The first half of the 1980s saw many "feel good" movies and everyone felt very secure. The second half of the decade spawned many films about despair and difficulty. . . Bogus!

Things changed up to the crash of 1987, eventually leading the way to the nihilism of grunge in the 1990s . . . But if the 80s are remembered for any particular movie genre, it would have to be 'Teen Movies'. The ones which inevitably start with the hero/heroine waking up in their bedroom and scanning the mess contained therein. There is invariably an annoying younger sibling, uncomprehending parents and a High School. Our hero or heroine will arrive at said school via a decrepit and/or embarrassing mode of transport and meet up with some equally low-status buddies. They will then walk the halls on the way to class, and see the unattainable object of their desire (who is probably hanging out with cool friends and who usually has an improbably expensive car). Our hero/heroine will attempt to interact but be humiliated. There will follow some classroom hilarity (with sexual innuendo) and a cafeteria scene.

After school, our hero/heroine will go to an embarrassing part time job, and once again be humiliated. Usually there will be a chance to date the object of their desire but this will go horribly wrong and remain unresolved until the prom/big game/big dance/big competition offers our hero/heroine the opportunity to prove themselves - to the object of their affection, and everyone else who ever looked down on them.

Eighties teens drew instruction and inspiration from these films. And if this was the genre of the 80s, then John Hughes was THE writer/director/producer of the 80s, for nobody penned, directed and produced so many fine examples of 'Teen Movies'. Hughes was responsible for Sixteen Candles, Weird Science, The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Some Kind Of Wonderful, Mr Mom and National Lampoon's Vacation.

Movies in the eighties had some of the best soundtracks, and the most memorable and popular songs at the time seem to have sometimes outshone the movies themselves.

This is by no means an attempt at an exhaustive listing of movies from the 80s. It is a recollection of some of the movies which are either personal favourites, or which are particularly representative of the era (without necessarily being critically acclaimed).

