posted
There hasn't been a lot of discussion on here lately so I thought I'd drum on up.
Why are you a fan of 80's movies? What is it that brings you to this site? What is it that brings you back to the same movies all the time? See if you can put it in words how these movies make you feel.
Posts: 714 | From: Minnesota | Registered: Apr 2006 | Site Updates: 0
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Well, for me it's the connection to my childhood and early adulthood. Your teenage years are really some of your best (even if you didn't know it at the time). These are important formative years, and, much of what you learn during this time stays with you the rest of your life. Watching these 80's movies is a direct connection to this. It's like when you smell something you haven't smelled in years, and, the memories come flooding back. Actually, smell has a strong link to memory and memory recall. The other day, I smelled some cologne that I haven't smelled for a long time, and, it took my right back to the 80's. My brother used to wear it all of the time, and, I hated it. People who grew up in the 50's, 60's, 70's etc, do the same thing. Also, these child years were your innocent years. You were shielded from all of the crap that you have to deal with now.
Posts: 2729 | From: Kansas City, MO "At the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance" | Registered: Apr 2007 | Site Updates: 9
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posted
The music, the women and the carefree attitude.
Even though I was born in the early 80's, I still have fond memories from the period. So nostalgia is obviously a big factor, but most importantly: movies made in the 80's simply were REALLY good!
I honestly feel that cinema has been on a constant decline since '92 (wich is when the 80's really ended, as everyone should know).
Posts: 15 | Registered: May 2007 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
Childhood memories. When I hear a particular song from the 80s I am taken back to a time when things were carefree with not much to worry about. Summer days were spent at the pool talking about this or that boy and the most things you had to worry about were getting a good tan. You could eat whatever you wanted and not gain weight.
As I have said many times before on here, the 80s is the best decade ever for movies and music. I really think that when people say that your childhood years are the time of your life they are right. We are in an age now where we can express our love of our childhood because of technology, which is a great thing. People didn't have that even 20 years ago.
I remember while I was growing up and my mom listening to 60s music and me thinking she was insane. I am sure my son will be going through the exact same thing!
Posts: 5319 | From: KANSAS | Registered: Sep 2003 | Site Updates: 2
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posted
I was talking about this with my girlfriend just recently and was trying to come up with all manner of reasons but it boiled down to childhood memories too. There's a connection between watching the films that reminds me of growing up. But it's not just films I saw at the time, even now, 80s movies I've only just got around to seeing are great because of the style, the fashions, the music, the attitudes of the time period and of the films themselves.
I also love escapist entertainment - as someone once said, 'it's the best kind of entertainment' - and the 80s embodied that. The decade brought us films that took audiences to new places and countered the predominant character studies and social problem movies of the 70s.
Posts: 3 | Registered: May 2007 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
That decade ruled expecialy moviewise the 70s was okay. in small doses and don't get started on the 90s.
Posts: 64 | From: weston,wv | Registered: May 2007 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
the only thing i love about the 80's is the brat pack movies! i was really young back then i cant remeber much else besides the dodgy hair do's
Posts: 62 | From: england | Registered: Dec 2006 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
I think the reason 80s movies were so great is that they had longevity.
For example I clearly remember the Star Wars phenomenan. I watched all three movies in the cinema I got the toys for christmas and used them to recreate scenes from the films with my friends. I had Star Wars books / tapes / pillow-case everything. I also clearly remember E.T. and riding around on my BMX hoping to launch into flight.
Any yet I was born in 1979. That would make me three when ET came out, one when Empire Strikes Back came out, and is a full two years AFTER Star Wars was released.
But back then movies stayed around for longer. It was months before they came out to rent on VHS and years before they appeard on TV (at least here in the UK). When Return of the Jedi came out my local cinema showed all three Star Wars movies back to back which is how I got to see them. I can't imagine that happening now with Spiderman. A film comes out at the cinema, it's on DVD a couple of months later, TV before the year's out and then it's forgotten and replaced by the next fad film. I'll bet kids now don't act out scenes from films made four or five years ago.
Posts: 106 | From: London, England | Registered: May 2006 | Site Updates: 2
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posted
I think I share much of the feelings as you guys. Often people make fun of the 80s so I wwouldn't feel comfortable discussing them with them. Around here we have affection for the same things, especially films. I also prefer rock and roll back then along with MTV, video games such as the Commodore 64 or the Atari 2600and riding our BMXs. Also having a group of friends like in E.T., Explorers or The Goonies. To me the movies have a certain magic today's films don't have. Posts: 168 | From: Bedfont, England | Registered: Apr 2003 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
I genuinely believe that, while the 80s may not have had all better movies, it sure had a lot of great (or at least good) ones.
If you take any random year, there were certain to be at least 10 genuinely good movies. Movies that would still be cared about 20 years later, whereas now, we seem to be lucky if we get one with that kind of staying power...
