It Came From . . . 1981

“Chicks dig me, because I rarely wear underwear and when I do it’s usually something unusual.” – Stripes

How did Burt pull Excalibur from the stone?  He had Arthurization.

This is the finale of, perhaps, the greatest decade of cinema – ever.  It wasn’t on purpose, it was just how the dice rolled that we finished up at 1981.  1981 was a year where I benefited from many things – primarily living in a town with a movie theater, and said movie theater determining the lawful age for entry was defined as, “has money”.

Again, no sequels, but there just weren’t that many sequels in 1981 – people were working on their own, original ideas (mostly, Outland I’m looking at you).

Scanners – I saw this in the theater – how could I miss out?  It was science fiction, and looked to be good.  I was not disappointed.  The movie itself is about psychic soldiers that were the result of a secrete (which is houw Canadians spelle, I thinke) Canadian plan to make super soldiers, or relieve the nausea of pregnant women.  I forget which.  In the end, there are nearly infinite shenanigans with exploding heads.  The movie includes The Prisoner actor Patrick McGoohan, who I like to pretend was just playing the same character that he played in The Prisoner.

I look at the cat soldier in the corner and wonder if this movie was all about the dangers of a little pussy cat.

Excalibur – I’ve never seen a horse ride payoff with such a big surprise as when Uther rode his horse to meet Igrayne not long after the start of this movie.  The surprise?  The girl that Uther impendragons (with plenty of clanking) was the director’s own 19- or 20-year-old daughter, who played Igrayne.  Talk about an awkward family Thanksgiving after that shoot – how could you tell if dad was wanting more turkey if he asked, “Can I see a bit more breast?”  Anyhow, this is the classic story of Arthur and the round table and was done perfectly.  If done in 2025 by Netflix®, Arthur would be played by an Indian or Pakistani and Merlin would be a sassy black woman who would complain that Arthur didn’t season his meat and if you complain you’re a bigot because England has always been centered around Indians, Pakistanis, and sassy black women.

Outland – What is Outland?  Well, it’s High Noon in space, so I guess they could have called it High Moon, unless that was a Cheech and Chong space movie.  This movie had no aliens, no super-science.  Just what we could expect if Sean Connery was put in charge of a distant space outpost in a gritty dystopian future.  The movie probably lost money.  This is a rare movie for me in that I read the novelization of it by Alan Dean Foster before the movie came out, so my surprise level was at zero.

Would History of the World, Part 1 have been different if it starred Mel Gibson?

History of the World, Part I – My older brother (John Wilder) took me along with his date to this movie.  I have no idea why he did that, but he did, and he had a driver’s license, which meant I didn’t have to hoof it home after the flick.  Did I mention that his date was highly religious?  I especially enjoyed laughing really loudly at the raunchy jokes (at least the ones I understood) and watching my brother squirming uncomfortably and pretending to be offended.  This is my second favorite film by Brooks.

Raiders of the Lost Ark – I had no idea, zero, what this movie was about before going to see it, but from the opening scene I knew I was in the right place.  The rather frenetic pacing and action that was used to move the plot along was fantastic – and it left me wondering why more movies didn’t (and still don’t) do the same.  What I see for the last decade is that, rather than using pacing and plotting, instead the entire screen is filmed with action, creating a spectacle, but a spectacle that detracts from the characters you’re supposed to be caring about.  Not in Raiders.  Nope.  This movie defined the action/adventure genre through the 1980s, being so much more than what came before, and setting a model that was often imitated.

The Cannonball Run – Burt Reynolds plus the rest of every actor from the 1970s star in a story about the real road race that clandestinely occurred back in the day.  It’s hilarious, and a perfect use of Burt’s talents.  He ended up making millions that he could share with his ex-wife.  Critics hated it, audiences loved it.

“Don’t worry, we have the element of PEZ® on our side.”

Stripes – I don’t know how many people joined the Army because of this movie, but I know that, of the four guys I went to the movie with, two joined up.  Both specifically pointed to this movie as the “why”.  This is certainly one of Bill Murray’s five best movies.  I mean, who doesn’t like Garfield?  Regardless, this movie is hilarious, stands the test of time, and started a feud between Murray and Sean Young that apparently lasts to this day.  Of course, the number of people who are disappointed in Sean Young is nearly as long as the number of people disappointed that being in the Army wasn’t nonstop madcap fun.

