100 Fun Facts About 80s Movie

In E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which candy does Elliott use to lure the alien into his home?

Reese's Pieces got the placement after Mars declined to license M&M's; Hershey's reported Reese's Pieces sales rose about 65% in the weeks after the film's 1982 release.

Which Spielberg film finally took E.T.'s title as highest-grossing film of all time, in 1993?

Jurassic Park took the global record after E.T. had held it for eleven years; E.T. kept the North American record another four, until the Star Wars Special Edition.

Which actor was originally cast as Marty McFly in Back to the Future and replaced weeks into filming?

Eric Stoltz shot for about five weeks before Robert Zemeckis replaced him with Michael J. Fox, whose Family Ties schedule forced the reshoots to run at night.

At what speed does the DeLorean in Back to the Future activate time travel?

The DeLorean must hit 88 mph to trigger the flux capacitor; co-writer Bob Gale said 88 was chosen because it was easy to remember and looked good on the speedometer.

Which carmaker offered $75,000 to have Doc Brown's time machine be one of its cars instead of a DeLorean?

Ford offered $75,000 to make the time machine a Mustang; co-writer Bob Gale replied that Doc Brown does not drive a Mustang. Early drafts had the machine inside a refrigerator.

The Breakfast Club's five students serve Saturday detention at which fictional Illinois school?

Shermer High School, in John Hughes's fictional Shermer, Illinois, is the setting; the library set was built in a gym because the real library at Maine North High School was too small.

Which band performed The Breakfast Club anthem "Don't You (Forget About Me)"?

Scottish band Simple Minds took the single to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985.

Who directed The Empire Strikes Back?

Irvin Kershner, who had taught George Lucas at USC film school, directed; the screenplay was by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan.

Who voiced and puppeteered Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back?

Frank Oz, Jim Henson's longtime Muppets collaborator, performed and voiced Yoda; Lucas had considered dubbing in another actor's voice but kept Oz's.

Which TV star was cast as Indiana Jones before contractual obligations forced him out?

Tom Selleck had been cast, but CBS held him to his Magnum, P.I. contract, so Harrison Ford took the part of Indiana Jones weeks before shooting began.

How many Academy Awards did Raiders of the Lost Ark win?

Raiders won five Academy Awards from eight nominations: Art Direction, Film Editing, Sound, Visual Effects, plus a Special Achievement Award for sound effects editing.

In Ghostbusters, what form does Gozer take after Ray thinks of a childhood corporate mascot?

Ray's thought of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, a fictional brand mascot, becomes Gozer's destructor form; the team destroys it by crossing the streams Egon had warned against.

Which real New York firehouse served as the exterior of the Ghostbusters headquarters?

Hook & Ladder Company 8, at 14 North Moore Street in Tribeca, provided the exterior; the interiors were shot in a decommissioned fire station in downtown Los Angeles.

Who sang the number-one theme song to Ghostbusters?

Ray Parker Jr.'s theme hit number one; the film topped US theaters for seven straight weeks and was then the highest-grossing comedy ever.

In The Shining, what number replaced the novel's Room 217, which the location hotel feared guests would avoid?

Kubrick used 237 because Oregon's Timberline Lodge, the exterior location, had a Room 217 and feared guests would shun it; Room 217 instead became the lodge's most-requested room.

Jack Nicholson's improvised 'Here's Johnny' line in The Shining borrowed Ed McMahon's introduction from which TV show?

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson opened with McMahon's cry; Kubrick, long resident in England, did not recognize the reference and nearly used a different take.

The 1988 action film Die Hard was adapted from which 1979 novel by Roderick Thorp?

Nothing Lasts Forever came to Thorp in a dream he had after watching The Towering Inferno.

Die Hard was filmed almost entirely in and around which real Los Angeles skyscraper?

Fox Plaza, the newly completed 20th Century Fox headquarters in Century City, stood in for Nakatomi Plaza; parts of the tower were unfinished during the 1987 shoot.

