My Pick - 160 (or so) 80s films I love

There are many shifts and changes in film that swing from decade to decade, certain genres become popular and others fade. Stars are born and careers end. Of course, the more things change the more they stay the same – bad films get made, there are always good films and there are inevitably great films. We love some from each, even the bad ones, and though we don’t always know why, or can explain what makes that film so damn special to us, they connect with us.

     I put together a list from the 90s of films that I loved. I enjoyed doing it and discovered that looking through release dates helped me remember all those films that made a difference to me.

     What follows is my 80s list. These films helped to form what we laughingly call ‘me’. I found wonder in some, excitement in others.

     Ready?

     Oh, and they are not in any order of preference. I can’t tell you I like Highlander more than Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, or that The Empire Strikes Back is a ‘better’ movie than Platoon. That’s silly. Each film is on the list for its own merits and stands as a one piece of a much larger map that makes up my love for film.

     Let’s begin…

The Blues Brothers – That car chase. That duo. We play both types of music – Country and Western.

The Elephant Man – John Hurt. Wow.

Flash Gordon – Silly and amazing. Brian bloody Blessed!

The Long Good Friday – Bob Hoskins.

Raging Bull – Epic.

The Shining – Terrifying. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Stir Crazy – Gene and Richard! Prison comedy at its best.

Superman 2 – Still the best Superman film, by far.

The Empire Strikes Back – Still the best Star Wars film, by not quite as far.

An American Werewolf In London – Stick to the path.

The Cannonball Run – Crazy car movie.

Clash Of The Titans – Harryhousen’s last.

Dragonslayer – Biscuit is an action hero!

Escape From New York – John Carpenter classic!

Excalibur – Still the best Arthurian legend film.

The Evil Dead – A game changer.

Omen 3: Final Conflict – Sam Neil is evil.

Scanners – Ironside blows your head up!

Time Bandits – YAY!

Conan The Barbarian – THE RIDDLE OF STEEL!

Poltergeist – They’re here…

Star Trek 2 – The best Star Trek film, by a country mile.

Blade Runner – Sci fi noir. Awesome. Note that I prefer the cinematic version. Yeah, I know.

The Thing – One of the best, if not the best, monster movie, EVER.

Tron – A ground breaking film.

An Officer And A gentleman – White uniforms. Louis Gosset Jnr.

Amittyville 2 – Terrifying.

First Blood – Stallone at his best.

48 HRS – Murphy and Nolte fight each other and the bad guys.

The Dark Crystal – Puppets and magic. Incredible.

Tootsie – Hoffman.

The Hunger – Sexy vampires. Bowie.

The Right Stuff – Spacemen grounded.

Scarface – Say hello to my little friend.

Return Of The Jedi – Ewoks. There IS good in him. Jabba!

Staying Alive – DANCING!

Trading Places – Akroyd and Murphy are dynamite!

Wargames – Do you want to play a game?

1984 – Rat cage? *shudders*

Beverly Hills Cop – Murphy again. Action comedy master.

Footloose – More DANCING!

Ghostbusters – Brilliant. Bold. Unforgettable.

Gremlins – Billy, Gizmo, BRIGHT LIGHT!

Greystoke – Lambert as the monkey man. I love this film.

The Ice Pirates – sci fi comedy too silly to ever show up on anyone else’s list.

Karate Kid – Ralph!

The Killing Fields – Obviously.

A Nightmare On Elm Street – Depp gets turned into soup.

Romancing The Stone – Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglass together.

Terminator – An action/sci fi masterpiece and James Cameron’s assault on our senses starts.

Top Secret – Val Kilmer in naughty comedy.

Wheels On Meals – Jackie Chan!

Back To The Future – Marty McFly! GREAT SCOTT!

The Breakfast Club – I won’ ever…forget about you…no, no, no.

Brewster’s Millions – Richard Pryor. A great film.

Cocoon – The Oldies get their lives back.

