The following is an overview of events in 1988 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths. Rain Man was awarded the Academy Award for Best Picture, marking one of the few instances where the top-grossing film of the year was also the winner of such an award that year.
Highest-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1988 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Awards
Academy Awards
- Best Picture: Rain Man - Mirage Entertainment, Star Partners II, United Artists
- Best Director: Barry Levinson - Rain Man
- Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman - Rain Man
- Best Actress: Jodie Foster - The Accused
- Best Supporting Actor: Kevin Kline - A Fish Called Wanda
- Best Supporting Actress: Geena Davis - The Accidental Tourist
- Best Foreign Language Film: Pelle the Conqueror (Pelle erobreren), directed by Bille August, Denmark
Golden Globe Awards
Drama
- Best Picture: Rain Man
- Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman â" Rain Man
- Best Actress (tie): Jodie Foster â" The Accused
- Best Actress (tie): Sigourney Weaver â" Gorillas in the Mist
- Best Actress (tie): Shirley MacLaine - Madame Sousatzka
Musical or comedy
- Best Picture: Working Girl
- Best Actor: Tom Hanks â" Big
- Best Actress: Melanie Griffith â" Working Girl
Other
- Best Director: Clint Eastwood â" Bird
- Best Foreign Language Film: Pelle the Conqueror, Denmark
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival)
- Pelle the Conqueror (Pelle erobreren), directed by Bille August, Denmark
Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival)
- La leggenda del santo bevitore (The Legend of the Holy Drinker), directed by Ermanno Olmi, Italy / France
Golden Bear (Berlin International Film Festival)
- Red Sorghum (Hong gao liang), directed by Zhang Yimou, China
Golden Raspberry Awards
- Worst Picture: Cocktail (Touchstone)
- Worst Actor: Sylvester Stallone in Rambo III
- Worst Actress: Liza Minnelli in Arthur 2: On the Rocks and Rent-a-Cop
- Worst Supporting Actor: Dan Aykroyd in Caddyshack II
- Worst Supporting Actress: Kristy McNichol in Two Moon Junction
- Worst Director: Blake Edwards for Sunset, and Stewart Raffill for Mac and Me (tie)
- Worst Screenplay: Cocktail, screenplay by Heywood Gould, based on his book
- Worst New Star: Ronald McDonald (as himself) in Mac and Me
- Worst Original Song: "Jack Fresh" from Caddyshack II, written and performed by Full Force
Notable films released in 1988
U.S.A. unless stated
Numerals and A-B
- #
- 18 Again!, starring George Burns
- 1969, starring Robert Downey, Jr., Kiefer Sutherland, Winona Ryder
- A
- The Abyss (L'Å'uvre au noir), starring Gian Maria Volonté - (France/Belgium)
- Above the Law, starring Steven Seagal and Pam Grier
- The Accidental Tourist, directed by Lawrence Kasdan, starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis, Bill Pullman
- The Accused, directed by Jonathan Kaplan, starring Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis - (Canada)
- Action Jackson, starring Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone
- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, directed by Terry Gilliam, starring John Neville, Eric Idle, Uma Thurman - (U.K.)
