Films of 1988, Ranked
by solmaquina | created - 13 Mar 2020 | updated - 2 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Die Hard (1988)
R | 132 min | Action, Thriller
A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson
Votes: 946,066 | Gross: $83.01M
10/10
2. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Not Rated | 89 min | Animation, Drama, War
A young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.
Director: Isao Takahata | Stars: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Akemi Yamaguchi, Yoshiko Shinohara
Votes: 310,723
10/10
3. The Vanishing (1988)
Not Rated | 107 min | Mystery, Thriller
Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation. They stop at a busy service station and Saskia is abducted. After three years and no sign of Saskia, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor.
Director: George Sluizer | Stars: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege, Gwen Eckhaus
Votes: 44,289
9/10
4. Rain Man (1988)
R | 133 min | Drama
After a selfish L.A. yuppie learns his estranged father left a fortune to an autistic-savant brother in Ohio that he didn't know existed, he absconds with his brother and sets out across the country, hoping to gain a larger inheritance.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino, Gerald R. Molen
Votes: 546,866 | Gross: $178.80M
9/10
5. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
R | 174 min | Drama, Romance
A filmmaker recalls his childhood when falling in love with the pictures at the cinema of his home village and forms a deep friendship with the cinema's projectionist.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Philippe Noiret, Enzo Cannavale, Antonella Attili, Isa Danieli
Votes: 283,105 | Gross: $11.99M
8/10
6. Child's Play (1988)
R | 87 min | Horror, Thriller
A struggling single mother unknowingly gifts her son a doll imbued with a serial killer's consciousness.
Director: Tom Holland | Stars: Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent, Brad Dourif
Votes: 116,816 | Gross: $33.24M
8/10
7. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
PG-13 | 85 min | Comedy, Crime
Incompetent police Detective Frank Drebin must foil an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.
Director: David Zucker | Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, O.J. Simpson, Ricardo Montalban
Votes: 185,123 | Gross: $78.76M
8/10
8. Beetlejuice (1988)
PG | 92 min | Comedy, Fantasy
The spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home, and hire a malicious spirit to drive them out.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, Annie McEnroe
Votes: 340,364 | Gross: $73.71M
8/10
9. David Bowie: Glass Spider (1988 Video)
104 min | Documentary, Music
David Bowie's Glass Spider Tour show, held in November 1987 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Australia.
Director: David Mallet | Stars: David Bowie, Carlos Alomar, Alan Childs, Richard Cottle
Votes: 193
8/10
10. Big (1988)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
After wishing to be made big, a teenage boy wakes the next morning to find himself mysteriously in the body of an adult.
Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard
Votes: 240,115 | Gross: $114.97M
7/10
11. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
PG | 104 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
When a cartoon rabbit is accused of murder, he enlists the help of a burnt out private investigator to prove his innocence.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy, Charles Fleischer
Votes: 216,968 | Gross: $156.45M
7/10
12. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
R | 164 min | Drama
The life of Jesus Christ, his journey through life as he faces the struggles all humans do, and his final temptation on the cross.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Paul Greco
Votes: 63,190 | Gross: $7.63M
7/10
13. Coming to America (1988)
R | 117 min | Comedy, Romance
An extremely pampered African prince travels to Queens, New York and goes undercover to find a wife that he can respect for her intelligence and strong will.
Director: John Landis | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Paul Bates, Garcelle Beauvais, Feather
Votes: 223,672 | Gross: $128.15M
7/10
14. Story of Women (1988)
108 min | Drama, History, Romance
A housewife in Nazi-occupied France struggles to make ends meet when her husband returns home after being wounded in the war.
Director: Claude Chabrol | Stars: Isabelle Huppert, François Cluzet, Marie Trintignant, Nils Tavernier
Votes: 5,748 | Gross: $0.44M
7/10
15. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
PG | 126 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
An account of Baron Munchausen's supposed travels and fantastical experiences across late 18th-century Europe with his band of misfits.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: John Neville, Eric Idle, Sarah Polley, Oliver Reed
Votes: 56,890 | Gross: $8.08M
7/10
16. Oliver & Company (1988)
G | 74 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A lost and alone kitten joins a gang of dogs engaged in petty larceny in New York City.
Director: George Scribner | Stars: Joey Lawrence, Billy Joel, Cheech Marin, Richard Mulligan
Votes: 52,988 | Gross: $74.15M
6.5/10
17. Return of the Living Dead II (1988)
R | 89 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Curious kids unearth the barrels that previously helped revive the dead, which proves the second time's an undead charm.
