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1980s Japanese-language Movies

Public list by WPS with 204 movies or TV shows/series

Related lists: Japanese-language Movies | 1930 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2020

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203 movies found (page 1/7):

My Neighbor Totoro(1988)

4.0/5 (with 3,615 votes)

Two sisters move to the country with their father in order to be closer to their hospitalized mother, and discover the surrounding trees are inhabited by Totoros, magical spirits of the forest. When the youngest runs away from home, the older sister seeks help from the spirits to find her.

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone(1989)

NR
| 45min | Animation, Action, Fantasy
3.3/5 (with 228 votes)

In order to wish for immortality and avenge his father, Garlic Jr. collects the dragon balls, kidnapping Goku's son Gohan in the process. Goku, Kami, Piccolo, and Krillin unite to rescue Gohan and save the world from being sucked into a dead zone.

Directed by Daisuke Nishio

Castle in the Sky(1986)

4.0/5 (with 1,778 votes)

A young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Akira(1988)

4.0/5 (with 1,769 votes)

A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.

Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo

Kiki's Delivery Service(1989)

3.9/5 (with 1,669 votes)

A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Godzilla vs. Biollante(1989)

PG
| 1h 45min | Action, Science Fiction, Thriller
3.6/5 (with 83 votes)

After the previous Godzilla attack, a miniature arms race ensues to collect his cells. Concerned over Godzilla's possible return, the Japanese government uses the cells to create a new bio-weapon, ANEB (Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria). They seeks the aid of geneticist Genshiro Shiragami, who's experiments result in a new mutation.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind(1984)

PG
| 1h 57min | Adventure, Animation, Fantasy
4.0/5 (with 1,612 votes)

After a global war, the seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind remains one of the last strongholds on Earth untouched by a poisonous jungle and the powerful insects that guard it. Led by the courageous Princess Nausicaä, the people of the Valley engage in an epic struggle to restore the bond between humanity and Earth.

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies(1986)

3.4/5 (with 133 votes)

The great King Gurumes is searching for the Dragon Balls in order to put a stop to his endless hunger. A young girl named Pansy who lives in the nearby village has had enough of the treachery and decides to seek Muten Rōshi for assistance. Can our heroes save the village and put a stop to the Gurumes Army?

Directed by Daisuke Nishio

The Last Emperor(1987)

PG-13
| 2h 43min | Drama, History
3.8/5 (with 712 votes)

A dramatic history of Puyi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.

Ran(1985)

R
| 2h 40min | Action, Drama, History
4.1/5 (with 642 votes)

With Ran, legendary director Akira Kurosawa reimagines Shakespeare's King Lear as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan. Majestic in scope, the film is Kurosawa's late-life masterpiece, a profound examination of the folly of war and the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power.

Black Rain(1989)

R
| 2h 5min | Drama, Action, Thriller
3.3/5 (with 453 votes)

Two New York cops get involved in a gang war between members of the Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia. They arrest one of their killers and are ordered to escort him back to Japan. However, in Japan he manages to escape, and as they try to track him down, they get deeper and deeper into the Japanese Mafia scene and they have to learn that they can only win by playing the game—the Japanese way.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence(1983)

R
| 2h 4min | Drama, History, War
3.7/5 (with 186 votes)

Island of Java, 1942, during World War II. British Major Jack Celliers arrives at a Japanese prison camp, run by the strict Captain Yonoi. Colonel John Lawrence, who has a profound knowledge of Japanese culture, and Sergeant Hara, brutal and simpleton, will witness the struggle of wills between two men from very different backgrounds who are tragically destined to clash.

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Kagemusha(1980)

PG
| 3h | Action, Drama, History, War
3.9/5 (with 269 votes)

Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.

The Ballad of Narayama(1983)

2h 10min | Drama
3.7/5 (with 69 votes)

In a small village in a valley everyone who reaches the age of 70 must leave the village and go to a certain mountain top to die. If anyone should refuse he/she would disgrace their family. Old Orin is 69. This winter it is her turn to go to the mountain. But first she must make sure that her eldest son Tatsuhei finds a wife.

The Return of Godzilla(1984)

PG
| 1h 43min | Science Fiction, Action, Thriller
3.7/5 (with 58 votes)

After a fishing boat is attacked, the sole surviving crew member realizes it is none other than a resurrected Godzilla. However, efforts to bring the story to light are suppressed by the Japanese government amid growing political tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, who are both willing to bomb Japan to stop the monster.

Hachiko(1987)

1h 47min | Drama, Kids & Family
3.8/5 (with 61 votes)

The tragic, true story about Hachikō, an Akita dog who was loyal to his master, Professor Ueno, even after Ueno's death.

