The 1980s were an interesting time in American cinema. Following the camp and glitter of 1970s but before the introspective, thoughtful films of the 1990s, the great movies of the 1980s were all about spectacle. Steven Spielberg and James Cameron found their fame. Goofy buddy flicks like Ghostbusters leveled up, and the Brat Pack blew up the screen in a series of classic teen dramedies.

The '80s also featured movies carried by a single big star in a way that the silver screen hadn't seen since the Golden Age. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, and Harrison Ford brought throngs of people to the box office. The Cold War was winding down, America was winning, and our cinema reflected this ostentatious feeling.

We tasked about a dozen of our writers with winnowing down the very best of American cinema from the 1980s. We've got big stars, big directors, big marshmallow men, and Andre the Giant. Take a peek and see if your favorite flicks made the list!

20. Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

While surely the least of the three Star Wars original trilogy films, Return of the Jedi still managed to pack a whole lot of awesome into two hours. As the culmination of the original trilogy, the film marked the defeat of the Emperor, the redemption of Darth Vader, and the elevation of Luke Skywalker to Jedi. It also introduced us to the true relationship between Luke and Leia, saw the downfall of the Emperor, the advent of the Ewoks, and a whole lot of Lando.

While some fans complained about the lighter, more kid-friendly tone of ROTJ -- especially in the wake of its dark-but-brilliant predecessor The Empire Strikes Back -- the film still captivated audiences around the world. It remains in the top 20 grossing films of all time (when adjusted for a constant dollar), and the destruction of the second Death Star set the stage for 2015’s The Force Awakens.

19. Amadeus

1984’s film of the year was an unexpected masterpiece. This very fictionalized biopic (about as historically accurate as Shakespeare in Love or Planet of the Apes) of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had many things working against it: its exploration of a classical music giant during an increasingly electronic age, a “PG” rating for a film which was not aimed at families, and its release in a year where it had to compete for attention with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Gremlins, The Karate Kid, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and more.

However, this tale of two composers -- one divine, the other simply very talented -- captivated audiences and critics. In adapting the Tony-award-winning play for the screen, director Miloš Forman assembled a brilliant cast (both F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce were nominated for Best Actor Oscars, with Abraham winning), beautiful sets, and a breathtaking score. The result was movie magic.

18. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

In 1989, Harrison Ford donned the fedora for what many assumed would be the final time (we have since learned we were very wrong in that assumption). Shooting forward from Temple of Doom’s 1920’s Shanghai and India, Jones finds himself fighting his most hated enemy once again: Nazis. This time, he’s racing them for the Holy Grail, which the occult-loving Nazis believe brings eternal life.

With Ford’s characteristic panache driving the film, it was Sean Connery -- playing Ford’s father, the elder Dr. Jones -- who stole the show. The duo find themselves fooled by the same woman romantically and professionally, placed in the hands of the Nazis, face-to-face with Hitler, and finally up against the Knights Templar and man’s own vanity. While the film did have its detractors for being less dark than earlier installments, it was a riotously fun film to watch and remains a venerated installment in the Indiana Jones franchise.

17. The Princess Bride

There is perhaps no American comedy movie more quotable than this quirky film from director Rob Reiner. Whether it’s Billy Crystal’s “Have fun storming the castle,” Mandy Patinkin’s “My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die,” or star Cary Elwes’ romantic go-to “As you wish,” you’ve certainly heard (and recited) lines from this classic.

Based on book by William Goldman, the movie shines in both its comedic performances and its love story. Reiner assembled a truly fantastic cast for this fantasy -- with Andre the Giant, Christopher Guest, Robin Wright, Peter Falk, and Fred Savage ing those already named. It’s a riotous comedy, with enough boisterous action and heartfelt love to make every audience happy.

16. Brazil

In his dark and twisted vision of the future, Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam (12 Monkeys) explores what an inefficient and totalitarian bureaucracy might look like if it was obsessed with finding terrorists. Much like Orwell’s 1984, there is a doomed love story intertwined with a morally corrupt government crushing its citizenry under its own weight.

Brazil is a bizarre and difficult movie, and certainly not everybody’s cup of tea. Roger Ebert, in a review which feels as befuddled as the movie left him, wrote “The movie is very hard to follow. I have seen it twice, and am still not sure exactly who all the characters are, or how they fit.” However, in the more than thirty years since its release, Brazil grown in status as its prescience is revealed by current events, and is now regarded as one of the great political films of all time.

15. Blue Velvet

If 1977’s Eraserhead established David Lynch (Twin Peaks) as a visionary, Blue Velvet established him as a master filmmaker. This dark and disturbing film, propelled by a terrifying performance by Dennis Hopper as the primary antagonist, explores fetishization, violence, and the evils lurking under the surface in small town life.

A very young Kyle MacLachlan plays a college student home to work in his family’s hardware store while his father recovers from an illness. After discovering a severed ear in a park, he tumbles through a rabbit hole into a world of drugs, murder, blackmail, kink, and terror. With a sublime performance from Isabella Rossellini, Blue Velvet will have you examining your neighbors very differently, wondering what evil lurks in the hearts of men.

14. The Breakfast Club

Without a doubt, The Breakfast Club is the teen movie by which all other teen movies are to be judged. Five high school students, each filling a broad stereotype, spend a Saturday in detention together. Tasked with writing an essay about how they see themselves, the group instead spends a day of accidental self-discovery. Through conflict and confinement, the group find commonalities despite the roles in which they find themselves.

One of the core “Brat Pack” movies, The Breakfast Club is considered by most to be John Hughes’ best work. Starring Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Emilio Esteves, and Ally Sheedy, it defined a generation not by their differences, but by their similarities.

13. Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn

Part remake and part sequel, Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn is a brilliant horror-comedy written and directed by Sam Raimi (Spider Man). Beginning with a simple retelling of Raimi’s 1981 low-budget cult classic The Evil Dead, it soon ventures into new territory, with some of the goriest and funniest scenes ever committed to film.

Bruce Campbell (The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr) reprises his role as Ash Williams, a fast-talking moron who knows a thing or two about killing zombies (or Deadites, as the Raimi calls them). The film is full of off-hand (get it?) jokes, like Ash catching his possessed and self-amputated hand under a garbage pail held down with a copy of A Farewell to Arms. Some of the greatest one-liners in movie history came out of this, including Ash’s signature “groovy.”

 12. Raging Bull

While not a financial success, Martin Scorsese's biopic of boxer Jake Lamotta was ahead of its time. Fueled by violence, anger, sexual aggression, and a burning performance by Robert DeNiro, the film likely scared audiences away -- but not critics. It maintains a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Ebert called it “an Othello for our times.”

Following the life of Lamotta, the black and white film tells a brutal story of jealousy and sexual inadequacy which drives the boxer to destroy every relationship in his life. It is unflinchingly honest, and the boxing feels like the least brutal part of the film. Raging Bull is also notable for launching Oscar-winner Joe Pesci’s career, and DeNiro would win a Best Actor Oscar for his work on the movie.

11. Stand By Me

In one of the greatest coming-of-age movies ever made, a trio of teenagers undertake an epic journey to look at a dead body. It sounds gruesome, but in this Rob Reiner adaptation of Stephen King’s short story “The Body,” we are instead treated to a bare, honest, and deeply compelling look at the meaning of masculinity in a changing world.

With excellent performances from Wil Wheaton, Keifer Sutherland, and Jerry O’Connell, it’s Corey Feldman’s raw and emotionally gripping turn as an abused child that steals the show. The film is full of Reiner’s trademark humor, but in this he touches something deeper and more resonant, pulling the sepia-tinted glasses off our 1950s nostalgia while still exploring the endless possibilities that boys on the verge of manhood once had.