what they saw on screen through scratch and sniff cards.

Pixote: a Lei do Mais Fraco (Portuguese pronunciation: , lit. "Pixote (small child): The Law of the Weakest") is a 1980 Brazilian drama film directed by Hector Babenco. The screenplay was written by Babenco and Jorge Durán, based on the book A Infância dos Mortos (The Childhood of the Dead Ones) by José Louzeiro.

Pennies from Heaven is a 1981 musical film adapted from a 1978 BBC television drama. Dennis Potter adapted his own screenplay from the BBC series for American audiences, changing its setting from London and the Forest of Dean to Depression era Chicago and rural Illinois. Potter was nominated for the 1981 Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay, but lost to On Golden Pond. The film starred Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Christopher Walken and Jessica Harper. The director was Herbert Ross and the choreographer was Danny Daniels.

The Skin (Italian: La pelle) is a 1981 Italian war film directed by Liliana Cavani and starring Marcello Mastroianni, Ken Marshall, Claudia Cardinale and Burt Lancaster. It was entered into the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.

Paternity is a 1981 American comedy film directed by David Steinberg, and stars Burt Reynolds, Beverly D'Angelo, Paul Dooley, Elizabeth Ashley and Lauren Hutton. The film was released by Paramount Pictures on October 2, 1981.

Passion of Love (Italian: Passione d'amore) is a 1981 Italian drama film directed by Ettore Scola. Adapted from the novel Fosca by Iginio Ugo Tarchetti, It was entered into the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.

Outland is a 1981 British science fiction thriller film written and directed by Peter Hyams. The film stars Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, and Frances Sternhagen.

Only When I Laugh is a 1981 film based on Neil Simon's play The Gingerbread Lady.

On the Right Track is a 1981 comedy film that was the first feature film starring Gary Coleman. It was directed by Lee Philips, produced by Ronald Jacobs, and released to theaters by 20th Century Fox in the spring of 1981.

On Golden Pond is a 1981 American drama film directed by Mark Rydell. The screenplay by Ernest Thompson was adapted from his 1979 play of the same title. Henry Fonda won the Academy Award for Best Actor in what was his final film role. Co-star Katharine Hepburn also received an Oscar, as did Thompson for his script, and there were a further seven Oscar nominations for the film, including Jane Fonda, who played the daughter. The film co-starred Dabney Coleman and Doug McKeon.

Omen III: The Final Conflict (originally released as The Final Conflict) is a 1981 American horror film directed by Graham Baker. It is the third installment in The Omen series. Starring Sam Neill, Lisa Harrow and Rossano Brazzi, the film tells the progression of the now adult Damien Thorn to position of earthly power, set against the countdown to the Second Coming and attempts of a group of priests to kill the Antichrist. The film was released in theatres on March 20, 1981.

The Oil, the Baby and the Transylvanians is a Romanian Red Western directed by Dan Pita.

Nobody's Perfekt is a 1981 comedy film, adapted from Tony Kenrick's novel Two for the Price of One; Kenrick wrote the screenplay for this film.

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia is a 1981 film, starring Kristy McNichol, Dennis Quaid, Mark Hamill, and Don Stroud, directed by Ronald F. Maxwell.

Nighthawks is a 1981 American action-thriller film directed by Bruce Malmuth and starring Sylvester Stallone, Rutger Hauer, Billy Dee Williams, Lindsay Wagner, Persis Khambatta and Nigel Davenport. The original music score was composed by Keith Emerson.

Nice Dreams is Cheech & Chong's third feature-length film, released in 1981 by Columbia Pictures. It stars Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Paul Reubens, Stacy Keach, Evelyn Guerrero, Sandra Bernhard, and Timothy Leary. Chong also directed the film.

The Nesting (also known as Phobia and Massacre Mansion) is a 1981 horror film directed and co-written by Armand Weston.

Neighbors is a 1981 film based on the novel by Thomas Berger. It was released through Columbia Pictures, was directed by John G. Avildsen, and starred John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Cathy Moriarty, and Kathryn Walker. The film takes liberties with Berger's story, and features a more upbeat ending. The screenplay of the film is officially credited to Larry Gelbart, although it was extensively rewritten, to Gelbart's public disapproval.

National Heritage (Spanish: Patrimonio nacional) is a 1981 Spanish comedy film directed by Luis García Berlanga. It was entered into the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. The film was also selected as the Spanish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 54th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

An all time earner in the box office

The Mystery of the Third Planet, aka The Secret of the Third Planet is a 1981 Soviet traditionally animated feature film directed by Roman Kachanov and produced by the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow. It is based on a children's science fiction novella "Alice's Travel" by Kir Bulychov, from Alisa (Alice) Selezneva book series.

The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians (Czech: Tajemství hradu v Karpatech, literally "The Mystery/Secret of the Castle in the Carpathians") is a 1981 Czechoslovak comedy film directed by Oldřich Lipský. It is based on Jules Verne's novel The Carpathian Castle (called Tajemný hrad v Karpatech in Czech translations).

My Dinner with Andre is a 1981 film starring Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn, written by Gregory and Shawn, and directed by Louis Malle.

My Bloody Valentine is a 1981 Canadian slasher film directed by George Mihalka and written by John Beaird. The film tells the story of a group of teenagers who decide to throw a Valentine's Day party only to incur the vengeful wrath of a maniac in mining gear who begins a murder spree, and stars Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier and Neil Affleck.

Muzhiki! is a 1981 Soviet drama film directed by Iskra Babich. It was entered into the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival, where it won an Honourable Mention.

Ms. 45, also known as Angel of Vengeance, is a 1981 American low-budget exploitation film directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Zoë Tamerlis Lund. Inspired by films such as 1973's Thriller - en grym film and 1974's Death Wish, the film is a rape and revenge story about Thana, a mute woman who becomes a misandristic spree killer (not strictly a vigilante) after she is raped twice in one day when going home from work. It was critically maligned on its theatrical release, but is now generally highly regarded among fans of underground and independent film.

