Best Movies of 1986

The highest-rated films from 1986 according to MovieMagicScore. Rankings based purely on what viewers actually think.

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Aliens

1986 · 10,401 ratings

Ripley, the sole survivor of the Nostromo's deadly encounter with the monstrous Alien, returns to Earth after drifting through space in hypersleep for 57 years. Although her story is initially met with skepticism, she agrees to accompany a team of Colonial Marines back to LV-426.

8.0

Castle in the Sky

1986 · 4,838 ratings

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.

8.0

Stand by Me

1986 · 6,471 ratings

After learning that a boy their age has been accidentally killed near their rural homes, four boys decide to go see the body. Gordie, Vern, Chris, and Teddy encounter a mean junk man and a marsh full of leeches, but they also learn more about one another and their very different home lives. Just a lark at first, the boys' adventure evolves into a defining event in their lives.

7.8

Platoon

1986 · 4,847 ratings

As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.

7.7

Blue Velvet

1986 · 3,623 ratings

The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.

7.6

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

1986 · 5,174 ratings

After high school slacker Ferris Bueller successfully fakes an illness in order to skip school for the day, he goes on a series of adventures throughout Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane and best friend Cameron, all the while trying to outwit his wily school principal and fed-up sister.

7.6

The Name of the Rose

1986 · 3,191 ratings

14th-century Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his young novice arrive at a conference to find that several monks have been murdered under mysterious circumstances. To solve the crimes, William must rise up against the Church's authority and fight the shadowy conspiracy of monastery monks using only his intelligence; which is considerable.

7.5

The Fly

1986 · 4,742 ratings

When Seth Brundle makes a huge scientific and technological breakthrough in teleportation, he decides to test it on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a common housefly manages to get inside the device and the two become one.

7.4

Jean de Florette

1986 · 591 ratings

In a rural French village, an old man and his only remaining relative cast their covetous eyes on an adjoining vacant property. They need its spring water for growing their flowers, and are dismayed to hear that the man who has inherited it is moving in. They block up the spring and watch as their new neighbour tries to keep his crops watered from wells far afield through the hot summer. Though they see his desperate efforts are breaking his health and his wife and daughter's hearts, they think only of getting the water.

7.7

#10

The Sacrifice

1986 · 580 ratings

Alexander, a journalist, philosopher and retired actor, celebrates a birthday with friends and family when it is announced that nuclear war has begun.

7.7

#11

Hannah and Her Sisters

1986 · 1,100 ratings

Between two Thanksgivings, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly.

7.5

#12

The Mission

1986 · 1,474 ratings

When a Spanish Jesuit goes into the South American wilderness to build a mission in the hope of converting the Indians of the region, a slave hunter is converted and joins his mission. When Spain sells the colony to Portugal, they are forced to defend all they have built against the Portuguese aggressors.

7.4

#13

Labyrinth

1986 · 2,595 ratings

When Sarah is forced to babysit her half-brother Toby, she inadvertently summons the Goblin King who whisks Toby away to his castle at the center of a labyrinth. Sarah enters into a bargain with the Goblin King where she is given just thirteen hours to solve the labyrinth and rescue Toby, or else lose him forever.

7.3

#14

Manon of the Spring

1986 · 544 ratings

In this, the sequel to Jean de Florette, Manon has grown into a beautiful young shepherdess living in the idyllic Provencal countryside. She plots vengeance on the men who greedily conspired to acquire her father's land years earlier.

7.6

#15

Queen: Live At Wembley Stadium

1986 · 161 ratings

One of the world's biggest bands returns to the scene of their Live Aid triumph (one year earlier in 1985) to play all their greatest hits in front of a packed Wembley Stadium.

8.4

#16

Big Trouble in Little China

1986 · 3,186 ratings

Truck driver Jack Burton gets embroiled in a supernatural battle when his best friend Wang Chi's green-eyed fiancée is kidnapped by henchmen of the sorcerer Lo Pan, who must marry a girl with green eyes in order to return to the human realm.

7.2

#17

Down by Law

1986 · 800 ratings

A disc jockey, a pimp and an Italian tourist escape from jail in New Orleans.

7.3

#18

A Better Tomorrow

1986 · 593 ratings

A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.

7.4

#19

Kin-dza-dza!

1986 · 267 ratings

Two Soviet humans previously unknown to each other are transported to the planet Pluke in the Kin-dza-da galaxy due to a chance encounter with an alien teleportation device. They must come to grips with a language barrier and Plukian social norms (not to mention the laws of space and time) if they ever hope to return to Earth.

7.7

#20

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

1986 · 1,571 ratings

When a huge alien probe enters the galaxy and begins to vaporize Earth's oceans, Kirk and his crew must travel back in time in order to bring back whales and save the planet.

7.2

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About 1986 Movies

These are the best-rated movies released in 1986 according to MovieMagicScore. Our ranking system aggregates genuine viewer ratings to give you an honest picture of what audiences actually think about these films.

From blockbusters to indie gems, discover what made 1986 memorable in cinema based on the collective opinion of movie lovers worldwide.

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