About This Quiz
Movies for children and young adults were huge in the '80s and have only grown since then. A decade known for funky hairstyles and even crazier clothing (and antics) saw movie directors become increasingly experimental. And therefore, we were introduced to some characters that we never saw before, all of which made for a decade of epic films; we're talking flying, time-traveling cars, mysterious aliens, ghosts and lightsabers. And because we like our fair share of blasts from the past, we're going to go back about 35 years to relive some of the movies that wowed everyone during the '80s.
So we'll show you some screenshots of these iconic movies. They're sure to include, but aren't limited to the likes of "The Dark Crystal," "Cloak and Dagger," "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids," "Back to the Future" and "The Goonies." If you remember even half of these films and the characters who starred in them, you have a shot at acing this quiz. So if you'd like to go way back, even to even prompt a movie marathon, let's go ahead and get started on this quiz.
"The Goonies" is a 1985 adventure comedy film about a band of children who live in the “Goon Docks” area of Astoria, Oregon. They try to save their homes from demolition by searching for the long-lost fortune of the pirate One-Eyed Willy.
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"Ernest Saves Christmas" is 1988 Christmas comedy movie which starred actor Jim Varney as Ernest P. Worrell. It follows the character as he helps to find a replacement for Santa Claus, whose years or riding the sleigh have caught up with him.
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"A Christmas Story" is a Christmas comedy which was based on elements from books by Jean Shepherd. It tells the story of little 9-year-old Ralphie Parker, who wanted a BB gun for Christmas. His requests were denied by his teacher, mother, and department store, but his father buys him the toy.
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"The Land Before Time" is a 1988 animated drama film which featured executive producers like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. The movie follows a group of dinosaurs; Little Foot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike in the search for the Great Valley.
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"Back to the Future" is a 1985 science fiction film which stars Michael J. Fox as the teenager Marty McFly, who accidentally travels back to 1955 using Dr. Emmett Brown’s time-traveling DeLorean. While there, he meets the people who will become his parents and accidentally becomes his mother’s love interest.
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"Ghostbusters" is a 1984 supernatural comedy film which stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Harold Ramis as four parapsychologists who start a ghost-catching business in New York City. The movie was remade in 2016 with an all-female cast.
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"The Little Mermaid" is a 1989 animated musical Disney film which was based on a Danish fairy tale by the author Hans Christian Andersen. It follows the life of a little mermaid named Ariel who has big dreams of becoming a human and walking on land.
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"Little Monsters" is a 1989 black comedy film which starred actors Howie Mandel and Fred Savage, and tells the story of a boy who becomes friends with a monster and discovers a secret world of monsters, who sneak into the bedrooms of children to play pranks on them.
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"Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" is a 1989 science fiction film about an inventor who accidentally shrinks his children as well as his neighbors’ children, then accidentally throws them into the trash. The children must now find their way home while going through different obstacles.
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"Pee-wee’s Big Adventure" is a 1985 adventure comedy film which features Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman on a nationwide search for his stolen bike. The movie’s script was created soon after the success of The Pee-wee Herman Show.
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"The Adventures of Milo and Otis" is a 1986 adventure comedy film about two animals, Milo the tabby cat and Otis the pug, who always seem to find themselves in trouble, but also on their own.
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"An American Tail" is a 1986 animated musical film which tells the story of a mouse named Fievel Mousekewitz and his family who emigrated from Ukraine to the United States for their freedom. He later gets lost and must find his way back to his family.
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"Harry and the Hendersons" is a 1987 fantasy comedy film about a family from Seattle who encounters the legendary creature Bigfoot after accidentally hitting him with the family’s Ford Country Squire. They decide to take him home and later name him Harry.
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"All Dogs Go to Heaven" is a 1989 animated musical fantasy film about a German shepherd named Charlie who is murdered by his former friend Carface. After being sent to heaven, he returns to Earth and teams up with Itchy and an orphan named Anne-Marie and teaches them the importance of friendship.
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"Labyrinth" is a 1986 musical fantasy movie about a girl named Sarah who is given a few hours to solve a labyrinth in order to save her brother, who she wished away. The movie stars David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly and Toby Froud as its main cast.
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"The Secret of NIMH" is a 1982 animated dark fantasy film which was based on the 1971 children’s novel “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.” It follows the story of a field mouse who in a desperate attempt to save her son asks for help from a colony of rats but learns that her husband has a secret connection with them.
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"The Fox and the Hound" is a 1981 animated drama film which was loosely based on a Daniel P. Mannix novel with the same name. It tells the story of the friendship between a red fox and a hound dog and their struggle to preserve it as their true instincts emerge.
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"Annie" is a 1982 musical comedy film which was based on the Little Orphan Annie comic strips by Harold Gray. The film, which is set during the Great Depression, follows Annie the orphan, who is taken in by the richest man in America, Oliver Warbucks.
