A breath of fresh air with the 80s. The biggest difference for me with the 80s is fun. Much of the 70s is “gritty,” or really more dour, but the 80s is fun, and it’s a much better decade for it. I truly believe that Spielberg/Lucas are the biggest reason for this, and, therefore, are even higher on my list of favorites. Basically, the 80s are a massive bounce back decade, and sets up (spoilers) the greatest decade in film history.
Science fiction is really big in the 80s, again thanks to the success of Star Wars. Even fantasy has a significant corner in the decade. We see an even greater move towards blockbuster movies. And, with Stallone and Arnold among others, the rise of action movies (culminating in the greatest of them all in ‘88). Disney has another down decade, though The Little Mermaid kicks off the “Renaissance.” And, of course, John Hughes is massive, which means Chicago is everywhere. And he is part of a much larger collection of movies based around children/teens (it’s clearly the best decade of movies to be growing up).
Before my list (remember this is “best,” not necessarily “favorite”), a few notable movies not mentioned, because I have not seen them: The Elephant Man, Raging Bull, Gandhi (seen parts but not all), Terms of Endearment, Amadeus, Platoon, The Last Emperor, Driving Miss Daisy, Born on the Fourth of July. Add to this Ordinary People, which is incredibly depressing, Out of Africa, which is not good, The Color Purple, ditto, Blade Runner, which is overrated, or Full Metal Jacket, which is half a good movie, half tripe.
Honorable
Mentions: First Blood, The Blues Brothers, Silverado, Rocky IV, Chariots of
Fire, The Man from Snowy River, The Terminator, The Breakfast Club, Aliens,
Stand by Me, Lethal Weapon, The Untouchables, Predator, The Princess Bride,
Empire of the Sun, Willow, Big, Batman, Henry V, Glory, The Little Mermaid
Top 10 Countdown:
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Wow wow wow, a really good decade
for movies, it’s really difficult to pick just 10. Ferris in some way represents all of the teen
comedies of this decade as the best of them.
It was also perhaps the first movie where you had to stay until the
credits ended (got to see it in a theater once in college, and it caught off
just as Ferris came back on the screen, people were NOT HAPPY).
Planes, Trains,
and Automobiles (1987)
A little more adult John Hughes
comedy, and probably the best road trip comedy ever made. I watch right around Thanksgiving every year,
because it is the best (only?) Thanksgiving movie. If not for one scene, it’s a remarkably clean
comedy as well.
The Natural
(1984)
So much better than the novel. I have had a roller coaster of thoughts about
the Kim Basinger character. I hate her,
and for a while thought she shouldn’t be in it.
Then I realized that, if this story is a Greek hero’s journey just set
in baseball (it is), then she does a great job as the siren you are supposed to
hate. I’m shocked when baseball people
don’t like this movie. “A father makes all
the difference” gets me every time.
Now we are really getting into the
best of the best. It’s not an
overstatement to say that this movie set the mold for action movies for over a
decade (Die Hard on a plane! Die Hard on a bus! Die Hard on…). It’s fascinating to think that at the time
people laughed at casting Bruce Willis because he was a “comedy actor.” And Hans Gruber is one of the greatest
villains of all time. Yes, it absolutely
is a Christmas movie.
Field of Dreams (1989)
Probably the best baseball movie
ever made. Somehow it lost Best Picture
to Driving Miss Daisy (no I haven’t seen it, but does anybody care about that
movie any more, or make pilgrimages to see where it was filmed?). Any red-blooded American man who can make it
to the end without getting emotional is a psychopath or sociopath or something
for sure.
It’s not my favorite Star Wars movie
(Return of the Jedi), but it is clearly the best. On the one hand, you have a perfect hero’s
journey taking place, on the other hand you have non-stop action of The
Chase. They brilliantly expand the
universe to make you really feel like it’s a universe. There’s iconic dialogue. One of the greatest twists of all time. And, it has a perfect cliffhanger. Of course, there’s also John Williams
continuing to be a genius by adding the best villain theme of all time.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
It is so hard to put this so low,
because it is basically a perfect movie.
The cast is perfect, introducing the greatest movie hero of all
time. The story is phenomenal. The score is amazing. The cinematography, stunts… Honestly, the sequences from the fight at the
airplane through the desert chase may be the greatest action sequence
ever. There’s nothing to criticize. That means the top three must be pretty
special.
Back to the Future (1985)
If anyone were to ask me to pick the
“quintessential 80s movie,” I would pick Back to the Future. It’s got science fiction, comedy, the main
character is a teen, it takes place in the 80s and 50s, a great score and
songs, pretty much everything you think of when you think “80s.” It also has one of the greatest scripts of
all time. And while both Robert Zemeckis
and Alan Silvestri had some success with Romancing the Stone the year before,
this movie essentially made them as one of the great directors and composers
(as a set and individually) ever.
The Mission (1986)
Undoubtedly this is the least “popular” of the top 10, but it is a beautifully haunting movie about the Jesuits in South America. Jeremy Irons and Robert De Niro are fantastic, and they continue to make me think “which one am I more like”? It’s not an easy watch, but it is truly one of the most important religious movies ever made. Especially poignant is the scene of De Niro carrying his armor up the waterfall, which is the perfect example of penance and forgiving ourselves. And while I often struggle with Ennio Morricone, this is his masterpiece. This is yet another Best Picture nominee that was robbed.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
It’s debatable whether or not this
is Spielberg’s best. I don’t think it is
debatable that it is the best movie of the decade. Once again, it was nominated but did not win
Best Picture, but supposedly even Richard Attenborough, who director the winner
Gandhi, said that it should have won.
The genius of Spielberg is filming it from a child’s perspective, which
really allows the audience to enter into the story and get swept up by
everything that happens. It’s funny,
sad, exciting, and most of all uplifting.
And again, John Williams is there to make it even better. We just won’t mention the botched 20th
anniversary “update” that was smartly thrown away.
Extra fun: the
best movie scores of the decade (Once again, John Williams dominates this
decade, and James Horner gives him a run for his money, I am going to choose
just one to represent them. The 80s also
sees a number of other composers breaking out: Alan Silvestri, Hans Zimmer,
Michael Kamen, Danny Elfman, Basil Poledouris, and even Patrick Doyle. The only big problem with this decade is the
overuse of electronics in scores, even when they don’t fit – Chariots of Fire.)
Indiana Jones
trilogy (John Williams) (also: E.T., Star Wars V and VI, Empire of the Sun)
Batman (Danny
Elfman)
Die Hard
(Michael Kamen) (also: Highlander, Lethal Weapon, License to Kill)
Conan the
Barbarian (Basil Poledouris) (also: Red Dawn, RoboCop)
The Mission
(Ennio Morricone)
Predator (Alan
Silvestri) (also: Back to the Future, The Abyss)
Silverado
(Bruce Broughton)
Other music from the decade: I love 80s music, and there’s so much to point to, from hair bands to metal to pop to hip hop. Like the movies, the music is fun. Lots of “one hit wonders.” But also some truly iconic bands come out of this decade like U2 and Metallica and Beastie Boys. The other thing to point out is that unquestionably the greatest soundtracks of all time come from the 80s: Top Gun, Rocky IV, Back to the Future, Dirty Dancing (though that’s greatly aided by the 50s).
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