Comfort & Joy (1984)

Gentle comedy directed by Bill Forsyth with that director's usual offbeat wit and strong sense of place. 

A local radio DJ (Bill Paterson) becomes involved in a dangerously escalating feud between two rival ice-cream companies. 

It’s funny, but with moments of drama. Claire Grogan (credited as C. P. Grogan) plays a young woman working in the Mr. Bunny ice cream van and doesn’t get enough lines of her own. 

As with Local Hero, the locations are evocative and there’s a keen intelligence to the script.

Gremlins (1984)

Comedy-horror. 

A boy is given a small, furry creature for Christmas. But his new pet spawns further little cuties that become a lot less appealing when they then transform into mischievous, giggling little monsters. 

It’s a clever film that works as a sort of fairy tale and also as a homage to previous monster films, many of which are seen on TVs in the background of this film. 

It’s inventive how each gremlin is given its own identity, and the scene in which they take over an entire cinema is an imaginative delight. 

Plot-wise, it only works because no one ever asks what species the creatures are or seems especially surprised to see such a remarkable life-form. But it's not really about the plot. It's more of an excuse to cram as many different gremlin scenarios as possible into 106 minutes and it achieves this in a way that's hugely entertaining.

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Highly likeable crime comedy. 

Eddie Murphy stars as the endlessly cool, magnetic Axel Foley, a Detroit cop investigating his friend’s shooting. His enquiries take him to a Beverly Hills art dealer who turns out to be dealing in other things too. Steven Berkoff is genuinely menacing as the villain, which is a surprise because he was so awful as General Orlov in Octopussy.

There are a lot of laughs, but it still works as a thriller. Murphy’s presence is so powerful that he’s just a pleasure to watch, and the film has wisely been constructed around his huge, warm personality. It’s worth seeing just to hear his laugh.

The theme tune, “Axel F” by Harold Faltermeyer, keeps popping up and is a welcome inclusion.

Paris, Texas (1984)

Emotional drama directed by Wim Wenders. 

A drifter named Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) walks out of the desert and appears unable to speak. His brother Walt (Dean Stockwell) travels from Los Angeles to collect him. We learn that he’s been wandering for four years without contact, presumed dead, and has clearly undergone some kind of psychological trauma. In L.A., he’s reunited with his son (Hunter Carson) and begins a sort of rehabilitation. But that recovery process cannot be completed without Travis facing up to – and finding – his estranged wife (Nastassja Kinski).

It’s a sort of road movie, and the landscape shots always look stunning. Ry Cooder’s iconic slide-guitar soundtrack helps to make it even more atmospheric. It’s a painful exploration of the characters’ feelings, and in some ways quite upsetting. The climactic scene towards the end doesn’t quite satisfy, however: it changes the pacing and feels self-consciously “theatrical” compared to what’s gone before. On the one hand that magnifies the impact, but on the other hand it jars slightly with what’s come before. 

That point aside, it’s a poignant story about families and the damage they can do to each other.

Ghostbusters (1984)

This supernatural comedy is close to perfect. There’s so much that’s great about it. The three main characters – Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz and Egon Spengler – are terrifically well drawn, and Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis play them perfectly. The theme tune by Ray Parker Jr. is memorable and distinctive. The visuals are superb for the time, rendering neon ectoplasmic ghosts that gobble down plates of sausages and “slime” their victims. The run-down “Ecto-1” car (a converted hearse) is iconic. Sigourney Weaver seems effortlessly seductive and sophisticated as Dana Barrett, the woman possessed by an evil spirit and who Venkman falls for. Rick Moranis provides endearing slapstick as a nerdy accountant taken over by a demon. There’s an evident love of New York that permeates almost every frame. It’s a quirky film that’s unlike anything else. And, giving hope to all of us, its heroes are not glamorous or good-looking. They are flawed humans you can laugh with and relate to. A masterpiece.