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"Flight of the Navigator" is a 1986 science fiction adventure film about a 12-year-old boy named David Freeman (played by actor Joey Crammer), who is abducted by an alien spaceship and is taken into the future.
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"Short Circuit" is a 1986 science fiction film about an experimental military robot which is struck by lightning and gains human-like intelligence because of it. The film features actors including Ally Sheedy, Fisher Stevens and Steve Guttenberg.
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"Return to Oz" is a 1985 fantasy film which is based on the Oz novels by L. Frank Baum. It revolved around Dorothy who returns to the Land of Oz where she discovers that the inhabitants are threatened by an evil king who lives in the neighboring mountains.
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"The Dark Crystal" is a 1982 fantasy adventure film about a Gefling (an elf-like creature), named Jen who is on a mission to restore balance to his world by returning the missing part of the broken gem known as the lost shard.
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"Oliver & Company" is a 1988 animated musical Disney film which is based on the Charles Dickens tale, "Oliver Twist." In the movie, Oliver is a homeless kitten who joins up with a gang of dogs in order to survive the streets of New York City.
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"The Boy Who Could Fly" is a 1986 fantasy film about a 14-year-old girl who moves to a new neighborhood after the death of her father. She later becomes friends with her autistic neighbor who helps her deal with the loss that she has suffered.
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"The Black Cauldron" is a 1985 animated adventure film which is loosely based on the first two books from "The Chronicles of Prydain" by Lloyd Alexander. It follows the evil Horned King who is on a mission to secure an ancient magical cauldron which will help him conquer the world.
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"The Brave Little Toaster" is a 1987 animated comedy which is based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Disch. The movie is set in a world where household items and electronics come to life when humans are not present. It follows the toaster and his friends on a mission to find their owner.
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"Big" is a 1988 fantasy comedy film which stars Tom Hanks as Josh Baskin, a 12-year-old boy who after being too short for a carnival ride, wishes “to be big” by putting a coin into a fortune telling machine called “Zoltar.” He is then turned into an adult overnight.
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"The Last Starfighter" is a 1984 space opera film which tells the story of teenager Alex Rogers, played by the actor Lance Guest, who is recruited by an alien defense force to fight an ongoing interstellar war between the Rylan Star League and the Ko-Dan Empire.
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"E.T. the Extraterrestrial" is a 1982 science fiction film about a little boy named Elliot who befriends an extraterrestrial being who he named E.T. After the alien reveals that he is stuck on planet Earth, Elliot and his friend help him to return home and hide him from the government.
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"Ernest Goes to Camp" is a 1987 comedy film starring actor Jim Varney as Ernest P. Worrell. In this movie, he works as the summer camp’s handyman but has dreams of becoming a guidance counselor all the while trying to prevent it from closing down.
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"Mac and Me" is a 1988 science fiction film centered around a character named MAC (Mysterious Alien Creature) who escapes being held by NASA agents and befriends a wheelchair-bound young boy named Eric Cruise.
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"SpaceCamp" is a 1986 space adventure film which was inspired by the real U.S. Space Camp in Alabama. Starring Tate Donovan, Joaquin Phoenix and Kate Capshaw, the movie follows a group of teens who go to the Kennedy Space Center to learn about the NASA space program.
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"Cloak & Dagger" is a 1984 spy adventure film which is based on the short story “The Boy Cried Murder” by Cornell Woolrich. It follows a young boy and his imaginary friend on the run from spies who want a game cartridge containing military secrets.
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"Wargames" is a 1983 science fiction film which stars actors Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman and John Wood. It follows a young hacker, played by Broderick, who accesses a US military supercomputer which is programmed to predict the outcomes of nuclear wars.
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"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a 1985 romantic comedy film which starred Sarah Jessica Parker, Morgan Woodward and Shannen Doherty. It follows an Army brat named Janey who is transferred to Chicago, the home of her favorite dance show, which she later auditions for.
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"Explorers" is a 1985 science fiction film which stars River Phoenix, Ethan Hawke, and Jason Presson as a group of teen boys who build a spacecraft in order to explore outer space. They then take off into space where they encounter extraterrestrial life.
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"Adventures in Babysitting" is a 1987 comedy film which stars actors Elisabeth Shue, Keith Coogan and Anthony Rapp. It follows Chris, who is devastated after her boyfriend forgets their anniversary date and is convinced to babysit some children.
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"The NeverEnding Story" is a 1984 fantasy film which was based on a novel with the same name by Michael Ende. It tells the story of a young boy who reads a magical book about a young warrior who must stop a dark force known as the Nothing from engulfing the world.
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"The Wizard" is a 1989 family film which starred Christian Slater, Fred Savage and Toby Maguire as three children who travel to California, the youngest of whom has a gift for playing video games.
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"The Karate Kid" is a 1984 martial arts drama film which stars William Zabka, Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. It tells the story of a teen who moves across the coast with his mother who is tormented by some of the kids at his new school. He then learns martial arts from the handyman living at the apartment.
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