A lot of my favorite movies came out even before I was born, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that a lot of our generation hasn’t seen them. Despite this, it still shocks me when people my age don’t understand references from some of the classics. I was fortunate enough to have a mother and older sister who introduced me to older movies that I may not have seen otherwise. Here are some of my favorite classics from the ’80s that I think everyone should watch at some point in their lives.
- “The Breakfast Club” (1985)
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“The Breakfast Club” is a story of five high school students from totally different cliques who end up in the same detention session on a Saturday morning. The group includes a rebel, the popular princess, an outcast, a jock and a brain. The students come to realize that they are not as different from each other as they originally thought, and not everyone is how they seem on the outside, showing the importance of not judging a book by its cover.
- “Dirty Dancing” (1987)
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“Dirty Dancing” is a story about a young girl, Frances “Baby” Houseman, who goes with her parents to a resort in Upstate New York’s Catskill Mountains. She unexpectedly becomes infatuated with the camp’s dance instructor, Johnny, and she soon becomes his dance partner and the two begin to fall in love. Forbidden by her father from seeing Johnny, she makes it her mission to perform the final big dance of the summer with him.
- “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986)
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“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” follows high school senior Ferris Bueller, who fakes being sick to stay home towards the end of the school year. Along with his girlfriend and his best friend, they end up on an exciting adventure through the city of Chicago while Ferris simultaneously attempts to outwit both his overbearing school principal and his sister.
- “St. Elmo’s Fire” (1985)
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“St. Elmo’s Fire” is about seven friends and recent college graduates from Georgetown University who are starting out in their careers. As they learn about responsibility and dealing with all of the chaos that life throws at them—including navigating their complicated romantic lives—together, they maneuver the emotional ups and downs of life after college.
- “Footloose” (1984)
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“Footloose” follows a city teenager, Ren McCormack, who moves to a small midwestern town that has made dancing and rock music illegal. As he struggles to fit in with his peers, he attempts to change things in the community and loosen up the conservative town with his rebellious spirit. Things get further complicated for him when a mutual interest between him and the preacher’s daughter ensues.
- “Top Gun” (1986)
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With Tom Cruise starring as the main character, Maverick, “Top Gun” follows a young, hotshot fighter pilot as he is sent to training school and competes with his peers to be the top fighter pilot. His reckless attitude causes tension between him and the other pilots. Among all of this, he is simultaneously fighting for the attention of his flight instructor, Charlotte.
If you haven’t seen any of these movies, I can vouch for all of them. I recommend checking them out, and there’s no better time than now as the semester is coming to a close.