We will complete our August series of Top Fives with the best of the best of Brat Pack Movies. At the risk of sounding like somebody’s parent, they just don’t make movies like they used to. In the 80’s the movies made for teens weren’t raunchy, romps all about drinking and getting laid. They were works of art that endeared you to the characters and had you leaving the theatre thinking. From these 80’s teenage masterpieces emerged a group of young actors who would appear in these roles and we followed their lives and watched them grow up before our eyes. This group of young actors was charmingly referred to as The Brat Pack.
The official members of the Pack varied depending on who would you ask, but unarguably, the core members were Ally Sheedy, Andrew McCarthy, Anthony Michael Hall, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Rob Lowe. Basically, if you were cast in either The Breakfast Club or St. Elmo’s Fire, you were in The Brat Pack.
More than any of my other Top Five lists, I really wanted this to be a Top Ten, but keeping with the theme of the month, I reluctantly narrowed the list to these five fantastic flicks.
#5 – THE OUTSIDERS
If you haven’t read this book by S.E. Hinton might I suggest you add it to your reading list, like stat! Written by Ms. Hinton at age 16 and published when she was 18 in 1967, it’s a classic that stands the test of time, dealing with the same issues that follow teens through the years—namely social class wars and unrequited love. But if you aren’t a reader, you can see the characters come to life in this movie that showcases the men of the Brat Pack and beyond. Just about every 80’s hunk started his career off with this movie, including Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, & Ralph Macchio.
Featuring characters with names like Ponyboy, Sodapop, Dally, Darry, and Cherry, how can you go wrong? But directed by Francis Ford Coppola, this film certainly isn’t child’s play. You cringe through gang fights, heroic rescues and the death of a best friend. Stay gold Ponyboy…stay gold.
#4 – SIXTEEN CANDLES
It’s a crying shame that this movie is #4 on any list, as it easily could take the #1 spot, which is only a testament to how incredible the next three movies are, but I digress. Written and directed by John Hughes who provided us with jewels such as National Lampoon’s Vacation, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Weird Science, Some Kind of Wonderful, Uncle Buck, and Home Alone, Sixteen Candles is the quintessential 80’s high school happily ever after.
Jake Ryan, our leading lady, Sam’s love interest, wins the award for best heartthrob in an 80’s movie. There was something about Jake, other than his looks, that was utterly compelling. And I give it to the actor, because I’ve seen him in other movies where he wasn’t even really likable. I think the attraction here is the dream-come-true for every average teenage girl. Sam, who goes unnoticed and unacknowledged even by her own parents on her 16th birthday, swoons for Jake, a popular, gorgeous athlete who actually returns her affections. Teenage girls across the world were validated and finally given hope. The scene at the end where he comes to get her from the church and mouths, “Yeah you,” **hand to heart** precious doesn’t even begin to cover it.
The impeccably cast Anthony Michael Hall as Farmer Ted is superb as he stumbles along the way on his quest for the love of Sam. And who doesn’t love our favorite foreign exchange student, Long Duk Dong. So many quote worthy lines from him, including my friend’s favorite “Ooh, sexy girlfriend!” and to this day when I’m hungry I still say, “The Donger need food!”
#3 – PRETTY IN PINK
Molly goes all serious and angsty for her role as Andie in this movie that was inspired by the Psychedelic Furs song of the same name. Sporting mostly New Wave music, the soundtrack is one of the best of the 80’s featuring tracks by New Order, Nik Kershaw, Echo & the Bunnyman, OMD and The Smiths. The band The Rave-Ups play in a nightclub scene, which I remember reading way back in the day was one of Molly Ringwald’s favorite bands. *Fun fact – she had their name written on a notebook she carried in Sixteen Candles.
You root for Andie and Blane as they struggle through their relationship and the peer pressure they each feel from their own side of the figurative railroad tracks. Andie struggles to make ends meet for her and her dead beat dad (do they live solely off her record store income?), while Blane was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Andie’s friend Duckie, who steals the whole movie with his lip syncing scene, is in love with her and drives her absolutely nuts in his adorable but annoying attempts at her affection.
Molly shines in this movie in her too-cool homemade pink ensembles, and what teenage girl didn’t beg her parents for a pink Karmann Ghia after they saw Andie pull up to school in hers. The music, the clothes, the drama—the essence of the 80’s is Pretty in Pink.
#2 – SAINT ELMO’S FIRE
We watch our Brat Pack grow up in this engrossing character study of seven newly graduated twenty somethings trying to find their way and their identity in post-college life.
This movie was my first introduction to Demi Moore, and I was glued to the screen, fascinated with her “it” factor. I so wanted Jules to be okay and to keep her fabulousness. And power couple Alec and Leslie seemed unbreakable until Alec confided in Kevin about his conquests. Ooh, I wanted to smack him! And watching Kirby chase after Doctor Dale was heart wrenching!
We’re not left with a happy ending, but more of a life-moves-on reality check, which is a tough pill to swallow, but somehow you walk away feeling okay about it all.
#1 – THE BREAKFAST CLUB
(Click here for dramatic effect)
What child/teenager of the 80’s hears that drum lick and those two chords and doesn’t get transported in time to that library at Shermer High School in Shermer, Illinois. The Brain. The Athelete. The Basket Case. The Princess. The Criminal. My best friend and I snuck in to see this movie back in 1985, as it was rated R and we were not yet of age (that’s right, I’m not all that ancient yet). We thought we were being sneaky, but what we saw blew us out of the water.
It wasn’t until after I was out of the theatre that I realized I had been held captive by these five actors in basically the same scene the whole time. How compelling do the actors and writing have to be to keep the viewer’s attention for 90+ minutes in a school library? John Hughes and his cast certainly pulled it off with flying colors.
I can remember being obsessed with Molly Ringwald after watching this film. I’d seen her previously in Sixteen Candles, but her character Claire was by far, THE coolest girl I’d ever come in contact with. That brown leather bomber jacket; those tall, cognac, tie-up boots paired with that brown skirt and that v-neck pink shirt—even the way she danced was unique. Every teenage girl wanted to BE Claire, and I was number one on that list!
Then there was John Bender played impeccably by Judd Nelson. He was so wrong, but so right. The scene at the end where Claire makes her way to his detention room and he looks at her and says, “You lost?” Oh, how my heart melts every time!
And who can forget when Allison spreads pixie stick dust onto her crunchy sandwich!
It’s a movie that I own, and can watch over and over again with renewed fervor. And if you are seeing it for the first time, know going in that you’ll never categorize a high school personality again.
I hope you have enjoyed this and the other August Top Five blog posts. I’ve certainly had a blast writing them! If you have a topic or a Top Five you’d like to see me post about, feel free to comment here or email me at [email protected]