What is Maverick's real name in Top Gun?

Maverick is Lieutenant Pete Mitchell, played by Tom Cruise; Tom Kazansky is Iceman, Nick Bradshaw is Goose and Mike Metcalf is Viper.

Which band's song from Top Gun won the Academy Award for Best Original Song?

Berlin's 'Take My Breath Away', written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock, won the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original Song; the soundtrack was certified 9x Platinum.

What make of car does Ferris borrow from Cameron's father in Ferris Bueller's Day Off?

Only about 100 were ever built, so replicas were used for the wide shots and the crash.

During the parade in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ferris lip-syncs "Danke Schoen" and which Beatles song?

Ferris mimes the Beatles' 1963 recording of 'Twist and Shout' from a parade float; the scene was shot during Chicago's real Von Steuben Day Parade in September 1985.

Which former football star did Orion suggest for the Terminator before Cameron rejected him?

Orion's Mike Medavoy suggested O. J. Simpson, but James Cameron felt the affable Simpson would not be believable as a killer; Schwarzenegger, first proposed for Kyle Reese, took the role instead.

Which Terminator line did Schwarzenegger ask to change because he struggled with one word?

The line is 'I'll be back'; Schwarzenegger found the contraction awkward and asked for 'I will be back', but Cameron refused, and the phrase recurred in Schwarzenegger's later films.

Blade Runner is set in a dystopian Los Angeles of which year?

Blade Runner opens in Los Angeles in November 2019; the sequel Blade Runner 2049 jumped thirty years ahead. The film adapts Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Which actor was originally attached to play Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop and rewrote it as a straight action film?

Sylvester Stallone's rewrite turned Axel Foley into Axel Cobretti and fed into Cobra (1986); Eddie Murphy's comedic version became the highest-grossing US release of 1984.

Who composed and performed the Beverly Hills Cop instrumental theme "Axel F"?

German composer Harold Faltermeyer wrote and played the synth theme 'Axel F', which reached No. 3 on the Hot 100; the soundtrack won a Grammy and had three top-10 singles.

Sigourney Weaver earned a rare Oscar nomination for a science-fiction role in which film?

Aliens (1986) brought Weaver a Best Actress nomination, unusual for a science-fiction performance; she lost to Marlee Matlin for Children of a Lesser God.

In The Princess Bride, what phrase does Westley say that Buttercup realizes means 'I love you'?

Westley's 'As you wish' is his way of saying 'I love you'; the grandfather closes the film with the same words when asked to read the story again.

Which bodybuilder-turned-actor was William Goldman's second choice to play Fezzik in The Princess Bride?

André the Giant was the first choice all along and only became available when a $5 million Tokyo wrestling match was cancelled.

Rain Man, the highest-grossing film of 1988, won Best Actor for which star?

Dustin Hoffman won his second Best Actor Oscar as Raymond Babbitt, a savant inspired by the real Kim Peek; Rain Man also won Best Picture, Director and Original Screenplay.

Which actress provided the uncredited speaking voice of Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Kathleen Turner voiced Jessica Rabbit's dialogue without credit, taking the job while pregnant because it needed only her voice; Amy Irving sang 'Why Don't You Do Right?'.

In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny share a scene doing what?

Mickey and Bugs appear skydiving beside a falling Eddie Valiant, Bugs handing him a spare tire instead of a parachute; Donald and Daffy duel on pianos and Porky Pig closes the film.

Driving Miss Daisy was the first Best Picture winner since Grand Hotel (1932) without which nomination?

Driving Miss Daisy won Best Picture without a Best Director nomination for Bruce Beresford, the first such winner since Grand Hotel (1932); host Billy Crystal called it 'the film that apparently directed itself'.

Oliver Stone's Platoon, the 1986 Best Picture winner, was based on his own service in which war?