“Snake Plisskin.  I heard about you.  I heard you were a clown.” 

Escape from New York – John Carpenter directing Kurt Russell in a movie about a SpecOp warrior gone bad being put on an impossible mission?  Count me in.  1981 was one of those years when it looked like New York was going to implode into a black hole of financial mismanagement, corruption, crime, and filth, and being a prison was probably a better option than being New York, at least until the WWE® singlehandedly brought the city back from the brink of failure with Wrestlemania©.  All Hail Hulk Hogan™!  Oh, yeah, there was a movie.  It’s good, with simple, practical effects and Kurt Russell channeling John Wayne.  I’ve seen it dozens of times, but it was best in the theater.

Gallipoli – Mel Gibson is notoriously humorous (except when he’s been drinking) but Gallipoli isn’t funny.  I had no idea that the disastrous Gallipoli landing, and the outsized toll on Australians and New Zealanders.  Gallipoli was a buddy movie about two young sprinters who joined up and were sent to Gallipoli, where they take part in the Battle of the Nek, which was a fiasco for the Australians.  If you haven’t seen it, I fully recommend it.

I don’t recommend the Mel Brooks version of Gallipoli.

Heavy Metal – South Park™ parodied this movie as Heavy Boobage.  They’re not wrong.  Essentially this is a comic book movie for 12-year-olds that consists of hot, nearly nude cartoon girls and strong warriors with swords and Corvettes™ and spaceships.  It has, however, all the plot written at an 8-year-old level.  Yeah.  The soundtrack was great, and one of the first double-albums I ever bought and also inspired my birthday request for a stereo.  But?  The movie is just not good.  Garfield generally has a more complex plot, though with fewer boobs.

Should this movie be called “TradWife Metal”?

An American Werewolf in London – Studio executives wanted John Landis to put John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd in this movie instead of the Dr. Pepper™ guy and Griffin Dunne.  What a fiasco that would have been, though adding a werewolf to The Blues Brothers might have been a nice plot twist.  As it is, this is a funny yet poignant horror comedy which is a sentence I’d write about . . . only this movie.

Das Boot – This movie is soooooo long.  Sooooo long, perhaps longer than WWII.  The first time I watched it, one of my college buddies rented it.  I feel asleep and saw the end.  The second time I watched it, I fell asleep.  Again.  I still think I missed about 17 hours in the middle.  Or is this movie still going?  It’s long.  I think the Germans lose.

Mommie Dearest – I watched this movie on HBO® and . . . liked it.  I mean, there’s no particular point to the movie, but I enjoyed watching Faye Dunaway screaming about wire coat hangers and giving away Christina’s toys because Christina probably had it coming.  One other reason I love this movie?  Joan Crawford has Risen from The Grave by Blue Öyster Cult.

The next two are linked for me:  Porky’s and Chariots of Fire.  What is in common about these two movies?  Well, one night a school team went on an overnight competition.  As memory serves, we spent at least two nights at our destination.  The competition was co-ed.  Our coach took us to the movies.  As did other teams’ coaches.  A girl on a competing team who had expressed, um, strong interest in me also went to the movies.  Her coach wouldn’t let their team go to an R-rated movie, but ours would.  So, I went to Chariots of Fire.

Okay one wasn’t enough, we have a sequel poster:

Of good movies for a high school boy to take a girl to on a date, Chariots of Fire ranks right up there with Schindler’s List or Das Boot or Ernest Goes to Re-Education Camp.  It’s about British people running or not running because it’s against their religion.  How do you talk a date into second base when you’ve just spent two hours watching people discuss the morality of running on a religious day?

That same weekend I saw Porky’s in my hometown when we got home.  Really, they’re the same movie if you replace religion and running with staring at nude girls in a locker room shower.

Taps – Our final movie of the review of movies from the 1980s is Taps.  I promise I didn’t plan that.  Taps came out as America was just getting into the Reagan era, and there was a feeling faded glory, that America was slipping away, and that traditions and honor no longer meant anything.  Taps really captured that, and to me, it resonated because of the idea that the youth (which I was a member of, then) could make a difference, could be a bridge to the future.  Plus?  Tom Cruise with an M-60.

Okay, that’s what I found.  What (besides Maniac, which I’ve never seen) did I miss?