Saturday, February 8, 2014

Weekend Weigh-in: What's Your Favorite Movie from 1985?

We're just one week away from #FThisMovieFest!!

One week from today, we'll all be on Twitter participating in F This Movie Fest III and watching some of our favorite movies from 1985. To really get ready, we're going to be celebrating '85 all week long on the site, and we're kicking things off by asking you to name your favorite movie from that terrific year.

If you need some help, check out this list.

And yes, Back to the Future is the correct answer, but feel free to name something else.

#fthismoviefest

34 comments:

  1. Sorry it's not very original, but Back to the Future is my answer. It's just excellent in every way, and really one of my top 5 favorite movies ever, not just of 1985.

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    1. But if I had to choose something else, I think The Breakfast Club would be my first runner-up.

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  2. Back to the Future IS the correct answer but oh my god so many favorites came out that year. I can't even count the number of times I've seen: Fletch, Real Genius, Fright Night, Clue, Death Wish 3, Commando, and Re-Animator. Fletch and Real Genius in particular I'm fairly certain I could recite from memory. Clue is the only one on that list (other than BTTF) that I was lucky enough to see in a theater. It was the Miss Peacock ending. I wish I had kept the little scorecard they gave us going in to keep track if who done it, and where, and with what. Similar to Patrick's experience with it, my parents let me watch Commando once it hit video even though I was only eleven. My first R rated movie in a theater wasn't until a few years later when my dad took me to see The Running Man. 1985 was such an embarrassment of riches, it's a shame my family only went to the movies 3 or 4 times a year. I didn't discover most of these movies until they hit VHS.

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  3. Fright Night. Even though "Fletch", "Return of the Living Dead", "Vampire Hunter D" and "Back to the Future" are up there.

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    1. Nice love for Vampire Hunter D! My hand talks to me, too.

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  4. Jackie Chan's Police Story. One of the best pure action movies ever made.

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    1. I have never seen that. I should remedy that soon.

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  5. I just watched "Once Bitten" for the first time. I'll admit it was mainly to see Jim Carrey in his first major role, but the movie also has a pretty interesting premise. The movie is quite terrible but I found myself laughing alot, mostly unintentionally.

    "Back to the Future" is the most obvious choice, though I also enjoy "Day of the Dead" and "Witness" quite alot.

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  6. Back to the Future is the right answer, but for the sake of variety I'm also a huge fan of Akira Kurosawa's Ran. It's such a great adaptation of King Lear, and even when he was going blind the guy knew how to make a movie look absolutely gorgeous in every frame.

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  7. Back to the Future but that seems too easy. I'd go with After Hours or Re-Animator after that.

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  8. I'd also go with Back to the Future -- but the two movies I watch the most from that year are Clue and Commando.

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  9. Agree with the consensus about BttF, but I didn't see that movie until the early '90s. I did record Rambo: First Blood Part II off of TV and watched it over and over and over, so that's my sentimental pick, though I recognize many movies are much better (like BttF). I think my irrational affection for Stallone comes from the dozens of times I watched First Blood Part II as a kid.

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  10. I am going to go with St. Elmo's Fire -- mostly for both the title track by John Parr and the love theme by David Foster. Other faves that year: Teen Wolf, Clue, Commando, Vision Quest, Real Genius and The Sure Thing.

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  11. Leaving aside Back to the Future, I'm going to have to go with Pee Wee's Big Adventure. That movie holds up really as a movie made by people who love big, goofy adventures with some real heart behind them.

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  12. Oh, and I'd love Ladyhawke more but that horrid synthesizer soundtrack really drags it down. That movie deserves a far better score.

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  13. 1.- The Purple Rose of Cairo
    2.- Re-Animator
    3.- Day of the Dead
    4.- Akira Kurosawa's Ran
    5.- Back to the Future
    (ahem!)
    6.- National Lampoon's European Vacation
    7.- To Live and Die in L.A.
    8.- Commando
    9.- The Return of the Living Dead
    10.- Spies Like Us


    Haven't see "Brazil" or "Witness," but if I did I'm sure they'd rank high. Overall though '85 seems to have been an OK, not great year in movies.

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  14. BttF, Breakfast Club, and a shout-out to Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome for cinematic entertainment value. Liked Rambo but haven't felt the need to watch it in over 20 years. Good performances in Mask. Delightful fun in Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

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  15. Teen Wolf & rocky 4

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  16. Totally going with Witness right behind BTTF, something about Peter Weir films always suck me in. Honorable mention to Rambo II: First Blood and Rocky IV- Stallone was really working it in 1985. I even remember the tagline for Rocky IV "You'll believe a series of montages will solve the Cold War"

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    1. Rocky IV gets a ton of flak for being basically a feature-length music video, but it is super entertaining.

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    2. Rocky IV might be the most 80's movie ever made. I cringe every time I see the Paulie sex robot but the movie as a whole is alright. It's the Tokyo Drift of the series.

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  17. I'll always love Weird Science for being one of the first movies to give me a funny feeling in my pants, but c'mon, Back to the Future all the way.

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    1. Gold - Back to the Future
      Silver - The Breakfast Club
      Bronze - The Sure Thing

      Honorable Mention: Weird Science

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  18. Back to future is by far my favourite from this year. I love Fright Night, Brazil, Purple rose of Cairo, Witness and Ran. I also love My Beautiful Laundrette, which I recommend to those who haven't seen it yet. I wanted to give a shout out to Kiss of the spider woman, which isn't the best film but has good performances. I remember connecting to the characters but I haven't watched it in a few years. I have recently found a VHS of Prizzi's Honor (I still have a VHS player and a local charity shop sells them for 20p) so I look forward to watching it. As a fan of Agnes Varda I also want to rent Vagabond from my uni library as it looks really good.

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    1. Gabby, "Vagabond" is amazing. Easily Sandrine Bonnaire's 2nd best role ever, after Pialat's "À Nos Amours," and a strong Varda pic as well. I like "My Beautiful Launderette," especially since D.D. Lewis' character is such a contrast with how he played Cecil in "A Room With A View" (another 1985 standout, though it officially premiered most places in 1986). It was an early sign of the guy's range and that he was destined to be the great actor he has since become.

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  19. Agree on most of the above but one movie from 1985 that blew my mind was Lifeforce. I still revisit this movie from time to time. Great special effects and definitely some over the top 1980s action and dialogue.

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