My Favorite Films from Every Year I’ve Been Alive (Part Two: 1980–1989)
It was a formative decade
When I decided to list my favorite movies from every year I’ve been alive, I thought that the decade of the 1980s would be the easiest. Just as was the case for this decade in my favorite albums series, the films released between 1980 and 1989 were among the most formative for me, and are surely the ones I still quote the most often. Given that, I assumed my ten favorites would be simple to choose.
To borrow a song title from John Mellencamp’s 1989 album Big Daddy: “Sometimes a Great Notion.” Yeah, John…same here.
What I have run into, among other things, is the question of how I determine what my favorite film for each year is. One glaring example of this is 1981; Raiders of the Lost Ark is my favorite film from that franchise, my favorite Harrison Ford role (yes, Eric Pierce, even more than Han Solo), and arguably the best film from that year (though Reds has a solid case for that distinction as well). It seems like a no-brainer that Raiders would be my favorite film of 1981. Except it isn’t, and you will see why when we get to the list.
The way I’ve decided to choose a favorite in essentially no-win situations like this is to ask myself which one I would take with me to a desert island, knowing I will have to watch it until I shuffle off this mortal coil. This didn’t necessarily make the choices easier, but I can live with my picks.
I want to say again that this is a list of my personal favorite films for each year of the 1980s. The question of “greatest” is better left up to those with far superior knowledge of all things cinematic, like Simon Dillon. He will surely shake his head at a few of my picks, which is half the fun of this exercise. He and Eric have also joined me in this insanity, and you can find their first installments here (for Simon) and here (for Eric).
Now on to the films.
1980: The Empire Strikes Back. It was always going to be between Empire and Caddyshack for this spot, and if the golf comedy classic had a little more Bill Murray and Chevy Chase and a little less Michael O’Keefe it might have won out. Instead, I give you not just my favorite film in the Star Wars saga but indisputably the greatest of them all. Later films tried to be as dark as this one and failed; with Han frozen in carbonite, it remains the one that ends without a real glimmer of hope.
The Empire Strikes Back introduced us to Yoda in what were some of the funniest scenes in the series. It also has the best two-word line of dialogue in all eleven films: “I know.” The line was ad-libbed by Harrison Ford, no shock given how horrific much of the actual written dialogue is. And in what may be the best proof of this film’s magnificence, it is the one that George Lucas has gone back and tinkered with the least.
1981: Stripes. This is the year, and the conundrum, I mentioned at the start of this article. As much as I want to put Raiders of the Lost Ark here, I can’t; the Bill Murray you’re-in-the-Army-now classic will always be my favorite from 1981 (and one of my favorites ever). The entire film so mirrored my own military experience ten years later that I wrote an article about it; this movie is a more accurate depiction of Army life than 90% of the war movies out there. It was Murray’s first big hit after leaving Saturday Night Live and his first onscreen collaboration with Harold Ramis.
Besides Murray, Ramis, P. J. Soles, and Sean Young, Stripes also featured early performances by future stars like John Larroquette, John Candy, and Judge Reinhold as well as veteran actor Warren Oates perfectly cast as Sergeant Hulka. It’s also one of the most quotable films ever. It gave me lines I use to this day: “And then depression set in;” “I’m not parking it, I’m abandoning it;” “Ma’am, I’m sure there are a lot of ways I’ve gone that you haven’t,” and the ever useful “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy” after getting a shoeshine.
1982: Fast Times at Ridgemont High. It pains me not to put E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in this slot (I’m also bypassing Blade Runner and Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan), but I was in high school when this came out, and it triggers all kinds of memories (like how much the mall was a part of our lives then). The soundtrack was amazing and the Phoebe Cates pool scene forever changed what I think of when I hear The Cars’ “Moving in Stereo.”
The film has one more thing in its favor (and you should have expected this): Springsteen references. Judge Reinhold’s character, Brad, has a Springsteen bumper sticker on his car and at one point wears a Springsteen T-shirt. As if that wasn’t enough, Springsteen’s little sister Pam plays a cheerleader in the pep rally scene.
