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Tv movie films from the 1980s
The best 100 of 209
- 1
A Christmas Carol
Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways
- 2
Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School
Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy are on their way to Miss Grimwood's Finishing School for Girls, where they've been hired as gym teachers. Once there, however, they find that not only is it actually an all-girl school of famous monsters' daughter
- 3
Escape from Sobibor
The true story of WWII's notorious Sobibor Nazi death camp, where a courageous inmate orchestrates and leads the escape of over 300 prisoners.
- 4
The Day After
In the mid-1980s, the U.S. is poised on the brink of nuclear war. This shadow looms over the residents of a small town in Kansas as they continue their daily lives. Dr. Russell Oakes maintains his busy schedule at the hospital, Denise Dahlb
- 5
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
In 1846, Anthony Hope sails into London with the mysterious Sweeney Todd, a once-naive barber whose life and marriage was uprooted by a corrupt justice system. Todd confides in Nellie Lovett, the owner of a local meat pie shop, and the two become partners, as Todd swears revenge on those that have wronged him and decides to take up his old profession.
- 6
Death of a Salesman
Willy Loman, an aging, failing salesman, struggles to accept reality and his failure to achieve the American Dream.
- 7
Made in Britain
16-year-old skinhead Trevor has no regard for authority, and would rather spend his time stealing cars than sitting in the detention centre to which he is sent. Social worker Harry Parker tries his best, but Trevor is only interested when t
- 8
Style Wars
Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant's PBS documentary tracks the rise and fall of subway graffiti in New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
- 9
Miami Vice: Brother's Keeper
Miami detective Sonny Crockett reluctantly teams with New York City cop Rico Tubbs when both of them end up pursuing a drug dealer who killed their respective partners.
- 10
Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special
Pee-wee Herman and pals are celebrating Christmas in the Playhouse in their own creative ways: Pee-wee makes a list for Santa Claus 1.5 miles long, teaches Little Richard how to ice skate, goes for a sleigh ride with Magic Johnson, enslaves Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello into making Christmas cards, receives a long phone call from Dinah Shore, even has more musical fun with k.d. lang, the Del Rubio Triplettes and Charo! Finally, Big Red arrives and announces that Pee-wee's Christmas list was so big, he didn't have enough presents for all the children of the world. Will Pee-wee follow his own advice and help others?
- 11
Blackadder's Christmas Carol
After a genial spirit shows the benevolent Ebenezer Blackadder visions of his unscrupulous ancestors, he resolves to mend his generous ways.
- 12
Doctor Who: The Five Doctors
Many incarnations of the Doctors and their old companions are taken out of time and deposited in the Death Zone on Gallifrey. There, they must battle the Master, Daleks, Cybermen and Yeti in order to reach the Dark Tower and discover the Tomb of Rassilon.
- 13
Meantime
A working-class family in London's East End is struggling to stay afloat during the recession under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's premiership. Only the mother Mavis is working; father Frank and the couple's two sons Colin, a timid, chr
- 14
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
Television special taped before a live studio audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California on March 25, 1983, and broadcast on NBC on May 16. Highlights include Michael Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean", a Temptati
- 15
Elvis and Me
Priscilla remembers her life and her relationship with Elvis Presley since she was 14 years old. When she moves to Graceland, she feels like a princess. But her lover, the world-famous musician Elvis Presley, is rarely at home and increasingly resorts to drugs. Nevertheless, she decides to marry Elvis. After a while, the fairy tale slowly turns into a nightmare and the two seem to become estranged.
- 16
The Dollmaker
During World War II, hard-luck farmer Colvis Nevels leaves his rural Kentucky home to take a factory job in bustling Detroit. Reluctantly accompanying Colvis is his long-suffering wife, Gertie, a talented woodcarver set in her traditional ways. When the perils of city life and Colvis' reckless squandering of money send the Nevels into precarious financial straits, Gertie starts a business making hand-carved dolls in order to provide for her family.
