10. Flight of the Navigator- A boy goes looking for his brother in the woods in 1978 and ends up unconscious. When he wakes up it is now 1985. He has no memory of what happened but he is taken on an awesome journey by a spaceship with a personality. It is a terrific sci/fi family movie and it sent me looking for woods in which I could get abducted. It is funny, has a nice sense of adventure and features a young unknown Sarah Jessica Parker who is absolutely adorable in this. I know I will be showing this movie to any children I have or any children any of my siblings have.
9. The Neverending Story- Fantasy stories do not get much cooler than this one. Plus, it promotes reading, something I loved to do as a kid and still love to do. The main kid is a picked on his whole life by bullies but inside the book he is a hero, or least he helps a hero. After becoming part of the story he meets a big flying dog thing and us as viewers meet a big talking rock monster and countless other crazy creative characters. The story is one of good triumphing evil and shows us how to face our fears and overcome anything. I didn't grasp the philosophical aspects of the film when I was younger but now that I do, I gain a whole new respect for this movie.
8. Oliver and Company- This is my Disney movie. I will never fully know why I gravitated to this one so much but there was something about this movie. It may have been the awesome music that I went around singing for years or maybe it was the nice Oliver inspired story. "Why should I worry" became the new "Bare Necessities" and then of course transformed into "Hakuna Matata" for the Lion King and Billy Joel was just having so much with Dodger. It is a funny movie but it also had some great action sequences and got a bit dark when it needed to be. Cheech Marin provided the perfect comic spark as a high strung dog. I still love listening the music featured in the movie.
7. Masters of the Universe- So maybe it isn't a great movie, or even a good movie, but I still love it. Yes it is a far cry from the He-Man cartoon I grew up on, but that was kind of the appeal. None of the acting is any good and most of the effects are pretty corny, but there is still something I loved about the movie. Frank Langella made a very sinister disgusting Skeletor and the movie was actually a very dark kind of gruesome movie. It really is a perfect example of the 80's from the fashion to the music to the action. I have not seen this movie in quite some time, but we used to watch it almost weekly.
6. G.I Joe: The Movie- The cartoon TV show of this was one of a few that I watched all of the time and when the movie was made it became a staple as well. I don't remember everything about it now because I probably have not watched it in a decade or longer but I know I used to watch it more than once a week. The action was exciting and the animation was exactly like the cartoon, but I didn't have to sit through those Public Service Announcements at the end of the movie. The story is massive and it introduced us to a whole new breed of Joe's because all of the ones we loved were either hurt of immobilized. Duke was supposed to die, but after the bad reaction to Prime's death in Transformers they changed it.
5. Transformers: The Movie- The thing most talked about in this movie is who died. Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl, Brawn, Wheeljack, Windcharger, Megatron, Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Shrapnel, Kickback and Bombshell all are killed or changed into other characters in this massive epic of a movie. I can still remember being absolutely devastated when Prime is killed. I was shocked and still have a sense of shock when I watch the movie these days. The movie was supposed OT bridge the gap between seasons 2 and 3 of the show and it introduced the word "shit" to me. It is a crazy adventure movie featuring some of the craziest transformers and it spanned quite a few worlds. This movie still lives on for me as one of the monumental movies of my life.
4. Bill and Ted's Excellent adventure- This movie really had it all for me- time travel, historical figures, hilarious dialogue, air guitars, water slides, and Genghis Kahn going hog wild in a sporting goods store. The premise is silly, the bits wacky and the action is fun but most of all it is the dialogue that gets me. Keanu Reeves became an icon to young people everywhere and this movie really helped "dude" become a staple of the lexicon of young America. Even is the depths of danger the movie never loses its fun moments and any movie that has Napoleon at a water park can't be bad at all.
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 and 2- The turtles supplied me with a Halloween costume on 3 or 4 separate occasions and these movies personify why. These heroes were just like me- they said "dude", ate pizza and loved having fun. They could kick some serious ass. With a great villain, funny one-liners and great action sequences- a shopping mall, anyone, these two movies were perfect for my youth. After watching them we used to go into the backyard and start ninjaing the crap out of each other. Add to the mix a tremendous Vanilla Ice cameo and song in the second movie and an interesting Mythology about Splinter and the ooze itself and you really have a wonderful few hours. I can still quote both of these movies fairly well and I will be watching them for years to come.
2. 3 Ninjas- I admit that I have not seen this movie in a very long time but when it first came out in theaters me and my two brothers saw it 3 times in the first two days it was released. Yes, we saw it twice in the same day. That is how much we loved this combination of Teenage Ninja turtles and home alone. Of course we also liked it because there were 3 brothers and we were 3 brothers. We spent hours trying to come up with traps as cool as the kids did, just in case someone broke into our house. There are some great fight scenes, hilarious kid stuff and of course an 11 yr old boy who can slam dunk on a ten foot basketball hoop! The three guys tasked with kidnapping the children are equal parts dumb and hilarious and this movie is just 100% young boy escapism.
1. The Goonies- I am not sure this comes at a surprise because this is the true perfect young boy movie. It has adventure, comedy and a dead pirate's treasure. No young boy I know saw this movie and didn't go right out and search for caves to search in hopes of finding treasure. If you haven't seen this movie I do believe something is wrong with you because this belongs up with Indiana Jones in terms of adventure movies. With a great cast of kids spanning all different kinds of kids banding together due to them being outsiders and a great trio of villains, this movie is fun for everyone. Also included is a crazy eyed giant of a man who eventually helps the young men. It is about loyalty, sticking together, friendship, family and of course the ultimate adventure. There is nothing not to like about this movie. I watch it about once a year and will probably do it forever because nothing reminds me of how much fun it was to be a kid more than this movie.
So there you have it,the ten movies that best represent my childhood. What are yours? What are some of the movies you grew up on and helped raise you to be the person you are today?
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