Absence of Malice, directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Paul Newman, Sally Field, Bob Balaban, Melinda Dillon

All Night Long, starring Barbra Streisand, Gene Hackman, Diane Ladd, Dennis Quaid

...All the Marbles, starring Peter Falk, Vicki Frederick and Laurene Landon

The Amateur, starring John Savage, Christopher Plummer, Marthe Keller

American Pop, an animated rotoscope musical by Ralph Bakshi and starring Ron Thompson

An American Werewolf in London, directed by John Landis, starring David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, Jenny Agutter – (U.S.A./U.K.)

Amy, starring Jenny Agutter and Barry Newman

Arthur, starring Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, John Gielgud, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Stephen Elliott, Jill Eikenberry

The Aviator's Wife (La femme de l'aviateur), directed by Éric Rohmer – (France)

Back Roads, directed by Martin Ritt, starring Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones

Beau-père, directed by Bertrand Blier – (France)

Berlin Tunnel 21, starring Richard Thomas and Horst Buchholz

Die Berührte, directed by Helma Sanders-Brahms – (West Germany)

Betrayal (Løperjenten) – (Norway)

Bianco, rosso e Verdone – (Italy)

Blind Chance (Przypadek) – (Poland)

The Blood of Hussain – (Pakistan)

Blood Wedding (Bodas de sangre), directed by Carlos Saura – (Spain)

Blow Out, directed by Brian De Palma, starring John Travolta, Nancy Allen, Dennis Franz, John Lithgow

The Boat Is Full (Das Boot ist voll) – (Switzerland)

Body Heat, directed by Lawrence Kasdan, starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Ted Danson, Richard Crenna, J. A. Preston, Mickey Rourke

Body and Soul, starring Jayne Kennedy, Leon Isaac Kennedy, Michael V. Gazzo

Das Boot (Released in the U.S. in 1982), directed by Wolfgang Petersen, starring Jürgen Prochnow – (West Germany)

Buriki no kunsho – (Japan)

Buddy Buddy, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau

The Burning, starring Brian Matthews – (U.S.A./Canada)

Bustin' Loose, starring Richard Pryor and Cicely Tyson

The Cannonball Run, directed by Hal Needham, starring Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett

Carbon Copy, starring George Segal and Denzel Washington

Cattle Annie and Little Britches, starring Burt Lancaster, Rod Steiger, John Savage, Diane Lane, Amanda Plummer

Caveman, directed by Carl Gottlieb, starring Ringo Starr, Dennis Quaid, Shelley Long

Chariots of Fire, directed by Hugh Hudson, starring Ben Cross, Ian Charleson, Nigel Havers – (U.K.)

Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen, starring Peter Ustinov, Lee Grant, Angie Dickinson

Charlotte – (Netherlands)

The Chosen, starring Robby Benson, Barry Miller, Maximilian Schell, Rod Steiger

Christiane F. – We Children from Bahnhof Zoo, directed by Uli Edel, starring Natja Brunckhorst – (West Germany)

Chu Chu and the Philly Flash, directed by David Lowell Rich, starring Carol Burnett and Alan Arkin

Circle of Deceit (Die Fälschung), directed by Volker Schlöndorff, starring Bruno Ganz, Hanna Schygulla and Jerzy Skolimowski – (West Germany)

Clash of the Titans, starring Harry Hamlin, Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith – (U.S.A./U.K.)

Condorman, starring Michael Crawford, Oliver Reed, Barbara Carrera – (U.K.)

Le confort et l'indifférence (Comfort and Indifference) – (Canada)

Continental Divide, starring John Belushi, Blair Brown, Allen Garfield

Coup de torchon, directed by Bertrand Tavernier, starring Philippe Noiret and Isabelle Huppert – (France)

Cutter's Way, starring Jeff Bridges, Lisa Eichhorn, John Heard

Dance Craze, concert documentary featuring Madness, The Beat, The Specials and others – (U.K.)

