The 1980s

There’s something about films in the 1980s that will likely never be replicated again. They have a look and feel to them that is so unmistakably 80s and the people who grew up in this decade are particularly passionate about the films it produced. So let’s take a look at the decade that gave us some of the most memorable teen rom-coms, a whole genre for muscle men,  groundbreaking performances and a lovable little alien. 

Steven Spielberg

When we asked people their favourite film from the 1980s so many of the titles came back to us had one thing in common… Steven Spielberg. His filmography for this decade is so amazing that we find it hard to believe he didn’t win an Oscar during this decade. He directed Indiana Jones, E.T and The Color Purple. He wrote Poltergeist and The Goonies and was a Producer for Gremlins and Back to the Future. Plus many other successful projects. Could it be that Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time? We think so, but feel free to argue your point in the comments section. Don’t agree with us? Let’s see if we can change your mind. 

Steven Spielberg was a Hollywood Executives dream in a time when the power was being placed back in the hands of the major movie studios who were on a mission to make easily marketable films that would appeal to a mass audience. Spielberg's films were consistently big money earners. In fact, The highest grossing film of the entire decade was Spielbergs, E.T The Extraterrestrial. The story follows a little boy who befriends an alien that was left behind when its spaceship took off in an emergency exit from Earth. The feel good movie won four oscars, gave us iconic lines that would be quoted for years to come and introduced the world to a young Drew Barrymore. Barrymore developed such an affinity for the film’s director Steven Spielberg, and vice versa that they developed somewhat of a father/daughter relationship and he was asked to be her Godfather when she was a teen. The film's protagonist was Elliot, played by Henry Thomas. Despite being just 9 years old at the time, his audition for the role would have to be one of the best of any actor in history. Although its a science fiction film, it really transcends the genre and is one that can be enjoyed by the whole family. A little known fact about E.T was its impact on the advertising and marketing industry, specifically in product placement. In one significant scene in the film, Elliot is seen enticing E.T to come out of the bushes with chocolate. The script initially called for the use of M&M but Mars, Inc was concerned that the image of an alien would be too scary for their younger demographic so Reece’s Pieces was used instead. With the success of the movie, sales for Reece’s Pieces surpassed those of M&Ms by 65% and proved the impact of product placement. Although E.T was not the first to do this, it did it so successfully that other companies decided to follow this strategy. Its clear in so many 80s films like the placement of coke cans on the desks in the Breakfast club, the deliberate act of Tom Cruise putting on his Ray Bans in Risky Business and then again in Top Gun, the choice of Pampers in Three Men and a Little Baby and of course Back to the Future with the placement of…well…everything! Nike, Pepsi, Panasonic, Yamaha, Pizza Hut and of course Delorian along with many others. Product placement has continued into the decades that followed the 80s, even being mocked in 90s film Wayne’s World, and given this type of marketing has pulled in almost 3 billion dollars for the film industry in the last few years alone, we don’t think it’s going to be disappearing from our screens anytime soon.

While E.T established Spielberg as a master of the Sci-Fi genre, another one of his most successful films from the 80s was a  different genre entirely; The Color Purple, a drama starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey. Spielberg initially turned down the offer to direct the film as he felt it should be done by a person of colour but he was convinced by friend and producer Quincy Jones. The film received critical acclaim but caused controversy when it came time for the Academy Awards. It was nominated for 11 Oscars but some fans were outraged that one of the 11 nominations did not include Spielberg for best director. Ultimately the film did not win any of the Oscars it was nominated for. It ties with The Turning Point as the most Oscar nominated film without any wins. 

Spielberg made some great choices in the 80s and one of his best decisions would have to be signing on as an executive producer for the Back to the Future Trilogy. The first film, and subsequent sequels, were not only loved when they were released but have continued to be a favourite among film fans for the decades that followed. When we surveyed our subscribers, Back to the Future was the clear winner for the ‘film of the 1980s that had the biggest impact’ as it is still so well loved today.  Spielberg acted as somewhat of  a mentor to the films’ director Robert Zemeckis, who also co-wrote them with friend Bob Gale. Some may argue that what Zemeckis offered audiences is a masterclass in directing and a film that offers something for every generation of movie lovers. Do you agree with our subscribers? Leave a comment if Back to the Future us a favourite of yours too.

Teen movies

The 1980s saw an insurgence of films targeting the teen market and noone did these films better than John Hughes. His filmography is seriously impressive with titles like ‘The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles and Weird Science and Ferris Bueller’s Day off. Could it be that John Hughes was one of the greatest filmmakers of all time? Hughes films were often characterised by the main character tropes of a popular girl, a jock, an outcast, a geek and a rebel with almost all of them trying to work out where they fit in and by the end of the film they find out that where they belong is not where they thought they’d end up at all. It became a teen movie prototype for coming of age stories that was emulated for decades after. For the popular girl, John Hughes found his muse in Molly Ringwald. He reportedly had her headshot on his pinboard when he was writing Sixteen Candles and once the movie was given the greenlight he told the studios that he wanted her for the role. Ringwald starred in three of his films and became the IT girl of the 80s. In fact, many of the actors and actresses in these teen movies found fame on a large scale including Emilio Estavez, Judd Nelson, Rob Lowe and Demi Moore. A core group of these actors became known at the Brat Pack. The phrase was coined by journalist David Blum in an article he wrote for New York magazine. The article was the beginning and the end of the Brat Pack. The actors had previously been seen simply as a group of friends who’d become close on the sets of The Breakfast Club and St Elmo’s Fire but after the article came out their reputations were tarnished and its members were seen as unprofessional, reckless and obsessed with partying. Blum later admitted that he shouldn’t have written the article. 