- Akira - (Japan)
- Alice (NÄco z Alenky) - (Czechoslovakia)
- Alien Nation, starring James Caan and Mandy Patinkin
- Amsterdamned - (Netherlands)
- Another Woman, directed by Woody Allen, starring Gena Rowlands, Mia Farrow, Ian Holm, Gene Hackman
- Appointment With Death, starring Peter Ustinov (as Hercule Poirot), Lauren Bacall, Piper Laurie, John Gielgud, Hayley Mills, Carrie Fisher
- Ariel, directed by Aki Kaurismäki - (Finland)
- Ashik Kerib, directed by Sergei Parajanov (Soviet Union)
- Arthur 2: On the Rocks, starring Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, Kathy Bates
- As Tears Go By (Wong gok Kaa mun), directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Andy Lau and Maggie Cheung - (Hong Kong)
- Aviya's Summer (HaKayitz Shel Aviya) - (Israel)
- B
- Bad Dreams, directed by Andrew Fleming, starring Jennifer Rubin
- Bat*21, starring Gene Hackman and Danny Glover
- Beaches, directed by Garry Marshall, starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey
- The Bear (L'Ours), directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud - (France)
- Bear Ye One Another's Burden (Einer trage des anderen Last) - (East Germany)
- The Beast, starring George Dzundza and Jason Patric
- Beetlejuice, directed by Tim Burton, starring Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Winona Ryder
- Betrayed, directed by Costa-Gavras, starring Debra Winger and Tom Berenger
- Big, directed by Penny Marshall, starring Tom Hanks
- The Big Blue, directed by Luc Besson, starring Rosanna Arquette, Jean-Marc Barr, Jean Reno - (France/U.S.A./Italy)
- Big Business, directed by Jim Abrahams, starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin
- Big Time, a musical starring Tom Waits
- Big Top Pee-wee, directed by Randal Kleiser, starring Paul Reubens, Valeria Golino, Penelope Ann Miller, Kris Kristofferson
- Biloxi Blues, directed by Mike Nichols, starring Matthew Broderick and Christopher Walken
- Bird, directed by Clint Eastwood, starring Forest Whitaker and Diane Venora
- Black Eagle, starring Sho Kosugi and Jean-Claude Van Damme
- Blind Justice, aka Hold My Hand I'm Dying, directed by Terence Ryan, starring Oliver Reed
- The Blob, starring Kevin Dillon and Shawnee Smith
- Bloodsport, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Forest Whitaker
- Bloodstone, directed by Dwight H. Little, starring Rajinikanth
- La Bohème, by Luigi Comencini
- The Boost, directed by Harold Becker, starring James Woods, Sean Young, Steven Hill, Amanda Blake
- Brain Damage, directed by Frank Henenlotter
- Bright Lights, Big City, directed by James Bridges, starring Michael J. Fox, Kiefer Sutherland, Phoebe Cates, Dianne Wiest
- Bull Durham, directed by Ron Shelton, starring Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins
- Bulletproof, starring Gary Busey
- Burning Secret, starring Klaus Maria Brandauer and Faye Dunaway - (U.K./West Germany)
- Buster, starring Phil Collins and Julie Walters - (U.K.)
C-G
- C
- Caddyshack II, starring Jackie Mason, Dyan Cannon, Robert Stack, Dina Merrill, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd
- Call Me, starring Patricia Charbonneau
- Camille Claudel, starring Isabelle Adjani and Gérard Depardieu - (France)
- Candy Mountain - (Switzerland/Canada/France)
- Cannibal Tours - (Australia)
- The Cannibals (Os Canibais) - (Portugal)
- The Cat Who Walked by Herself (Koshka, kotoraya gulyala sama po sebe) - (U.S.S.R.)
- Celia - (Australia)
- Chicken and Duck Talk (Gai tung aap gong) - (Hong Kong)
- Child's Play, starring Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Brad Dourif, Alex Vincent
- Chilsu and Mansu (ì¹ ìì ë§ì), directed by Park Kwang-su - (South Korea)
- Chithram (Picture), starring Mohanlal - (India)
- Chocolat, directed by Claire Denis - (France/Cameroon)
- The Chocolate War
- A Chorus of Disapproval, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jeremy Irons - (U.K.)
- Cinema Paradiso, starring Philippe Noiret - winner of Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for best foreign language film - (Italy)
- Clara's Heart, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Neil Patrick Harris
- Clean and Sober, directed by Glenn Gordon Caron, starring Michael Keaton, Morgan Freeman, Kathy Baker
- Cocktail, starring Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, Elisabeth Shue
- Cocoon: The Return, starring Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Courteney Cox, Jessica Tandy
- Colors, directed by Dennis Hopper, starring Robert Duvall, Sean Penn, MarÃa Conchita Alonso
- Coming to America, directed by John Landis, starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Madge Sinclair, Shari Headley, John Amos
- Consuming Passions, starring Jonathan Pryce - (U.K.)
- Cop, starring James Woods and Lesley Ann Warren
- The Couch Trip, directed by Michael Ritchie, starring Dan Aykroyd, Charles Grodin, Donna Dixon, Mary Gross, Walter Matthau
- "Crocodile" Dundee II, starring Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski - (Australia)
- Crossing Delancey, starring Amy Irving and Peter Riegert
- A Cry in the Dark (aka Evil Angels), directed by Fred Schepisi, starring Meryl Streep and Sam Neill - (Australia/U.S.A.)