Stone had fought in the Vietnam War himself; he once sent an early script to Jim Morrison hoping he would star, and Morrison had it with him when he died in Paris.

In Amadeus, F. Murray Abraham won Best Actor for playing which composer?

Abraham won for Antonio Salieri, the Viennese court composer consumed by envy of Mozart; Tom Hulce, who played Mozart, was nominated in the same category.

The 1984 hits Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom prompted the MPAA to create which classification?

The PG-13 rating was introduced on 1 July 1984, weeks after Gremlins and Temple of Doom drew complaints about violence in PG films; Red Dawn was the first film released with it.

The Goonies hunt for the treasure of which legendary pirate?

The Goonies follow a map to the treasure of One-Eyed Willy, a 17th-century pirate, to save their homes in Astoria's Goon Docks from foreclosure.

Which duo performed the Oscar-winning Dirty Dancing song "(I've Had) The Time of My Life"?

Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers and Jennifer Warnes recorded the duet, which won the Oscar for Best Original Song; Warnes had earlier sung the Oscar-winning 'Up Where We Belong' with Joe Cocker.

Which martial-arts star was originally cast as the creature in Predator?

Jean-Claude Van Damme was cast as the Predator but replaced by 7 ft 2 in Kevin Peter Hall after the original suit was scrapped; at about 5 ft 9 in he looked too small beside Schwarzenegger.

R. Lee Ermey, Full Metal Jacket's drill instructor, was originally hired for the film as what?

Ermey was hired as the film's technical advisor and won the role after filming an audition tape of insults; Kubrick estimated he wrote about half of his own dialogue.

Which musician wrote the songs for Tim Burton's 1989 Batman?

Prince wrote and performed the Batman soundtrack songs, including the No. 1 hit 'Batdance'; Danny Elfman composed the score, and the film won the Oscar for Best Art Direction.

In Big, what is the name of the fortune-teller machine that grants Josh's wish?

The Zoltar Speaks machine grants Josh's wish to be big; he notices afterwards that it was unplugged the whole time. Tom Hanks earned his first Best Actor nomination for the role.

Which singer's songs feature prominently in Beetlejuice, including the dinner-party scene?

Harry Belafonte's 'Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)' drives the possessed dinner party and 'Jump in the Line' closes the film; Burton's first choice for Betelgeuse was Sammy Davis Jr.

Who delivers the line "I'll have what she's having" in When Harry Met Sally...?

Rob Reiner's mother, Estelle Reiner, delivers the deadpan order; the line ranked 33rd on the AFI's list of great movie quotes, and Katz's Deli hung a sign over the table.

Field of Dreams was adapted from a W. P. Kinsella novel named after which baseball player?

Shoeless Joe was Kinsella's 1982 novel; Ray Liotta plays the ghost of the banned Black Sox outfielder, and it was Burt Lancaster's final film role.

Michael Douglas won Best Actor for playing which corporate raider in Wall Street?

Douglas won the Best Actor Oscar as Gordon Gekko, whose 'greed, for lack of a better word, is good' speech became shorthand for 1980s excess.

The Last Emperor was the first Western feature authorised by China to film inside which location?

The Forbidden City in Beijing opened to Bertolucci's crew for the life of Puyi, from infant emperor to political prisoner; Ryuichi Sakamoto both acted in it and co-wrote the score.

Ordinary People, the 1980 Best Picture winner, was the directorial debut of which actor?

Robert Redford made his directing debut with Ordinary People and won Best Director for it; Timothy Hutton, at 20, became the youngest Best Supporting Actor winner.

Which composer's electronic theme for Chariots of Fire won the Oscar for Best Original Score?

Greek composer Vangelis won the Oscar for Best Original Score; his synthesizer title theme also reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982.

Roughly how many extras appeared in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi, believed to be a record?

The film won eight Oscars including Best Actor for Ben Kingsley, and had been Attenborough's dream project after two earlier attempts failed.

