My Personal Top 10 Movies from the 1980's--in no particular order

Just as the title implies! This is my personal list, in no particular order. There were some that I hated to cut, but I wanted to challenge myself to pick just 10.

Coming to America

I have an older cousin who used to watch movies around me that were wildly inappropriate, and this was one of them. I have been obsessed with this movie since I was a kid. In fact, the first time I went to New York, this was my touchstone for it. Wildly funny, super inappropriate, has held up surprisingly well. Has a really great theme song. The less you know about the movie going into it, the better.

Sweet Liberty

Alan Alda plays a New England professor and  historian fighting about the revisionist history of a  Hollywood studio, all the while trying to deal with his mother who thinks that there is the Devil in her kitchen (I cannot stress this enough, this is one of the best parts of the whole movie), and keep his relationship together. An incredible cast, and Bob Hoskins is next level in this film.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Speaking of Bob Hoskins....also, file this one under, "who let me watch this???" This movie is so misunderstood. What seems to be a zany and crass fever dream is a really  deeply empathetic, sophisticated, and nuanced examination of bigotry, segregation, PTSD-related substance abuse issues and trauma, and how appearances can be deceiving. At its true core, it's such a smart movie, it's such a nuanced and caring film. I have been deeply disappointed in the conversations around Jessica Rabbit in the last few years; it's as if we don't have critical thinking skills anymore. (also, WTF is up with the body shaming?!) It's as if people don't get the take-home messages they are supposed to, and have no analysis abilities?! You have a character is who constantly being objectified because of the way she looks, but then as the story progresses, you see she is someone who detests the way she is perceived,  loves her husband deeply and would do anything and everything for him, and has one of the healthiest relationships in the whole Disney canon.

Ewoks: The Battle for Endor

I know that this stance is unpopular with Star Wars people (whom I generally find annoying and unreliable narrators), but I believe that of the original trilogy, A New Hope and Return of the Jedi are the best. I think of the three of them that Return of the Jedi really cements what the core of the story is: fight against fac!sm. And what better way to defeat Nahtzee-coded bad guys than with little brown people with "inferior" technology! It's called "Star Wars" for a reason. One of the things I have always liked about Star Wars is the extended lore and surrounding the other planets and worlds that we don't see. This is why the Star Tours attraction is one of my favourite Star Wars properties because you actually get to explore those worlds. The Ewok movies are my favourite of all the Star Wars movies and The Battle for Endor is my fave of the two. It's a very interesting blend of sci-fi and high fantasy.

Fright Night

17-year-old Charley Brewster with a peeping tom problem and an obsession with the local station's creature features runs into trouble when he finds out that his neighbour is, in fact, an honest to goodness (or badness?) vampire. With the help of his friends, and Peter Vincent, who plays a vampire hunter on the late night creature feature programme (brilliantly played by Roddy McDowell), Charley has to save the day and try to convince everyone it's not just his over-active imagination. Genuinely scary, outrageously funny, and great use of practical effects.

The Great Mouse Detective

When choosing movies for this list, there are a lot (and I mean a LOT) of great movies to choose from. It was between this one and The Little Mermaid, and whilst I have come to appreciate The Little Mermaid and love it as an adult, The Great Mouse Detective has had a consistently greater impact on me. It's fun and funny, with a lot of great twists and turns, great songs, and a spectacular cast. Vincent Price had said on more than  one occasion that Rattigan was one of his favourite roles, and it shows.

The Flight of Dragons

This is going to be a toss-up between this film and The Last Unicorn, and this one won. Both of the films came out in 1982 and were Rankin-Bass films, and have very profound statements on humanity and sacrifice. The voice cast in this is top notch. A lot of very interesting and uncomfortable questions, like, "science and magic co-exist?" and "do we really have to make such sacrifices for other people?"

The NeverEnding Story

This one is considered a quintessential 80's kid movie. It has all of the elements, the strange high-fantasy, the practical special effects, the semi-feral children with the bully problem, the asking of said semi-feral child to undergo the task of saving an entire world. The Nothing can symbolize a lot and it represents different things to different people. Also, it wasn't until I was an adult that I realized that Atreyu was supposed to be Native-coded (omg lol).

Labyrinth 

Another quintessential 80's kid movie, once again asking a lot of questions about sacrifice, growing up, and figuring out who you really want to be as a person. This one is a personal favourite. The music is also fantastic. I have nothing to say about this one, other than everyone loves it for a very good reason.

The Company of Wolves

I saw this movie when I was very, very small when I had been left neglected home alone. The Wedding scene had burned itself into my memory, but I had thought that I dreamed it. It wasn't until 2019 that I saw it again as an adult and it unlocked a whole Pandora's box of suppressed core memories. It's another one of those movies from the 80's that has a lot of strange tonal shifts--without some of the gore and *ahem* adult things, this looks at first glance as though it may be a kid movie? For the first part of the movie, it gives you the same Dark Crystal/ Willow vibes, until, holy shit, there is a naked man and  a bloody werewolf transformation. This is one of my top favourite movies, and my favourite werewolf movie, but I also say that I detest the ending and the interactions with the Hunstman, and now usually turn it off after the Wedding scene. The 80's had a lot of werewolf movies, and I almost put An American Werewolf in London on this list, but this one won out over it. The Company of Wolves does what Ginger Snaps thought it was doing.

Well, that's it! That is my list! I might do a second round because there are so many amazing films from the 1980s that are iconic (and with good reason). I might also do this for other decades! This was fun!