What other Brat pack movies should we check out? 1980's Playlist: ru-vid.com/group/PLQHhQlj8i5drsQx2uSifPV3sKWZEJrnyx FERRIS BUELLER: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FIWTNIlmNZ0.html
Not really a brat pack movie, but Better Off Dead (1985) with John Cusack is a classic 80s teen comedy. If nothing else, you'll learn why downhill ski races replaced drag races as the standard for settling differences among men.
You HAVE to follow Breakfast Club with St. Elmo's Fire. Don't blame me, it's the Gen X rules. While this captures us in high school, St. Elmo's Fire captures us as we enter the real world after graduating college.
😭 we Millennials are officially old now i watched this movie for the first time on vhs in 1989 when i was 7 yo bc i liked the music and dancing part lol
He’s played by the great John Kapelos, whom I mostly remember from two seasons as Don Schanke, partner to vampire homicide detective Nick Knight on “Forever Knight,” but he’s been a ton of stuff: “Roxanne,” “The Shadow,” “The Shape of Water,” and TV shows from “iCarly” to “Justified.”
John Hughes really tapped into something special with this movie. Everything from the performances, the dialogue, the music, to the balance of humour and drama is spot on. Its an Absolute classic.
Brian - In for bringing a gun to school Andrew - In for assaulting a kid John - In for pulling the school's fire alarm Claire - In for ditching class to go shopping Allison - Had nothing better to do
I love how John Hughes encouraged his young actors to improvise whenever possible. For instance, the entire sequence of the characters talking about why they were in detention was completely unscripted, as was Brian's reasoning for needing a fake ID.
As a high-schooler in the 80s, it still amazes me how much this movie moved us. We didn't take it as preachy or as an adult trying to teach us a lesson. For both kids and adults to appreciate it so much shows what a masterpiece it is. Oh, while it's not exactly a brat-pack movie, if you haven't done 16 Candles yet, you should. Molly Ringwald is the main character, and it's where Anthony Michael Hall (Brian the brain) got his start. It's not exactly thoughtful, but it's a lot of fun.
Bender was trying to be an asshole to Carl when he asked how does one become a janitor. Carl didn't react the way Bender expected, which was to get mad and start an argument, Carl instead kept his cool and that's why Bender smiled. It was disbelief that he couldn't get under someone's skin.
Judd Nelson was the oldest cast member aged 25, Emilio and Allie Sheedy were both 22, while Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald were 16(and in a relationship, I believe). Judd Nelson is now 64. Yikes
The fact that Ally Sheedy was there by choice and the principal didn't even know has to be one of the greatest reveals of all time. I really hope she wasn't lying. 😂
I don’t think she was. She said her family ignores her. It looked like a cold day. Might as well go to detention. Same with Bender instigating more Saturday detentions. His home life stressful and abusive might as well come to detention. Vernon even says “for 2 months I’ve got you. Instead of hanging out at home you’ll come here. “
Vice principal. No way a principal is going to supervise detention if he or she has a vice principal to handle student discipline and be the target for the kids to despise and disrespect.
After seeing this in the theater, I bugged our drama teacher to let us do it as a play. I harassed him about it for over two years, going as far as typing up a script, designing the set, and creating a lighting plan. He finally let us do it during our senior year for two weekends in 1988. We sold out every performance. As a bonus, I got to play Carl the Janitor. 😁
Allie Sheedy is my favorite character here; her acting is so delightfully intense, love it. When she delivers the line, "I care" it touches me deeply every time. Second place I give to Carl. Such a cool guy, and if you watch it enough times his award for "most likely to succeed" (or something like that), so he was no slouch in high school, is shown at the beginning.
🥸 In case you didn't notice, one of the five kids (Anthony Michael Hall) was Chevy Chase's son in "National Lampoon's Vacation" and another one (Ally Sheedy) was Matthew Broderick's girlfriend in "War Games." It's strange how all of these actors have been working stedily over the last 40 years, and yet most people still associate all of them with the 1980s. 😎👍
“when you grow up… your heart dies…” this is only true if you stop being curious about feelings, the way things are in the world, or about science. being curious about everything is perfect. 👍🥰
"What? I'm a f'n idiot because I can't make a lamp?" "No, you're a GENUIS because you can't make a lamp" That line always tickles me 3:25 "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream
Watching your reaction made me realize for the first time ever, that the janitor must have found/reported the gun going off in Brian's locker. That is why he makes a point to say "how are you doing?" every time he sees him, knowing this a kid who potentially had "self delete" issues.
