Influencial 80’s Movie
OK, I think I may be suffering sympathy PMS because all kinds of sensitive today. Anyway, in our morning meeting one young lady was discussing a nascient trip to Spokane, Washington and someone said something to the effect that Spokane ain’t Honolulu. Not sure why I said it, but I piped up with “Dude, that’s where Loudon Swain is from.”
Now, probably the VAST majority of you won’t get that reference. But, if ever a movie could be said to have influenced my life, it was that one. From the time Vision Quest came out in 1985 until about 1992, I would hazard to guess that I averaged watching it once week the entire time. In 1987 alone I fell asleep to that movie on my DVD player every single night from Sept onward. The night before matches I would sit down with a bowl of ice cubes and some celery and just watch that movie.
Anyway, guess it paid off to an extent. So, here are my favorite clips:
I ended up having to limit how often I listened to the song in this next clip, because it would send me into this like Tourettes/Berserker mode where I would pretty much lose my mind.
Now, guess which jackass in this pic is your humble blogger from the 1988 Massachusetts State Wrestling Championships:
Anyway, by way of open thread. Name your most influential 80’s film.
If you say 16 Candles and are a male, I am banning you forthwith.
Category: Politics
Let me guess, you’re the one nobody wants to stand next to, right?
We had DVD’s in ’87? who knew…..
80’s movie eh…..toss up between Weird Science and the cheesy Flash Gordon remake, only because the Queen soundtrack rocked and Max VonSydow made a perfect Ming the Mercilous…..
Heartbreak Ridge, but my troops might tell you that the movie was more influenced by me than me by it. From the day they pinned corporal rank on me (eight years before the movie), I was Gunny Hiway, but a shorter, younger version.
I’m the 6″-1′ 140 pound bag of idiocy with the coke bottle glasses.
Back to the Future, the first one.
Watching Crispin Glover smack Lea Thompson on the ass at the end of the movie when Marty comes back from the future made me realize you have to put forth a little effort in your teens and 20s in order to make it to your 40s and 50s happy.
Heartbreak Ridge, Gandhi, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket.
Heartbreak Ridge is still in my play rotation. There’s an odd sort of clarity in the thing that I like.
Gandhi just because…
Full Metal Jacket had character types I could relate to, even though it only depicted the smallest bit of my experiences.
I’ve only seen Platoon once or twice but that was enough to influence me mightily. Ugh!
I’ve never seen Vision Quest.
Have to add: Lunatic Fringe is on my playlist everywhere.
Oh, Garden of Stone – James Caan as a platoon sergeant and James Earl Jones as the Sergeant Major. What’s not to like?
I’ve never watched Platoon or FMJ all the way through. They bore me with the stereotypes.
As I was scrolling down, as soon as I saw “Vision Quest,” the first thing that popped into my head was Lunatic Fringe. But really, in your case, you sure you’re not all frenzied over Madonna? *grin*
Oh, and I guess I have to ‘fess up that my fave movie was Suburbia. Yes, I was a disaffected youth. It went well with my dad’s provost marshal’s position in the Army at the time. Heh.
Porkies
no comment.
Top Gun….no doubt about it. I just wished we were able to see more of Kelly McGillis……
Best Scene is Goose explaining why they were inverted..on the Russian jet.
Charlie: Eh, lieutenant, what were you doing there?
Goose: Communicating.
Maverick: Communicating. Keeping up foreign relations. You know, giving him the bird!
Goose: [Charlie looks puzzled, so Goose clarifies] You know, the finger
Charlie: Yes, I know the finger, Goose.
Goose: I-I’m sorry, I hate it when it does that, I’m sorry. Excuse me
Great Movie…especially for a dumb Marine like myself…it gave me a much better opinion of the Navy….
TSO…Sorry to get off track,but seriously,are those your legs? Or are you riding a chicken? BTW…Blockbuster called,they want thier copy of “Brokeback Mountain” back…they said that keeping it over two years is messing up their inventory…just wanted to point that out for ya thanks.
I was having a few adult beverages with friends the other night and semi-quoted/semi-paraphrased the sequence in Heartbreak Ridge where the General asks the fucktard Major if he was good at logistics towards the end of the movie. I was then told that I had clearly seen the movie way too many times.
However, I must admit that my guilty pleasure of the 80s was Highlander (the first one, not the rest of them). I basically love anything with Big Sean in it. However, I agree with Craig Ferguson that something is screwed up about a movie about a Highland warrior where Sean plays a Spaniard and the the Highlander is played by a Belgian. Ferguson points out that Belium is like the Canada of France, and France is, well, France. He further points out that Kim Jung Il looks like a Bond villan thus, the solution to the North Korea problem is to send Big Sean to kick his ass.
I know that is more than you ever wanted to know, but in conclusion – There can be only one!
Susan, when you can recite the conversation from Garden of Stones about asexual reproduction, I’ll be impressed.
Heartbreak Ridge was the only movie I had for my Laser Disc. My kids were pretty tired of it.
“How do you think I feel, I gotta share a room with a guy named after a ducks dork”
Jonn said:I’ve never watched Platoon or FMJ all the way through. They bore me with the stereotypes.
Almost off topic:
I figure most war movies must have stereotypes, otherwise they’d be much longer than a couple of hours. Reckon it’s just a part of the distillation process.
Kubrick did okay. I think he captured several times and places and left the viewer to judge.
Stone exploited the stereotypes extant and made them the driving force of the plot.
YMMV
“Sgt. Hulka is like our big toe….”
Something is afoot at the Circle K!
Princess Bride
BILL AND TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE~
Top Gun
Ferriss
Dirty Dancing
YOUNG GUNS
Hey dog, did you see the size of that chicken?
🙂 come on, I graduated in ’89, they were ALL gloriously horrible!
Terminator
WTF’s a matter with you people?
Red Dawn
no boobiez in Red Dawn.
Amen on the Red Dawn, because at the time I felt that Cuba, with Russia’s backing, was dumb enough to try something like that. The “Wolverines”, (kids), were nearly believable in most of their sabotage and attacks.
The problem that I have with watching movies is that I get sidetracked watching how well this or that actor plays his/her role. Comes from reading so damned many scripts, I guess.
“Never Forget Ft. Hood Texas 11/5/09!”
I think my favorite movie in the 80’s was the Care bear one that was at the amusement park where Nicolas was turned evil so the care bears all came together and did the care bear stare and he was friendly again…it really was touch and go there towards the end it was pretty scary when he was making evil spells…
You are definitely a keeper hon.
Seriously, it had some tense moments, I mean Care -a-lot was going to be destroyed from a world that didn’t care!
You guys are waaaay off on the movies. You are missing the classics like Caddyshack, Stripes, Airplane, Airplane 2, etc. I think you all need a little time in the special “timeout” area for your lack of vision.
OT, we are way off from what I meant anyway, I meant like personally meaningful. Although the Red Dawn answer did give me some pause, because that is a damn close #2. As a kid I had escape plans drawn in my mind.
OldTrooper,
I had an obligatory Stripes quote back there!!!!
IN the 80s I was a complete clusterfk. I didn’t have any of the drive you’re talking about. The weird,pointless 80s-ness was what was influencing me.
Now if we were talking books- To Kill a Mockingbird- of course.. who wouldn’t want to be Atticus Finch?
Aliens
Ripley “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure. “
Anything with Traci Lords. Oh, wait… you meant mainstream movies? Oh. Red Dawn. Hands down… or maybe Platoon. The thing is, I was rooting for Barnes in Platoon, not Elias.