A View To A Kill About Last Night Above The Law Absence Of Malice Absolute Beginners The Abyss The Accidental Tourist The Accused Ace Crawford, Private Eye Action Jackson Adventures In Babysitting The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension The Adventures of Milo and Otis After Hours Against All Odds Agnes Of God Airplane! (Flying High) Akira Alamo Bay Aliens Alligator The Allnighter All Of Me All The Right Moves Altered States Amadeus Amazon Women On The Moon American Flyers American Gigolo An American Tail An American Werewolf In London Amityville II: The Possession Android Angel Heart Annie Any Which Way You Can Apartment Zero Apology Armed and Dangerous Arthur Arthur 2: On The Rocks At Close Range Atlantic City Author! Author! Babette's Feast Baby Boom Baby, It's You! The Babysitter Bachelor Party Back To School Back To The Beach Back To The Future Back To The Future, Part II Back To The Future: Part 3 Bad Taste Bad Timing Bagdad Cafe Barfly Batman Batteries Not Included Battle Beyond The Stars Battletruck Beat Street Beer Beetlejuice The Belly Of An Architect Best Friends Best Little Whorehouse In Texas The Best Of Times Betty Blue Beverly Hills Cop Beverly Hills Cop II Beverly Hills Madam Big Big Business The Big Chill The Big Red One Big Trouble In Little China Bigfoot & The Hendersons Big Top Pee-Wee Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure Biloxi Blues Bird Black Eagle Black Venus Bladerunner Blame It On Rio Bliss Bloodbath At The House Of Death Blood Simple Blow Out The Blue Lagoon Blue Money Blue Thunder Blue Velvet The Blues Brothers BMX Bandits Body Double Body Heat Bolero The Border B.O.R.N Born In East L.A. The Bounty Brainstorm Brazil Breakdance: The Movie Breaker Morant The Breakfast Club Breakin' Breaking Glass Bright Lights, Big City Brimstone & Treacle Britannia Hospital Broadcast News Broadway Danny Rose Brubaker The Burbs Burglar Buster Bustin' Loose Caddyshack Cafe Flesh CAL Caligula Campus Man The Cannonball Run Can't Stop The Music Casualties Of War Cat People Caveman Centrespread Chained Heat Chariots Of Fire Cherry 2000 Children Of A Lesser God Children Of The Corn Child's Play Christiane F Christine National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation The Clan Of The Cave Bear Clash Of The Titans Class Class Of 1984 Class Of Nuke 'Em High Club Paradise Clue Coal Miner's Daughter The Coca Cola Kid Cocktail Cocoon The Color Of Money The Color Purple Colors Coming To America Commando Conan The Barbarian Conan The Destroyer Condorman Consuming Passions The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover Copacabana Creepshow Crimes Of Passion Crocodile Dundee Crocodile Dundee II Crossing The Mob Crossroads Cruising Cujo Curse Of The Pink Panther Cyborg Dangerous Liaisons The Dark Crystal Das Boot (The Boat) The Day After Dead Man Walking Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid Dead Poets Society Dead Ringers The Dead Zone Death On The Nile Deathtrap The Delinquents Desperate Living Desperately Seeking Susan Didn't You Kill My Brother? Die Hard Diner Dirty Dancing Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Disorderlies Distant Voices, Still Lives Doctor Detroit Dogs In Space Down & Out In Beverly Hills Down By Law Dragnet The Draughtsman's Contract The Dream Team Dressed To Kill Driving Miss Daisy Drowning By Numbers Drugstore Cowboy Dune The Dunera Boys Earth Girls Are Easy Eat The Rich Eating Raoul Educating Rita 18 Again 84 Charing Cross Road Electric Boogaloo The Elephant Man The Empire Strikes Back Endless Love Enemy Mine Escape from New York Escape To Victory E.T. The Extra Terrestrial European Vacation Evil Angels The Evil Dead Evil Dead II Extremities Fame Fast Times At Ridgemont High Fatal Attraction Fatty Finn Ferris Bueller's Day Off 52 Pickup The Final Countdown Firefox First Blood A Fish Called Wanda Flashdance Flash Gordon Flight of the Navigator The Fly The Fog Footloose Fort Apache, The Bronx For Your Eyes Only 48 Hours The Fox & The Hound Foxes Frances The French Lieutenants Woman Friday The 13th Friday the 13th, Part 2 Friday the 13th, Part 3 Friday the 13th, Part 4: The Final Chapter Friday the 13th, Part 5: A New Beginning Friday the 13th, Part 6: Jason Lives Friday the 13th, Part 7: The New Blood Friday the 13th, Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan Full Metal Jacket Gallipoli Gandhi Gardens Of Stone Get Crazy Ghost Busters Ghostbusters II Girls Just Want To Have Fun The Gods Must Be Crazy Good Morning Vietnam The Goonies Gorillas In The Mist Gothic Grease 2 The Great Muppet Caper The Great Outdoors The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle Greetings From Wollongong Gregory's Girl Gremlins Greystoke: The Legend Of Tarzan Gung Ho

