If there’s one thing the ’80s were known for, it’s for their excellent teen movies that seemed to capture the sensibilities of a youth generation. John Hughes’ contributions alone make this genre memorable. Between falling in love for the first time, desperately trying to fit in at their local high school, and dodging the occasional serial killer, the teenagers in ’80s movies have a lot going on. Yet even at their most absurd, films about them feel deeply relatable.
In addition to well-written stories with characters that endear themselves to audiences immediately, ’80s teen movies have a lot of style going for them as well. Killer soundtracks define the decade’s films, connecting teenagers with the greatest hits of the day, and trendy fashion that serves as a time capsule abounds. (Although the less said about the abomination Andie wears to the prom in “Pretty in Pink,” the better.)
Are you a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, or a criminal? Find out as you dig through the best that 1980s teen cinema has to offer.
Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter
By the time “Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter” came out, the well-worn slasher franchise was seeing rapidly diminishing returns. But this entry breathed new life into the horror series, offering up the highest-quality slasher antics since the original “Friday the 13th” (and some would say that “The Final Chapter” is even better). While Jason, the hockey-masked killer of the franchise, had already become a horror icon, there are really only so many ways that you can show horny teenagers getting murdered at summer camp.
“The Final Chapter” stands out as one of the best of the series for two main reasons. First, it gives us several inventive death scenes involving characters we’ve actually grown to care about over the course of the film — no small feat for the “Friday the 13th” franchise, whose teens mostly come across as fairly anonymous. This one even includes a young Crispin Glover as one of its ill-fated teens spending the weekend at a lake house. But it also introduces the character of Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman), the preteen who outsmarts Jason and whose trauma from the encounter defines the next few films in the series.
Footloose
If there’s one thing teenagers don’t like, it’s being told what to do, especially when the rules handed down to them don’t make sense. In “Footloose,” the free-spirited Ren (Kevin Bacon) moves with his mother from Chicago to a small, conservative town in Texas that’s taken the draconian measure of outlawing dancing. Seriously — the kids have to go outside the town limits to so much as line dance.
Ren is having a hard enough time fitting in amongst the small-town community whose adults regard him as a dangerous interloper. But the restriction on his ability to dance is the last straw. He has to burn it all down (on the dance floor, that is). He finds an unlikely ally in Ariel (Lori Singer), the preacher’s daughter who wants to make her daddy (John Lithgow) angry just as much as she wants to cut a rug. “Footloose” isn’t a particularly deep film, and it never claims to be. It’s just a feel good picture with a banging soundtrack and Kevin Bacon dancing out his frustrations. You’d have to be John Lithgow’s curmudgeonly town killjoy to have a problem with that.
Weird Science
Look, we’ll just say it. If more horny teenage boys spent their time trying to bring to life their dream girl using a mixture of technology and bra helmets instead of getting red-pilled on the internet, the world would be a better place. In “Weird Science,” Wyatt (Ilan Mitchell-Smith) and Gary (Anthony Michael Hall) are two bored teens who decide that instead of finding a real-life woman to interact with, they might as well just make one. What have they got to lose, right? But imagine their surprise when it actually works, and Lisa (Kelly LeBrock) appears in front of them.
What follows is a delightfully bizarre romp, as Lisa proves to be more than just a teen fantasy come to lif. She also has magical powers, which she can use to change reality to suit the needs of Wyatt and Gary. (Although these little intercessions usually take an unexpected turn.) And aside from the film’s genuinely fun antics, “Weird Science” also features early appearances from none other than Bill Paxton as Wyatt’s bully of an older brother (a performance that helped him land his role in “Aliens”) and Robert Downey Jr. as one of their classmates.
The Karate Kid
Who doesn’t love an underdog story? (Well, possibly the students and staff at Cobra Kai, but aside from them.) In “The Karate Kid,” Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) is a veritable fish out of water, having moved from New Jersey to Southern California, where he has the misfortune to make an enemy out of the number one sports bully in all of ’80s teen cinema: William Zabka as Johnny, the star student at a sadistic karate dojo. After getting beaten up by a bunch of Cobra Kai goons, Daniel begins to train under the guidance of Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), whose lessons are often mysterious but always useful in the end.
And although Mr. Miyagi is big on the idea that you learn karate so that you can avoid fighting, some things just have to be settled at the All Valley Karate Tournament — and sometimes they have to be settled with a crane kick. “The Karate Kid” was one of the defining underdog stories of the decade, and it spawned four sequels (the third of which, “The Next Karate Kid,” starred future Oscar-winner Hilary Swank), a remake, and a follow-up Netflix series that followed Daniel and Johnny into middle age.
Valley Girl
“Valley Girl” is a quirky, punk rock, extremely Los Angeles version of “Romeo and Juliet,” where the rich girl from the suburbs (Julie, played by Deborah Foreman) falls in love with the rough-around-the-edges boy from the city (Randy, played by Nicolas Cage). Julie’s friends are flabbergasted at the idea that she might be into a guy like Randy, but she finds him and his strange world in Hollywood thrilling.
