My Five Favorite Films From...1987

In making this list, I realized that 1987 was an extremely strong year for movies. For some of these, it has been really easy to pick the five films. Here it was really tough. Tough enough I copped out twice to use ties.

Honorable Mention – Cry Freedom: Phenomenal story about South African anti-apartheid activist Steven Biko and newspaper editor Donald Woods. Denzel Washington’s first major role was playing Biko and you could see just how good an actor he would become.

5. Raising Arizona: I always want to give Nick Cage a pass for all his recent crap because of this movie. He was just flat-out great as Hi.

4. Lethal Weapon: The series slowly devolved into utter foolishness by the end. But the first film in the series was fantastic. You had the humor, but there was a cold edge to it that the others lacked.

3. (Tie) Spaceballs and The Princess Bride: Trying to choose between these two movies was impossible. The first was Mel Brooks’ last great movie. I don’t think he did anything else worthy of his history until The Producers hit the stage. And the other is a remarkable fairy-tale/comedy that has some emotional depth. Are you telling me you don’t want to cheer when Montoya finally slays Count Rugen?

2. (Tie) Robocop and Full Metal Jacket: And here’s another example of not being able to choose. Robocop is a wicked satire of the 80s mentality wrapped in a solid sci-fi plot. And FMJ is a harrowing look not only at war, but at how we make the men who go to fight the war.

1. The Untouchables: Love, love, love, LOVE this movie. Ness against Capone. DeNiro in an incredible role. Connery winning his Oscar and deserving it for the role of Malone. Just a solid movie from beginning to end with no let-up. And it had what I think is one of the best movie posters ever made.

Films I Like But Didn't Make The List: Wall Street, Prince of Darkness, Hellraiser, Gardens of Stone, Adventures in Babysitting, Withnail and I, Roxanne, Throw Momma From The Train, Can’t Buy Me Love, Less Than Zero, Some Kind of Wonderful, Broadcast News, Good Morning, Vietnam, Empire of the Sun, The Last Emperor, Evil Dead 2, The Lost Boys, The Witches of Eastwick, The Monster Squad, Fatal Attraction, The Secret of My Succe$s

Underappreciated – Hamburger Hill: This Vietnam War film seemed to pass by without a lot of notice. Which is a shame, because it is an excellent look at the insanity of war. The story of the capture of Hill 937 is brought into even sharper focus by the fact it was abandoned less than a month later. You should definitely watch this movie if you get the chance.

Guilty Pleasure – Predator: “I ain’t got time to bleed.” Best. Line. Ever. An alien-hunter killing off US Special Forces and their commander going solo at the end to kill the Predator, who then decides to nuke the jungle because he’s a bad sport. How can you not like that?

Insane Film That Must Be Mentioned – Bad Taste: If you know someone who likes Peter Jackson’s LotR trilogy, throw this into the DVD player and freak them out. Jackson’s first film ... and it is just nuts. Aliens harvesting New Zealanders for food, and eating barf as an appetizer. Jackson’s character holds his brains in his head with a belt. It’s bizarre as Hell but oddly fun.