Al's Top Rated Films: 1985

Outstanding sci-fi comedy adventure from Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and the beginning to my favorite trilogy of all time. The story is set in the small California town of Hill Valley in 1985, and follows an aspiring rock musician and high-school senior named Marty McFly who would rather spend time with his girlfriend Jennifer or his quirky scientist friend Doc Brown than take his high-school career seriously. After meeting Doc in the middle of the night to see the new invention he's been working on, he presents a time-traveling DeLorean car that operates on plutonium that he stole from Libyan terrorists. When those same terrorists track him down that night, Doc is shot, and Marty is accidentally transported to the year 1955, where no plutonium exists to get him back home. Marty ends up locating the 1955 Doc Brown to help find an alternate way to fuel the time machine, but the real problem comes into play when he meets the 1955 versions of his mom and dad, and changes the way they historically met, which may completely disrupting the space time continuum and cause an imbalance in the universe. Everything about the film is fantastic. Not too much sci-fi, excellent cinematography, clever dialogue, and great comedy. Just a perfectly balanced film overall. The cast is phenomenal. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd are a perfect duo, and both deliver their all-time greatest lead performances. Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson also deliver the finest starring roles of their careers. Claudia Wells, James Tolkan, Marc McClure, Wendie Jo Sperber, George DiCenzo, Frances Lee McCain, J.J. Cohen, Casey Siemaszko, Billy Zane, Harry Waters Jr., Donald Fullilove, Norman Alden, and others also had nice performances on top of a stacked supporting cast.

Superb coming-of-age comedy drama from John Hughes that follows five high-school students who arrive at school after being sentenced to Saturday detention for misbehavior. Andrew Clark is the jock of the group, and is there for beating up and humiliating a weaker kid in gym class. Brian Johnson is the nerd of the group, who had a flare gun go off in his locker for a troublesome reason. John Bender is the trouble-making criminal of the group, who makes appearances in Saturday detention quite often. Claire Standish plays the popular and spoiled princess who skipped class to go out with friends. Allison Reynolds is the reclusive outcast of the group, who had nothing better to do other than show up for Saturday attention. They're all monitored by the angered and ruthless school principal Richard Vernon, who has a personal vendetta against John. As the day progresses, they discover eye-opening details about each other and themselves as they empathize with each others lives and situations. John Hughes has made some superb coming-of-age films, but this is definitely my #1 favorite. I'm not sure you could make a movie like this today with so much of dialogue being vulgar and sexist, but it makes the movie that much more powerful, realistic, and intense. All the performers are deliver top-notch roles: Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, and Paul Gleason all delivered fantastic lead performances. John Kapelos also had a very nice supporting role as the janitor, Carl.

Outstanding Soviet anti-war drama from Elem Klimov set in Nazi German occupied Belarus during World War II, 1943. The story follows a 14-year-old Belarussian boy named Flyora who dreams of defending his homeland from the Germans. While his mother forbids him to leave home, he's accepted into a fighting camp, and immediately feels out of place when he isn't shown respect, pushed to the side, and is forced to trade his nice new boots for an older vet's worn out pair. When the men leave him at the camp to fight in battle, he and a girl at the camp around his age named Glasha become a support system for each other as terrifying bombs and battles start breaking out all around them. Horrific war and death are soon in store for Flyora's short heartbreaking life. This might be the most gruesome and devastating war film I've ever seen. The German Nazis that were portrayed in the film were easily some of the most ruthlessly evil Nazis I've ever seen on film. The production design, cinematography, dialogue, and camera work was superb. The scenes were so realistic, it was literally terrifying. Aleksey Kravchenko gave the lead performance of a lifetime as Flyora. Olga Mironova (Glasha) also had an extremely powerful role for being her only acting credit on IMDB. Liubomiras Laucevicius, Vladas Bagdonas, Jüri Lumiste, Viktors Lorencs, Evgeniy Tilicheev, and others also had excellent supporting roles.

