7 Movies From 1985 That All 1970s Kids Still Love Today
Simon Gallagher has worked in movie and TV journalism for more than 17 years. He has written more than 6000 articles and reviews, and edited thousands more. He is an expert in the entertainment industry, particularly in the golden age of screen superheroes. Simon is also a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic.
By the time the mid-1980s came around, Hollywood was in the middle of a major change in identity. The gritty cynicism of the ‘70s made way for the increasing hold of blockbusters and unashamed spectacle, and studio executives seemed to have a shared epiphany that younger audiences could be the key to huge box office successes. In fact, they were key to driving the entire box office.
Movies became faster, more colorful, more imaginative, and in 1985, the shift hit its peak with a legendary year of movies. For the older audiences, Sylvester Stallone was delivering glistening muscles and grit in Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rocky IV, while even more grown-up fare like Out of Africa, Witness, and The Color Purple took up positions in the year-end box office top 10 and swept awards nomination ballots. And kids had a huge number of great releases to choose from.
It was such an embarrassingly stacked year for cinema that it’s easy to overlook the likes of Disney’s The Black Cauldron, Tim Burton’s bizarre arrival with Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, or the high-tech kid adventures of D.A.R.Y.L. and Val Kilmer’s Real Genius. And meanwhile, though it’s largely regarded with disdain in the US, in the UK, Santa Claus: The Movie set off on a journey from box office flop to genuinely beloved Christmas staple. Taste can be very different across the Atlantic, but the following seven 1985 movies unite all 1970s kids in appreciation even now.
7 Teen Wolf
Michael J. Fox woke up in 1985 and chose violence against the box office. Not only did he already have Back to the Future on the board (more of which soon), but a little over six weeks later, Teen Wolf also landed in cinemas. Rod Daniels’ supernatural comedy - one of the first scripts written by Jeph Loeb, no less - took what should have been a bargain-basement B-movie and made one of the biggest box office successes of the year.
It cost just $4 million to make, as the studio insisted they wanted a quick and cheap comedy, and Michael J Fox became available when his Family Ties costar Meredith Baxter-Birney fell pregnant and delayed the sitcom’s schedule. He played Scott Howard with his patented blend of wide-eyed nervous energy that gave way to a cocksure confidence when his lycanthropy makes him the coolest kid in school. The makeup remains goofy, but it’s a simple delight with a lot of heart that launched a franchise that never reached the same height.
6 Weird Science
John Hughes was at the height of his powers in 1985. He’d already released Sixteen Candles the year before, and had three movies on the slate, with European Vacation’s script, Weird Science, and The Breakfast Club. That’s a ridiculous run of form. He was the undisputed king of youth culture, and with Weird Science, he was able to cut loose into sci-fi absurdity and a more provocative sexual energy.
Kelly LeBrock’s Lisa became an instant icon and - let’s not be coy here - configured the libidos of a lot of teenage boys (by design). The computer anxiety feels cute now, but the story of two boys (Anthony Michael Hall and Ilan Mitchell-Smith) getting their Monkey’s Paw wish of a charismatic, sexed up fairy godmother was like catnip for the right audience, and Weird Science persists as a delightfully 1980s time capsule that’s still genuinely funny.
5 Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
A dark dystopian sci-fi with mutants and monsters, released as a follow-up to the fully-blooded R-rated madness of Mad Max 2 might not feel like it belongs on a list of teen and kids movies, but you’d be wrong. Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome shifted in tone massively, becoming more like Mad Max Meets Peter Pan’s Lost Boys, and dropped down to a PG-13. The marketing shifted to a younger demographic, too, and yes, it became a post-apocalyptic teen movie (and a gateway for lots of younger fans to the darker, more mature first two movies).
The shift didn’t dampen George Miller’s eye for great vehicular action sequences or the wild mythology he’d built into the franchise, and the introduction of Bartertown, and Tina Turner’s fearsome Aunty Entity proved an inspired move. Not only did the world-building get a shot in the arm, but the story allowed for greater depth to Mel Gibson’s roving Road Warrior. It’s not quite as good as the second movie, but the grim fairytale is still massively watchable today.
4 Return to Oz
For kids who grew up with the Technicolor comfort of the classic 1939 original, Walter Murch’s Return to Oz was like a delightfully deranged shock to the system that took L. Frank Baum’s fairytale and made a haunting, rock and roll sequel that was far more terrifying and cooler as a result. It was also a lot more true to the source material.
There’s a lot of trauma in the sequel, as Murch introduced young audiences to the idea of electro-shock therapy, the harrowing Wheelers, and Princess Mombi’s gallery of living, interchangeable heads. If you’re a Goth or an Emo, you love it all dearly, but the fact that something this strange was so formative to so broad a spectrum of people speaks to its enduring cult appeal. Fairuza Balk is a delight as the wide-eyed Dorothy, and there’s an enduring charm to the aged effects work.
3 Back To The Future
There is very little to say about Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future that hasn't already been said at length, but its inclusion here is non-negotiable. The director and Bob Gale crafted a perfect script that made high-concept sci-fi accessible, thanks in part to the gloriously on-point casting of Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd. It’s endlessly rewatchable, and better than both of its secrets, and somehow, Back to the Future managed to hide how dark it is, targeting a mostly family audience.
Who says incestuus seduction of your own mother has to be audience-limiting? Despite that part, Marty McFly is one of the best movie characters of the 1980s or any decade, for that matter, and Fox played him perfectly as an audience proxy. And watching it back now, it’s stunning how well it’s aged.
2 The Breakfast Club
If Back to the Future was the ideal movie escape of 1985, The Breakfast Club was the year’s emotional mirror. And most impressively, not a lot actually happens. It’s like Mumblecore before Mumblecore. The on-form John Hughes took five high school archetypes - a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal - locked them in a library for a weekend detention, and just… let them talk.
For anyone in their teens at the time, The Breakfast Club offered immediate validation, because its iconic cast represented everyone and offered a sort of utopian ideal of belonging for even the most broken of dolls. Crucially, as always, Hughes didn’t infantilize or diminish his young characters, treating their anxieties with dignity, and building a narrative structure where school social politics were of genuine paramount importance. Those anxieties remain eternal, despite the advances in technology, and for the kids who grew up watching it, it’s like a time capsule of when they had hair and hope.
1 The Goonies
Back to the Future might have been the biggest box office movie of the year, but over the years, The Goonies has arguably surpassed it in terms of cultural footprint. It’s close, and nobody needs to argue about it, but Richard Donner’s classic adventure scores higher because of its irresistibly Amblin feel, which made each of the ragtag group of kids feel incredibly real. That makes nostalgia for it even more pronounced, because Mikey, Mouth, Data, and Chunk genuinely feel like old friends you grew up with and left behind.
The hunt for One-Eyed Willy’s hidden treasure is a great set up for a caper and some fun set pieces, but the most enduring thing about The Goonies is the character relationships. The central Goonies crew is impeccably well cast, and the Fratellis are just as brilliant as their bumbling evil foes. The sets still look amazing, and the misty-eyed fondness you’ll get thinking of this gem is almost unrivaled.
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