Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha was - at $6 million - the most expensive film made in Japan by 1980 (it was part-funded by Fox, via Coppola and Lucas, who co-executive produced) and awards followed, including the Palme d'Or at Cannes. The story, told over an epic 179 minutes, concerns a robber (Nakadai) who is given a stay of execution by crucifixion to impersonate recently dead warlord Lord Shingen (also Nakadai) so as to maintain the continuity of his rule. The thief understandably hopes to milk the situation and enjoy the trappings of his role, but gradually he accepts its responsibilities in a moving comment on character and the notion of leadership.

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An explosive, funny, silly Second World War film starring Clint Eastwood and a barking Donald Sutherland as GIs out to get a little more than experience out of the war. Kelly's Heroes concerns Private Kelly (Eastwood), who learns of $16 million worth of gold bars behind enemy lines, and reveals a plan to steal it to his fellow soldiers. Kelly sets the heist in motion, backed by a colourful cast of characters that includes Sutherland, anachronistically playing a hippy called Oddball. A massive hit on its release and still influential.

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Perhaps the most harrowing and visceral film of the 1980s, The Killing Fields is unstinting in its cinematic and, more broadly, political intelligence. American journalist Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) remains in Cambodia after the Communist Khmer Rough takeover, but must leave when the situation becomes too murderous. Tragically his aide and guide, Dith Pran (Hang S Ngor), is unable to escape, and is consigned to a Khmer Rouge death camp. It's a potent, enthralling story, always intelligently told, with a palpable sense of moral outrage permeating every frame.

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