- D
- Da, starring Barnard Hughes and Martin Sheen
- Dadah is Death, starring Julie Christie and Hugo Weaving - (Australia)
- Daffy Duck's Quackbusters
- Damnation (Karhozat), directed by Béla Tarr - (Hungary)
- Dancing in the Dust - Ivorian polygyny film
- Dangerous Liaisons, directed by Stephen Frears, starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Uma Thurman, Keanu Reeves
- The Dawning, starring Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Grant, Rebecca Pidgeon - (U.K.)
- Days of Eclipse (Dni zatmeniya) - (U.S.S.R.)
- Dead Heat, starring Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo
- The Dead Pool, starring Clint Eastwood, Liam Neeson, Patricia Clarkson, Jim Carrey
- Dead Ringers, directed by David Cronenberg, starring Jeremy Irons and Geneviève Bujold - (Canada/U.S.A.)
- Dead Solid Perfect, starring Randy Quaid, Kathryn Harrold, Corinne Bohrer
- The Deceivers, starring Pierce Brosnan, Saeed Jaffrey and Shashi Kapoor - (India)
- The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, starring Aerosmith, Kiss, Motörhead and Ozzy Osbourne
- Die Hard, directed by John McTiernan, starring Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, Alan Rickman
- Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, directed by Frank Oz, starring Steve Martin, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly
- Distant Thunder, starring John Lithgow and Ralph Macchio
- Distant Voices, Still Lives, starring Pete Postlethwaite - (U.K.)
- D.O.A., starring Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan
- Dominick and Eugene, starring Tom Hulce, Ray Liotta, Jamie Lee Curtis
- Dragons Forever (Fei lung maang jeung), starring Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung - (Hong Kong)
- Dream Demon, starring Jemma Redgrave - (U.K.)
- The Dressmaker, starring Joan Plowright and Billie Whitelaw - (U.K.)
- Drowning by Numbers, directed by Peter Greenaway, starring Joan Plowright and Joely Richardson - (U.K.)
- E
- Earth Girls Are Easy, directed by Julien Temple, starring Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, Jim Carrey
- Eight Men Out, directed by John Sayles, starring John Cusack, David Strathairn, John Mahoney, Michael Rooker, D. B. Sweeney, Charlie Sheen
- The Eighth Happiness (Baat seng bou hei), starring Chow Yun-fat - (Hong Kong)
- Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, starring Cassandra Peterson
- Ernest Saves Christmas, starring Jim Varney
- The Everlasting Secret Family
- Everybody's All-American, directed by Taylor Hackford, starring Dennis Quaid, Jessica Lange, Timothy Hutton, Patricia Clarkson, John Goodman
- F
- Far North, directed by Sam Shepard, starring Jessica Lange
- Feds, starring Rebecca De Mornay and Mary Gross
- The First Kangaroos, starring Dennis Waterman - (U.K./Australia)
- A Fish Called Wanda, directed by Charles Crichton, starring John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin - (U.K./U.S.A.)
- Frantic, directed by Roman Polanski, starring Harrison Ford
- Fresh Horses, directed by David Anspaugh, starring Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy
- Fright Night II, starring William Ragsdale and Roddy McDowall
- The Fruit Machine, directed by Philip Saville - (U.K.)
- Full Moon in Blue Water, starring Gene Hackman and Teri Garr
- Funny Farm, starring Chevy Chase
- G
- The Gamble, starring Matthew Modine, Faye Dunaway, Jennifer Beals - (Italy)
- Georgia, starring Judy Davis - (Australia)
- Ghosts⦠of the Civil Dead - (Australia)
- The Good Mother, starring Diane Keaton and Liam Neeson
- Gorillas in the Mist, directed by Michael Apted, starring Sigourney Weaver
- Gotham (aka) The Dead Can't Lie, starring Tommy Lee Jones and Virginia Madsen
- Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka) - (Japan)
- The Great Outdoors, directed by Howard Deutch, starring Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Annette Bening
H-M
- H
- Hairspray, directed by John Waters, starring Ricki Lake, Divine, Jerry Stiller, Sonny Bono, Deborah Harry
- A Handful of Dust, starring James Wilby and Kristin Scott Thomas - (U.K.)
