Important Movies

Translation: "I saw it because I need to watch every Best Picture winner, but I have no memory of it. This is the one with Jack Nicholson, right?"

Is it important and significant within the history of film.  And listing every movie you can think of isn't helpful.

Ian. Ian. Ian.

Do we really have to debate Scarface? Or Return of the Jedi? Or A Christmas Story? Do we really need to debate Trading Places, which is so influential that the government literally named a law after it in 2008 when the economy crashed because of Wall Street? Do we really need to debate National Lampoon's Vacation, which spawned 3 sequels with a 4th on the way? Do we really need to debate the importance of Risky Business and how it made Tom Cruise an overnight sensation? Do we really need to debate Twilight Zone: The Movie, where John Landis dropped a helicopter on 3 people and it forever changed the safety laws in Hollywood? Do we really need to debate Sudden Impact, a movie with a line so popular that Ronald Reagan, the President of the United States, said it in one of his speech. In case you forgot, the line is, "GO AHEAD, MAKE MY DAY." Do we really need to debate Flashdance and how it launched the MTV style movies of the 1980's? Do we really need to debate James Bond? Do we really need to debate the battle cry, "MR. MOM AS BATMAN?!" Do we really need to debate Hollywood's hilarious fears of computers in WarGames? Do we really need to debate how The King of Comedy predicted our current obsession with celebrity culture?

But if you want, we can leave out Videodrome. That's only an irrelevant Canadian movie.

Where's YOUR list, Ian? In your point-of-view, what are the important movies of 1983? It seems like everyone here is in sync except for you. Everyone has pretty much given the same answers for the same reasons. So, I don't know why you're still so confused and lost? If you want 5 movies, it's pretty easy to figure out based on what everyone has said. So what's holding you back? What are your concerns? Which movies are puzzling you? How can we help you, Ian?  

Christmas Story is important because it teaches the meaning of christmas. it also is the most successful movie to be sponsored by the NRA.

I was never a fan of the Big Chill. Out of the movies for that year, I guess 5th one I would say is risky business since it was a huge launch to Tom Cruis's career, who is one of the biggest living movie stars today. For a down year, I would throw that in there. But yeah, it is a pretty lousy year for "important" movies.

Honestly, I think my vote for the 5th spot would go to Right Stuff or that El Norte one Drac said after looking into it a bit more.

For me The Big Chill is pretty much in the same "it is what it is" territory that Terms of Endearment is in.  

A Christmas Story is one of the most beloved holiday films of all-time. And it was made by one of Canada's most celebrated filmmakers, Bob Clark. So how PG Cooper and IanTheCool haven't seen it is a mystery to me. And yes, I'm aware that Bob Clark isn't technically Canadian but his most well-known movies were made in Canada.

FUN FACT: Bob Clark and David Cronenberg were both given the Best Director Genie Award, Canada's version of the Oscars, for A Christmas Story and Videodrome.

Oh, and by the way, the United States government has a thing called the National Film Registry which preserves movies that the U.S. government considers culturally relevant. And these are the movies for 1983 that they have chosen SO FAR:

A Christmas Story
El Norte
Koyaanisqatsi
Michael Jackson's Thriller
The Right Stuff

Does that help you, Ian?

Koyaanisqatsi is actually a 1984 movie

I haven't seen it unfortunately.

Ok checking Wikipedia, the Thriller video checks out.

I rescind The Star Chamber and make that my fifth.

The National Film Registry is not just limited to feature length films, there's a lot of stuff in it like the Zapruder film which isn't actually a movie but which is worth preserving for one reason or another.