Montenegro also known as Montenegro - Or Pigs and Pearls (Swedish: Montenegro eller Pärlor och Svin) is a 1981 Swedish black comedy film by Serbian director Dušan Makavejev.

Mommie Dearest is a 1981 American biographical drama film about Joan Crawford and the abusive relationship she had with her adopted daughter Christina Crawford and her adopted son Christopher, starring Faye Dunaway, Mara Hobel and Diana Scarwid. The film was directed by Frank Perry. The story was adapted for the screen by Robert Getchell, Tracy Hotchner, Frank Perry, and Frank Yablans, based on the 1978 autobiography of the same name by Christina Crawford. The executive producers were Christina's husband, David Koontz, and Terrence O'Neill, Dunaway's then-boyfriend and soon-to-be husband. The film was distributed by Paramount Pictures, the only one of the "Big 8" film studios for which Crawford had never appeared in a feature film.

Modern Romance is a 1981 American comedy film directed by and starring Albert Brooks, who also co-wrote the script with Monica Mcgowan Johnson. It co-stars Kathryn Harrold and Bruno Kirby.

Il minestrone is a 1981 Italian comedy film directed by Sergio Citti. It was entered into the 31st Berlin International Film Festival.

Mephisto is the title of a 1981 film adaptation of Klaus Mann's novel Mephisto, directed by István Szabó, and starring Klaus Maria Brandauer as Hendrik Höfgen. The film was a co-production between companies in West Germany, Hungary and Austria.

The Melody Haunts My Memory (Serbo-Croatian: Samo jednom se ljubi) is a 1981 Yugoslavian drama film directed by Rajko Grlić. It competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.

Il Marchese del Grillo ("The Marquess Del Grillo", internationally released as The Marquis of Grillo) is a 1981 Italian comedic motion picture directed by Mario Monicelli, starring Alberto Sordi as the titular character. The film depicts early nineteenth-century episodes in the life of a nobleman in Rome. Loosely based on folkloric accounts of the real Onofrio del Grillo (who lived in the eighteenth century), this character plays a number of pranks, one even involving Pope Pius VII. The famous line Io sò io, e voi non siete un cazzo (literally "I am who I am, and you are fucking nothing"), is appropriated from Belli's 1831 sonnet, "The Sovrans of the Old World".

Marianne and Juliane (German: Die bleierne Zeit; lit. "The Leaden Time" or "Leaden Times"), also called The German Sisters in the United Kingdom, is a 1981 West German film directed by Margarethe von Trotta. The screenplay is a fictionalized account of the true lives of Christiane and Gudrun Ensslin. Gudrun, a member of The Red Army Faction, was found dead in her prison cell in Stammheim in 1977. In the film, Von Trotta depicts the two sisters Juliane (Christine) and Marianne (Gudrun) through their friendship and journey to understanding each other. Marianne and Juliane was von Trotta's third film and solidified her position as a director of the New German Cinema.

Mandala is a 1981 South Korean film about Buddhist monks in Korea. This is considered by many critics to be director Im Kwon-taek's breakthrough film as a cinematic artist.

Man of Iron is a 1981 film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It depicts the Solidarity labour movement and its first success in persuading the Polish government to recognize the workers' right to an independent union.

Mad Max 2 (also known as The Road Warrior and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior) is a 1981 Australian post-apocalyptic action film directed by George Miller. The film is the second installment in the Mad Max film series, with Mel Gibson starring as Max Rockatansky. The film's tale of a community of settlers moved to defend themselves against a roving band of marauders follows an archetypical "Western" frontier movie motif, as does Max's role as a hardened man who rediscovers his humanity when he decides to help the settlers. Filming took part in locations around Broken Hill, in the outback of New South Wales.

Loophole is a 1981 British heist film, directed by John Quested, and starring Albert Finney, Martin Sheen, Susannah York, Jonathan Pryce, Colin Blakely and Tony Doyle. It was written by Jonathan Hales, based upon the novel by Robert Pollock. Music is by Lalo Schifrin.

The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie is a 1981 Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies film with a compilation of classic Warner Bros. cartoon shorts and animated bridging sequences produced by Friz Freleng, hosted by Bugs Bunny. The new footage was one of the final productions done by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.

Looks and Smiles is a 1981 British drama film directed by Ken Loach. It is based on the novel of the same name, written by Barry Hines. The film was entered into the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, where Loach won the Young Cinema Award.

Looker is a 1981 science fiction film written and directed by Michael Crichton. It starred Albert Finney, Susan Dey, and James Coburn. Former NFL linebacker Tim Rossovich was featured as the villain's main henchman.

Lola is a 1981 West German film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and is the third in his BRD Trilogy. The first film in the trilogy is The Marriage of Maria Braun (BRD 1) and the second is Veronika Voss (BRD 2).

The Little Fox, known in Hungary as Vuk, is a 1981 Hungarian animated film produced by Pannónia Filmstúdió, based on the novel Vuk by István Fekete. The film is directed by Attila Dargay and written by Attila Dargay, István Imre, Ede Tarbay, and Magyar Televízió, the Hungarian national public service television company, owned by the Government of Hungary and launched in 1981.

Lion of the Desert is a 1981 Libyan historical action film starring Anthony Quinn as Libyan tribal leader Omar Mukhtar, a Berber Bedouin leader fighting the Italian army in the years leading up to World War II and Oliver Reed as Italian General Rodolfo Graziani, who attempted to defeat Mukhtar. It was directed by Moustapha Akkad and funded by the government under Muammar Gaddafi. Released in May 1981, the film was liked by critics and audiences but performed poorly financially, bringing in just $1 million net worldwide.. The film was forbidden in Italy in 1982 and was only shown on pay TV in 2009.