- Hanna's War, starring Ellen Burstyn
- Hanussen, directed by István Szabó, starring Klaus Maria Brandauer - (Hungary)
- Hatya, starring Govinda and Neelam - (India)
- Hawks, starring Timothy Dalton and Anthony Edwards - (U.K.)
- Heart of a Dog (Sobachye serdtse) - (U.S.S.R.)
- Heart of Midnight, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh
- Heartbreak Hotel, directed by Chris Columbus, starring David Keith
- Hellbound: Hellraiser II - (U.K./U.S.A.)
- Hero Hiralal, starring Naseeruddin Shah - (India)
- High Hopes, directed by Mike Leigh - (U.K.)
- High Spirits, directed by Neil Jordan, starring Peter O'Toole, Steve Guttenberg, Daryl Hannah
- Hot to Trot, starring Bobcat Goldthwait and Dabney Coleman
- Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (Hôtel Terminus: Klaus Barbie, sa vie et son temps), directed by Marcel Ophüls - (France)
- The House on Carroll Street, directed by Peter Yates, starring Kelly McGillis and Jeff Daniels
- How Poets are Enjoying Their Lives (Jak básnÃkům chutná život) - (Czechoslovakia)
- I
- Illegally Yours, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Rob Lowe and Colleen Camp
- I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, directed by and starring Keenen Ivory Wayans
- Iron Eagle II, starring Louis Gossett, Jr.
- It Couldn't Happen Here, starring Pet Shop Boys - (U.K.)
- J
- Johnny Be Good, starring Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Downey, Jr., Uma Thurman
- K
- Kamilla and the Thief (Kamilla og Tyven) - (Norway)
- Kansas, starring Matt Dillon and Andrew McCarthy
- Killer Klowns from Outer Space
- The Kiss, starring Joanna PacuÅa and Meredith Salenger - (U.S.A./Canada)
- Kung-Fu Master (a.k.a. Le Petit Amour), starring Jane Birkin and Charlotte Gainsbourg - (France)
- L
- The Lair of the White Worm, directed by Ken Russell, starring Amanda Donohoe and Hugh Grant - (U.K.)
- The Land Before Time, directed by Don Bluth
- Landscape in the Mist (Topio stin omichli) - (Greece)
- Last Rites, starring Daphne Zuniga, Tom Berenger, Anne Twomey
- The Last Temptation of Christ, directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey
- La Leggenda del Santo Bevitore (The Legend Of The Holy Drinker), starring Rutger Hauer - Golden Lion award - (Italy/France)
- License to Drive, starring Corey Haim and Corey Feldman
- Life Is a Long Quiet River (La vie est un long fleuve tranquille) - (France)
- Light Years (Gandahar) - (France)
- The Little Devil (Il Piccolo Diavolo), starring Walter Matthau, Roberto Benigni (also director) - (Italy)
- Little Dorrit, starring Derek Jacobi and Alec Guinness - (U.K.)
- Little Vera (Malenkaya Vera) - (U.S.S.R.)
- Love and Fear (Fürchten und Lieben|Trois Soeurs), starring Fanny Ardant, Greta Scacchi, Valeria Golino - (West Germany/France/Italy)
- M
- Madame Sousatzka, directed by John Schlesinger, starring Shirley MacLaine - (U.K.)