What’s fun about this film is that although it plays on the idea of a valley girl — the 1980s female symbol of upper-middle-class conformity — it has an indie vibe to it, particularly with the use of its soundtrack. Rather than relying on already popular songs, “Valley Girl” features a number of tracks from then-up-and-coming new wave artists, giving it a fun, authentic flair. “Valley Girl” remains an underrated hit from the 1980s, overshadowed by the many John Hughes productions that occupied similar territory. But in 2020, it was resurrected with a new musical remake, keeping the spirit of “Valley Girl” alive for a new generation.
Risky Business
Yes, “Risky Business” has an all-time memorable movie scene to its name, as an impossibly baby-faced Tom Cruise slides into frame wearing a dress shirt and a pair of socks to the tune of Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll.” But its merits go far beyond just that one dance sequence. And underneath its premise of a straight-laced teen sleeping with a sex worker, it’s actually a genuinely endearing coming-of-age story.
Cruise stars as Joel Goodson (no, the name is not meant to be subtle), the perfect kid whose life takes a turn when his parents go out of town, leaving him alone at their house with an extremely valuable glass egg. When he reluctantly hires a sex worker (Rebecca De Mornay) at the behest of his friend, his romantic life gets a lot more interesting, but also more chaotic after her pimp steals the glass egg. An unlikely romance crosses paths with a desperate bid to get back his parents’ property before they get home, anchored by the chemistry between its two lead performers and a star-making turn from Cruise.
Can’t Buy Me Love
One thing never changes about being in high school, and that’s the unceasing desire to be accepted by your peers. In “Can’t Buy Me Love,” Ronald (Patrick Dempsey) is a smart, mature, hard-working teenager with a solid core group of friends — but still, he longs for more. So when he discovers that popular cheerleader Cindy (Amanda Peterson) desperately needs money to replace a dress she borrowed from her mother’s closet and promptly ruined, he makes her an offer: He’ll pay for the dress, if she pretends to date him.
Although the idea is met with some initial resistance, Cindy reluctantly agrees. And of course, she begins to see something in Ronald that makes her wish they were dating for real — even though Ronald’s initiation into the popular crowd quickly goes to his head. “Can’t Buy Me Love” is an incredibly earnest teen romantic comedy, with two leads who just want to be appreciated for the people they are. Dempsey and Peterson play off each other well, and it’s hard not to root for them to succeed as a couple, even with their constant romantic missteps.
Pretty in Pink
It’s a tale as old as time: The girl from the wrong side of the tracks falls in love with the wealthy, handsome prince. But will the difference in their socio-economic statuses prove too much of a barrier to their romance? “Pretty in Pink” stars Molly Ringwald (who could basically appear in any teen movie in the 1980s and people would line up to watch it) as Andie, a sensitive, creative teenager with a flair for fashion who doesn’t fit in at her high school. Blane (Andrew McCarthy), on the other hand, is rich and popular, floating through high school on a cloud of yuppie privilege. Yet, somehow, they work together.
Although Ringwald and McCarthy are delightful in the two main roles, what has made “Pretty in Pink” so enduring is its incredible cast of supporting characters. Jon Cryer plays Duckie, Andie’s best friend who’s not-so-secretly in love with her and gets a standout dance number with Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness.” Annie Potts (who you may recognize as Meemaw from “Young Sheldon”) is cute as a button as Andie’s 30-something record store boss Iona. James Spader smarms everyone else off the screen as Blane’s snobbish friend Steff. They’ve even got Harry Dean Stanton as Andie’s dad.
Better Off Dead
“Better Off Dead” may not be the most critically acclaimed John Cusack film of the 1980s. It certainly isn’t the one that John Cusack himself likes the most. But it’s dark, and surreal, and has an entire musical number with claymation dancing hamburgers set to Van Halen, so it must be protected. Cusack stars as Lane Meyer, a high school student who is driven to some very dark thoughts when his girlfriend Beth (Amanda Wyss) leaves him for a ski jock. (It’s wild how prominent skiing was in 1980s teen films, when you think about it.)
Although the central arc is pretty typical for the genre, it all seems to take place in some sort of heightened reality. Lane’s world is populated by an endless number of bizarre figures, from their extremely codependent mother-and-son neighbors the Smiths (Laura Waterbury and Dan Schneider, respectively) and the local paperboy who will stop at nothing to collect the $2.00 he is owed, to the Japanese brothers who constantly try to drag race with Lane. Movies just don’t come much more fun than “Better Off Dead.”
Some Kind of Wonderful
That. Kiss.
Sorry, we’ll back up. “Some Kind of Wonderful” stars Eric Stoltz as Keith, an artistic teen from the wrong side of the tracks who has fallen in love with the popular Amanda Jones (Lea Thompson). What’s more, through sheer force of will he’s somehow managed to get a date with her, catching her while she’s on the outs with her boyfriend. He’s determined to make it special; after all, it’s the one chance he has to sweep her off her feet.
