Summary

• 1980s films captured the essence of the era with iconic music, fashion, and cultural references.
• Arcade culture, big hair, and synth-pop soundtracks were staples of 1980s cinema.
• Themes like urban decay, Cold War tensions, and high school cliques were central to movies set in the 1980s.

The 1980s was a unique time period with so many idiosyncratic aspects, and audiences expected several things from movies set during this era. While plenty of films made during the 1980s were full of stereotypical 80s clichés and tropes, this has intensified for contemporary movies hoping to tap into the nostalgia of that time and lean into 1980s sensibilities and representations. When done well, these tenets of 1980s culture breathe life into a movie and add to its authenticity, but films can look more like cheap parodies when poorly executed.

The first things viewers expected from movies set in the 1980s involved fashion and music, but there was a lot more to that time than just that. More socially aware films set during this era highlight that time period's social and political context as characters grapple with economic insecurity and urban decay. Audiences expected to see many different things in movies set in the 1980s, and how well they were done could make or break a film’s success.

10 Teens Spending Time At The Local Arcade

Pixels (2015)

Today, gaming has become something that teenagers can do in the comfort of their own homes, but during the 1980s, the only way to play games like Pac-Man, Asteroids, or Donkey Kong was to head down to the local arcade. This made arcades an important social destination and was often a prime location for many teen movies during the 1980s. Whenever there’s a nerdy kid in a movie set in the 1980s, audiences can expect to see them hanging out in the arcade.

The Adam Sandler sci-fi comedy Pixels leaned heavily into this trope and began with a flashback to 1982 as Sam Brenner played Donkey Kong on videocassette footage that was later sent to space. This formed the basis for the entire film as Pixels moved to the present day and alien replicas of the arcade games attacked the Earth. These ideas leaned heavily into the association between arcade culture and the 1980s and were a trope seen in many films.

9 Synth-Pop & Power Ballads

American Psycho (2000)

Almost more than any other decade, the 1980s had a distinctive sound that audiences should expect to hear in any movie set during this period. While 1980s classics like The Karate Kid and plenty of Rocky movies gave viewers iconic soundtracks and epic montage songs, this continued to be the case for movies set during the 1980s. Genres like synth-pop and emotional power ballads were often used to inject a real 1980s aesthetic and tone into movies set during that era.

One movie that showcased a different side of the 1980s but still maintained its notable music was American Psycho, which satirized 1980s yuppie culture and consumerism. In American Psycho, Patrick Bateman was a serial killer with a fondness for New Wave as he waxed lyrical about the importance of Huey Lewis and the News before killing one of his victims. The song “Hip to Be Square” was now forever associated with the American Psycho soundtrack and was an excellent use of music in a 1980s setting.

8 1980s Big Hair

The Wedding Singer (1998)

If a movie was going to be set in the 1980s, the era-appropriate hairstyle absolutely had to be right. During this period, iconic looks like the perm and the mullet were in vogue, and as a general rule, bigger was always better. All of these hairstyles were on full display throughout movies made during the 1980s, but when later films were set in this period, they were often exaggerated even further as the outrageous hairstyles got bigger and bigger, especially in comedies.

The Adam Sandler romantic comedy The Wedding Singer was one of the greatest examples of this, as not only did Sandler sport a big hairstyle, but everyone around him followed suit. The Wedding Singer was one of Sandler’s best rom-coms, and it was made even more enjoyable through all the references to the 1980s found throughout. As a story following a wedding singer in 1985, The Wedding Singer was full of big hair, bold fashion statements, and great 1980s music.

7 Boomboxes, Cassette Tapes, & Vinyl Records

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

While music itself has changed a lot since the 1980s, so has the way that listeners consume it, and one surefire way for filmmakers to showcase a movie was set in the 1980s to feature things like boomboxes, cassette tapes, and vinyl records. These relics of the past indicate for viewers what era they were witnessing, and when mixed with the fashion styles of the time, it’s easy to tell when something was set in the 1980s. One classic example from that time was Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) in Say Anything serenading his girlfriend with a boombox outside her window.

However, this was also seen in later movies across many different genres, with a prime example being the use of cassette tapes in Guardians of the Galaxy. Although the movie wasn’t entirely set in the 1980s, Guardians of the Galaxy began in 1988, and Peter Quill, who later became Star-Lord, hung onto his cassette player as a memory of his life on Earth. This retro reference to the past, paired with excellent 1980s music often featured in the Guardians of the Galaxy series, highlighted the importance of that era to the lead character.

6 The Cold War

Atomic Blonde (2017)

The political tension between the United States and the Soviets cast a shadow over the entire 1980s and was often a significant part of movies set in the 1980s. Even if it’s not the entire basis of the plot, Russian villains, like Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, were often used as stand-ins to represent the overall political animosity between the regions. The memory of this long-lasting conflict has remained in contemporary movies set in the 1980s, as the Cold War has often been used to illuminate current conflicts.

