What's Your Favorite 80's Movie?

Tell us your favorite 80's movie and what you liked about it. Share some information about where you lived or other memory about what was happening in your life at the time of the film.

Take Me Home Tonight

Take Me Home Tonight is a 2011 release. Though not a movie made in the 80’s, it is nevertheless is an outstanding 80’s movie. It’s got the setting, background, music, and vernacular that made the 80’s totally tubular. Take Me Home Tonight stars Topher Grace (That 70’s Show, Spider Man 3, Predators) as Matt Fanklin, Ana Faris (House Bunny, Yogi Bear) as Wendy Franklin, Dan Fogler (Kung Fu Panda, Good Luck Chuck) as Barry Nathan, and Teresa Palmer (I am Number Four, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) as Tori Frederking.

Matt just graduated from MIT, but has not idea of what to do with his life. As such he fills his time working at the mall chain Sun Coast video store, much to the chagrin of his father and friends. One day Tori, his secret crush walks in, turning his life upside down.

He’s got one chance to make an impression and change his destiny. He and his buddy Barry intercept her and follow her from party to party totally convincing her he is a high level banker.

Take Me Home Tonight has the formula for a great 80’s movie. Swimming pools, parties, drug use, exotic cars, beautiful women, young adult angst and a soundtrack of the most righteous songs from the decade. But wait, one last ingredient; the speech of all speeches Matt gives similar to those found at the end of great 80’s hits like Revenge of the Nerds.

Among the many in the awesome soundtrack, great songs include:

Video Killed The Radio Star-The Buggles

Hungry Like The Wolf-Duran Duran

Situation-Yaz

Der Kommisar-After the Fire

There’s even the one hit wonder Opus with Live is Life, a top hit in Europe.

I give Take Me Home Tonight 3.5 alligators for script, clothes and teen angst. The only reason it didn’t get four stars because it wasn’t filmed in the 80’s.

Take Me Home Tonight is rated R

The Experts

1989’s The Experts is fun movie starring John Travolta (Grease, Perfect, Staying Alive, Two of a Kind) as Travis and Ayre Gross (House II, Tequila Sunrise)as Wendell. Travis and Wendell know how to party. In fact, they are certified night club experts. That’s exactly why KGB Agent Cameron Smith, played by Charles Martin Smith (Starman, Untouchables) kidnaps them and brings them to Russia.

Smith is in trouble. His bosses with the KGB are totally boaged that their plan to bring down the USA has gotten nowhere. Sure they’ve made progress by replicating a Midwestern small town; that’s righteous. However, the Russians citizens have never developed the community beyond the 1950’s, the only reference the closed country has to American life. In fact, many don’t even know they aren’t American; bogus. Smith is ordered to make changes or else.

Travis and Wendell are on their way to open a new nightclub. On the way Smith hires them and brings them to what they think is small town Nebraska. Unknown to the experts, they’ve been drugged and shipped across the world to a small Russian town. Their mission, to open a club and make the poodle skirt and rolled up jeans Teeny Boppers into totally awesome 80’s New Wavers .

Except for blockbuster John Travolta, it’s awesome that The Experts offers a great cast of moderately known actors.  Even Travolta’s future wife Kelly Preston (Secret Admirer, Space Camp) gets into the act.

No particularly 80’s music you would recognize in the movie, but they are definitely of the awesome decade. KGB and cold war references remind you that this is indeed of the times. Hair styles and clothing will bring you back to the carefree time of posing 80’s style.

This movie is rated PG for adult situations.

Dangerous Curves

Dangerous Curves stars Tate Donovan (Love Potion #9, Magnum, P.I.) as Chuck Upton, a square dude who is given a chance to demonstrate responsibility by driving a super tubular 1988 Porsche cross country. The only problem is, his irresponsible buddy Wally Wilder (Grant Heslov-License to Drive) is distracted by beautiful women and they lose the car. Later, they find out it is stolen, only to be a cherry prize at a righteous beach beauty pageant.   

This low budget comedy is slow at times. However, if you are in for a late 80’s movie that tries to hold onto the mid decade summer hi jinks genre you might try it.

Dangerous Curves has an 80’s movie soundtrack, but no songs that are familiar. Just the synthesizer and some toe tapping beats.  Look for small appearances by Robert Stack, Leslie Nielsen and Robert Romanus (Mike Damone-Fast Times and Ridgemont High).  

Dangerous Curves is rated PG for adult situations and language.