Dark Night of the Scarecrow

Dead & Buried, starring James Farentino

Deadly Blessing. starring Sharon Stone and Ernest Borgnine

Death Hunt, starring Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, Andrew Stevens, Carl Weathers, Angie Dickinson

The Decline of Western Civilization, a documentary film

Deprisa, Deprisa (Hurry, Hurry!), directed by Carlos Saura – (Spain) – Golden Bear winner

The Devil and Max Devlin, starring Elliott Gould and Bill Cosby

Diva, directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix – (France)

Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (Sjecas li se Doli Bel?) – (Yugoslavia)

Dragonslayer, starring Peter MacNicol

Dreszcze (Shivers) – (Poland)

Eijanaika (Why Not?), directed by Shohei Imamura – (Japan)

Ek Duuje Ke Liye (Made for Each Other) – (India)

Endless Love, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, starring Brooke Shields and Martin Hewitt

The Entity, starring Barbara Hershey, Ron Silver, Margaret Blye

Escape from New York, directed by John Carpenter, starring Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Isaac Hayes, Adrienne Barbeau

Escape to Victory (aka Victory), directed by John Huston, starring Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, Max von Sydow, Pelé

The Evil Dead, directed by Sam Raimi, starring Bruce Campbell

Excalibur, directed by John Boorman, starring Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicol Williamson, Nicholas Clay, Liam Neeson

An Eye for an Eye, starring Chuck Norris

Eye of the Needle, starring Donald Sutherland and Kate Nelligan – (U.K.)

Eyewitness, directed by Peter Yates, starring William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Plummer, James Woods

The Fan, directed by Edward Bianchi, starring Lauren Bacall, James Garner, Maureen Stapleton and Michael Biehn

Fever (Gorączka), directed by Agnieszka Holland – (Poland)

First Monday in October, starring Walter Matthau and Jill Clayburgh

For Your Eyes Only, starring Roger Moore (as James Bond), with Carole Bouquet, Lynn-Holly Johnson – (U.K.)

Fort Apache, The Bronx, directed by Daniel Petrie, starring Paul Newman, Ed Asner, Ken Wahl

Four Friends, directed by Arthur Penn, starring Craig Wasson and Jodi Thelen

The Four Seasons, directed by and starring Alan Alda, with Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno, Sandy Dennis, Len Cariou, Jack Weston

The Fox and the Hound, with the voices of Mickey Rooney, Kurt Russell, Pearl Bailey

The French Lieutenant's Woman, directed by Karel Reisz, starring Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons – (U.K.)

Friday the 13th Part II, directed by Steve Miner, starring Amy Steel, John Furey and Adrienne King

Full Moon High, starring Adam Arkin

The Funhouse, directed by Tobe Hooper

Gallipoli, directed by Peter Weir, starring Mel Gibson – (Australia)

Gangster Wars, starring Michael Nouri, Joe Penny, Brian Benben, Madeleine Stowe

Garde à Vue, starring Romy Schneider and Michel Serrault – (France)

Gas, starring Susan Anspach, Sterling Hayden, Helen Shaver – (Canada)

Ghost Story, starring Fred Astaire, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Melvyn Douglas, John Houseman

The Girl with the Red Hair (Het meisje met het rode haar) – (Netherlands)

Going Ape!, starring Tony Danza, Stacey Nelkin, Jessica Walter, Danny DeVito

Goodbye Pork Pie – (New Zealand)

Graduation Day, starring Christopher George

The Great Muppet Caper, directed by Jim Henson – (U.S.A./U.K.)

Gregory's Girl, directed by Bill Forsyth – (U.K.)

