I saw a movie trailer today and it brought back some more good memories. The movie trailer was for “Top Gun: Maverick”. It is the sequel to the movie “Top Gun,” of course. I remember the first time I saw “Top Gun”. It was at the $1.50 movies at the corner of 34th and Bell. A furniture store is there now. When the movie was over, my buddy and I wanted to go and join the service and become fighter pilots. Problem was that we were only 15 years of age. I started thinking about all the movies back from the 80’s. I have talked about 80’s music, but I really haven't touched on the movies back then.
There are so many great movies from that era, where do we start? Horror, comedy, science fiction? Let's start with the brat pack. The Brat Pack was a group of actors that starred in many films together. The Rat Pack was Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and a couple of others, so naturally the Brat Pack was a spin off from them. They consisted of Molly Ringwald, Charlie Sheen, his brother Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall and of course many others. One of the best movies from the 80’s and starred a couple of the brat pack was “Sixteen Candles,” a John Hughes film about a young lady getting ready for her sister's wedding and her family forgetting her sixteenth birthday. This was one of many of John Hughes' films that changed the movie scene in the 80’s. Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall not only starred in this movie together, but another one of John Hughes films called, “The Breakfast Club”. Fellow Brat Pack actors Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez and Judd Nelson star with them on this movie. A group of teenagers from different cliques have to spend an entire Saturday at school detention for different reasons. They come together and become friends, but, if you have seen the movie, then you know that there is quite a bit more to it. There were many teen movies that was amazing during this time. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” about a high school kid that fakes being sick and spending the day out with his friend and girlfriend is one of them. Great movie.
Teen movies were not the only ones that were great. The Vietnam War came to a new light with movies like “Good Morning, Vietnam” starring the very funny Robin Williams. We watched as a very young Charlie Sheen showed us what it was like in Vietnam with the movie “Platoon”. Someone else was in that movie, a young actor who went on to become one of the most famous pirates in cinema. Yep, before Johnny Depp was cast as Captain Jack Sparrow, he was in the movie “Platoon” also. He was also in another classic from that time. “One, Two, Freddys coming for you!” He was in the very first “Nightmare on Elm Street” Freddy Kruger and Jason Vorhees both got their start in the 80’s horror scene. Another one that has stood the sands of time, was a future Governor, who looked around and said, “I’ll be back!”. The Terminator came out in 1984. Speaking of time, Marty McFly went back in time in a DeLorean car in “Back to the future”, and had 2 sequels.
If horror was not your thing, but you likeed sci-fi, there were plenty to choose from as well. Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.” just wanted to “phone home” and if that isn't cute enough for ya, there was always “Gremlins”. Just remember not to get them into sunlight, do not get them wet and never, ever, feed them after midnight. Gizmo was cute, but his buddies were horrible and mean. How about a state of the art movie (at that time) with ghost? Yep, Ray Parker Jr sang the theme song asking “Who ya gonna call?”, that is right, call “Ghostbusters” but they were never called to stop “Beetlejuice” or investigate “Poltergeist”. Now there are so many but of course, you cannot have sci-fi without the “Star Wars” saga. “Star Wars IV: A New Hope” actually came out in 1977, but the two sequels, “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” came out in 1980 and 1983. In the last 20 years, they have had 8 more “Star Wars” movies and three more on the way!
How many of you remember growing up and hitting puberty? Looking at the pretty girls in magazines. Well, Anthony Michael Hall (yes, him again) and Ian Mitchell-Smith were a couple of nerds that went to extreme and built their own woman. It also starred a future “Avenger”, Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. and Anthony Michael Hall starred in a couple of movies together. Another one was “Johnny Be Good.” Hall stars as the star quarterback on the high school team and he is scouting colleges to go to. Another couple to share the big screen on many occasions were the two Coreys. Cory Haim and Cory Feldman starred in many comedies together. “License to Drive” about a teen failing his driving test and steals his grandfather's car for a night of joyriding. One of the best that they starred in together was the teen thriller “The Lost Boys”, a classic vampire movie, that has become a cult classic!
Many of the 80’s movies have become cult classics, like “Escape from New York” with Kurt Russell, which also had a sequel in the 90’s called “Escape from L.A.” A couple of others with Kurt Russell were “Overboard” which also starred Goldie Hawn and “Big Trouble in Little China” One that starred ex wrestler Rowdy Piper that is also a cult classic is “They Live”. There are many that have become cult classics that people still talk about today.
With so many great movies from the 80’s there is no way I can even begin to mention them all. From action like the original “Red Dawn” and “Die Hard” to “Raiders of the Lost Ark” to feel good stories like “Big” starring Tom Hanks to “The Goonies” and “The Karate Kid”. We all left the movies feeling great and ready to conquer the world. Yep, I walked out of “Top Gun” and I was determined to become a fighter pilot. Too bad I’m scared of heights! More to come next week.
