My Favorite 175 Films From The 80's, y'all.

967   6.6   6.7 

Before there was the Matrix,
there was TRON.
Okay,
so maybe there really isn't all that much as far as compelling storyline goes in this cyber-epic-fantasy. But, boy, those visuals were unlike anything we had seen before. The science of computer graphic effects were fully upon us & in a land not too far away, the force known as CGI was gestating to become the meat that would make the eyes of sci-fan's drool from here to the eternity of this genre's future.
Maybe I look upon this film with the nostaglcic affection that held my young visual senses in a unblinking attention at the time, but it also represented of what was possible when man & modem meet.
I won't try to convince anyone out there that this is a great film on any level (especially since this was the same year the superior sci-fi world of Blade Runner was also released), but I do feel that it's a step in science fiction that was inevitable.
You are now entering the infinite possibilities of cyber-space. Not to mention the matrix of my own personal guilty pleasures.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

301   5.9   5.8 

The aliens are through klowning around (torturously kliche bad pun intended).
They're hungry for human flesh. Or in this case, human soup(?).
And so in order to satiate their appetites, they're taking out the big guns. Or in this case, the big balloon animals.
There have been several sci-fi flix that centered around the idea of weird extra-terrestrials with a taste for non-extra-terrestrials treating our planet as an all you can eat buffet.
So how does this camp-infested 80's shlockfest twist the story angle of "how to serve man"?
By sending in the klowns.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

357   6.1   6.3 

Elderly owners of a small, crumbling tenant building are threatened with eviction, but are saved by tiny sentient flying saucers.
A Mini-Me version of Close Encounters Of The 3rd. Kind, with just a splash of Cocoon, for flavor.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

59   6.9   6.3 

Prince's ex-nasty girl, Vanity teams up with a dragon that can catch bullets with his teeth.
Sho-Nuff.

525   6.7   6.8 

There are a couple of reasons why Iike this movie so much.
And they both have to do with Adrienne Barbeau.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

622   6   5.8 

A bad early 80's dance flick.
Really bad.
But, boy,
that Jennifer Beals......


what a feeling.



She's definitely what you'd call a guilty pleasure. Especially considering how I guilty I feel after pleasuring myself from her pict.....
uh...
too much?

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

401   5.7   6 

To be quite honest, for a film that was made in the early 80's, I'm not sure how well Porky holds up these days as a high school comedy.
I think that this could be one of those of examples of a film that I still like based more on the sentimental memories I have when I first watched it than anything else.
To this day, the famous "tallywacker" scene, still is one of the funniest scenes in any movie that I've ever watched. Even now, whenever I watch just that one particular part of the film, I still end up in tears.

391   6.7   6.7 

When you look at all the destruction & chaos that Zues & Co. release down on our humble planet just outta petty jealousy & pride, it really reveals the truth behind the old saying, "The gods must be crazy".
While I'm not usually a big fan of movie remakes,
for me, the original Clash, is an excellent example of a classic that would greatly benefit from today's special effects technology.
I'd really like to see alot of these old stop-motion flicks of yesteryear get the updated treatment that many of us as children could only dream of back when these films were first released.
But even with that said,
it doesn't change the fact that, as cheeseball as they were,
most of these ultra-fantasy originals will always hold a special place in my heart, basically just b'cuz they were a part of my childhood.
:o)

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

350   6.1   6.3 

Okay, while I have a few listed here, the truth is, I don't usually go for campy movies. To me, most of the time, I see films using camp as an excuse to not have to come up with a plot.
But, every once in a while, a movie will come along where, despite it's shortcomings in it's plot, the tongue in cheek aesthetics will strike the right camp chords in my heart.
Or maybe I just like this movie b'cuz, as a kid, I have fond memories of watching the infamous S&M styled scene of Princess Aura getting whipped. Being that I hadn't yet reached puberty, my mind was filled to capacity with the curiosity of why viewing that scene always seem to make my little peepee get hard.

486   7   7.3 

In an age where we now have film series like Lord Of The Rings & Harry Potter, Excalibur may seem, by today's cinema standards, as incredibly small (not to mention, kinda mashed) potatoes.
But still,
for a kid like me, who was craving for any film with a fantasy flare, despite the time-period's lack of CGI technology,
Excalibur tried it's best to approach the belief-suspending subject matter with an epic sense of integrity.
I'm not sure it holds as well as other works of the early to mid 80's (Ladyhawke, Legend, etc.),
there's enough gleaming knighthood & swordsmanship in this flick for me to appreciate it's place in the genre.

