I was not a teen until the late ’90s and I’m also not a huge movie watcher, but with Fandom Running Club starting a “Cult Classic” medal series, well maybe I should see what the 80s had to offer so I can try and guess on some of the clues to come. (The first one is “Dont You 4K About Me” – The Breakfast Club – which is an 80s movie I have seen!)
The book starts in… 1978? With talk about John Travolta. It compares some of the story lines from the 80s with how they would not fly in a movie today. The book is quite long and touches on a TON of movies… most of which of course I had never seen (but have heard of, at least!) And a lot of details on them. It is a history, after all.
I was hoping for a check list of sorts of all the movies in the back of the book so I could see what I had seen and what I haven’t, but let’s be honest, my number would probably be able to be counted on one hand.
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated. This book is being released March 19, 2019 by Diversion Books.
About the Book
A trip back to the era of troubled teens and awesome soundtracks; of Reagan, rap, and Ridgemont High; of MTV, VHS, and “Axel F”; of outsiders, lost boys, and dead poets; of Bill and Ted, Brooke Shields, and the Brat Pack; of three Porky’s flicks, two Coreys, and one summer when “Baby” refused to be put in a corner.
The Ultimate History of the ’80s Teen Movie goes behind the scenes of a genre where cult hits mingled with studio blockbusters, where giants like Spielberg and Coppola rubbed shoulders with baby-faced first-timers, and where future superstars Sean, Demi, and Tom all got their big break. Music, comedy, and politics all play a part in the surprisingly complex history of the ’80s teen movie. And while the films might have been aimed primarily at adolescents, the best tackle universal issues and remain relevant to all ages.
From a late ’70s Hollywood influx to an early ’90s indie scene that gave youth cinema a timely reboot, film expert James King highlights the personal struggles, the social changes, and the boardroom shake-ups that produced an iconic time in movie history.