80 Greatest '80s Movie Moments
We're calling it the grEighties for short
Tron (1982)
The Moment: The future of cinema zooms past as we’re introduced to the light-cycles.
Only In The '80s: ...would CGI be dismissed as a fad.
If It Was Made Today: It’d still look (and sound) cool, but you wouldn’t have the foggiest what was going on.
Footloose (1984)
The Moment: Having successfully overturned a ban on rock ‘n’ roll, Kevin Bacon leads the school prom into the title track. "Hey, hey! What's this I see? I thought this was a party. LET'S DANCE!"
Only In The '80s: ...would Bacon be more famous as an actor than a trivia game.
If It Was Made Today: A case of life pre-empts website feature, because the remake is already on the way.
Monty Pythons Meaning of Life (1983)
The Moment: Terry Jones’ ultra-obese Mr Creosote waddles into a restaurant, orders everything off the menu, and still can’t resist a "wafeer-thin" mint. Ka-boom!
Only In The '80s: ...could this be seen as bearing any relation whatsoever to the meaning of life.
If It Was Made Today: Mr Creosote would be played by Ricky Gervais.
Betty Blue (1986)
The Moment: The camera slowly dollies in as Beatrice Dalle and Jean-Hugues Anglade enjoy a fast, frantic fuck.
Only In The '80s: ...would a thousand students crack one off to the poster on their bedroom wall.
If It Was Made Today: The actors would do it for real.
Caddyshack (1980)
The Moment: Greenskeeper Bill Murray wires up the golf course with explosives to try and kill a gopher who is chewing up the course.
Only In The '80s: ...could Murray be upstaged by a glove puppet.
If It Was Made Today: You’d have to convince Murray that the Coen Brothers were directing.
Rocky IV (1985)
The Moment: Ivan Drago and Rocky Balboa prepare for the USA/USSR grudge match: the Russian with hi-tech equipment, Stallone lugging logs in the snow.
Only In The '80s: ...could the training montage be this cheesy.
If It Was Made Today: After Team America: World Police ? That would take balls bigger than Rocky's.
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Pretty in Pink (1986)
The Moment: Molly Ringwald attends her high school prom on her own, in a bespoke pink dress refashioned by hand-me-downs.
Only In The '80s: ...would preppy Andrew McCarthy be seen as a better catch than Jon Cryer’s too-cool-for-school Duckie.
If It Was Made Today: They’d get Kate Middleton’s wedding designer Sarah Burton to make the dress.
Wall Street (1988)
The Moment: Michael Douglas’ Gordon Gekko gives the defining economic speech of a generation: “Greed, for want of a better word, is good.”
Only In The '80s: ...could a crook like Gekko be heralded as a hero.
If It Was Made Today: Judging by the sequel, greed would be kinda, sorta OK in moderation.
The Thing (1982)
The Moment: A head sprouts spider's legs and scuttles across the floor. The correct response is: “You’ve got to be fucking kidding.”
Only In The '80s: ...were major Hollywood remakes allowed to get this weird.
If It Was Made Today: We’ll know soon enough. The prequel is imminent.
Fatal Attraction (1987)
The Moment: Anne Archer returns home to find crazy Glenn Close has left something is cooking on the stove – specifically, the family rabbit.
Only In The '80s: ...could an entire character type – the ‘bunny boiler’ – be nicknamed from a single scene.
If It Was Made Today: You just know that bunny is going to end up actually getting served for dinner.