Lili Marleen is a 1981 West German drama film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and starring Hanna Schygulla. The screenplay was produced using the autobiographical novel Der Himmel hat viele Farben (The Heavens Have Many Colors) by Lale Andersen. However, according to Lale Andersen's last husband, Arthur Beul, the film's plot bore little relation to her real life.

Light Years Away (French: Les Années lumière) is a 1981 film directed by Alain Tanner. It tells the story of a young man who meets an old man who says he was taught by birds how to fly and is building a flying machine. It is based on a novel by Daniel Odier.

The Legend of the Lone Ranger is a 1981 American western film directed by William A. Fraker and starring Klinton Spilsbury, Michael Horse and Christopher Lloyd.

Laawaris is a blockbuster Bollywood drama film released in 1981 directed by Prakash Mehra. The film became known for its hit song "Mere Angene Mein, Tumhara Kya Kaam Hai" rendered twice: the first time by a young Alka Yagnik who earned her first Filmfare nomination as best female playback singer, and the second time by Amitabh Bachchan. The second version turned out to be a mega hit especially due to Amitabh's performance in drag wear. The lyrics of the song were funny and gives tribute to all kinds of wives be they fat, tall, dark skinned or fair skinned.

The Last Chase is a 1981 dystopian science fiction film starring Lee Majors, Burgess Meredith and Chris Makepeace, and directed by Martyn Burke. It was produced by Argosy Films.

Aakali Rajyam (Hunger's Kingdom) is a 1981 Telugu language film starring Kamal Haasan and Sridevi. It is a remake of K. Balachander's 1980 Tamil film Varumayin Niram Sivappu that also starred Kamal Haasan and Sridevi in the lead. The film was also remade in Hindi as Zara Si Zindagi with Kamal Haasan and Anita Raj in 1983, directed by K. Balachander himself. Kamal Haasan won Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Telugu.

Lady Chatterley's Lover is a 1981 film directed by Just Jaeckin, and starring Sylvia Kristel and Nicholas Clay. It is an adaptation of the D. H. Lawrence novel of the same name.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains is a 1982 film about three teenage girls, played by Diane Lane, Laura Dern and Marin Kanter, who start a punk band.

Kranti (English: Revolution) is a 1981 Indian Hindi film produced and directed by Manoj Kumar. It stars Manoj Kumar along with an ensemble cast consisting of Dilip Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Parveen Babi, Sarika, Prem Chopra, Madan Puri, Paintal and Pradeep Kumar.

Knightriders, also known as George A. Romero's Knightriders, is a 1981 American drama film written and directed by George A. Romero and starring Ed Harris, Gary Lahti, Tom Savini, Amy Ingersoll, Patricia Tallman and Ken Foree. It was filmed entirely on location in the Pittsburgh metro area, with major scenes in suburban Fawn Township and Natrona.

The Killing of Angel Street is a 1981 Australian thriller film loosely based on the BLF (Builders Labourers Federation) green bans against development in inner Sydney city waterside suburbs. It briefly touches on the real life disappearance of Juanita Nielsen, an activist against mass development in Sydney in the late 1970s. The film is directed by Donald Crombie and was shot in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Killing Heat (released in Sweden as Gräset sjunger) is a 1981 film based on Doris Lessing's 1950 novel, The Grass Is Singing. It stars Karen Black and John Thaw and was filmed in Zambia.

Just Another Missing Kid is a 1981 documentary film about the search for a missing teenager and directed by John Zaritsky.

The Inventor (German: Der Erfinder) is a 1981 Swiss-German comedy film directed by Kurt Gloor. It was entered into the 31st Berlin International Film Festival.

Inseminoid (titled Horror Planet in the United States) is a British science-fiction horror film released in 1981. Director Norman J. Warren's eighth film, the plot of Inseminoid concerns a group of future scientists excavating the ruins of an ancient civilisation on a distant planet. When a monstrous alien creature attacks and inseminates one of the women in the team, chaos ensues as the unbalanced victim, possessing unnatural strength, murders her colleagues one after another in a psychotic bid to protect her unborn twin hybrid offspring. It stars Judy Geeson, Robin Clarke, and Stephanie Beacham. Victoria Tennant makes an early film appearance.

The Incredible Shrinking Woman is a 1981 science fiction/comedy film directed by Joel Schumacher (in his directing debut), written by Jane Wagner and starring Lily Tomlin, Charles Grodin, Ned Beatty, John Glover and Elizabeth Wilson. This film is a take-off on the 1957 science fiction classic film The Incredible Shrinking Man, and credited as based on Richard Matheson's 1956 novel, The Shrinking Man. The original music score was composed by Suzanne Ciani.

I Love You (Portuguese: Eu Te Amo) is a 1981 Brazilian drama film directed by Arnaldo Jabor. It was shot along the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, Lagoa, Rio de Janeiro. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.

The Howling is a 1981 American horror film directed by Joe Dante, and starring Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, and Robert Picardo. Based on the novel of the same name by Gary Brandner, the film follows a television newswoman sent to a remote mountain resort after a fatal incident with a serial killer, unaware that the inhabiting residents are werewolves.

The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 1981 Soviet film adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Hound of the Baskervilles. It was the third installment in the TV series about adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. A potent streak of humour ran through the film as concerns references to traditional British customs and stereotypes, ensuring the film's popularity with several generations of Russophone viewers. Other features of this best entry in the series include excellent exterior shots which closely match the novel's setting in the Dartmoor marshland, as well as an all-star cast: in addition to the famous Livanov -Solomin duo as Holmes and Watson, the film stars the internationally acclaimed actor/director Nikita Mikhalkov as Sir Henry Baskerville and the Russian movie legend Oleg Yankovsky as Jack Stapleton.