Grendel Grendel Grendel, starring Peter Ustinov – (Australia)

Gulliver in Lilliput

Halloween II, directed by Rick Rosenthal, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence

The Hand, directed by Oliver Stone, starring Michael Caine

Hands Up!, (Ręce do góry), directed by Jerzy Skolimowski – (Poland) – originally made in 1967 but withheld

Happy Birthday to Me, starring Melissa Sue Anderson and Glenn Ford – (Canada)

Hard Country, starring Jan-Michael Vincent and Kim Basinger

Hardly Working, directed by and starring Jerry Lewis

Harry's War, starring Edward Herrmann

Heartbeeps, directed by Allan Arkush, starring Andy Kaufman and Bernadette Peters

Heavy Metal, starring John Candy – (Canada)

Hell Night, starring Linda Blair

History of the World, Part I, directed by and starring Mel Brooks, with Gregory Hines, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman

Honky Tonk Freeway, starring William Devane, Beau Bridges, Teri Garr, Beverly D'Angelo, Howard Hesseman, Jessica Tandy

The Hound of the Baskervilles (Priklyucheniya Sherloka Kholmsa i doktora Vatsona: Sobaka Baskerviley) – (U.S.S.R.)

The Howling, directed by Joe Dante, starring Dee Wallace and Patrick Macnee

I Love You (Eu Te Amo), starring Sônia Braga – (Brazil)

The Incredible Shrinking Woman, starring Lily Tomlin and Charles Grodin

Inseminoid, starring Judy Geeson, Stephanie Beacham, Victoria Tennant – (U.K.)

The Inventor (Der Erfinder) – (Switzerland/West Germany)

Just Another Missing Kid, winner of Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature – (Canada)

Killing Heat (Gräset Sjunger), starring Karen Black – (Sweden/Zambia)

The Killing of Angel Street – (Australia)

Knightriders, starring Ed Harris

Kranti (Revolution), starring Dilip Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Shashi Kapoor – (India)

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains, starring Diane Lane and Laura Dern

Lady Chatterley's Lover, starring Sylvia Kristel and Nicholas Clay

The Land of Hunger (Aakali Rajyam) – (India)

The Last Chase, starring Lee Majors

Lawaaris, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Zeenat Aman – (India)

The Legend of the Lone Ranger, starring Klinton Spilsbury, winner of a Golden Raspberry award for Worst Actor

Light Years Away (Les Années lumière), starring Trevor Howard – (France)

Lili Marleen, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, starring Hanna Schygulla – (West Germany)

Lion of the Desert, starring Anthony Quinn – (Libya)

The Little Fox (Vuk) – (Hungary)

Lola, a German film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, starring Barbara Sukowa and Armin Mueller-Stahl – (West Germany)

Looker, directed by Michael Crichton, starring Albert Finney, James Coburn, Susan Dey

Looks and Smiles, directed by Ken Loach – (U.K.)

The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie

Loophole, starring Albert Finney and Martin Sheen

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, starring Mel Gibson – (Australia)

Man of Iron (Człowiek z żelaza), directed by Andrzej Wajda – (Poland) – Palme d'Or winner

Mandala – (South Korea)

Marianne and Juliane (Die bleierne Zeit), directed by Margarethe von Trotta, starring Barbara Sukowa - Golden Lion winner – (West Germany)

Il Marchese del Grillo, directed by Mario Monicelli, starring Alberto Sordi – (Italy)

Masada, TV miniseries, starring Peter O'Toole, Peter Strauss, Barbara Carrera, David Warner

The Melody Haunts My Memory (Samo jednom se ljubi) – (Yugoslavia)

Mephisto, directed by István Szabó, starring Klaus Maria Brandauer – (Hungary/West Germany/Austria)

Il minestrone, starring Roberto Benigni – (Italy)

Modern Romance, directed by and starring Albert Brooks, with Kathryn Harrold and Bruno Kirby

Mommie Dearest, starring Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid, Steve Forrest – winner of five Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture and Worst Actress (Dunaway)

Montenegro, starring Susan Anspach and Erland Josephson – (Sweden)

Ms. 45, directed by Abel Ferrara

Muzhiki! – (U.S.S.R.)

My Bloody Valentine – (Canada)

My Dinner with Andre, starring Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory

The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians (Tajemství hradu v Karpatech) – (Czechoslovakia)

The Mystery of the Third Planet (Tayna tretyey planety) – (U.S.S.R.)

