You don’t have to strain much to remember ’80s teen movies. So many of these classic flicks still weave their ways regularly into today’s pop culture. From directors likeJohn HughesandRob Reinerfeaturing stars likeMichael J. FoxandTom Cruise, ’80s high school movies captured the rebellion, angst, and romance of the era. It’s no wonder so many of these ’80s teen movies stand the test of time. Here are the best of the best ’80s teen movies. How many have you seen?
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Fame(1980)
Set at the prestigious New York High School of Performing Arts,Famechronicles the hopes and dreams of a group of students across all four years of high school as they struggle with auditions on their way to becoming actors, dancers, and/or singers.
Theater geeks, or anyone to ever appear in a school play, can relate to the highs and lows our teenage cast suffers as the competition gets harder the closer they get to graduation.Alan Parkerdirects, giving the film an unflinching (if, at times, overstated) portrayal of young performers and the toll chasing their ambitions have on themselves and the relationships most important to them.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High(1982)
Sean Penn’s Spicoli became both an iconic character and the poster child for high school slackerdom in this hit high school-set comedy from writer Cameron Crowe and directorAmy Heckerling(Clueless). As funny as the movie is, it also features some heavy moments that may surprise the first-time viewer.
Fast Timesaddresses everything from getting stoned to abortion, and Crowe’s script chronicles the messiness of it all with dialogue and characterizations so realistic, you’d think you either went to school with these people or feel as if you are back roaming the halls of your alma mater. The movie’s cast is stacked, by the way, with future Hollywood stars likeJennifer Jason Leighand Oscar-winnersForrest WhitakerandNicolas Cage.
The Last American Virgin(1982)
With a 75 percent “Fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes,The Last American Virginis one of the best ‘80s teen sex comedies to come about post-Porky’sbox office success. The premise has a veryAmerican Pievibe to it, as three high school pals – all with different and likable personalities – set out to lose their virginity as soon as possible.
Their desperation leads to a series of comical follies and complications, especially when one of the kids, Gary (Lawrence Monoson), falls for a transfer student who ends up lusting after Gary’s pal, Rick (Steve Antin). LikeFast Timesbefore it,Last American Virginalso deals with the sensitive subject of abortion and teen pregnancy in a way that gives the comedy a surprising (and welcome) amount of weight and heart.
Risky Business(1983)
Look, who among us hasn’t thought about pursuing business as a high school teenager? We just likely didn’t pull off what teen Joel did: Run a bordello out of his parents’ house. The “only-in-a-movie” plot of this ‘80s hit takes a significant suspension of disbelief to buy into on first blush, butRisky Businessquickly wins you over.
The movie hasTom Cruiseto thank for his star-making turn as Joel, the golden boy high school senior who falls for a prostitute (Rebecca De Mornay) and becomes, um, her and her friends’ pimp. The iconic “pantless slide” Cruise performs toBob Segeris just one of those Hollywood scenes branded forever upon pop-culture.
All the Right Moves(1983)
1983 was the year that put a young Tom Cruise on the track for super stardom. While many an ‘80s kid’s first major exposures to the Cruise was by way ofTop Gun, the blockbuster that solidified him as a Hollywood leading man, the actor first sparked our attention in films likeRisky BusinessandAll the Right Moves– the latter being one of Cruise’s more underrated early efforts. Cruise plays Stefan, his high school football team’s most popular and valued player.
LikeFriday Night Lights’ Smash or Jason Street, Stefan fiercely believes that the only way out of his dying small town lies mostly in his gridiron skills. His exit strategy blows up in his face when he blows up at his coach, resulting in Stefan being kicked off the team and falling off the radar of college recruiters. Cruise’s raw acting talent on display here hints to the superstar thespian he would become, as he invests every moment of Stefan’s struggle to get back all the chances he thinks he has lost with a scary-level of believability.
WarGames(1983)
This is not your traditional high school movie unless you grew up hacking government computers on your way to saving the world from “global thermonuclear war.”Matthew Broderick’s charming and super-intelligent teen teams up with friendAlly Sheedyafter unknowingly lighting the fuse on the end of the world while looking for a new computer game to play. (Kids…*shakes head).
WarGamesspends more time outside the classroom than in it, and watching the movie now, the very-dated computer graphics and fashion will elicit groans, but the tension and emotionally-charged stakes still hold up. Especially that final showdown with the supercomputer.
The Outsiders(1983)
Yup, we also totally forgotFrances Ford Coppoladirected this popular adaptation ofS.E. Hinton’s book, which was a major fixture on many a student’s reading list. Pony Boy’s story, and that of his fellow Greasers versus rival gang The Socials is as compelling now as it was more than 35 years ago. The then-fresh faces of the movie’s ensemble further reinforce Coppola’s knack for casting is second-to-none.
The movie doesn’t pull any punches or double down on some of its more violent bits, and it doesn’t after. Coppola invests each scene of his adaptation with the exact amount of whatever it needs. When Ponyboy and Johnny’s fight leads to the unfortunate death of a Social, our hearts sink and break as Ponyboy struggles to deal with, as a teen, the consequences of a very adult – and tragic – act.
Sixteen Candles(1984)
John Hughes’ first of many high school-set movies on this list is one of our favorites. This ‘80s teen comedy, written and directed by Hughes, helped define the decade and turned the genre into a cottage industry for Hollywood. Hughes’ muse,Molly Ringwald, stars as Samantha, a 15-year-old full of angst and confusion about to celebrate her sweet sixteen.
Feeling like set dressing in her family life, thanks to her sister’s pending nuptials stealing her birthday spotlight, Samantha struggles with that while getting caught up in pursuit of the older and more popular senior, Jake (Michael Schoeffling).Anthony Michael Hallalso costars in a scene-stealing role, in a movie that makes you both long for your high school days and be glad they are far behind.
A Nightmare on Elm Street(1984)
While not a traditional high school movie, this classic fromWes Cravendepicts the horror of those four years in school in a different (and more bloody) way. You know the story: Teenager Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) struggles to defeat Freddy Krueger in her dreams after he’s attacked and killed her friends in their sleep.
The film’s brilliant conceit – a slasher movie villain stalking his victims in their nightmares – spawned a franchise that is still terrifying us. And the dynamic between Nancy and her high school pals is an engaging and realistic one, making audiences all the more invested when the teens find themselves on the business end of Freddy’s finger knives.
The Breakfast Club(1985)
The Breakfast Clubis as funny as it is poignant, hence why it earns its place among the decade’s best films. A brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal find themselves stuck in the most life-changing Saturday detention ever in this John Hughes classic that is a staple of the genre.
These students shouldn’t be friends, or in the same room, and despite their differences – rather, because of them – they forge a bond in the library. It’s there that they are finally free of the social pressures both outside the walls and in the halls that prevent them from even thinking about making a connection.