Director: Ken Wiederhorn | Stars: James Karen, Thom Mathews, Michael Kenworthy, Thor Van Lingen
Votes: 21,560 | Gross: $9.21M
6.5/10
18. Midnight Run (1988)
R | 126 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A bounty hunter pursues a former Mafia accountant who is also being chased by a rival bounty hunter, the F.B.I., and his old mob boss after jumping bail.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton
Votes: 94,281 | Gross: $38.41M
6.5/10
19. Monkey Shines (1988)
R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A quadriplegic man has a trained monkey help him with his paralysis, until the little monkey begins to develop feelings, and rage, against its new master.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Jason Beghe, John Pankow, Kate McNeil, Joyce Van Patten
Votes: 13,035 | Gross: $5.34M
6/10
20. Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
R | 97 min | Horror, Thriller
Kirsty is brought to an institution after the horrible events of Hellraiser (1987), where the occult-obsessive head doctor resurrects Julia and unleashes the Cenobites and their demonic underworld.
Director: Tony Randel | Stars: Doug Bradley, Ashley Laurence, Clare Higgins, Kenneth Cranham
Votes: 56,167 | Gross: $11.09M
6/10
21. Willow (1988)
PG | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young farmer is chosen to undertake a perilous journey in order to protect a special baby from an evil queen.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Warwick Davis, Jean Marsh
Votes: 129,948 | Gross: $57.27M
6/10
22. The Land Before Time (1988)
G | 69 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
An orphaned brontosaurus teams up with other young dinosaurs in order to reunite with their families in a valley.
Director: Don Bluth | Stars: Pat Hingle, Gabriel Damon, Helen Shaver, Bill Erwin
Votes: 98,769 | Gross: $48.09M
6/10
23. Crocodile Dundee II (1988)
PG | 108 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Australian outback expert protects his New York love from gangsters who've followed her down under.
Director: John Cornell | Stars: Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, John Meillon, Ernie Dingo
Votes: 60,855 | Gross: $109.31M
6/10
24. Scrooged (1988)
PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A selfish, cynical television executive is haunted by three spirits bearing lessons on Christmas Eve.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, John Glover
Votes: 116,458 | Gross: $60.33M
6/10
25. Twins (1988)
PG | 107 min | Comedy, Crime
A physically perfect but innocent man goes in search of his long-lost twin brother, who is short, a womanizer, and small-time crook.
Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, Kelly Preston, Chloe Webb
Votes: 137,343 | Gross: $111.94M
5.5/10
26. Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (1988 TV Movie)
Unrated | 92 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
Shaggy is turned into a werewolf, and it's up to Scooby, Scrappy and his girlfriend to help him win the contest.
Director: Ray Patterson | Stars: Don Messick, Casey Kasem, Hamilton Camp, Jim Cummings
Votes: 5,162
5.5/10
27. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
R | 108 min | Comedy, Crime
In London, four very different people team up on a jewel heist, then try to double-cross one another for the loot, complicated by their efforts to fool a very proper barrister.
Directors: Charles Crichton, John Cleese | Stars: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin
Votes: 153,977 | Gross: $63.49M
5.5/10
28. Dead Ringers (1988)
R | 116 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
Twin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jeremy Irons, Geneviève Bujold, Heidi von Palleske, Barbara Gordon
Votes: 53,614 | Gross: $9.13M
5.5/10
29. Vampire's Kiss (1988)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Crime, Fantasy
After an encounter with a neck-biter, a publishing executive thinks that he's turning into a vampire.
Director: Robert Bierman | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Maria Conchita Alonso, Jennifer Beals, Elizabeth Ashley
Votes: 20,936 | Gross: $0.73M
5/10
30. Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)
PG | 100 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A Southern California girl befriends three furry aliens after their spaceship lands in her swimming pool.
Director: Julien Temple | Stars: Geena Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans
Votes: 25,226 | Gross: $3.92M
5/10
31. The Blob (1988)
R | 95 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A deadly entity from space crash-lands near a small town and begins consuming everyone in its path. Panic ensues as shady government scientists try to contain the horrific creature.
Director: Chuck Russell | Stars: Shawnee Smith, Kevin Dillon, Donovan Leitch Jr., Jeffrey DeMunn
Votes: 43,552 | Gross: $8.25M
5/10
32. The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
R | 98 min | Fantasy, Horror
An anthropologist goes to Haiti after hearing rumors about a drug used by black magic practitioners to turn people into zombies.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Bill Pullman, Cathy Tyson, Zakes Mokae, Paul Winfield
Votes: 27,652 | Gross: $19.60M
4.5/10
33. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
G | 86 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
When two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wondrous forest spirits who live nearby.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Hitoshi Takagi, Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, Shigesato Itoi
Votes: 380,606 | Gross: $1.11M
4.5/10
34. School Daze (1988)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
A not so popular young man wants to pledge to a popular fraternity at his historically black college.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Campbell, Kyme
Votes: 8,039 | Gross: $14.55M
4.5/10
35. They Live (1988)
R | 94 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
They influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George 'Buck' Flower
Votes: 145,603 | Gross: $13.01M
4.5/10
36. Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 92 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
While working as gym teachers at an all-girls finishing school, Scooby-Doo, Shaggy and Scrappy-Doo get tangled up in a monstrous mystery.