Naseeb (Destiny), starring Amitabh Bachchan – (India)

National Heritage (Patrimonio nacional), directed by Luis García Berlanga – (Spain)

Neighbors, starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd

The Nesting, starring Bill Rowley, Gloria Grahame

Nice Dreams, a Cheech & Chong film

Nighthawks, starring Sylvester Stallone, Rutger Hauer, Billy Dee Williams

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, starring Kristy McNichol, Dennis Quaid, Mark Hamill

Nobody's Perfekt, starring Gabe Kaplan, Alex Karras, Robert Klein

The Oil, the Baby and the Transylvanians (Pruncul, petrolul şi ardelenii) – (Romania)

Omen III: The Final Conflict, starring Sam Neill, Rossano Brazzi – (U.S.A./U.K.)

On Golden Pond, directed by Mark Rydell, starring Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda

On the Right Track, starring Gary Coleman

Only When I Laugh, starring Marsha Mason, Kristy McNichol, James Coco, Joan Hackett

Outland, directed by Peter Hyams, starring Sean Connery and Peter Boyle – (U.K.)

Passion of Love (Passione d'amore), directed by Ettore Scola – (Italy)

Paternity, directed by David Steinberg, starring Burt Reynolds and Beverly D'Angelo

La Pelle (The Skin), directed by Liliana Cavani, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Claudia Cardinale – (Italy)

Pennies from Heaven, starring Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Jessica Harper, Christopher Walken – based on the TV series by Dennis Potter

Pixote, directed by Héctor Babenco – (Brazil)

Polyester, directed by John Waters, starring Divine

Le Pont du Nord, directed by Jacques Rivette – (France)

Possession, starring Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill – (France/West Germany)

The Postman Always Rings Twice, directed by Bob Rafelson, starring Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange

Priest of Love, starring Ian McKellen, Janet Suzman, Ava Gardner – (U.K.)

Prince of the City, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Treat Williams and Jerry Orbach

Private Lessons, starring Sylvia Kristel, Howard Hesseman, Ed Begley, Jr.

The Prodigal Son (Bai ga jai), directed by and starring Sammo Hung – (Hong Kong)

The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper, starring Treat Williams, Robert Duvall, Kathryn Harrold

Quartet, directed by James Ivory, starring Alan Bates, Maggie Smith, Isabelle Adjani – (U.K.)

Quest for Fire (aka La Guerre du feu), directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud – (Canada/France/U.S.A.)

Race for the Yankee Zephyr, starring Ken Wahl, Lesley Ann Warren, George Peppard – (New Zealand)

Raggedy Man, starring Sam Shepard and Sissy Spacek

Ragtime, directed by Miloš Forman, starring James Cagney, Howard E. Rollins, Jr., Elizabeth McGovern, Mandy Patinkin, Mary Steenburgen, Brad Dourif

Raiders of the Lost Ark, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Harrison Ford and Karen Allen

Reds, directed by and starring Warren Beatty, with Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Maureen Stapleton, Gene Hackman, Paul Sorvino

Rich and Famous, directed by George Cukor, starring Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen

Ritam zločina – (Yugoslavia)

Roadgames, directed by Richard Franklin, starring Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis – (Australia)

Rollover, directed by Alan J. Pakula, starring Jane Fonda and Kris Kristofferson

Ruckus, starring Dirk Benedict, Linda Blair, Richard Farnsworth

S.O.B., directed by Blake Edwards, starring Julie Andrews, William Holden, Robert Preston, Richard Mulligan

The Salamander, starring Anthony Quinn, Franco Nero, Eli Wallach, Claudia Cardinale

Saturday the 14th, starring Paula Prentiss and Richard Benjamin

Scanners, directed by David Cronenberg – (Canada)

Sharky's Machine, directed by and starring Burt Reynolds, with Rachel Ward, Henry Silva, Vittorio Gassman, Charles Durning, Earl Holliman