Fantastic family adventure from Walter Murch. The original Wizard of Oz (1939) is clearly the best in the franchise, but I've always enjoyed this movie a bit more for its thrilling horror appeal, and also because it's not a musical. The story is set in 1899 rural Kansas, and follows Dorothy being admitted to a mental hospital to electronically remove her past troubling memories of Oz, which has given her a severe case of insomnia. After arriving in the hospital, she learns they want to perform dangerous and experimental electroshock treatment to remove her memories. Thanks to a power outage, she escapes from the hospital with help from a mysterious ghostly girl, and is magically swept away to the land of Oz once again. But when she gets there, Oz looks like a wasteland, and she soon learns that the evil woman named Mombi and the Nome King have destroyed the otherworldly land. Dorothy teams up an army robot named Tik-Tok, Jack Pumpkinhead, and Gump, and they travel to the Nome King's palace to reverse their actions, and restore her friends Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, and Tin Man to their normal selves, along with the rest of Oz. This was Fairuza Balk's first movie, and she delivered a fantastic lead performance as Dorothy. Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, Sean Barrett, Denise Bryer, Brian Henson, Lyle Conway, Justin Case, Emma Ridley, Sophie Ward, Fiona Victory, Pons Maar, and others also had great supporting roles.

Severely Underrated fantasy-driven family comedy that follows a young teenager named Jack Simmons who lives with his working class single mother and is obsessed with motocross and dirt bikes. One day his mom gives him their last $50 to buy the groceries while she goes out for a job interview. Jack takes the money and heads out to the local motocross track, where he ends up trading his BMX bike and the $50 for a beat-up dirt bike. While his mom is very upset, he soon discovers the dirt bike possesses a mind of its own, along with magical powers that include flying. When he and his friends learn that a greedy bank executive named Mr. Hodgkins plans to build his new bank branch on the location of a local hotdog shop and hangout their baseball coach and friend Mike owns, they do everything they can to save the shop; and the dirt bike proves to be a handy tool in the process. This is one of my most watched films growing up since I was so big into BMX bikes and extreme sports. Surprisingly, I still really love this film today, and am quite happy they released it on a remastered blu-ray. Peter Billingsley arguably delivers his best lead performance of his young career (A Christmas Story is also one of my favorites). Stuart Pankin (Mr. Hodgkins) also had an excellent starring role. Patrick Collins, Anne Bloom, Patrick Collins, Sage Parker, Chad Sheets, Gavin Allen, Danny Breen, Weasel Forshaw, John William Galt, and others also had great supporting roles.

Another excellent sequel to the epic Rocky saga completely written and directed by Sylvester Stallone. The story follows Rocky Balboa as a happily retired family man who enjoys his wealthy and lavish lifestyle. One day, a monstrous steroid-pumping Russian heavyweight boxer named Ivan Drago is on television with his wife and promoters challenging American promoters to setup an exhibition match with Rocky, insisting that Drago's the most advanced and strongest boxer in the world. When Apollo catches wind of the news, he isn't happy about it, and challenges Drago to a high profile exhibition match. The match ends in tragedy for Apollo, which finds Rocky setting his sights on Drago for revenge, as they train and prepare for huge match on Christmas Day in Soviet Union. This may be the most entertaining a Rocky has ever been. It's a lot of montages, but the action is superb, and the final fight with Drago is completely epic in every way. It also includes one of the best rock music soundtracks of all time. Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren both deliver iconic lead performances. Carl Weathers, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Tony Burton, Brigitte Nielsen, Michael Pataki, James Brown, and others also had great supporting roles.

Excellent western from Clint Eastwood that really feels like a throwback to Sergio Leone's "Dollars" trilogy with his obscure and deadly character. The story is set in the California countryside in the 1870s, and follows a mysterious preacher (who simply responds to the name "Preacher") that rides into a small gold-mining camp and makes a stand against a rich and powerful mining tycoon named Coy LaHood (and his son Josh), who threatens to steal the land of small-time gold-mining locals. Excellent story all around. Definitely one of my favorite lead performances from Clint Eastwood, and arguably the best western he's directed. Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Chris Penn, Richard Dysart, and Sydney Penny also had excellent starring roles. Richard Kiel, Doug McGrath, John Russell, Charles Hallahan, S.A. Griffin, Jack Radosta, Robert Winley, Billy Drago, and others also had great supporting roles.