Virus(1980)

3.2/5 (with 24 votes)

Scientists in Antarctica desperately try to find a cure to a military virus that was released in a plane crash and has wiped out the rest of the world.

Mystery Train(1989)

R
| 1h 46min | Comedy
3.6/5 (with 180 votes)

In Memphis, Tennessee, over the course of a single night, the Arcade Hotel, run by an eccentric night clerk and a clueless bellboy, is visited by a young Japanese couple traveling in search of the roots of rock; an Italian woman in mourning who stumbles upon a fleeing charlatan girl; and a comical trio of accidental thieves looking for a place to hide.

Tampopo(1985)

NR
| 1h 55min | Comedy
4.0/5 (with 137 votes)

In this humorous paean to the joys of food, a pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside shop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner, Tampopo, begs them to help her turn her establishment into a paragon of the "art of noodle-soup making". Interspersed are satirical vignettes about the importance of food to different aspects of human life.

The Adventures of Milo and Otis(1986)

G
| 1h 30min | Adventure, Drama, Kids & Family
3.2/5 (with 86 votes)

When Milo the cat and Otis the dog are separated, they each set off on an adventurous and often perilous quest across mountains, plains, and snow-covered lands to reunite with one another.

Directed by Masanori Hata

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland(1989)

3.3/5 (with 68 votes)

A little boy whose dreams transcend reality is sucked into his own fantasy, which is everything he has dreamed of, until he unleashes an old secret that may not only destroy this perfect dream world but reality itself.

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters(1985)

R
| 2h 1min | Drama
3.9/5 (with 106 votes)

A fictional account of the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima told in four parts. The first three parts relate events in three of his novels: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kyoko's House, and Runaway Horses. The last part depicts the events of 25th November 1970.

Godzilla 1985(1985)

3.3/5 (with 72 votes)

Originally released in Japan as "The Return of Godzilla" in 1984, this is the heavily re-edited, re-titled "Godzilla 1985". Adding in new footage of Raymond Burr, this 16th Godzilla film ignores all previous sequels and serves as a direct follow-up to the 1956 "Godzilla King of the Monsters", which also featured scenes with Burr edited into 1954's "Godzilla". This film restores the darker tone of the original, as we witness the nuclear destruction of giant lizard terrorizing Japan.

Royal Space Force - The Wings Of Honneamise(1987)

3.5/5 (with 51 votes)

On a future Earth, war between the Kingdom of Honneamise and its rival, The Republic, is inevitable. As evolving technology creates new ways to wage war, a small group seeks to propel mankind into space in their world’s first spaceflight program. For astronaut candidate Shirotsugh Lhadatt, it’s a personal odyssey as he grows from an aimless young man into a leader willing to put everything on the line in order to move the human race forward and away from the brink of Armageddon.

Directed by Hiroyuki Yamaga

Barefoot Gen(1983)

1h 23min | Animation, Drama, War
3.7/5 (with 80 votes)

A story about the effect of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on a boy's life and the lives of the Japanese people.

Super Mario Brothers: Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach(1986)

3.1/5 (with 7 votes)

When Princess Peach is kidnapped by the monster King Koopa, Mario and his brother Luigi journey to the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue her.

Directed by Masami Hata

Fruits of Passion(1981)

R
| 1h 23min | Drama
2.7/5 (with 19 votes)

A girl named O loves a rich, and much older man. She is subjected to a variety of humiliating experiences to prove her unconditional obedience to him in a chinese brothel. A poor boy sees her and falls in love with her. To get the money needed to sleep with her, he takes part in rebellious acts.

Violent Cop(1989)

1h 43min | Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
3.6/5 (with 152 votes)

A detective breaks all rules of ethical conduct while investigating a colleague’s involvement in drug pushing and Yakuza activities.

Doraemon: Nobita and the Castle of the Undersea Devil(1983)

3.6/5 (with 10 votes)

Nobita and his friends under the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Gian and Suneo take Doraemon's underwater vehicle and travel through the Atlantic Ocean, trying to find a treasure ship. Along the way, they discover that the environment gun that Doraemon used to protect them is running out of energy leaving them vulnerable to the sea. Fortunately, they are rescued by some marine creatures.

Directed by Tsutomu Shibayama

Gung Ho(1986)

PG-13
| 1h 51min | Comedy, Drama
3.1/5 (with 82 votes)

When a western Pennsylvania auto plant is acquired by a Japanese company, brokering auto worker Hunt Stevenson faces the tricky challenge of mediating the assimilation of two clashing corporate cultures. At one end is the Japanese plant manager and the sycophant who is angling for his position. At the other, a number of disgruntled long-time union members struggle with the new exigencies of Japanese quality control.

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