Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Lots of great work in the 80's. Which is your favorite?

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

EDIT: I reread and saw you were looking for just one favorite. Ah well, I had written this whole thing out! But Jeremy is the top of my list.

1988 - Jeremy Irons, Dead Ringers. Few actors get the chance to play a really meaty role. Fewer still knock it out of the park. Irons did it twice in one movie.

http://www.gmanreviews.com/wp-conten...remy-Irons.jpg

1988 - Willem Dafoe, The Last Temptation of Christ. Dafoe imbues the role of Jesus with a sad humanity, making the burdens of a God all too unbearable.

http://www.papermag.com/uploaded_ima...itel-pic-7.jpg

1981 - Jurgen Prochnow, Das Boot. Prochnow's captain does not have the luxury of fooling himself about his chances against the Allied Naval forces, nor can he afford to not be a hopeful leader to his crew.

http://swoonworthy.net/wp-content/up...das-boot-5.jpg

1983 - Sam Shepard, The Right Stuff. Shepard's Chuck Yeager isn't greedy or brash, but you can see how heartbroken he is when he's no longer the forefront of aviation's success.

http://www.palzoo.net/file/pic/gallery/11805_view.jpg

1983 - Christopher Walken, The Dead Zone. In lesser hands the psychic could have been a cartoon, but a largely subdued Walken fills the role admirably.

http://www.moviesonline.ca/wp-conten...lken-pic-3.jpg

1987 - Richard E. Grant, Withnail & I. The consummate alcoholic egotistical bastard, spouting diseased rejoinders and vitriol at the whole world to distract himself from very real depression.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmu23cu4Px1qbx9d8.jpg

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Other then being forced to watch Ghandi in high school social studies, I haven't seen a single one of the movies listed.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

De Niro. Raging Bull. Duh.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Of the 20 titles listed, I was stunned to realize I've only seen seven, five of them when they came out. The '80s was not my favorite moviegoing decade. I don't know that I can pick one of these, nor can I think offhand of any performance not on the list that I would include.

I like James Woods in SALVADOR a lot, but I think that's more a case of Woods being allowed to be himself unrestrained on camera, rather than a case of actual acting.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Arnold.

He played the role of a robot perfectly.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Daniel Day Lewis

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

I'll take Dustin Hoffman...but not in Tootsie...in Rain Man (1988).

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

From the list, it's a toss-up between Irons and Deniro. And I would agree that Hoffman was better in Rain Man.

Guess I'll go with Irons since it's a 2for1 performance :)

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Yep

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

No love for Peter O'Toole in My Favorite Year?

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

..Irons.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Deniro but Hopper in Blue Velvet is not far behind.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Man that's a weak poll.

Newman was excellent in 'Absence of Malice' of course, I love that film and have watched it many times, but he did 'The Verdict' in the 80's. 'Tootsie'? Come on... Jodie Foster in any best acting poll? Cher in 'Mask'? The only decent performances she ever gave were in 'Moonstruck' and maybe 'Silkwood', both form the 1980's. No Robert Duvall for 'Tender Mercies' or 'The Great Santini'? No Chris Walken in 'At Close Range'? Man...

As strong as Deniro is in 'Raging Bull', a sound choice by anyone, I would go with Newman in 'The Verdict'. He was never better than that, and that's a virtuoso performance. Particularly so in the small scenes and moments.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Love Newman in The Verdict. That whole film is fantastic.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

This thread reminds me of how many movies I need to catch up on. :(

I saw My Left Foot earlier this year and Daniel Day-Lewis was incredible.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Gary Oldman - Sid & Nancy

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

I would add Morgan Freeman for Glory.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

or what about Gary Oldman for Sid and Nancy?

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Your comments about the poll should be posted by everyone.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Hackman in Mississippi Burning.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Remedy that.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Heck, Freeman for almost anything he did in the 80s.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

I consider Meryl Streep's performance in Sophie's Choice to be the best ever captured on film, so that one.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

OP here... sorry to present such a haphazard poll. I certainly left off a lot of great performances, but the hour was late and at least I included the "other" option. -wink-

Thanks for those participating and your feedback in always valued. :thumbsup:

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Some honorable mentions

Klaus Kinski - Fitzcarraldo
Tatsuya Nakadai - Ran & Kagemusha
John Hurt - The Elephant Man & 1984
Sean Penn - The Falcon & the Snowman
Treat Williams - Prince of the City
John Heard - Cutter's Way
James Caan - Thief
John Travolta - Blow Out
Bob Hoskins - The Long Good Friday & Mona Lisa
Stacy Keach - The Ninth Configuration
Gena Rowlands - Gloria
Theresa Russell - Bad Timing
Jack Lemmon - Missing
Robert DeNiro - The King of Comedy
Robert Duvall - Tender Mercies
Eric Roberts - Star 80
Jon Voight - Runaway Train
Harry Dean Stanton - Paris, Texas
Michael Rooker - Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Max Von Sydow - Pelle the Conqueror
Mickey Rourke - Barfly
Robert Downey Jr. - Less Than Zero
Daniel Day-Lewis - The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Forest Whitaker - Bird
Martin Landau - Crimes and Misdemeanors
Michael Gambon - The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover
Jennifer Jason Leigh - Last Exit to Brooklyn
Anthony Perkins - Crimes of Passion (a bit over the top but I love it)

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Henry Fonda - ON GOLDEN POND
Sean Penn - BAD BOYS
Timothy Hutton - TAPS
Ricardo Montalban - STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Speaking...

Shatner:
60s-TV
70s-wilderness
80s-cinema

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

I'm guessing a lot of you haven't seen My Left Foot? Because if you've seen it, you know it's one of the greatest performances not just of the 80's but of all-time.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Fuck you for not including Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds. Also Booger. Also all the nerds.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

This one gets a nod from me even though there are a few others I might put in front of this, but still, very underappreciated performance.

https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/im...z0jttayx_xrE9Q

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

I honestly was about to mention this performace. Harrison Ford is scary and completely convincing in this role. An underrated Peter Weir film and by far Ford's most underrated and overlooked performance.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

People always say 'Witness' was his best but I've always thought this performance and his in 'Frantic' were better.

Wish he still took roles that demanded ANYTHING at all. Sad really.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Yes, it's his best performance...and I think the only unsympathetic starring role he has ever undertaken.

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan


epic!!!!

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

:thumbsup:

Re: Best Acting performance of the 80's?
 

Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons. Just a stunning performance on all levels.
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