☝️ Pop vs. Box 👇 1981

"Heavy Metal didn't have a Box Office # , probable straight to video."

Gotta disagree with you on that one as I saw Heavy Metal on the big screen.
That being said, I seem to remember that the film did have a limited release.
I actually saw it as a midnight movie one Saturday night on Long Island, N.Y.
This was when I was 29 years old, one year before I moved to Miami.
Oh yeah, I must add that my friends and I did enjoy the film.

I saw Heavy Metal in the theater.
Body Heat is my favorite 1981 film

My top ten favorite films of 1981, in the order I liked them the most are ...
Excalibur
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Absence of Malice
Body Heat
Das Boot
Blow Out
Stripes
The Road Warrior
Quest for Fire
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains

Raiders is my favorite, maybe of the whole decade.

Excalibur is a very good film, too.

The Howling is almost the best werewolf film I've seen. If not for An American Werewolf in London. With all the advances in effects covering 40 years, kinda remarkable these two just so happened to be released in the same year. Add to that the decent adaptation Wolfen.

Friday the 13th Part II is the only film in the entire franchise I would ever list, this one is the first to feature Jason as the killer and before he became a superhuman goliath killing machine.

Stripes seems to be underrated, not Murray's best but still better than most.

Body Heat is a great film because of its sheer style and some terrific performances and a nice twist.

Chariots of Fire won Best Picture but I found it to be disappointing. The first ten minutes are its best and the finale at the Olympics looks and feels kinda cheap.

Galaxy of Terror deserves special mention as one of the worst films ever made, it has to be seen to be believed. You will want to watch Alien again immediately.

Superman II was over $100 million at the box office and should be on this list. I'm not a fan of it but I do like the Donner cut.

1. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark *1 (no change)
2. Endless Love *23 + 21
3. The Evil Dead *94 + 91
4. Porky's *3 -1
5. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior *59 + 54
6. Excalibur *18 + 12
7. Escape from New York *31 + 24
8. An American Werewolf in London *24 + 16
9. Heavy Metal n/a (204k)
10. The Cannonball Run *6 -4


Box Office ranking 1981 * indicates 2021 popular rank

1. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (248m) *1 no change
2. On Golden Pond (119m) *26 - 24
3. Porky's (111m) *4 -1
4. Arthur (95m) *31 - 27
5. Stripes (85m) *14 - 9
6. The Cannonball Run (72m) *10 -4
7. The Fox and the Hound (63m) *30 -23
8. For Your Eyes Only (62m) *19 - 11
9. Chariots of Fire (59m) *28 - 19
10. The Four Seasons (50m) *96 - 86

The Four Seasons dropping doesn't surprise me that would have been made at Alan Alda's peak with MASH still running. It wouldn't be a very exciting film by today's standards either.

Excalibur now being in the Top 10 doesn't surprise me either. I was around 9 or so when that film came out so I am guessing that a lot of the people voting would be around my age and have fond memories of how magical that film looked back then and still looks now. The topic probably fits with today's tastes better than when it was made too. All the PC riddled Merlin/Arthur films and tv shows probably makes people want something more authentic as well.

Heavy Metal was probably a little ahead of it's time so no surprise it is more popular now.

My faves from 1981 in no particular order.

Excalibur
Taps
Nighthawks
Gallipoli
Southern Comfort
Mad Max 2
Ladies & Gentleman the Fabulous Stains
Gregory's Girl
An Eye for an Eye (Shlocky Chuck)
Das Boot
American Werewolf in London

my top ten...

1. Do You Remember Dolly Bell?
2. Diva
3. Pixote
4. Cutter's Way
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark
6. Blow Out
7. Excalibur
8. Ragtime
9. Reds
10. Mad Max 2

Additional scoring for those who know why Les Nessman didn't play baseball as a kid.

Pennies From Heaven B71 P130
Blowout B51 P23
Thief B63 P24 🥉
Outland B47 P54
Scanners B55 P18 🥈
Absence of Malice B12 P21
Reds B13 P49
Bustin Loose B20 P154 🥈
Caveman B46 P64
Nighthawks B50 P71
Take This Job and Shove It B43 P185 🥇
S.O.B. B51 P65
Dragonslayer B54 P41
Carbon Copy B66 P131
Cutter's Way B96 P31🥇
Continental Divide B47 P137
The Howling B41 P35
Mommie Dearest B38 P42
Under the Rainbow B40 P110
Friday the 13th Part 2 B35 P22
The Final Conflict B36 P82
Ghost Story B34 P75
Halloween II B30 P28
Private Lessons B28 P43
Fort Apache, the Bronx B25 P104
Sharky's Machine B17 P78
The Great Muppet Caper B21 P77
Neighbors B24 P69
Modern Problems P29 P130 🥉
Body Heat B33 P11
The Incredible Shrinking Woman B37 P135
The Funhouse B71 P70
The Postman Always Rings Twice B59 P47

Biggest Winners: ☝️

1st 🥇 Cutter's Way +65
2nd🥈 Thief +39
3rd 🥉 Scanners +37
4th Blowout +28
5th Body Heat +22

Biggest Losers: 👇

1st 🥇 Take This Job and Shove It -142
2nd🥈 Bustin Loose -134
3rd 🥉 Modern Problems -101
4th The Incredible Shrinking Woman -98
5th Continental Divide -90

*note - secondary list scoring includes limited release films