Middle of the Road 80s Films

[checkoutgirl]

Mate! For Brion James' British accent alone, it's a belter.

Tango and Cash is great. It's for 12 year old boys.

Extremely strong nostalgia from Vice Versa. Takes me back.

[checkoutgirl]

Any Which Way But Loose. The name along screams mediocrity.

[beanheadmcginty]

I was going to say Spaced Invaders, Bird on a Wire, Narrow Margin and Air America, but they are ALL from 1990. Very middling year that.

[phantom_power]

Baby Boom
Stakeout
Three Men and a Baby
Mannequin
Down and Out in Beverly Hills

[Better Midlands]

Running Scared is always bigger in my mind than it actually was, the cover of Sweet Freedom (which I played to death) was basicaly a massive promo for the film, I can't even remeber if I ever saw it now I think about it.

Mid 80s was full of big tunes from middle of the road films.

[Brundle-Fly]

Some of these films are far too well known to be totally MOR! Big?

I included 'Big' because it was another role reversal movie. Big was indeed, big.

[monkfromhavana]

Blue Thunder

Banging film.

Blue Jean Cop

[Famous Mortimer]

Baby Boom

The Pick-Up Artist

Another Stakeout

Suspect

The Fourth Protocol

Nadine

Maid To Order

It's an interesting exercise - can't be too big or too obscure, can't have anyone too famous in it (or if it does, it needs to have not been a hit), can't have too exciting a name...

[monkfromhavana]

I actually think this genre of films is probably my favourite.

Tequila Sunrise

Someone to Watch Over Me

Runaway

An Innocent Man

Class of 1999

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Mate! For Brion James' British accent alone, it's a belter.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Class of 1999

If this is going in then I'd like to add another Pam Grier vehicle, Fort Apache, The Bronx.

Also Batteries not Included, maybe?

Side-note, it's 1991 so not really allowed here, but BNI reminds me, has anyone else seen the film And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird? Where some inventor lads have the spirit of their dead dad take over their robot?

[phantom_power]

F/X
F/X 2

[superthunderstingcar]

F/X 2

I'm surprised there's not more sequels being nominated. For my part, I'll add Short Circuit 2 and Police Academy 4.

[QDRPHNC]

Haven't seen this in years, but remember it being a cut above the usual Chevy Chase 80s stuff (aside from the original Vacation of course). Based on a novel, weirdly, by the same guy who wrote the books that the films Let it Ride (with Richard Dreyfuss) and Quick Change (Bill Murray) were based on (and fuck my hat, there was an earlier version of Quick Change in 1985 called Hold Up).

I would also have suggested The 'Burbs, but I am glad to see it's almost become the proper cult classic it deserves to be.

[Sebastian Cobb]

This was probably one of the first 'grown up' films I was allowed to stay up for when I was really young.

Watched it when it was repeated on tv as an adult in a houseshare and we all enjoyed it so I do have a bit of a soft spot.

[curiousoranges]

Condorman

[A Hat Like That]

Runaway Train

This is a legit classic.

Don't know what's going on with the border, but

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq3oz7FVHVM

that mix of visuals and soundtrack ... chills.

[A Hat Like That]

Interesting how Midnight Run could easily have been a prime example of one of these but it's entirely elevated into something special by De Niro and Grodin's chemistry.

Quite. I caught Gene Hackman's 1990 thriller Narrow Margin, and it's alright. But it's no Midnight Run.

[phantom_power]

Throw Momma From the Train is a bit too odd to be an MOR film I think

[checkoutgirl]

Baby Boom
Stakeout
Three Men and a Baby
Mannequin
Down and Out in Beverly Hills

Steak Out and Down and Out are way too good. They were fairly ubiquitous on telly though so that element fits. I watched Baby Boom a couple of years ago and that is perfectly middling. Diane Keaton decompresses from New York rat race with a baby, a mansion and an apple sauce business in upstate New York.

[checkoutgirl]

Running Scared is always bigger in my mind than it actually was, the cover of Sweet Freedom (which I played to death) was basicaly a massive promo for the film, I can't even remeber if I ever saw it now I think about it.

Mid 80s was full of big tunes from middle of the road films.

What's that 80s tune that goes "shine a light on me" followed by a blast of saxophone? It was upbeat and pop like, not slow and jazzy.

[monkfromhavana]

Bat 21

Hackman & Glover together at last.

[phantom_power]

Steak Out and Down and Out are way too good. They were fairly ubiquitous on telly though so that element fits. I watched Baby Boom a couple of years ago and that is perfectly middling. Diane Keaton decompresses from New York rat race with a baby, a mansion and an apple sauce business in upstate New York.

[Butchers Blind]

The Last Starfighter

[The Culture Bunker]

What's that 80s tune that goes "shine a light on me" followed by a blast of saxophone? It was upbeat and pop like, not slow and jazzy.

That's the song in question - 'Sweet Freedom' by Michael "King of Smooth" McDonald.

My own contributions to this thread are from that genre of sci-fi for kids: 'D.A.R.Y.L.' and 'Flight of the Navigator'. Actually, they may both be crap, but I thought they were alright when I was eight years old.

[beanheadmcginty]

City Heat

[tourism]

52 Pick Up

the first thing that sprang to mind

[checkoutgirl]

That's the song in question - 'Sweet Freedom' by Michael "King of Smooth" McDonald.

Absolute banger.

[checkoutgirl]

The Last Starfighter

Too good. Above average film for me.

[Blumf]

The Last Starfighter

Too good. Above average film for me.

Plus an early example of CGI in film, so too notable