8 Overrated Movies of the 1980s. Fight Me.

Huge vote counts, bigger nostalgia. These eight 80s hits have fan clubs louder than their scores. I checked the numbers. The numbers are on my side.

Number one has a million IMDb votes and a poster on every dorm wall.

1. 8
   The Shining (1980)7.6

   Brilliant, but not 1.2 million votes of brilliant.

   Kubrick's hotel is a masterpiece. But an 8.4 on IMDb? Opening crowds gave it a C+ CinemaScore and Metacritic sits at 68. Legend is doing some heavy lifting here.
2. 7
   Predator (1987)6.3

   Great monster. Critics weren't wrong to shrug.

   IMDb says 7.8. Metacritic says 47. The movie.guru score lands at 6.3. Arnold's squad is legit fun, but half the script is guys flexing at the foliage.
3. 6
   Back to the Future Part II (1989)7.0

   Half sequel, half homework assignment on timelines.

   Zemeckis crams three versions of Hill Valley into one movie and it shows. A 63% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 57 Metacritic say the hoverboard can't carry everything.
4. 5
   Top Gun (1986)6.4

   A gorgeous recruitment ad with a volleyball intermission.

   $360.5 million worldwide on a reported $13 to 15 million budget proves it sold. A 6.4 movie.guru score and 55% on Rotten Tomatoes prove the story is mostly sunglasses.
5. 4
   Return of the Jedi (1983)8.5

   The weakest of the original trilogy, and it's not close.

   Empire sits at 9.4 on movie.guru. Jedi drops to 8.5 with a 58 Metacritic, because the forest moon belongs to teddy bears. Still fun. Still the dip.
6. 3
   Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)7.7

   The Indy sequel coasting entirely on the hat.

   Metacritic gives it 57 and my take is 6.6, well under its 7.7 movie.guru score. Ford is great. The script hands Kate Capshaw a scream and walks away.
7. 2
   Rain Man (1988)8.7

   One great performance carrying a very polite road trip.

   An 8.7 movie.guru score against a Guru's Take of 6.6. Hoffman commits completely, Cruise spends the drive being loud at him, and the road never really surprises you.
8. 1
   Scarface (1983)8.3

   Better as a poster than as a movie.

   Over 1 million IMDb votes and an 8.3 movie.guru score, but Metacritic says 65 and my take says 6.9. Pacino goes huge early and the movie just stays at that volume.

$1,319 says someone defends Scarface by quoting it instead of explaining it.

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Current mood: ready to fight about it