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1980s Japanese Movies

Public list by WPS with 255 movies or TV shows/series

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253 movies found (page 1/9):

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)

FSK: 16+ years
| 2h 4min | Animation, Science Fiction, Action
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

Godzilla vs. Biollante(1989)

FSK: 12+ years
| 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.

King Kong Lives(1986)

FSK: 12+ years
| 1h 45min | Fantasy, Action, Adventure
2.6/5 (with 81 votes)

After falling from the Twin Towers, Kong lies in a coma for ten years. When his heart begins to fail, scientists engineer an artificial heart, and a giant female ape is captured to serve as a source for a blood transfusion. When Kong awakens following his heart transplant, he senses the nearby presence of the female ape and the two escape to wreak havoc together.

Ran(1985)

FSK: 12+ years
| 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.

Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood(1985)

42min | Horror
2.4/5 (with 46 votes)

A woman walking home late at night is attacked by an unknown assailant who knocks her out with chloroform. When she regains consciousness, she finds herself tied to a bed in a blood- spattered dungeon, at the mercy of a white-faced man in a samurai helmet who wants to turn her into a "flower of blood and flesh." He then proceeds to slowly dismember and disembowel her as the camera records it all.

Directed by Hideshi Hino

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence(1983)

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.

Kagemusha(1980)

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)

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.

Tetsuo: The Iron Man(1989)

3.5/5 (with 224 votes)

A "metal fetishist", driven mad by the maggots wriggling in the wound he's made to embed metal into his flesh, runs out into the night and is accidentally run down by a Japanese businessman and his girlfriend. The pair dispose of the corpse in hopes of quietly moving on with their lives. However, the businessman soon finds that he is now plagued by a vicious curse that transforms his flesh into iron.

Virus(1980)

FSK: 16+ years
| 2h 36min | Horror, Science Fiction, Drama
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.

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Mystery Train(1989)

FSK: 12+ years
| 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.

Guinea Pig: Devil's Experiment(1985)

43min | Horror
2.4/5 (with 55 votes)

A group of guys capture a young girl with the intent of hurting her. They torture her in many ways, from beating her to putting a sharp piece of needle-like metal through her eye which pierces across her retina.

Directed by Hideshi Hino

Tampopo(1985)

FSK: 16+ years
| 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)

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

Angel's Egg(1985)

3.9/5 (with 159 votes)

In a desolate and dark world full of shadows, lives one little girl who seems to do nothing but collect water in jars and protect a large egg she carries everywhere. A mysterious man enters her life... and they discuss the world around them.

Directed by Mamoru Oshii

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland(1989)

FSK: 6+ years
| 1h 35min | Adventure, Animation, Kids & Family, Fantasy
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.

Godzilla 1985(1985)

FSK: 12+ years
| 1h 27min | Action, Science Fiction, Thriller, Horror
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.

Battle Beyond the Stars(1980)

FSK: 12+ years
| 1h 44min | Science Fiction, Action, Adventure
2.7/5 (with 75 votes)

A young farmer assembles a band of diverse mercenaries to defend his peaceful planet from an evil tyrant.

Q(1982)

FSK: 16+ years
| 1h 33min | Crime, Horror, Mystery
2.9/5 (with 124 votes)

New York police are bemused by reports of a giant flying lizard that has been spotted around the rooftops of New York, until the lizard starts to eat people. An out-of-work ex-con is the only person who knows the location of the monster's nest and is determined to turn the knowledge to his advantage, but will his gamble pay off or will he end up as lizard food?

Shogun Assassin(1980)

1h 25min | Action
3.4/5 (with 68 votes)

A Shogun who grew paranoid as he became senile sent his ninjas to kill his samurai. They failed but did kill the samurai’s wife. The samurai swore to avenge the death of his wife and roams the countryside with his toddler son in search of vengeance.

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.

Fruits of Passion(1981)

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.

Shogun's Shadow(1989)

1h 54min | History, Action
3.4/5 (with 8 votes)

Iemitsu, Tokugawa Shogun III, hates his eldest son Takechiyo; all his love is given to his younger son Tokumatsu. One day, he orders Takechiyo to an initiation rite in Yedo. Takechiyo lives far away under the surveillance of Hotta Masamori, head of the Skura clan, where he was also raised. Hotta does suspect some kind of treachery, but he can not ignore the direct command of the Shogun. Therefore, he starts on his travel with Takechiyo and seven accompanying samurais. A large army under the command of Iba Shoemon, a vassal of the Shogun, attacks their night camp in the vicinity of a copper mine. Hotta dies in this first battle, but Takechiyo and the samurai manage to escape. They are chased by the army, and several skirmishes between the small force and the larger army follow.

Directed by Yasuo Furuhata

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.

Typhoon Club(1985)

1h 55min | Drama
3.3/5 (with 16 votes)

Offering a caustic immersion into the lives of disaffected junior high students on the cusp of adulthood, the film takes place over the five-day period before, during, and after a ferocious, seemingly-liberating typhoon, which six of the students endure while marooned in their school.

Directed by Shinji Sōmai - With Yuka Onishi, Tomokazu Miura, Youki Kudoh, Yuriko Fuchizaki, Shingo Tsurumi, Tomiko Ishii, ...

Love Hotel(1985)

1h 28min | Drama
3.1/5 (with 6 votes)

After witnessing the rape of his wife, a man's mind snaps and he attacks a prostitute. Two years later, the man and the prostitute meet by chance.

Directed by Shinji Sōmai - With Noriko Hayami, Minori Terada, Kōichi Satō, Toshinori Omi

Shogun's Ninja(1980)

1h 57min | Action, Adventure
3.0/5 (with 7 votes)

In the middle of the 16th century, Hideyoshi, a power hungry warlord sets out to destroy the Momochi clan. He sends his war commander in search of the clan's hidden gold only to find that two daggers are the key to the hiding place of the treasured gold. Spanning decades, the quest for the missing daggers takes Shiranui through war and ancient tradition.

Directed by Noribumi Suzuki

Antarctica(1983)

2h 23min | Drama, Adventure
3.6/5 (with 28 votes)

Two Japanese scientists, Ushioda and Ochi, develop a bond with their sled dogs while on an expedition in Antarctica.

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