We all know by now that there is a so-called lost generation of kids born between 1979 and 1982. For those of us born in those years — hi, it’s me — we remember pay phones, curating mix tapes, beepers (oh beepers) and the ridiculous noise that was the AOL dial-up tone. We came of age at a particularly interesting time because we lived the first chunk of our lives in analog. Culturally, what we were raised on are the movies of the 80s (that, sure, maybe we didn’t watch in theaters but would later go to Blockbuster to rent on VHS).
These movies, as compiled completely arbitrarily by us, are the movies that defined our childhood. You simply can’t have one without the other. To be clear, these are not movies of the 90s, which are also quite good, that you should watch with your kids. These films don’t always hold up, and they aren’t always appropriate, but man are they good.
When the Scary Mommy team sat down to compile this list, we took a collective trip down major memory lane, squealing and cackling remembering these movies. So here are the ones we’ve decided define us. Come at us if you want, or simply nod and smile.
A Christmas Story
Adventures in Babysitting
Airplane!
Back to the Future
Beetlejuice
Beverly Hills Cop
Big
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Die Hard
Dirty Dancing
ET
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Field of Dreams
Footloose
Ghostbusters
Glory
Gremlins
Harry and the Hendersons
Heathers
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Labyrinth
Little Shop of Horrors
Look Who’s Talking
Mystic Pizza
Oliver and Company
Overboard
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure
Pretty Woman
Pretty In Pink
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Say Anything
Short Circuit
Sixteen Candles
Spaceballs
Splash
Stand By Me
Terminator
The Adventures of Milo and Otis
The Breakfast Club
The Great Outdoors
The Goonies
The Land Before Time
The Little Mermaid
The Neverending Story
The Princess Bride
Three Men and a Little Baby
Top Gun
Troop Beverly Hills
Uncle Buck
Weekend At Bernies
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Willow
Working Girl
