It was the year that Benazir Bhutto was elected as Pakistan’s Prime Minister, a bomb exploded on Pan Am Flight 103 as it flew above Scotland and Holidaymakers’ joyous Sweet Lovers topped the New Zealand Music Charts.
Meanwhile, Kiwi cinemagoers turned up in droves to see Hollywood comedies like Cocktail, Coming to America and Twins, as well as high-profile sequels Rambo III and Crocodile Dundee 2.
To celebrate the arrival of a reimagined, small-screen version of David Cronenberg’s cult 1988 classic Dead Ringers on Prime Video this week, Stuff to Watch has wound the clock back and picked out 10 terrific flicks that are turning 35 this year (and where you can watch them right now).
READ MORE:
* The best classic and cult movies you can only legally watch on DVD or Blu-Ray in New Zealand
* From Blazing Saddles to Young Frankenstein: How to watch Mel Brooks’ best movies
* Aladdin, Unforgiven among eight great movies that are turning 30 this year
* Twenty 21st century movies that will leave a mark (and where you can watch them)
The Accused (YouTube, GooglePlay, iTunes)
After a relatively quiet period earlier in th decade, Jodie Foster stormed back into the world’s consciousness with this controversial drama about a young woman who suffers a brutal rape in a bar and seeks to not only bring the perpetrators to justice, but the witnesses who did nothing.
Playing Sarah Tobias won her an Academy Award. Kelly McGillis also stars in director Jonathan Kaplan’s tale, which is loosely based on the 1983 gang rape of Cheryl Araujo in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Beetlejuice (Neon)
Michael Keaton’s “ghost with the most” helps makes Burton’s pitch-black comedy a riot from start to finish. He plays the eponymous bio-exorcist who is called into assist when a séance goes awry for ghostly couple Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis). Winona Ryder also stars.
“The story almost comes off the rails, but Beetlejuice’s charm lies more in the execution. The movie is crammed with visual invention and snappy comedy,” wrote The Guardian’s Steve Rose.
Big (Disney+)
One of the movies that helped turn Tom Hanks into a Hollywood star – and a tale that has inspired countless imitators in the three-and-a-half decades since. Director Penny Marshall’s fantasy comedy focuses on a boy whose wish to be made bigger comes true in a most unexpected way.
“Where the other movies snickered at the sexual possibilities in the idea, she [Marshall] faces up to them with both candour and taste,” wrote The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Desmond Ryan.
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The Big Blue (iTunes, AroVision, Deluxe AtHome, Academy OnDemand)
Jean Reno, Jean-Marc Barr and Roseanna Arquette star in Luc Besson’s French drama about the rivalry between two childhood friends turned world-renowned free divers.
“This simple tale of love, friendship and the sea lingers in the mind long after the final credits,” wrote Empire magazine’s Ian Nathan.
Die Hard (Disney+)
One of the seminal action movies of the 1980s, this adaptation of Roderick Thorp’s 1979 novel, Nothing Lasts Forever, proved that Willis wasn’t just a one-trick TV pony and introduced the world to the delights of Alan Rickman.
His Detective John McClane (a role he would reprise in four further instalments), was the inventive, blue-collar, cynical everyman action hero for a generation for moviegoers.
Despite plenty of debate, it is also one of the best Christmas movies – ever.
Eight Men Out (YouTube, GooglePlay, iTunes)
As a young baseball fan famously says in this movie, “Say it ain’t so, Joe.”
Filled with memorable dialogue, heartbreaking moments and a terrific cast (that includes John Cusack, John Mahoney, Christopher Lloyd and Charlie Sheen), John Sayles’ dramatisation of one of American sport’s greatest scandals (the 1919 Chicago “Black Sox”) is a powerful, emotive piece of film-making.
“The light shed on this dark period of sports history makes Eight Men Out essential moviegoing. But what makes it heartbreaking is watching the toll taken on champions betraying their talent on a field of honour,” wrote People magazine’s Peter Travers.
A Fish Called Wanda (YouTube, iTunes, GooglePlay)
Monty Python co-stars John Cleese and Michael Palin reunited for this extremely funny tale of murder, lust, greed, revenge and seafood. Jamie Lee Curtis plays it straight, while Kevin Kline hams it up, however it is Palin who steals the plaudits as a stuttering, incompetent hitman.
“Low comedy at high speed, it pretends to be a caper movie about a smooth London jewel heist and its infinitely complex aftermath. Actually, it’s a smart farce about ingrained cultural differences,” wrote Los Angeles Times’ Sheila Benson.
My Neighbour Totoro (Netflix)
Hayao Miyazaki’s beloved animated adventure is the story of two girls who move to the country to be near their ailing mother, only to find themselves engrossed in adventures with the forest spirits who live nearby.
“Here is a children’s film made for the world we should live in, rather than the one we occupy,” wrote Chicago Sun-Times’s Roger Ebert.
Rain Man (YouTube, iTunes, GooglePlay)
Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman play disparate brothers in Barry Levinson’s road movie which focuses on the former’s attempts to get a larger inheritance, after he learns that his estranged father left a fortune to an autistic-savant sibling he didn’t even know existed.
“In every detail – the superb soundtrack, the rich cinematography, the distinctively edgy editing – Rain Man reveals itself as a move made with care, smarts and a refreshing refusal to settle for the expected,” wrote Newsweek’s David Ansen.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Disney+)
Before Detective Pikachu and Space Jam there was this bravura and brilliant live-action and animation splicing comedy noir set in an alternative version of 1947 Hollywood where humans and cartoon characters co-exist.
Bob Hoskins is Eddie Valiant, a toon-hating private eye who has to put aside his prejudices in order to exonerate the eponymous bunny. While Christopher Lloyd is fantastic as the nefarious and frightening Judge Doom, it’s Kathleen Turner who steals the show as the voice of Jessica Rabbit.
A film also worth seeing just for the rare sight of Warner Bros. characters intermingling with Disney’s most beloved.