Honky Tonk Freeway is a 1981 comedy film directed by John Schlesinger. The film, conceived and co-produced by Don Boyd, was one of the most expensive box office flops in history, losing its British backers Thorn-EMI an estimated $11,000,000 and profoundly affecting its fortunes and aspirations. The film was financed in part by accountant Roy Tucker's tax avoidance schemes funded by the Rossminster banking group.

History of the World, Part I is a 1981 American comedy anthology film written, produced, and directed by Mel Brooks. Brooks also stars in the film, playing five roles: Moses, Comicus the stand-up philosopher, Tomás de Torquemada, King Louis XVI, and Jacques, le garçon de pisse. The large ensemble cast also features Sid Caesar, Shecky Greene, Gregory Hines (in his film debut), Charlie Callas; and Brooks regulars Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Andreas Voutsinas and Spike Milligan.

Hell Night is a 1981 American independent horror film directed by Tom DeSimone, written by Randy Feldman, and starring Linda Blair. The film depicts a night of fraternity hazing ("hell night") set in an old manor, during which a deformed maniac terrorizes and murders many of the college students. The film blends elements of slasher films and Creature Features, and has developed a large cult following.

Heavy Metal is a 1981 Canadian adult animated anthology science fiction fantasy film directed by Gerald Potterton and produced by Ivan Reitman and Leonard Mogel, who also was the publisher of Heavy Metal magazine, the basis for the film. The screenplay was written by Daniel Goldberg and Len Blum. The film was the sixth animated feature film to be presented in Dolby surround sound.

Heartbeeps is a 1981 romantic sci-fi comedy film about two robots who fall in love and decide to strike out on their own. It was directed by Allan Arkush, and starred Andy Kaufman and Bernadette Peters as the robots. This was Kaufman's final performance in a theatrical film.

Harry's War is a feature length independent film (98 minutes) from American Film Consortium and Taft International Pictures, released in 1981. Starring Edward Herrmann, Geraldine Page, Karen Grassle, David Ogden Stiers, Elisha Cook, Salome Jens and Noble Willingham. It was written and directed by Kieth Merrill.

Hardly Working is a comedy film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. It was filmed in 1979, and was released in Europe in 1980 and in the United States on April 3, 1981 through 20th Century Fox.

Hard Country is a 1981 American drama film directed by David Greene and starring Jan-Michael Vincent, Kim Basinger, and Michael Parks. Written by Michael Kane and Michael Martin Murphey, the film is about a young woman who longs to escape the limitations of life in a small Texas town to pursue her dreams. She is prevented from leaving by her factory worker boyfriend who does not want her to move to the big city. The film features appearances by country music artists Tanya Tucker and Michael Martin Murphey.

Happy Birthday to Me is a 1981 American-Canadian slasher film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Melissa Sue Anderson and Glenn Ford. It was released on 15 May 1981, and has since become something of a cult classic among fans of the slasher genre, with its bizarre murder methods and twisted climactic revelation.

Ręce do góry (known in its subitled English version as Hands Up!) is a Polish drama film directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. It is the fourth of a series of semi-autobiographical films in which Skolimowski himself plays his alter ego, Andrzej Leszczyc.

The Hand is a 1981 psychological horror film written and directed by Oliver Stone, based on the novel The Lizard's Tail by Marc Brandell. The film stars Michael Caine and Andrea Marcovicci. Caine plays Jon Lansdale, a comic book artist who loses his hand, which in turn takes on a murderous life of its own. The original film score is by James Horner, in one of his earliest projects. Warner Bros. released the movie on DVD on September 25, 2007.

Halloween II (also known as Halloween II: The Horror Continues) is a 1981 slasher horror film directed by Rick Rosenthal, and written and produced by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. It is the second installment in the Halloween series and is a direct sequel to Carpenter's Halloween, immediately picking up where it had left off. Set on the same night of October 31, 1978 as the seemingly immortal Michael Myers continues to follow Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) to a nearby hospital while Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is still in pursuit of his patient.

Grendel Grendel Grendel is a 1981 Australian animated film written, directed and designed by Alexander Stitt and starring Peter Ustinov. It was based on John Gardner's novel Grendel. The music was composed and conducted by Bruce Smeaton and has been released on the 1M1 Records label.

Gregory's Girl is a 1981 Scottish coming-of-age romantic comedy film written and directed by Bill Forsyth and starring John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn and Clare Grogan. The film is set in and around a state secondary school in the Abronhill district of Cumbernauld.

The Great Muppet Caper is a 1981 British-American mystery musical comedy film directed by Jim Henson. It is the second of a series of live-action musical feature films, starring Jim Henson's Muppets. This film was produced by Henson Associates, and released by Universal Pictures1 on 26 June 1981. It is also the only Muppet feature film directed by Henson. Shot in England, the film was released shortly after the final season of The Muppet Show.

Graduation Day is a 1981 cult slasher film, directed by Herb Freed and produced by Troma Entertainment for Columbia Pictures.

Goodbye Pork Pie is a 1981 New Zealand film directed by Geoff Murphy and written by Geoff Murphy and Ian Mune. The film was New Zealand's first largescale local hit. One book described it as Easy Rider meets the Keystone Kops.

Going Ape! is a 1981 comedy film directed by Jeremy Joe Kronsberg and produced by Paramount Pictures. The original music score was composed by Elmer Bernstein (who would later compose music for a later similarly ape-themed comedy Buddy). This film starred Tony Danza as Foster, Stacey Nelkin as Cynthia, Jessica Walter as Fiona, Danny DeVito as Lazlo, and three orangutans. The film was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor for DeVito.

The Girl with the Red Hair (Dutch: Het meisje met het rode haar) is a 1981 Dutch drama film directed by Ben Verbong. It was entered into the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival.

