Being 10 years old in 1985
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Flight of the Navigator
EliasExplorer — 11 years ago(March 22, 2015 09:32 AM)
I think that kids from every generation, be it the 50s,60s,70s,90s,or 00s, will have their own stories and feelings of what it was like to be 10 years old around a certain time but I have to say that being 10 in 1985 was something very magical.
Let me start with the movies of that era. I am sure that most of us will agree that Steven Spielberg and the people around him (Chris Columbus, Joe Dante, George Lucas, Robert Zemeckis) had a huge influence on the movies that were made between 1977 and 1985.
I mean we were able to watch fantastic movies like Close Encounters, E.T., The Goonies, Explorers, Indiana Jones, the three Star Wars movies, Gremlins, Back to the Future, and so much more in the mid-eighties.
Then there was also The Neverending Story, Flight of the Navigator, Young Sherlock Holmes,the list goes on and on.
I remember how exciting it was to catch a glimpse of the lobby cards in the theatre, the anticipation of seeing the movie with my parents or older nephews,
Coming home afterwards and (there was no Internet yet) reliving the movie in your fantasy by looking at a few pictures in a magazine (if you were lucky to catch one).
I have very vivid memories of seeing Gremlins, The Goonies and Explorers in the cinema and being absolutely enchanted by these experiences
I also remember walking in toystores or department stores and looking at the wonderful movie toys (I am referring mostly to the Kenner Star Wars toys).
And then there were also all these wonderful cartoons and television series like Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, The Powers of Matthew Star,
I am sure every generation has its own movies and series, and toys and music, but man oh man it sure was amazing being ten years old in 1985.
Maybe part of the magic was that there was no Internet, and not everything was "one click away". You had to wait for things, wait for a television series to be aired, waiting weeks with high anticipation till you could visit the cinema,
Maybe one of the most magical inventions of the 80s was the VCR. I can still remember my father bringing a VCR from work in the weekend, and then we went to the videostore to rent movies for the weekend
I became a father for the first time this week, and now I have this idea to collect all the movies I mentioned in this post on dvd, so one day when my son is old enough (between 6-10) I can watch those amazing movies with him, and I am sure I will enjoy seeing his reactions afterwards :).
If you have similar experiences of being a kid in the 80s feel free to share them here on this board.
Thanks for reading! -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 10 years ago(June 19, 2015 11:52 PM)
I turned 9 years old in 1985. I do have some fond memories of watching some 1980s films back in the day, such as:
Flight of the Navigator
Big
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Clue
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
The Great Outdoors
Police Academy
Christmas Vacation
and some others.
We girls wanted to feel so mature, so we watched movies with sexual content at birthday parties (
Dirty Dancing, Down and Out in Beverly Hills,
etc.).
My sisters and I wanted so many of the toys which were marketed to us (
My Little Pony, Care Bears, Cabbage Patch Dolls,
etc.). My mom said "no" to about 99% of what we wanted. I don't blame her. My family would have been bankrupt if she had bought us everything we wanted.
For the most part, I wasn't that impressed with this decade. Lots of tacky clothes, yucky hairdos, and awful awful music. I was glad when this decade ended. For the past 11 years or so, I've mostly been watching movies released before 1970. With the exception of some 1980s movies, I stay away from anything to do with this decade.
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JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen -
dakowill11 — 10 years ago(November 12, 2015 08:21 PM)
Congrats on becoming a father for the first time! I was 10 in 1986 and my 25 year old cousin, who regularly took me and my sister to the movies, took me and two of our cousins who'd just migrated from Italy to see this film. I was enthralled by the themes of UFOs and time travel being fascinated at that age with UFOs, ghosts, treasure, Kennedy's assassination, etc. I fondly recall how every time I'd visit my relatives I'd sit next to their bookshelf wiling away my time absorbed in reading
The Unexplained: Mysteries of Mind, Space & Time
or
Reader's Digest: Quest for the Unknown
series. I'm sure my interest in all things "unexplained" was encouraged by the movies of the time, most of which you mentioned involved the influence of the great Spielberg, as well as the TV show,
Unsolved Mysteries
, which I loved and miss now. But, it'd mark the beginning of what would turn out to be the best year of my childhood! I'd moved primary schools and made best friends with another boy who was likewise new to the school. And in 1987 our Year 5 teacher, Miss Grindlay, was a young lady with fiery red hair and always seemed to be in a battle with Adam Thornell, our classroom maverick. She unfortunately suffered a breakdown, I think, during the course of the year, but her eccentricities and antics like eating stems of grass while we'd play kickball, gave us the most hilarious stories that became fodder for school gossip each time the recess bell rung! The other Year 5 teacher was an American, Chuck Lotta, who would play his guitar and teach us a variety of American pop songs from the 1950s-1980s. I remember spending many a sleepover throughout the summer holidays at my best friend's house, which I drool at the thought of even now since it was an American style, double story dream home! He had the biggest rumpus room I'd ever seen on the second floor and his backyard was the size of a football field with an above ground swimming pool! I reckon my experiences at this age were extremely formative and explains why I love all things Americana! He even had a video player on which I recall we'd stay up late at night watching the latest movies on BETA, including
Explorers
,
The Last Starfighter
and
Three Amigos
, besides reading his collection of controversial Chick tracts and comic books! Like you said life went at a more slower pace back then, which wasn't something to complain about totally. Mind you I always wanted to see
E.T. the Extraterrestrial
, but had to wait for something like over a decade to finally see it on TV since we didn't get a video player until the 1990s! It's a pity that we ended up going our separate ways since my best friend later moved to another school, but I sometimes wish I could say thanks for the memories as it was truly the most carefree I've ever been! Indeed, like the writer in
Stand By Me
so aptly put it: "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?" So true for me, but in my case it was when I was 11 (1987). Best. Year. Of. My. Childhood!!! -
BrickNash — 9 years ago(April 26, 2016 10:25 AM)
It was a Golden time, although I'd extend it right up to 1990. So many good and magical films From E.T. right up to The first Ninja Turtles film and even beyond that with T2. Batman '89 desevres a mention as well.
Goonies, Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, The Last Starfighter, Stand By Me, Explorers, Back to The Future and Many more.
Just so much to latch on to as a child in the 80's.
I was born in 1977 so I would have been 7 going on 8 in 1985 and already experienced so much in the way of film.
So glad to have it been a part of my childhood! -
FlyingPie — 9 years ago(June 14, 2016 01:23 PM)
I was only 5 years old in 1985, but I went to see a lot of movies back then with family. I agree that there were a lot of great & fun movies back then. I loved the 80s for both movies and music.
There were still some great movies into the early-mid 90s as well. Terminator 2 (1991) was one of my favorite movies to see in the theater. I thought there were a few other great movies in the 90s (Titanic, The Fifth Element, etc.), but I suppose 80s movies tended to have more of an adventurous/fun feel.We have clearance, Clarence.
Roger, Roger. What's our vector, Victor? -
Julian_Pope — 9 years ago(June 22, 2016 12:55 PM)
I can only imagine. I was born in '89 but all my favorite movies and franchises are mostly from the 80's and Steven Spielberg is my favorite filmmaker, wish I had been able to experience what that would have been like for myself.
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Boutros_Boutros_Sirhan_Sirhan — 9 years ago(November 23, 2016 01:36 AM)
Yeah it was a great time to be a kid (for most Americans at least). It had enough of the classic kids activities and adventuring and playing outside combined with advances in technology, just not too much to get sucked into it and away from reality. This movie along with so many from this era (lots of great fantasy, adventure, horror, action, and comedy films from the late 70's to early 90's), reminds me of those times.