I don’t know if it’s because the end of the year is nearing, or maybe because of the terrific anime Erased I recently watched, but I have been thinking a lot of the past lately. Sometimes going back as far as my childhood. Don’t worry, I am not going to turn this into some kind of weird post, with mushy and heartbreaking tales of sadness. What I do want to talk about is one of my favorite subjects: movies! Even as a child I already liked them, and it probably won’t be much of a surprise that most of the movies I liked back then, had some kind of fantasy element in them. So I thought I would share a few of these movies with you as kind of a trip down memorylane. All of these are from the roaring 80’s, a time in which so many great films were made. So let’s head back down to those days, and see if you remember some of them.(Note: there might be a few very minor spoilers ahead, so you have been warned!).
E.T. (1982)
What can I say about this one? A classic, in every sense of the word. A young boy called Elliot becomes friends with an alien from outer space. It is not long before government forces are on the hunt for the creature, and Elliot and his friends try to protect him, risking their very lives. This movie is in my opinion one of the greatest films ever made, and even though it is now more than 30 years old, it still hasn’t lost it’s power in any way. A touching film, and the only movie I watched in the cinema as a child, that left me in tears afterwards (don’t laugh).
The Karate Kid part 1 and 2 (1984,1986)
Wax on, Wax off. It is a quote I still use sometimes at work, when things are stressful. Another great feel good movie in which the young boy Daniel, who is bullied at school, gets help from an old Martial Arts teacher. Eventually he learns the ways of Karate and takes revenge. The second part, which moves the action to Japan, I liked even more. It was pretty much my first introduction to this wonderful country and some of the customs and traditions from there. Both these movies are an absolute blast, and if you have a bit of a somber mood, I pretty much guarantee it will turn bright again after seeing these.
Labyrinth (1986)
Starring a very young Jennifer Connelly, and the late David Bowie, this movie is a fantastic adventure for all ages. It tells the tale of the young Sarah who has to babysit her baby brother Toby, a job she doesn’t really like, to say the least. The fantasy book Labyrinth is her life, and one day she calls upon the Goblin King from that book, to take Toby away. Pretty much to her surprise it happens for real, and she has to travel to a magic Labyrinth to get her brother back. With a wonderful cast of creatures from the Jim Henson studios, there is so much to enjoy in this film. It features great music from Bowie, very impressive special effects, and is also one of those excellent feel good movies. Now 30 years old, it has withstood the test of time very well, and is still every bit as fun to watch, as when this movie was first released.
Transformers: the movie (1986)
Ahh, Transformers. That was the toy from my childhood, and ofcourse the best cartoon ever made (well at least to my 10 year old mind). Featuring robots that could transform into cars, planes, weapons etc. (Hence the name duh), it was one if the hottest things from the 80’s. The heroic Autobots fought against the evil Decepticons to protect the Earth and it’s inhabitants. This movie turned things pretty dark however as my childhood hero, the leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime, was killed off. I was absolutely stunned at the time, and remember staring at the screen in total shock and disbelief when that happened. Ofcourse now we have Michael Bay’s version of this classic animation series. Even though I quite enjoy those big budget blockbuster movies, the original is still the best and will never be surpassed. Roll out!
The Neverending Story (1984)
With a themesong that was stuck in your mind for the rest of the day when you heard it, the Neverending Story is also a wonderful fantasy movie for all ages. The young boy Bastian, who has a lot of trouble at school and home, one day comes across a mysterious book. The title of the book: the Neverending Story. When Bastian begins reading the book, he is transported to a magical land, which is about to be consumed by a great evil. It is up to the young boy to save the land from impending doom, and in the end he ends up saving himself as well. Featuring a whole bunch of fantastical creatures, a great story and some fantastic music, it really is highly recommended to everyone who likes fantasy. Simply put, movies like this are just not made anymore these days.
The Goonies (1985)
The last, but certainly not the least, movie of this post is the Goonies. A group of youngsters are about to lose their home. When cleaning up they come across a treasure map, which supposedly leads to the long lost riches of a pirate captain. Travelling down a tunnelsystem full of traps, and pursued by a bunch of criminals, the Goonies risk everything to find the treasure. This is, if I were to make a comparison, pretty much Indiana Jones for kids. But it is hard not to like this movie, even when your older, as it features a lot of great humor, great setpieces and is an absolute joy to watch.
Final thoughts
Well, and that just about brings me to the end of this post. At times it is just nice to look back on things and revisit some of the movies that made an impact on you. Even though I was still very young at the time that these movies were made, they had a lasting impression on my mind. Strange really, as all of them are 30 years old, or even older. Memory can be a weird thing at times. However, even though old, all of these movies are still highly enjoyable to watch, and if you have never seen them before, it is worth it to track them down.
So how about you? Do you have any favorite movies that you remember from your childhood? Are maybe a few of the movies above on your list? Let me know in the comments section below.
As always, thank you for reading, and see you at the next post!
I love karate kid and Labyrinth. R.I.P. David Bowie
LikeLiked by 1 person
Karate Kid is indeed fantastic. I even liked the remake, but the original one will always be the best. Yes, I am still sad about David Bowies passing, he was such a great artist.
LikeLike
Nice. As a child I was lucky enough to see The Jungle Book, Grease and Star Wars at the cinema. Happy days!
