Top 10 Cult Classic Mid-80s Fantasy Adventure Flicks
As any nostalgic 25 – 30 year old will tell you the mid-80s were a truly magical cinematic time for any kid to grow up in. In the wake of George Lucas’ original Star Wars trilogy, we were bombarded with a cluster of imaginative, mystical live-action fantasy adventure films, which eagerly promoted a genuine sense of mischievous fun and adventure.
Tales of typically normal excitable youngsters going on epic adventures that lifted the heart stirred the soul and haunted our dreams. But it was the palpable sense of adventure that really convinced, giving us youngsters an achievable sense of daydream adventure – long before the internet or Xbox-claimed adolescent imagination.
Why the mid-80s? Give us another span of time where there was an equally audacious flux of films that dared to lift the lid on Pandora’s Box to capture our imagination and fiendishly tape into our most primal kiddie fears? So forget the CGI-bloated likes of Harry Potter, Golden Compass and the new Narnia adventures and let us divulge to you hecklerspray’s definitive Top 10 Cult Classic Fantasy Adventure Flicks from the Mid-80s…
1. The Goonies (1985)
How could you possibly compile an ultimate mid 80s film tribute list without including this cult classic from Superman helmer Richard Donner? It’s the tale of a group of young suburbanites going on a (frankly ludicrous) adventure to thwart the council from demolishing their family homes by seeking hidden pirate treasure in booby-trapped underground lairs. But what makes it more believable is its incredibly gifted and likable young cast. Move over Harry Potter, these kids have charisma! With the likes of Mikey, Chunk, Mouth and Data on your team you won’t need magical powers to accomplish a distinguishing characteristic. And yes that’s No Country For Old Men’s Josh Brolin playing Mikey’s teenage brother! And who could forget The Fratellis? The archetypal kiddie movie bad guys, headed by super-bad ass (but sweet as pie in real life – if you believe the cast commentary) old trouper Anne Ramsey. And it’s got Spielberg on executive producing duties and a great cheesy but catchy Cyndi Lauper music video to go with it – what more could your young hearts ask for?
2. Return To Oz (1985)
We weren’t really fans of the original Wizard of Oz movie but when Fairuza Balk came waltzing along with her talking chicken Billina and C3PO-type robot companion Tik-Tok we were overwhelmed by the results. And it was fucking scary too! What with those sinister, sub-Starlight Express Wheelers skirting around, those crumbling and gruesome claymation monsters and that hideous witch Mombi, with her eerie glass cabinet selection of limitless heads. No annoying musical numbers, no cowardly lion or clumsy scarecrow, (well not until later on anyway), just a gothic nightmarish adventure with startling baroque imagery in a mysterious, distant land where you will find ham sandwiches hanging on trees and an old man modelling red slippers.
3. Labyrinth (1986)
In our opinion Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly was never better than when she played the feisty 15-year-old babysitter Sarah in Jim Henson’s spellbinding adventure. David Bowie camps it up as the glamorous Goblin King, along with a slew of Henson’s imaginative puppeteer creations – and we don’t mind those catchy dance numbers either.
4. Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)
Anyone remember the haunting chanting of the Egyptian Rametep? The hallucinogenic stained-glass window knight that suddenly broke away from its frame to demonstrate the impressive power of early CGI? Or the opening shocker where a turkey dinner comes alive to attack its consumer? Well that’s all from this cult special effects Oscar-nominated Sherlock Holmes prequel adventure – which was subtitled (Indiana Jones style): The Pyramid of Fear. Dreamt up by early Harry Potter helmer Chris Columbus, (with Spielberg once again on producing duties), this was a notable highlight for the young cast of unknowns involved and proved a chilling sweeping and deadly adventure, a world away from the archetypal cosy Peter Cushing/Basil Rathbone movie outings.
5. Explorers (1985)
Explorers was the warmhearted tale of a trio of kiddie science geeks who – masterminded by computer whiz-kid River Phoenix, (debuting alongside a painfully young Ethan Hawke) – convert a junkyard carousel car into a floating capsule capable of travelling into outer space. Although looking more like a glorified wheelie bin than anything NASA would conceive the capsule is their gateway to adolescent freedom and they use it like any other teenage kids would use it: to travel the world, explore the universe and of course peep on girlies getting undressed.
