Tag Archives: The Right Stuff

Movies, Movies We Still Care About

Movies We Still Care About – 1983

3 Comments

(For an explanation of this, read the Introduction.  Other posts in this series can be found here.)

Movies We Still Care About

  • Return of the Jedi
  • National Lampoon’s Vacation
  • Scarface
  • A Christmas Story

Other Notable Movies

  • The Right Stuff
  • Risky Business

Best Picture Nominees:

  • Terms of Endearment (Winner)
  • The Big Chill
  • The Dresser
  • The Right Stuff
  • Tender Mercies

Top Grossing Films (US)

  1. Return of the Jedi
  2. Terms of Endearment
  3. Flashdance
  4. Trading Places
  5. Wargames
  6. Octopussy
  7. Sudden Impact
  8. Staying Alive
  9. Mr. Mom
  10. Risky Business

Rotten Tomatoes Top Movies

  1. Risky Business (98%)
  2. The Right Stuff (98%)
  3. National Lampoon’s Vacation (95%)

Movies We Still Care About

Return of the Jedi

Many people consider this to the be the least of the original trilogy, and some will even go so far as to rank it among the prequels in quality.  (Which is just plain crazy.)  But I would argue that this really has a lot going for it, and is the equal of the other two.

Yes, many people find the Ewoks annoying.  But it’s not like they’re Jar Jar.  They’re cutesy and a bit silly, but what’s wrong with that?

Moreover, the Ewoks fit into the overall theme of the movie, which is that love and respect are more powerful than hatred, fear, and oppression.  The Empire treats the Ewoks with contempt as beneath their notice.  Luke, Leia, and Han treat the Ewoks as friends, and in doing so are able to use their help to defeat the Empire.  (They do lie about C3PO being a god.  But that wouldn’t have worked if they weren’t treating the Ewoks with respect.)

Jedi also has the moment where Darth Vader, the #1 biggest and best known villain in modern mythology, is redeemed through love.  That’s the entire point of the whole series, and to dismiss Jedi is to throw that theme away.

On a personal note, Return of the Jedi is the first movie I can remember seeing in a theater.  That’s what gave me a life-long love of film.  And to this day, the Jabba’s palace/barge sequence is my all-time favorite sequence in the history of movies.

National Lampoon’s Vacation

This is one of those movies that people just like to hang out with.  It’s the sort of laugh-a-minute thing where people have such affection for it that their like for the movie becomes part of their identity.  Consider that in the Blink 182 song “Josie,” the fact that the singer’s girlfriend is up watching Vacation at 3:00 AM is evidence of how great she is.

Scarface

The quintessential tale of someone who comes from nothing, and through his willingness to break the rules and be tougher than everyone else, rises to the top.  Then he becomes a victim of his own excess and is destroyed.  It has become a favorite of rap culture, which is a bit weird considering how it turns out, in one of the all-time most memorable endings in film.  Say hello to my little friend!

 

A Christmas Story

Another of those movies that people can watch over and over again.  For many, it’s a tradition to view this every Christmas, and it brings people back to their childhood.  The fact that it can do so either through people remembering similar childhood experiences as are portrayed in the film, or through remembering watching the movie itself, is a testament to how much this has become part of our culture.

Other Notable Films

The Right Stuff

Like with biopics, movies based on well-known true events tend to have their legacy overshadowed by the legacy of the actual events.  The Right Stuff was quite popular when it came out.  But today, people interested in the story are more likely to view the early episodes of the HBO series From the Earth to the Moon, or any of the tons of documentaries about the early space program.

Risky Business

We all remember Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear to Old Time Rock and Roll.

But the rest of the movie is not so memorable.  For example, check out this clip from Tosh.0, where two girls who made a video recreating that scene admit they’ve never seen the movie, and are shocked to find out what it’s about.

– – – – –

Do you disagree with any of these choices, or think that I missed something?  Leave a comment below.