Beyond the blockbusters: This watch list has something for everyone over the long holiday weekend.
See full article...
See full article...
Blast from the past: 15 movie gems of 1985
- Thread starter JournalBot
- Start date
Came here to comment this!
It's a Japanese western about ramen and you won't regret this if you enjoy Japanese food or culture.
Upvote
12
(12
/
0)
I enjoyed Ladyhawke, Real Genius was enjoyable, but there is one that blew my mind that I've never seen before this last week and I'm shocked it's not on this list: Legend (1985). All I know for sure is if I had seen it when I was a child, I would have had nightmares beyond count. Considering the state of SFX in the 80's, if it were made today it would be all CGI, but in the mid 80's it was all practical effects and it looks absolutely amazing.
Upvote
38
(38
/
0)
What a strange criticism of a comedy made 40 years ago. What’s next, Kent shouldn’t have worn pink polos and Patti D'Arbanville’s character shouldn’t have found true love in the end because she was a slut?
Creations of the past shouldn’t have today’s standards held against them.
By that metric, every copy of “Blazing Saddles” should be wiped from existence.
Upvote
4
(34
/
-30)
Upvote
14
(14
/
0)
Great list, Jennifer, thanks. I was finishing up high school in 1985, studying film, and I remember all of these as if the back of my own hand. The 80s were a particularly heady time for film as the auteur-driven New Wave in Europe and gritty, realism of 70s personal filmmaking in America funneled into the burgeoning MTV-influenced, high-energy, -budget, and -concept movie era that really found its stride in this time. That dynamic brought a ton of lesser-type 'entertainment' as films became a viable new market, but also some truly amazing work by previously unknown types of filmmakers whose command of technique and style really became the vanguard of current big-tent cinema, for better and worse. It was a great time to be a film fan.
Upvote
8
(8
/
0)
That is a great list. But how... I mean HOW can it not have Back to the Future at the very top?!?
{Edit: I apologize; I did actually read the article but somehow missed it. I won't edit to remove this, but feel free to continue to down-vote so this post disappears.}
{Edit: I apologize; I did actually read the article but somehow missed it. I won't edit to remove this, but feel free to continue to down-vote so this post disappears.}
Last edited:
Upvote
-4
(16
/
-20)
My HTPC informs me that my most watched movies from 1985 are: A Room with a View, Weird Science, and A Chorus Line. I guess most of my watches for Tampopo, Cocoon, and Brazil, predate the HTPC's takeover: 2013.
Upvote
5
(5
/
0)
Hot take here, I don't expect most people to agree with this:
It's really interesting to see how many great films there are through the 80s (and of course earlier eras yet) to early 90s, and then how things just seem to start to fall apart and just get worse and worse as you get into the 2000s. That's not to say there's not some great films in the later eras, but entire genres of film seemed to disappear in the 90s.
One could debate for ages on exactly what happened and why.
It's really interesting to see how many great films there are through the 80s (and of course earlier eras yet) to early 90s, and then how things just seem to start to fall apart and just get worse and worse as you get into the 2000s. That's not to say there's not some great films in the later eras, but entire genres of film seemed to disappear in the 90s.
One could debate for ages on exactly what happened and why.
Upvote
32
(32
/
0)
Love 80s movies.
It feels like a pretty deep cut, but someone already called out Porky's Revenge. And Back to the Future is covered too.
Others I enjoy regularly specifically from 1985:
Brewster's Millions
Spies Like Us
A View to a Kill (if you're a Bond fan)
Police Academy 2
It feels like a pretty deep cut, but someone already called out Porky's Revenge. And Back to the Future is covered too.
Others I enjoy regularly specifically from 1985:
Brewster's Millions
Spies Like Us
A View to a Kill (if you're a Bond fan)
Police Academy 2
Last edited:
Upvote
8
(9
/
-1)
I like Blood Simple more every time I watch it, which is about once a year for the last 10-15.
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
Guess how I know you didn’t actually read the article…
(Back to the Future is literally the first movie in the article.)
Upvote
22
(24
/
-2)
LOL. This boomer, IIRC, remembers Film Critics in 1985 complained that the year was a few scattered islands of Good Films in a sea of kids movies and sf/fantasy movies and special effect as the pernicious influence of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg destroy American Film.
Upvote
21
(24
/
-3)
Yep It's Me
Ars Praetorian
Tim Curry's laugh, as Darkness, in the scene with Mia Sara is incredible!
Poor Tim. His present is physically limited but his past self lives on in that film as, literally, a giant!
Upvote
30
(30
/
0)
Silverado is one of my favorite Westerns. Unforgiven is the only one to surpass it, for me (I was too young to really appreciate the earlier classic Westerns).