- Maison Ikkoku: The Final Chapter - (Japan)
- Mapantsula - (South Africa)
- Married to the Mob, directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell, Oliver Platt, Mercedes Ruehl, Alec Baldwin
- Masquerade, directed by Bob Swaim, starring Rob Lowe, Meg Tilly, Kim Cattrall
- Memories of Me, directed by Henry Winkler, starring Billy Crystal and Alan King
- Men Behind the Sun (hÄ"i tà i yáng) - (Hong Kong)
- Messenger of Death, directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Charles Bronson, Trish Van Devere, Laurence Luckinbill, John Ireland
- Midnight Run, directed by Martin Brest, starring Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton, Dennis Farina
- The Milagro Beanfield War, directed by Robert Redford, starring Rubén Blades, Sônia Braga, Christopher Walken, Melanie Griffith
- Miles from Home, starring Richard Gere and Kevin Anderson
- Miracle Mile, starring Mare Winningham and Anthony Edwards
- Mississippi Burning, directed by Alan Parker, starring Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (KidÅ Senshi Gandamu: GyakushÅ« no ShÄ) - (Japan)
- The Moderns, directed by Alan Rudolph, starring Keith Carradine, Linda Fiorentino, John Lone
- Monkey Shines, directed by George A. Romero, starring Jason Beghe, John Pankow, Stanley Tucci
- Moon over Parador, directed by Paul Mazursky, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Raúl Juliá, Sônia Braga
- Moonwalker, starring Michael Jackson
- Moscow Elegy - (U.S.S.R.)
- Moving, starring Richard Pryor
- Mr. North, directed by Danny Huston, starring Anthony Edwards, Robert Mitchum, Lauren Bacall, Virginia Madsen, Anjelica Huston
- The Music Teacher (Le maître de musique) - (Belgium)
- My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro) - (Japan)
- My Stepmother Is an Alien, directed by Richard Benjamin, starring Kim Basinger, Dan Aykroyd, Alyson Hannigan
- Mystic Pizza, starring Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts, Lili Taylor
N-Z
- N
- The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, directed by David Zucker, starring Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, O. J. Simpson
- The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey - (New Zealand)
- Necromancer
- The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking - (Sweden/U.S.A.)
- A New Life, directed by and starring Alan Alda, with Ann-Margret, John Shea, Hal Linden, Veronica Hamel
- O
- Off Limits, starring Willem Dafoe and Gregory Hines
- Oliver & Company, voices of Joey Lawrence, Billy Joel, Dom DeLuise
- P
- Painted Faces (Cat siu fuk), starring Sammo Hung - (Hong Kong)
- Paperhouse, starring Ben Cross - (U.K.)
- Pascali's Island, starring Ben Kingsley and Helen Mirren - (U.K.)
- Pass the Ammo, starring Tim Curry, Linda Kozlowski, Annie Potts, Bill Paxton
- Patty Hearst, starring Natasha Richardson
- Plain Clothes, starring Arliss Howard and Suzy Amis
- Police Story 2 (Ging chaat goo si juk jaap), starring Jackie Chan and Maggie Cheung - (Hong Kong)
- Poltergeist 3, starring Heather O'Rourke, Tom Skerritt, Nancy Allen
- Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw
- The Presidio, directed by Peter Hyams, starring Sean Connery, Mark Harmon, Meg Ryan
- The Prince of Pennsylvania, starring Keanu Reeves, Amy Madigan, Bonnie Bedelia, Fred Ward
- Prison, starring Viggo Mortensen
- Prisoner of Rio, starring Steven Berkoff - (Poland/U.K./Brazil)
- Punchline, directed by David Seltzer, starring Sally Field, Tom Hanks, John Goodman
- Purple People Eater
- Q
- Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (From Disaster to Disaster) - (India)
- Quelques jours avec moi (A Few Days with Me), starring Daniel Auteuil and Sandrine Bonnaire - (France)
- R
- Rain Man, directed by Barry Levinson, starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise - Academy and Golden Globe (drama) for Best Picture and Golden Bear (for 1989)
- Rambo III, starring Sylvester Stallone and Richard Crenna
- Rattle and Hum, a rockumentary featuring U2
- Red Heat, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Belushi
- Rented Lips, directed by Robert Downey, Sr., starring Martin Mull, Dick Shawn, Jennifer Tilly, Robert Downey, Jr.
- The Rescue, starring Kevin Dillon
- Return to Snowy River - (Australia)
- Rouge (Jin Zi Kau), starring Leslie Cheung - (Hong Kong)
- Run for Your Life, starring David Carradine, Lauren Hutton, Franco Nero - (Italy)
- Running on Empty, directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Christine Lahti, Judd Hirsch, River Phoenix, Martha Plimpton
- S
- Salaam Bombay!, directed by Mira Nair - (India/U.K.)
- Salome's Last Dance, directed by Ken Russell - (U.K.)