841   6.8   6.6 

I don't care what anybody says.
On this site, I'm sure that it's cool for a dude to admit to liking this movie.
Right guys?



uhmnn...

....guys....?

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

773   6.8   7.2 

Yo, look everybody! It a young hot Phoebe Cates, in a bikini & soaking wet!
And Sean Penn as one of the first surfers d00ds of the 80's that would lead other films like Bill & Ted's and what not.
Also, this was Cameron crowe's first film, not to mention, it featured some of the earliest appearances of budding stars like Nick Cage, Forrest Whitaker, Eric Solz & Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Oh, & did I mention that it features the groundbreaking bikini shot of a wet Phoebe Cates?

245   6.5   6.7 

Enemy Mine is a film that starts out as a "bad alien movie & then evolves into a "good alien" movie by intergalactically pondering the question of "Why can't we all just get along?"
The truth is, no matter what planet one is from, when it comes to racial differences, even on an interplanetary scale, we all need to follow Seinfeld's advice & just look to the black & white cookie.
Look to the cookie.

570   6.9   7.3 

Christopher Walken with a superpower other than his mad acting skillz, yo.
Or his dancing skillz.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

1158   5.8   6.5 

When I first think of the term "Australian movie", to the dismay of many an Aussie, I, just like many a non-Aussie, instinctively think of this movie. But then, as I further reflect on it, I realize that, even tho the only part that I can remember from this flick is Linda Kozlowski in a thong, that memory is all I need to like this movie enough to include it as an entry for any movie list that I come up with.
And if that seems like an insubtantial reason to post this entry,
fail free to cri'size me if ya will, moyt, ...oy can toik it (fough ya' buncha boy-Sheilas moight risk bringin' a tear ah two t' me oiyes).

164   6.9   7.1 

Christopher Reeve, the guy who played Superman, stars in this film as writer comes to learn that writing plays is not his only gift. But also, that he possesses the super-human ability to self-hypnotize himself through time, & thus capture a heart of a love that exist somewhere else in time.

Geez,
is it my imagination,
or is there something about time-travel & romance that Hollywood always like to think of as two great tastes that taste great together?

73   5.3   5.3 

Anyone else remember this space-faring, ice-stealing, Urich-starring, not-so-classical sci-fi 80's film-fare?
Anyone...?



Anyone....?




...Bueller...?

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

1506   7.3   7.6 

A group of teenagers go off to an isolated cabin for the weekend, & soon come to discover that whenever a group of teenagers goes off to an isolated cabin in the forest, the end result is never good.
Particularly when the cabin contains a tome of demonlogy.
Hell, I coulda told them that.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

250   6.3   6.8 

A movie with a story involving a sinking boat with Billy Zane as a villainous villain who terrorizes another man's woman.
And yeah, while that may sound like a familiar plotline for a disaster at sea flick, the fact that the boat in question is no bigger than a tool shed & with no iceberg in sight, it becomes quite obvious that this is a film that was not directed by James Cameron.

158   6.7   6.5 

Initially, this movie had all the makings of big hit: a then up & comer Michael Pare, a very young & incredibly sexy Diane Lane, a bad-ass Flock Of Seagulls lookin' William Dafoe, a serious role for Rick Moranis, a cool soundtrack, all capped off with a script & direction by Walter Hill, the guy responsible for The Warriors, Southern Comfort & 48 Hours. Oh, and Another 48 Hours. And the '85 version of Bewster's Millions. And Supernova.....
*groan*
So I guess the moral of this rock'n'roll fable is "Tonight.... is what it means to be young."

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

1922   7.2   7.8 

How does one gain the World Championship title belt of Total Badassery? Come from another planet, in full tilt sophisticated battle-gear & then proceed to kick the combined @sses of ""the Terminator", Apollo Creed", Jesse "The Body" Ventura & that one guy who played one of the corrupt cops in Payback. (Not to mention, in following sequels, take on another alien franchise).