Also, Silverado was written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan, who also wrote a little indie film called The Empire Strikes Back.
Upvote
18
(18
/
0)
The best thing about Ladyhawke is Michelle Pfieffer has no lines at all.
All the mid 80s are blurred for me because I was focused on college. But, I remember enjoying in the theater
Amazon Women From The Moon
Big Trouble in Little China
Ran (Kurosawa)
Not enjoyable:
Dune (just awful)
Brazil (made me nauseous)
All the mid 80s are blurred for me because I was focused on college. But, I remember enjoying in the theater
Amazon Women From The Moon
Big Trouble in Little China
Ran (Kurosawa)
Not enjoyable:
Dune (just awful)
Brazil (made me nauseous)
Upvote
-9
(7
/
-16)
Real Genius also features one of Dean Devlin's few acting credits. It's such a silly, ridiculous movie, but I cannot help but love it.
Upvote
13
(13
/
0)
There's a great site called IMDb that allows you to research details before you post on teh Internet. You could for example check that
Amazon Women From The Moon is from 1987
Big Trouble in Little China, which is a very entertaining movie, is from 1986
Dune is from 1984
So no one is going to be talking about them in a thread devoted to films from 1985.
Upvote
22
(35
/
-13)
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
It was not part of "the list" though. It only has a passing honorable mention in the introduction.
Upvote
-11
(5
/
-16)
How can a non existing university in a non existing city do that?Why only the end scene?
Came for "Real Genius", leaving half-satisfied as sadly no mention is made of its awesome soundtrack. One of my all-time favourite movies, I wish Bielefeld Uni would have been at least a bit like pacific tech when I attended
Upvote
4
(7
/
-3)
To me it seems perfectly cromulent to talk about the 80s as a whole, and the previous poster doesn’t seem to be saying they’re all from 85.
Shame they’re wrong about Brazil, though!
Upvote
2
(9
/
-7)
The entire 1980's were great. Pick any year, and there are several that have stood the test of time. You can pick these up and watch them like it was 40 years ago and they will be just as good as before, possibly even better. Without any googling at all, in no particular order are some of my favorites.
1. Airplane!
2. Who Framed Rodger Rabbit
3. Back to the Future 1 and 2
4. Police Academy
5. Ghostbusters
6. Terminator
7. Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and The Last Crusade
8. Dreamscape
9. Aliens
10. 2010: The Year We Make Contact
11. Spaceballs
All of these I have watched multiple times in the ensuing decades, many with my kids. I could keep going with this list, but then I would need a spoiler tag.
Upvote
16
(17
/
-1)
If you're expanding... I'd also throw in:
Scarface
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Blade Runner
Stripes
Caddyshack
Blues Brothers
Return of the Jedi
Predator
Full Metal Jacket
Beetlejuice
BIG
Die Hard
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
My absolute favorite decade for movies. I'd watch literally any of those on repeat.
I have a couple favs from the 70s too but nowhere near as many. Also like a bunch from the early 90s.
Upvote
14
(14
/
0)
Apparently by being more like CalTech?How can a non existing university in a non existing city do that?
Upvote
10
(10
/
0)
The entire point of "the list" was to list movies other than the blockbusters like BTTF... so why would it be in the list?
Speaking of list - interesting choices. Is there any particular significance to 1985 other than that it was... gulp... 40 years ago?
Upvote
24
(24
/
0)
My fondness for Brewster's Millions stems from an old interview some artist friends gave the student paper a long time ago: 'Many of Arcangel and Davis' films are inspired by the film Brewster's Millions. Davis said, "Every time you watch it, you learn a little bit more. It's really deep, it's incredible."'
Since it's not been mentioned yet, I'd put forth Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters as my 1985 rec.
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
I love Witness, and especially because the love story is absolutely integral to the plot, and it shows that Harrison Ford actually had more range as an actor than he's been credited with at the time. And it gets the feel of Lancaster County just right!
Upvote
18
(18
/
0)
In 1985 I had that neon Lite Beer sign from After Hours above in my dorm room.
We didn't have the internet to fight over. Everyone pretty much agreed about stuff. We knew our common enemies. Elections weren't steel cage death matches by unserious clown people. The Soviet Union and other foreign countries didn't have access to our population through X and TikTok. The president didn't despise half the country. Donald Trump hadn't even started playing footsie with the KGB yet.
Last edited:
Upvote
16
(21
/
-5)
Talk about nostalgia bait. 1985 was the year I started my teen job at the local theater. Back to the Future stayed there for over a year. People just kept coming back!
Probably my favorite from this list is Real Genius. Such a fun movie.
Probably my favorite from this list is Real Genius. Such a fun movie.
Upvote
12
(12
/
0)