Which actress turned down Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction because of the boiled-rabbit scene?

The producers doubted Glenn Close could be sexual enough until she auditioned with her frizzy hair let loose.

Airplane! (1980) borrows its plot and much of its dialogue from which 1957 disaster film?

The Zucker brothers and Jim Abrahams stumbled on the film while taping late-night TV to study commercials and found it perfectly structured for parody.

In Tootsie, Dustin Hoffman's Michael Dorsey lands a role on which soap opera?

Disguised as Dorothy Michaels, he wins the part of hospital administrator Emily Kimberly on the soap Southwest General, the role his friend Sandy had failed to get.

In The Karate Kid, Daniel LaRusso and his mother move from New Jersey to which LA neighbourhood?

Daniel and his mother land in Reseda, in the San Fernando Valley; he meets Ali Mills, a cheerleader from wealthier Encino, and runs foul of her ex, Cobra Kai's Johnny Lawrence.

Stand by Me (1986) was adapted from which Stephen King novella?

The Body, from King's 1982 collection Different Seasons, follows four boys hunting for a missing boy's corpse; the film moved Castle Rock from Maine to Oregon.

In RoboCop, which megacorporation revives murdered officer Alex Murphy as a cyborg?

Omni Consumer Products (OCP), which runs Detroit's privatised police force, rebuilds Murphy as RoboCop; Verhoeven had tossed the script aside until his wife Martine persuaded him to reread it.

Which screenwriter wrote Brian De Palma's Scarface (1983)?

Oliver Stone wrote the screenplay, researching Miami's cocaine trade while kicking his own habit; the film remakes Howard Hawks's 1932 original and opens during the 1980 Mariel boatlift.

Footloose (1984) is loosely based on a dancing ban in which real Oklahoma town?

Elmore City, Oklahoma, lifted a decades-old ban on public dancing for its 1980 prom, inspiring Dean Pitchford's script; on screen the town became Bomont, where Kevin Bacon's Ren McCormack takes on Reverend Moore.

Which then-unknown screenwriter wrote Lethal Weapon (1987)?

Black conceived it as a contemporary urban Western; Richard Donner directed and Joel Silver produced.

In 1980's Caddyshack, what elusive animal does groundskeeper Carl Spackler wage war on?

A gopher puppet played the part, and its subplot was expanded in editing after the loose, improvised shoot left the film without a clear through-line.

Who played Soviet boxer Ivan Drago in Rocky IV?

Dolph Lundgren, a Swedish karate champion, played Drago in his first major role; a real punch from him during the fight scenes put Stallone in intensive care for several days.

In Labyrinth (1986), David Bowie plays Jareth, the king of which creatures?

Jareth is the Goblin King, ruler of the labyrinth's goblins; Jim Henson wanted a charismatic musician and considered Sting, Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson before choosing Bowie.

Which song from The Little Mermaid (1989) won the Oscar for Best Original Song?

'Under the Sea', sung by Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian, beat the film's own 'Kiss the Girl' for Best Original Song; it also won Best Original Score, launching the Menken-Ashman Disney Renaissance.

In This Is Spinal Tap, the knobs on Nigel Tufnel’s custom amplifier go up to what?

Christopher Guest's Nigel Tufnel explains that his amp's knobs go up to eleven 'because it's one louder' than ten; the scene gave English the idiom 'up to eleven'.

Which is one of the three rules for caring for the mogwai in Gremlins?

Never feed it after midnight, along with keeping it from bright light and water; the gremlins trick Billy into breaking the rule by sabotaging his bedside clock.

In Coming to America, Prince Akeem hails from which fictional African nation?

Akeem is crown prince of Zamunda; fleeing an arranged marriage, he heads to Queens, New York, and mops floors at McDowell's while searching for a bride who loves him for himself.

In Flashdance, what is dancer Alex Owens's day job at a Pittsburgh steel mill?

