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The most iconic 80s movies

jsilvela

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I should be all about the 80's, generationally, but I really don't get the 80's mania... I think it's overhype.
For music I don't have a "big picture" in my mind. But movie-wise, some thoughts:

the 80's were the best period of Spielberg, from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) to Empire of the Sun (1987).
After the latter was slammed by critics and audiences (inexplicably), Spielberg became tame and "positive".
That there was a real loss for mainstream movies. He's still a supremely talented film-maker, but in the 80's he had fire.

In 1980 we have Heaven's Gate by Cimino, also inexplicably slammed, which bankrupted United Artists and spelled the end of a certain kind of financing for movies. Less risk taken with "auteurs" like Coppola, Kubrick, Cimino, and more of the blockbusters and installments, and tried and true formulas like Arnold, Sly, the sex scene with slow music etc.

In 1989 Soderbergh came out with Sex, Lies and Videotape, which was so much better than what Hollywood had been making.
Technically 80's, but the indie scene came to the fore in the 90's, not a minute too soon.

Now, to play the game, one of my favorite 80's movies which is certainly iconic:

Wall Street

 
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henologist

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It's a great decade for big blockbusters that echoed throughout pop culture for forty years, but in retrospect it does feel like mainstream cinema divulged itself of the artsy, risky films of the 70's until independent cinema broke through again in the early 90's. So in contrast to that stuff, here's some cult classics:

Evil Dead II (dir. Sam Raimi, 1987)


Repo Man (dir. Alex Cox, 1984)


Streets of Fire (dir. Walter Hill, 1984)

 

bluefuzz

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Pedro Almodóvar could do no wrong in the 80s - he made several more than these:

Pedro Almodóvar - Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980)

What Have I Done To Deserve This (1984)

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
 

henologist

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Some music-related classics:

True Stories (dir. David Byrne, 1986)


This Is Spinal Tap (dir. Rob Reiner, 1984)


The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (dir. Penelope Spheeris, 1988)

 
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bluefuzz

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I remember the local video rental shop always had all of Mary Whitehouse's official 'Video Nasties' suitably hidden under the counter. It was the best advertising you could get! But the waiting list was long for the choicest 'nasties'. One of my mates managed to get a couple of cannibal films including this classic. I don't think we got though the whole thing and didn't have much stomach for dinner that day ... ;-)

Ruggero Deodato - Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

 

radix

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bluefuzz

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Fellini still had it into the 80s. City of Women is a sort of sequel to 8 1/2 and one of my favourite Fellinis.

Federico Fellini - City of Women (1980)

 

jsilvela

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Pedro Almodóvar could do no wrong in the 80s - he made several more than these:

Pedro Almodóvar - Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980)

What Have I Done To Deserve This (1984)

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
In "Labyrinth of Passion" (1982), Almodóvar himself appears in drag and singing


The 80's were a moving decade in Spain, awakening from the Franco era...
 

Timcognito

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jsilvela

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Real Genius (85) and WarGames (83), when home computers and lasers seemed so new and fresh and full of adventure.
 
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