Ghost Story is a 1981 American horror film directed by John Irvin and based on the 1979 book of the same name by Peter Straub. It stars Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., John Houseman and Craig Wasson (in a dual role). It was the last film to feature Astaire, Fairbanks, and Douglas (who died four months before the film's release), and the first film to feature Michael O'Neill. The film was shot in Woodstock, Vermont, Saratoga Springs, New York and at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida.

Gas is a 1981 Canadian comedy film released by Paramount Pictures, the plot of which was inspired by the 1979 energy crisis.

Garde à vue is a 1981 French film directed by Claude Miller and starring Romy Schneider, Michel Serrault, Lino Ventura and Guy Marchand. It was based on the British novel Brainwash, by John Wainwright.

Gangster Wars is a 1981 crime drama directed by Richard C. Sarafian.

Gallipoli is a 1981 Australian drama film directed by Peter Weir and produced by Patricia Lovell and Robert Stigwood, starring Mel Gibson and Mark Lee, about several rural Western Australian young men who enlist in the Australian Army during the First World War. They are sent to the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire (in modern-day Turkey), where they take part in the Gallipoli Campaign. During the course of the movie, the young men slowly lose their innocence about the purpose of war. The climax of the movie occurs on the Anzac battlefield at Gallipoli and depicts the futile attack at the Battle of the Nek on 7 August 1915.

The Funhouse is a 1981 American horror film directed by Tobe Hooper. It was written by Larry Block and stars Elizabeth Berridge, Kevin Conway, William Finley, Cooper Huckabee, Miles Chapin, and two-time Academy Award-nominee (Midnight Cowboy and Farewell, My Lovely) Sylvia Miles. The film's plot concerns four teenagers who become trapped in a dark ride at a local carnival and are stalked by a deformed killer.

Full Moon High is a 1981 horror comedy film written and directed by Larry Cohen, centering on a high school werewolf who tries to keep his secret from others. He also ignores his girlfriend's sexual advances because it's his "time of the month."

Friday the 13th Part 2 (also known as Friday the 13th Part II) is a 1981 American slasher horror film directed by Steve Miner. It is a direct sequel to Friday the 13th, picking up five years after that film's conclusion, where a new murderer stalks and begins murdering the camp counselors at a nearby training camp in Crystal Lake. The film marks the first time Jason Voorhees is the antagonist (his mother was the killer in the previous film).

The French Lieutenant's Woman is a 1981 film directed by Karel Reisz, produced by Leon Clore and adapted by playwright Harold Pinter. It is based on the novel by John Fowles. The music score is by Carl Davis and the cinematography by Freddie Francis.

The Fox and the Hound is a 1981 American animated buddy drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and loosely based on the novel of the same name by Daniel P. Mannix. The 24th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film tells the story of two unlikely friends, a red fox named Tod and a hound dog named Copper, who struggle to preserve their friendship despite their emerging instincts and the surrounding social pressures demanding them to be adversaries. Directed by Ted Berman, Richard Rich, and Art Stevens, the film features the voices of Kurt Russell, Mickey Rooney, Jack Albertson, Pearl Bailey, Pat Buttram, Sandy Duncan, Richard Bakalyan, Paul Winchell, Jeanette Nolan, John Fiedler, John McIntire, Keith Coogan, and Corey Feldman.

The Four Seasons is a 1981 romantic comedy film written and directed by and starring Alan Alda, co-starring Carol Burnett, Len Cariou, Sandy Dennis, Rita Moreno, Jack Weston and Bess Armstrong.

Four Friends is a 1981 American Comedy-drama film directed by Arthur Penn. The semi-autobiographical screenplay by Steve Tesich follows the path of the title characters from high school to college during the often turbulent 1960s and beyond. The cast features Craig Wasson, Jodi Thelen, Jim Metzler and Glenne Headly.

Fort Apache, The Bronx is a 1981 crime drama film made by Producers Circle and Time-Life Films, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Filmed on locations in the Bronx, New York City, New York, the movie was directed by Daniel Petrie and produced by Martin Richards, Thomas Fiorello, with David Susskind as executive producer. It stars Paul Newman, Ken Wahl, Danny Aiello, Edward Asner, Rachel Ticotin, Kathleen Beller, Pam Grier, Clifford David and Miguel Piñero.

For Your Eyes Only (1981) is the twelfth spy film in the James Bond series, and the fifth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It marked the directorial debut of John Glen, who had worked as editor and second unit director in three other Bond films.

First Monday in October is a 1981 American film based on the play of the same name by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, and directed by Ronald Neame. Walter Matthau (for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy) and Jill Clayburgh (for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy) performed the principal roles.

Fever is a 1981 Polish drama film directed by Agnieszka Holland. It was entered into the 31st Berlin International Film Festival where Barbara Grabowska won the Silver Bear for Best Actress. The film takes place during the Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland (1905-07).

The Fan is a 1981 American horror film directed by Edward Bianchi, and starring Lauren Bacall, Michael Biehn, James Garner and Maureen Stapleton. It was written by Priscilla Chapman and John Hartwell, based on a novel of the same name by Bob Randall. The plot follows a famous stage and film actress named Sally Ross (Bacall) who is stalked by a violent, deranged fan (Biehn), who begins killing those around her.

Eyewitness is a 1981 thriller film produced and directed by Peter Yates and written by Steve Tesich. It stars William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Plummer and James Woods. The story involves a television news reporter and a janitor who team up to solve a murder.

Eye of the Needle is a 1981 American spy film directed by Richard Marquand and starring Donald Sutherland and Kate Nelligan. Based on the novel of the same title by Ken Follett, the film is about a German spy in England during World War II who discovers vital information about the upcoming D-Day invasion. In his attempt to return to Germany with the information, he travels to the isolated Storm Island off the coast of Scotland to rendezvous with a U-boat, but his plans are thwarted by a young woman resident.

An Eye for an Eye is a 1981 American action film directed by Steve Carver, and starring Chuck Norris, Christopher Lee, Richard Roundtree, Matt Clark, Mako Iwamatsu, and Maggie Cooper.

