10 Things About 80s Movies Everyone Misses Today

The 80s was a hell of a time to be alive, especially if you loved training montages!

[clocutron]

One of the best lists you guys have done lately. I'm most definitely a child of the 80's and I loved everything you featured here. Made my day - thanks.

[trinaq]

I definitely miss the John Hughes teen movies, and other kid adventure films, like Stand by Me, ET or The Goonies. They just don't make them like they used to anymore.

[gregoryannicchiarico]

For practical effects, I immediately thought of The Dark Crystal. That ENTIRE MOVE was all practical effects, and it's was ASTOUNDING!!

[COEYRN]

All of Me. " back in bowl!!! Is still said with a giggle around my family today. Great movie.

[AliceDorthy]

Loved 80’s fantasy movies. The feel, the look, the sound. Practical effects with very little cgi. Sets you felt you could visit, characters that felt tangible. Amazing costumes and makeup.

[GamesplayChris]

80s really had the best movies! 84 in perticular had some huge movies. Ghostbusters, Temple of doom, Gremlins, The Karate Kid, Police Academy, Footloose, Beverly Hills Cop, Revenge of the Nerds, Red Dawn, The Terminator, Dune and Top Secret! just to name a few.

[kokconsulting]

Is it you? Two words...Christopher Guest. From 11 to 50s in our fam. We ALL miss them

[asifkhan]

The 1980's were truly the golden era of movies. The Buddy - Buddy was truly well defined by movies like 48 hrs, Lethal Weapon, Midnight Run and Beverley Hills Cop. I miss those type of movies with their cross blend of Action and Comedy rolled into one.

[Fluffykeith]

Really memorable, strong soundtracks with a big theme tunes....I miss those. I can hum the themes to Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Superman, ET etc....but I can barely remember most of the theme music from more recent movies, even ones I really loved.

[vwhite]

"The Naked Gun" is one of the funniest movies ever made. Just hilarious. The fact that Leslie Nielsen was a "serious" actor until "Airplane" makes it even funnier.

[JudithARobinson]

This is one of the rare occasions when I agree with everything on this list!! I was a teenager through most of the 80s, and the movies I loved then are still among my favourites today.

[Ceares]

Arguably, Mel Brooks took the lead on parodies in the 70s with Blazing Saddles and High Anxiety, but Airplane definitely kicked off the seemingly unending waves. And no, you're not wrong. Parodies used to be fun. smart and done with genuine affection for the genre they were parodying. Even some the later stuff like Not Another Teen Movie still put a little effort into it, but then there was just a rash of "clearly only for the money" that finally killed them. I'd love to see someone do a good parody movie again.

[SeymourClearly]

03:19 OMG! Just needed this one second of Ted's "drinking problem" and I'm giggling again for 2 minutes straight 😆😆
'Airplane!' ist one of the best comedies ever made and no-one will change my mind about that.

[Raptured_Night]

I think the thing I most miss about 80s movies and what distinguishes the decade as such a stand-out time for movies is the originality. Whether it was a movie about a crazy scientist shrinking his family or something like Legend, 80s movies took risks. They didn't always pay off but the streamlined way Hollywood tries to capitalize on our nostalgia or release movies they very clearly thought would draw in the most revenue has led to an increasingly cynical viewing audience because we all know that often these films are not about telling us a story or something original or exciting they're manipulation pieces designed to draw us in and get our money. In an age of streaming this is a terrible business strategy but ironically it does seem in Hollywood they're afraid to take risks and tell wholly original stories because it's so expensive to fail and easier to just release a movie with a lot of generic explosions and action or CGI monstrosity or make everything an extended universe or sequel and basically just ape off the same formulas that succeeded before until they've bled them dry.

I miss the fun and fearlessness of the 80s and yes, I realize part of that came from the too-big-to-fail mentality of the decade but I'd love to see a little less box office manipulation and a little more enthusiasm in telling a good or interesting story again. Also, miss the synth soundtracks and the weird atmospheric feel of 80s movies but that one is hard to explain; take movies like Labyrinth with all the glitter in the set design, Legend had a similar thing going. Family Guy once made a joke there was a lot more wind in the 80s, and I'd add to that and say the neon too. Got to love those gritty neon light shots in an 80s New York in movies. Lol! So yeah, some of it was just a quintessential aesthetic I don't see people easily replicating today and I loved about 80s movies.

[kel]

Not just the epic movie songs, but entire film soundtracks done by the one artist/band. You reference Prince but who can forget Queen’s soundtracks for Highlander & Flash Gordon? Both of which gave us stand out songs like Flash’s title track or Highlander’s Who Wants To Live Forever

[corbz]

The thing is, a lot of these tropes can still be found in some movies today and from the past two decades. A lot of them are just taking up different forms. It also shows that some of these are best left in their era, and dont need to be replicated

[jamesespey]

Parent Trap was not a "body-swap" movie. It was a movie involving twins. The movie you might be thinking about is Freaky Friday with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan switching bodies.

[TheBayHarborCritic]

Fantastic list of things we miss from our classic 80s movies!

[DarkAkuma]

I just want 3 things back:

- Practical Effects
- Quality (Writing, Production, Casting/Acting)
- Lack of Political Ideology/Lecturing

[dennisanderson]

8:10 Hit at just this moment: The first Ant-Man movie had a pretty decent training montage with Hank and Hope trying to get Scott ready and adept at Ant-Manning and all that stuff! Of course, it included some humorous moments, but there it was - training montage that moved the story and built it up!