The 80s: When Movies Were Simpler, More Grounded, and Just Plain Old Fun

     I find that the 80's is an era that often gets cast aside and ignored for its quality of entertainment. Yes, some of it is dated, irrelevant, and by today's standards, extremely offensive. But it seemed like you could relate to characters in 80's movies. There was something about them that made them feel like they were us, and we in turn felt like we could be in that story. We all related to Ferris Bueller as he went about his escapades and fought the battle of ditching school without getting caught. We all felt like we could steal a jet from the Air Force and fly to the Middle East to save our father if he was being held captive, and today, more than ever, we would go through all the trouble to hack into a system just to play a game. The movies in the 80's, much like the music, reflected life, or at least our perception of life. This was brought through the characters, and their stories and conflicts.

     The 80's was all about life, even if we were never destined to have those specific experiences, we could still relate. Let's take, for example, a classic like Footloose. It is true, that in this day and age we would most likely never find ourselves in the position of being forced to move to a town and have that town ban music and dancing. But that's not what the movie is really about, is it? It's about a cause, a worthy cause in the eyes of our hero. Sure, Rock was all about rebellion, but the movie is more about sticking to your guns despite the poplar opinion, and even authority, and ultimately, letting it go. (and this scene with Kevin Bacon does it much more effectively than Frozen)

     This is just one of many examples from the 80's. Another often overlooked gem of the eighties that demonstrates how grounded its films were in general is Little Nikita starring Sydney Poitier and River Phoenix. This movie follows the story of a sleeper family from USSR raising their son in america and who come under the FBI's radar when their son, played by River Phoenix applies to the Air Force academy. Sydney Poitier plays the agent reviewing his file who is also, on the side, trying to find the Russian operative who killed his partner years earlier. It is one of those films that seems to rely heavily on coincidences to work, but it does work. the cast is brilliant, from Poitier to Phoenix, to the supporting cast, including Richard Jenkins as his father. It's not an action packed movie, nor is it much of a spy thriller, but it is realistic and raw, and you really feel the characters coming through the actors, and mind you, not all these actors are those great dramatic actors that every time we see them we get completely lost in their roles. They come across as your everyday parents raising their son.

     Little Nikita is just one of many grounded movies in the eighties that aside from being realistic, also managed to bridge the genre gap, in the sense that it can be categorized as multiple genres. This was common back then. I actually don't even know what you would classify Little Nikita as. Is it a drama? A thriller? It could be either, and that's what made movies back then so fun, but there are other examples of this phenomenon. Examples would be Short Circuit, War Games, Cloak and Dagger, and Beverly Hills Cop. It's hard to pinpoint just what the exact formula is for achieving this state in a movie, but it is there, and the movies in the eighties are living proof that it is possible.

     While we're on the subject, I would like to talk briefly about War Games. I fully intend on going into greater depth with this movie at a later date, but I think it is important to look at it now, as a product of its time. War Games is one of those perfect movies we all love to watch over and over again for different reasons. The acting, the casting, the script, and even the modernism of the whole film is appealing due to its realism. Mathew Broderick plays the perfect "nerd" high-school student who constantly gets into trouble but knows how to get around those barriers. Dabney Coleman and John Wood also do a great job as computer pioneers whose systems are now being used for national defense and the foil they provide to each other through their differing points of view and approach only adds to the films realism.

     I find that Hollywood has really had trouble giving us realistic cinema. I really am a firm believer of the alternate world that movies create and the escape they provide, but movies like the ones I've discussed prove that a balance between realism and the fantasy world of movies can be achieved. Eighties films are dated in so many ways, yet they endure. It is true that all films based on modernism become dated eventually, but it is a film's ability to maintain realism and sincerity that allows it to live on. Movies today seem to have lost that touch with its viewers, and for some reason, the viewers don't seem to care. I for one, would like to a return to eighties-style film-making, and hopefully, I'm not the only one.