Everybody need to retake the nimbus days of 80s moviesthese days . Everywhere you search , they ’re refashion 80s classics or pay homageto the motifs of the Reagan era . But there ’s still something about the 80s thatremains unique and special . Here are 10 things movies were good at in the 80sthat they struggle at today .
All icon from Ghostbusters .
This one is sort of obvious , but deserving cite . The 80shad fantastic creature effects , from the body horror of Cronenberg to the slimycreatures of countless action at law movies . And sometimes CG creatures are great — but they often miss the tactile weirdness of creatures made out of silicone polymer andKY jelly and expectoration and wire . We miss hard-nosed upshot , especially creatureeffects .
This is a three-fold - butt on blade — pic in the 80s had a muchslower pace , and now when you watch an old - schoolhouse classic you ca n’t helpnoticing how measured the build - up is . You probably could n’t get aside withthat nowadays , given how much riotous things move on television and games , andhow much short everybody ’s aid spans are thanks to text messages andwhatnot . But something astonishing happens when you spend a mo more time layingtrack before the train roars off from the station : you actually bond with thecharacters and care what happens to them .
And beyond just call for time to build up the characters , there ’s the sense of real friendly relationship and fellowship that you get from a lotof 80 films . The in force fourscore adventure movies , from Goonies to the Star Trek films , leave you with a feeling that you ’re watching a mathematical group of Friend doing stufftogether without having to hate each other or have faux engagement .
In the same venous blood vessel as show real cameraderie , fourscore moviesshowed fry , and puerility friendly relationship , in a credible and relatable style . Thereare some fantastic child worker working today — but you do n’t see as manymovies really capturing the duskiness and insecurity that nock a lot of ourchildhoods . These Clarence Day , little kids sense like baggage or hostages — but kidsin 80s movie were less perfect and more genuine . Another matter that LXXX moviesdid really well with kids was to show their family being ask in theirlives — even if the motion picture is n’t about the house , it spend a sight of timedealing with how the protagonist relates to his or her parents and siblings , just as much as their friends or love sake .
80s movies had a gritty realness that did n’t just amount fromhaving multitude verbalise tough in a gravelly voice — but also came from an awarenessof societal class . This is one thing that makes Blade Runner stand out today — but also lots of teen moviesfeature someone from the “ untimely side of the course , ” and that affectseverything they do . And movie like E.T. weren’tafraid to show dirty kitchens and messy bedrooms and kids calling each other“penis breath . ” In general , there was a sense of realness in the best80s movies , even beyond receipt societal class : Poltergeistshowed a couple hang out and smoking weed instead of having torridperfect film sex . Now when you see someone ’s home in a movie , it lookspristine , and masses have perfect aphrodisiacal sex .
Shorter is better . No need for three - hour epics ! In spite ofthe thing we mentioned before about taking meter to establish reference , it’salso great that many 80s flick manage to tell a great story in 90 minutes , including credits , and then unloose you to go to the restroom . And not everymovie needs to have a massive scope , either . You do n’t postulate to see entire cities destroyedon screen to get across the point that bad shit is happening . And all thedisaster porn footage in the world wo n’t make up for a crappy taradiddle or crappycharacters .
Kenny Loggins is still out there and quick to go back towork . But seriously , the 80s just had awesome root strain , with actual lyricsand a rockin guitar sound . The Ghostbusterstheme is still puzzle in our heads . Somewhere between the first Men in Black in 1997 and the most recentone a couple eld ago , people just intercept get movie theme song , specially one where the statute title of the motion-picture show is sing or rapped . The James Bondfilms still transmit the torch , but it ’s time for other movies to pick it up too .
Outside of horror movies , you just do n’t see enough intensescares nowadays — and when you do see scary monsters and spine - tinglingsuspense , it ’s always temper by caustic remark and winking . Enough . Let ’s get back to intensecrazy ogre action and boastful scares of the sometime 24-hour interval . Also , in the 80s they knewthat movies for child could be scary and vivid , like ET , or even Goonies .
Barring the occasional great baddie like Heath Ledger’sJoker , we ’re still in our ongoingvillain corner . specially at the movies . Villains are either strictly out for revenge on thehero , or have ultra - vague goals — but either way , they get a few moment ofranting and then the mass destruction start . Where are the heavy baddie likeThulsa Doom or Rene Belloq ? Villains with personal appeal , with plan and destination oftheir own , and peradventure a coolheaded mountain lair . Seriously .
Are We In A Villain Recession ?
extra reportingby Meredith Woerner , Esther Inglis - Arkell , Robert T. Gonzalez , George Dvorsky , Annalee Newitz , Katharine Trendacosta and Rob Bricken . Thanks to David Sirota , Cheryl Eddy and Ben Richardson for the assistance .
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