VHS Gems: The ’80s Movies We Discovered at the Video Store

Kier

When it comes to the 80s, we all know and appreciate the classic. Ghostbusters, Terminator, The Karate Kid, The Goonies, The Lost Boys, even the myriad of John Hughes classics to sweep the youth of the decade. Of course for fans of action, we had no shortage of hits to look back on. Most of these now-classic movies had a lot in common. They were all mostly big-budget films that saw huge success upon their respective releases in theaters across the nation. But, what about the movies that didn’t do big business at the box office, but cleaned up VERY well in the video rental market?

One thing to know about the 80s is that this is really the era that saw the beginning of the VHS rental craze that lasted through the 90s and into the early millennium. It was a time of excitement when you were able to take a weekly trip to your local video store and browse the shelves for the perfect stack of flicks to fill your weekend. And much like any decade in cinema, the heavy hitters in theaters were just the tip of the iceberg, and the further down those shelves you went, the more interesting things got. In today’s episode, we’re going DEEP into our box of VHS cult classics and talking about some of the finest films to dominate the home-video market during the greatest decade for movies. If you love movies that your friends and family have never heard of, this column is for you.

So, get your popcorn, grab a fresh can of “New Coke” and kick your feet up while we hit play on the video rental gems of the 1980s. Let’s go!

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

In our previous columns, we have discussed everything from the A, B, and C-list actors of the decade, we’ve talked about the foreign kung-fu invasion, the stunts, directors, studios, and aesthetics of the 80s, and damn near everything in between. This episode will celebrate a few handfuls of movies that had little (or no) success at the theater, but have since become some of the most beloved cult hits of the era, and we start with one that RoboCop fans consider Peter Weller’s second best leading role of the 80s, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension…

The title may be a mouthful, but the movie is an… eyeful? It kicks ass is what I’m saying.

Peter Weller plays badass and brilliant neurosurgeon, physicist, rock star, and adventurer Buckaroo Banzai. When he accidentally opens a portal to another dimension, he basically triggers an invasion by some freaky aliens disguised as ordinary human people. And with the help of his band dubbed the Hong Kong Cavaliers, Buckaroo races to stop an interdimensional war before Earth is destroyed and everyone on the planet dies. It tells this story without much structure, and it uses kung-fu, satire, science fiction, weird tonal shifts… And it’s also kind of a musical I mean… does this now sound insane to you? It’s actually really hard to explain this movie.

So, what works about this movie? First of all, Weller’s performance is great as expected. His dry line delivery and effortlessly cool demeanor make him the perfect grounding element in this completely absurd movie. In fact, few movies really represent the raw creativity and experimental filmmaking of the 80s BETTER than this one. It’s celebrated for its uniqueness now, but when it was released to theaters it was met with almost no love. It was a financial failure and a critical bomb receiving poor reviews and little commercial traction. That is (of course) until the VHS release had people curious enough to check it out, resulting in it becoming a much-beloved cult hit in the years since.

In fact, audiences who discovered this film on home video embraced its bizarre sense of pulp adventure, deadpan humor, and its quotable dialogue, unforgettable characters, and unapologetically strange world-building which made it a cult obsession that rewarded repeat rentals and late-night rewatches. This movie cannot be forgotten when we talk about hidden gems of the decade.

The Last Starfighter

Keeping with the sci-fi theme here, The Last Starfighter follows tech-obsessed teenager Alex Rogan who believes he’s simply mastered an old arcade video game, only to discover it was actually a recruitment test being administered by an alien civilization who needs pilots for their intergalactic defense program. Swept into an interstellar war, Alex must become a real-life “starfighter” and defend the galaxy and his home planet alongside an unlikely group of unforgettable allies. Okay, to address the elephant in the comment section—yes. This movie is basically Back to the Future meets Star Wars and ya know what? It is awesome.

Directed by Michael Myers (I mean Nick Castle), this movie is a neon-drenched space adventure that properly represents the decade it came from. It stars Lance Guest as our main character and is a total B-movie darling for fans of sci-fi. What we have here is a fantasy film that understood the youth market. It’s a coming-of-age story that happens to fulfill every kid’s wish that video games could become reality. The movie was not a commercial success by any means, but families rented it over and over again to bask in the VFX glory of this movie’s action scenes, and the awkward teen POV that we see this fantastical world through. It’s so much fun and I highly recommend it. Hell, this may be one that you haven’t seen and I guarantee you will enjoy it.

The Wraith

Ah, The Wraith, one of those movies you caught halfway through on TV and always wondered what it was. Well I’ll tell ya, it’s… well it’s this.

The Wraith is the story of Jake, a teenage boy who is killed by a violent gang only to be granted a second life as a cosmic revenge machine with a futuristic car that he uses to take vengeance on his killers. Think, The Crow meets Death Race for this one, but with a classic 80s teen drama tone. The movie’s cast is quite stacked with Charlie Sheen as Jake AKA The Wraith, joined by Nick Cassavetes, Randy Quaid, Clint Howard (who looks like Eraserhead‘s inbred bastard), and Sherilyn Fenn. This movie is bizarre to be sure, but it features some pretty awesome driving sequences and a kick-ass soundtrack.

I might be partially biased because they filmed this movie pretty close to where I live, but I definitely don’t think it gets enough love. It was far from a financial success (like every movie we’re talking about today), but it did see a decent resurgence in home video. Like we’ve talked about in previous episodes, this movie is a pure 80s treat with its stylish cars, neon visuals, black leather, and synth-heavy score. It’s hard to imagine that this wasn’t a hit, but I wouldn’t be doing my part if I didn’t advise viewers of our show to check it out ASAP.

