Movies Of The 80's - 1985

 

Introduction

As an 80's music aficionado, I've found myself interested as of late in the world of 80's soundtracks. Be it scores, or various artist albums, I'm always on the lookout for a CD to add to my collection.

Of course, there are the staples. Top Gun, Footloose, Flashdance, Ghostbusters, and the list goes on and on. These albums have been a mainstay in my collection since relatively the start of it. But, this is just the tip of the iceberg, and I wanted to dive deeper.

The problem I quickly found was that while searching based on films that popped into my head randomly, I wasn't necessarily delving very far. After mulling it around for a while, I finally broke down and decided that to truly find just what was out there, I first had to educate myself on what films were out there.

It took months of cataloging, which was based on limited time between work and other obligations, but finally I was able to reach the finish line. Utilizing links to Wikipedia by year denoting the List of American Films of (insert year here), I created a series of posts with each movie poster, ad, or some form of representation for made for television movies, to have a reference guide. Now I could truly begin my search into just what soundtracks were out there.

Not wanting all this work to go to waste, I decided I would take the next several weeks to present to you the Movies of the 80's! We've already looked at the freshman year of the decade, and it continues here with 1985.

1985 saw me living in the states for the first time, and though my family didn't go to movie theaters often, my dad was a home video fiend. I didn't know anyone at the time who had as massive a VHS (and soon to be LaserDisc) collection.

Of the Nightmare On Elm Street movies, part II is definitely the most unique. It steps out of the boundaries of Freddy just being able to haunt dreams, but actually poses people. It's definitely not my favorite in the series, but kudos to the writers for taking the sequel in an alternate direction from the first film.

The story behind how Duran Duran were ultimately chosen to write and perform the theme to A View To A Kill is a fun 80's story unto itself, and may very well stand out more in my mind than the movie.

You've seen it. I've seen it. We've all seen it. Back To The Future is touted as a perfect movie from start to finish, and that may very well be true. I can find no fault in it, but that's just my opinion.

The Black Cauldron is how I wish more Disney films were made. Solid story telling, no singing, and great animation.

The Breakfast Club was a film I didn't see until a couple years ago. It's funny how times change. While it would be considered edgy and traumatic when Emilio Estevez is telling the story of what landed him in detention, all seriously and dramatic like, I instead was falling on the floor laughing.

Classic board game turned cult classic film. Clue hits all the right notes for a mystery comedy. From its fantastic cast, to the fun story, to the board game like ending of how it could have happened.

As a kid, a film like Cocoon stood no chance of holding my attention. While I did attempt to watch it, to this day, I still haven't sat through the whole thing.

It's interesting how Cocoon couldn't hold my attention as a child, yet I remember sitting through the entirety of The Color Purple.

Of course, stuff exploding everywhere in Commando was also one I sat through with no problems.

I've seen so many zombie movies that I couldn't tell you what this one was about at this point. I remember a co-worker and I went on a mad George A. Romero kick, watching all of his flicks. We even sent him something to autograph, which we never got back.

Disgustingly Stinking Susan, despite having Madonna in a staring role, is a terrible film! She is the female equivalent of Prince when it comes to acting.

It's that forgotten sci-fi flick from the 80's, Enemy Mine. Iconic in every right, despite its box office failure. I will say that it is definitely different from most films of the genre that you'll see.

The day I saw Ewoks Battle For Endor is also the day I took a baseball bat to the eye when getting to close to my brother who was swinging for a ball. Very memorable day for a lot of reasons. I remember about a week later, we were running the school's mandatory mile, and some parents were there. One of which happened to be the neighbor where the incident happened. She asked me, "Where did you get the black eye?" I answered, "Your house." She was shocked.

Five films for Jason to Freddy's two, yet both were iconic slasher villains of the 80's who would ultimately clash in the unforeseen future.

One of my all time favorite films as a kid was The Goonies. I guess I could say to this day, even though I haven't seen it in a long time, it remains one of my favorites. Much like Back To The Future, it just has that "perfect" vibe.

I don't say this often about 80's cartoons, but man, I hate The Littles. It felt like punishment as a kid when this cartoon came on. It's so freaking boring!

