To get to the 90s you have to deal with some of the crap of the 80s. This is one of those years. I like some of these films, particularly the top 4, but this year to me mostly is horribly overrated, or just garbage. Call it, the Porky’s Effect (that came out this year).
John Carpenter’s bleak yet fascinating picture of Manhattan: the prison camp for the United States. Kurt Russell is perfectly cast as Snake Plissken, the eyepatch wearing soldier/criminal who has to go into this fortified cesspool to save the President (Donald Pleasance) who has crash landed there.
The embers of Evil Dead 2’s legendary status are planted here, with Bruce Campbell proving to be the perfect lead for Sam Raimi’s weird little scare flick. Raimi wins the day because of how many scares he manufactures on his low budget, using extreme gore, tunnel eye camera vision, Jaws like withholding of the bad guy, and eschewing horror tropes like “1 tap” kills.
Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman clearly roll their eyes in the face of authority. As such, they’re the perfect team to take on the self-serious military. And who to cast to lampoon the troops? Why smartass hall of fame member, Bill Murray. War movie parts aside, the stuff in training is as funny as anything these guys have done.
So you’re a kid, just going about your day. And all of a sudden, a group of time traveling renegade dwarves show up in your house and take you with them. You know, that old nut. This is another crazy fun world building experience from Terry Gilliam, who basically make a darker, loopier version of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
Star Wars Hero Lawrence Kasdan chose this as his feature debut. Kasdan basically takes the noir, and instead of implying sex, just thrusts it in front of us, with hunky William Hurt and smoking Kathleen Turner naked and sweaty from their intense passion for one another. Throw that modern twist onto a classic noir and you’ve got yourself something fresh and familiar at the same time.
Fury Road has made me want to revisit this one, George Miller’s bigger badder sequel to the first Mad Max. Mel Gibson is at his dour badass best traversing the desert as a rogue entity. Miller completely ditches society for epic post apocalyptic chasing and explosions, with the epic final one a relentless joy of mayhem.
Probably my favorite Mel Brooks movie. This crazy spectacle lampoons the entire human race, beginning to end. The pure silliness hides the pointed jabs Brooks takes at his subjects, which give that sillies a little bite that makes the movie memorable. Can’t wait too see Part II, especially the Hitler on Ice section…
Everyone was giddy when they heard Steven Spielberg was teaming up with George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan (big year for him). This action period piece is a joy of filmmaking the minute Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) sees that his sand/idol exchange wasn’t going to work as he planned. Plus, the plot gives the amazing trio a chance to create elaborate set pieces and action sequences, sometimes punctuated by a joke.
Wolfgang Peterson became an international director for hire after this masterpiece. This film is in the discussion for best war movie, let alone best submarine movie, as a group of U Boat German Soldiers deals with the claustrophobia and terror of submarine warfare.
We all know the song at this point, which has been parodied and memed endlessly. However, the movie surrounding it is also worth remembering. Two runners competing to participate in the 1924 Olympics becomes an inspiring parable toward a purpose driven life, patriotism vs. personal success, and the power of religion.