Commando – Never need to reload. The puns fly. The baddies die.

Fright Night – Vampires next door!

Goonies – HEY, YOU GUYS!

Jewel of the Nile – Kathleen and Michael and Danny back together!

Legend – Tim Curry as the devil, Tiny Tom appears.

Pale Rider – One of Eastwood’s best.

Re-Animator – Spades and cats and GORE!

Red Sonja – Silly but fun fantasy.

St Elmo’s Fire – The Brat Pack!

A View to a Kill – Bond!

Weird Science – Kelly LeBrock.

Young Sherlock Holmes – Love it! Stained glass window monster and the Egyptian killers!

Teenwolf – Michael J Fox. Basketball. Yay!

Enemy Mine – Dennis Quaid. I love that guy.

Aliens – Best sequel ever? Best action sci fi ever? A good shout for both.

Armour Of God – Jackie Chan again!

Big Trouble In Little China – Kurt Russell rides the Pork Chop Express!

Colour of Money – Obviously.

Crocodile Dundee – That’s not a knife…

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – Mathew Broderick stars in a timeless classic, but is Ferris really there?

The Fly – Goldblum. Disgusting.

The Golden Child – Murphy again. He had so many good films in this decade! So many!

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer – Horrifying, brutal, upsetting. Stays with you.

Highlander – There should have only been one!

Howard The Duck – Disturbing.

The Hitcher – Rutger Hauer terrorises C. Thomas Howell and everyone else as well.

Labyrinth – Socks down pants, wig on, eye make up, surrounded by puppets. Go!

Manhunter – William Peterson nails it.

The Name of the Rose – Medieval murder.

Platoon -  Sgt Barnes is unkillable, or is he?  Incredible cast, incredible film.

Poltergeist 2 – Even scarier than the original. That priest? *shudders*

Short Circuit – Number five is alive!

The Three Amigos – Short, Chase and Martin in fancy dress!

Top Gun – We feel the need, the need for a half-naked volleyball scene.

Transformers The Movie (animated) – The only Transformers film you ever need to see.

Wisdom – Emilio Estevez is a Dillinger character for the modern age.

Beverley Hills Cop 2 – Those legs, those puns, and that rocket launcher.

The Big Easy – Sexy as hell! Brilliant thriller! Ellen Barkin is hotter than the sun.

Dragnet – Goat men! Me, you, your balls… and this draw. Hanks is great.

Evil Dead 2 – Trapdoor blood hose!

Empire Under The Sun – Bale arrives and what a film to star in.

Fatal Attraction – Bunny boiler.

Full Metal Jacket – A nerve shredding powerhouse.

Good Morning Vietnam – A film with incredible heart and Williams is amazing.

Lethal Weapon – Mad Mel and Danny give us perfect buddy cop action.

The Lost Boys – Classic vampire film. Brilliant.

Manequin – That Starship song still makes me smile, and yes, she was gorgeous.

Near Dark – Adrian Pasdar and half the cast of Aliens do toothy Bigelow. That bar scene still gives me fever.

A Nightmare On Elm Street 3 : Dream Warriors – the second one was dreadful but this one totally rocked!

The Principal – James Belushi cleans up the school. I LOVE to see him clean up Michael Gove the same way.

The Princess Bride – Classic! TO THE PAIN! I love this film sooooo much!

Predator – Get monster action movie. Carl Weathers adds a touch of awesome.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles – Candy and Martin make me ache with laughter.

Raising Arizona – Cage’s best?

Robocop – Verhoven doing what he does best. So in your face and so quotable.

Roxanne – Again, Steve Martin brings the house down. The bar with the nose jokes? Never bettered.

Running Man – Arnie puns his way through end of level bad guys with themed zones and costumes.

Spaceballs – Assholes! I’m surrounded by a Assholes!

Stakeout – Emilio Estevez and Richard Dryfers are awesome in this, and so is Madeline Stowe.

