Who doesn’t love the 80s? Basically, I was born in the best year ever.
1986.
I just wish I got to live through the 80s as a teenager and to have loved and experienced these movies when they first released. I’m an avid movie buff, with an emphasis on 80s cinema. Movies are not made like this anymore, and when you watch them, you get the nostalgia. Questionable style aside, the 80s brought out the best in film.
Here are my top five from 1986.
5. Howard the Duck
Everything about this film is pure 80s gold. It’s futuristic, freaking weird and unbelievably bad in the best way possible. Those clothes, that hair. I miss the times when a swearing duck who hits on ladies was a thing. Not to mention Lea Thompson singing the one and only “Howard the Duck” theme song. He’s a duck from outer space. And a badass.
4. Top Gun
“I feel the need, the need for speed.” Me too, Goose. Me too. In my opinion, the best part of this movie isn’t Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, or all the abs playing volleyball; it was Val Kilmer as Ice Man and his infamous bite. I have been and always will be in love with Anthony Edwards, mostly due to his role in ER, but this movie just sealed the deal. RIP Goose. I’ll always love you. Also, Tom Cruise pre-couch jumping is my favorite Tom Cruise.
3. Flight of the Navigator
Do you ever watch a movie and just know the filmmakers were high when it was written? ‘Flight of the Navigator‘ is one, and it was one of my favorites. I feel like I annoyed the crap out of my mom/sister with this movie. A kid disappears with an alien spaceship and a robot, then reappears eight years later. Probably my first real encounter with robots, and why I love them so much to this day. (Good thing I write for Monkey Fighting Robots, right?)
2. Little Shop of Horrors
I probably shouldn’t have loved this movie when I was a small child. Steve Martin as Orin Scrivello DDS is enough to give anyone nightmares, and the love story was sufficient to hide the murders to feed Audrey 2, at least when I was younger. That and the singing, the lovely colors, and a talking plant. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a child’s dream. This coming from the girls who’s favorite movie in kindergarten was Dirty Dancing.
1. Stand By Me
Where do I even start? An insane cast with River Phoenix, Jerry O’Connell, Wil Wheaton, and Corey Feldman. Not to mention a John Cusack and a Kiefer Sutherland running around in there as well. Add an amazing soundtrack; you get this gem of a movie. I’ve always been a big fan of all of these dudes. I still love Wil Wheaton. He has helped us nerds so much in life. Corey Feldman is hands down one of my favorite actors from the 80s, and River Phoenix. 1986 River Phoenix, not only adorable but that boy could act. What a shame.
This movie shaped who I was, not as a kid, but as a twenty-something. Watch it again. Listen to the words and take it in. I guarantee you; you’ll feel just like you were there with the group on their hunt. The scene with the leeches still makes me cringe.
What are your favorite films from 1986?
