List of crime films of the 1980s

Crime films
By decade
Before 1930
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s

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A list of crime films released in the 1980s.

Title	Director	Cast	Country	Notes
1980
American Gigolo	Paul Schrader	Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, Héctor Elizondo		Crime drama[1]
Atlantic City	Louis Malle	Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, Michel Piccoli		[2]
Le bar du téléphone	Claude Barrois	Daniel Duval, François Périer, Georges Wilson		[3]
Contraband	Lucio Fulci	Daniele Dublino, Ivana Monti, Fabio Testi		[4]
Cruising	William Friedkin	Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen		Crime thriller[5]
Gloria	John Cassavetes	Gena Rowlands, John Adames, Buck Henry		[6]
The Long Good Friday	John MacKenzie	Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Eddie Constantine		[7]
McVicar	Tom Clegg	Roger Daltrey, Adam Faith, Cheryl Campbell		[8]
Rough Cut	Don Siegel	Burt Reynolds, Lesley-Anne Down, David Niven		Crime comedy[9]
Trois Hommes à Abattre	Jacques Deray	Alain Delon, Dalila Di Lazzaro, Pierre Dux		Crime thriller[10]
1981
Le Choix des armes	Alain Corneau	Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve		[11]
Coup de Torchon	Bertrand Tavernier	Philippe Noiret, Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Pierre Marielle		[12]
Cutter's Way	Ivan Passer	Jeff Bridges, John Heard, Lisa Eichhorn		[13]
The Fan	Edward Bianchi	Lauren Bacall, James Garner, Maureen Stapleton		[14]
Loophole	John Quested	Albert Finney, Martin Sheen, Susannah York		[15]
Made in Britain	Alan Clarke	Tim Roth, Eric Richard		[16]
Ms. 45	Abel Ferrara	Zoe Tamerlis, Steve Singer, Jack Thibeau		[17]
Pixote	Héctor Babenco	Fernando Ramos Da Silva, Jorge Juliano, Gilberto Moura		Juvenile delinquency film[18]
The Postman Always Rings Twice	Bob Rafelson	Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange, John Colicos		Crime drama[19]
The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper	Roger Spottiswoode	Robert Duvall, Treat Williams, Kathryn Harrold		[20]
Thief	Michael Mann	James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson		[21]
True Confessions	Ulu Grosbard	Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Charles Durning		Crime drama[22]
Vabank	Juliusz Machulski	Jan Machulski, Leonard Pietraszak, Witold Pyrkosz		[23]
1982
La Balance	Bob Swaim	Nathalie Baye, Philippe Léotard, Richard Berry		[24]
Carry On Pickpocket	Sammo Hung	Frankie Chan, Sammo Hung, Richard Ng		Crime comedy[25]
Le choc	Robin Davis	Alain Delon, Catherine Deneuve, Philippe Léotard		[26]
Class of 1984	Mark L. Lester	Perry King, Tim Van Patten, Merrie Lynn Ross		Juvenile delinquency film[27]
The Executioner's Song	Lawrence Schiller	Tommy Lee Jones, Rosanna Arquette		[28]
Fanny Straw Hair	Vicente Aranda	Fanny Cottençon, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Algora		[29]
La Garce	Christine Pascal	Isabelle Huppert, Richard Berry, Vittorio Mezzogiorno		[30]
Hanky Panky	Sidney Poitier	Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner, Kathleen Quinlan		[31]
Interrogation	Ryszard Bugajski	Krystyna Janda, Janusz Gajos, Adam Ferency		Prison film[32]
Onimasa	Hideo Gosha	Tatsuya Nakadai, Masako Natsume, Tetsurō Tamba		[33]
1983