Alex works days as a welder at the mill and dances at Mawby's bar by night; Beals's torn-neck sweatshirt look came from cutting a hole in one that had shrunk in the wash.

In Teen Wolf, Scott Howard's werewolf transformation makes him a star in which sport?

Scott's wolf form turns the hapless Beacontown Beavers basketball team into winners; Michael J. Fox shot Teen Wolf before Back to the Future, though it was released second, in August 1985.

Romancing the Stone sends novelist Joan Wilder to which country to free her sister?

Joan flies to Colombia, told to bring a treasure map to Cartagena as her sister's ransom, but corrupt Colonel Zolo diverts her into the jungle, where she meets Jack Colton.

Who plays Chelsea, the estranged daughter, in On Golden Pond (1981)?

Jane Fonda plays Chelsea and bought the rights to the play so her father, Henry Fonda, could play Norman Thayer; he won his only competitive Oscar for it, months before his death.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is set in which real town east of Los Angeles?

Bill and Ted attend San Dimas High School; the Waterloo water-park scene was shot at the real Raging Waters in San Dimas, though most of the film was made around Phoenix, Arizona.

In Risky Business, Tom Cruise slides across the floor in his briefs to which song?

Bob Seger's 'Old Time Rock and Roll' soundtracks the sock-slide, which Cruise largely improvised; Phil Collins's 'In the Air Tonight' plays in the train scene.

The climactic trading-floor scheme in Trading Places revolves around which commodity?

The Dukes try to corner frozen orange juice futures using a stolen crop report; the 2010 Dodd-Frank ban on trading with misappropriated government data was nicknamed the 'Eddie Murphy Rule'.

Which future star made his film debut in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)?

Johnny Depp, as Glen, made his film debut; he had gone along only to keep his friend Jackie Earle Haley company at the audition, and Haley later played Freddy in the 2010 remake.

In the original Friday the 13th (1980), who turns out to be the killer?

Pamela Voorhees, played by Betsy Palmer, is avenging her son Jason's drowning at Camp Crystal Lake; Jason himself does not kill anyone until Part 2 (1981).

Meryl Streep won her first Best Actress Oscar for which 1982 film?

Sophie's Choice brought Streep her first Best Actress Oscar, after a supporting win for Kramer vs. Kramer; she plays Sophie Zawistowska, a Polish survivor in 1947 Brooklyn hiding a wartime secret.

In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, what is the no-win Starfleet cadet test called?

The Kobayashi Maru is a no-win rescue simulation that Kirk beat only by reprogramming it; Meyer opened the film with Spock 'dying' in the simulator to wrong-foot fans who had heard he would die.

In Blue Velvet (1986), what does Jeffrey find in a vacant lot that starts the mystery?

Jeffrey finds a severed human ear in a field, which leads him to nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens and the terrifying Frank Booth, played by Dennis Hopper.

In Moonstruck, Nicolas Cage's Ronny Cammareri lost what in a bread-slicer accident?

The wooden hand was what hooked Cage on the role; he wanted to echo the moment in Metropolis when Rotwang holds up his invented robot hand.

In Short Circuit, the runaway robot Number 5 renames himself after hearing which song?

El DeBarge's 'Who's Johnny' was playing on the van radio, so Number 5 declared himself Johnny 5; the song reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986.

Who directed The Elephant Man (1980), the story of Joseph Merrick?

David Lynch directed it, his first studio film after Eraserhead; Mel Brooks produced but kept his name off the credits so audiences would not expect a comedy.

Which band recorded “Princes of the Universe” and “A Kind of Magic” for Highlander?

Queen wrote the songs for Highlander; 'Princes of the Universe' opens the film and 'A Kind of Magic', title track of their 1986 album, plays over the end credits.

In Say Anything..., Lloyd Dobler hoists a boombox playing which Peter Gabriel song?

'In Your Eyes', from Peter Gabriel's 1986 album So, is what Lloyd's boombox plays beneath Diane Court's window; Cameron Crowe had first cut the scene to a Fishbone song before switching.