Or am I exaggerating..? I don't know, but I'm sure there's some truth in there somewhere Posts: 1026 | From: The '80s | Registered: Feb 2000 | Site Updates: 407
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posted
For me I would say its two completely seperate things. On a lighter note, the 80's were just a happier time. It was ok to be cheesey. Everyone wasn't quite so uptight, so you could have jokes, or stereotypes, or could do many things you just CANT do in todays society... I read 80s comics and watch 80s movies and I am amazed sometimes at the things they did or said, it would NEVER fly today. Then came the 90s and grunge, and gangsta rap, and suddenly how cool you were was directly related to how 'hard' you were. And in order to be hard you had to have had a hard life. Oh woe is me, my parents got divorced, oh woe is me, my mom drinks a lot, oh woe is me were kinda poor.. It suddenly became cool to wear your problems on your shirt and brag about them like it somehow made you stronger than the next guy who had that perfect 80s life, white picket fence, dog named spot. Lame.. Its cool to be happy, and laugh at life. Not cry about how everything and everyone sucks.
On a deeper note for me, my Dad passed away when I was 13 in 1987, so I think for me, hanging on to 80s movies, games, and such, are like resisting change. Trying to keep at least something the same.
Either way I guess my reason is really the same as all of yours, it reminds me of a happier, safer time. When I had less worries, less responsibilities, and a lot more free time. Posts: 97 | From: Kentucky | Registered: Jun 2005 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
I also think it was the last decade that kids could just be kids. I mean I know that the video games and stuff started but at least you had to go to a mall to play the majority of them. Nowadays kids just want to sit around and play gameboys and Xbox and it drives me crazy. They seem to get bored so easily. I wish that they could use their imaginations more.
I also agree with you Phanstar that it reminds me of a happier and safer time. A time when you were oblivous to bills and all that adulthood brings. It is nice to be able to go back and feel like you are in a safe place and it is good to do that with movies. It allows you to take a break for awhile which can help you recharge.
Posts: 5319 | From: KANSAS | Registered: Sep 2003 | Site Updates: 2
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posted
I hear a lot about the 'kids today' thing. I've got a few kids now myself and a lot of my friends do too, so I spend a lot of time thinking about this. Is being a kid today so different from being a kid back then? As for playing video games and getting bored easily I think not. I did both of those things with great frequency in the 80s. I think the primary difference/problem with being a kid today is too many parents are trying to relive their childhood vicariously through their children. This in itself is not so bad, but unfortunately most of them are not willing to wait until they are age appropriate. So you have 5 year old kids watching rated R movies, or staying up all night watching adult swim, or playing violent video games, ect. Now believe me im not one of those who scream and cry, Violent movies and video games cause people to go shoot up their school. But lets face it. As a parent you have an obligation to protect your childrens innocence. And all of these things (sex, drugs,violence) are very related. If your child has never been exposed to M rated games, or pG-13 or above movies. When they are approached at school with a ciggarette, or sexual activity they are not ready for, they will be far more niave... which means this new activity will seem far more severe, and they will be more likely to say no. If your kid has been playing super violent games since age 5, and watching rated R movies all his life. Then that ciggarette might be no big deal.
Oh well This is an unrelated tangent. Back on topic. I can remember running circles around my room for hours on end because I was so bored and bursting with energy... oh and how many times my mother said "If you say your bored one more time I'll FIND you something to do" And you never wanted that to happen... So I dont think things in that respect are so different now than they were then.
Posts: 97 | From: Kentucky | Registered: Jun 2005 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
Consumer Technology was in its infancy back then Computers, Microwave Ovens, VCR'S etc where all developing and they where damn expensive, I remember my dad bringing home a second hand VCR around 84 and the excitement in the house was unbelievable even the neighbours invited themselves round to take a look and we rented films solidly for months it all seem to have a real value!
Nowadays so what if you come home with a £20 DVD player most people have one in every room of the house everything has become a cheap disposable commodity with no real value anymore, nothing really seems to amaze or excite the way it use to!
Social interaction has also declined with the steady rise of the stay indoors after dark culture for fear of being mugged by a marauding 14 year olds, I remember playing out whenever I could & without fear of attack!
When you did stay in to play Video Games your mates would come round to play, unlike today's consoles there was no online gaming so you would end up with half a dozen select friends in your bedroom all hunched around your ZX Spectrum until you mum called time!
Who remembers the fuss made if anybody at school got a new pair of trainers, I am sure there is some kudos for having the right look amongst today's kids (A hooded top, highly flammable tracksuit bottoms and some dismal looking footwear) but there was something almost magical about a pair of Addidas Galaxy, Farah trousers and a Lacoste shirt!
I remember NIKE AIR being the holy grail of footwear at school and I think there was only a couple of different styles, nowadays they seem to have slipped down the charts and there are lots of different variations! Ahhhhh the good old days!
I fear for the future!