- Sathya - (Sri Lanka)
- School Daze, directed by Spike Lee, starring Laurence Fishburne and Giancarlo Esposito
- Scrooged, directed by Richard Donner, starring Bill Murray, Karen Allen, Carol Kane, Alfre Woodard, John Glover, Bobcat Goldthwait
- The Secret of the Sahara, directed by Alberto Negrin, starring Michael York and Andie MacDowell
- The Seventh Sign, starring Demi Moore, Michael Biehn and Jürgen Prochnow
- Shadows in the Storm, starring Mia Sara, Michael Madsen, Ned Beatty
- Shakedown, aka Blue Jean Cop, starring Peter Weller and Sam Elliott
- She's Having a Baby, directed by John Hughes, starring Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth McGovern, Alec Baldwin
- Shoot to Kill, aka Deadly Pursuit, starring Sidney Poitier and Tom Berenger
- Short Circuit 2, starring Fisher Stevens
- A Short Film About Killing (Krótki film o zabijaniu) - (Poland)
- A Short Film About Love (Krótki film o miÅoÅci), directed by Krzysztof KieÅlowski - (Poland)
- Some Girls, directed by Michael Hoffman, starring Patrick Dempsey and Jennifer Connelly
- Soursweet, directed by Mike Newell - (U.K.)
- Space Mutiny, directed by David Winters - (South Africa)
- Spike of Bensonhurst, starring Sasha Mitchell, Ernest Borgnine
- Split Decisions, starring Craig Sheffer, Jeff Fahey, Jennifer Beals, Gene Hackman
- Stand and Deliver, starring Edward James Olmos and Lou Diamond Phillips
- Stars and Bars, starring Daniel Day-Lewis
- Stealing Heaven, starring Derek de Lint and Kim Thomson - (U.K.)
- Stealing Home, starring Mark Harmon and Jodie Foster
- Story of Women (Une affaire de femmes), directed by Claude Chabrol, starring Isabelle Huppert - (France)
- A Summer Story, starring James Wilby, Imogen Stubbs, Susannah York - (U.K.)
- Sunset, directed by Blake Edwards, starring James Garner, Bruce Willis, Malcolm McDowell, Kathleen Quinlan, Mariel Hemingway
- Sur (South) - (Argentina)
- Sweet Hearts Dance, starring Don Johnson, Susan Sarandon, Elizabeth Perkins, Jeff Daniels
- Sweet Lies, starring Treat Williams
- Switching Channels, directed by Ted Kotcheff, starring Kathleen Turner, Burt Reynolds, Christopher Reeve
- T
- Taffin, starring Pierce Brosnan, Ray McAnally, Alison Doody - (Ireland)
- Tales from the Gimli Hospital - (Canada)
- Talk Radio, directed by Oliver Stone, starring Eric Bogosian, Ellen Greene, Alec Baldwin
- Tapeheads, starring John Cusack and Tim Robbins
- Tequila Sunrise, directed by Robert Towne, starring Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell, Raúl Juliá, Arliss Howard, J. T. Walsh
- Testimony, a biopic of Dmitri Shostakovich starring Ben Kingsley - (U.K.)
- They Live, directed by John Carpenter, starring Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster
- Things Change, directed by David Mamet, starring Joe Mantegna, Don Ameche, Robert Prosky, William H. Macy
- A Time of Destiny, starring William Hurt, Timothy Hutton, Melissa Leo
- Time of the Gypsies (Dom za vešanje) - (Yugoslavia)
- Time of Violence (Vreme na nasilie) - (Bulgaria)
- To Kill a Priest (Le Complot), starring Christopher Lambert and Ed Harris - (France)
- Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller - (Canada)
- Torch Song Trilogy, starring Harvey Fierstein, Anne Bancroft, Matthew Broderick, Brian Kerwin
- Tougher Than Leather, starring D.M.C.