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

790   6.8   7.4 

In this third installment of the Vacation series, the adventures the Griswolds continues during the time of gift-giving and carefree carolling. And in keeping with their family tradition, they find that no matter what season it is, their luck is always gonna be bad.
Yuletide holiday merriment & cheer from back during a period when Chevy Chase was considered to be cooler than Santa Clause. Not to mention, this was also a time when he was actually, believe it or not, kinda funny.

187   6.9   6.3 

How do you get back at your parents for punishing you with a wire hanger?
Try writing a based-on-my-life book that's ends up becoming a movie.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

293   6.9   7 

Half the cast that portrayed the soldiers in Aliens reunite as a gang of vegabonding vampires..
This biker band of bloodsuckers (count how many times I use the term bloodsuckers on this list) (get it...? ......"count"?....) are hardcore.
Unlike many of the wimpy vamps of today, these guys lived up to the descriptions "bloodthirsty", "throat-ripping", "stonecold" & whatever other adjectives were originally attached to their kind since the time of their folkloric ancestors.

141   6   6 

Rutger Hauer stars as blind war vet who gives up the gun & takes up a sword.
Now if memory serves me correctly,
this movie was based off of a Japanese film about a popular character over there called Zatoichi. I think.
I'm not sure.
I mean, I could probably look it up,
but like Blind Fury & Zatoichi, I too am blind.
If that makes you wonder how I'm able to type these comments,
well, let's just say that, relying on my heightened instincts, I just let my fingers tap at the keyboards & hope for the best.

2437   6.2   6.7 

I first saw this movie a little more than a decade after it was first released (so I missed the whirlwind of hype that surrounded it).
All I can say is, while it wasn't bad, & overall I found the film enjoyable,
there were still some parts that really made me feel a need for speed.
And I'm referring to the amphetamine, not the velocity.

293   5.8   5.9 

After Burt Reynolds starting cashing in his first fast car franchise of Smokey & The Bandit,
he followed it up with the Cannonball Ball series.
While I personally don't feel that CB is as good as S&tB, for it's time, these cross-country-race films were the standard fare of the summer season back in the late 70's & early 80's.
So maybe, having this movie on the list is due to a case of childhood nostalgia more than anything else,
but if you kids wanna see what we old-timers watched back in the day in order to get our "fast & furious" fix, you might wanna give these early Burt Reynolds vehicles a looksee.
And remember,
the Cannonball Run is a ride that requires alot of popcorn & a need for speed fun-focused state of mind.

123   7.1   6.9 

An alien that's smart enough to realize that if it wants to infiltrate into the society of this big blue marble that we call Earth, that it must remain hidden.
A la the title of this semi-classic 80's sci-fi flick

237   6.9   7.1 

A bunch of baby boomers reunite when of their own takes his own life. A reunion that sparks off the realization that the dreams & ambitions of their youth may also have died.
While The Big Chill never became the darling to me that it has to many cinema critics (particularly at the time of it's release) I do enjoy that the film carries the smartness & observations of the story in a manner that doesn't seem to age as time goes by. The characters each come to the conclusions that, no matter what age or stage of maturity an adult may be at, the journey of life will continually show that there's always still room to grow up.

273   6.5   6.4 

Going to school in New York can be alot fun.
Especially, if during lunch, everyone is allowed not only to break out into song & dance, but also, to then spill out into the busy streets of the Big Apple, without inciting a riot.
Now wonder that people back then wanted to live forever.
Makes miss the innocence of the early 80's.
Not to mention the headbands, leg-warmers & stylishly torn sweatsuits.

3763   7.7   8.3 

To be honest, I wasn't as big a fan of this third installment of the Indiana Jones series as everyone else was.
Fro me, the action sequences were the always the highlights of the Indy films, and in this one, they were all done by the numbers based on the first two. They weren't as exciting for me because I had sen them in the first two flicks already.
However, the storyline of Dr. Jones' father, portrayed by the ever reliable Sean Connery did add an extra dimension to the character's premise.
Which, in the end, despite not being at the edge of my seat with Last Crusade as I was with Raiders & Temple Of Doom, there was still enough enjoyment in this chapter to include on my personal faves of the 80's.

3133   7.9   8.3 

Okay, let's get this part out of the way;
"Say 'ello tu my lil-oh frenn!"
Now, with that most over-used movie-line over & done with,
I'm free to say that Scarface is the in-your-face, over-the-top character that will always iconically follow the career of Al Pacino.
The story follows the rise & fall of a drug kingpin who literally started out lireally as nothing & then pyrrhically ends up with everything the excess-ridden & violent drug-world has to offer.