Untouchables – Brilliant film from start to finish. Incredible cast and so iconic.

Wall Street – Greed is good, greed works. So did this film, in all the ways in should have.

The Witches Of Eastwick – Three beauties, one horny little devil.

Withnail & I – Richard E. Grant and Dr Who getting mashed.

The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen – Barking mad.

Akira – A staggering achievement in film, let alone animated film.

Beetlejuice – Michael Keaton is the unwanted house guest of the unwanted house guests.

Big – Hanks being a big kid.

Bloodsport – BAM! Van Damme!

The Chocolate War – I loved this film. I have always hated Archie! Bastard!

Cocktail – Tom and Brian supply the drinks, Elizabeth provides the heart.

Colours -  Penn and Duvall are brilliant as cops in a tough town.

Coming To America – Murphy as the fish out of water.

Dead Ringers – Jeremy Irons plays a set of twins and it scared me.

Dead Poets Society – The great Robin Williams is wonderful in this.

Die Hard – Obviously.

D.O.A – Dennis Quaid has been murdered! Poison! Now he had just a few hours to work out who killed him.

Heathers – Christian Slater and Wynona Rider. Awesome. Violent. Funny.

The Land Before Time – Animated dinosaurs make me cry. Bastards!

Mississippi Burning – Hackman is intense and it is hard to watch.

The Presido – Sean Connery, Meg Ryan, goings on at a military base.

Scrooged – Perfect Christmas movie!

Twins – Devito and Arnie have great chemistry.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Amazing!

Willow – I loved this film. Kilmer was great, Warwick Davis was a perfect lead.

Working Girl – Mel Griffith, Ford changes his shirt, she has a mind for business but a body for sin.

Young Guns –  Some of the Brat pack take revenge when Zod gets popped. Billy the Kid!

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure – Reeves and Winters are dudes, dudes.

Major League – Baseball, Jack Bauer’s president, GIVE HIM THE HEATER, RICKY!

The Dream Team – They form a bond and they go far. Keaton leads and they follow.

K-9 – It was this or Turner and Hooch, and I liked this one better.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil – Pryor and Wilder together again. One’s blind, one’s deaf, the jokes fly.

Road House – Swayze is the tough door man. Sam Elliot is too. Mind ya throat.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – The best one of the bunch? Probably.

Renegades – Lou Diamond Phillips and Kiefer Sutherland make unlikely allies. Lou beats him a fair bit.

Batman – Keaton! Nicholson! Basinger! Prince! BATMAN!

Ghostbusters 2 – The mood slime, Vigo, THE BATHTUB TRIED TO EAT OSCAR!

Lethal Weapon 2 – Perfect sequel to a brilliant action cop film. Brilliant. Accents too.

Uncle Buck – John Candy doing what he did best.

Black Rain – Michael Douglass and Andy Garcia go to japan to guard a prisoner and it all goes wrong.

The Fabulous Baker Boys – Michelle Pfeiffer drapes herself across a piano. My knees go weak.

Henry V – Ken bringing Shakespeare to us and we love it! Rain drenched battles! Blessed with a tiny mace!

The Little Mermaid – This one had the song ‘Under the Sea’, damn it, I still catch myself singing it.

Tango and Cash – Russell and Stallone and Jack Palance. Oh, Terry Hatcher too!

Driving Miss Dairy – Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy! I be driving, Miss Daisy, I be driving.

 

     Right, there you have it. A long list to scroll through with no pictures. How will the point and click generation cope? Admirably, I’m sure.

     There are many classics missing, films that didn’t really impact upon me (or haven’t yet) and maybe some that I just didn’t like. I look forward to continuing to watch films and find jems I’ve missed as well as every now and then checking that Masters of the Universe really was as bad as I remembered it being.

     Thanks for reading.

p.s. The box at the bottom is where you can shout at me and tell me why Howard the Duck should be removed from this list. J