# 80s Coming-Of-Age Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-coming-of-age-movies/532360 "2010-03-13T16:52:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-coming-of-age-movies/532360/21 "2010-03-15T18:54:51Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > _The Journey of Natty Gann_ – underappreciated movie, John Cusack in a supporting role. YES. Fantastic movie. Ray Wise. YES. I read the book _In Country_ and hated it. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-coming-of-age-movies/532360/22 "2010-03-15T18:59:02Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > I voted for a bunch of them, but the top two on this list for me are _Better Off Dead_ and _Back To The Future_. > > _Better Off Dead_ is, I think, one of the greatest stories ever told. Only _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ and _This Is Spinal Tap_ outrank it. The film is nearly perfect in capturing dark, twisted humor… there are so many things in it that are just wrong. I love it. > [@Sidney Evgeni Jordan](#): > > I was expecting that **Better Off Dead** and **Real Genius** would be among the most popular answers - they aren’t doing quite as well as I had thought they would. I agree with **GESancMan** that **Better Off Dead** is close to perfect in its genre. > [@Monstre](#): > > I picked several on the poll, but I just had to chime in here to say that _Better Off Dead_ tops my list. Best 80s comedy ever! “…One of the greatest stories ever told”? “…Close to perfect in its genre”? “Best 80s comedy ever!”? Funny you should say that. In college, we used to say (tongue in cheek, of course) that _ **Better Off Dead** _ was the best piece of art ever produced by Western civilization. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-coming-of-age-movies/532360/23 "2010-03-15T19:31:10Z")
> [@Sidney Evgeni Jordan](#): > > That is a good one, too. I was trying to keep it to movies about teenagers, but I would say that is a coming-of-age movie. Lute’s suggestion of \*Biloxi Blues \*reminded me of _Brighton Beach Memoirs_, which came out a couple of years earlier and features the same character–Eugene, played by Jonathan Silverman in _BBM_– as a teenager growing up in Brooklyn. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-coming-of-age-movies/532360/24 "2010-03-15T19:42:06Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > _Little Darlings_ – Tatum O’Neal and Kristy McNichol as two girls at summer camp trying to lose their virginity (but not to each other!) Although that would have been interesting, too! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-coming-of-age-movies/532360/25 "2010-03-15T19:59:15Z")
I was in my twenties during the eighties so I arbitrarily skipped all the choices after 1985. I also skipped any movie I didn’t see at the time of its release. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-coming-of-age-movies/532360/26 "2010-03-27T23:14:59Z")
This list is sorely missing both _My Tutor_ and _Just One of the Guys_. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-coming-of-age-movies/532360/27 "2010-03-27T23:30:49Z")
Of the choices listed, my top two are definitely _Back To the Future_, and _Heathers_. And to my mind _Rumble Fish_ is superior to _The Outsiders_, and has an excellent Stewart Copeland-penned score, to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-coming-of-age-movies/532360/28 "2010-03-28T06:46:50Z")
Thank you thank you THANK YOU for including [Wish You Were Here](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094331/)! I adore that movie, mainly because of the super-cute Emily Lloyd, and it seems like you’re a fan too, because you also put In Country on the list. She’s fantastic in both movies. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-coming-of-age-movies/532360/29 "2010-03-28T07:02:57Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > This list is sorely missing both _My Tutor_ and _Just One of the Guys_. Yes! Both of these movies provided me plenty of “material” back in the day. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-coming-of-age-movies/532360/30 "2010-03-28T07:23:49Z")
Karate Kid is amazing! ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-coming-of-age-movies/532360/31 "2010-03-28T15:46:42Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > This list is sorely missing both _My Tutor_ and _Just One of the Guys_. Ha, this list was compiled by a female. I can remember how important **My Tutor** was for guys my age (also, **Blame it on Rio** , right?) But, personally, I was a bit distracted by latent fantasies of Andrew McCarthy (_dreamy_) while I was making up the list. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-coming-of-age-movies/532360.md?page=1)