Events

• 3 December - Roger Moore steps down from the role of James Bond after twelve years and seven films. He is replaced by Timothy Dalton.
• The Academy Award for Best Picture was won by Out of Africa, while the highest grossing film was Back to the Future.

Top grossing films (U.S.)

Awards

Best Picture: Out of Africa - Universal Best Director: Sydney Pollack - Out of Africa Best Actor: William Hurt - Kiss of the Spider Woman Best Actress: Geraldine Page - The Trip to Bountiful Best Supporting Actor: Don Ameche - Cocoon Best Supporting Actress: Anjelica Huston - Prizzi's Honor Best Foreign Language Film: The Official Story (La historia oficial), directed by Luis Puenzo, Argentina Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement James Stewart

Drama: Best Picture: Out of Africa Best Actor: Jon Voight - Runaway Train Best Actress: Whoopi Goldberg - The Color Purple

Musical or comedy: Best Picture: Prizzi's Honor Best Actor: Jack Nicholson - Prizzi's Honor Best Actress: Kathleen Turner - Prizzi's Honor

Other Best Director: John Huston - Prizzi's Honor Best Foreign Language Film: The Official Story (La historia oficial), Argentina

When Father Was Away on Business (Otac na službenom putu), directed by Emir Kusturica, Yugoslavia

Vagabond (Sans toit ni loi), directed by Agnès Varda, France / U.K.

Die Frau und der Fremde (The Woman And The Stranger), directed by Rainer Simon, East Germany Wetherby, directed by David Hare, United Kingdom