Excalibur is a 1981 dramatic sword and sorcery film directed, produced and co-written by John Boorman that retells the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Based solely on the 15th century Arthurian romance, Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory, Excalibur stars Nigel Terry as Arthur, Nicol Williamson as Merlin, Nicholas Clay as Lancelot, Cherie Lunghi as Guenevere, Helen Mirren as Morgana, Liam Neeson as Gawain, Corin Redgrave as Cornwall, and (then relatively unknown) Patrick Stewart as Leodegrance. The film is named after the legendary sword of King Arthur that features prominently in Arthurian literature. The film's soundtrack features the music of Richard Wagner and Carl Orff, along with an original score by Trevor Jones.

The Evil Dead is a 1981 American horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi and executive produced by Raimi and Bruce Campbell, who also stars alongside Ellen Sandweiss and Betsy Baker. The Evil Dead focuses on five college students vacationing in an isolated cabin in a remote wooded area. After they find an audiotape that releases a legion of demons and spirits, members of the group suffer from demonic possession, leading to increasingly gory mayhem. Raimi and the cast produced the short film Within the Woods as a "prototype" to build the interest of potential investors, which secured Raimi US$90,000 to produce The Evil Dead. The film was shot on location in a remote cabin located in Morristown, Tennessee, in a difficult filming process that proved extremely uncomfortable for the majority of the cast and crew.

Escape to Victory, known simply as Victory in North America, is a 1981 film about Allied prisoners of war who are interned in a German prison camp during the Second World War who play an exhibition match of football against a German team. The film was directed by John Huston and starred Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, Max von Sydow, Daniel Massey and Pele.

Escape from New York is a 1981 American dystopian action film co-written, co-scored, and directed by John Carpenter. The film is set in a then near-future 1997 in a crime-ridden United States that has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into a maximum security prison. Ex-soldier Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is given 22 hours to find the President of the United States (Donald Pleasence), who has been captured by prisoners after the crash of Air Force One.

The Entity is a horror film based on the novel of the same name by Frank De Felitta. It stars Barbara Hershey as a woman tormented by an invisible assailant. Despite being filmed and planned for a release in 1981, the movie was not released in worldwide theaters until September 1982 followed by the United States in February 1983.

Endless Love is a 1981 romantic drama film directed by Franco Zeffirelli starring Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, Tom Cruise in his film debut, and James Spader in his second film role. The screenplay by Judith Rascoe was adapted from the novel by Scott Spencer. The original music score was composed by Jonathan Tunick.

Ek Duuje Ke Liye (English: (We Are) Made For Each Other) is a 1981 Hindi movie directed by K. Balachander, starring Kamal Haasan and Rati Agnihotri. It was a remake of the director's own Telugu movie Maro Charitra, which had Kamal Haasan playing the lead role. The film was labelled a "blockbuster" at the box office in 1981, earning a total of ₹100 million (US$1.5 million) in receipts. The film featured lyrics penned by Anand Bakshi and music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal. It received critical acclaim upon release, winning a National Film Award and 13 Filmfare nominations, eventually winning three.

Eijanaika or Why Not? is a 1981 Japanese film by director Shohei Imamura. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.

Dreszcze is a 1981 Polish drama film directed by Wojciech Marczewski. It was entered into the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize.

Dragonslayer is a 1981 American fantasy film directed by Matthew Robbins, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Hal Barwood. It stars Peter MacNicol, Ralph Richardson, John Hallam and Caitlin Clarke. The story, set in a fictional medieval kingdom, follows a young wizard who experiences danger and opposition as he attempts to defeat a dragon.

Do You Remember Dolly Bell?, filmed 1981, is the first feature film directed by Emir Kusturica. Showing early signs of the stylistic flair that Kusturica was to effectively deploy in later works, it is a coming of age story. The film was selected as the Yugoslav entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 54th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Diva is a 1981 French thriller film directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix, adapted from the novel Diva by Daniel Odier (under the pseudonym Delacorta). It is one of the first French films to let go of the realist mood of 1970s French cinema and return to a colourful, melodic style, later described as cinéma du look.

The Devil and Max Devlin is a 1981 film produced by Walt Disney Productions, directed by Steven Hilliard Stern and starring Elliott Gould, Bill Cosby and Susan Anspach.

Deprisa, Deprisa (English: Hurry, Hurry!) is a 1981 Spanish film directed by Carlos Saura. In the English-speaking world, it has been released under the titles Faster, Faster and Fast, Fast. It tells the story of a gang of juvenile delinquents.

The Decline of Western Civilization is an American documentary film filmed through 1979 and 1980. The movie is about the Los Angeles punk rock scene and was directed by Penelope Spheeris. In 1981, the LAPD Chief of Police Daryl Gates wrote a letter demanding the film not be shown again in L.A. Over the years the film has gained cult status.

Death Hunt is a 1981 action film directed by Peter R. Hunt. The film stars Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Carl Weathers, Maury Chaykin, Ed Lauter and Andrew Stevens. Death Hunt was a fictionalized account of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) pursuit of a man named Albert Johnson. Earlier films exploring the same topic were The Mad Trapper (1972), a British made-for-television production and Challenge to Be Free (also known as Mad Trapper of the Yukon and Mad Trapper) (1975).

Deadly Blessing is a 1981 American horror film directed by Wes Craven. It was released on 14 August 1981. The film tells the story of a strange figure committing murder in a contemporary community that is not far from another community that believes in ancient evil and curses. It stars Ernest Borgnine, Maren Jensen (in her last screen appearance) and Sharon Stone in an early screen appearance. AllMovie comments that the film "finds director Wes Craven in a transitional phase between his hard-hitting early work and his later commercial successes."