Hairspray Halloween 2 Hamburger Hill Hannah & Her Sisters Harlequin Harry & The Hendersons He Knows You're Alone Heartbreak Ridge Heaven's Gate Heavy Metal Hell Comes To Frogtown Hellraiser Herbie Goes Bananas Highlander The Hitcher Hollywood Knights Honey, I Shrunk The Kids Hoosiers Hope and Glory Hostage Howard The Duck The Howling The Hunger Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom Insatiable Inseminoid Invasion USA Ironweed The Jazz Singer The Jewel Of The Nile The Karate Kid The Karate Kid Part II The Karate Kid Part III Kickboxer Killer Klowns From Outer Space The King Of Comedy Kiss Of The Spider Woman The Krays Krull La Bamba Labyrinth Lady Chatterley's Lover Ladyhawke The Lair Of The White Worm The Last Emperor The Last Temptation Of Christ Legend Less Than Zero Lethal Weapon Lethal Weapon 2 Licence To Kill The Lighthorsemen Liquid Sky Little Darlings The Little Mermaid Little Shop Of Horrors The Living Daylights The Long Riders The Lost Boys Mad Max 2 Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome Made In Heaven Maid To Order Malcolm The Man From Snowy River The Man With Two Brains Married To The Mob Mask Maximum Overdrive McVicar The Meaning Of Life Melvin: Son of Alvin Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence Micki + Maude A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy Minder On The Orient Express Missing In Action The Mission Mississippi Burning Mommie Dearest Mona Lisa Monkey Shines Moonstruck Moonwalker Moscow On The Hudson Motel Hell Mr Mom My Beautiful Laundrette My Bodyguard My Left Foot My Stepmother Is An Alien Mystery Train Mystic Pizza The Naked Gun The Name Of The Rose National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation National Lampoon's Vacation Neighbors The Neverending Story Never Say Never Again New York Stories Nice Girls Don't Explode A Nightmare On Elm Street Nightmare On Elm Street (Part 2): Freddy's Revenge Nightmare On Elm Street (Part 3): Dream Warriors Nightmare On Elm Street (Part 4): The Dream Master Nightmare On Elm Street (Part 5): The Dream Child Night Shift 9½ Weeks Nine To Five 1984 The Nude Bomb Octopussy An Officer & A Gentleman On Golden Pond The Osterman Weekend Out Of Africa The Outsiders Over The Top Pacific Banana Party Party A Passage To India Pee-Wee's Big Adventure Peggy Sue Got Married Pennies From Heaven Personal Services Pet Sematary The Phantom Empire Pink Flamingos Planes, Trains & Automobiles Platoon Police Academy Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment Police Academy 3: Back In Training Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach Police Academy 6: City Under Siege Poltergeist Poltergeist II: The Other Side Poltergeist III Polyester Popeye Porky's Porky's II: The Next Day A Prayer For The Dying Predator Pretty In Pink Prick Up Your Ears The Princess Bride Private Benjamin Prizzi's Honor Prom Night Puberty Blues Purple Rain The Quiet Earth Raging Bull Raiders Of The Lost Ark Rain Man Raising Arizona Rambo: First Blood Part II Rambo III Re-Animator Red Dawn Reds Repo Man Return Of The Jedi The Return Of The Living Dead Revenge Of The Nerds Rhinestone The Right Stuff Risky Business Rita, Sue & Bob Too River's Edge Robocop Rocky III Rocky IV Romancing The Stone 'Round Midnight Roxanne Rude Boy Rumble Fish The Running Man The Salute Of The Jugger Salvador Say Anything Scanners Scarface The Secret Policeman's Ball The Seventh Sign Sex, Lies & Videotape Sharky's Machine She's Gotta Have It She's Having A Baby The Shining Shirley Valentine Sid & Nancy Silent Night, Deadly Night Silverado Silver Dream Racer Sixteen Candles Skatetown, USA Skirmish S.O.B. Some Kind Of Wonderful Sophie's Choice Space Camp Sphinx Splash Stand By Me Starstruck Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan Star Trek III: The Search For Spock Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Staying Alive Steel Magnolias St Elmo's Fire Stir Crazy Stripes Super Fuzz The Supergrass Superman II Superman III Surf Nazis Must Die Suspect Taps Teen Wolf Tequila Sunrise The Terminator Terms Of Endearment Testament The Thing This Is Spinal Tap Three Amigos! Three Men And A Baby Throw Momma From The Train Time Bandits The Tin Drum Tootsie Top Gun Top Secret! The Toughest Man In The World The Toxic Avenger Trading Places Tron 2010 Twilight Zone: The Movie Twins Uncle Buck The Untouchables Urban Cowboy Valley Girl Vice Academy Victor/Victoria Videodrome Wall Street Wargames Weird Science When Harry Met Sally The Whistleblower Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Wholly Moses! The Wildcats Of St Trinian's Willow Wish You Were Here The Witches of Eastwick Withnail & I Witness Working Girl The World According To Garp Wrong Side Of The Road Xanadu The Year My Voice Broke The Year Of Living Dangerously Yellowbeard Young Einstein Zapped!