Some runners up include the excellent thriller F/X, the classic coming of age story Stand By Me, Michael Mann's superior Hannibal Lecter film Manhunter, Oliver Stone's breakthrough Salvador, David Cronenberg's brilliant horror remake The Fly, Roland Joffe's epic The Mission and Peter Hyams comedy Running Scared featured some hilarious interplay between Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines.
10: Star Trek IV. Easily the best of the original Star Trek movies, this one manages to offer the most humor and an environmental message that isn't insufferably trite.
9: Ruthless People. This dark comedy features some good acting by Bette Midler, Danny Devito and Judge Reinhold. Yet the main point in its favor is the screenplay. Like a Coen Brothers film, this one sets up a series of scoundrels (some worse than others) and has them trying out-screw each other in a game of kidnapping and ransom demands.
8: Sid And Nancy. Alex Cox's take on the late Sid Vicious and his girlfriend features Gary Oldman in his first major role and it's a great performance. Also great is Chloe Webb as Nancy Spungen, the girlfriend he was accused of murdering although it's more likely she fell victim to a drug overdose or accident caused by too much drug use. Cox manages to take us into the working class British world that set the stage for the rise of the punk rock that made the Pistols famous. The result is the Raging Bull of rock bio-pics.
7: At Close Range. James Foley's crime picture features fantastic acting from its two leads. Christopher Walken gives what may be his best performance as Bradford Whiteewood Sr, the head of a gang specializing in vehicular theft in 1978 rural Pennsylvania. Sean Penn is Brad Jr, his son who's your typical high school student and looking for a way out of their dead-end town. At first he sees dad's criminal enterprise as a ticket out. But when he finds himself in real trouble, he's forced to confront the harsh reality that his father does not love or care about him. The great performances and good direction make this definitely worth watching even if you may have difficulty with the harrowing subject matter. Foley's best film.
6: Down By Law. Jim Jarmusch's follow up to his debut feature Stranger Than Paradise follows three men as they are arrested for crimes they didn't commit and scheme to escape from prison. Unlike most films of this type, the focus is less on the story than the characters (as si the case with all Jarmusch films). But the interaction works and the characters are developed well.
5: Mona Lisa. Neil Jordan's film functions as a combination drama, crime film, love story and dark comedy. Usually in films like this, it's easy to slip up. Not here. Jordan's a natural storyteller which helps make the film move effortlessly along. Also great performances from Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson and Michael Caine.
4: Ferris Bueller's Day Off. John Hughes creates the ultimate teen rebellion movie with this classic. Featuring Matthew Broderick in his most iconic performance as the titular character who fakes sick so he can skip school, spend the day in Chicago and help his best friend gain some self-respect. Of course we have Jeffrey Jones as Ed Rooney, the bumbling dean out to thwart him. Funny with heart and some pointed observations about life by Broderick, this is the last John Hughes comedy classic.
3: Aliens. Alien was easily the best scary sci-fi movie ever. James Cameron wisely realized he couldn't duplicate or surpass that when making the sequel. So he decided to create a film full of action and intensity. The result: the greatest sci-fi action movie of all time or damn close to it. Forget the ridiculously overrated Titanic and the all style no substance Avatar, this is Cameron's masterpiece.
2: Platoon. Among the classic films about Vietnam, Oliver Stone's film is given added weight by the fact that unlike Coppola, Cimino or Kubrick he's not devising some fantasy but looking back at his own transition to adulthood. The film is shot well and brings the terror of combat home. Charlie Sheen, Kevin Dillon, Keith David, John C McGinley, Living Colour frontman Corey Glover and Johnny Depp in one of his first roles are all good. But the two standout performances here are by Tom Berenger as Sgt Barnes, an effective but immoral soldier who's not afraid of killing innocent people if it gets the job done and Willem Dafoe as Sgt Elias who's as effective and decisive as Barnes yet still has humanity in him. Stone's best most personal film.
1: Blue Velvet. The most controversial and best film of 1986, David Lynch's frankly adult thriller rips the cover off the Leave It ToBeaver innocence that so many social conservatives seem to think small-town America is and shows the evil in the backyard. Kyle McLachlan gives hsi best performance as Jeff Beaumont, a college student confronted with the evil that's been lurking in his neighborhood for some time. Laura Dern is good as the innocent Sandy who becomes Jeff's girlfriend and George Dickerson is her police detective father. But the two best performances here are by Isabella Rossellini and Dennis Hopper. Rossellini sizzles as Dorothy Valens, a nightclub chanteuse forced into servitude by Hopper's villain. In her we see a woman terrorized yet also drawn to the pain and terror. A sort of pre-stockholm syndrome if you will. Hopper has played many villains and maniacs in his career. But never one as deliciously vile and evil as Frank Booth. Unrepentantly dark with just the right level of humor, this is easily Lynch's all-time best film and the film of the year.
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