Some movies just never get old. These movies from the '80s are ones that we can watch literally any time. If you haven't seen these in a while, it's time to give them a watch!
1. E.T. (1982)
One of the most heartwarming tales of friendship (between a kid and an alien); directed by Steven Spielberg and featuring Drew Barrymore when she was a peanut.
2. Flashdance (1983)
This is the godmother of inspirational dance movies: Alex Owen (Jennifer Beals) is a working-class Pittsburg woman, making her living as a welder and an exotic dancer, but her dream is to get into ballet school. Soundtrack gem (and a good way to describe watching this movie): "What a Feeling," by Irena Cara.
3. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Freddy, with his burned face and knives for fingers, kills teenagers in their dreams. For those of you who think PG-13 movies are scary, please, have at this.
4. Sixteen Candles (1984)
See? Molly Ringwald. This time in a movie in which her whole family forgets her sixteenth birthday, and she's of course obsessed with the most popular guy in school. (There's a character in the movie that traffics in stereotypes, Long Duk Dong, which does taint the movie's legacy a bit. See for yourself.)
5. Back to the Future (1985)
Another Robert Zemeckis fantasy, this one starring Michael J. Fox as a teen who travels back in time to 1955, where he meets his parents. Christopher Lloyd is the kooky scientist who gets him there. Watch the whole trilogy.
6. Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985)
Baby Sarah Jessica Parker! A dance competition! I couldn't help but wonder: Why haven't you watched this yet?!
7. The Breakfast Club (1985)
Five high-schoolers (a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal) spend a Saturday in detention together — and realize they're not that different from each other after all. Soundtrack gem: "Don't You (Forget About Me)," by The Simple Minds.
8. The Goonies (1985)
After finding an old map to a hidden treasure, a group of kids set out to find the loot and save their town. Only problem is? Some bad guys (and their mom — the baddest of all) are after the gold too.
9. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Oh, you played hooky once in high school? There's no way you had as much fun as Ferris, who rode around in a Ferrari convertible, crashed a parade float, and ate at a fancy restaurant by pretending to be a very rich man. Live vicariously.
10. Pretty in Pink (1986)
Another wrong-side-of-the-tracks love story (these were big in the '80s), with a spectacular dance scene by a character named Duckie (Jon Cryer). It also stars Molly Ringwald, so you know it's an instant classic.
11. Top Gun (1986)
Damn, Tom Cruise in aviators. Playing a badass Navy pilot in training. What are you waiting for? Soundtrack gem: "Take My Breath Away," by Berlin.
12. Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
The title says it all.
13. Dirty Dancing (1987)
Step aside, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone: The Lift was done right only once in the movies, and it was by Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in this timeless wrong-side-of-the-tracks love story.
14. Fatal Attraction (1987)
This is the movie starring Michael Douglass, Glenn Close, and a boiled bunny (surely, you've heard about it). Glenn plays a mistress who gets a little crazy.
15. Moonstruck (1987)
Cher won a Best Actress Oscar for her role as Loretta, a woman who falls for her fiancé's brother (Nicolas Cage). Here's her acceptance speech, which you should watch for fun.
16. Overboard (1987)
When a rich woman (Goldie Hawn) falls off a ship and gets amnesia, a working-class single dad of four boys (Kurt Russell) claims she's his wife. (She'd recently stiffed him on a job and this is his payback.) Actually, this is pretty ... twisted? Watch anyway.
17. Three Men and a Baby (1987)
Yes, that is Richard from Friends. His name is actually Tom Selleck, and this is a movie in which he plays one of three bachelors who are forced to take care of a baby that was left on their doorstep.
18. Big (1988)
The giant FAO Schwartz piano (R.I.P.) has made a lot of pop culture appearances, but this was its first and its best. The story follows Tom Hanks as an "adult" who's actually a kid. He made a carnival wish to be "big" — and, somehow, it was granted.
19. Mystic Pizza (1988)
Sisters Kat and Daisy (Julia Roberts) couldn't be more different: Kat's Yale-bound, Daisy just wants to find love. The thing that binds them is that they both work at a pizza place (hence the title) — that, and ultimately, sisterhood.
20. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
The live-action-animated hybrid that introduced the world to Jessica Rabbit and Toontown; directed by Robert Zemeckis.
21. Working Girl (1988)
Melanie Griffith, whom you might now know as Dakota Johnson's mom, is Tess McGill, a Staten-Island secretary at a Wall Street investment bank whose hack boss (Sigourney Weaver) steals her merger idea. When said boss breaks her leg and is out of the office, Tess takes back what's hers. Soundtrack gem: "Let the River Run," by Carly Simon.