One of those rare times for an actor where it's over-the-top performance is considered so perfect for what the role requires, that it's almost impossible to imagine it done in any other fashion.
Pacino is brutal, heartless & violent, not just in the way he handles the character, but also with the way he manhandles the Cuban accent of the character (something he does again with the Puerto Rican dialect, but not with as much of an iconic effect, in 1997's Carlito's Way).
As the movie tagline says: "He loved the American Dream. With a Vengeance."

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

708   6.5   7.5 

Speaking as a guy, we all know why this movie makes such a connection with the male species. Because what we all yearn for deep inside is for simplier times when, as a kid, we could just head out to the pitch & play catch with our dads.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

228   6.4   6.5 

A teenage kid discovers that the video game he has mastered is secretly a celestial training simulation program, when he is notified by an alien who reveals to him that he is a gunner/star-soldier in an intergalactic war between good & evil.
So, to all you video gamers out there, don't listen to society when it tries to convince you that all those hours spent on your x-box, gameboy or psp will eventually accumulate into a vast amount of wasted life.
For all anybody knows, you could very well be the last starfighter.

Therefore,
feel free to grab your wii & play with yourself as much as you like.
The future of the galaxy may depend on it.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

4270   7   7.6 

Okay, so maybe, the latest incarnations of the Dark Knight have sort of watered down the impact of the Caped Crusader's modern film debut.
And maybe, Jack Nicholson, for the role of the Joker was a little too old, not to mention, not in the kind of shape that one would expect for a Clown-Prince of Crime.
But for me, personally, this isn't so much about the acting (which I admit, despite the fun he has with it, Jack does tend to opt for a bit of an over-the-top performance, even for the Joker....) but more for the weight that his presence brings to the flick. In the same manner of Marlon Brando's participation in Superman's 1st big budget blockbuster, Nicholson also brings a certain class & credibility to a movie based off of a what the "cool kids" of the general public tend to look at as "just a silly comicbook".
Besides, Tim Burton's adaptation of the Batman still was the first serious effort outside of the comicbook to try & depict ol' Bat's as the true Dark Knight of justice that we nerds who read his comics always knew he was.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

1245   6.4   6.8 

The tale of dwo d00ds who travel through time using a phonebooth, looking for historical figures, in order that they too, in the future can achieve their destiny as historical figures. And also, because they gotta do a book report.

325   6.5   6.5 

One of the most important moments growing up for me as a huge comicbook nerd was the discovery of Heavy Metal, an anthology comic-magazine full of fantasy, futuristic and/or the emergin cyber-punkologic stories that were not restricted by those imposed upon more immature superheroic fare.
When the movie came out, even though it lacked the technical strength of more general-audience targeted animated features, in it I saw the potential for the kind of creative diversity & no-holds barred story telling that I had experienced in the magazine. It is definitely flawed, & even more definitely not for everybody, but it is, a vehicle for anyone interested in looking for something that is not the same ol' same ol' & with an interesting anthology theme whose rock'roll/sci-fi/animated integrated format is bound by neither PC restrictions or by rules that result from the more kid-targeted genre.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

360   6.7   6.8 

Through the combination of ingesting mushrooms & confining himself within an isolation tank, a scientist finds himself devolving into not just a neanderthal state, but into an actual neanderthal.
Same thing happens to me whenever I take psychedelic drugs locked into my room, all by myself.
And I ain't no scientist.

1674   7.1   7.6 

Mel Gibson as a do-gooder whose tends to go a bit unhinged at times.
Considering the the craziness has been coming to light & has help to keep MG's name in the entertainment news media lately,
who knew that this would eventually become a case of life imitating art.

898   6   6.2 

I'll be honest here, the main reason I liked the first First Blood was because of the manner that Rambo was able to seriously kick ass without as much snickering or as many eyerolls from movie viewers that he got starting with this film. For me, that first chapter in this series was both over the top & yet down to earth at the same time.
After R:FBP2, Sly's crazy ex-soldier sorta became more of a cartoon-like character of violence that he's become famous for since then.
However, as time has gone by, I've been able to accept this movie for the fiery explosion-laden popcorn escapist fare that it is.
Though, that doesn't mean I have to like any of the sequels that followed up this one. For me, those still suck.