To that end, he enlists the help of his best friend Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson), a cool-as-hell drummer with whom Keith happens to have perfect chemistry, and who is secretly head over heels in love with him. (In some ways, you could see this as a gender-swapped, better version of “Pretty in Pink,” although Watts is a much better friend to Keith than Duckie is to Andie.) The vibes between Masterson and Stoltz are immaculate — and yes, we are talking about the scene where they do a practice kiss to make sure Keith knows what do on his date with Amanda. None of us have fully recovered from it.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Pretty much anyone who’s seen “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” as a kid or teenager went through a phase where they wanted to be like Ferris. Cool, confident, secure in the knowledge that everything will work out okay because that’s just the kind of life he has. Matthew Broderick plays Ferris, a preternaturally charismatic teenager who fakes being sick so he can skip school to have arguably the most eventful day of hooky ever with his neurotic best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) and his girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara).
Together, the trio drive into Chicago, where they have madcap adventures that culminate in Ferris’s inexplicable performance of “Twist & Shout” as part of an urban street festival. But while they’re having the time of their lives, Ferris’s luck might be running out: The school’s principal is determined to bring his antics to an end, and his sister Jeanie (Jennifer Grey) is sick and tired of him getting away with everything. (Honestly, justice for Jeanie — she’s not wrong.) With a breezy performance from Broderick and exciting set pieces, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is the kind of aspirational comedy that captured the imaginations of an entire generation of teens.
The Breakfast Club
A common theme in ’80s teen films — and movies about high school in general — is kids trying to figure out where they fit in. As part of this quest, they tend to identify with specific cliques and personality types, even if they themselves are dimly aware that they’re more than just, for example, a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, or a criminal.
In “The Breakfast Club” we see these five different high school stereotypes brought together for a Saturday detention, in the form of Brian (Anthony Michael Hall), Andrew (Emilio Estevez), Bender (Judd Nelson), Claire (Molly Ringwald), and Allison (Ally Sheedy). At first they butt heads, but the more time they spend together, the more they begin to see qualities in one another that they can relate to. One of John Hughes’ most definitive films, “The Breakfast Club” helped to launch the careers of a group of promising young actors known as the Brat Pack.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
There’s a bittersweet melancholy to “Fast Times of Ridgemont High,” even with all its sex comedy antics and the famous sequence of Phoebe Cates climbing out of the pool in her red bikini. As much as all of the characters view themselves as being on the cusp of adulthood, in many ways they’re also incredibly young and innocent. It revolves around a group of teens, played by an excellent ensemble cast of young actors including Sean Penn and Forest Whitaker, living relatively ordinary lives: going to school, working part-time jobs, and obsessing over sex (specifically, who’s having it, who’s not, and with whom).
With the unbeatable combination of screenwriter Cameron Crowe (who actually went undercover at a local high school to make sure his dialogue was authentic) and director Amy Heckerling in her pre-“Clueless” days, this was always going to be a classic teen film.
Say Anything
“I gave her my heart. She gave me a pen.” Lloyd’s (John Cusack) statement of utter misery after his valedictorian girlfriend Diane (Ione Skye) breaks up with him is just one of the memorable lines that “Say Anything” can claim. Lloyd is average in just about every way except for the fact that his heart is the size of Wisconsin, so he can’t believe his luck when Diane is willing to go out with him. They have a whirlwind romance, but the summer after senior year has to end at some point, and they seem to be going in different directions — at least from the perspective of Diane, who is heavily influenced by her disapproving father (John Mahoney).
When they break up, Lloyd tries one last ditch effort to win her back: He stands outside her house holding up a boombox playing “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel, the song that they lost their virginity to. This image became one of the most defining of ’80s cinema, adding to the allure of “Say Anything,” which is a top-tier ’80s romantic comedy from start to finish.
Heathers
When it comes to dark comedies, “Heathers” is pitch black. It stars Winona Ryder as Veronica, a misfit trapped in the body of a popular girl who is a member of the clique of Heathers, so named for the fact that three of its four members are all named Heather. But two things happen that end up changing Veronica’s life pretty dramatically. First, the charming yet nihilistic JD (Christian Slater) moves to town, entrancing Veronica and making her dissatisfaction with the conformist Heathers even more pronounced.
And perhaps more importantly, a bunch of their classmates end up dead kind-of sort-of at the hands of JD and Veronica, who frantically frame the deaths as a school-wide epidemic of suicides. Its bleak sense of humor struck a chord with audiences at the tail end of the 1980s, who were perhaps growing tired of the more traditional teen films that directors like John Hughes had been making throughout the decade. “Heathers” still holds up as a fan favorite today, earning both a (misguided) TV remake and a quirky stage musical.
#80s #Teen #Movies #Ranked