6. The Lost Boys (1987)
“Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It’s fun to be a vampire” went the encouraging tagline to this impressionable coming-of-age puberty flick (masking as a vampire movie). The Lost Boys is about two teenage brothers who rub shoulders with a leather-clad clan of blood thirsty vampires following their relocation to a new town in sunny California. A sequel is currently in the works, (welcome back Corey Feldman as Edgar Frog), but the original still holds up today as an irreplaceable nostalgic horror fantasy adventure… and Kiefer Sutherland is still the cool kid you wanna be when your strange.
7. Dark Crystal (1983)
Set in a dark and vast mystical world this is the penultimate moment when muppet maestros Jim Henson and Frank Oz ventured into the limitless realm of the feature film. It’s a testament to the sheer power of suspension of disbelief that we willingly surrender our soles to a land populated entirely by puppet creations, ranging from the grotesque eagle-like entities of the feared Skekses to the almost sickly sweet Gelfings. It’s not exactly ‘live-action’ but we like it.
8. Flight of the Navigator (1986)
This is the film that embraces the journey of a 12-year-old whizzkid who goes on a bombastic time-travelling adventure when he’s abducted by an alien space-capsule, piloted by a robot that looks bizarrely like your dentist’s examination lamp. But it’s a heck of a lot of fun even 20 years on! Hell, it’s even got a young Sarah Jessica Parker in it as an annoyingly friendly (when hasn’t she been annoying?) laboratory assistant.
9. Highlander (1986)
If you don’t get too distracted by Christopher Lambert’s dodgy Scottish vocals, or the ridiculously complex plot, then Highlander is still a thrilling adventure yarn to rival Flash Gordon. And just like that said sci-fi film it’s got a truly marvellous signature score by Queen. Fuck the sequels, reassert yourself with the masterly original.
10. Repo Man (1984)
Alex Cox’s superb science fiction film stars a young Emilio Estevez as Otto: a punk rocker who becomes the ultimate car repossession professional after helping to steal a wanted vehicle. The twist in the tale is that there’s some strange glowing object inside the boot of the car that’s got the attention of government agents and UFO enthusiasts alike. With classy support from veteran character actor Harry Dean Stanton this was the film that put the ‘punk’ into punk rocker.
[story by Oliver Pfeiffer]
dude, buckaroo banzai
war of the worlds part 2, starring the fly, third rock, robocop, rev jim, mr vargas …. i mean c’mon
THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI?? Hello??
What about “Monster Squad”? That movie kicked ass. “Wolfman’s got nards!”
Okay, I see your point about “bona fide”. How bout this then.
Krull (so had to make this list, easily should have won over Sherlock), Ice Pirates, Time Bandits, Monster Squad, Clash of the Titans (70’s-esque but an ‘81 movie), GI Joe: The Movie, Howard the Duck, Masters of the Universe, Condorman (good god this movie was the best), Last Starfighter, Buckaroo Banzai (my god, man!), Adventures of Baron Munchausen, D.A.R.Y.L.
Man there are so many more. But good god man! No Buckaroo?
How can you leave of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension?
This is the ULTIMATE cult classic of the 80’s
It should also be noted that the UFO’s voice is different in this trailer for Flight of the Navigator.
A nice oversight is War Games, Talk about a classic!
ok so its just at the end of the 80’s…but what about Little Monsters?
Laborinth was one of my favorite movies as a child. Where is the Neverending Story?
Neverending Story was a great one… where is it!?!?!
What about Rocketeer? Jennifer Connely at her most wonderful.
How about “Froggy Dreaming(a.k.a. The Quest)”, “Cloak and Dagger”, or “flight of the Navigator” All of which I believe stared the kid from ET.
I used to be into Mid-80’s Fantasy Adventure Flicks when I was a homeless rodeo clown but not anymore. Now I am a world class magician !
Umm.. The Repo Man is no fantasy adventure flick. It is a great film from the 80’s, but definitely doesn’t belong in the list.
What about that movie called “My Science Project” about this school kid that finds a energy core from a UFO and it gets misused or something and then it creates a portal in the high school and these dinosaurs come out…..it was super cool.
Dune. Kyle MacLachlan & Patrick Stewart. ’nuff said
Short Circuit and Cocoon….dummies.
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What about Leonard Part 6? That was the best 80’s movie. Maybe best movie ever. Period!
