Ten classic flicks from the decade when greed was good
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Directed by Martin Brest; starring Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton and Bronson Pinchot.
Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley in his Mumford High T-shirt simply epitomizes the ’80s.
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Directed by John Hughes; starring Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy and Molly Ringwald.
When the jock, the criminal, the princess, the basket case and the brain spend a Saturday afternoon together in detention, boy, are some memorable moments made.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Directed by Amy Heckerling; starring Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Phoebe Cates and Ray Walston.
Fast Times marked the end of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, ’70s-style. These teens caroused in fast food joints and sprawling malls, the institutions that exemplify the ’80s.
Flashdance (1983)
Directed by Adrian Lyne; starring Jennifer Beals, Michael Nouri, Lilia Skala and Sunny Johnson.
When Irene Cara crooned, “First, when there’s nothing, but a slow blooming dream,” the MTV generation was launched. Flashdance not only introduced audiences to Jennifer Beals, off-the-shoulder sweatshirts and break dancing, but it also introduced audiences to the cultural Atkins diet of the ’80s, music videos.
Sixteen Candles (1984)
Directed by John Hughes; starring Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Justin Henry, Paul Dooley and Michael Schoeffling.
Teen angst abounds when Samantha Baker’s family forgets her 16th birthday. I don’t know of any American who hit puberty in the ’80s who can’t recite every line of John Hughes’ first masterpiece. “Look Fred, she’s gotten her boobies. And they’re so perky.”
St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)
Directed by Joel Schumacher; starring Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy and Mare Winningham.
A gaggle of somber college graduates struggle with the onset of adulthood. The movie, the characters and the actors take themselves too seriously, but we loved it anyway.
The Sure Thing (1985)
Directed by Rob Reiner; starring John Cusack, Daphne Zuniga, Anthony Edwards, Viveca Lindfors, Nicollette Sheridan.
The quips don’t stop when Ivy Leaguers John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga share a ride to California. For instance, the line, “Cheese balls? They’re good,” can still make me laugh.
Valley Girl (1983) Directed by Martha Coolidge; starring Nicolas Cage, Deborah Foreman, Frederic Forrest, Lee Purcell and Colleen Camp.
It’s like totally tubular when the punk rocker Randy (Nicholas Cage) falls for the valley girl Julie (Deborah Foreman. The world like, stops and then melts.
Wall Street (1987)
Directed by Oliver Stone; starring Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen, Daryl Hannah and Terence Stamp.
Olive Stone opened fire on the ’80s mantra, “Greed is good,” in Wall Street. Needless to say, corporate takeovers and super brokers were never the same again.
WarGames (1983)
Directed by John Badham; starring Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, Dabney Coleman, Barry Corbin and John Wood.
Pre E-bay, Amazon and Yahoo.com, when Michael Jackson drank Pepsi and the Cold War was still cold and a war, a teenaged Matthew Broderick hacked into the Defense Department’s computer network and played a game called Global Thermonuclear War. Unlike some of the other ’80s “classics,” this flick still holds up.