September 10, 2013

My Five Favorite Films From...1986

Honorable Mention – Big Trouble in Little China: Goofy action/comedy/horror hybrid from John Carpenter that shouldn’t work but does. Remember, it’s all in the reflexes.

5. (Tie) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Blue Velvet: On the one hand, you have people getting thrown back in time to recover a humpback whale to save the future. On other, you have a severed ear in a field to go along with a nitrous-huffing freak. It’s like they’re the same film! Two films that appeal to me on two totally different levels.

4. Platoon: One of the best war movies ever made, and one that highlights the absurdity and senselessness of war. Still a powerful film more that 20 years after it was first released.

3. Manhunter: This was the first film to introduce us to Hannibal Lecter. It kicks ass, but died at the box-office before getting “rediscovered” after Silence of the Lambs came out. It is way better than Brett Ratner’s tepid 2002 remake titled Red Dragon, the actual name of the source novel by Thomas Harris.

2. Ferris Bueller's Day Off: A classic. The kind of day we all wish we could’ve had in high-school. I did skip a few days to go to the beach or catch films, but never was I involved in a parade.

1. Aliens: The shining example of an action/sci-fi movie. It’s a top-flight film from start to finish. I love it.

Films I Like But Didn't Make The List: Betty Blue, The Mission, Top Gun, Back to School, Labyrinth, Crocodile Dundee, The Color of Money, Highlander, The Fly, ¡Three Amigos!

Under-appreciated – F/X: People seem to have forgotten about this little gem, a thriller/action romp about a special-effects guy hired by the Department of Justice to stage the murder of a mob informant, and who is then double-crossed by the DoJ. It’s a lot of fun to watch. The sequel (F/X 2)…not so much.

Guilty Pleasure – The Delta Force: C’mon, how can you not like a movie that combines the 80s awesomeness of Chuck Norris with the 70s kick-assitude of Lee Marvin? It’s horribly dated (anyone born after 1986 can’t relate to the whole Beirut/hi-jacking/payback for Iran debacle angle) but I still get a kick out of it.

Insane Film That Must Be Mentioned – The Hitcher: If you saw that lame remake a few years ago, it didn’t have 1/100th of the punch the original contained. Simply because no one can out-crazy Rutger Hauer when he decides to go that route. Between killing a family in a station-wagon, ripping Jennifer Jason-Leigh in half with a truck and shooting down about 30 cops, it didn’t get much more insane in 1986 than The Hitcher.

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