22. Dead Poets Society (1989)
Robin Williams plays an English teacher at an elite boarding school who teaches his students to love poetry — and take ownership of their lives. You may have heard fans saying, "Oh captain, my captain," when Robin Williams died. This is the movie they were quoting.
23. Heathers (1989)
The ultimate mean-girl movie, in which Winona Ryder's character, a Veronica in a high-school clique of Heathers, gets roped into staging the suicides of popular kids by her brooding sociopathic boyfriend J.D. (Christian Slater).
24. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
As the title suggests, an inventor (Rick Moranis) accidentally turns his kids and his neighbor's kids into teeny-tiny versions of themselves. There's adventure in both how the kids find their way home and that classic scene involving a bee.
25. Look Who's Talking (1989)
Kristie Alley plays a single mother who falls for her cabbie (John Travolta) as she tries to get her life in order. It's prime Amy Heckerling, who would later bring you Clueless, of course. Special appearance by Bruce Willis as the voice of Mikey, the baby who talks to you, the viewer. The second and third film are highly recommended as well.
26. Parenthood (1989)
Before the TV show, there was the Ron Howard-directed movie with its all-star cast (Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen, Dianne Wiest, Keanu Reeves, and so on). The story is simple — it follows the ups and downs of the Buckman family — but the results are spectacular. P.S. The movie also stars a young Joaquin Phoenix, then called Leaf.
27. Say Anything (1989)
After graduation, hopeless romantic Lloyd Dobler finds the nerve to tell valedictorian Diane Kourt that he has a crush. They start up a wonderful romance but are derailed by her dad. Soundtrack gem: "In Your Eyes," by Peter Gabriel.
28. Uncle Buck (1989)
Uncle Buck agrees to care for his nieces and nephew — who are all sad/angry that their parents moved them to a new town — when his brother and sister-in-law have to rush to be with her sick father. He's rough around the edges (drinks, smokes, doesn't have a job), but it turns out he's the exact sort of down-to-earth sweetheart the children need in their lives.
29. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
You've probably heard of the "I'll have what she's having" scene, in which Meg Ryan (Sally) shows Billy Crystal (Harry) how easy it is for a woman to fake an orgasm — but that's just foreplay. Enjoy the whole experience.
(via Cosmopolitan)
1. E.T. (1982)
One of the most heartwarming tales of friendship (between a kid and an alien); directed by Steven Spielberg and featuring Drew Barrymore when she was a peanut.
2. Flashdance (1983)
This is the godmother of inspirational dance movies: Alex Owen (Jennifer Beals) is a working-class Pittsburg woman, making her living as a welder and an exotic dancer, but her dream is to get into ballet school. Soundtrack gem (and a good way to describe watching this movie): "What a Feeling," by Irena Cara.
3. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Freddy, with his burned face and knives for fingers, kills teenagers in their dreams. For those of you who think PG-13 movies are scary, please, have at this.
4. Sixteen Candles (1984)
See? Molly Ringwald. This time in a movie in which her whole family forgets her sixteenth birthday, and she's of course obsessed with the most popular guy in school. (There's a character in the movie that traffics in stereotypes, Long Duk Dong, which does taint the movie's legacy a bit. See for yourself.)
5. Back to the Future (1985)
Another Robert Zemeckis fantasy, this one starring Michael J. Fox as a teen who travels back in time to 1955, where he meets his parents. Christopher Lloyd is the kooky scientist who gets him there. Watch the whole trilogy.
6. Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985)
Baby Sarah Jessica Parker! A dance competition! I couldn't help but wonder: Why haven't you watched this yet?!
7. The Breakfast Club (1985)
Five high-schoolers (a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal) spend a Saturday in detention together — and realize they're not that different from each other after all. Soundtrack gem: "Don't You (Forget About Me)," by The Simple Minds.
8. The Goonies (1985)
After finding an old map to a hidden treasure, a group of kids set out to find the loot and save their town. Only problem is? Some bad guys (and their mom — the baddest of all) are after the gold too.
9. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Oh, you played hooky once in high school? There's no way you had as much fun as Ferris, who rode around in a Ferrari convertible, crashed a parade float, and ate at a fancy restaurant by pretending to be a very rich man. Live vicariously.
10. Pretty in Pink (1986)
Another wrong-side-of-the-tracks love story (these were big in the '80s), with a spectacular dance scene by a character named Duckie (Jon Cryer). It also stars Molly Ringwald, so you know it's an instant classic.