What about “Batteries not included” ?
And where o where is the Greatest movie of all time (drum roll)…..
Big Trouble in lLttle China?
Have you never actually seen any non-mainstream films?
Howard the Duck!!!! that was a classic!
Who said *batteries not included?! In the kennel for you, sir! Right now.
beetlejuice def should’ve been on there but also i havent seen anyone mention LITTLE MONSTERS.. def an 80’s classic
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Most def. needs The Neverending Story!
You eat alot of acid, Miller? Back in the hippie days?
Um? Idiots!
How about The Neverending Story?!?!
Better movie than all of the above put together!
what about lord of the rings??? paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalease
Top 10 Cult Classic Mid-80s Fantasy Adventure Flicks…
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That trailer for the goonies is terrible. Especially as it was and still is a brilliant film.
HEY!!!!
Where is Jack F’ing Burton!!!!!
And His twin Snake Pliskin?!!
Highlander? Young Sherlock Holmes? GTFO.
The rest of the list is spot on, but missing The Neverending Story.
OKAY list, in general… but as mentioned earlier, to have a Mid-80’s Fantasy Adventrue list not include NeverEnding Story, Buckaroo Bonzai, Time Bandits, Highlander, BladeRunner, or Willow is simply wrong…
not to mention that paul reubens is the voice of the ship in flight of the navigator.
nothing like a ship that sounds like pee wee herman.
But what people really want to know is, where is the torrent pack of the movies?
Only a fool would leave out: (in addition to the films already mentioned)
Weird Science
Real Genius
Starman
Red Sonya
and dont frickn forget about Enemy Mine….
Ahh damn missed adding
D.A.R.Y.L
Splash
Cocoon
Hey everybody, I’d like to take this opportunity to mention all these terrible movies that probably everyone saw, and no one liked. In addition, I will refuse to read any of the previous suggestions in an attempt to maximize duplication.
I will then proceed to criticize your list for its omissions, as well as calling into question your intelligence, hygiene, and parentage, my post liberally sprinkled with nearly unrecognizable typos, AOL-style acronyms, and endless self-promotion.
Salute of the jugger
Juggers are comin’
CULT classics. CULT. As in, not mainstream, not $100 Million blockbusters, not huge in the theatres, possibly even flops in the theatres. But found a CULT following, through VHS/DVD, secondary releases, whatever, and somehow became more than what they were originally.
And as the guy said, he limited himself to 10, and when you do that, you are going to pare it down to your personal faves.
These just happen to be his faves, and I agree with a lot of the list, and makes me want to rewatch some of these that I do own.
Rocky Horror Picture Show!!!
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[...] Looks like I am not the only one doing the 80’s Flash back thing. Check out this cool article about some great flicks we all grew up with back then. See the article here. [...]
WTF, where’s Legend?
[...] As any nostalgic 25 – 30 year old will tell you the mid-80s were a truly magical cinematic time for any kid to grow up in. Take a trip back..http://www.hecklerspray.com/top-10-cult-classic-mid-80s-fantasy-adventure-flicks/200812864.php [...]
Gotta add BLADE RUNNER to the list!
Glad to see so many Krull addicts out there, it’s my all-time most-watched movie… as of this writing, I have so far watched it 135 times, can recite the entire dialogue by heart, and hum the entire fantastic soundtrack by James Horner; his Magnum Opus.
The best bit is the back-and-forth between Lyssa and the Beast:
“You have chosen a paltry kingdom on an insignificant planet!”
“And Love!”
“Love is fleeting. Power is eternal.” (My favourite movie line!
…etc
Every one of these cheesy old movies, both the ones in your list and all the ones in the comments, I remember fondly from my younger days. Some uber-geek mentioned Hawk The Slayer (a TRUE cheese classic!) but I’ll go you one better for pure cheddar: remember Star Crash? Yes, the ultra-cheap Star-Wars ripoff featuring Christopher Plummer, with MUCH better female costuming than the prudish Star Wars, tacky lines, spray-painted Airfix-model spaceships, Christmas-tree-light stars, the works!
[...] Pfeiffer takes us back to those halcyon days with his list of the “Top 10 Cult Classic 80s Fantasy Adventure Flicks.” We’ve added IMDb plot summaries as well as a bonus list of movies we thought deserved [...]