S1 EP.16 – Watching Movies as a Kid – A review of 80’s films pt.1

The guys, (Kareem, Ken, and Pat) review the movies that helped shape them, starting in the 80’s. Tangents include an exploration of VHS, hands-off parenting, libertarian Ghostbusters, and more.

Show Notes

Topic 1: Covering a single movie from each decade in at the beginning of our lives that include:

The 80’s

The 90’s

The early 2000’s

We can discuss film making trends that occurred in each decade and if the movies that found influential embraced or bucked them.

Some examples of trends:

The rise of the Blockbuster:

Blockbusters: The decade started by continuing the blockbuster boom of the mid-1970s. The sequel to 1977’s Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, opened in May 1980 becoming the highest-grossing film of the year. It is considered among the greatest films of all time (being the highest rated 1980s film on IMDb). It was followed by Return of the Jedi (1983), finishing the three. Superman II was released in Europe and Australia in late 1980, but not distributed in the United States until June 1981. Though now seen as campier over the original 1978 Superman, Superman II was received with a positive reaction. From the success of The Empire Strikes Back, creator George Lucas teamed up with director Steven Spielberg to create one of the most iconic characters in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark starring Harrison Ford, who had also co-starred in The Empire Strikes Back. The story about an archaeologist and adventurer, Indiana Jones (Ford), hired by the U.S. government to go on a quest for the mystical lost Ark of the Covenant, created waves of interest in old 1930s style cliffhanger serials. It became the highest-grossing film of 1981, leading to sequels in all the top-10 films of the decade. In 1982, Spielberg directed his fairy-tale, sci-fi family blockbuster E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which shattered all records, earning 40% more than any Star-Wars film, and double or triple the revenue of 46 of the top 50 films.

From <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980s_in_film>

Sci-fi: Continuing the 1980s’ sci-fi boom was Australian post-apocalyptic sci-fi Mad Max 2, with a leather-clad outlaw fighting road barbarians in the futuristic desert wasteland. Another futuristic adventure released the same year, Escape from New York, also saw an anti-hero set in a dystopian future. In 1982, yet another film set in a dystopian feature, the Tech-noirish Blade Runner starred Harrison Ford as a detective searching for renegade androids. Sci-fi films aimed at younger audiences included the two Star Wars films, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, as well as the Back to the Future trilogy and Steven Spielberg‘s E.T.. The Star Trek series became a big screen success with four movies being released during the 1980s.

From <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980s_in_film>

Rite-of-passage: Beyond just the teenager “coming-of-age” stories, more complex “rite-of-passage” films had older actors changing or transforming through the rituals. So although teenagers were the focus of 1983’s Risky Business, 1984’s The Karate Kid and its sequels (1986, 1989), and 1985’s The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo’s Fire brat-pack genre, older people with troubled lives were the subjects of Top Gun (1986) or An Officer and a Gentleman in trying to become a fighter pilot, a female welder in Flashdance transforming into a ballet dancer, and Cocoon‘s (1985) elderly set overcoming old age. Even The Big Chill (1983) reunion was a rite-of-passage that challenged old classmates to redirect their lives after the suicide of a friend. The Goonies in 1985 and Stand by Me in 1986 were both successful at the box office and went on to be considered classics of the decade. They also both featured a number young actors that would see future success both on the big screen and the small screen.

From <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980s_in_film>

Comedies: The #6, #11 and #13 top films of the 1980s were comedy films: Ghostbusters (1984), Tootsie (1982) and Three Men and a Baby (1987). The disaster films of the past decade were spoofed in the gag comedy Airplane!, paving the way for more of the same including its 1982 sequel Airplane II: The Sequel, Top Secret! (1984) and the Naked Gun films. Popular comedy stars in the ’80s included Leslie Nielsen, John Candy, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Rick Moranis, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd. Many had come to prominence on the NBC TV series Saturday Night Live, including Bill Murray, Steve Martin and Chevy Chase. Eddie Murphy made a success of comedy-action films including 48 Hrs. (1982) and the Beverly Hills Cop series (1984–1993). Also in the top-50 films were the romantic comedies “Crocodile” Dundee (1986), Crocodile Dundee II (1988) and Arthur (1981).