I’ve been catching up on and rewatching some lately. Legend, Highlander, The Never ending Story. What are some others that are similar? And why do 80s movies seem to hit different than other decades?
It’s… inconceivable no one has said Princess Bride yet.
I think that word means what you think it means
- Hawk the Slayer, with Jack Palance (!) playing the bad guy
- Dragonslayer, astounding dragon models and cinematography
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
- My Neighbor Totoro
- Big Trouble in Little China
Nausicaa is so good
The Secret of Nimh
Xanadu (Modern Fantasy)
LadyhawkeStar Wars Episodes 5 and 6
The Goonies, The Golden Child, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, and The Monster Squad.
Bonus: I think Bill & Ted’s movies were in the 80s too? The one with Death I always felt was sort of similar to Never Ending Story.
Wait, no Ghostbusters!?
Labyrinth, Willow, and of course The Princess Bride.
Dragonslayer was pretty good.
Willow
To answer the second question, Willow hit different because in the 80s they were totally fine with making fantasy movies that were meant to be watched by families but also had no problem traumatizing children. Willow had those creepy rat dog things straight out of a nightmare. Same way The Neverending Story has the horse/swamp scene and Gremlins turned fluffy cute animals into scary wicked creatures. Honestly, it’s a miracle any of us millennials survived without a serious case of PTSD every time we went to Blockbuster.
And don’t forget those weird muppets in Labyrinth that pulled their heads off while singing.
Oh yes… I still remember the first time seeing that scene where everyone (almost) got turned into pigs in Willow. It really freaked me out at the time.
*shudders*I think the heavy reliance on physical props, models and scenery. Combined with a certain darker style of story telling really made those movies stand out.
Labyrinth and The Last Unicorn were two that came to mind
It’s all about the babe. Labyrinth should be top comment!
Flash Gordon
Also Flesh Gordon.
It is exactly what you think, but it’s more comedic than arousing.
Big trouble in little china
Well … Stranger Things … I know, I know. But it gives me so good 80’s vibes, especially due to the great synthie soundtrack. Can not not mention it.