MM
Posts: 165 | From: Coventry, United Kingdom | Registered: Jul 2007 | Site Updates: 0
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That's the one thing about the 80s for me that seperates it from any other decade.
Think about it. We went from a time when MM's phrase "I fear for the future" was a byword for everyone. The Cold War was at it's height, and nobody could see a way out of it. News, media, movies, music, all pointed towards an increase in international tensions, not a decrease.
But through the decade we saw a lessening in so many international conflicts. We saw the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, we saw the Perestroika movements in Eastern Europe gaining ground, we saw overthrown dictators in countries like Romania, we saw public demonstrations, such as the Tiannenmen Square event, highlighting at great cost that the people had had enough. And at the end of the decade, we had the biggest sign of all - the end of the cold war and the break-up of the Soviet Union so vividly drawn by the images of the Berlin Wall being hacked down.
Change.
I was 14 when the 80s started, getting increasingly close to adult-hood, with all the potential and promise that we all hold onto at such an age. So many plans, so much time. At the end of the 80s I was married, with the financial commitments of a mortgage and the need to hold down a job. Big personal change.
Change is significant. Change matters. The 80s were the biggest period of change in my life, and have defined my character ever since.
That's why the decade is so important.......
Paul
Posts: 3646 | From: Shermer, IL - where else? | Registered: Mar 2001 | Site Updates: 37
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posted
You know the internet has changed our lives so much now too. In the 80s whenever I got a new toy, it came with these little catalogs, of the other available toys and sometimes with "Coming Soon." I used to stare at those things for hours, And the Sears and JCPenny wish book (Toy section, Not the bra ads, well maybe those sometimes too!) and just dream about things I could get for christmas. I guess what I'm trying to say is our access to information was very limited in the 80s. Now with the internet, you can download music before it even comes out. Read about every video game, cd, toy, book, or movie and know about it months before it is released. Heck lots of movies do weblogs where you can read/watch about it as filming and production occur.
Posts: 97 | From: Kentucky | Registered: Jun 2005 | Site Updates: 0
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Helen_S
Hiding behind the shower curtain.....
Member # 5804
posted
I remember that people were always going out to do things. People loved to go to the mall or the beach or just be out anywhere. There wasn't as much competition for your time like now, what with 400 channels on cable or satellite and the internet, not to mention playing video games for hours on end. It's amazing people go out at all. In fact, they don't! We used to go to the movies EVERY WEEK! Nobody does that anymore. Me and me friends used to walk MILES every day to the mall or to go fishing or something else. One of the worst things is that strip malls are killing off all of the big shopping malls. It's very sad to see it. They will never come back again. Whole generations will miss out on hanging out at the mall. People have become used to the convenience of strip mall shopping to the point that they don't want to have to walk around in a big mall. It's too much exercise for them. Everything is convenience. Fast food drive up, drug store drive up (ridiculous), liquor store drive up. We are pathetic! It's no wonder that by 2012 a full 50% of Americans will be overweight and or obese. Did you know that in this countries history the current generation of children is the first generation of kids that will die "before" their parents because of obesity? Something has got to change.
And now, for something completely different...
- jdocster04
Posts: 2729 | From: Kansas City, MO "At the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance" | Registered: Apr 2007 | Site Updates: 9
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posted
I totally know what you mean about going to the mall. I lived in a small town in the 80s but my friends and I would skate a couple of miles just to hang out at the local mall. There was a skate shop/used video game store near there, or we would just hang out at the mall, go to Spencers, buy a pretzel, whatever. It was great. Sometimes I want to move to an extremely rural town to try to go back in time... But I think deep down I know I wouldn't fit in there. heh.
Posts: 97 | From: Kentucky | Registered: Jun 2005 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
Isn't it funny that kids today wouldn't go to the lengths to get somewhere unless their parents took them. But I can almost understand why with all of the crime and kidnappings and crazy things that people do it is just not safe anymore. That is really too sad.
Posts: 5319 | From: KANSAS | Registered: Sep 2003 | Site Updates: 2
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quote:Originally posted by Phanstar: You know the internet has changed our lives so much now too. In the 80s whenever I got a new toy, it came with these little catalogs, of the other available toys and sometimes with "Coming Soon." I used to stare at those things for hours, And the Sears and JCPenny wish book (Toy section, Not the bra ads, well maybe those sometimes too!) and just dream about things I could get for christmas. I guess what I'm trying to say is our access to information was very limited in the 80s. Now with the internet, you can download music before it even comes out. Read about every video game, cd, toy, book, or movie and know about it months before it is released. Heck lots of movies do weblogs where you can read/watch about it as filming and production occur.
well said, phanstar. for me, it's kind of bittersweet.... sometimes i wish we didn't have that kind of access to so much, and then there are other times where i am thankful for the internet and well, most of today's technology. some of it is just plain ridiculous though. but that's they way life goes. i am certain that when our parents were young, they had the same feelings that we do towards today's society and technology. funny isn't it?
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