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

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.



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.



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.



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.



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.



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.

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

De Niro. Raging Bull. Duh.

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.

Arnold.

He played the role of a robot perfectly.

Daniel Day Lewis

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

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

Yep

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

..Irons.

Deniro but Hopper in Blue Velvet is not far behind.

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.

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

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.

Gary Oldman - Sid & Nancy

I would add Morgan Freeman for Glory.

or what about Gary Oldman for Sid and Nancy?

Your comments about the poll should be posted by everyone.

Hackman in Mississippi Burning.

Remedy that.

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