1809   7.6   7.9 

The characters created specifically for Saturday Night Live start to prove themselves as bankable movie properties starting with "Joliet" Jake & Elwood Blues, AKA the Blues Brothers. Portrayed by Jim Belushi & Dan Aykroyd, they originated as a fictional soul revivalist band as a part of a musical sketch for the fledging late-nite weekend comedy show.



In their big screen debut, they are couple of orphan-raised white guys who soulfully sing the blues, regularly defy the law & like to drive at night wearing their sunglasses. Basically because they're on a mission from God.
It's safe to say that, as a non-religious person, I came to see the light when I realized that the Blues Brothers is probably my favorite spiritual film of all time.

514   7   7.2 

Tim Burton's very first film is a black & white feature which tells the macabre tale of how a pet dog is bought back to life by his child owner. After the bull terrier gets killed by a car (the leading cause of death amongst canines, after old age), the young lad decides to a take a page out of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, & ressurect the Spuds Mckenzie look-alike through the use of electricity. I guess mad scientists have figured out that electricity is spark of all life.
But that's not the point. What matters is a boy and his dog.
A bond that not even the Grim Reaper can hope to sever.
Well....he can....
but still, through the use of love & , well...y'know.... more electricity...
and probably some string, I guess...
the boy & his dog will can never be separated. For long.



Now that I think about it though,
when a kid's dog "bites it",
it seems to me that making a simple trip to the pet shop would really be a heck of alot easier than building a secret lab in the attic.

1583   7.1   7.5 

In this intellectual remake of the 50's classic, Jeff Goldblum portrays a professor whose experiments metamorphisizes him into a large, hairy, decayed-looking housefly. And in the process, still gets to score with super-fly 80's beauty, Geena Davis.
*sigh*....only in the movies.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

346   6.4   7 

Yet another story of a team of misfits & losers banding together to form a winning world series team.
But what separates this one from the rest is that this is the only baseball movie franchise that exeplifies the idea of what a baseball movie should be by featuring Mr. Baseball himself, Bob Uecker.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

273   5.8   6 

Back before he was a multi-Oscar winning actor, Tom Hanks was one half of the crossdressing duo from Bosom Buddies. While wearing a dress, it was a role that found him surrendering his heart to a blonde bombshell. Soon he parlayed his TV comedic skills to the movie screen, making a Splash in Hollywood whilst giving his heart up to a beautiful lady who was half fish.
Which he quickly followed up with Bachelor Party, as a character who's up and getting hitched with MTV super-vixen Tawny Kitaen.
With all this funny business in the early 80's, who knew at the time that, as a serious actor, he would eventually end up becoming so big?

896   6.6   6.7 

What can you consider a Vegan to be a vegan and a carnivore at the same time?
When it's a giant flesh-craving Venus Flytrap from another planet.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

168   6.5   6.4 

Y'know, despite the freak that Dolly Parton has currently become,
9 To 5, her first foray into film shows that she was stacked really pretty frikkin' hot back in the day.

And yeah, I realize that by saying that, I'm probably going against the purpose of this movie,
but what can I say...? I'm a complicated man.
And women dig complicated men.

906   6.1   6.8 

.... and no, this movie's title is not referring the "big adventure" that landed Ol' PeeWee in jail.

432   7.2   7.3 

These days, there are all kinds of cowboys that one can choose to be.
A midnight cowboy,
a space cowboy,
a rhinestone cowboy,
or as in this movie,
a drugstore cowboy.
And to be frankly honest, with those kinds of choices,
I'm of the opinion that I probably wouldn't like to be a cowboy.

Maybe a pirate.
But definitely not a cowboy.

119   6.2   5.9 

Okay, okay, so maybe the non-musical parts of the Kid's debut film leave something to be desired.
But this 1984 rock 'n' roll anomaly featuring the Minneapolis funk acts Prince, the Revolution, the Time & Apollonia-6, contains concert performances that, along with their charismatically maneuvered dance moves, are some of the most energetic ever caught on film.
And all the songs, each one penned by the main musical mini-might star of this show, culminate into one of the best movie soundtracks ever recorded.

The Mighty Celestial's rating: