Kategoria: All 80s Movies Recommended

#893 Body Double (1984)

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Sharing the same October 1984 opening weekend with The Terminator, Brian De Palma’s Body Double tells a story of an involuntary peeping tom ending up witnessing a crime.

There is a lot to be loved in this stylish and daring thriller that loans from the likes of Hitchcock’s Vertigo and Rear Window, and mixes them up with some very pure 80s elements. Scenes like the porn movie shoot featuring an amazing soundtrack from Frankie Goes to Hollywood demonstrates some of the admirable courage that De Palma possesses.

Body Double would’ve been sufficiently good page-turner even with more traditional approach, but its broad-minded, fearless approach to artistic choices works to its advantage, definitely making it a more memorable, often fascinatingly weird experience.

80s-o-meter: 90%

Total: 87%

#874 Lucas (1986)

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I’ve never seen a movie capture a teenage crush in such a honest, pure way.

Lucas is a movie about a boy of the same name whose peculiar life revolving around his peculiar hobbies changes the moment she meets Maggie who’s just moved in to the neighbourhood. They find themselves sharing the last days of the summer together before the start of a new school year and form an unlikely friendship that soon turns to a one-sided, hopeless love.

Corey Haim has never actually wowed me, but here he captures the essence of the misfit character in a magnificently three dimensional way, managing to make Lucas a tangible and often contradictory person by never sugar coating his shortcomings nor underlining his virtues.

The movie wanders too far into fiction towards its last minutes, but even that can’t diminish its accomplishments as one of the most heart warming portrayals of the high school life and of coming to age. Lucas reminds us of what was it like once to be hopelessly, head over heels in love, and in that sense it’s a truly a triumph.

80s-o-meter: 83%

Total: 90%

#858 Willow (1988)

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You have to excuse me for having always mixed up Willow with Ridley Scott’s Legend; another mid-80s fantasy movie with stunning, faerytale like visuals. While Willow might not be as beautiful a movie, it’s still stunning to look at and the groundbreaking special effects by ILM still look mostly impressive, despite their age.

Story-wise there isn’t anything extraordinary going on here: Your usual fantasy stuff with evil queens, dwarfs and dragons. But it’s the way that the director Ron Howard manages to tell the story that makes it truly captivating. Young Warwick Davis makes for a terrific, unlikely hero of the story, and although Val Kilmer at first seems to overact the role of the mischievous thief, he soon grows on to you.

Fantasy movies are not my cup of tea, but in Willow’s case, the end result is just much too charming to pass by with just a shrug.

80’s-o-meter: 48%

Total: 84%

#854 Three Fugitives (1989)

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A former convict is dragged into a getaway against his will after walking in on a bank robbery in Three Fugitives, a comedy that manages to be heartwarming as well as to offer some genuinely funny laugh out loud slapstick moments.

Nick Nolte revises his gruff, rough around the edges bulldozer of a character previously seen in 48 Hrs, but improves it on almost all counts, and Martin Short provides a perfectly good target for him to get heavy handed on with his small frame and very clever physical acting.

There’s a slight dip in the middle of the movie, but luckily the movie picks up the pace again towards the end, and manages to make it to my recommended 80s comedies list with ease.

80s-o-meter: 92%

Total: 93%

#789 48 Hrs. (1982)

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One of the movies that really kickstarted the 80s as we learnt to know it, 48 Hrs is an action packed buddy-cop comedy with a twist of the buddy being convict.

It’s a landmark movie for another reason as well, being the theatrical feature debut of one Eddie Murphy. Demonstrating a street smart, cheeky character he’d perfect two years later in Beverly Hills Cop, Murphy’s transition from a Saturday Night Live comedian to the silver screen is a triumph.

Equally praiseworthy is Nick Nolte’s portrayal of a cynical, drunken dog of a cop, a role that Nolte dives into head first with his raspy, deep whiskey voice. Although there’s a lot of light-hearted wise-cracking going on at most times, 48 Hrs concentrates to be an action film first – a choice that really works for the film’s benefit.

With these kind of movies speaking about any plotlines or character development is kind of besides the point, as long as the movie is entertaining. 48 Hrs is just that; a highly entertaining, unapologetic package that’s never shy on action, shootouts – nor the f-words.

80s-o-meter: 82%

Total: 90%

#775 Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)

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A refreshing change in the endless stream of high school romantic comedies, Some Kind of Wonderful ditches the comedy and goes for the drama. It’s a mix of genres that often ends up melodramatic, cringeworthy and unintentionally funny, but John Hughes, who wrote and produced the movie with his impeccable Midas’ touch once again guarantees hitting the mood just right.

The movie deals about your usual teenage themes; insecurity, rejection and searching one’s identity. Plotwise the movie deals with being friend zoned, learning to grow and coming to terms with what matters the most in life. It all sounds a mouthful, but Some Kind of Wonderful never condescends to preaching but concentrates to telling the story in an entertaining fashion, and the themes presented here still feel fresh. Thanks to the humour being used sparingly, it manages to hit the target every time.

Eric Stoltz and Lea Thompson make for a strong leads with some genuinely good electricity going on, and my hat is off to John Ashton whose portrayal of the good willed father who wants the best for his kids, but constantly misses the mark is an absolute delight to watch. The chemistry between Stolz and Mary Stuart Masterson is kind of a hard sell, which cripples the credibility of the movie a bit. While it can be argued that Molly Ringwald who turned down the role of the tomboy Watts would’ve made a stronger candidate for the unlikely object of love, this is not a deal breaker in any way.

80s-o-meter: 96%

Total: 90%

#726 Paris, Texas (1984)

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Wim Wender’s moody, slow and absorbing road movie Paris, Texas is an affectionate European take on the deserts and the cities of America, and a study of people lost somewhere there in between.