Magical comedy adventure from Tim Burton that follows the wacky life of an innocent and fun-loving young man named Pee Wee Herman. He loves nothing more than his uniquely awesome customized gadget-filled bicycle. When he goes out shopping for gag gifts one day, his bike is stolen, and he has severe meltdown. After savagely investigating some locals he suspects, he desperately seeks the help of a fortune teller who tells him his bicycle is in the basement of the historic Alamo in Texas. So he sets out on an extraordinary adventure to recover his stolen bicycle while meeting several colorful characters and getting into plenty of trouble along the way. Great story, great cinematography, clever writing, and lots of action still makes this movie a blast to watch. Paul Reubens delivered a fantastically unique lead performance. Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger, Judd Omen, Monte Landis, Damon Martin, Daryl Keith Roach, Professor Toru Tanaka, Ed Herlihy, Alice Nunn, Jon Harris, Jan Hooks, James Brolin, and Morgan Fairchild also had great supporting roles.

Fantastic under-the-radar 80s family sci-fi drama/adventure from Simon Wincer. The story follows a government-created android boy with technologically advanced artificial intelligence who was created under a project named D.A.R.Y.L. (Data Analyzing Robot Youth Lifeform). On the surface, he is a normal 10-year-old boy and logically answers to the named "Daryl", and is helped to escape from the government that wants to control his life. After being discovered in the mountains, he's quickly adopted by a loving suburban family who are amazed by his intelligence and instinctive talents. He builds a great life with the family and his friend Turtle as he learns about real family life. However, trouble comes into play when the government finally learns of his whereabouts, which puts his life in great risk. Unique and underrated story that has aged well. I still enjoy this film today. Barret Oliver delivers and excellent lead performance. Michael McKean, Mary Beth Hurt, Josef Sommer, and Danny Corkill also had great starring roles. Colleen Camp, Steve Ryan, Amy Linker, Kathryn Walker, and others also had great supporting roles.

Great comedy adventure for the whole family from Richard Donner and Steven Spielberg. The story is set in the "Goon Docks" neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon, and follows a young group of rejects and outsiders that call themselves "The Goonies". Brothers Mikey and Brand are the main characters, and finds their house about to be foreclosed on, which will shake up their entire world. After finding a mysterious treasure map along with other historical relics in their attic, it leads them all on a deadly adventure to find legendary pirate One-eyed Willy's long-lost treasure. However, a dangerous trio of criminals named the Fratelli's are hot on their tracks after learning about the treasure. Always a fun 80s flick. Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton, and Ke Huy Quan also had great lead performances. John Matuszak, Robert Davi, Joe Pantoliano, and Anne Ramsey also had great starring roles. Steve Antin, Mary Ellen Trainor, Lupe Ontiveros, and others also had nice supporting roles.

Underrated adventure/drama set during the Great Depression in the 1930s, and follows a 12-year-old girl named Natty Gann after her father leaves her with a guardian in Chicago while he travels to Washington State to find work in the timber industry. Natty ends up running away and embarking on a 2,000 mile trek to reunite with her father. Along the way, she saves a wolfdog from a dog fighting ring, who becomes a great protector along her treacherous journey. Excellent story and a great film for animal lovers. It was one I was excited to revisit when I got Disney+, and I felt it held up very nicely over the years. Meredith Salenger delivered an excellent lead performance. John Cusack, and Ray Wise also deliver great starring roles. John Finnegan, Barry Miller, Scatman Crothers, Verna Bloom, Lainie Kazan, and others also had great supporting roles.

Excellent drama/thriller from Peter Weir set in an Amish community outside Lancaster, Pennsylvania April 1984, and follows an 8-year-old Amish boy named Samuel who's the sole witness to a murder in a Philadelphia train station. Police detective John Book takes the case, and is finally able to make a positive ID on the killer, who is an undercover cop. The chief of police Paul Schaeffer is also in on it, which leaves him no option but to hide in Amish country with the boy, his mother Rachel, and the rest of the Amish community until the case is solved. Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, and Lukas Haas all had excellent lead performances. Jan Rubes, Alexander Godunov, Josef Sommer, Danny Glover, Brent Jennings, Viggo Mortensen, and others had great supporting roles.