The Terminator (1984)

Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a cyborg sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), who will give birth to a resistance leader of the future. Sarah is helped by Kyle Reese, another soldier from the future (Michael Biehn), in an attempt to stop the seemingly unstoppable.

James Cameron’s film is both trashy and, given the expert storytelling, strangely sophisticated. The special effects look basic by modern standards, but they are still highly effective.

Schwarzenegger is entirely convincing as the android with astonishing strength. The film is unashamedly violent and seems to fetishise guns.

It’s fascinating to see what we didn’t know about the future in 1984. When the Terminator arrives in 1984, he looks up Sarah Connor in the phone directory. So in 2029, there seems to be no equivalent of the internet or GPS tracking software. Surely they could have sent back something more advanced than a tough-guy robot dependent on a printed phone book?

That small point aside, it’s a highly entertaining romp.

“I’ll be back,” says Arnie, famously, at one point – and he was, in numerous Terminator sequels.

Dune (1984)

Famous for being a head-scrambler, David Lynch’s version of the Frank Herbert sci-fi epic is obtuse but fascinating. On my first viewing, many years ago, I found it confusing. Now, having read the novel, I found it made a lot more sense.

There’s a lot going on: the rivalry between two noble houses for control of Arakis (a.k.a. Dune), the mysterious spice (a consciousness-expanding drug), the huge sand worms, the blue glowing eyes of the Fremen, the Bene Gesserit sisterhood of women and their use of telepathy, and The Voice, the Weirding Ways, and the rise of a new messiah...

The special effects, impressive in 1984, now look clunky and almost quaint. But the epic vision of the storytelling shines through.

Kyle MacLachlan is compelling as Paul Atreides. Kenneth McMillan is convincingly nasty as the obese, disfigured Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. Sting has a small part as a demented assassin.

In a way it’s a total mess, but it’s a glorious mess. It tries to achieve so much and doesn’t always succeed. But in terms of its scope and ambition, there’s nothing else quite like it.

1984 (1984)

Grim, grey, grisly retelling of the George Orwell novel. John Hurt is Winston Smith. Suzanna Hamilton plays his illicit lover Julia. And Richard Burton is the sinister O’Brien.

While it’s expertly done, it’s difficult to appreciate something so unrelentingly pessimistic – especially during a global crisis. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to take away from it. Yes, totalitarianism is bad. And yes, there are many parallels with the modern world – especially in these dark days of Donald Trump, when “truth” has been devalued.

The Eurythmics recorded the soundtrack, but hardly any of that music is in the film.

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

Rob Reiner’s masterpiece is one of the funniest films ever made. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer are hilarious as the British heavy metal band on tour in the USA. As ticket sales fall and their popularity wanes, tensions grow. 

The songs are extremely well observed – from “Big Bottom” to “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight” – and the detailed observations of rock-star behaviour are absolutely spot on. Every lyric and posture is perfectly judged. The facial expressions alone are priceless, perfectly capturing the pomposity of selfish rock stars living in a bubble and expecting to be worshipped for whatever they do – see the scene in which Nigel Tufnel complains about the sandwiches, for example. 

It’s a mark of the film’s brilliance that so many lines of dialogue – from “turning it up to 11” to “documentary or, if you will, rockumentary” – have entered the language. 

The Lonely Guy (1984)

Very sweet, very funny Steve Martin comedy that’s fairly similar in tone to The Jerk. He plays Larry Hubbard, a New Yorker ditched by his girlfriend only to find that single life in the city is no fun. He uncovers what’s almost a secret society of “lonely guys” – single men jumping off bridges, talking to houseplants and desperately hoping their lost loves will return.

It’s a mark of Steve Martin’s skill that such a potentially taboo subject makes for such a hilarious film. There are many laugh-out-loud moments and it’s genuinely heartwarming. The silliness does not stop it from achieving genuine profundity. And Charles Grodin and Judith Ivey are endearing as his friend and new sweetheart.

