There are people for whom “The Outsiders” (1983) is in their top 10 all-time films. Some rank it No. 1. Like some others are with “The Breakfast Club,” this film about teenage outcasts spoke to them. I saw it when I was 52, not 15, so the impact wasn’t the same. But I can see director Francis Ford Coppola was trying to translate the deep thoughts S.E. Hinton was working through in her novel. Messages about class, about teenage angst – the kinds of things that might resonate deeply with someone. So even thought I didn’t get it, I get it.
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“Red Dawn” (1984) is one of several “What if the Russians and us went to war?” movies from the 1980s. This one stars a Brat Pack B list. It’s a guilty pleasure for many red-blooded American men of a certain age. It makes passing reference to how hard it is to fight in Afghanistan (apparently, nobody listened). Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey are together, three years before “Dirty Dancing.” They even have a tender scene right before she blows up a Russkie with a grenade. She also has several scenes with Charlie Sheen, two years before “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
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