It was bound to get confusing here at some point! I can’t believe I skipped this one though! 1983 was SUCH a Great year!
- Return of the Jedi: Might as well get this monster out of the way first. Though it will never be as good as Empire, and though most boys will always be partial to it almost solely due to Leia and her famous gold out-fit, I remember and love it best because Luke finally controls his powers and Vader redeems himself.
- War Games: The first time we see Matthew Broderick and the first time I understand as a kid that we could DEFINITELY die as the result of nuclear war. Pretty scary.
- Christine: ’83 is ripe with King adaptations (not all of which will make this list) Carrie and The Shining have begun a trend that starts strong in the 80s but goes down hill quickly in the 90’s and 2000’s.
- A Christmas Story: When did I start watching this movie 24 hours a day before Christmas? I have no idea? I’m not even sure when I realized this film was funny! I just know that I quote it non-stop whether it is holiday time or not!
- Flashdance: The movie that taught us all how to take off a bra under our shirts! And second only to FAME, the movie that made me want to be a star! And not unlike FAME, I had little to know idea how inappropriate most of this movie. I mean, what were those ladies doing in that club anyway?
- Mr. Mom: Michael Keaton before Beetlejuice and Batman. When all we needed was a vacuum cleaner named Jaws and blanky named Wubby and a clean-up in aisle 5!
- The Outsiders: For my just slightly younger friends who are only familiar with the Brat Pack of The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo’s Fire, let me throw out a few names for you and tell me you don’t want to watch this after you read the following….
- Patrick Swayze
- C. Thomas Howell
- Ralph Macchio
- Matt Dillon
- Robe Lowe
- Emilio Estevez
- Tom Cruise
- Diane Lane
- Directed by Fraces Ford Coppola for Pete’s sake!!!! Go watch it! “Do it for Johnny! Let’s do it for Johnny!”
- Something Wicked This Way Comes: It was a year of just terrifying upsetting movies. I mean movies that aren’t even getting on this list…Cujo, The Day After, Twilight Zone the Movie, I watched over and over including this little gem starring Jason Robards and then relative unknown, Jonathan Pryce. It is the reason I never go to bed without checking under the covers for spiders!
- Trading Places: ’83 seems responsible for launching the careers of so many beloved actors that we now take for granted, and Trading Places is no exception. This was THE film that exploded Eddie Murphy into superstardom status, revitalized Dan Akroyd’s career after Saturday Live, and proved to us all that Jaime Lee could do more than scream in the face of mute, hockey mask wearing murderers.
- The Dead Zone: The 2nd of my Stephen King picks, Chirstopher Walken, Tom Skerrit and Martin Sheen star in this adaptation that even my favorite author himself approves of. It is one of King’s early novels that though I read, I remember the film far better. Which says a lot about Cronenberg’s film and the performances.
