10 Movies That Defined 1985
From time machines to pirate treasure, 1985 might have been one of the most ridiculously entertaining years in movie history.
01
Back to the Future
If you had to pick one movie to represent the sheer entertainment value of 1985, Back to the Future would be hard to beat.
It has time travel, comedy, romance, one of the most recognisable cars in cinema history and a script that rewards you every time you watch it.
Read our movie take →02
The Goonies
The Goonies captured something that 80s cinema did incredibly well: letting kids have a proper adventure without constantly stopping to explain the danger.
Treasure maps, tunnels, criminals, booby traps and a pirate ship turned it into the kind of movie an entire generation wanted to climb inside.
Read our movie take →03
The Breakfast Club
John Hughes took five teenagers who looked like stereotypes and spent an afternoon showing how little those labels actually meant.
It became one of the defining teen films of the decade because underneath the hairstyles and fashion, the insecurities still feel recognisable.
04
Rocky IV
Rocky IV might be one of the most concentrated doses of 1980s cinema ever released.
Training montages, synthesizers, Cold War symbolism and enormous emotional swings make it almost impossible to separate the film from the decade that produced it.
05
Commando
Commando is 80s action cinema with almost every sensible restraint removed.
Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers one-liners, carries impossible amounts of weaponry and treats an entire private army like a mild inconvenience.
06
Witness
1985 was not only about huge action and fantasy movies. Witness showed another side of the decade.
Harrison Ford's performance and the film's quieter atmosphere made it one of the year's most memorable adult dramas.
07
Cocoon
Cocoon mixed science fiction with something surprisingly warm and human.
Instead of teenagers or action heroes, its story centred on ageing, friendship and the possibility of getting another chance at life.
08
Fright Night
Fright Night understood that vampires could be frightening and entertaining at the same time.
Its practical effects, suburban setting and playful relationship with old horror movies make it a perfect mid-80s genre film.
09
Weird Science
Few films could advertise themselves as being from 1985 more loudly than Weird Science.
Computers, teenage fantasy, outrageous comedy and John Hughes all collided in something that feels completely tied to its era.
10
The Color Purple
The Color Purple gave 1985 one of its most ambitious and emotionally powerful dramas.
Its scale, performances and seriousness are a reminder of just how varied the year's biggest films actually were.
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