Excellent historical biopic from Sydney Pollack on the life of Karen Blixen—a wealthy unmarried Danish wealthy plantation owner who moves to Africa in 1913 to marry a man named Bror Blixen, which is mainly setup to be a business relationship. He leaves her to run the coffee farm they started by herself as he pursues his own selfish endeavors. Meanwhile, she has a complicated a passionate love affair with big-game hunter and nomad named Denys who doesn't adhere to normal ways of life; which leaves her contemplating her future and important life decisions. Meryl Streep and Robert Redford both delivered excellent lead performances. Klaus Maria Brandauer, Michael Kitchen, Malick Bowens, Joseph Thiaka, Suzanna Hamilton, Iman, and many others had excellent supporting roles.

Underrated comedy drama that follows a super cool 1960s high-school senior named Bobby Fontana who's killed in a car accident after challenging a classmate named Joe to a "gut race" for making a pass at his girlfriend, Emily. In the afterlife, he ends up getting stuck in "Midtown", and must watch over a troubled 80s high-school senior named Lenny Barnes, help him break out of his shell, and save his life from disaster. If he succeeds, he will earn his ticket to "Uptown". But there's a mysterious connection between Bobby and Lenny that may derail his plans. Such a great forgotten 80s gem with a great story, great cast, and an excellent soundtrack. Lewis Smith and Jason Gedrick both deliver excellent lead performances. Jane Kaczmarek, Richard Mulligan, and Nancy Valen also had great starring roles. Mark Metcalf, Anne Sawyer, Beau Dremann, Stephen Gregory, and others also had great supporting roles.

Great sequel to the comedy adventure classic National Lampoon's Vacation (1983). This time the direction comes from Amy Heckerling with another solid screenplay from John Hughes. The story follows the Griswold family as they embark on a fun and relaxing all-expenses-paid trip to Europe after winning the grand prize on the "Pig In a Poke" TV show. With a tight list of activities planned for the trip, cultural differences and many hilarious mishaps present themselves along the way. While this isn't the strongest film in the Vacation franchise, it is definitely solid and has plenty of laughs throughout. Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Dana Hill, and Jason Lively all deliver great lead performances. Eric Idle, William Zabka, Mel Smith, Elizabeth Arlen, John Astin, Jeannette Charles, Victor Lanoux, Moon Unit Zappa, and others also had very nice supporting roles.

Great 80s hip-hop inspired comedy drama from Michael Schultz that's based on the early days of the highly influential hip-hop and R&B label, Def Jam Recordings. The story follows manager Russell Walker as he's signing all the early rap artists like Run-D.M.C., Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, and Kurtis Blow, with Rick Rubin handling the production. Being in the early stages of business, trouble comes into play when Russell doesn't have money to press the records, and instead borrows the money from a local street hustler. Sheila E., LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, New Edition, The Fat Boys, Chaka Khan, Debbie Harry, The Gap Band, and Full Force also make appearances. Great material for old-school hip-hop fans. Blair Underwood, Russell Simmons, Lisa Gay Hamilton, and Richard Gant all had great performances along with the aforementioned musical acts/artists.

Very nice action-packed revenge thriller from Mark L. Lester that follows a retired Special Forces colonel named John Matrix who lives with his daughter Jenny in a secluded mountain home in upstate California, when she is kidnapped by a group of former enemies and assailants. After setting out to take his vengeance on these enemies, certain plot twists and corruption is revealed. Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered an excellent lead performance. Alyssa Milano also had a great starring role. Rae Dawn Chong, Dan Hedaya, Vernon Wells, James Olson, David Patrick Kelly, Bill Duke, Drew Snyder, Gary Carlos Cervantes, Michael DeLano, Bob Minor, Chelsea Field, Walter Scott, and others also had great supporting roles.

Very nice sequel to Ted Kotcheff's classic First Blood (1982). This time the direction is handled by George P. Cosmatos, with the story taking place a few years after the bloody events of the first film, and finds Rambo serving hard time in a federal prison. His friend and former commanding officer Colonel Sam Trautman is able to get him out of jail, but only if he participates in a top-secret operation to rescue American POW's that are still being held in deadly jungles of Vietnam. He reluctantly agrees, and later finds the same American government he fought for has now betrayed him, which puts his life in serious risk. While this film isn't as good as the first, it is still solid addition to the Rambo franchise. Sylvester Stallone delivered a great lead performance. Richard Crenna, Charles Napier, Steven Berkoff, Julia Nickson, Martin Kove, George Cheung, and others also have very nice supporting roles.