The scene with all of them sitting around arguing, fighting, talking and laughing in a circle is so amazing. The actors did such a great job portraying all of the sides of their characters. I was in high school when this came out in theaters, and definitely hit home for me, and my friends.
Such a classic, they did a really good job showing what high school was like. The story is great, the characters were great, we can all relate to them in some way and you can’t forget simple minds: “don’t you (forget about me)” such an iconic song.
Apparently John Hughes had planned to do a sequel with the characters when they were in their 30s (15-20 years after the Breakfast Club) but he never got around to it before his untimely death in 2009.
The name of the high school was Shermer High. That was also the name of the school in Ferris Bueller, Weird Science, and Sixteen Candles. It's in an imaginary suburb near Chicago
And I bet all these movies happen during the same school year, except Michael Anthony Hall playing two characters in the same high school would be a weird thing.
Saint Elmo’s Fire is probably the quintessential Brat pack flick bedsides this one, yet the characters are deeply flawed and ridiculous at times, but the title song by John Parr is pretty epic. One endearing one for Judd Nelson would be Making The Grade. He plays a street kid who is hired by a rich kid to complete his final year at prep school, and Andrew Dice Clay plays his bookie:)
While Allison's makeover is seen as controversial compared to her classic "dark" look, I didn't mind it, since she and Claire were bonding, and Allison was allowing someone to do something nice for her. I also love Andy's response "I can see your face", indicating that he liked her before.
Exactly. I never understood why for some it’s controversial or how it’s missed what’s going on. I’m a guy and understood when I first saw this at age 12. It is clear she wants to be seen and acknowledged, not ignored, and be recognized as beautiful. Her dark look was her hiding and the state of her soul
I always liked Allison's genuine bewilderment when she asked 'why are you being so nice to me??!' And Claire's momentary confusion before answering 'because you're letting me'....with a little self-conscious giggle that the answer is really so embarrassingly straightforward. Sometimes things ARE that simple. Claire probably didn't even realize why she was doing it either, until Allison asked, and Claire seemed surprised by her own answer. Both of them learned something important in what would otherwise be a trivial moment between two teenage girls.
@@sumelar That would make sense if it had happened before they all got to know each other. I don't think that anyone who found her makeover controversial at that point was paying attention to all that led up to that point.
Writer, Producer Director John Hughes has his only onscreen cameo in this movie playing Brian's Dad sitting and waiting in the red car at the end. He had no lines but is onscreen so watch for him next time. He defined the 80s especially its youth. RIP John Hughes
This is such a great movie. I remember watching it in psychology class in high school. Everyone needs to listen to the band Gunship and their song, “When you grow up, your heart dies.” Wonderful song.
Hughes has such a great body of work in the 80’s. When you watch all of them you will see the formula. I think one of the most noticeable features is his musical/score choices, usually just before the end as the characters resolve their differences/come to realizations. Its always very similar, light, airy, a little melancholy but satisfying. After seeing the movies so many times just hearing any of these pieces evokes the emotions the scene evoked in the movie. This one was the ‘love theme’ that plays over Claire/Bender and Andrew/Allison. Some other notables; PT&A when Neal gets on the L train and remembers his journey with Del. Uncle Buck when mom gets home and opens the door to face Tia.
This was one of the ultimate Brat Pack movies...as every cast member was considered a member of the Brat Pack. The other official members of the Brat Pack are: Andrew McCarthy, Rob Lowe, and Demi Moore, all of whom were in St Elmo's Fire (another Brat Pack film) with Emilio Estevez (Andy), Judd Nelson (Bender), and Ally Sheedy (Allison). Only Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald were not in St. Elmo's Fire. However, there are many others who are considered members as well, mainly because they were around this core group socially and professionally: Tom Cruise, Robert Downey, Jr., Timothy Hutton, Charlie Sheen (Emilio Estevez's brother), James Spader, Jon Cryer, John Cusack, Matthew Broderick, Mary Stuart Masterson, Joan Cusack, Jami Gertz, Nicholas Cage, Kiefer Sutherland, Sean Penn, and Lea Thompson. Melissa Gilbert (who was engaged to both Estevez and Lowe at different times) considered herself a member in her autobiography, even though she was never a film actor, but a TV star from Little House on the Prairie. During filming, Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall were dating. When Anthony Michael Hall gets into the car at the end, the man driving, playing Brian's father, is writer-director John Hughes, while Brian's mom and sister who drop him off were Anthony Michael Hall's real mother and sister. Both Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald were approached by John Hughes to be in the film toward the end of filming Sixteen Candles, which they both starred in. Hall signed on first, Molly was asked to play Allison, but wanted Claire. Originally, Bender was cast with John Cusack...but he was let go because he was thought to be "not intimidating enough", and Judd Nelson was the last one cast.