L'Argent	Robert Bresson	Christian Patey, Sylvie van den Elsen, Michel Briguet		Crime drama[34]
Bad Boys	Rick Rosenthal	Sean Penn, Reni Santoni, Esai Morales		Crime drama, prison film[35]
Breathless	Jim McBride	Richard Gere, Valérie Kaprisky, Art Metrano		Crime drama[36]
Chained Heat	Paul Nicolas	Linda Blair, John Vernon, Sybil Danning		[37]
Duvar	Yılmaz Güney	Tuncel Kurtiz, Ayse Emel Mesci, Malik Berrichi		Prison film, juvenile delinquency film[38]
Moon in the Gutter	Jean-Jacques Beineix	Gérard Depardieu, Nastassja Kinski, Victoria Abril		[39]
Mortelle Randonnée	Claude Miller	Michel Serrault, Isabelle Adjani, Geneviève Page		Crime thriller[40]
Rue Barbare	Gilles Behat	Bernard Giraudeau, Christine Boisson, Jean-Pierre Kalfon		[41]
Scarface	Brian De Palma	Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer		[42]
1984
Against All Odds	Taylor Hackford	Rachel Ward, Jeff Bridges, James Woods		[43]
Asphalt Warriors	Sergio Gobbi	Daniel Auteuil, Marisa Berenson, Marcel Bozzuffi		[44]
Blood Simple	Joel Coen	John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya		[45]
The Cotton Club	Francis Ford Coppola	Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, Diane Lane		Gangster film[46]
Crackers	Louis Malle	Donald Sutherland, Jack Warden, Sean Penn		[47]
Fatal Vision	David Greene	Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint, Gary Cole		[48]
Fear City	Abel Ferrara	Tom Berenger, Billy Dee Williams, Jack Scalia		[49]
The Gunrunner	Nardo Castillo	Kevin Costner, Sara Botsford, Paul Soles		[50]
The Hit	Stephen Frears	John Hurt, Tim Roth, Laura del Sol		Crime drama[51]
Johnny Dangerously	Amy Heckerling	Michael Keaton, Joe Piscopo, Marilu Henner		[52]
Once Upon A Time In America	Sergio Leone	Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern		[53]
The Pope of Greenwich Village	Stuart Rosenberg	Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke, Daryl Hannah		[54]
Repo Man	Alex Cox	Harry Dean Stanton, Emilio Estevez, Olivia Barash		Crime comedy[55]
1985
8 Million Ways to Die	Hal Ashby	Jeff Bridges, Rosanna Arquette, Alexandra Paul		[56]
Crimewave	Sam Raimi	Reed Birney, Sheree J. Wilson, Louise Lasser		Crime comedy[57]
Détective	Jean-Luc Godard, Don Leaver	Claude Brasseur, Nathalie Baye, Johnny Hallyday		Crime drama[58]
L'Homme Aux Yeux D'Argent	Pierre Granier-Deferre	Alain Souchon, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Lambert Wilson		[59]
Kiss of the Spider Woman	Héctor Babenco	William Hurt, Raúl Juliá, Sônia Braga		Prison film[60]
On ne meurt que deux fois	Jacques Deray	Michel Serrault, Charlotte Rampling, Xavier DeLuc		Crime thriller[61]
Le Pactole	Jean-Pierre Mocky	Richard Bohringer, Pauline Lafont, Patrick Sébastien		[62]
Prizzi's Honor	John Huston	Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, Anjelica Huston,		[63]
Stick	Burt Reynolds	Burt Reynolds, Candice Bergen, George Segal		[64]
To Live and Die in L.A.	William Friedkin	William L. Petersen, Willem Dafoe, John Pankow		[65]
Witness	Peter Weir	Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Josef Sommer		Crime thriller[66]
Year of the Dragon	Michael Cimino	Mickey Rourke, John Lone, Ariane Koizumi		[67]
1986
52 Pick-Up	John Frankenheimer	Roy Scheider, Ann-Margret, Vanity		[68]
Band of the Hand	Paul Michael Glaser	Stephen Lang, Michael Carmine, Lauren Holly		[69]
A Better Tomorrow	John Woo	Chow Yun-fat, Leslie Cheung, Ti Lung		[70]