Great coming-of-age sports comedy from Rod Daniel that follows a typical 17-year-old high-school student and basketball player named Scott Howard who starts to go through some mysterious physical "changes" and learns that he has a hereditary condition that makes him transform into a werewolf when he gets angry or excited. The change makes him the most popular student in school amongst his friends, basketball team, and with the ladies. After some time passes and he loses control during a violent altercation, his friends start to resent his gift, which also finds Scott reexamining his own life and if he wants to continue being "the wolf". Michael J. Fox was perfect for the role and delivered an excellent lead performance. James Hampton, Susan Ursitti, Jerry Levine, Lorie Griffin, Jay Tarses, Mark Holton, Matt Adler, James MacKrell, Mark Arnold, Scott Paulin, and others also had very nice supporting roles.

Very funny crime comedy/mystery from Michael Ritchie that follows a Los Angeles newspaper reporter named Irwin M. "Fletch" Fletcher that's offered $50,000 to kill a millionaire who's terminally ill with cancer, so that his wife can collect the insurance money. However, Fletch doesn't take the offer at face value, and decides to poke around the case to see if something suspicious is going on with the family. This is one of Chevy Chase's most popular lead performances. He was very good, but it's not one of my personal favorites. Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Richard Libertini, Tim Matheson, Geena Davis, M. Emmet Walsh, Joe Don Baker, George Wendt, Larry Flash Jenkins, and others also had very nice supporting roles.

Very nice sci-fi comedy from John Hughes that follows two high-school social rejects named Gary Wallace and Wyatt Donnelly, who "create" the perfect woman using their computer programming skills. A stunning woman named Lisa is the result of their experiment. And her goal is to escalate their popularity and self-confidence through many hilarious situations. Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, and Kelly LeBrock all delivered great lead performances. Bill Paxton, Suzanne Snyder, Judie Aronson, Robert Downey Jr., Robert Rusler, Vernon Wells, Britt Leach, and others had very nice supporting roles.

Very nice family comedy/adventure that follows a young boy named Ben Crandall who's obsessed with sci-fi films from the 1950s, and sees visions of mysterious blueprints in his dreams. After sketching his vision and showing it to his scientific friend Wolfgang Müller, who translates them with a computer program. With the help of their new buddy Darren Woods, they make their realizations of building a spaceship come true, as they embark on a journey to another galaxy. Very nice story. I really enjoyed this film up until the alien parts set in, but I'm sure younger kids may like the whole film. Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, and Jason Presson all deliver excellent early lead performances. Amanda Peterson, Bobby Fite, James Cromwell, and others also had very nice supporting roles.

Nice sequel to the original and best Police Academy film. After earning their badges and becoming police officers in the wildly successful first film, this team of misfits coordinates an undercover mission to take down a local gang and crime boss. Not as good as its predecessor, but it's a fun and solid film. Each character has their own unique and quirky traits that keeps them entertaining. Steve Guttenberg, Bubba Smith, David Graf, Bobcat Goldthwait, Michael Winslow, Bruce Mahler, Marion Ramsey, Colleen Camp, Howard Hesseman, Art Metrano, George Gaynes, Peter Van Norden, Tim Kazurinsky, Ed Herlihy, and many others have nice performances.

Second-rate sequel to the original 1984 classic from Wes Craven. This time the direction is handled by Jack Sholder, and the story follows a teenage boy named Jesse Walsh who moves into the haunted 1428 Elm Street house that Nancy was terrorized in from the first film. It's now 5 years later, and Freddy Kruger begins to brainwash him as he feeds off of his fear. I was really looking forward to this film after the excellence of the first movie, but it really fell flat for a follow-up. Not a bad slasher flick though. Mark Patton, Kim Myers and Robert Englund all delivered very nice lead performances. Robert Rusler, Clu Gulager, Hope Lange, Marshall Bell, and others also had fine supporting roles.