Here's a list of some of my favorite cheesy movies from the 80s. Only five made the list even though there are so many more out there. These aren't in any particular order and are primarily sci-fi with a splash of kung-fu because growing up as a kid and even today, I freaking love sci-fi and kung-fu movies.

The Last Dragon: I think it's safe to say that 'The Last Dragon' is the most watched movie on my list. I saw this movie numerous times in theaters and even more on VHS. When this movie was released in 1985, I wanted nothing more in my life than to be a kung-fu master. You combine that with cheesy 80s music, break dancing, silly dialogue, and Vanity...you've got a solid movie in my book. Vanity alone did it for me, I had such a crush on her when I was little with posters of her sexiness all over my bedroom.

Big Trouble in Little China: This one falls under the category of fantasy, martial arts, and comedy. This will always be one of my favorite Kurt Russel roles, he was not only funny as hell but as bad ass as well. Jack Burton (Kurt Russel) is the man as he takes on the Lords of Death, a 2000-year-old magician who mercilessly presides over an empire of spirits, demons and more all while trying to save a couple of kidnapped ladies. This still stands the test of time today.

The Last Starfighter: In 1984 this movie made me want to play video games in hopes that I'd get picked by an alien defense force to go into outer space to save the universe. This one one of the first films to use CGI and at the time, the graphics were amazing. When watching this movie now, it looks so cheesy but I still love watching this movie and will do so everytime it's on.

Flash Gordon: This was one of the first movies I ever saw in theaters aside from Star Wars (1977). This is by far the cheesiest of all the movies on my list but in 1980 it was all the rage to 6-year-old Tony LaBrie. I actually tried to get my son to sit down and watch this with me but he wanted nothing to do with it. He just sat there and laughed at the horrible special effects. The special effects were absolutely brutal even compared to Star Wars which came out 3 years earlier. I also had the Soundtrack on cassette which I listened to like crazy and was my first introduction to Queen.

This is one movie I would love to see a remake of. As a matter of fact, Jame Gunn who did Guardians of the Galaxy wanted to remake Flash Gordon but he stated this in an interview: “Yeah, we’ve been working on it. For me, the only problem with Flash Gordon is Guardians [of the Galaxy] kind of stole what I would have liked to have done with it. You’ve got Star Wars, you’ve got Guardians, so you’ve got to have your own space opera, but you have to find something that can survive among these two very, very great franchises.”

Krull: This is an extremely cheesy movie that came out in summer of 1983 when I was getting ready to start the 3rd grade. I remember my mom dropping me off at the movies like every week and I just watched it over and over. Now that I think about, it seems weird that she'd drop me off at that age. Maybe she went in with me a few times but I remember seeing it by myself a lot. I guess it was just different in those days. Regardless, Krull was a kick-ass sci-fi fantasy that was based on planet Krull that is invaded by an entity known as the "Beast" and his army of futuristic "Slayers" (not where Slayer got their name), who travel the galaxy in a mountain-like spaceship called the Black Fortress. Basically, it's about Prince Colwyn and a group of outlaws that travel the land on a mission to save the princess from the Beast. You'll notice a young Liam Neeson who played one of the outlaws. I just love this stupid cheesy movie.

There really are so many great cheesy 80s movies out there but these ones really stick out to me as some of my favorites. What are your favorites?

 

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