Shaukeen, starring Ashok Kumar – (India)

Shikake-nin Baian – (Japan)

Shock Treatment, starring Jessica Harper and Cliff DeYoung

Short Working Day, directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski – (Poland)

Shaolin and Wu Tang (Shao Lin yu Wu Dang), Directed by Liu Chia-Hui, starring Adam Cheng, Gordon Liu and Wang Lung-wei – (Hong Kong)

The Simple-Minded Murderer (Den Enfaldige Mördaren), starring Stellan Skarsgård – (Sweden)

The Sixth (Shestoy) – (U.S.S.R.)

Smash Palace, directed by Roger Donaldson – (New Zealand)

Sogni d'oro (Golden Dreams), directed by and starring Nanni Moretti – (Italy)

Southern Comfort, directed by Walter Hill, starring Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe and Fred Ward

Sphinx, starring Lesley-Anne Down and Frank Langella

Station (Eki Station) – (Japan)

Strange Affair (Une étrange affaire), starring Michel Piccoli – (France)

Strange Behavior, starring Michael Murphy and Louise Fletcher – (New Zealand)

Stripes, directed by Ivan Reitman, starring Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates, John Larroquette, John Candy

Student Bodies

Suddenly at Midnight (Gipeun bam, gapjagi) – (South Korea)

Take This Job and Shove It, starring Robert Hays, Barbara Hershey, Art Carney

Tales of Ordinary Madness (Storie di ordinaria follia), starring Ben Gazzara and Ornella Muti – (Italy/France)

Taps, directed by Harold Becker, starring Timothy Hutton, George C. Scott, Ronny Cox, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise

Tarzan, the Ape Man, starring Bo Derek and Richard Harris

Tattoo, starring Bruce Dern and Maud Adams

Taxi zum Klo (Taxi to the Toilet) – (West Germany)

Teheran 43, starring Alain Delon – (U.S.S.R./France/Switzerland)

The Bushido Blade

They All Laughed, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Audrey Hepburn and Ben Gazzara

They Don't Wear Black Tie (Eles Não Usam Black-Tie) – (Brazil)

Thief aka Violent Streets, directed by Michael Mann, starring James Caan, Tuesday Weld, James Belushi, Robert Prosky

This Is Elvis, a documentary

Three Brothers (Tre fratelli), directed by Francesco Rosi – (Italy)

Threshold, directed by Richard Pearce, starring Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, Mare Winningham – (Canada)

Ticket to Heaven, starring Nick Mancuso, Saul Rubinek, Meg Foster – (Canada)

Time Bandits, directed by Terry Gilliam, starring John Cleese, Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall – (U.K.)

Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man (La tragedia di un uomo ridicolo), directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Ugo Tognazzi and Anouk Aimée – (Italy)

Tree of Knowledge (Kundskabens træ) – (Denmark)

True Confessions, directed by Ulu Grosbard, starring Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Charles Durning, Burgess Meredith, Kenneth McMillan

The True Story of Ah Q (Ā Q zhèng zhuàn) – (China)

Tuck Everlasting

Under the Rainbow, starring Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher and Billy Barty

Les Uns et les Autres, directed by Claude Lelouch – (France)

Útlaginn (Outlaw: The Saga of Gisli) – (Iceland)

Variola Vera – (Yugoslavia)

Vernon, Florida, a documentary

Whose Life Is It Anyway?, directed by John Badham, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Bob Balaban, Christine Lahti, John Cassavetes

Will, starring Robert Conrad

Wolfen, starring Albert Finney, Diane Venora and Gregory Hines

The Woman Next Door (La Femme d'à côté), directed by François Truffaut, starring Gérard Depardieu and Fanny Ardant – (France)

Woman Who Exposes Herself (Misetagaru onna) – (Japan)

Zoot Suit, starring Edward James Olmos

Zorro, The Gay Blade, starring George Hamilton, Lauren Hutton, Brenda Vaccaro, Ron Leibman

Highest-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1981 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: