The 1980s marks one of the most eclectic and eccentric decades cinema has ever seen, with everything from macho action blockbusters to crass teen dramedies, adorably cheesy rom-coms, and even poignant and piercing dramas. The essential films of 1989 are able to highlight the decade’s variety and its striking, impressionable punch while also presenting a tease of some tropes and ideas that would become more prominent through the early part of the 1990s.
Such is the quality of the films of ’89, several hit pictures haven’t made the cut for this list, including nine-time Oscar nominee and eventual Best Picture winner Driving Miss Daisy and the landmark Oscar-winning Irish drama My Left Foot. What remains is a collection of cinematic masterpieces that have proven to be medium-defining classics, be they grueling war dramas, pivotal family adventures, or barnstorming blockbusters that set trends with their box office success.
10
‘Field of Dreams’ (1989)
Directed by Phil Alden Robinson
An all-American classic that combines the triumph of sports drama with the dazzling wonder of fantasy, Field of Dreams is offbeat and wacky, but it ultimately works through its whimsical charm. Ray (Kevin Costner) is a farmer in Iowa who envisions a baseball diamond while hearing a mysterious voice. Supported by his wife, Annie (Amy Madigan), Ray sets his mind to building a baseball field on his property where past greats of the game can return, and childhood dreams can come to fruition.
Imbued with an old-fashioned charm that deftly utilizes overt sentimentality as a powerful catalyst for emotional investment, Field of Dreams is a profoundly touching story about baseball and family. It was nominated for three Oscars at the 62nd Academy Awards ceremony, including Best Picture, and it remains a cherished and charming hit of imaginative bravura capable of enchanting modern movie lovers over 35 years on from its initial release.
9
‘Drugstore Cowboy’ (1989)
Directed by Gus Van Sant
A gritty crime drama that exhibits much of the grimy, low-budget snarl that would be a defining pillar of the cinema of the 1990s, Drugstore Cowboy is a coarse and considered crime caper that has become a bona fide cult classic. Set in 1971, it follows Bob (Matt Dillon), the leader of a small gang of drug addicts who fuel their habit by robbing pharmacies and hospitals. When tragedy befalls the group, however, Bob decides to straighten out his life, though figures from his past make it difficult.
Director Gus Van Sant immerses audiences into the violent and obsessive world of addiction with a slick and arresting style, but the filmmaker is also careful to ensure the film remains a confronting and bleak exploration of sick people rather than a glorification of crime. Despite making just $4.7 million at the box office and failing to feature at the major awards ceremonies, Drugstore Cowboy has come to be heralded as an exemplary drama and as a defining gem of 1989.
Drugstore Cowboy
- Release Date
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October 20, 1989
- Runtime
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102 minutes
8
‘Born on the Fourth of July’ (1989)
Directed by Oliver Stone
Based on the 1976 autobiography of Ron Kovic, who co-wrote the screenplay with director and fellow Vietnam War veteran Oliver Stone, Born on the Fourth of July is a poignant anti-war drama that explores the repercussions of the conflict in painstaking detail. Kovic (Tom Cruise) enthusiastically enlists in the Marine Corps and fights in Vietnam, where he loses the use of his legs. Confronted by the shock and despair of his family upon his return to America, Kovic grows outraged by the government’s lies and becomes an anti-war activist.
Kovic and Stone’s collaboration behind the camera brings an unmistakable authenticity to the film, one that is only enhanced by Cruise’s sublime performance. The biographical war drama went on to win two Academy Awards from eight nominations. Additionally—despite its heavy subject matter and some of its more confronting moments—it also thrived as a significant financial success, grossing $161 million against a budget of just $17.8 million to be the tenth highest-grossing film of the year, as well as one of the most accomplished and essential war pictures of the decade.
Born on the Fourth of July
- Release Date
-
December 20, 1989
- Runtime
-
145 Minutes
7
‘When Harry Met Sally…’ (1989)
Directed by Rob Reiner
No matter the decade or era, one genre that never seems to go out of fashion is the romantic-comedy. While many pictures in the genre tend to age poorly as societal sensitivities change over time, When Harry Met Sally… has remained a beloved classic over the past four decades. Fueled by the electrifying chemistry between Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, it follows the complicated relationship that evolves between two recent graduates philosophically opposed on the query of whether men and women can simply be friends. Their bond evolves over a series of chance encounters spanning over a decade, with both of them experiencing heartbreak as the years elapse.
Further propelled by Rob Reiner’s astute direction and Nora Ephron’s witty and insightful screenplay—which would go on to be one of the three screenplays she received an Oscar nomination for—When Harry Met Sally… is nothing short of a defining classic of romantic-comedy cinema. Even as some elements of its presentation have aged, it will remain pointedly timeless for its specificity in targeting intimate and personable yet challenging truths of real-world romance.
6
‘Glory’ (1989)
Directed by Edward Zwick
While Born on the Fourth of July is an essential war classic that everyone should see if only to expand their perspective on the veterans of the Vietnam War, Glory is undeniably the best picture of the genre released in 1989. Epic in scope, the historical drama follows the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the Union Army’s first African-American regiments during the American Civil War. It examines the experiences of several of the men who fought in the regiment, as well as depicting the issues of racism and prejudice they had to face even within their own army.