Big Trouble	John Cassavetes	Peter Falk, Alan Arkin, Beverly D'Angelo		Crime comedy[71]
Blue City	Michelle Manning	Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, David Caruso		[72]
Blue Velvet	David Lynch	Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper		Crime thriller[73]
Comic Magazine	Yōjirō Takita	Yuya Uchida, Yumi Asou, Yoshio Harada		[74]
Descente Aux Enfers	Francis Girod	Claude Brasseur, Sophie Marceau, Sidiki Bakaba		Crime drama[75]
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer	John McNaughton	Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold		[76]
Manhunter	Michael Mann	William L. Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen		Crime thriller[77]
Mauvais Sang	Leos Carax	Denis Lavant, Michel Piccoli, Juliette Binoche		[78]
Mona Lisa	Neil Jordan	Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine		Crime drama[79]
Out of Bounds	Richard Tuggle	Anthony Michael Hall, Jenny Wright, Jeff Kober		[80]
Pouvoir intime	Yves Simoneau	Marie Tifo, Pierre Curzi, Jacques Godin		[81]
Ruthless People	Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, David Zucker	Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold		Crime comedy[82]
Tough Guys	Jeff Kanew	Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Dana Carvey		Crime comedy[83]
Wise Guys	Brian De Palma	Danny DeVito, Joe Piscopo, Harvey Keitel		Crime comedy[84]
1987
A Better Tomorrow 2	John Woo	Chow Yun-fat, Emily Chu, Waise Lee		[85]
Bellman and True	Richard Loncraine	Bernard Hill, Kieran O'Brien, Richard Hope		[86]
The Big Town	Ben Bolt	Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, Tommy Lee Jones		Crime drama[87]
City on Fire	Ringo Lam	Chow Yun-fat, Sun Yueh, Danny Lee		[88]
Dernier Ete A Tanger	Alexandre Arcady	Valeria Golino, Thierry Lhermitte, Roger Hanin		[89]
House of Games	David Mamet	Lindsay Crouse, Joe Mantegna, Mike Nussbaum		Crime thriller[90]
Just Heroes	John Woo	Stephen Chow, Danny Lee		[91]
Night Zoo	Jean-Claude Lauzon	Roger Le Bel, Gilles Maheu, Lynne Adams		Crime drama[92]
No Man's Land	Peter Werner	Charlie Sheen, D. B. Sweeney, Randy Quaid		[93]
Prison on Fire	Ringo Lam	Chow Yun-fat, Tony Leung Kar-Fai, Roy Cheung		Prison film[94]
Raising Arizona	Joel Coen	Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, Trey Wilson		Crime comedy[95]
Rampage	William Friedkin	Michael Biehn, Alex McArthur, Nicholas Campbell		[96]
A Short Film About Killing	Krzysztof Kieślowski	Mirosław Baka, Krzysztof Globisz, Jan Tesarz		Crime drama[97]
The Sicilian	Michael Cimino	Christopher Lambert, Terence Stamp, Joss Ackland		[98]
Slam Dance	Wayne Wang	Tom Hulce, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Virginia Madsen		Crime drama[99]
Someone to Watch Over Me	Ridley Scott	Tom Berenger, Mimi Rogers		Crime thriller[100]
Street Smart	Jerry Schatzberg	Christopher Reeve, Morgan Freeman		Crime drama[101]
Throw Momma from the Train	Danny DeVito	Danny DeVito, Billy Crystal, Anne Ramsey		Crime comedy[102]
The Untouchables	Brian De Palma	Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro		[103]
Wisdom	Emilio Estevez	Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Tom Skerritt		[104]
1988
As Tears Go By	Wong Kar-wai	Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Maggie Cheung		[105]