- 17
Dark Night of the Scarecrow
Bubba, an intellectually disabled man, is falsely accused of attacking a young girl. Disguised as a scarecrow, he hides in a cornfield, only to be hunted down and shot by four vigilante men. After they are acquitted due to lack of evidence,
- 18
The Scarlet Pimpernel
During the French Revolution, a mysterious English nobleman known only as The Scarlet Pimpernel (a humble wayside flower), snatches French aristos from the jaws of the guillotine, while posing as the foppish Sir Percy Blakeney in society. P
- 19
Morte e Vida Severina
The saga of Severino, a poor guy living in the back country of Northeast Brazil, leaving for the big city of Recife, in search of a better life.
- 20
Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future
While trying to expose corruption and greed, television reporter Edison Carter discovers that his employer, Network 23, has created a new form of subliminal advertising (termed "blip-verts") that can be fatal to certain viewers.
- 21
Daddy
Two high schoolers are unprepared for the reality of parenthood when the girl becomes pregnant.
- 22
Manhunt: Search for the Night Stalker
Based on the true story of Richard "The Night Stalker" Ramirez who terrorized California in 1985 and the two Los Angeles police detectives who try to track him down.
- 23
The Marva Collins Story
Cicely Tyson was Emmy-nominated as Outstanding Actress for her portrait of a Chicago schoolteacher whose remarkable achievements with black children labelled "unteachable" were spotlighted in a 1979 "60 Minutes" segment about how she became
- 24
Whoopi Goldberg Presents: Billy Connolly
HBO stand up comedy presents Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Connolly.
- 25
The Shadow Riders
After starring in "The Sacketts", Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott team up again but this time as Mac and Dal Traven, in a movie based on a classic Louis L'Amour novel. They are brothers, who meet up at the end of the Civil War fighting on oppos
- 26
Steve Martin's Best Show Ever
Steve Martin's fourth NBC special was in the spirit of his previous association with Saturday Night Live. It was broadcast live from Studio 8H, produced by Lorne Michaels and featured some original cast members of the show.
- 27
Promise
Bob returns home for his mother’s funeral knowing that he must fulfill a promise made 30 years earlier—to care for his younger brother DJ, who is schizophrenic. When Bob eventually takes over responsibility for his younger brother’s well-being, he embarks upon the most difficult challenge of his life.
- 28
A Waltz Through the Hills
When Sammy Dean and her older brother Andy are suddenly orphaned, they fear that they will be separated and placed in foster homes. So they set off along on foot, hoping to reach a ship that will take them to England and their only surviving relatives. The two young runaways must make their dangerous journey through some of the world’s harshest terrain-the wilds of the Australian outback.
- 29
The Lathe of Heaven
George Orr, a man whose dreams can change waking reality, tries to suppress this unpredictable gift with drugs. Dr. Haber, an assigned psychiatrist, discovers the gift to be real and hypnotically induces Mr. Orr to change reality for the be
- 30
No Place to Hide
A young art student frantically tries to prove that she is being stalked by a mysterious man who has threatened her life, and finds her sanity questioned by her stepmother, the family attorney, and even a psychiatrist.
- 31
Vengeance Is Mine
Unsuccessfully trying to close old family wounds on a trip back to the Rhode Island home of her miserable childhood, a troubled young woman finds her new friendship with a neighbor has her stuck in another family drama.
- 32
Easy Prey
Based on a true story, a serial killer abducts his latest victim from a mall and assaults her. Confused by her atypical reaction, he doesn't kill her, but instead takes her along as he continues on his killing spree. Meanwhile, the authorities debate whether she's a victim or a willing participant.
- 33
The Deadly Game
Several criminal lawyers reunite every year in the Swiss mountains to entertain themselves with fake trials and murder mysteries. At one year's party, an unwitting American becomes part of the game.
- 34
The Final Days
The Final Days concerns itself with the final months of the Richard Nixon presidency.
- 35
Poker Alice
She's a New Orleans gambler with a poker face no man can resist. And when she unwittingly wins a "house of ill repute" in a high-stakes card game, things start moving like a runaway train.