UHF

Next we gotta talk about potentially one of the most bonkers and downright wacky movies of the era (and maybe of all time), and that is “Weird Al” Yankovic in UHF. This one is one that I DO recommend, but only for a specific kind of movie fan. While the previous films we’ve discussed so far have what I believe to be broad appeal to general fans of movies, this movie requires a little more of an open mind in a similar way that Buckaroo Banzai does, only it’s slightly more chaotic (if you can even imagine).

Weird Al plays George, a down-on-his-luck and unemployed nobody who finds himself taking over the management of a local failing TV station. Kind of a dream come true for a guy like George who has big dreams, but isn’t interested in soulless corporate work. Upon becoming the head freak in charge, George rebrands the station with wacky sketches and comedic insanity to find that he’s not only turned this failing studio into a popular TV program, but he’s also attracted the very corporate overlords that he tried to avoid due to its success. This movie fully embraces what makes Weird Al… weird.

This was very much a commercial flop to the point that you’d be forgiven for not even knowing it was ever in theaters. I mean, how does one market a movie like this? Sure it’s a comedy, but it’s not a comedy like say, Christmas Vacation or Weekend at Bernie’s which came out that same year. This was an 80s movie that was so ahead of its time it was basically a 90s movie. What I mean is, it wasn’t until the end of the 80s that this movie hit video store shelves and found itself a whole new life. Stoners of the 80s and 90s would watch this movie like it was a damn classic and rent it every weekend just so they could show it to someone else time and time again. It’s one of the movies that I think works as a good litmus test to see if your friends can appreciate your sense of humor. Some people like it, some really don’t, but I think it’s hilarious and strange and one of a kind. It sounds weird, but if you like the 1997 Nickelodeon comedy Good Burger, you’ll love this movie. If you’ve seen both films, you know exactly what I mean.

Midnight Run

Okay, this one is actually one that despite it being a hit, I hadn’t seen until fairly recently. I got a recommendation for it about 10 years ago and watched it with some friends and I gotta say, I’m ashamed I missed this one growing up, ESPECIALLY given that it’s Robert De Niro. Midnight Run follows Jack Walsh, a street-smart and take-no-shit bounty hunter who wears a leather jacket in the blazing sun because he doesn’t give a fuck. He picks up a bounty transporting sensitive criminal Jonathan Mardukas (played by the legendary Charles Grodin) from the East Coast to the West Coast to be indicted for his scams. Little does Walsh know that he won’t be the only one making that road trip, as he’s being chased by the mob, the FBI, and even some past acquaintances of his own who are all after Mardukas and the bounty that comes with him.

This movie did do well financially and got decent critical reviews, but it was REALLY the VHS rentals that cemented its legacy as one of the great buddy-action movies of the decade. This is basically a road-trip comedy that’s being carried on the backs of the two leads who have undeniable chemistry on screen. What makes this one so re-rentable is the endless string of sharp dialogue, back-and-forth banter, and wall-to-wall entertaining moments from laughing to being on the edge of your seat. Please watch this one. You won’t regret it.

Miracle Mile

Imagine you’re walking down the street on a beautiful night in Los Angeles when you happen to hear a pay phone ringing on the street. Out of mild curiosity, you decide to answer the call, only to be told that a nuclear war has been started and you’ve got only an hour and 10 minutes left to live. Now imagine that you had just been stricken by love and fallen in love with a mysterious stranger who was blissfully unaware of the impending doom. What would you do with your final hour? Well, for our main character Harry (played by Anthony Edwards), he aims to spend that time tracking down his love and doing all he can to make the most of this very scary situation. That’s basically Miracle Mile. And it’s pretty good!

The most memorable aspect of this movie is the dramatic and somewhat jarring tonal shift from a romantic comedy and sort of sweet love story, to being a straight-up dark thriller that leaves you feeling a pit of despair in your stomach. The movie is haunting and offbeat, and at times just plain old dreadful, but that’s by design. This movie wants you to feel a wide range of emotions that connect you to the character on an intimate level while also presenting this unfathomable doom that’s kind of looming over your head. It’s very Hitchcockian in that way; it has a timer set on it that says everything ends in 70 minutes, and there’s no stopping it, but the movie has a way of making you care about the unfolding love story despite knowing it probably isn’t going to end well because… nukes. It’s very 80s, and I like it very much.

*batteries not included

In this movie, the eccentric Frank and Faye, residents of a struggling New York apartment building, discover tiny flying robot creatures that are capable of and fixated on repairing damaged objects. As greedy developers threaten to demolish their home, the mini robot visitors become their unlikely allies and save their apartments from being destroyed.

This movie was produced by Steven Spielberg of all people and oddly flew under the radar despite its use of VFX and recognizable studio backing. It’s packaged as a family sci-fi comedy and I think that really hits the nail right on the head as this movie is equal parts cute and funny, magical, mystical, and heartwarming. What really makes it special (to me) is the leading characters Frank and Faye Riley. They’re an adorable and sort of feisty old couple that have undeniable chemistry and are played wonderfully by the late Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy.

As underrated as it was in theaters, this was a movie that families would rent and watch together frequently as it was a fun sci-fi flick in the tradition of Gremlins, Back to the Future, and even The ‘Burbs. It has style, great performances, some fun VFX, and a very satisfying happy ending that made you feel good inside. It’s one you can watch with the whole family and everyone will certainly enjoy themselves.