80s Flick Flashback

Imagine pitching this to a movie studio in the 80s: two clueless slackers travel through time in a phone booth, rounding up historical figures for their high school history project. Not exactly an easy sell, right? But what started as a quirky stand-up routine from college pals Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon turned into a surprise hit. The film didn’t just make money—it inspired a sequel, an animat...

In the 1980s, many movie fans thought the  Friday the 13th  series was at its best with the fourth movie, The Final Chapter, where it seemed like Jason Voorhees was finally defeated. The fifth film,  A New Beginning , tried to take the story in a new direction but didn't satisfy fans. Then, a new writer and director named Tom McLoughlin was asked to bring new life to the series and the famous kill...

John Hughes is known for making popular movies about teenagers in the 1980s. He started as a National Lampoon's Magazine writer and then began writing scripts in 1979. In 1984, he directed "Sixteen Candles". The next year, he directed two well-known movies, "The Breakfast Club" and this 80s flick. Many people think "The Breakfast Club" is better, but this one is special because it mixes comedy wit...

80s action movie icon Arnold Schwarzenegger had already faced off against deadly alien hunters in "Predator", but that same year, he took on another action-packed sci-fi film, trading aliens for a dystopian future and a deadly reality TV show. This 80s flick was a wild departure from the original short story it was based on, but it delivered plenty of action and comedic moments. In this adaptation...

In the not-too-distant future, civilization has been destroyed by genocide, starvation, and plague, and chaos reigns in the wastelands surrounding the collapsed Brooklyn Bridge. As guerilla fighters battle amid the desolation, one woman, who is also a robot, harbors a secret that could save humanity. As menacing baddies seek to exploit her to monopolize the production of the world-ravaging plague’...

An 80s flick synonymous with perhaps the most popular action genre of the eighties: the buddy-cop movie. In the wake of  Lethal Weapon , there were many variations of the formula. Perhaps the most testosterone-fuelled was this 1989 cult classic that paired Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell as Los Angeles cops framed by Jack Palance’s evil drug lord. With generous helpings of style, odd-couple qu...

Remember the days when action figures ruled our imaginations and epic battles between good and evil played out in our living rooms? Step into 1987, when a beloved toy line and animated series leaped onto the big screen in a live-action spectacle. In this 80s flick a intergalactic battle spills from the fantastical world of Eternia into our own. Marketed as the “Star Wars of the 80s, it didn’t quit...

Ever wondered what happens when real-life events inspire Hollywood action? Step into 1986, a time when high-octane, patriotic thrillers ruled the big screen. In this 80s action flick, we witness an elite military team led by none other than Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin, taking on a hijacking crisis with rocket-powered bravery and martial arts skill. Based loosely on actual events, this film blended...

Wes Craven redefined horror and birthed a new kind of terror with his creation of Freddy Krueger, the disfigured dream stalker who haunts the nightmares of teenagers on Elm Street. But just when you thought it was safe to fall asleep again, Freddy returned with a vengeance in this 80s Flick sequel. This time, he's got his sights set on a new victim, Jesse Walsh, who discovers that his nightmares a...

To the children of the ’80s, the only thing cooler than the idea of space camp is the idea behind this forgotten 80’s flick, in which Lea Thompson, Joaquin Phoenix, and their fellow teen team members must figure out how to land an actual space shuttle after a freak accident at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center launches them into outer space. It could have been one of the biggest movies of 1986 but then...

Before writer-director Philip Kaufman brought Tom Wolfe's best-selling book to the big screen in 1983, astronauts in movies were often just alien hunters or asteroid chasers. But under Kaufman's direction, spaceflight became a deeply human endeavor, focusing on inner strength rather than external threats. This 80s flick, which runs for over three hours and features an unconventional structure, tel...

Have you ever wondered how far you'd go to keep your weekend plans alive? Picture this: it's the summer of 1989, and two young employees are ready for a dream getaway at their boss's swanky beach house. But there's a twist—when they arrive, they find their boss, who unbeknownst to them has been stealing from the company, very much dead. What follows is a wild 48 hours filled with dirty-old drunks,...

It’s easy to see why this 80s Flick resonated at the time. Layoffs in traditionally American male workplaces, especially the auto industry, had landed innumerable men on their living room couches - a stark contrast to the seventies when a total of six men reported being stay-at-home dads in America. That’s right, just six. This resulted in many of their wives having to head into the workplace them...