- 36
Robbers Of The Sacred Mountain
An archaeologist travels to Mexico to investigate rumors of the discovery of the ancient statue of a fertility goddess.
- 37
The Sign of Four
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson try to track down the Great Mogul, the second-largest diamond in the world.
- 38
Looking for Miracles
Sixteen-year-old Ryan Delaney has won a scholarship, but it's not a full one, so he needs a summer job to pay for his university expenses. And although he's not eighteen, he can't swim, and has never been to camp, he manages to get a job as a camp couselor. But his mother makes him take his younger brother, Sullivan, with him to camp, since she can't look after him while she's working. But camp turns out to be harder than both Ryan and Sullivan thought it would be; and as they fight their battles, they learn about each other, themselves, and what they can do together.
- 39
The Trial of the Incredible Hulk
Falsely accused of assault, Dr. David Banner is arrested and placed on trial, facing the possibility of a long prison sentence. Blind attorney Matt Murdock takes on his defence, while secretly operating as the vigilante Daredevil. As the co
- 40
Miracle on Ice
The story of the 1980 United States Olympic hockey players, a group of amateurs from around the country who were whipped into a cohesive unit by controversial coach Herb Brooks to win a gold medal at Lake Placid during the winter games.
- 41
The Case of the Hillside Stranglers
The chilling true story of the "two of a kind" killing cousins, Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi, better known as the Hillside Stranglers.
- 42
Sherlock Holmes and the Baskerville Curse
Holmes & Watson investigate a cursed family.
- 43
Big Bang
A UFO lands at night in a typical Masovian village. The villagers feel honored and want to be as hospitable as possible for the unexpected alien guests.
- 44
A Killer in the Family
Three teenage boys break their father out of prison only to discover that he is a murderous sociopath. Based on a true story.
- 45
Dreams Don't Die
Two young kids in love, one young graffiti artist and the other a foster-child, find trouble on the mean streets on the other side of the river in New York City. Officer Charles Banks finds young Danny tagging subway cars and then catches Teiresa selling drugs for another mislead teen, Kirk. The officer, instead of turning both of them in, gives both teens a chance to make more of their lives together. Changing their ways turns out to be more challenging than first thought.
- 46
Coward of the County
A lifelong yellow-belly who made a deathbed promise to his father to be a pacifist seeks bloody revenge on the men who gang-raped his wife.
- 47
The Ten-Year Lunch
The story of the legendary wits who lunched daily at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City during the 1920s. The core of the so-called Round Table group included short story and poetry writer Dorothy Parker; comic actor and writer Robert Ben
- 48
Lupin the Third: Bye Bye, Lady Liberty
Foiled repeatedly by the predictions of Interpol's supercomputer, Lupin has settled down. His partner Jigen asks him to pull one last heist: recover the Super Egg, a massive diamond hidden somewhere inside the Statue of Liberty.
- 49
Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige
The story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige, the legendary pitcher, from his barnstorming days in the 1920s, hoping to break into organized "negro" baseball, to his emergence at age 43 in the major leagues with the Cleveland Indians the year after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier.
- 50
The Quick and the Dead
In 1876 Wyoming, the gun is the only law. And for Duncan and Suzanna McKaskel, newly arrived settlers beset by outlaws, rugged frontiersman Con Vallian is the only hope.
- 51
Mr. Boogedy
A novelty-salesman moves his family into a new house. Initially dismissing incidents as more of their father's practical jokes, the family soon learns that the house is haunted by people who lived in the house 300 years previously.
- 52
A Summer to Remember
Silent since losing his hearing to meningitis, young Toby Wyler takes a bitter stance against the world and his family, refusing to accept his new stepfather. But when a highly trained orangutan named Casey is thrown from a truck near Toby'
- 53
The Fifteen Streets
In northern England around 1900, the worker John O'Brien lives near poverty in a small house in the worker's district. He falls in love with Mary, the teacher of his highly intelligent younger sister Kathy and daughter of a rich family. The
- 54
Room to Move
Carol is a top runner, coached by her father day and night. Then she sees Angie, the punk new girl, dancing magnificently and alone. The two become friends and Carol begins to rebel, but the all-imporant race is coming up!