Directors: Charles Nichols, Ray Patterson | Stars: Remy Auberjonois, Susan Blu, Hamilton Camp, Jeff Cohen
Votes: 6,025
4.5/10
37. Big Top Pee-wee (1988)
PG | 86 min | Adventure, Comedy, Romance
Pee-wee Herman is now a small-town farmer with a fiancée, but when a traveling circus comes to town, he finds himself falling for the trapeze artist.
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: Paul Reubens, Penelope Ann Miller, Kris Kristofferson, Valeria Golino
Votes: 10,150 | Gross: $15.12M
4/10
38. The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)
PG | 92 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Men seeking relief from the Black Death, guided by a boy's vision, dig a tunnel from 14th century England to 20th century New Zealand.
Director: Vincent Ward | Stars: Bruce Lyons, Chris Haywood, Hamish Gough, Marshall Napier
Votes: 3,982 | Gross: $1.33M
4/10
39. Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988)
PG | 90 min | Comedy, Crime
The Police Academy's commandant will be honored at a police convention in Miami Beach. At the airport he picks a wrong bag with stolen diamonds. The "owners" want them back.
Director: Alan Myerson | Stars: Bubba Smith, David Graf, Michael Winslow, Leslie Easterbrook
Votes: 38,394 | Gross: $4.24M
4/10
40. Slugs (1988)
R | 89 min | Horror
Killer slugs on the rampage in a rural community.
Director: Juan Piquer Simón | Stars: Michael Garfield, Kim Terry, Philip MacHale, Alicia Moro
Votes: 5,817
4/10
41. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
R | 88 min | Horror, Thriller
Ten years after his original massacre, the invalid Michael Myers awakens on Halloween Eve and returns to Haddonfield to kill his seven-year-old niece. Can Dr. Loomis stop him?
Director: Dwight H. Little | Stars: Donald Pleasence, Ellie Cornell, Danielle Harris, George P. Wilbur
Votes: 58,660 | Gross: $17.77M
4/10
42. Never on Tuesday (1988)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama
After their cars collide on a desert highway in the middle of nowhere, two friends and a woman they both like must wait for someone to pass by and help them. Unfortunately, those who do stop turn out to be criminals, eccentrics or wackos.
Director: Adam Rifkin | Stars: Claudia Christian, Andy Lauer, Peter Berg, Dave Anderson
Votes: 2,313
4/10
43. Ariel (1988)
Not Rated | 72 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
A Finnish man goes to the city to find a job after the mine where he worked is closed and his father commits suicide.
Director: Aki Kaurismäki | Stars: Turo Pajala, Susanna Haavisto, Matti Pellonpää, Eetu Hilkamo
Votes: 8,341
3.5/10
44. Rambo III (1988)
R | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
Rambo mounts a one-man mission to rescue his friend Colonel Trautman from the clutches of the formidable invading Soviet forces in Afghanistan.
Director: Peter MacDonald | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Marc de Jonge, Kurtwood Smith
Votes: 140,250 | Gross: $53.72M
3.5/10
45. Zombie 3 (1988)
R | 84 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
When a terrorist's body, infected with a stolen chemical, is cremated by the US military, a virus is unintentionally released into the atmosphere over a small island.
Directors: Lucio Fulci, Claudio Fragasso, Bruno Mattei | Stars: Deran Sarafian, Beatrice Ring, Ottaviano Dell'Acqua, Massimo Vanni
Votes: 5,498
3/10
46. Pumpkinhead (1988)
R | 86 min | Fantasy, Horror
After a tragic accident, a man conjures up a towering, vengeful demon called Pumpkinhead to destroy a group of unsuspecting teenagers.
Director: Stan Winston | Stars: Lance Henriksen, Jeff East, John D'Aquino, Kimberly Ross
Votes: 27,844 | Gross: $4.39M
3/10
47. Ernest Saves Christmas (1988)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Ernest helps Santa Claus as he searches for his successor.
Director: John R. Cherry III | Stars: Jim Varney, Douglas Seale, Oliver Clark, Noelle Parker
Votes: 12,866 | Gross: $28.20M
2.5/10
48. Akira (1988)
R | 124 min | Animation, Action, Drama
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath who can only be stopped by a teenager, his gang of biker friends and a group of psychics.
Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo | Stars: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, Tesshô Genda
Votes: 205,402 | Gross: $0.55M
2/10
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