Dead & Buried is a 1981 horror film directed by Gary Sherman, starring Melody Anderson and James Farentino. With a screenplay written by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, the movie was initially banned as a "video nasty" in the UK in the early 1980s, but was later acquitted of obscenity charges and removed from the Director of Public Prosecutions' list.

Dance Craze is a 1981 British documentary film about the English 2 Tone music genre.

Cutter's Way (also known as Cutter and Bone) is a 1981 thriller directed by Ivan Passer. The film stars Jeff Bridges, John Heard, and Lisa Eichhorn. The screenplay was by Jeffrey Alan Fiskin, based on the novel Cutter and Bone by Newton Thornburg.

Coup de Torchon is a 1981 French film adaptation of Jim Thompson's 1964 novel Pop. 1280, directed by Bertrand Tavernier. The film changes the novel's setting from a West Texas oil boom town to a small town in French West Africa. The film had 2,199,309 Admissions in France and was the 16th most attended film of the year.

Continental Divide is a 1981 American romantic comedy, starring John Belushi and Blair Brown. It was directed by Michael Apted from an original screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan, and executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Bernie Brillstein. Brown was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance.

Le confort et l'indifférence is a 1981 documentary film by Denys Arcand, offering an analysis of the 1980 Quebec referendum, in which "sovereignty-association" was defeated as a first step to eventual secession from Canada. The film takes the position that the referendum result was a failure of courage and that the Québécois were numbed by prosperity and the explicitly Machiavellian manipulations of federalist leaders.

Condorman is a 1981 American adventure comedy superhero film directed by Charles Jarrott, produced by Walt Disney Productions, and starring Michael Crawford, Barbara Carrera and Oliver Reed. Inspired by Robert Sheckley's The Game of X, the movie follows comic book illustrator Woodrow Wilkins' attempts to assist in the defection of a female Soviet KGB agent.

Clash of the Titans is a 1981 British-American fantasy adventure film involving the Greek hero Perseus, and features the final work of stop motion visual effects artist, Ray Harryhausen. It was released on June 12, 1981 and grossed $41 million at the North American box office, which made it the 11th highest grossing film of the year. A novelization of the film by Alan Dean Foster was published in 1981.

Die Fälschung (French title: Le Faussaire; English title: Circle of Deceit) is an anti-war film directed by Volker Schlöndorff and internationally released in 1981. An international co-production, it was an adaptation of Nicolas Born's novel of the same name, which had appeared in 1979. The film follows a German journalist sent to Beirut to report on the Lebanese Civil War, which had begun in 1975.

Chu Chu and the Philly Flash is a 1981 comedy film starring Alan Arkin, Carol Burnett, Jack Warden, Ruth Buzzi, Adam Arkin and Danny Aiello. It was released in 1981 by 20th Century Fox. Arkin plays a down-on-his-luck former baseball player and Burnett plays a Carmen Miranda-style performer. The film had received negative reviews from critics and was a box office bomb.

Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo is a 1981 German film directed by Uli Edel that portrays the drug scene in West Berlin in the 1970s, based on the non-fiction book of the same name written following tape recordings of teenage girl Christiane F. The movie immediately acquired cult status (which it still retains today) and features David Bowie as both himself and the soundtrack composer, which gave the movie a commercial boost.

The Chosen is a 1981 drama film directed by Jeremy Kagan, based on the bestselling book of the same name by Chaim Potok published in 1967. It stars Maximilian Schell and Rod Steiger. It won three awards at the 1981 Montréal World Film Festival.

Charlotte is a 1981 Dutch film directed by Frans Weisz.

Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen is a 1981 film directed by Clive Donner that stars Peter Ustinov, Angie Dickinson and Lee Grant.

Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British historical drama film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice.

Caveman is a 1981 American slapstick comedy film written and directed by Carl Gottlieb and starring Ringo Starr, Dennis Quaid, Shelley Long and Barbara Bach. The film has also gained a cult following.

Cattle Annie and Little Britches is a 1981 American film starring Burt Lancaster, Rod Steiger, Diane Lane, and Amanda Plummer, based on the lives of two adolescent girls in the late 19th century Oklahoma Territory, who became infatuated with the Western outlaws that they had read about in Ned Buntline's stories and left their homes to join the criminals. It was scripted by David Eyre and Robert Ward from Robert Ward's book and directed by Lamont Johnson.

Carbon Copy is a 1981 British-American comedy film, directed by Michael Schultz. The film stars George Segal, Susan Saint James, Jack Warden, and features Denzel Washington in his feature-film debut.

The Cannonball Run is a 1981 comedy film starring Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Dom DeLuise, Farrah Fawcett, and an all-star supporting cast. It was directed by Hal Needham, produced by Hong Kong's Golden Harvest films, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. One of 1981's most successful films at the box office, it was followed by Cannonball Run II (1984), and Speed Zone (1989). This and the 1984 sequel were the final film appearances of actor Dean Martin.

Bustin' Loose is a film released by Universal Pictures in 1981 starring Richard Pryor as an ex-con who gets a second chance after violating his probation. School teacher Vivian Perry (played by Cicely Tyson) hires him to repair and drive a bus for a group of special needs children from Philadelphia to a farm in Washington state. Pryor also produced the film. Roberta Flack wrote and performed music for the movie. Paul Mooney has a small role. It was during shooting for the film in the summer of 1980 that Pryor's infamous freebasing incident occurred. Although regarded as light-hearted fare compared to Pryor's other work, the film still earned an R rating.

The Burning is a 1981 slasher film directed by Tony Maylam and written by Peter Lawrence and Bob Weinstein. It is based on an original story by Maylam, Weinstein, and Brad Grey, with a musical score by Rick Wakeman of the progressive rock band Yes. The film is loosely based on the upstate New York urban legend of Cropsey, a tale that became popular at summer camps in the 1960s and 70s. In the film a summer camp caretaker, who was horribly disfigured from a prank-gone-wrong, is released from the hospital with severe deformities and seeks revenge on those he holds responsible, starting with the kids at a nearby summer camp. Lou David stars as the maniacal Cropsy, while Brian Matthews plays the heroic camp counselor that must stop him.

