I Totally Love These 80s Movies! Quiz

Answer: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

This 1982 movie was produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and tells the story of a young boy named Elliott who finds an alien who is stranded on Earth. In this film the stranded, lovable alien becomes ill and is sought after by the government. Elliott and his family fight to get his unexpected visitor back to his home planet.

The film shot Drew Barrymore to fame as Elliott's sassy little sister. She was seven years old when "E.T." was released and had a very troubled childhood after that, going to rehab at the age of thirteen. At the age of sixteen, she wrote an autobiography called "Little Girl Lost". She's since gone on to have a successful career. Harrison Ford filmed a cameo for the film as Elliott's school Principal, but the scene was cut.

Answer: The Breakfast Club

"The Breakfast Club" takes place on a Saturday at a high school, where five teenagers are being punished for various offenses. They are forced to spend the day in detention and each write an essay about who they think they are. The five teens are played by Molly Ringwald as the spoiled rich girl who skips school to go shopping, Ally Sheedy as the weird loner with nothing better to do, Anthony Michael Hall as the nervous, smart nerd, Emilio Estevez as the jock and Judd Nelson as the delinquent. Throughout the day, the teens discover things about themselves and each other and, despite some awkwardness, teasing, crying and fighting, they bond at the end of the day.

Answer: Rain Man

Dustin Hoffman plays an autistic savant named Raymond Babbitt in this movie and Tom Cruise plays his selfish brother, Charlie Babbitt. Charlie is mad that their dad, who has passed away, has left the vast majority of an inheritance to his institutionalized brother, who he didn't realize existed.

He takes him out of the institution and on a road trip and learns about the hardships and experiences the joys of caring for a brother with developmental challenges. As the brothers get to know each other, Charlie realizes that he does remember an older brother who he nicknamed the rain man when he was very young.

As they form a close bond, Raymond helps Charlie become a less selfish and self-centered person.

Answer: Heathers

Winona Ryder and Christian Slater star in this 1989 movie. Veronica, played by Winona Ryder, is friends with an awful, mean group of girls, all named Heather, who treat her and everyone else badly. Veronica meets J.D., a rebellious and sociopathic teen played by Christian Slater.

He is new to their school and helps Veronica escape the clutches of the mean girl clique by killing the ringleader of the group. They then go on a spree of violence and murder. The murders are staged as suicides and start a whole movement at the school to try to help students who are thinking of committing suicide.

It's a dark but funny movie about peer pressure and teen angst that didn't do very well at the box office but won an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature.

The movie was made into a musical that played in New York, Los Angeles and in other cities around the world.

Answer: The Shining

"The Shining" is a terrifying 1980 film based on a Stephen King novel, about a man's descent into madness. The Torrance family move to the Overlook Hotel for the winter season, so that father Jack Torrance can focus on writing a novel while he looks after the hotel during this time.

While they're there, they run into the ghosts of murdered twin girls, a horrifying presence in room 237, and the deterioration of Jack's sanity. Son Danny has a telepathic gift, called the shining, and can see into the terrible past events that have taken place at the hotel.

As Jack slips away from them and gets sucked into the evil of the hotel, mom and Danny barely make it out with their lives.

Answer: Bull Durham

Susan Sarandon plays a baseball groupie who has a fling with an up and coming pitcher played by Tim Robbins. Kevin Costner plays an experienced catcher who is assigned to watch and mentor the pitcher. In this love triangle, Sarandon's character falls in love with the catcher. Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon met while filming this movie and ended up becoming a couple, having two children together, before splitting up. Robbins is hilarious as the immature pitcher and Susan Sarandon is excellent as Annie, the older woman and baseball groupie.

Answer: Flashdance

Jennifer Beals plays Alex Owens, a young woman who has a dream of attending a prestigious ballet school. The film tells the story of Alex as she navigates her middle class, hardworking and rough life with her dream of becoming a ballerina. We follow her relationship with her boss and her friendship with a fellow adult dancer, who dreams of becoming an ice skater.

The movie is a pretty mediocre romantic comedy, in my opinion, but does have an excellent soundtrack that produced some hits, including the title song "Flashdance...What a Feeling" by Irene Cara and "Maniac" by Michael Sembello.

In the movie, Alex is quite active and energetic with lots of dance scenes. Beals had more than one stunt double for the movie. Marine Jahan was her body double for the dancing scenes and appears in the music video for "Maniac", gymnast Sharon Shapiro is used for a leap in the air during the ballet audition scene and the break-dancing is performed by dancer Crazy Legs. Jahan in particular was kept secret by the movie studio, who didn't want to ruin the illusion for movie-goers.

Answer: Dead Poets Society

In a strict all boys boarding school, Mister Keating, played by Robin Williams, uses poetry to try and teach his students the art of thinking for themselves. He is met with resistance from the staff and administration but has a profound impact on some of the students. One of his students in particular wants to become an actor against the wishes of his very strict father and chooses to kill himself rather than be kept from pursuing his passion.

There is an investigation into the tragedy and Mr. Keating is removed from the school.

In an emotional final scene, the boys show their solidarity with their teacher for everything he's taught them. This movie is awesome and Robin Williams is so good as the teacher who goes against the grain.

Answer: Stand By Me

Based on the book "The Body" by Stephen King, "Stand By Me" is the story of four young friends who go on a trip to try and find a dead body. Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Jerry O'Connell and Corey Feldman portray the friends who learn about themselves, friendship, and sticking up for what's right as they encounter hazards and obstacles along the way.

The story is told by Gordie Lachance, played as a boy by Wil Wheaton and as an adult by Richard Dreyfuss. The adult Gordie has learned about the death of one of his childhood friends, and reminisces about the summer adventure the friends went on and how such close friends drift apart throughout the years.

Answer: Footloose

"Footloose" tells the story of a rebellious young teenager named Ren, played by Kevin Bacon who moves to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned. Ren meets the equally rebellious daughter of the town preacher (who is responsible for the ban), and together with other classmates, they decide to organize a dance and defy the ban.

They want their prom! Ren is responsible for pushing for the ban to be lifted, for organizing the dance, and for bringing his classmates along for the ride.

The film is fun and energetic and has a great soundtrack, which was released in 1984 and reached number one on the Billboard 200. Some of the hits include "Let's Hear It for the Boy", "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Almost Paradise".