11. Top Gun (1986)
Damn, Tom Cruise in aviators. Playing a badass Navy pilot in training. What are you waiting for? Soundtrack gem: "Take My Breath Away," by Berlin.
12. Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
The title says it all.
13. Dirty Dancing (1987)
Step aside, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone: The Lift was done right only once in the movies, and it was by Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in this timeless wrong-side-of-the-tracks love story.
14. Fatal Attraction (1987)
This is the movie starring Michael Douglass, Glenn Close, and a boiled bunny (surely, you've heard about it). Glenn plays a mistress who gets a little crazy.
15. Moonstruck (1987)
Cher won a Best Actress Oscar for her role as Loretta, a woman who falls for her fiancé's brother (Nicolas Cage). Here's her acceptance speech, which you should watch for fun.
16. Overboard (1987)
When a rich woman (Goldie Hawn) falls off a ship and gets amnesia, a working-class single dad of four boys (Kurt Russell) claims she's his wife. (She'd recently stiffed him on a job and this is his payback.) Actually, this is pretty ... twisted? Watch anyway.
17. Three Men and a Baby (1987)
Yes, that is Richard from Friends. His name is actually Tom Selleck, and this is a movie in which he plays one of three bachelors who are forced to take care of a baby that was left on their doorstep.
18. Big (1988)
The giant FAO Schwartz piano (R.I.P.) has made a lot of pop culture appearances, but this was its first and its best. The story follows Tom Hanks as an "adult" who's actually a kid. He made a carnival wish to be "big" — and, somehow, it was granted.
19. Mystic Pizza (1988)
Sisters Kat and Daisy (Julia Roberts) couldn't be more different: Kat's Yale-bound, Daisy just wants to find love. The thing that binds them is that they both work at a pizza place (hence the title) — that, and ultimately, sisterhood.
20. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
The live-action-animated hybrid that introduced the world to Jessica Rabbit and Toontown; directed by Robert Zemeckis.
21. Working Girl (1988)
Melanie Griffith, whom you might now know as Dakota Johnson's mom, is Tess McGill, a Staten-Island secretary at a Wall Street investment bank whose hack boss (Sigourney Weaver) steals her merger idea. When said boss breaks her leg and is out of the office, Tess takes back what's hers. Soundtrack gem: "Let the River Run," by Carly Simon.
22. Dead Poets Society (1989)
Robin Williams plays an English teacher at an elite boarding school who teaches his students to love poetry — and take ownership of their lives. You may have heard fans saying, "Oh captain, my captain," when Robin Williams died. This is the movie they were quoting.
23. Heathers (1989)
The ultimate mean-girl movie, in which Winona Ryder's character, a Veronica in a high-school clique of Heathers, gets roped into staging the suicides of popular kids by her brooding sociopathic boyfriend J.D. (Christian Slater).
24. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
As the title suggests, an inventor (Rick Moranis) accidentally turns his kids and his neighbor's kids into teeny-tiny versions of themselves. There's adventure in both how the kids find their way home and that classic scene involving a bee.
25. Look Who's Talking (1989)
Kristie Alley plays a single mother who falls for her cabbie (John Travolta) as she tries to get her life in order. It's prime Amy Heckerling, who would later bring you Clueless, of course. Special appearance by Bruce Willis as the voice of Mikey, the baby who talks to you, the viewer. The second and third film are highly recommended as well.
26. Parenthood (1989)
Before the TV show, there was the Ron Howard-directed movie with its all-star cast (Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen, Dianne Wiest, Keanu Reeves, and so on). The story is simple — it follows the ups and downs of the Buckman family — but the results are spectacular. P.S. The movie also stars a young Joaquin Phoenix, then called Leaf.
27. Say Anything (1989)
After graduation, hopeless romantic Lloyd Dobler finds the nerve to tell valedictorian Diane Kourt that he has a crush. They start up a wonderful romance but are derailed by her dad. Soundtrack gem: "In Your Eyes," by Peter Gabriel.
28. Uncle Buck (1989)
Uncle Buck agrees to care for his nieces and nephew — who are all sad/angry that their parents moved them to a new town — when his brother and sister-in-law have to rush to be with her sick father. He's rough around the edges (drinks, smokes, doesn't have a job), but it turns out he's the exact sort of down-to-earth sweetheart the children need in their lives.
29. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
You've probably heard of the "I'll have what she's having" scene, in which Meg Ryan (Sally) shows Billy Crystal (Harry) how easy it is for a woman to fake an orgasm — but that's just foreplay. Enjoy the whole experience.
(via Cosmopolitan)
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