Buddy Buddy is a 1981 American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder that stars Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is based on the 1973 French language film L'emmerdeur, which screenwriter Francis Veber had adapted from his play Le contrat.

Buriki no kunsho is a 1981 Japanese film directed by Setsuo Nakayama.

Das Boot (German pronunciation: , German meaning "The Boat") is a 1981 German epic war film written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer and Klaus Wennemann. It has been exhibited both as a theatrical release and as a TV miniseries, and in several different home video versions of various running times.

Body and Soul is a 1981 film, written by and starring Leon Isaac Kennedy, and co-starring his then-wife Jayne Kennedy. Directed by George Bowers, it is a remake of the 1947 film, a story of corruption, violence and temptation between a boxer and a knockout.

Body Heat is a 1981 American neo-noir erotic thriller film written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan. It stars William Hurt, Kathleen Turner and Richard Crenna, and features Ted Danson, J.A. Preston, and Mickey Rourke. The film was inspired by Double Indemnity and Out of the Past.

The Boat Is Full (German: Das Boot ist voll) is a 1981 German-language Swiss film directed by Markus Imhoof. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film as a Swiss submission. It was also entered into the 31st Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear for an outstanding single achievement.

Blow Out is a 1981 thriller film, written and directed by Brian De Palma. The film stars John Travolta as Jack Terry, a movie sound effects technician from Philadelphia who, while recording sounds for a low-budget slasher film, serendipitously captures audio evidence of an assassination involving a presidential hopeful. Nancy Allen stars as Sally Bedina, the young woman Jack rescues during the crime. The supporting cast includes John Lithgow and Dennis Franz.

Blood Wedding (Spanish: Bodas de sangre) is a 1981 Spanish musical film written and directed by Carlos Saura. It was directed and choreographed in the flamenco style. It is the first part of Saura's 1980s flamenco trilogy, and is followed by Carmen (1983) and El amor brujo (1986).

The Blood of Hussain is a 1980 Pakistani film directed by Jamil Dehlavi and released in 1980 (released in February 1981 in the UK). The film was banned throughout Pakistan as the military junta led by General Zia-ul-Haq toppled the government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

Blind Chance (Polish: Przypadek) is a Polish film written and directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski and starring Bogusław Linda. The film presents three separate storylines, told in succession, about a man running after a train and how such an ordinary incident could influence the rest of the man's life. Originally filmed in 1981, Blind Chance was suppressed by the Polish authorities for several years until its delayed release in Poland on 10 January 1987.

Bianco, rosso e Verdone is an 1981 Italian comedy film directed and starred by Carlo Verdone, playing three characters.

Betrayal (Norwegian: Løperjenten) is a 1981 Norwegian drama film directed by Vibeke Løkkeberg, starring Løkkeberg and Helge Jordal.

No Mercy, No Future (German: Die Berührte) is a 1981 West German drama film directed by Helma Sanders-Brahms.

Beau-père is a 1981 French comedy-drama film directed by Bertrand Blier. It is about a 30-year-old pianist who has an affair with his 14-year-old stepdaughter after her mother dies in a car accident. The film was entered into the 1981 Cannes Film Festival and received some positive reviews in spite of its controversial subject.

Back Roads is a 1981 American romantic comedy film starring Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones. It is directed by Martin Ritt. It got middling reviews and grossed $11 million at the box office. It was produced by CBS Theatrical Films and distributed by Warner Bros.

The Aviator's Wife (French: La femme de l'aviateur) is a 1981 French film written and directed by Éric Rohmer. The film stars Phillippe Marlaud, Marie Rivière and Anne-Laure Meury. Like many of his films, it deals with the ever-evolving love lives of a group of young Parisians.

Arthur is a 1981 comedy film written and directed by Steve Gordon. The film stars Dudley Moore as the eponymous Arthur Bach, a drunken New York City millionaire who is on the brink of an arranged marriage to a wealthy heiress, but ends up falling for a common working-class girl from Queens. It was the first and only film directed by Gordon, who died in 1982 of a heart attack at age 44.

Amy is a 1981 film produced by Walt Disney Productions, distributed by Buena Vista Distribution, written by Noreen Stone and directed by Vincent McEveety, and starring Jenny Agutter.

An American Werewolf in London is a 1981 British-American horror comedy film written and directed by John Landis, and starring David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, and Griffin Dunne. The film's plot concerns two young American men, David Kessler (played by Naughton) and Jack Goodman (played by Dunne), attacked by a werewolf on a backpacking holiday in England. With Jack killed, David is taken to a London hospital, where his disturbing apparitions of his deceased friend informs him that he is a werewolf and will transform at the next full moon. Principal photography for the film was shot in London, Surrey, and Wales.

American Pop is a 1981 American animated musical drama film starring Ron Thompson and produced and directed by Ralph Bakshi. It was the fourth animated feature film to be presented in Dolby sound. The film tells the story of four generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant family of musicians whose careers parallel the history of American popular music.

…All the Marbles (reissued as The California Dolls) is a 1981 comedy-drama film about the trials and travails of a female wrestling tag team and their manager. It was directed by Robert Aldrich (his final film) and stars Peter Falk, Vicki Frederick and Laurene Landon. The Pittsburgh Steeler hall of famer "Mean" Joe Greene plays himself.

All Night Long is a 1981 comedy film starring Barbra Streisand, Gene Hackman, Diane Ladd, Dennis Quaid, Kevin Dobson, and William Daniels, written by W. D. Richter and directed by Jean-Claude Tramont.

Absence of Malice is a 1981 American drama film starring Paul Newman, Sally Field, and Bob Balaban, directed by Sydney Pollack.