Movies of the 80s
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We love the 1980s. Everything on this page is all about movies of the 1980s. Starting in 1980 and working our way the decade, we are preserving the stories and movies of the greatest decade, the 80s. https://www.youtube.com/@Moviesofthe80s
Stories (129)
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The Back Roads That Went Nowhere: Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, and the Lost Ending of a Troubled 1981 Film
A Road Movie with Bumps Along the Way Martin Ritt’s Back Roads (1981) was meant to be a gentle Southern road movie, the story of two broken people trying to find something like redemption. Sally Field plays Amy Post, a small-town sex worker with dreams of California sunshine. Tommy Lee Jones is Elmore Pratt, a down-and-out ex-boxer drifting through life. Together, they hitchhike westward, bonding through shared hardship and a flicker of hope.
By Movies of the 80s5 months ago in Geeks
The Screenwriter with No Hands: The Strange Disappearance — and Solved Mystery — of Gary DeVore
The Writer Who Vanished Gary DeVore wrote about men making desperate choices. Then, one night in 1997, he made one himself — and paid the ultimate price. Driving home from New Mexico after finishing a screenplay, DeVore disappeared somewhere on the dark highway between Santa Fe and California. For a year, no one knew what happened.
By Movies of the 80s5 months ago in Geeks
Gary Coleman’s Movie That Took the Train: The Curious Case of On the Right Track (1981)
“Whatchu talkin’ ’bout, box office?” When Gary Coleman stepped off television and into a locker at Chicago’s Union Station, Hollywood thought it had a sure bet. The pint-sized superstar of Diff’rent Strokes was, for a few years, the most bankable child actor in America — a quick-witted, bright-eyed phenomenon with the charm of Chaplin and the confidence of someone twice his age.
By Movies of the 80s5 months ago in Geeks
Gene Siskel vs Maniac: How Critics, Shock Marketing & Backlash Defined the 1980 Slasher
If you know Maniac (1980), you probably know it stirred up trouble—blood, gore, controversy, and fierce criticism. But nothing quite compares to Gene Siskel’s public walk-out and verbal takedown of the film. Here’s what Siskel said (or is reported to have said), how star Joe Spinell and director William Lustig responded, and what the reaction meant for Maniac’s legacy.
By Movies of the 80s5 months ago in Horror
The Strange History of Eyewitness (1981): Knife Attacks, Box Office Failure, and a Bollywood Remake
Forgotten Film History A Real-Life Knife Attack on Set Sometimes the behind-the-scenes story is more thrilling than the movie itself. That’s the case with Peter Yates’ Eyewitness (1981), a thriller starring William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, and Christopher Plummer.
By Movies of the 80s5 months ago in Geeks
When Chinatown Said “Enough”: The 1980–81 Protests Against Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen
A Familiar Figure, A New Generation of Critics Charlie Chan was once Hollywood’s most famous Asian detective — a fictional character created by novelist Earl Derr Biggers in the 1920s. For decades, the role was played by white actors in heavy makeup, delivering “fortune-cookie” wisdom in broken English. Studios considered Chan a cultural icon.
By Movies of the 80s5 months ago in Geeks
How American Pop Was Made: Ralph Bakshi, Rotoscoping, and the Music That Kept It Off Video Until 1998
Rotoscoping: Tracing Life Into Frame The 1981 animated feature American Pop remains one of Ralph Bakshi’s boldest and most unusual experiments. While mainstream animation in the early 1980s leaned toward family entertainment, Bakshi was chasing something very different: an animated epic that captured the sweep of American music across four generations.
By Movies of the 80s5 months ago in Geeks
Sphinx (1981) — Inside the $10M Disaster That Bombed at the Box Office
A Costly Gamble in the Desert In 1981, director Franklin J. Schaffner — the Academy Award–winning filmmaker behind Patton — turned to pulp adventure with Sphinx. Adapted from Robin Cook’s bestselling novel, the film seemed poised to cash in on the public’s appetite for archaeological thrillers. Instead, it became one of Hollywood’s most memorable flops.
By Movies of the 80s5 months ago in Geeks
Two Miners, Two Valentines: Comparing My Bloody Valentine (1981) and My Bloody Valentine (2009)
Throwback vs. Remake — the bottom line (budget & box office) George Mihalka’s original My Bloody Valentine (1981) was a modest Canadian slasher shot on location in Nova Scotia. Its production budget is commonly listed at about $2.3 million, and it grossed roughly $5.7 million in the U.S., giving it a small theatrical return but the beginnings of a cult reputation.
By Movies of the 80s5 months ago in Horror
Windwalker (1980): The Forgotten Western Told in Cheyenne and Crow
A Western That Broke the Rules When people think of 1980s Westerns, they usually recall revisionist works like Heaven’s Gate or nostalgic star vehicles. Few remember Kieth Merrill’s Windwalker (released in 1980, though often grouped with early 80s films), a modestly budgeted historical drama with one extraordinary claim: with the exception of an English-language narration, every line of dialogue is spoken in Cheyenne and Crow. Subtitled for mainstream audiences, Windwalker dared to put Native voices front and center — a choice virtually unheard of in Hollywood at the time.
By Movies of the 80s5 months ago in Geeks
Walker v. Time Life Films: The Forgotten Lawsuit Behind Fort Apache, The Bronx
New York City’s South Bronx. Critics debated whether the film captured reality or exaggerated it for shock value. What’s less remembered is that the film sparked a lawsuit by a former cop-turned-writer who believed Hollywood stole his story. The case, Walker v. Time Life Films, Inc. (784 F.2d 44), went all the way to the United States Court of Appeals and has since become a frequently cited copyright decision.
By Movies of the 80s5 months ago in Geeks
The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981): Behind the Chaotic Comedy Starring Lily Tomlin
A Forgotten 80s Comedy That Deserves a Closer Look If you were a kid in the 80s flipping through cable and Superstation TBS, chances are you saw The Incredible Shrinking Woman once or twice. Maybe you remember Lily Tomlin getting smaller by the minute, or maybe you just recall the poster where she’s perched on a gorilla’s shoulder. Either way, for most people, that’s the beginning and end of this movie’s legacy: a middling box office hit, mediocre reviews, and a quirky footnote in early 80s Hollywood.
By Movies of the 80s5 months ago in Geeks