Why was Tron (1982) reportedly passed over for a Visual Effects Oscar nomination?

One of the first films to lean heavily on computer imagery, it lost out to a field that included E.T. and Blade Runner.

What title did the original teaser trailer for Star Wars Episode VI (1983) carry?

The teaser and early posters read Revenge of the Jedi; Lucas reverted to Return of the Jedi in early 1983, reasoning a Jedi would not seek revenge, and the 'Revenge' posters became collectibles.

An American Werewolf in London won the very first Oscar in which category?

Rick Baker won the first competitive Best Makeup Oscar for the transformation scene, shot in full light rather than shadow; the category was added after The Elephant Man's makeup went unhonoured in 1981.

How did writer Cameron Crowe research the book behind Fast Times at Ridgemont High?

Crowe, then in his early twenties, enrolled at a San Diego school for a year; the character Mark "Rat" Ratner was modeled on a classmate he befriended.

In WarGames, the backdoor password "Joshua" is the name of whose dead son?

Joshua was the dead son of WOPR's creator Stephen Falken, played by John Wood; David uses the name as a backdoor, and the NORAD computer learns from tic-tac-toe that some games cannot be won.

Clue (1985) was released to cinemas with how many different endings?

Three endings went to cinemas, each theater getting one (a fourth was shot and dropped); home video strung all three together, labeling the last as what really happened.

Roughly how much weight did De Niro gain to play the older Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull?

De Niro gained about 60 pounds, eating his way through northern Italy and France during a four-month production break; the performance won him the Best Actor Oscar.

The Color Purple (1985) went home empty-handed from how many Oscar nominations?

The Color Purple lost all 11 of its nominations, matching The Turning Point (1977) for the most without a single win; Spielberg was not even nominated for directing it.

In Turner & Hooch, Tom Hanks's slobbering canine partner is what breed?

Hooch is a Dogue de Bordeaux, or French Mastiff, played by a dog named Beasley; he is the only witness to the murder of his owner that Detective Turner is trying to solve.

Where was the Sweethaven village set for Robert Altman's Popeye (1980) built?

Sweethaven was built at Anchor Bay on Malta's north-west coast over seven months in 1979, and the set survived as the Popeye Village theme park.

Hoosiers was inspired by the 1954 Indiana state title won by which tiny real high school?

Both the fictional Hickory and the real Milan won the final by two points, and the film's last shot came from nearly the same spot as Bobby Plump's actual winner.

Chucky’s human name in Child’s Play, Charles Lee Ray, combines the names of what?

Charles Lee Ray combines Charles Manson, Lee Harvey Oswald and James Earl Ray, three notorious American killers; Brad Dourif voiced the doll and played Ray in the opening scene.

How long does the notorious alley fight over a pair of sunglasses last in They Live?

The Piper-David brawl runs about 5½ minutes; Carpenter kept the full-length fight, which Roddy Piper and Keith David rehearsed for three weeks, and South Park later parodied it shot for shot.

In John Hughes’s story behind National Lampoon’s Vacation, where were the Griswolds going?

In Hughes's 1979 National Lampoon story 'Vacation '58' the family drives to Disneyland; the film renamed it Walley World, 'America's Favorite Family Fun Park', and had it closed when the Griswolds arrived.

Linda Hunt’s Oscar-winning character in The Year of Living Dangerously was, unusually, what?

She played a man, Billy Kwan, a Chinese-Australian photographer, shaving her eyebrows and padding her waist; the dancer David Atkins had originally been cast and was replaced early in filming.

Who first played Hannibal Lecter on screen, spelled "Lecktor", in 1986's Manhunter?

Brian Cox played Dr. Hannibal Lecktor in Michael Mann's adaptation of Red Dragon, five years before Anthony Hopkins made the role famous in The Silence of the Lambs.