- Track 29, directed by Nicolas Roeg, starring Theresa Russell, Christopher Lloyd, Gary Oldman
- Tucker: The Man and His Dream, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen, Martin Landau, Lloyd Bridges
- Twins, directed by Ivan Reitman, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito
- Two Moon Junction, starring Sherilyn Fenn, Richard Tyson, Kristy McNichol, Louise Fletcher, Burl Ives
- U
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being, directed by Philip Kaufman, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, Lena Olin
- Urusei Yatsura: The Final Chapter - (Japan)
- V
- The Vanishing (Spoorloos) - (Netherlands/France)
- Vchera (Yesterday) - (Bulgaria)
- Verónico Cruz - (Argentina)
- Vibes, starring Jeff Goldblum and Cyndi Lauper
- Vice Versa, starring Judge Reinhold, Fred Savage, Corinne Bohrer
- W
- War and Remembrance, TV miniseries, starring Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen, Victoria Tennant, Hart Bochner
- War Party, starring Billy Wirth and Kevin Dillon
- Watchers, starring Corey Haim - (Canada/U.S.A.)
- Waxwork, starring Zach Galligan, Deborah Foreman, David Warner, Michelle Johnson, Dana Ashbrook
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit, directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Bob Hoskins, Joanna Cassidy, Christopher Lloyd
- Willow, directed by Ron Howard, starring Val Kilmer, Warwick Davis, Joanne Whalley, Jean Marsh, Billy Barty
- Without a Clue, starring Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley - (U.K.)
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios), directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas - (Spain)
- Working Girl, directed by Mike Nichols, starring Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver - Golden Globe Award for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy)
- A World Apart, directed by Chris Menges, starring Barbara Hershey and Jodhi May - (U.K./Zimbabwe)
- World Gone Wild, starring Bruce Dern
- Wuthering Heights (Arashi ga oka) - (Japan)
- Y
- Young Einstein, directed by and starring Yahoo Serious - (Australia)
- Young Guns, starring Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney, Casey Siemaszko
Wide-release films
Januaryâ"March
- January 1988
- January 1
- And God Created Woman
- Puss in Boots
- January 8 - Cop
- January 15 - The Couch Trip
- January 22 - Braddock: Missing in Action III
- January 1
- February 1988
- February 5
- She's Having a Baby
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being
- February 12
- Action Jackson
- Shoot to Kill
- February 16 - Hairspray
- February 26
- Bloodsport
- Frantic
- February 5
- March 1988
- March 4
- Moving
- Prison
- March 10 - The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
- March 11
- Masquerade
- Off Limits
- Stand and Deliver
- March 18
- D.O.A.
- The Milagro Beanfield War
- Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach
- Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw
- Stars and Bars
- March 25
- Biloxi Blues
- The Fox and the Hound(re-release)
- Johnny Be Good
- March 30 - Beetlejuice
- March 4
Aprilâ"June
- April 1988
- April 1
- Bright Lights, Big City
- The Seventh Sign
- April 8
- 18 Again!
- Above the Law
- Bad Dreams
- April 15
- Appointment with Death
- Colors
- The Moderns
- Plain Clothes
- Return to Snowy River
- April 22
- Casual Sex?
- April 29
- Powaqqatsi
- Sunset
- April 1
- May 1988
- May 4 - The House on Carroll Street
- May 6
- Dead Heat
- Shakedown
- May 13 - Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
- May 20
- Call Me
- "Crocodile" Dundee II (Australia; North America 25 May 1988; UK 23 Jun 1988)
- Willow
- May 25 - Rambo III
- May 27 - Killer Klowns from Outer Space
- June 1988
- June 3
- Big
- Funny Farm
- June 10
- Big Business
- Poltergeist III
- The Presidio
- June 15 - Bull Durham
- June 17
- The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
- The Great Outdoors
- Red Heat
- Waxwork
- June 22 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit
- June 29 - Coming to America
- June 3
Julyâ"September
- July 1988
- July 6
- License to Drive
- Short Circuit 2
- July 8
- Arthur 2: On the Rocks
- It Couldn't Happen Here
- July 13 - The Dead Pool
- July 15
- Bambi (re-release)
- Die Hard
- A Fish Called Wanda
- July 20 - Midnight Run
- July 22
- Big Top Pee-wee
- Caddyshack II
- July 29
- Cocktail
- Monkey Shines
- The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking
- July 6
- August 1988
- August 5
- The Blob
- The Rescue
- Vibes
- August 10 - Clean and Sober
- August 12
- The Last Temptation of Christ
- Mac and Me
- Tucker: The Man and His Dream
- Young Guns
- August 19
- Married to the Mob
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
- August 24 - Crossing Delancey
- August 26
- Betrayed
- Hero and the Terror
- Hot to Trot
- August 5
- September 1988
- September 2
- The Deceivers
- Eight Men Out
- September 8 - Earth Girls Are Easy
- September 9
- Moon over Parador
- Running on Empty
- September 12 - Miles from Home
- September 16
- Messenger of Death
- Tougher Than Leather (NYC premiere)
- September 23
- Daffy Duck's Quackbusters
- Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey
- Kansas
- Patty Hearst
- September 30
- Bird
- Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
- Heartbreak Hotel
- September 2
Octoberâ"December
- October 1988
- October 7
- Alien Nation
- Clara's Heart
- Punchline
- October 14
- The Accused
- The Kiss
- October 21
- Bat*21
- Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
- Little Dorrit (wide-release)
- Mystic Pizza
- Tapeheads
- October 28 - Feds
- October 29 - Moonwalker
- October 7
- November 1988
- November 4
- Everybody's All-American
- The Good Mother
- Rattle and Hum (U.S.)