Ally Sheedy is also in Short Circuit, Molly Ringwald has a cameo in Not Another Teen Movie, and Emilio Estevez directed the criminally underrated movie Bobby
My parents went to high school with Paul Gleason, aka Principal Vernon. Even though he usually played a jerk as a character actor, he was a really nice guy in person. RIP Paul Gleason.
Jen you are one of the TOP reactors on youtube. Your editing is concise, precise, professional, and witty. I watched some of your older videos and you have gotten even better over the last two years. Keep up the good work!
"you mess with the bull, you get the horns" is a rendition of an older saying, meaning the exact same thing with only one word changed, "if you play with the bull, you get the horns" which was popularized in the 60', but was nowhere near as popularized as this movie made "if you mess with the bull you get the horns". if you like the nerdy kid (anthony micheal hall) watch the movie "weird science", nerds, computers, AI, teenage kids, parties and peer pressure, what could go wrong? (it also has a short lived TV show spin off)... i can guarantee you will like "weird science". also both molly ringwald and anthony michael hall were both in sixteen candles, but that not my kind of movie, not have i seen it, so i wouldn't watch a reaction to it, but its apparently its a good movie, you might enjoy that one too.
Great music in this film! Brought the 80s back to life! The 80s was a Great time, movies, music and no cell phones! Everything was done face to face! Not facebook to facebook.lmao 😅😅😅 ❤️💛😁
'The Reaction Club' - Saturday morning detention with Jen! A brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal all in one! This is where the wasteoids come to blaze up!
This is one of the movies that defines my generation. It's so accurate to the time it was made in. Most of the kids in my HS fit into the categories played by the characters in this film.
Jon Hughes movies are so special. This film remains one of my all time favourites when I 1st watched as a Teen and now! The Soundtrack, the depth, the fun... and I'm a teacher...
Anthony Michael Hall chose this film, and the later Weird Science (also 1985) as why he wasn't in the National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) sequel European Vacation (1985) Dana Barron (Audrey from NLV) refused to reprise her character because AMH wasn't reprising the Rusty character. Thus setting a tradition for having complete different actors for the kid roles in all the Vacation films. European, Christmas, Vegas, the 2015 film.
RISKY BUSINESS (1983), SIXTEEN CANDLES (1984), BETTER OFF DEAD (1985), REAL GENIUS (1985), etc .... these are "Teen Angst" films, and much of what makes them work so well are the Eighties soundtracks. This is probably the most celebrated film in this genre.
The part about your heart dying when you grow up is wildly poignant. It's rare to truly remember how intense things felt as a teenager. When something does bring back a full-force memory of it, it's shocking and saddening to realize how little we feel now in comparison. Even the negative feelings were nourishing. That's what this movie manages to capture. They're not afraid of fear, because there's always tomorrow.
This came out when I was a senior in high school and their talking points hit so close to home. I ended up writing an essay about this movie the following year in college freshman English class. It’s been almost 40 years later and I’m sitting in my den with the movie poster of this on the wall beside me.
ah cute Ally, such a crush on her when i was younger. She was so popular in the 80's had a nice run of about 5 years with some big movies, but got messed up on drugs and partying and that kind of ended it for her after the 80s.
I was in Junior High when this movie came out. I can still see it - the movie title - on the marquee. The ‘80’s, to any of us who lived in them, feels no more than twenty years ago. I’ll give you a fun little ‘80’s thing to do, i.e., sound like the eighty’s. Whenever you talk and there’s a pause between words, many people, for example, will say something like, hum or ahh - “And then, hum, when everything is, ahh, put back together…”, - instead of that say, “like”. “And then, like, when everything is, like, put back together…”. It’s continuous though. Anytime there’s a pause you say “like”.
This is one of my favorite movies. It has a sense of humor and it can also make you think back to your High School days. They all have their reason for being in Saturday detention and somehow they overcome their differences and form a bond with each other. It is a fun movie to watch. Highly recommend!
A movie you MUST watch and review that will bring you to absolute tears at the end is called “Without a Trace” (1983). I posted about this in the TMC Movie Fan site earlier this week and got over 5,000 likes and 1,000 comments thus far. That’s how impactful this movie was.
