Top Ten Films from the 1980s

The eighties were full of cringe-worthy music, awful fashion and terrible action movies. However, through this decade of shame, a few little gems arose. Here are my favourite ten films from this era of mullets and raa-raa skirts.

10. Romancing The Stone

Pure cheese! This narrowly missed out on my romantic comedy list but as 80s movies go, it's pure gold. The corny romantic novel scenes are clever and appropriately puke-inducing (and cliched - I love the title of Joan Wilder's book "Treasures of Lust". LOL) Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner always had great chemistry and Danny De Vito is suitably sleazy in comparison. Furthermore, the scenery is beautiful!

I also love Alan Silvestri's Columbian-inspired score with the sexy 80s saxophone at the end. It always makes me smile.

9. E.T : The Extra Terrestrial

E.T. is the first film I really remember going to when I was a kid (at Glenelg Cinemas). It is also the first film I remember crying in. What a beautifully made piece of cinema. Without the coldness of CGI, it was a true story of friendship in which you truly related to the relationship. Whilst Drew Barrymore was almost sugary in her cuteness, most of the performances are actually very good from the children and who doesn't love the flying scene? That shot across the moon is very memorable!

8. Top Gun

I am not a big fan of Tom Cruise - never have been. I have always found him to be particularly wooden and unable to communicate emotion. I am, however, a big fan of Kelly McGillis, Tom Skerritt and Anthony Edwards and this is what makes this movie so appealing to me. It is so cheesy in its macho manliness that it is actually funny, particularly after watching Quentin Tarantino's spiel in 'Sleep With Me'. I particularly love the pub scene where Maverick and Goose serenade Charlie with 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling'. What a classic! And who can forget the gratuitous oily shirtless beach volleyball scene!

7. Ghostbusters

Bill Murray makes me laugh all the time. This movie is classic eighties, from the soundtrack (ah, Ray Parker Jr!) to the all-star line up of the big stars of the decade. It's so silly and fun and not at all serious and I love it. My favourite bit is where Dan Aykroyd says to the mayor "It would have been okay if dickless here [the environmental protection guy hadn't turned off the machine". The mayor turns to Bill Murray and says 'Is this true?' and Bill Murray says 'It is true. This man has no dick'. LOL. And if

I ever go to a movie theme party, I'm going as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man! :)

6. The original Star Wars Trilogy

Two words: "Hold me!" Hahahaha! I love everything about the original Star Wars trilogy. It is a great piece of storytelling with great characters and gets you hooked from the word 'go'. Han Solo was who every girl wanted and Princess Leia was who every girl wanted to be. The script is corny and cheesy but it just works. And they didn't need high-tech special effects for it to still be some of the greatest movie experiences around. And, stuff The Sixth Sense (predictable) or Fight Club (overrated, as far as I'm concerned!). As far as twists go, "Luke, I am your father" is about as good as it gets!

5. Back To The Future

I love Michael J Fox. He was the kid who you would have killed to hang out with in school because he was just too cool for school! The car was amazing (does anyone actually still have a Delorian?), everybody wants a nutty professor for a friend and who wouldn't want to go back to the fifties for even one day? I love Huey Lewis and The News so their contribution to the soundtrack was a most welcome one. And I would love to name a kid 'Marty McFly' - such a great name!

4. The Neverending Story

This is one of my favourite movies of all time. There is something so magical and innocent about this movie and it was made by an (at the time) non-Hollywood director. The soundtrack is AMAZING. I bought the original German soundtrack and I love its mixture of electronic and orchestral instruments. There was something so imaginative about the way the film was shot (and the Bavarian landscapes were gorgeous, too) that really brought the story to life with a wonderful array of complex and weird characters. I loved Falcor the Luck Dragon (who, incidently, is the spitting image of the lady from the Profix ads!) and Gmork scared the crap out of me as a kid!

I would love to get a copy of Michael Ende's book with an actual AURYN on the cover. I wonder if it has been released like this or, perhaps, a DVD? Perhaps a good marketing tool for an anniversary release? And I have always wondered what the kid who played Atrieu is doing now because he was a very cute young kid. I read somewhere that he was a tattoo artist or something! And, as a side note, I would like to have two pets called 'Engywook and Urgl'

3. Labyrinth

Jim Henson is a legend! I remember seeing Labyrinth in the cinemas as a young kid and loving every second of it. I remember laughing so loud at the fart jokes in the Bog of Eternal Stench and I could quote the movie almost completely! I also remember when I first heard Dance Magic Dance and then later, hearing it quoted almost exactly in The Atomic Fireballs' song 'Man With The Hex'. As I was a teenager, my friends and I would debate the possibility of socks down David Bowie's tights! My favourite bit is the worm: "Allo!" "Did you just say Hello?" "Nah, I said 'Allo but that's close enough!" I want to get a t-shirt with the worm on it! And I want a sheepdog just so I can call it 'Ambrosius'. :)

2. The Princess Bride

I have decided my life long ambition is to become a marriage celebrant JUST so I can start every ceremony with "Ma-widge. Mawidge is what bwings us togevah today." Peter Cook, you rock! When I went to a friend's wedding a couple of years back, the priest or whatever he was was started with "Marriage." I almost LOST IT, as did all the 'eighties children' friends next to me! I love everything about this movie. It is cheesy, corny, soppy and silly but it's pure gold. Of all the movies I've ever seen, it is about the most quotable from "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die" to "As you wish!!!!!!!" to "I'm not a witch, I'm your wife!" And my second dog's name is going to be Fezik! :)

1. The Breakfast Club

"You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal" - great quote, great movie. Again, very quotable and funny from start to finish. Judd Nelson was a crack up in this film (I particularly like the bit where he does 'Life at Big Bri's house' and when he is 'reshuffling' the library cards!) and it was a great performance from him. It is interesting that no-one in that film has really done anything better than this movie and probably never will. It is a classic film that I don't think could have been any better.

**Note: Honourable mentions must go to: Flashdance, The Little Mermaid, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Aliens, Footloose and Dirty Dancing but they missed out on the top 10 for me!