If you've ever dabbled in DIY home improvement, you'll likely empathize with the calamities depicted in this often overlooked 80s flick. It's the classic tale of renovation gone awry, starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long as a couple who snag a mansion at a bargain, only to realize after the deal is done why it was priced so low. While the critics weren't overly impressed, for countless fans, it rem...

Shrinking someone down in order to inject them into someone else, is an absurd movie concept! Producer Steven Spielberg and director Joe Dante knew this, so rather than maintain the bland seriousness of 1966’s “Fantastic Voyage”, they decided to have fun with it, and made a better movie because of it.  Lt. Tuck Pendleton, a daring Navy pilot, volunteers for a miniaturization experiment that become...

Stephen King taught us some important lessons while ascending to his rightful place as America’s most prolific author of horror and supernatural fiction. For instance: don’t dump pig’s blood on  Carrie , never stay at  The Shining ’s Overlook Hotel, and for goodness sake, tread lightly when dealing with a 1958 Plymouth Fury named  Christine . King takes the classic tale of boy-meets-girl to fright...

The year of 1985 was an eventful year for Hollywood, seeing the releases of such timeless classics as "The Goonies", "Back to the Future", and "The Breakfast Club". It also saw the release of this 80s Flick, a medieval fantasy adventure telling the unforgettable tale of two lovers who are placed under a terrible curse. She transforms into a hawk during the day, and he into a wolf by night. Togethe...

In the early 1980s baseball films were rare with the most notable being the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears. However Barry Levinson’s 1984 Oscar nominated flick sparked a resurgence leading to over 18 baseball themed films in the next decade. On the surface it appears as a traditional sports biopic, but it reveals deeper, almost artistic layers upon closer examination. It trancends mere athletic dr...

What happens when the battle for the soul of a small town gets fought in the most unexpected of arenas: the dance floor? This 80s flick, inspired by true events,  dared to answer that question and became one of the most influential movies of the decade!  In this small Utah town, the spirit of youth is a whispered song, until the new student from big city Chicago decides it’s time to crank up the v...

The first "Jaws" movie, directed by a young up-and-comer named Steven Spielberg, is a masterpiece; an incredibly tense, well-made, and well-acted film that created the summer blockbuster as we know it and changed the movie business forever. The first sequel,  Jaws 2 , can’t reach the heights of the original but it was a respectable enough follow-up. Then there’s  this 80s flick! Just when you thou...

This Oscar-nominated 80s flick may sound like just another courtroom drama. Frank Galvin is a washed-up ambulance-chasing attorney battling his demons in Boston. When he takes on a seemingly straightforward medical malpractice case involving a comatose woman, Galvin discovers a labyrinth of corruption and deceit within the legal system. With the odds stacked against him and his own personal strugg...

This 80’s comedy classic is one remake that actually surpassed the original! The plot is simple, two con men with differing styles of grifting make a bet to see who can out-swindle a wealthy heiress on the glamorous French Riviera. From slapstick antics to razor-sharp wit, Steve Martin and Michael Caine deliver a masterclass in comedy as they pull off one hilarious scheme after another, trying to...

Are you ready for a high-octane adventure through the tumultuous world of teenage rebellion and automotive mayhem? Then jump into the driver’s seat because it's time to rediscover the laughter, hijinks, and teenage romance that made this 80s Flick a beloved cult classic. In the sun-soaked suburbs of California, we meet the lovesick teenager Les Anderson, whose one goal in life is to earn his drive...

The buddy cop action-comedy movie hit its heyday by the end of the 1980s with genre-defining box office winners like "48 Hrs." and "Lethal Weapon." The formula is pretty straightforward - two wise-cracking detectives, who share almost nothing in common, team up and face a barrage of messy violent drama before coming together to fight the bad guys and save the day. This formula has proven to be eff...

Get ready to test your knowledge about the silver screen sensations of the 1980s! From E.T. phoning home to Indiana Jones cracking his whip, we've got a reel-to-reel rundown of 80s movie trivia as you've never heard before. So grab your popcorn, and cozy up in your favorite recliner or bean bag chair, as eight guest co-hosts join host Tim Williams to play three rounds of 80s movie Trivia on this 1...