I more so remember the classic music video for the song, When The Going Gets Tough (The Tough Get Going), than the actual movie. Back in the 80's, it was a treat to see "celebrities" in music videos. Especially when it was for the film itself. It was like getting a mini sequel.

Krush Groove gets an honorable mention because I so badly want to see this movie, as well as own the soundtrack.

Silly in every sense of the word, but probably not intended to be, was The Last Dragon. Well worth watching for some Motown style kung fu. The soundtrack is a classic in its own right.

Well, this is a rare image. I can actually claim to have seen all three of these films! Of course Lifeforce wasn't for the story.

Mad Max may be a classic franchise, but man are those films weird. Beyond Thunderdome, I can't even explain. I have no clue what went on in that film. There was club style fighting, shoveling of poop, kids, Tina Turner, and Master Blaster who apparently runs Barter Town.

Andy Sidaris films were my go to when I was interested in watching girls on film. Dona Speir may have been my first "crush". Speir was a mainstay in Sidaris films...for good reason. Which is ironic, because she's not actually in Malibu Express.

I caught bits and pieces of Mask when my sister was watching it. Nothing about it really interested me as a kid.

Ah, the Griswolds. Everyone's favorite vacationing family. I don't actually know if I saw this one before or after the original film, but both are classics.

Who would have thought that Danny Elfman could also produce such amazing soundtracks? Apparently Tim Burton, when he asked him to be a part of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.

Not as good as the first one, but definitely with its moments, Police Academy 2 paved the way for one of my favorite characters in the series, Proctor. That shrimp eating scene gets me every time.

I begged my dad to let me see Rambo: First Blood Part II when I first saw the trailer. At the time, I had no clue it was the sequel to First Blood, because apparently reading wasn't my thing. Anyway, he said no, so it wouldn't be years later until I finally got to partake in some Rambo action.

The popcorn scene is the only part I seem to remember from Real Genius in my current adult years. I guess it wasn't as memorable as I thought it was going to be.

After seeing the two Conan films on VHS, it was only natural that I would make my way over to Red Sonja. Was it as good as the Arnold led films? No. But, at least he returns for this one to somewhat help it stay afloat.

Remo Williams was supposed to be the next big franchise of the 80's. Then it wasn't. Remo Williams, The Adventure Begins apparently was also the ending after being a box office failure.

My first foray into the world of Rocky as a child. The fourth film may be my favorite, but only because it was the one that introduced me to the character. I actually didn't see any other Rocky films until much later in life.

So many people are missing out on a classic comedy by not knowing anything about the film Rustler's Rhapsody. Tom Berenger, Andy Griffith, G.W. Bailey, and Marilou Henner are perfectly cast in this film. "Yeah, I got a match. Your butt and my face!"

I must have missed the memo in 1985 because I was not aware of a full length He-Man movie until long after it had come and gone.

While I was missing out of He-Man movies, my parents were taking me to see Follow That Bird. Even as a kid I thought it sucked. Why on Earth would an eight year old want to watch a movie from a show that targeted babies?

I never really understood the hype of the film, Spies Like Us. Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd certainly have iconic films, but this isn't one of them.

St. Elmo's Fire is a song I've been listening to ever since it came out in 1985, but I didn't actually see the film until a few years ago. It was okay.

At this point in my life, I vaguely remember Summer Rental. As far as John Candy films go, I think The Great Outdoors will always be my favorite. I just don't remember enough about this one at this point. Man, getting old is a beast.

Teen Wolf. Michael J. Fox turns into a wolf, surfs on a car, and then dunks a basketball. Oh...And his whole family are wolves. Arooooo!

Great flick! Weird Science is a fantastic film full of teenage mischief, bras on heads, and a killer soundtrack! I don't think there wasn't one teenage boy who Kelly LeBrock didn't enchant.

I'm noticing I'm typing more in these posts as the years progress, but I'm still surprised at just how many films came out each year. Call it being naive. I just didn't know the volume of films that get churned out in a period of 365 days.

But, we are half way through the decade, and next year we formally flip to the back half with 1986!

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