This movie became a ritual amongst my friends and I. Every Saturday night after the bar closed, we would head over to a buddy's house, continue to drink and watch this movie. We watched so often we all knew all the lines and would recite them while watching. To change things up, we decided to have each of us draw a character name from a hat and we would act out that character. Yes we were idiots, but we had fun.
Jen did John Hughes "Uncle Buck" and now she does John Hughes's "Breakfast Club". These young actors really held down the early eighties especially showing the young adult anxieties ... for the upper middle class kids! the working class kids I grew up with were kind of shaking our heads at this movie! 😀
This movie was on repeat for years in the 80's and 90's. I'm almost positive that the majority of Gen X can relate to one of these characters and that we knew these characters personally. It is a perfect representation of the generation. Everything was so simple yet so complicated, at the same time.
what made this movie stand out was that even though they used Stereotypes for the Characters John Hughes did a great job of writing them as People with Depth and I think that helped make them so relatable.
Nice reaction, Jen! I'm a GenXer, saw this movie in the theater during my Junior year of high school- a seminal movie for me. I really appreciate your observations about the music/soundtrack. Your comments about the soundtrack made me have a new and deeper appreciation for it. Thanks for that, and keep up the good work my friend.
Few things to consider - there are "brat pack movies" and there are "John Hughes movies." They often overlap, but he's known for coming of age teen movies in the 80s. Look up his others. Fun trivia - Brian's mom and sister at the beginning are Anthony Michael Hall's actual mother and sister. And his dad at the end is John Hughes. You might recognize the principal (Paul Gleason) from Die Hard as well - he was the police negotiator. Enjoy!
Thank you Jen! Had this movie memorized and quotable for years. Class of 1990, so this is what I came into and came from. Love your reactions. Came for the Star Trek, here for the torch-passing lol
The whistled song is from Bridge Over the River Kwai. They couldn't sing the lyrics because they wouldn't have been allowed in the film. The girls in the original Parent Trap also whistled it. It's called the Colonel Bogey March.
Classic film. "Don't You Forget About Me" is also a classic song that Simole Minds continue to perform to this day!!!! A brat pack movie that I would choose is another thoughtful one, "St. Elmo's Fire." Terrific cast including Emilio, Ally Sheedy (the basket case) and Judd Nelson (bender.) Great music too. BTW You don't have to take your glasses off to look preety. You already are. (Just referencing to the makeover scene) Really enjoyed watching this with you and I hope you have a great day!!!!😀
"We could live like fat rats, if we were the blunt connection in Shermer, Illinois ... But you know what we found out when we got there? There IS no Shermer in Illinois..."
1:34 - You may already know this, but in case you don't, Emilio Estevez is Charlie Sheen's brother. Estevez is actually their family name, but Charlie and his father Martin go by the name Sheen. They have a sister, Renee, who appeared in the movie Heathers (also great), and an uncle Joe, who is like an older, gruffer version of Martin Sheen. 7:19 - [wrapping string around a finger] I've done that. 17:21 - How did Bender fall through the ceiling over the UPPER level of the library? Did the principal lock him in an upstairs closet, while he's downstairs in his office? If he locked him in his office closet, how did Bender go up a level? 30:50 - "If she was wearing glasses, she would take them off and then be beautiful." - Something Jen doesn't have to do. ;)
Did Jen ever get detention, and what for ? Unofficial Brekky Club 2 is called St Elmos Fire with Nelson, Estevez and Sheedy returning as different characters leaving university to find themselves alongside Kevin McCarthy, Demi Moore and Rob Lowe. Brat Pack... It don't get more 80s than that shizzle. Another classic Brat Pack movie is Young Guns with Kiefer Sutherland, Estevez, Charlie Sheen and Lou Diamond Phillips.
My Favourite 80s High School Teen Movies (non-horror)... 5. Sixteen Candles 4. The Breakfast Club 3. Better Off Dead 2. Pretty In Pink 1. Fast Times At Ridgemont High Thanks for making videos eh.
There was so many layers in this film. I totally related to all the characters as my 80's were very much all of this film. High School was brutal in some ways and it changed me. But this film changed me in ways that I never thought. It struck a chord with me then, and it really brought home that everyone around me was struggling through high school in some ways. I became friends with all cliques and groups, still me to this day. Not a social buttefly, but I like to look through the lense of others lives and understand we are all different but in unique and interestings ways. I love this movie and literally when the mood hits, I que up my Blu-Ray and watch it again. (probably seen it 30-40 times) I mean anything John Hughes did is immensely watchable again and again.