Similarly to the movie being an outside view, the same alien feeling of not belonging is present throughout the movie. As is the theme of losing and finding again.

Harry Dean Stanton who plays the lead character found wandering around a desolate Texas landscape makes this movie. His ability to portray great emotional depths in such a subtle manner is in a league of its own.

80s-o-meter: 70%

Total: 90%

#720 The Karate Kid (1984)

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A movie responsible for putting the crane kick on the map for a whole generation of young wanna-be-karatekas, The Karate Kid is a culmination to the martial arts trend that started back in early 70s.

Despite its name, The Karate Kid is in its core a movie about an unique friendship. What starts as a master-apprentice relationship between the protagonist teenager Daniel and his unwilling sensei-to-be Miyaki deepens into an friendship believable enough to last a lifetime. It’s this unlikely companionship that keeps the movie interesting until the end, and feeling fresh still after 30 years of its initial release.

Unlike other martial arts films or the era, the actual choreographed karate is pretty non-existent here and while I’m not an expert on the subject, Daniel’s combat skills don’t really seem that impressive. Yes, including that unbeatable crane kick.

A hand must go to young William Zabka for creating one stylish and memorable baddie as the opposing karateka. For the baby-faced Ralph Macchio The Karate Kid was the part of the lifetime and his portrayal outside the actual karate fights is maybe not relatable, but never tiresome to watch. I was astounded to learn that Macchio, who portrays a 14-year old teenager, was already 23 at the time.

Pat Morita is so iconic as the sensei Miyagi that now in retrospective it’s impossible to even think about anyone else being able to replace him.

As whole the movie is entertaining, well balanced and very 80s in a good way. If I was to pick five most iconic 80s movies that shaped the pop culture, The Karate Kid would be a no-brainer addition to that list.

80s-o-meter: 94%

Total: 90%

#706 D.A.R.Y.L. (1985)

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D.A.R.Y.L. is a tale of an cyborg boy who gets smuggled out of a secret research facility and placed on a foster home. He soon shows some extraordinary talents, many with activities he just picked up for the first time.

As much as a genius he might be, having lived in an isolated environment all his life, he’s socially awkward in an innocent kind of way. Much of the best moments of the film are derived from this setup; D.A.R.Y.L. getting acquainted with real world with his non-existent social skills. There’s a lot of great insights here, like in the baseball scene as his best friend Turtle suggests him to make a few mistakes every now and then to make his foster parents feel like they’re needed.

D.A.R.Y.L. is an extraordinary movie, and watching it requires one to take multiple leaps of faith ranging from a researcher who reveals a multi-billion secret project to a bunch of civilians to the whole government not being able to figure out he is heading back to where he was taken at the first place.

My suggestion is to look past the obvious plot holes, watch the movie as a sort of a modern day fairy tale and you’ll find D.A.R.Y.L. an entertaining watch.

80s-o-meter: 90%

Total: 86%

#702 Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)

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Being a huge box office hit, Airplane got its followup, but here’s the interesting part: Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker weren’t involved in it. Unaware that Paramount had the option for the sequel – with or without the consent of the trio – they felt the aviation humour vain was already drained and passed the chance to do the sequel. Paramount then handed the job over to Ken Finkleman who wrote and directed Airplane II: The Sequel. Zuckers and Abraham weren’t too happy about the situation and still claim not to have seen the movie to date.

Considering all this, Finkleman did a surprisingly good work here! Ok, so the sequel recycles the jokes from its predecessor quite a lot, but it also manages to come up with gags so good you could swear the original trio was behind them. Structurally it’s not as tight package as the previous one and some of the iconic deadpan style is unfortunately lost and replaced with people being silly, which feels less true to the first movie.

Airplane II: The Sequel is less iconic, less recognised movie that will always be left in shadow by its bigger brother. But even so it outshines most of the similar attempts by a long shot. If you liked the first movie and can cope with the fact that this is in a way an unofficial sequel, Airplane II is an easy one to recommend for watching.

80s-o-meter: 83%

Total: 90%

#701 Airplane! (1980)

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A proof that many cooks sometimes don’t spoil the broth, Airplane! is a milestone in a comedy movie history that perfected the spoof comedy formula by taking it over the edge – and then some. A co-written and co-directed by Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker, Airplane became a commercial and critical success, and a movie that paved the way to the top zany comedies of the following years: Top Secret, Naked Gun and Hot Shots.

A lot of good insights went into making Airplane a reality. Firstly, instead of casting a gang of worn comedy actors get silly on the screen, they hired actors with no comedy background whatsoever to play their parts with a straight face, which contrasting with the surrounding absurdity added a lot to the comedic effect of the movie. This is where Leslie Nielsen, aged 54 at the time, got his second wind as a comedy actor.

Secondly, if there was an opportunity for a joke, Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker went for it: The movie and its screen estate is constantly loaded with gags, happening on and off the camera. This contributed to the movie’s rewatchability value and it has had a very healthy off box office lifespan in VHS, DVD and on the TV.

80s-o-meter: 80%

Total: 94%

#672 Fright Night (1985)

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A surprise vampire hit of the 1985, Fright Night gathered a strong following when it was first released and it still enjoys something of a cult status.

It’s a fun movie with an excellent execution, and while the plot isn’t anything to write to home about, Fright Night more than compensates it all with its superb mood and great special effects.

The performances are solid. The cowardous TV vampire killer has-been played by Roddy McDowall is a memorable hero against his own will, and Stephen Geoffreys is simply hilarious as the geeky oddball friend turned into a vampire.

Fright Night’s reputation has preceded it, and as good as it is, it’s not quite epic enough to get the label of being the best horror comedy of the 80s. But it’s close.

80s-o-meter: 94%

Total: 90%