- 55
Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective
When D. C. Dangerous Davies, not held in high regard by his superiors, is assigned to find a notorious criminal kingpin, he uncovers the details of 15-year-old cold case.
- 56
- 57
A Time Slip of 10,000 Years: Prime Rose
A powerful entity known as Death Mask hurls Kujukuri City, Japan, and Dallas, Texas 10,000 years into the future, reshaping them into a ruthless battleground where only the strongest survive. Determined to shatter this tyrant's hold on time itself, Gai Tanbara ventures into the dystopian future. Along the way, he meets Emiya, a fierce warrior fighting to reclaim her city from the darkness. Together, they confront the horrors of a shattered world and the sinister forces threatening the fate of humanity!
- 58
A Hobo's Christmas
A hobo played by Barnard Hughes decides it's time to go home. Drifting from place to place, Hughes finds himself in his hometown of Salt Lake City at Christmas time. Here he hopes to close old wounds and be reunited with his unforgiving son played by Gerald McRaney, and get to know the grandchildren he has never met. McRaney, still resenting the fact that Hughes ran out on his family 25 years earlier, gives his father only one day with his grandkids; after that, he's expected to leave and never come back. All the while Hughes' friends warn him that his son and the past are memories that are best left alone, and should leave, but he has to find out for himself.
- 59
Two Friends
The story of the end of a friendship between two teenage girls, told backwards over the course of nine months.
- 60
Her Secret Life
Kate Capshaw plays a schoolteacher and suburban housewife who happens to be an ex-spy. Nobody knows of Capshaw's previous espionage activities, least of all her somewhat obtuse husband Cliff De Young. When Capshaw's ex-lover Jeroen Krabbe, an intimate of Castro, lands in a Cuban prison, she is swept back into the spy business, leaving her nonplussed hubby in the dust.
- 61
Something So Right
Joey lives with his mother. His father isn't around, he doesn't like school, he is bored and doesn't take orders from anyone. In other words he is a real little scamp. Being at one's wit's end, his mother decides to look for a "big brother"
- 62
Star Wars: Droids - The Great Heep
C-3PO and R2-D2 are on their way to Biitu to meet their new master, Mungo Baobab, when their ship is attacked and they are taken prisoner. Biitu has been taken over by the giant mechanical Great Heep who works with the Empire, enslaving the natives by using droid enforcers and draining R2 units to keep up his strength. Meanwhile Mungo has been imprisoned to be handed over to his arch enemy Admiral Screed.
- 63
The Gambler: The Legend Continues
Brady Hawkes and Billy Montana join forces once again in this new adventure. This time around their goal is to help the Sioux fight the government and get the supplies they need. They also uncover corruption within a government outpost and
- 64
K-9 and Company: A Girl's Best Friend
Sarah Jane Smith arrives at the home of her Aunt Lavinia in the cozy village of Moreton Harwood, only to find that Lavinia is nowhere to be found and that the Doctor has left her a parting gift in K·9 Mark III. With the help of K·9 and Lavinia's young ward Brendan Richards, Sarah Jane starts investigating her aunt's disappearance. In the process, they discover that Moreton Harwood is home to a coven worshipping the pagan god Hecate and preparing for a human sacrifice...
- 65
The Phantom of the Opera
The Budapest Opera House's diva commits suicide after the owner ruins her career for having rejected his advances but her conductor-husband, believed killed in a fire, plans his revenge on all those he deems responsible for her suicide.
- 66
Long Gone
Story of the Tampico Stogies, a low minor-league baseball team, and its star player and manager, Stud' Cantrell, as they battle for the league championship amidst the corruption and racism of the American south.
- 67
Shattered Spirits
When his drinking problem takes control of his life, a father tries to leave the bottle behind while putting his and his family's lives back together.