Bolstered by powerful performances from the likes of Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, and the Oscar-winning breakout of Denzel Washington, Glory excels as an engrossing and enlightening film about one of the defining chapters of American history and a band of largely forgotten heroes within it. While it won three Academy Awards from five nominations, Glory ultimately underwhelmed at the box office. However, it has long been celebrated for its historical accuracy and its thematic might, even going on to be included in the school curriculum in U.S. history classes across America.
Glory
- Release Date
-
December 15, 1989
- Runtime
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122 minutes
5
‘The Little Mermaid’ (1989)
Directed by Ron Clements & John Musker
Much of the popularity and prominence of animated cinema today has at least some basis on the soaring success of Disney’s forays into the medium over recent decades. However, the studio’s modern status would never have been achieved without the release of The Little Mermaid, which became the ninth highest-grossing film of the year with an intake of $211.3 million, won two Oscars, and, in the process, ignited what is today known as the Disney Renaissance era, thus setting the platform for all the production company has achieved throughout the 21st century thus far.
Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale of the same name, it follows a young mermaid princess as her newfound love for a human prince causes her to make a dangerous deal with a deceitful witch to become human. Combining the visual splendor of Disney animation with an enchanting litany of colorful characters and plenty of musical fun, The Little Mermaid soared upon release as a glistening gem of family entertainment, and its allure has transcended generations to ensure it has remained relevant and adored for the past 36 years.
The Little Mermaid
- Release Date
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November 17, 1989
- Runtime
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83 Minutes
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Jodi Benson
Ariel / Vanessa
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Samuel E. Wright
Sebastian
4
‘Dead Poets Society’ (1989)
Directed by Peter Weir
An enduring coming-of-age drama that excels as both a brilliant realization of the pressures imposed on the youth of affluent families and a timeless testament to the excellence of Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society is a true 80s classic. It follows a group of boys who find a new lease on life when the strict regime of their conservative boarding school is challenged by the arrival of an unorthodox and enthusiastic English teacher. While his unfiltered encouragement of his students proves to be inspirational, it also leads to unexpected conflicts in some of the boys’ personal lives.
Powerful, absorbing, and optimistic even in its darkest moments, Dead Poet’s Society soars through its championing of individuality and its recognition of the courage and dare one must have to pursue their dreams. Its message was well-received by audiences—it stands as the fifth highest-grossing film of ’89 with a box office haul of $235.9 million—while it also saw Tom Schulman win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. It remains an essential classic of the 80s, and one of the greatest school movies ever made.
3
‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ (1989)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
It is rare for a sequel to become an essential viewing experience in its own right. Often, they are merely expansions of their predecessors that, even when brilliant, exist in the shadow of what came before them. Even with the excellence of its original film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade thrives as a must-see masterpiece in its own right. When archaeologist Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) learns that his father has gone missing while looking for the Holy Grail, he sets out to save the estranged Henry Jones (Sir Sean Connery) while also striving to keep the religious relic, and its powers, out of Nazi hands.
Like Raiders of the Lost Ark, it thrives as an engrossing masterpiece of action-adventure cinema. However, it also incorporates a poignant and complex father-son relationship to the fold, while also emphasizing the comedic inflections of the past two films. The end result is an Indiana Jones movie that is unique and yet still imbued with the trademark blockbuster magnificence of Steven Spielberg at his best. In addition to winning the Academy Award for Best Sound Effects Editing, it also became the highest-grossing picture of 1989, earning $471.2 million worldwide.
2
‘Batman’ (1989)
Directed by Tim Burton
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Not dissimilar to the aforementioned The Little Mermaid, Batman is a film that is not only an essential gem of 1989 film in its own right, but a must-see movie because of what it would inspire. While the superhero genre has been one of the medium’s biggest crazes of the 21st century, the grand transition from comic book panels to the big screen wasn’t easy. Tim Burton’s gothic yet camp take on the caped crusader is one of the most significant stepping stones in the superhero genre’s development towards being what it is today.
Michael Keaton stars as Bruce Wayne, a wealthy philanthropist spurred by childhood trauma to fight crime in Gotham City as the masked vigilante, Batman. He faces his greatest adversary when a deformed madman known as The Joker (Jack Nicholson) takes control of the city’s criminal underground and begins targeting Batman. Striking from its opening sequence, and thriving off the back of Burton’s atmospheric aesthetic, Batman grossed $411.6 million to become the second-biggest box office performer of the year and, in part, preface the record-breaking financial success of the superhero genre years later.
Batman
- Release Date
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June 23, 1989
- Runtime
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126 Minutes
1
‘Do the Right Thing’ (1989)
Directed by Spike Lee
It received just two Academy Award nominations, was snubbed by the Cannes Film Festival, and wasn’t even close to featuring in the most lucrative films of its year, but if there is one truly essential viewing experience from 1989, then it has to be Do the Right Thing. The third feature film by Spike Lee, it transpires over the course of one sweltering summer’s day in a Brooklyn neighborhood where the simmering racial tensions in the community continue to escalate until the situation becomes volatile and violent.
One of Lee’s sharpest and most timeless releases, it manages to be vibrant, uncomfortably authentic, and richly considered without ever becoming preachy or didactic. It is as smart as it is angry, making for a scorching indictment of race relations in America that is as invested in examining why and how people become so spiteful as it is determined to showcase the horrific consequences of such hate being allowed to fester in ignorance. Retrospectively, many regard it to be the best and most important film of the 1980s.
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