OT: under-rated 80s movies
So my wife is an immigrant and (until recently) did not understand the concept of an "80's movie". Overall, she loves these types of movies, especially because a good amount of them were filmed/set right in our back yard in Chicago. With that, there is a certain "feel" about 80s movies that can make them very unique and time-stamped that cannot be duplicated. For example, Licorice Pizza and Stranger Things tries really hard to capture the 80s aesthetic, but I can see right through it.
So, what are your under-rated 80s movies we all should watch. Mine are:
- To Live and Die in LA
- 3 O'Clock High
- 52 Pick-up
- Class
- Black Rain
- The Return of the Living Dead
- UHF
- Legend
- Angel Heart
- Big Trouble in Little China
- My Bloody Valentine
- Repo Man
Anything to add MgoBlogeratti?
We gonna pretend like modern problems never happened. Hahahaha I like it!!
The Sure Thing
Real Genius
Buckaroo Banzai
Real Genius is possibly my favorite 80s movie, in the sense of being embedded in that decade. It's got everything - nerd jokes, science, cold war baddies, big hair, and a solid soundtrack.
The best 80's movie is Blade Runner, but that's not underrated.
March 31st, 2022 at 11:37 PM ^
Real Genius also has one of my favorite 1980s bad guys, William Atherton (The EPA guy in Ghostbusters, and Richard Thornburg in the first two Die Hard movies)
Commando is the best/worst movie I have ever seen. It’s action but also comedy just because of how ridiculous it is. I probably own it on every form of media.
Arnold storming Dan Hedaya's island compound may be the finest ten minutes of cinema ever filmed.
March 31st, 2022 at 10:21 PM ^
Watched this with my dad when I was probably too young. Love it still. So many great one liners.
What happened to Sully?
I let him go.
But yeah. Arnold taking on an entire island by himself is the best.
Me and my college roommates attempted a count of just how many people Arnold S. single-handedly kills in Commando. Our count was between 87 and 120--the vagueness is the difficulty in calculating the number of people in the barracks he blows up at the end. Five in each? Twenty? It's harder than you think. I'm kind of horrified by it now...
Honestly. The only kill I cared about was to Sully. That dude was a complete douche and had no right being part of the likes of Cook and Bennet
What'd you do with Sully?
I let him go
Raw Deal is also an overlooked element of Arnold’s 80s ouvre
Yes! Raw Deal holds up surprisingly well.
I'm not sure if these meet your definition of movies with an 80's aesthetic, but here are some good ones which were filmed in the '80's and not talked about much today:
Pale Rider
Body Double
Possession
Blue Velvet
Good list. Body Double is in my cue
+1 for Blue Velvet.
Jagged Edge fits this list. An underrated Jeff Bridges thriller.
Huge agreement with Big Trouble in Little China and 3 O'Clock High.
3 O’Clock High may be the reason why I’m so ambitious
I saw Risky Business when it first came out, as a Michigan MBA student. Loved it.
It's an iconic 80s movie that defines a decade.
Time of your life.
I’m surprised you are not an Illinois student. Ha.
40 years later and they still have not lived that down.
Heh.
One thing I found funny in Risky Business is the salary that they deemed wealthy. IIRC, it was like $40k and you were super wealthy. And the movie was set in a wealthy Chicago suburb (Glencoe) so it’s not like they didn’t know what being wealthy meant.
Inflation is a bitch.
Weird Science
The Burbs
Cujo
Midnight Run
Mosquito Coast
The Toxic Avenger
They Live
Pale Rider
Christine
edit: forgot Crocodile Dundee and one of the greatest movies ever made. Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
+1 for They Live and Midnight Run. "Why don't cha quit, Jack? It'll be cheaper for the both of us."
+1 Who Framed Roger Rabbit
+1 and a chuckle for Toxic Avenger
The Last Starfighter
Goonies
Clue
Fletch
Vision Quest
Revenge of the Nerds
Early 90's - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
This is a list I can get on board with. I'd add Battle Beyond the Stars although I know it's just M7/Seven Samurai is space.
Early 80s was great for movies with $2 production value but better writing than 90% of the crap Hollywood puts out now.
I have Black Rain in a queue to watch somewhere, but other than that OP has about 1 movie I've seen.
you beat me to Vision Quest
great 80's movie
So....I was 14 when Goonies came out...my brother and I rode our bikes in the Arizona sun to be first in line...we were shocked no one else was lined up to see it. I was so excited...and so utterly let down by the end. I just don't get the reverence for it. I know I'll be negged to oblivion but it's just a couple memorable lines and spawned a great band (Love Chunk No Captain Chunk!) but it just...isn't...good. not even in an 80s way. I truly think it is one the most overrated pics ever....somebody explain why I'm wrong...(really...I wanna know)
Now...all the love for 3 O'Clock High...yes please.
I don't think I've ever met anyone who doesn't like The Goonies.
Although I'm convinced the mom is played by two different actresses. The lady that shows Rosalita how to pack is not the same woman who greets them on the beach.
Throw in the monster squad and we have a deal.
Last Starfighter was a gem. That, Beastmaster, and Krull!
Time Bandits
Just One of the Guys
Heartbreak Ridge
Summer School
Defending Your Life ('91)
A list with Time Bandits but no Willow or Dark Crystal? Come on now. But a big plus 1 for TB!
- Buckaroo Banzai
- Blowout
- Heathers
- Dressed to Kill
- Do the Right Thing
- Amadeus
- Gandhi
- The Right Stuff
The Right Stuff is classic. I'm shocked it busted at the box office. The soundtrack (Bill Conti) alone is more underrated than a mullet with bangs.
Look, I love your list, but Amadeus won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The exact same thing is true for Gandhi. The Right Stuff won four. My point? They weren't underrated!! I'll give you Do the Right Thing but that film still caused a sensation that made Spike Lee famous overnight--great film too.
Ruthless People - "I've been kidnapped by Kmart"
That was the second movie I saw a boob in. The first being Bachelor Party
My first was I, Claudius on PBS. Boobies on PBS!
We’re those medical bewbs or sexy bewbs?
What...does this mean?
Meaning, where they showing boobs on PBS in effort to show women how to give a breast exam for breast cancer (medical bewbs)
Or simply showing boobs for the sake of gratuitous nudity (sexy bewbs)
March 31st, 2022 at 10:00 PM ^
Ah. No, it was I, Claudius, a mini-series about the Julio-Claudian emperors based on Robert Graves novels. Dancing girl/orgy boobs not...mammogram boobs (God, I can't believe I just typed out and am about to save this)
Porkys is the only correct answer here.
"Debbie? Yeah, Debbie's here. Who's this? Ralph, Debbie can't talk right now, my dick's in her mouth. How 'bout I have her call you back when I'm done?
Hehe, I love wrong numbers."
March 31st, 2022 at 10:59 PM ^
"Who the hell are you? What the hell is going on?"
"I'M ROBBING YOU!"
Mr.Mom
Some Kind of Wonderful
Just One of The Guys
Less Than Zero
The Principal
Amazon Women on The Moon
Fame
All the Right Moves
Moonstruck
Threads
Testament
Short Circuit
Jewel of the Nile
Real Genius
Heathers
EDIT: almost forgot Remo Williams
Okay I'm going to be editing this all night: because I also have to have Innerspace and My Blue Heaven up there.