While this so-called Brat pack was dominating the teen market, another young actor was making a name for himself as a heartthrob for the young adults. Tom Cruise. The 1980s saw Cruise make hit after hit and establish himself as one of Hollywood’s most recognisable leading men. This success continued well after the 80s and he would ultimately become one of the highest earning movie stars in the world. His first real success came when Risky Business hit the screens in 1983 which played into the popularity of the “teen sex comedy”  genre. He followed this up with films like Top Gun, The Color of Money, Rainman and lastly Born on the Fourth of July which earned him is first Oscar nomination. While all of these films were successful, it was Rainman that was perhaps the most critically acclaimed and showed Cruise’s range as an actor as he expertly portrays a selfish and materialistic yuppie from L.A. The film itself was actually the highest grossing movie of 1988 and earned 4 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman who’s portrayal of the estranged autistic-savant brother was praised for shining a light on the complexities of caring for a person on the autism spectrum. 

International Cinema:

This was a great decade for international films in Hollywood, in particular British cinema. Three of the best picture Oscar winners for the decade were British with Chariots of Fire winning in 1981, Gandhi in 1983 and The Last Emperor in 1988 with the latter being a collaboration between the UK, Chinese and Italian studios. Richard Attenborough won an oscar for his directorial work on Gandhi and actors like Daniel Day Lewis, Ben Kingsley and Michael Caine impressed audiences and the British sense of humour shone through with films like A Fish Called Wanda. 

The most successful international release of the decade came in the form of a laid back, no noneness, knife carrying larrikin from the Australian outback….Crocodile Dundee. The film was written by and starred Paul Hogan who was already an established comedic actor in Australia. The film was made with an $8 million budget as a test to see if an Australian film could become a commercial success in America. It succeeded in this goal when it became a box office smash not only in the US but around the world, making over $320 million in sales. It remains the highest grossing Non-American film at the US box office ever. Australians were delighted that international audiences were getting a taste of aussie culture, although some of the more exaggerated characteristics of the crocodile hunter developed an Australian stereotype that wasn’t exactly accurate. Paul Hogan wasn’t the only Australian finding favour on the big screen. Mel Gibson delighted audiences in Lethal Weapon, Olivia Newton-John continued to endear in Xanadu and in 1989 a then little known Nicole Kidman was winning the heart of American heartthrob Tom Cruise on the set  of Days of Thunder. 

Action Hero Movies

The 1980s was the decade when Hollywood came to the White House. Ronald Reagan played the role of a lifetime when he was elected the 40th President of the United States of America. It was the first and only time an established actor took on the Presidency. For many, Reagan was an all American hero who’s tough stance on communism played a large role in ending the cold war. These cultural and societal changes began to be reflected on our screens with action heroes like Rambo, The Terminator, Lethal Weapon and Robocop. These films represented heroism, masculine strength and success, an image that America was desperately seeking to regain in the years after the Nixon administration, the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War. A closer look at these action films of the 80s show that the villains were often of Eastern European descent; the head robber Hans Gruber in Die Hard, Rocky’s opponent Ivan Drago in Rocky IV and Rambo’s mission to save his friend from Soviet forces in Rambo 3 all point towards America’s desire to be seen as a superpower once again. Even teenagers could be seen defending the invasion of Soviet forces in Red Dawn. 

Reagan's presidency was also characterised by his approach to capitalism and free markets. His economic policies involved tax cuts, slowing the growth of government spending and a general lessening of red tape. The impact of these policies was portrayed in the film, Wall Street released in 1987. Although a fictional film, it certainly represented what was seen by many to be happening in the financial industry at the time. History would prove it to be somewhat of a cautionary tale but its message seemed to be lost in the glamorisation of a financial trader's lifestyle. The film's antagonist Gordan Gekko, which earned Michael Douglas a best actor oscar, utters the now infamous line “Greed is Good” which seemed to resonate off screen with many of those in the financial industry. In a piece written for the L.A Times, the film’s co-screenwriter Stanley Weiser states ‘ I never could have imagined that this persona and his battle cry would become part of the public consciousness, and that the core message of “Wall Street” … would be so misunderstood by so many.’ The great arc of American history and its representation on the big screen would continue to play out over the decades to come. 

VHS and Cable Tv

The films we’ve mentioned so far in this video are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to classic 80s cinema. We could be here for hours discussing the success of films like Raging Bull, Terms of Endearment and Sophie’s Choice, or cultural phenomenons like Ghostbusters, The Police Academy series and Stand By Me even the nostalgia of family movies like Honey, I shrunk the kids, Labyrinth and the Goonies. Fortunately for movie lovers who lived through this decade, the opportunity to watch these films went beyond the movie theatre. The VHS had become a staple in most homes by the 80s and cable television was also on the rise which meant audiences were able to enjoy these films for years to come in their own convenient time. Film buffs were setting up home theatre systems and collecting their favourite films on VHS. Others would simply rent their favourite films for the weekend. Today’s youth will simply never know the joy of heading to your local blockbuster on the weekend and scanning the aisles to decide on which film you wanted to watch and they’ll never understand the pain of having to rewind the movie before sending it back. 

The enduring legacy of the films from this decade may point to the success of the marketing teams at Hollywood film companies. After the uncertainty of the 60s and 70s, Studio executives were taking charge once again giving the greenlight to films that could potentially be the next summer blockbuster. They looked for easily marketable films which had simple plot lines that they could summarise in one of two lines on the movie poster and because “money talks”, this format of film production has become so popular it is still used even today. That’s not to say there weren’t some brilliant films made by independent studios. The 80s gave us indie films like This is Spinal Tap, The Evil Dead, Platoon and The Terminator.