Footloose (1984)

Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon) is a Chicago teenager who comes to the town of Bomont, Utah, where rock music and dancing have been banned and the oppressive rule of the troubled local minister (John Lithgow) imposes rigid, puritanical social control. Ren falls for the minister’s daughter, Ariel (Lori Singer, who I had a major crush on when she was the cellist in the Fame TV series), and gets the town dancing again.

Music is given prominence throughout, and in some ways it’s merely a glorified pop video, but actually there’s much more going on. If you can see past the product placement (Coca Cola appears in countless scenes), there’s a very interesting drama unfolding. The theme of small-town repression is explored in depth. There’s also a thread about violence against women, with Lori Singer being hit by two different men.

For once, there’s no obsession with social climbing. Instead, the film proposes that self-expression is the path to liberation. Dancing to music really can set you free.

Supergirl (1984)

A ludicrous mess. Kara Zor-El, the cousin of Superman, comes to Earth in pursuit of the Omegahedron – an orb with remarkable powers. This mystical ball falls into the hands of an evil witch called Selena who, for some reason, lives in a disused fairground with her annoying friend Bianca. It’s difficult to say whose acting is worse: Peter O’Toole, Peter Cook or Faye Dunaway all ham it up like mad, wrestling with a fundamentally flawed script. Unsure whether to play it for laughs or kitsch kicks, they flail around like pantomime actors who failed their am-dram audition. Helen Slater is actually quite appealing as Supergirl/Linda Lee. There’s a vulnerability and naivety that is endearing. And the sections in which she starts at school and befriends a girl called Lucy Lane – Lois Lane’s sister, amazingly enough – hint at another, more charming film with human-interest elements you can relate to. More of this would have been welcome. But it’s wildly uneven in tone and there are colossal holes in the plot logic. For example, when Selena first acquires her sinister powers she inexplicably puts aside the thoughts of world domination she has already shared with Peter Cook. Instead, she decides to kidnap a gardener, drug him with a love potion and then – when he wanders off – uses telekinesis to steer a construction vehicle through the streets to return him to her. Why? This is one of the few action sequences, but it’s still a small-scale affair involving a few cars, some burning tyres, a water tower and some hay blowing around the street. It certainly doesn’t have the epic scale of the first two Superman films, which seemed to use the whole Earth as their set. In fact, Supergirl seems relatively low-budget despite being made for $35 million by the same production team. Despite all the woeful elements, it was just about entertaining enough for me to make it through to the end. The flying sequences are a thrill, just as they always were with Christopher Reeve, and the rare moments in which Supergirl displays her powers are enjoyable. But the film could have been so much better.

Romancing the Stone (1984)

Another film watched on TV while on holiday. This is an action-adventure romp starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. 

The plot is ludicrous, but it’s also charming and fun. Turner is terrific as the lonely romantic novelist from New York who finds herself in her own romantic saga in Colombia. Douglas is passable as the male lead, an American bird smuggler. I like the line when – reading an old magazine in a crashed plane – he exclaims “Dammit, man” having finally learned that “the Doobie Brothers broke up!” 

I could have done without Danny DeVito, who seems to play the same part in every film he’s in, but even with his unfunny antics this is still highly enjoyable fluff.

Splash (1984)

Hugely entertaining film about a mermaid and a young New Yorker who fall in love. There’s lots of comedy value in the “life viewed through the eyes of an alien” aspect. There’s also a surprisingly poignant element: the “message” that you should be with the one you love, however “different” they might be. Being a 1984 film, it has the same look, feel, New York setting and music styles as other feel-good films from this time – such as Ghostbusters. In fact, you can almost imagine Bill Murray acting the Tom Hanks part. Best of all is the wide-eyed innocence of Daryl Hannah as the beautiful mermaid with the unpronounceable name (she speaks it once and the high-pitched noise she makes shatters the glass of all the TV screens in the department store). This film is a lot of fun, but it makes you think too. I enjoyed it even more on DVD today than I did at the cinema when it first came out. Plus, the ending is superb.