Oscars: What Should Have Won Best Picture 1980-1989

Welcome to part 6 of this exercise. As a reminder, we’re going through every year at the Oscars and looking at which film should’ve won Best Picture. I’m only sticking to the films that were nominated. I haven’t seen enough films from every year to choose from all available films, at least not yet.

Today we’re looking at the Academy Awards of the 1980s.

1980 – The Fifty-Third Academy Awards

What Won Best Picture: Ordinary People

What Should Have Won Best Picture: Ordinary People

Hot take! I think Ordinary People deserved its win. A brilliant film about grief and tragedy that tears a family apart. Where I believe the Academy got it wrong is Best Director. Raging Bull is a phenomenal film, possibly Scorsese’s best directorial effort.

Robert Redford directs Ordinary People fine, but that is not why the film is memorable. The direction is why Raging Bull is memorable, that and De Niro’s titanic performance.

The Elephant Man and Coal Miner’s Daughter are both good recommendations from this lineup.

1981 – The Fifty-Fourth Academy Awards

What Won Best Picture: Chariots of Fire

What Should Have Won Best Picture: Reds

Chariots of Fire is a slog. The most memorable moment is at the very beginning of the film. Reds is a miracle of a film. Almost 25 years after the McCarthy era Hollywood financed a film about Communism and the Russian Revolution.

Reds show that if you don’t have people close to you that you love and care about, then political theory seems pointless. It's probably one of the greatest blank check films ever, Beatty left everything on the screen and it’s immaculate.

Another good lineup if you take out Chariots of Fire. On Golden Pond and Atlantic City are quality films.

1982 – The Fifty-Fifth Academy Awards

What Won Best Picture: Gandhi

What Should Have Won Best Picture: E.T the Extra-Terrestrial

Even when Richard Attenborough accepted the Oscars for Gandhi, he said E.T. should have won the Oscar. E.T. was a critical and commercial hit. It continues to resonate with audiences 42 years after its release.

I read a theory on how E.T. is a film about grief. I think that’s a beautiful thought that this film could be used to teach your kids about grief and prepare them for the death of pets. Spielberg should’ve probably won director, though I am partial to an epic, Gandhi plays like a Wikipedia page.

I thought about going with The Verdict here, but Newman should’ve just won his second Oscar for that film. Tootsie surprisingly holds up to this day as well.

1983 – The Fifty-Sixth Academy Awards

What Won Best Picture: Terms of Endearment

What Should Have Won Best Picture: The Right Stuff

When the worst film in your lineup is Tender Mercies, that’s a pretty good lineup. I recommend all five of these films to watch. Terms of Endearment is a hard film to argue against as a Best Picture winner.

But as I am partial to an Epic The Right Stuff is remarkable. Showcasing what Americans can do when we put our minds to it. Sam Shepard as Chuck Yeager is a still waters run deep type of performance that towers over the film.

A personal favorite of mine this year The Big Chill is a necessary watch. The Dresser is an underrated gem.

1984 – The Fifty-Seventh Academy Awards

What Won Best Picture: Amadeus

What Should Have Won Best Picture: Amadeus

I just rewatched this film recently for the first time in 15 years. It’s a triumph! Touching on many themes. To understand great art, we must reckon with great art. Is it possible for us to recognize great art when it is happening, or only years after? Does your art matter if it will only be forgotten in years to come?

F. Murray Abraham delivers a top-ten Best Actor-winning performance. The whole film grabs you and doesn’t let go for three hours. The only film that even tries to come close in this lineup is The Killing Fields. It is a brilliant film and you should watch it. However, Amadeus is undeniable.

1985 – The Fifty-Eighth Academy Awards

What Won Best Picture: Out of Africa

What Should Have Won Best Picture: The Color Purple

One of the several examples of the bloated boring Oscar bait films that would win Best Picture in the 1980s. This is probably the most boring of them all. I will say it at least looks pretty. The plane sequence is lovely.

The Color Purple is brilliant, even if it comes from the eye of a white man. At least the white man is Steven Spielberg. Whoopi Goldberg is excellent and it’s a crime she lost Best Actress this year. I didn’t care for the Musical version this year. I’d love a remake from a black female director like Dee Rees.

My Guy Peter Weir has the great Witness this year. Kiss from the Spider Woman is surprisingly deft given the subject matter.

1986 – The Fifty-Ninth Academy Awards

What Won Best Picture: Platoon

What Should Have Won Best Picture: Platoon

I thought about trying to reward another film this year because I believe Born on the Fourth of July is Oliver Stone’s best Vietnam film. However, no film in this lineup is better than Platoon.

Coming from a man who served in the war, instead of the many directors who made Vietnam films and did not serve. Platoon is not a black-and-white film, there are no good or bad guys. We also get an iconic moment scored by “Adagio for Strings”. I definitely want to try the smoking shotgun method.

1987 – The Sixtieth Academy Awards

What Won Best Picture: The Last Emperor

What Should Have Won Best Picture: Broadcast News

On paper Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor should fall into the same category as Out of Africa. Instead, it’s an interesting character study of a child who was king and ran his country confined behind walls.

Yet, there is a perfect film this year, and it’s called Broadcast News. Prescient like Network but not as outlandish. The devil chips away slowly, not all at once, it’s how “news” outlets are just shows with cults of personalities.

Moonstruck is also a brilliant film from this year. It’s the only other film I’d recommend from this lineup.

1988 – The Sixty-First Academy Awards

What Won Best Picture: Rain Man

What Should Have Won Best Picture: Dangerous Liaisons

I think I am in the minority on Rain Man but do not care for the film. I think Dustin Hoffman is more than annoying. I get but don’t get how he overshadowed Tom Cruise’s performance, which is better and more complex than Hoffman’s

Dangerous Liaisons feels like a weird winner but it’s deliciously good. Glenn Close’s loss for Best Actress is a crime with ramifications leading to today. Another crime is John Malkovich not earning a Best Actor nomination. A terrific film.

1989 – The Sixty-Second Academy Awards

What Won Best Picture: Driving Miss Daisy

What Should Have Won Best Picture: Dead Poets Society

Lord, do I have to say anything about Driving Miss Daisy? A bad film, and a bad winner, and its lasting legacy is Jack Black doo da looting the theme in The Holiday. As well as it winning and Do the Right Thing not being nominated here.

Dead Poets Society never fails to make me cry. The ending is profoundly touching. I may work in law, but I live by music and movies. If we do not have art, we are not human. It gets better every time I watch this film.

As I said before Born on the Fourth of July is one of the best Vietnam War films. If Daniel Day-Lewis weren’t here this would’ve been Tom Cruise’s Oscar.