80s movies that held up over time

[Kory]

I have to say, re-watching Sixteen Candles and Revenge of the Nerds over the past few years was eye opening. The casual misogyny and racism is pretty striking, especially since these were movies I grew up with and watched over and over again.

Oh, that's a shot stolen from Night of the Hunter.

I just saw Night of the Hunter for the first time a couple months ago. It was way stranger than I expected.

[Silent Majority]

I have to say, re-watching Sixteen Candles and Revenge of the Nerds over the past few years was eye opening. The casual misogyny and racism is pretty striking, especially since these were movies I grew up with and watched over and over again.

Oh, that's a shot stolen from Night of the Hunter.

I just saw Night of the Hunter for the first time a couple months ago. It was way stranger than I expected.

So damn good, though.

[Kimmelweck]

You have to remember who directed it and how homoerotic the whole movie is. Then it makes more sense.

Legend of Billie Jean has a hell of a badass mid-movie Glow-Up for Helen Slater.

Agreed on your point about Helen Slater - I love that Joan of Arc scene. Also, took me years to realize Putter was the voice of Lisa Simpson (Yeardley Smith).

I didn’t see it until fairly recently, so I knew instantly, but it blew my wife’s mind because she hadn’t seen it since before the Simpsons was a thing.

I saw the movie pre-Simpsons and only found out a couple years ago when I read an interview with Smith and Slater. I also learned from the interview that Helen and Christian Slater are not related, and that both actresses found the guy who played Mr. Pyatt to be really creepy in real life too.

The only other movies I remember Helen Slater in were Supergirl and Secret of My Success (with Michael J. Fox). I’d say they didn’t age well, but they were pretty forgettable movies from the get-go. I've always associated the Yello song (Oh Yeah) with Secret of My Success though rather than Ferris Bueller’s Day Off because Aunt Vera was pretty hot.

She was also in Ruthless People, a movie I forgot about until my wife showed it to me for our podcast.

I must have seen Ruthless People in the 80s, but I have no recollection of watching it and remember nothing about it. Damn. I'll have to watch it just to see if I never actually saw it or just forgot about it.

[Kory]

I have to say, re-watching Sixteen Candles and Revenge of the Nerds over the past few years was eye opening. The casual misogyny and racism is pretty striking, especially since these were movies I grew up with and watched over and over again.

Oh, that's a shot stolen from Night of the Hunter.

I just saw Night of the Hunter for the first time a couple months ago. It was way stranger than I expected.

So damn good, though.

Yeah, I'd like to see it again to digest it more thoroughly.

[Kimmelweck]

Another one I’ve always liked and enjoy rewatching occasionally is Romancing the Stone. And Three Amigos is an all-time favorite too. Saw both at the cinema when they came out and Alfonso Arau is great in both movies as Juan the Bellmaker and El Guapo.

[BostonBeaneater]

Oh, that's a shot stolen from Night of the Hunter.

Is it? This film? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048424/

[BostonBeaneater]

Another one I’ve always liked and enjoy rewatching occasionally is Romancing the Stone. And Three Amigos is an all-time favorite too. Saw both at the cinema when they came out and Alfonso Arau is great in both movies as Juan the Bellmaker and El Guapo.

I'd put Spies Like Us in tha grouping as well. I think I was just old enough to walk to the movie theater with my friends and we saw everything that hit the theaters from 1985-1988.

[Kimmelweck]

Another one I’ve always liked and enjoy rewatching occasionally is Romancing the Stone. And Three Amigos is an all-time favorite too. Saw both at the cinema when they came out and Alfonso Arau is great in both movies as Juan the Bellmaker and El Guapo.

I'd put Spies Like Us in tha grouping as well. I think I was just old enough to walk to the movie theater with my friends and we saw everything that hit the theaters from 1985-1988.

Yeah, that’s another good one. I didn’t see it at the theatre but saw it a ton on HBO shortly after.

On the other hand, the entire Police Academy catalog aged pretty poorly. Or Bobcat Goldthwait/Steve Guttenberg movies in general. I’ll give Guttenberg a pass for Cocoon, but that’s about it.

[Silent Majority]

Oh, that's a shot stolen from Night of the Hunter.

Is it? This film? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048424/

Yeah, there's a shot where Robert Mitchum's head appears like that to his cell mate in his bunk when he tries to get him talking about the 10 grand he stole being hidden somewhere. Can't find an image of it now, but it looks like this.

Astonishing film. Stop what you're doing now and watch or rewatch it.

[Mimi]

Raiders of the Lost Ark has held up.

[Dr. Medulla]

Raiders of the Lost Ark has held up.

Temple of Doom has dropped even more so than at the time.

[Heston]

Raiders of the Lost Ark has held up.

Temple of Doom has dropped even more so than at the time.

More back up for my theory that Crystal Skull is the best in the series.

[Dr. Medulla]

Raiders of the Lost Ark has held up.

Temple of Doom has dropped even more so than at the time.

More back up for my theory that Crystal Skull is the best in the series.

It's the Eleanor Rigby of the Indy movies!

[WestwayKid]

Raiders of the Lost Ark has held up.

Agreed. Last Crusade is also still a lot of fun to watch.

[WestwayKid]

A couple off the top of my head: Stand by Me, Clue, Beetlejuice, Do the Right Thing.