The Blue Iguana	John J. Lafia	Dylan McDermott, Jessica Harper, James Russo		[106]
Call Me	Sollace Mitchell	Patricia Charbonneau, Stephen McHattie, Boyd Gaines		[107]
De Bruit et de Fureur	Jean-Claude Brisseau	Bruno Cremer, François Négret, Vincent Gasperitsch		Juvenile delinquency film, crime drama[108]
Deja Vu	Juliusz Machulski	Jerzy Sztur, Vladimir Golovin, Nikolai Karachentsov		[109]
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels	Frank Oz	Steve Martin, Michael Caine		Crime comedy[110]
The Drifter	Larry Brand	Kim Delaney, Timothy Bottoms, Al Shannon		[111]
A Fish Called Wanda	Charles Crichton	John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline		Crime comedy[112]
The Fruit Machine	Philip Saville	Emile Charles, Tony Forsyth, Robert Stephens		[113]
Kansas	David Stevens	Matt Dillon, Andrew McCarthy, Leslie Hope		[114]
L.A. Heat	Joseph Merhi	Jim Brown, Kevin Benton, Pat Johnson		[115]
Maniac Cop	William Lustig	Tom Atkins, Bruce Campbell, Laurene Landon		Crime thriller[116]
Married to the Mob	Jonathan Demme	Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell		[117]
Stormy Monday	Mike Figgis	Melanie Griffith, Tommy Lee Jones, Sting		[118]
Story of Women	Claude Chabrol	Isabelle Huppert, François Cluzet, Marie Trintignant		Crime drama[119]
Tequila Sunrise	Robert Towne	Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell		[120]
Things Change	David Mamet	Don Ameche, Joe Mantegna		[121]
1989
Batman	Tim Burton	Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger		Master criminal film[122]
Les Bois Noirs	Jacques Deray	Béatrice Dalle, Stéphane Freiss, Philippe Volter		Crime drama[123]
City War	Sun Chung	Chow Yun-fat, Ti Lung		Crime thriller[124]
Cookie	Susan Seidelman	Peter Falk, Dianne Wiest, Emily Lloyd		Gangster film, crime comedy[125]
Criminal Law	Martin Campbell	Gary Oldman, Kevin Bacon, Karen Young		[126]
Dead Bang	John Frankenheimer	Don Johnson, Penelope Ann Miller, William Forsythe		[127]
Disorganized Crime	M. James Kouf Jr.	Hoyt Axton, Corbin Bernsen, Rubén Blades		[128]
Drugstore Cowboy	Gus Van Sant	Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch		Crime drama[129]
Family Business	Sidney Lumet, Dustin Hoffman, Matthew Broderick	Sean Connery		[130]
For Queen and Country	Martin Stellman	Denzel Washington, Amanda Redman, George Baker		Crime drama[131]
Harlem Nights	Eddie Murphy	Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx		Crime comedy[132]
Johnny Handsome	Walter Hill	Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Elizabeth McGovern		[133]
The Killer	John Woo	Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh		[134]
Mapantsula	Oliver Schmitz	Thomas Mogotlane, Marcel Van Heerden, Thembi Mtshali		Crime drama[135]
Miracles	Jackie Chan	Jackie Chan, Anita Mui, Richard Ng		Crime comedy[136]
Monsieur Hire	Patrice Leconte	Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire, Luc Thuillier		Crime drama[137]
Night Game	Peter Masterson	Roy Scheider, Karen Young, Richard Bradford		[138]
Relentless	William Lustig	Judd Nelson, Robert Loggia, Leo Rossi		[139]
Street of No Return	Samuel Fuller	Keith Carradine, Valentina Vargas, Bill Duke		[140]
Violent Cop	Beat Takeshi Kitano	Beat Takeshi Kitano, Sei Hiraizumi, Maiko Kawakami		Crime thriller[141]
We're No Angels	Neil Jordan	Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Demi Moore		Crime comedy[142]

Notes