LikeLike
Than you were definitely lucky indeed. The first Star Wars came out when I was but a baby, so I missed them all. Luckily with the rereleases I have seen them all in the cinema now, but that is a bit different. Both Grease and Jungle Book are great movies too 😀
LikeLike
Neverending Story!! Definitely one of my favorites. But I enjoyed the early 90’s Disney films – all princess films. Ferngully and The Pagemaster were also great. Then there was Space Jam! 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
Neverending Story is fantastic…well at least the first part. Then came sequels and some kind of awful tv series…and erm well best not to talk about those 😂 Disney has ofcourse released some great movies over the years. And they still do !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, I remember The Pagemaster. The Looney Tunes movie I loved was the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner compilation movie, I could pretty much quote the whole thing. Robin Hood and Sleeping Beauty were the Disneys I watched the hell out of. I loved Anastasia and Don Bluth’s Thumbelina, certain songs from that will get me blinking away the tears without fail. Then there was The Last Unicorn, Prince of Egypt, The Swan Princess… God, it’s all coming back to me now. I had a very healthy diet of beautiful animation as a little’un.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh man! Anastasia!!! I hear they’re making a musical! I’m excited for that! And I agree same here beautiful animated movies when i grew up.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Holy crap, I had no idea there was going to be a musical! *Googles frantically* Thanks for the heads up on that 👍
LikeLiked by 2 people
LOL no problem!! 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Haha, that is pretty much what happened to me as well, when I was writing the post. A lot of great movies and memories came back for it 😀 Those are some great Disney movies that you are mentioning by the way, have not seen them all, but (almost) every Disney animated movie is great. Well at least the classics are anyway. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did see almost all films you had mentioned except Labyrinth and Neverending story. Seeing the post and the comments I think I will add them to my watch list. And again I loved E.T. and Karate Kid <3.
I never realised that E.T. was from the 80's, watched it around 2006 in the television @.@
LikeLiked by 1 person
When I was making the post I myself was amazed at times how long ago some of those movies were made. I guess time really does go fast 😀 Both Labyrinth and Neverending Story are amazing fantasy films. I’m pretty sure that you will like them, if you like both ET and the Karate Kid (which ofcourse are both amazing as well)! Thanks for your comment 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lots of nostalgia in this post! I love the first two Neverending Story movies as well as Labyrinth. Also really enjoyed the Karate Kid movies. I love a lot of movies from the 80’s and 90’s.
I was about to ask if you saw the new Stranger Things series, but then I saw you had a review for it. It really delivered that 80’s feel both in atmosphere and storytelling. Looking forward to season 2 of it!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Stranger Things is for me the best tv series I have seen all year. I really felt that I was back in the 80’s when watching that. It was done so well, the characters, the story, the great effects and music…I can go on and on about this series (but don’t worry I won’t 😂😂) Yes Labyrinth is great…it has it’s 30th anniversary this year, and I am getting a boardgame pretty soon based on it. It looks amazing, I might do a review somewhere in the future for it, if the game is good that is 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
I understand the love for it. It’s one of the few American series I have truly enjoyed as of late. Ooh, a Labyrinth boardgame sounds like fun 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope it will be, I hope to get it somewhere next week , and maybe do a review for it later on 😀
LikeLike
All my favorites!!! Besides that Transformers one lol, but I haven’t seen that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
When writing the post I pretty much had an urge to watch all of those movies again. Really liked them all. Labyrinth I’m going to revisit very soon, as I have a boardgame incoming based on the movie 😀
LikeLike
Ohhhh??? I need that board game lol!
LikeLike
Unfortunately, I haven’t watched any film from your list. But since it’s nearly Christmas, I think the first film that comes to my mind is Home Alone. I can’t believe time flies so fast! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah…but that is a great classic as well, and always fun to watch during Christmas ! Yes, the time flies by (almost) too fast 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, brings back so many memories. I haven’t seen Labyrinth (1986), or The Karate Kid part 1 and 2 (1984,1986) yet, but loved the rest (especially The Goonies- watched it tons of times). Home Alone, a lot of different Disney movies, Homeward Bound, Matilda, Space Jam, My Girl, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Mrs Doubtfire, etc. loved them all…as you can tell I can go on forever and have always really been into movies lol.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I could talk for a week about movies, and probably still would not be able to stop (except maybe forgetting and drinking lol). You are naming a few very good movies by the way. Those also bring back memories. Both Labyrinth and the two original Karate Kid movies are sooo good. They are all incredible feel good movies and you will have a smile on your face pretty much throughout the whole film 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s the same with me and books, anime, and manga lol. I used to be a huge movie buff, but slowed down these past few years. You’re movie review posts always make me miss it. Thanks 😁. I’ve heard a lot about Karate Kid the original but not much about labyrinth. I’ll check them both out near the end of the month/early next year and get back to you on them 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Labyrinth and Karate Kid part 1 are both on Netflix (well, they are for me at least, don’t know sometimes with all the weird region and licensing that is sometimes going on 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
😢 Sadly I’ve got Netflix in Canada so I don’t get either movie here (It’s started to change but we still miss out on a ton). I’ll check for them on a couple other streaming sites I’ve subscribed to. Also missed my chance to see Hacksaw this weekend but I’ll try to catch it in theaters next time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Some things are luckily worth the wait 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
The karate Kid and Goonies are also memorable movies for me as a late 80’s child. It was a time when movies came up with alot of unique styles, some of my favourite are Ghostbusters, Gremlins, The Thing, The Lost Boys but i also grew up watching some Disney movies and The Land Before Time. How I miss the 80’s. Lovely to read your post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you and welcome to the blog 😊 I love the 80’s as well. It will always be my favorite era if I look back on it. So many cool things to like…seriously cool 😀
LikeLike
Lovely list! I don’t remember much of these movies… I have to rewatch them ASAP!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, yeah that is what I plan on doing as well. Actually I have already started with watching the Neverending Story again…amazing how fun that movie still is 😊
LikeLike