7 Movies that Truly Defined the 80's For Me

Seven movies that truly defined the 80’s for me:

E.T. (1982)– It’s was more than a year after it was released in the US that I finally got to watch Spielberg’s superb film about a docile finger-pointing alien in our local wooden cinema. This was back then, when films where good family fun, without any swearing, mindless violence and gratuitous sex. Sure, Predator and the Borg could kick E.T.’s ass, but the final bicycle chase scene sure stuck in our minds… And Drew Barrymore was such a cute kid back then.

Top Gun (1986) – Ah, yes. Tom Cruise in the ultimate cool movie of the decade. Propelled by one of the greatest soundtrack of all time, this movie shot Mr. Cruise to superstardom. Suddenly everyone was wearing gold-rimmed Ray-ban sunglasses and green Navy jackets (even in bloody hot Malaysia). Yeah, and everyone wanted cool nicknames like Iceman, Goose, etc. And what was the real storyline? Who cares?!

The Original Star Wars (1977-83)– Yeah, I understand the first movie was actually released in the 70’s, but by the time it came to Malaysia and the craze finally kick in, it was already the 80’s. Like most purist, I feel the original series has its place in history – it was so mind-blowing, there was nothing like it in the whole decade, and it really changed the way our generation looked at movies, science fiction, story-telling and how the good guy finally wins.

Mannequin (1987)– It wasn’t very big here, I caught it on video. But it was so cool and funny. I just found out the girl is actually Kim Cattrall of ‘Sex and the City’, she looked different then. As with all good movies, then it had a great soundtrack. What a great love story to give hope to all those with broken hearts and broken dreams to find the one you love…

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – It was swashbuckling adventure, it was funny, it had the expendable bad guys, it had a heroine and it had a good looking hero we all cheered for. For me, it was the first Western movie that followed the HK-Jackie Chan style – action and humor from start to the end. Most English movies I watch before that were booo-ring ‘talking’ movies.

Romancing the Stone/Jewel of the Nile (1984, 85) – yeah, sure, they couldn’t be taken seriously, but it was fun. That’s the whole point of movies, isn’t it?

Back to Future (1985) – For obvious reasons. The premise of it all was so exciting (back then), and the whole Oedipus complex was thing was irresistible. An 80’s kid caught in the 50’s. Spawned too many copycat movies after that. The sequels should never have been made.


Notable mentions: Empire of the Sun ('87), Gremlins ('84), Ghostbusters ('84), Spaceballs ('87), Top Secret! ('84) and Ferris Bueller ('86).

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