1981 in film

Other movies released

• Deprisa, Deprisa!, Golden Bear winner
• The German Sisters, Golden Lion winner
• Man of Iron, Palme d'Or winner
• Heartland, Sundance Grand Jury Prize
• Gal Young 'Un, Sundance Grand Jury Prize
• Deadly Blessing starring Sharon Stone
• Halloween II, starring Jamie Lee Curtis
• The Fox and the Hound
• Friday the 13th Part 2
• The Great Muppet Caper
• Mommie Dearest, starring Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid
• ', starring Sam Neill, Rossano Brazzi
• Pennies From Heaven, starring Steve Martin, based on the 1978 BBC Television serial by Dennis Potter.
• On Golden Pond, starring Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, and Jane Fonda
• Quest for Fire also called La Guerre du feu
• Chariots of Fire
• Tarzan, the Ape Man
• Bustin' Loose
• Excalibur
• Heaven's Gate
• Reds
• The French Lieutenant's Woman
• Pixote
• Stevie
• An American Werewolf in London
• The Howling
• Absence of Malice
• Only When I Laugh
• Ragtime
• The Boat Is Full
• Sogni d'oro
• Taps starring George C. Scott and Timothy Hutton
• They Don't Wear Black Tie