Ranking the Best Movies of the Summer of '85, on "Back to the Future"'s 30th Anniversary
By Jason Lisk
“Back to the Future” came out in theaters exactly 30 years ago today. As an homage to that, I thought I would rank the best movies of the summer of ’85.
These are probably not going to make any critics’ lists. These are the rankings of someone who was 11 years old that summer, and while it may be lost in the archives, that summer was pretty memorable to this dude. Everything was the biggest and best when you are 11 and 12 years old. I watched most of these movies that year; some were go-to films for quotes and such for a much longer period of time.
For simplicity, this includes all movies that were released after Memorial Day and before Labor Day in 1985 (sorry, Brewster’s Millions and Rambo, First Blood, Part 2).
1. Back to the Future
The most successful film of 1985 (and robbed by “Out of Africa” for Best Picture because the Oscars). Imagine what would happen if you could travel back and see your parents in high school, and then your mom gets the hots for you. Oh, and you become the inspiration for Chuck Berry. Christopher Lloyd at his finest, and peak Michael J. Fox year (as we’ll see).
2. Goonies
11-year old me wanted to see no movie more than this one, and it was released in theaters a couple of days after my birthday. I mean, a bunch of kids about my age discovering pirate treasure and beating a family mob? Wheelhouse.
3. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
This movie was one-of-a-kind, but man, a major guilty pleasure. So ridiculous. Francis, Large Marge, “tell me about your big butt”, “I’m a loner, Dottie, a rebel.” And Alamo tour guides were never the same.
4. Silverado
John Cleese and Jeff Goldblum were once in a Western re-boot, and this is proof. Formulaic, yes, but 11-year-old me still loved the gunfights and Brian Dennehy getting his in the end. Also, the first major role for Kevin Costner, and it ranks higher than “Draft Day.”
5. Fletch
Probably #1 on my most used quotes list for this year. I re-watched it recently, and it was definitely mid-80’s, with some of the schtick not translating. Still, the speech honoring Fred “The Dorf” Dorfman gets me. And I hate Tommy Lasorda.
6. Weird Science
Used to have Chet quotes on the answering machine (this, for those that don’t know, was a separate machine that you had to hook up to the phone line once upon a time, and before we had emoticons and Facebook profile pics, idiots like me used the answering machine to do dumb stuff).
7. Better Off Dead
Howard Cosell impersonations and “I want my two dollars!”
8. Real Genius
Val Kilmer, before he was Iceman and Madmartigan. This was an acquired taste after the summer of 1985, as it is the one on this list I didn’t see in the theatre that summer.
9. Teen Wolf
Yes, it was peak Michael J. Fox summer. But it was also peak Mark Holton summer as well, as both Francis from “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” and Chubby from “Teen Wolf”, which he would then parlay into being “hey, it’s Enrico Palazzo” guy in “Naked Gun.”
10. European Vacation
Ranks down the list because it was not as good as the original. Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament!
Bonus Section, the Five Most Memorable Movie-Related Songs of the Summer of 1985
Movies were a thing. So were songs from movies. The Top 40 Radio was full of them! Here were some highlights of songs that were in the Top 10 at some point in the summer of ’85, and were associated with films:
1. “Don’t You Forget About Me” – Simple Minds (Breakfast Club)
2. “Power of Love” – Huey Lewis and the News (Back to the Future)
3. “A View to a Kill” – Duran Duran (A View to a Kill).
4. “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” – John Parr (St. Elmo’s Fire)
5. “We Don’t Need Another Hero” – Tina Turner (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome)
…
1001. “The Goonies ‘R Good Enough” – Cyndi Lauper (Goonies)