The 7th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best filmmaking of 1980, were announced on 14 December 1981 and given on 13 January 1982.^[1][2]

• Best Picture:
  • Atlantic City
  • Runner-up: Reds
• Best Director:
  • Warren Beatty - Reds
  • Runner-up: Lawrence Kasdan – Body Heat
• Best Actor:
  • Burt Lancaster – Atlantic City
  • Runner-up: Henry Fonda – On Golden Pond
• Best Actress:
  • Meryl Streep – The French Lieutenant's Woman
  • Runner-up: Diane Keaton – Reds
• Best Supporting Actor:
  • John Gielgud – Arthur
  • Runner-up: Jack Nicholson – Reds
• Best Supporting Actress:
  • Maureen Stapleton – Reds
  • Runner-up: Melinda Dillon – Absence of Malice
• Best Screenplay:
  • John Guare – Atlantic City
  • Runner-up: Warren Beatty and Trevor Griffiths – Reds
• Best Cinematography:
  • Vittorio Storaro – Reds
  • Runner-up: Freddie Francis – The French Lieutenant's Woman
• Best Music Score:
  • Randy Newman – Ragtime
  • Runner-up: Vangelis – Chariots of Fire
• Best Foreign Film:
  • Pixote (Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco) • Brazil
  • Runner-up: Chariots of Fire • UK
• Experimental/Independent Film/Video Award:
  • R. Bruce Elder – The Art of Worldly Wisdom
• New Generation Award:
  • John Guare
• Career Achievement Award:
  • Barbara Stanwyck
• Special Citation:
  • Kevin Brownlow – Napoléon