They Live

They Live

I saw John Carpenter’s They Live for the first time while stationed in Wildflecken, Germany. I watched a lot of movies back in the day. It was a good way to blow off steam at the end of a long work day when I wasn’t seeing the sights or otherwise touring the landscapes and scenes of Europe.

They Live has no famous 80’s background music. Filmed during what I call the black hole of music in 1988, I doubt if the sound track would be as good as that of Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire, or Footloose. Instead this move was tracked with the electronic sounds of old Carpenter himself. The only real pop culture was probably just the same ol’ LA scene as in most movies of the time; palm trees, cityscape and flannel shirts.

Rowdy Roddy Piper plays George Playa, a homeless man who wonders into LA looking for work. He sports a great mullet and is busting out of his cloths, wrastlin’ style. The writers ensured his first job is on a construction site where he gets a few shirtless scenes to keep the movie campy. While on the site he meets Frank a character well played by Keith David.

George and Frank don’t trust each other, but it’s clear that they should definitely resolve their issues and save the world. As the tension mounts between them, an unholy mystery is forming at the nearby church. The homeless wonderers join others at an outdoor homeless gypsy camp and become aware of the strange late night events at the church. Meanwhile, a weird hacking of the television channel is warning observers that someone is controlling them.

Out of nowhere the police come and destroy the camp, church and some suspicious characters from the church.  However in an even more campy twist, we find the parishioners are smuggling …wait for it…SUNGLASSES. After the police raid the church George goes back in and discovers a magic box of Ray Ban or Vuarnet Wayfarer knockoffs. Don those catch me kiss me shades and not only will the ladies be hunting you down, but you can actually see the aliens who are enslaving us. Oh yea, the subliminal “OBEY”, “NO INDEPENDENT THOUGHT” and “MARRY AND REPRODUCE” message are revealed in magazines, bill boards and signs.

Only after a lengthy knockdown, drag out, butt kickin’ scene do George and Keith begin to see eye to eye. In fact, George practically knocks Frank out before forcing glasses on his face to see things from his point of view.  After that the tension is gone and they can get down to a good old fashioned friendship while they save the world.

This movie is rated R and rightly so as swearing is peppered throughout. It actually makes it through 92 of 93 minutes before the first and only nude scene arrives and pretty much unexpected. Fun movie, good times, see They Live.

C.H.U.D. Special Edition

After some Facebook buzz about the movie C.H.U.D., I decided to rent it from Netflix. You see, I belong to a Facebook group called HHC 3ID 1985 to 1990. It's for veterans of the famous US Army unit originally stationed in Leighton Barracks overlooking Wurzburg, Germany.

I remember seeing C.H.U.D. as a soldier back in the barracks room. I believe my friends had rented it back in 1985 (originally aired in 1984). However, after viewing it 26 years later, I don't remember any of the scenes. Actually, I do remember the opening credits and first victim.

The movie tries to be witty, but I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a cheesy 80's comedy or an actual thriller. I'm pretty sure it was scary and state of the art back in the day, but now it's kind of hokey. The scenes were gory, but not scary. Mostly they were disturbing. There's a little blood, body parts and etc. But the disturbing parts were because of the other low budget effects.

The movie is kind of a pre-reunion of the hit movie Home Alone arriving 5 years later and a launch for a host of new actors. Daniel Stern and John Heard have starring roles. Also making appearances are a young John Goodman, Patricia Richardson and Jay Thomas.

C.H.U.D. is an 80's movie as far as being made in the 1980s. Because of the New York City setting, there isn't much 80's pop culture identity. Definitely no 80's sound track, 80's songs or anything profoundly identifiable from that era. However, it is fun to see some of the brandy from Downy, Budweiser Beer, U Haul, Izod polo shirts and other products. Telephones with cords, old television sets, answering machines and archaic technology abounded.

C.H.U.D stands for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller, or so we are led to think. However, there is an alternate meaning to the acronym. The story begins with the disappearance of a police captain's wife. After weeks of homeless people going mission, hers is the most visible missing person's report. Add in a criminal turned minister to the homeless (Stern), a photographer (Heard) and his model wife, a bad collection of government and city employees and you've got a classic horror movie.

The motley crew discover that the EPA has spilled radioactive material which has led to a nasty symptom. The city's homeless are mutating into monsters. These aren't zombies by any sense of the meaning. They are downright monsters with no hair, scaly skin and glowing eyes.

I'm not sure why this movie has an R rating. Probably because of the times. Slight gore and swearing probably were the concerns. If you enjoy low budget horror, get C.H.U.D.