1983: Valley Girl. The Big Chill and Return of the Jedi were contenders for this slot, but the former is the nostalgia of the generation before mine and the latter has Ewoks. This retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in Southern California was Nicholas Cage’s first starring role, and he and Deborah Foreman pull off something rare in teen films: they make a believable couple. The interaction between the four main female characters was completely true-to-life as well (having since raised two daughters, all can I say is the more things change, the more they stay the same).
The soundtrack was something of a Holy Grail for music fans because for decades you simply could not buy it anywhere. In Valley Girl, the contrast between New Wave Pop (Modern English, Psychedelic Furs, Sparks) for the Valley scenes and much harder rock (Pat Travers, Payolas, and the vastly underrated Plimsouls) for the Hollywood scenes only helps accentuate the difficulties these two star-crossed lovers face.
1984: The Razor’s Edge. I’ve written before about how the original novel by Somerset Maugham literally changed my life, so it should be no surprise this Bill Murray adaptation is my favorite film from 1984; it was the film that first introduced me to the novel. Films (and novels) about a search for meaning rarely work well; this one does, and the message is as relevant today as it was four decades ago. If you are a fan of Ghostbusters, you have this movie to thank for it. Bill Murray loved the novel so much that he only agreed to take the role of Dr. Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters if the studio financed this film first.
1985: St. Elmo’s Fire. I realize that for most this is a pick out of left field; how is Back to the Future not clearly my favorite? It’s one of my favorites, along with Fletch and Silverado, also from 1985. All I can say is that this film features the Brat Pack at the height of their fame, and I was as enamored of them as anyone back in the ’80s. Watching Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, and Andrew McCarthy today is like stepping back in time. All that was missing was Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald.
1986: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The ultimate chronicle of one teen’s determination to make the most of a day skipping school. Ferris does more with that one day off than most of us do in a lifetime and all with absolutely no consequences. Anyone can skip school to catch an afternoon Cubs game; lip synching to Twist and Shout while leading a parade through downtown Chicago is beyond the reach of mere mortals.
Children whose parents were not born when this film was released wear “Save Ferris” T-shirts to school and “Bueller?” has become a part of the national lexicon, which is all the proof you need of the cultural impact of this day-of-skipping-school romp on steroids. More than anything, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off taught us that most important of lessons: “life moves pretty fast, and if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
1987: Lethal Weapon. Some great films came out in 1987, including The Untouchables, Full Metal Jacket, and Wall Street. My favorite, however, will always be the best buddy cop movie ever made. Filmmakers have been trying for more than 30 years to duplicate the chemistry between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, yet have been unable to match it. Gary Busey makes the perfect unhinged bad guy, though we did not realize at the time he probably was not acting.
1988: Die Hard. This is the year that makes me hate myself for even starting this. How do I choose between my favorite baseball movie (Bull Durham), the hilarious and woefully underrated pairing of Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin (Midnight Run), and the greatest action film ever made (Die Hard)? I ask myself the question that Solomon asked in the Old Testament when faced with such a dilemma: which one is also a Christmas movie? Plus, it has Alan Rickman as one of the coolest bad guys you’ll see. Yippee Ki-Yay…
1989: Say Anything. 1989 was another solid year, with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, When Harry Met Sally, Field of Dreams, and many others. But for me, John Cusack’s tour de force as wise-beyond-his-years kickboxer Lloyd Dobler gets the final spot of the 1980s. From the often imitated but never duplicated boombox scene to one of the most devastating lines ever (“I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen”), Lloyd Dobler was the hero we all most wanted to be, especially if it got the attention of Ione Skye.
That wraps up Part Two of my favorite movies from every year I’ve been alive; let me know some of yours in the comments, or better yet, take up the challenge and write an article of your own. Next time, we venture into the 1990s, with even more surprising picks. Until then, remember to silence your cell phones; the film is about to begin.
You can find Part One in the series below:
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