Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

This is the short list of titles.

What other movies are synonymous with the 80’s?

What are some of your favorites on this list and those not on it? My first choices are posted below this list.

The Abyss
Adventures in Babysitting
Airplane
Akira
An American Werewolf in London
Bachelor Party
Back to School
Back to the Future I & II
Batman
Beetlejuice
Best of the Best
Better Off Dead
Beverly Hills Cop
Big
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Blade Runner
Bloodsport
Blues Brothers
The Breakfast Club
Brewster’s Millions
The Burbs
The Brotherhood of Justice (Keanu Reeves)
Caddyshack
Can’t Buy Me Love
Child’s Play
A Christmas Story
Die Hard
Disorderlies
Dream A Little Dream
E.T.
The Empire Strikes Back
The Evil Dead
Explorers
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Field of Dreams
First Blood (Rambo)
Fletch
Flight of the Navigator
The Fly
Frankenweenie (Tim Burton)
Full Metal Jacket
Ghostbusters I & II
Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Sara Jessica Parker)
Gleaming the Cube
Glory
The Goonies
Gremlins
Heathers
Highlander
The Hitcher
Howard the Duck
Innerspace
K-9
The Karate Kid I & II
Killer Klowns from Outer Space
Labyrinth
Ladyhawke
The Last Starfighter
Lean on Me
Lethal Weapon
Like Father Like Son
Little Monsters
The Lost Boys
Lucas
The Man with One Red Shoe
Maximum Overdrive
The Money Pit
Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life
The Muppet’s Take Manhattan
My Stepmother is an Alien
Mystic Pizza
The Naked Gun
National Lampoon’s Vacation
The NeverEnding Story
A Nightmare on Elm Street
One Crazy Summer
The Outsiders
Over The Top
Overboard
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure
The Pick-Up Artist
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Platoon
Police Academy
Poltergeist
Porky’s
Predator
The Princess Bride
Rad
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Rain Man
Raising Arizona
Red Dawn
Repo Man
Revenge of the Nerds
Risky Business
Road House
Robocop
Romancing the Stone
Roxanne
The Running Man
Santa Claus: The Movie
Say Anything
Scarface
Scrooged
See No Evil, Hear No Evil
The Shining
Short Circuit
Silver Bullet
Sixteen Candles
Some Kind of Wonderful
Spaceballs
Splash
Stand By Me
Stripes
Summer Rental
One Sure Thing
Teen Wolf
The Terminator
Thrashin’
Top Gun
The Toxic Avenger
Trading Places
Transformers: The Movie
Tron
Twilight Zone: The Movie
Twins
UHF
Uncle Buck
The Untouchables
Valley Girl
WarGames
Weekend at Bernie’s
Weird Science
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Willow
Witness
The Wizard
The Woman in Red
Young Guns
Zapped

My first choices:
Blade Runner, Bloodsport, The Burbs, Caddyshack, Die Hard, The Empire Strikes Back, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Goonies, Gleaming the Cube, Lethal Weapon, The Lost Boys, The Money Pit, National Lampoon’s Vacation, One Crazy Summer, Planes Trains and Automobiles, Police Academy, The Princess Bride, Scarface, Stand By Me, The Terminator, The Untouchables, WarGames, Weekend at Bernie’s, The Wizard.

List your favorites!

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

The Matrix

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

Streets of Fire
To Live & Die in L.A.
The Thing
Videodrome
The Last Dragon
The Beastmaster
Return of the Living Dead

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

Flashdance
Footloose
Purple Rain
Summer School
Wall Street

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

Watched this again the other day on BD and I was thinking at the time what other Eighties films are similar like this one?

What makes me like Eighties films is things like lens flare, the music and things that cannot be faked these days.

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai
Aliens
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
The Black Cauldron
The Blob
Blue Velvet
Creepshow
The Dark Crystal
Deathtrap
Dolls
Down and Out in Beverly Hills
Escape from New York
The Fog
Friday the 13th series
The Funhouse
Halloween II & III
Hellraiser I & II
Jaws 3
Manhunter
Night of the Comet
The Pirate Movie
Popeye
Return of the Jedi
Return to Oz
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone
Star Trek II, III, IV, V
Supergirl
Superman II, III, IV
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
Who's That Girl
Xanadu

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

Desperately Seeking Susan

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

Mannequin - Andrew McCarthy, James Spader, Kim Cattrall when she was hot, GW Bailey, rampant 80's consumerism, synthesizer soundtrack, cheesy animated opening. Quintessential 80's movie.

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

If that's the short list, let's see the long one. :) What about The Big Chill?

You know how some people consider Raging Bull or The Shining to be the last "70's movie" despite being released in 1980? To me, Home Alone is the last "80's movie."

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

Youngblood: Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze

Secret Admirer: C. Thomas Howell and Lori Loughlin

License to Drive: Corey Haim and Feldman and a very young Heather Graham.

Mischief: Kelly Preston

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

Red Heat.

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

Conan the Barbarian- started a whole bunch of sword and sorcery movies.
Not to mention launched Arnolds movie career.

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

The Legend of Billie Jean
Cobra

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

oh come on, launched his career seriously, you seem to be forgetting "hercules in New York"

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

What is the difference between an 80s movie and a movie that happened to be released in the 80s?

John Hughs movies and horny teenage boys movies are 80s movies. Likewise Miami Vice knockoffs and post-Excalibur sword-and-sorcery movies.

But what makes Akira, Blue Velvet, or Bladerunner typical 80s movies?

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

First thing I thought of: The Goonies.

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

Top Gun - Reagan-era patriotism at its propaganda-level finest, and the apex of the Tom Cruise 80s.

I would also argue that, for my generation, Without a Paddle is the best post-80s depiction of what the 80s were about. My wife would likely pick The Wedding Singer for this.

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

:hscratch:

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

Post-apocalyptic imagery was a hallmark of 80s films because of the Cold War tensions. President Reagan's "peace through strength" policy worked in the long run, but it made a lot of people very nervous at the time.

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

What does this have to do with DVDs?

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

So have alot of people.

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

yes, yes they have:)

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

One word: Commando.

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

I've always thought LESS THAN ZERO (with Andrew McCarthy, Robert Downey and Jami Gertz) was one of the ultimate examples of an 80s movie in both style and content, but I never see it mentioned on lists or shows.

Re: Movies Synonymous with the 80's!
 

One of the things I would look for in a defining "80s movie" would be the influence of MTV on the style of the film ---quick cut editing, music video montages, young and pretty stars, a barrage of songs on the soundtrack.