- They Live
- November 9 - Child's Play
- November 11
- Distant Thunder
- Ernest Saves Christmas
- November 18
- 1969
- Another Woman
- The Chocolate War
- Fresh Horses
- High Spirits
- The Land Before Time
- Oliver & Company
- November 23
- Buster
- Cocoon: The Return
- Hanna's War
- Scrooged
- November 4
- December 1988
- December 2
- The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
- Tequila Sunrise
- Watchers
- December 9
- Mississippi Burning
- My Stepmother Is an Alien
- Twins
- December 14
- Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
- I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
- Torch Song Trilogy
- December 16
- Dangerous Liaisons
- Purple People Eater
- Rain Man
- December 21
- Beaches
- Talk Radio
- Working Girl
- December 23
- The Accidental Tourist
- Dominick and Eugene
- Hellbound: Hellraiser II
- December 28 - The Boost
- December 2
Births
- March 27 - Brenda Song, American actress, singer and model
- April 10 - Haley Joel Osment, American actor
- April 25 - Sara Paxton, American singer/actress
- May 17 - Nikki Reed, American actress/writer
- June 7 - Michael Cera, American actor
- June 9 - Mae Whitman, American actress
- August 16 - Rumer Willis, American actress
- August 24 - Rupert Grint, English actor
- August 27 - Alexa Vega, American actress
- September 12 - Matt Martians, record producer
- October 3 - Alicia Vikander, Swedish actress
- November 6 - Emma Stone, American actress
- November 9 - Nikki Blonsky, American singer and actress
- November 22 - Jamie Campbell Bower, English actor and singer
- December 2 - Alfred Enoch, English actor
- December 14 - Vanessa Hudgens, American actress and singer
- December 16 - Anna Popplewell, English film, television and theater actress
- December 17 - Rin Takanashi, Japanese actress and model
Notable deaths
Film debuts
- Rajinikanth - Bloodstone
- Annette Bening - The Great Outdoors
- Matt Damon - Mystic Pizza
- David Duchovny - Working Girl
- Cuba Gooding, Jr. - Coming to America
- Danielle Harris - Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
- Neil Patrick Harris - Clara's Heart
- Bonnie Hunt - Rain Man
- Alyson Hannigan - My Stepmother Is an Alien
- David Hyde Pierce - Bright Lights, Big City
- Milla Jovovich - Two Moon Junction
- Jenifer Lewis - Beaches
- Juliette Lewis - My Stepmother Is an Alien
- Dermot Mulroney - Sunset
- Bill Nunn - School Daze
- Alan Rickman - Die Hard
- Stephen Root - "Crocodile" Dundee II
- David Schwimmer - Biloxi Blues
- Steven Seagal - Above the Law
- Uma Thurman - Johnny Be Good
- Benicio del Toro - Big Top Pee-wee
See also
- List of American films of 1988
- List of British films of 1988
- List of French films of 1988
- List of German films of the 1980sr
- List of Bollywood films of 1988
- List of Italian films of 1988
- List of Japanese films of 1988r
- List of Swedish films of the 1980s