Films released in 1985

• The Adventures of a Two-Minute Werewolf
• The Adventures of Mark Twain
• After Hours - directed by Martin Scorsese; starring Griffin Dunne
• Agnes of God - directed by Norman Jewison; starring Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft and Meg Tilly
• American Ninja
• Annihilators, The
• Avenging Angel
• Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend with Sean Young and William Katt
• Back to the Future - starring Michael J. Fox (as Marty McFly) and Christopher Lloyd (as "Doc." Emmett L. Brown); the first of Back to the Future trilogy
• Bad Medicine
• Better Off Dead - starring John Cusack
• The Black Cauldron
• The Boys Next Door - starring Maxwell Caulfield, Charlie Sheen
• Brazil - directed by Terry Gilliam; starring Jonathan Pryce and Robert De Niro
• The Breakfast Club - starring Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall, Paul Gleason and John Kapelos
• Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo
• Cat's Eye - starring Drew Barrymore
• The Care Bears Movie
• The Purple Rose of Cairo
• Certain Fury
• A Chorus Line
• Clue
• The Coca-Cola Kid
• Cocaine Wars
• Cocoon - directed by Ron Howard; starring Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Steve Guttenberg, Barret Oliver, Maureen Stapleton and Jessica Tandy
• Code of Silence
• Code of Vengeance
• The Color Purple - directed by Steven Spielberg; starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Margaret Avery, Adolph Caesar, Rae Dawn Chong and Oprah Winfrey
• Come and See
• Commando - starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong and Alyssa Milano
• Crazy Construction - starring Tim Allen
• Crimewave
• Dance with a Stranger by Mike Newell with Rupert Everett and Miranda Richardson
• Day of the Dead
• Death Wish 3
• Desperately Seeking Susan - starring Rosanna Arquette, Madonna and Aidan Quinn
• The Devastator
• The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission
• Enemy Mine - directed by Wolfgang Petersen; starring Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett, Jr.
• Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
• Explorers - starring Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix
• Fandango with Kevin Costner
• Final Justice
• Fletch
• Follow That Bird Feature film based on Sesame Street- starring Big Bird, Dave Thomas, Joe Flaherty
• Fran
• Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning
• Fright Night - starring William Ragsdale, Chris Sarandon, Roddy McDowall and Amanda Bearse
• The Malibu Bikini Shop
• Girls Just Want to Have Fun
• The Goonies - starring Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Jonathan Ke Quan and Martha Plimpton
• Gymkata
• Heaven Help Us
• Here Come the Littles
• Insignificance
• Into the Night - starring Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer
• Invasion U.S.A.
• Jagged Edge - starring Glenn Close, Jeff Bridges, Robert Loggia and Peter Coyote
• The Jewel of the Nile - starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito
• Joshua Then and Now
• King David
• King Solomon's Mines
• Kiss of the Spider Woman - starring William Hurt, Raúl Juliá and Sonia Braga
• Ladyhawke - starring Matthew Broderick, Michelle Pfeiffer and Rutger Hauer
• The Last Dragon
• Legend
• The Legend of Billie Jean - starring Helen Slater
• Lost In America
• Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner
• Man Hunt
• The Man with One Red Shoe
• Mask - starring Eric Stoltz, Cher and Sam Elliott
• The Mean Season
• Missing In Action 2: The Beginning
• Murphy's Romance - starring Sally Field, James Garner, Brian Kerwin and Corey Haim
• My Beautiful Laundrette with Daniel Day Lewis
• My Life as a Dog (Mitt liv som hund) - Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
• My Science Project
• Naked Vengeance
• National Lampoon's European Vacation - starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
• Nine Deaths Of The Ninja
• The Official Story () - Academy and Golden Globe Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• Once Bitten - starring Jim Carrey in his first major role.
• One Magic Christmas
• Out of Africa - directed by Sydney Pollack; starring Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Klaus Maria Brandauer; Academy and Golden Globe (drama) Awards
• Out of Control
• Pale Rider - starring Clint Eastwood
• Pee-wee's Big Adventure
• Phenomena
• Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment
• Porky's Revenge
• Private Resort
• Prizzi's Honor - directed by John Huston; starring Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, Anjelica Huston and William Hickey; Golden Globe Award for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy)
• The Protector
• Radioactive Dreams
• Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer
• Rambo: First Blood Part II - starring Sylvester Stallone
• Ran
• Real Genius - starring Val Kilmer
• Red Sonja
• Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins
• Return of the Living Dead
• Return to Oz
• Revolution - starring Al Pacino
• Rocky IV - starring Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Dolph Lundgren, Carl Weathers and Burt Young
• Runaway Train - starring Jon Voight, Eric Roberts and Rebecca De Mornay
• Santa Claus: The Movie
• The Secret of the Sword
• Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird
• Silver Bullet - starring Gary Busey, Corey Haim, Megan Follows and Everett McGill
• Silverado
• The Slugger's Wife
• Smooth Talk
• St. Elmo's Fire - directed by Joel Schumacher; starring Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy and Mare Winningham
• Starchaser: The Legend of Orin
• Stick
• Subway
• The Sure Thing
• Sweet Dreams - starring Jessica Lange and Ed Harris
• Target with Gene Hackman and Matt Dillon
• Teen Wolf - starring Michael J. Fox
• That Was Then... This Is Now
• That's Dancing!
• To Live and Die in L.A. - starring William Petersen and Willem Dafoe
• Transylvania 6-5000
• The Trip to Bountiful - starring Geraldine Page, John Heard and Rebecca De Mornay
• Tuff Turf
• Twice in a Lifetime - starring Gene Hackman, Ellen Burstyn, Ann-Margret and Amy Madigan
• 28 Up
• Vagabond (Sans toit ni loi) - Golden Lion award
• Vampire Hunter D
• A View to a Kill
• Vision Quest - starring Matthew Modine and Linda Fiorentino
• Water
• Wetherby - Golden Bear award
• Weird Science - starring Kelly LeBrock, Anthony Michael Hall and Ilan Mitchell-Smith
• Wild Geese II
• When Father Was Away on Business (Otac na službenom putu) - Palme d'Or award
• Wheels Of Fire
• Witness - starring Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis and Lukas Haas
• The Woman And The Stranger (Die Frau und der Fremde) - Golden Bear award
• Year of the Dragon by Michael Cimino with Mickey Rourke
• Young Sherlock Holmes

Births

• January 18 - Sidney Thomas, actor
• March 26 - Keira Knightley, actress
• April 16 - Rhiana Griffith, actress
• May 29 - Blake Foster, actor
• June 24 -Kyle Searles, actor
• July 2 -Ashley Tisdale actress

Deaths

• March 21 - Michael Redgrave, actor, father of actresses Vanessa Redgrave & Lynn Redgrave
• April 23 - Kent Smith, actor
• May 16 - Margaret Hamilton, actress, Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz
• May 22 - Wolfgang Reitherman, director, 101 Dalmatians (1961 film)
• August 8 - Louise Brooks, actress
• August 13 - Gale Sondergaard, actress
• August 28 - Ruth Gordon, actress / writer
• September 27 - Lloyd Nolan, actor
• October 2 - Rock Hudson, actor
• October 10 - Yul Brynner, actor
• October 10 - Orson Welles, actor / director
• November 1 - Phil Silvers, actor
• December 12 - Anne Baxter, actress

Film Debuts

• Whoopi Goldberg; The Color Purple (film)
• Oprah Winfrey; The Color Purple (film)
• Christian Slater; The Legend of Billie Jean
• Ethan Hawke; Explorers (film)
• LL Cool J; Krush Groove
• Blair Underwood; Krush Groove
• Viggo Mortensen; Witness (1985 film)
• Yeardley Smith; Heaven Help Us (film)
• Sean Astin; The Goonies
• Josh Brolin; The Goonies
• Kerri Green; The Goonies