Saturday, October 13, 2012

1986 Movies Ranked







15. Short Circuit
1986
D: John Badham
**********
Only good if you watched it when you were a kid and it has nostalgic value for you.  Also, I wouldn’t by any food from that hippie woman who lets wild animals run free in the same area she makes her organic food.


14. An American Tail
1986
D: Don Bluth
**********
Like ADGH, It has its strengths, but too many silly moments (such as the stupidity of the Cossack Cats) ruin the experience for me.


13. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
D: John Hughes
**********
Dr. Insano’s assessment is pretty dead-on.  The protagonist is largely unsympathetic, and the movie can get a bit pretentious when it takes itself seriously.  Still, it has its funny moments, even if its humor is inconsistent.  I find myself relating more to Mr. Rooney.  I’m not sure if he’s supposed to have a Wile E. Coyote-like sympathetic quality to him, but he does, and that’s what makes much of the slapstick he endures effective.  Good, but possibly a bit overpraised.

12. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
D: Leonard Nimoy
**********
Comic relief can enhance a serious movie.  It can add depth and show something about the characters.  This movie actually shows how effective it can be.  People love it because it shows beloved characters being themselves in a funny way.  It certainly isn’t the plot that makes this movie popular.


11. Blue Velvet
D: David Lynch
**********
One of Lynch’s more watchable films.  It has mysterious atmosphere and a twisted villain.  It shows a dark side to small town life that’s more honest and less smugly self-righteous than the typical Hollywood fair [cough]American Beauty[cough].


10. Three Amigos!
D: John Landis
**********
A solid, overlooked comedy.


7. The Great Mouse Detective
D: Ron Clements, John Musker, Burny Mattinson, Dave Michener
**********
A solid animated movie with a dark tone.  The final fight between Ratigan and Basil is pretty vicious, too.


6. A Better Tomorrow
D: John Woo
**********
The action scenes are inventive, but the movie actually has a very solid plot as well.


5. The Money Pit
D: Richard Benjamin
**********
The best Tom Hanks movie where he’s not a toy cowboy…or in Normandy.


4. Highlander
D: Russell Mulcahy
**********
One of the classic 80’s movies.  It has a great premise, and great characters played by Clancy Brown and Sean Connery.  And let's not forget those great Queen songs!


3. The Fly
D: David Cronenberg
**********
Great suspense and classic Cronenberg gore.  Also, John Getz’s character is a great Red Herring hero.


D: Nelson Shin
**********
It may have a contrived plot produced solely to promote a new line of toys, but it’s just the most awesome bad movie every made and an unparalleled nostalgic classic.  The uniquely detailed animation, the great fight scenes (particularly the final faceoff between Optimus and Megatron), and the excellent rock soundtrack make it extraordinarily fun.  One thing’s for sure, it’s a more definitive Transformers movie than the unholy, childhood-raping mass of hog poop that Michael Bay tried to pass off as such.


1. Aliens
D: James Cameron
**********
Pretty much all those heroines in all those bad sci-fi action movies nowadays are trying to be Ripley from this movie.






No comments:

Post a Comment