This can be seen across genres, like the action thriller Atomic Blonde, which was set during the Cold War's final days shortly before the Berlin Wall came down. Charlie Wilson's War, starring Tom Hanks, explored the true story of a congressman’s attempts to the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan War during the 1980s. The theme of political tension between two major natures was always going to be relevant, so it made sense that it came up time and time again in movies set during the 1980s.

5 Urban Decay

This Is England (2006)

It’s common to look back on the 1980s with a sense of glamor and excitement, but this ignores the incredible economic turmoil of that era and the urban decay that was on full display. With Reaganomics in the United States and Thatcherism in the United Kingdom, Neo-Liberalism at this time led to massive wealth inequality as the rich gained tax breaks while the poor struggled to get by. This was reflected in movies during that time, but with the power of hindsight, it became much more relevant in later movies set in the 1980s.

The British drama This Is England expertly showcased the devastating effects of economic turmoil and urban decay on a troubled 12-year-old boy named Shaun in the East Midlands. Shaun was relentlessly bullied for his poor social standing and soon found a sense of identity with a group of local teenage skinheads. This coming-of-age story sadly turned dark when the group was radicalized by a racist older member. The story of This Is England captured something real about that era in British history, and this was a trope that can be seen in many socially aware movies set during the 1980s.

4 The Dawn Of Home Computing

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)

The 1980s were an extraordinarily exciting time for computing. Technology was expanding at a rapid rate, and what once felt like science fiction was starting to become a reality. While this was true at the time, looking back, the technology looks quite tame. The way it was represented in movies like Weird Science holds a special nostalgia for a simpler era before smartphones became ubiquitous. This excitement around technology's incredible potential was seen in movies made in the 1980s and has remained in newer films set during that era.

Danny Boyle’s biopic about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs perfectly encapsulated this excitement around the dawn of home computing. Steve Jobs began shortly before the Apple Macintosh 128K was unveiled in 1984 and highlighted how the company grew throughout the 1980s. While Steve Jobs was based on true events, these ideas were also seen in fiction works like the interactive Netflix film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, which followed a young programmer who made his own video game in 1984.

3 Iconic Movies Posters & Memorabilia

Sing Street (2015)

One way movies set in the 1980s tried to capture a sense of authenticity was not through the story itself but in all the little details that viewers could notice in the background. Whenever a scene was set in a teenager's bedroom in a movie with a 1980s setting, audiences could be sure to notice a litany of movie posters, era-appropriate records, and lots of other memorabilia that just screamed 1980s. This was a great way to showcase a character’s identity and interests and a fantastic trick for grounding the movie in its place and time.

This trope was on full display in teen movies made in the 1980s, like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or Sixteen Candles, but has extended up to modern times into contemporary movies set during that era. One example was the Irish musical coming-of-age film Sing Street, which followed a group of inner-city Dublin teens who formed a band in 1985. Sing Street was full of memorabilia from that period, as the characters tried to emulate the music they loved and played the songs to impress girls.

2 The Bold Fashion Sensibilities

Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)

The very first thing viewers expected to see from movies that took place in the 1980s was the unique sense of fashion from that era. Shoulder pads, parachute pants, power suits, and denim were all popular during this time, and for a movie to feel authentic, it must have reflected these styles and fashion trends. During that time, movies like Flashdance and Risky Business gave incredible insight into what was popular, and this has been carried forward into contemporary films that were set in the 1980s.

Richard Linklater's breakout film, Dazed and Confused, gave cinema one of its best representations of the 1970s. Decades later, he followed this up with a spiritual sequel set in the 1980s called Everybody Wants Some!! This film encapsulated much of the 1980s' bold fashion sensibilities, as all the characters wore era-appropriate clothing. This college comedy leaned heavily into the tropes that viewers expected to see from the 1980s regarding fashion and music.

1 Jocks, Cheerleaders, Nerds, Bullies, & Stoners

Summer of 84 (2018)

The 1980s cliches of high school hierarchy were effectively seen in John Hughes movies such as The Breakfast Club and have since seeped into the collective understanding of high school during that era. With stereotypical representations of popular jocks and cheerleaders contrasting with nerds and bullies, all while the stoners stood on the outside, these groupings stood as movie shorthand for the characters’ social standing in high school movies. While this can also be seen in movies that were not set in the 1980s, it’s become highly related to that era.

The social hierarchy of high school in the 1980s was effectively seen in the teen horror Summer of 84, which followed a group of nerd friends who suspect their neighbor may be a serial killer. Graham Verchere played Davey Armstrong, a stereotypical 80s nerd, while his love interest, Nikki Kaszuba, encapsulated every 1980s popular high school prom queen. The character tropes of jocks, cheerleaders, nerds, bullies, stoners, and more can be expected from every teen movie set in the 1980s.