- 68
Brave New World
A man who grew up in a primitive society educating himself by reading Shakespeare is allowed to join the futuristic society where his parents are from. However, he cannot adapt to their repressive ways.
- 69
Cause Célèbre
When the ailing husband of an adulterous wife is discovered bludgeoned to death and suspicions fall on the older woman's young lover, the newly widowed woman claims that it was she who was solely responsible for the death despite evidence t
- 70
Amazing Stories
A feature film edited from three episodes of Amazing Stories (1985): The Mission, Mummy Daddy, and Go to the Head of the Class.
- 71
L'Énigme blanche
Like every year, five old friends come together in a chalet in the middle of a Canadian snow desert. Henri, his wife Apolline, brother-in-law Maxence, Jean and Paul are waiting for cozy evenings with board games and good food - a typical ski holiday. But on the first day Henri announces that he knows about the affair between Apolline and Jean. An oppressive mood spreads in the secluded hut until the spiral of jealousy and sadism kills one from its midst.
- 72
The Mouse and the Motorcycle
It looks like young Keith Gridley will have a lonely summer, until he meets a talking mouse named Ralph. Ralph takes an immediate liking to Keith's toy motorcycle and can ride it just by making a motor noise. Ralph even acts heroically when Keith comes down with a nasty fever, while dodging cats, owls and a guest's noisy dog.
- 73
Midnight Matinee
Even though a devastating murder took place during a small town's horror film festival two years earlier, townspeople want another festival.
- 74
In Love and War
This movie is an account of US Navy Commander James Stockdale's 8 year imprisonment in North Vietnam. During his confinement in such camps as the infamous "Hanoi Hilton", Stockdale, among other senior officers, led a resistance group against the North Vietnamese, facing torture, isolation, and starvation in attempts to break their wills. Back in the US, Stockdale's wife, Sybil, begins working with other POW wives to try to get information on their husbands and to inform the world on their treatment.
- 75
Badge of the Assassin
Three black revolutionaries gun down two New York City police officers. The subsequent investigation puts a white assistant DA and a black police detective on the trail of the killers that leads from New York to San Francisco and down to Ne
- 76
Invaders from the Deep
A compilation of four episodes from the Supermarionation series Stingray. When aquatic aliens plot to take over the planet, the world aquanaut security patrol are called in to battle the aliens.
- 77
Incident at Crestridge
A woman campaigns for and wins election as sheriff in a crusade against the ineptitude and outright corruption of the local law enforcement in a small town in the West.
- 78
Swimsuit
Mrs. Allison is the owner of the Saltare Swimsuit company. Her top man Brian, and his not so bright assitant Willard have to find men and women that can be prospective models for her swimwear. The movie looks at the personal life of many of the young hopefuls. The men and women take strenuous photo shoots and workouts, but few will be chosen.
- 79
Run Chrissie Run!
The action moves along quickly, jumping over holes in the script, in this made-for-television drama about Eve, an ex-terrorist from Germany who is forced to escape to Australia with her teenage daughter Chrissie when she is sought by Riley, a lover from 17 years in the past. In turn, the IRA has sent two members after Riley because he shot an IRA soldier and must pay the consequences. The two IRA operatives looking for Riley come across a really nasty biker who wants vengeance on Eve for setting his car on fire -- and the three men finally track her and Chrissie to the wine-growing country of Barossa Valley. The final denouement is about to explode, as Riley also arrives on the scene. With under-par acting and a patchy plot, this film was never released theatrically.
- 80
The Bad Seed
Rachel is a 9-year-old girl who is perfection itself - unless she's crossed or challenged. Several disturbing recent incidents have led Rachel's mother Christine to suspect that her child is a latent murderess. Upon discovering that she her
- 81
A Stoning in Fulham County
Religious beliefs clash with the law when an Amish infant is killed in a rural community.
- 82
The Cold Room
A girl visiting modern day East Germany with her estranged father begins reliving the horrifying events that happened to a young girl living there during World War II.
- 83
The Jayne Mansfield Story
The story of the 1950s platinum-blonde sex symbol whose search for stardom and meteoric (if brief) career ended in an automobile accident when she was 36.
- 84
Surviving
Lonnie and Rick seem to be complete opposites, at first glance. A survivor of suicide, Lonnie is introverted and ill at ease around her parents, Lois and Harvey. Rick, meanwhile, is sunny and charismatic. But appearances can be deceiving, as their families learn when the teens begin a romance. Upset about Lonnie's influence on Rick, his parents forbid the pair to see each other -- with tragic consequences.
- 85
The Worst Witch
Mildred is one of the young girls at a prestigious witch academy. She can't seem to do anything right and is picked on by classmates and teachers. The headmistress of the school, Miss Cackle, has an evil twin sister who plans to destroy the
- 86
For Ladies Only
An aspiring young actor moonlights as a male stripper while looking for work in the theatre.
- 87
Perfect People
After many years of marriage Ken and Barbara decide to change their way of living radically. In order to become more attractive they submit themselves not only under modern diets and physical education but also try plastic surgery.
- 88
Frankenstein 90
French cybernetics genius Victor Frankenstein carries on the work of his notorious ancestor and creates a monster, albeit one with a penchant for philosophy, etiquette and occasional bouts of murderous rage. But when the creature develops a
- 89
Waiting for the Moon
Fictionalized portrait of one of history's great literary couples: Stein & Toklas. Summer 1930s France, Alice tends to ailing Gertrude; they visit Fernande Olivier, Guillaume Apollinaire, others; and Hemingway pops in.
- 90
Back to the Planet of the Apes
Astronauts Pete Burke and Allan Virdon crash on Earth in the far future and are captured by the apes. The men befriend a chimp named Galen who helps them to escape. In the hopes of finding a way to get back to their own time, the astronauts search for a computer in an earthquake-threatened city, with which they will be able to access their flight records. [The first of five telefilms edited from episodes of the 1974 TV series; this film combines the episodes "Escape from Tomorrow" and "The Trap"]
- 91
The Witching of Ben Wagner
A new family moves into town and their son, Ben, meets a mysterious girl named Regina, who is rumoured to be a witch.
- 92
The Incredible Hulk Returns
Years after the end of the original series, David Banner continues his wandering search for a cure for the condition that turns him into the Hulk. He reunites with former colleague Don Blake, unaware of his mystical connection to Thor. When
- 93
The Great Escape II: The Untold Story
Allied prisoners tunnel out of a stalag, then return to avenge fellow escapees executed by the Nazis.
- 94
The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair
When THRUSH steals a nuclear weapon and demands a ransom delivered by Napoleon Solo, UNCLE recalls him and his partner to duty.
- 95
Traveling Man
A poignant comedy about a middle-aged salesman trying to get his life and career back on track while being pushed and antagonized by an aggressive rookie he has been teamed up with.
- 96
A Smoky Mountain Christmas
A country-western singer on a trip through the Tennessee mountains runs into a reclusive backwoodsman — and a witch.
- 97
Sweet Bird of Youth
Tennessee William’s masterful melodrama about an aging movie star who, appalled by her own image on the screen, flees from her movie premiere and goes into seclusion, becoming entangled with a much younger hotel masseur and resident gigolo.
- 98
The House of Witchcraft
A man discharged from the hospital after suffering a nervous breakdown is taken to a remote Italian villa by his strangely-behaving wife. But he has strong premonitions that the house is possessed by some force of witchcraft, which he has been experiencing in his recurring nightmare.
- 99
Samson and Delilah
A tale of passion and betrayal in which Samson, a judge of Israel who fled with his tribe during the Great Exodus from Egypt, uses his herculean strength in the fight against the Philistine oppressors. He is seduced by Delilah, a Philistine courtesan, who uses her cunning to discover the secret of her lover's great power and then betrays him.
- 100
Arch of Triumph
A 1985 British made-for-television film based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, which was previously adapted in 1948 for a film of the same name with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. Dr. Ravic (Anthony Hopkins) is an Austrian doctor wh