There’s no better form of nostalgia than revisiting classic films from decades past. Without a doubt, one of my favorite eras of filmmaking is the ’80s. There’s just no other decade quite like it.
To celebrate this incredible decade in film, here are 10+ completely random ’80s movie facts that fans didn’t know. Get ready to hop in your Delorean because we’re going back in time!
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Dan Akroyd’s inspiration for *Ghostbusters* came from his family’s familiarity with the paranormal.
Dan’s great-grandfather was a real-life ghosthunter !
Dan became fascinated with the paranormal from an extremely young age and even incorporated elements of his great-grandfather’s writings into the film.
Robert Downey Jr. was almost cast as Duckie in *Pretty In Pink*.
RDJ was apparently lead actress Molly Ringwald ‘s first choice.
Production, on the other hand, felt that Cryer was the man for the job. Nothing against Robert Downey Jr., but it’s hard to envision anyone other than Cryer for the part.
Mars Corp. denied Steven Spielberg’s request to use M&M’s in *E.T.*.
As a result, Steven approached the Hershey Chocolate company and was given permission to use Reese’s Pieces instead.
Shortly after the film’s release, Hershey saw sales of the candy skyrocket.
Ronald Reagan quoted one of the most iconic lines from *Back To The Future* during his State of the Union Address.
It happened the year following the film’s release.
“As they said in the film, Back to the Future , ‘where we’re going, we don’t need roads!'”
*Beverly Hills Cop* was the highest-grossing R-rated movie for nearly 20 years.
The film initially hit theaters back in 1984; it was the highest-grossing film of the entire year.
It remained in the top spot until 2003 when it was dethroned by The Matrix: Reloaded .
Burt Reynolds turned down the lead role in *Terms Of Endearment*.
“I absolutely loved it. I loved it with a passion. Jim Brooks had written Starting Over . I — he had a lot of me in the part, but I had promised a friend that I would do another picture. And I took the other picture, which was Cannonball Run .”
*Labyrinth* was the final film Jim Henson directed before his tragic death.
Jim Henson was the legendary creator and filmmaker behind classic tv shows like Fraggle Rock as well as The Muppets .
Henson passed unexpectedly after encountering complications brought on by pneumonia.
Oprah Winfrey made her big screen debut in *The Color Purple*.
She was discovered accidentally by Quincy Jones
“So I know it was providence when Quincy , who was visiting Chicago, flipped through the TV channels, spotted me, and believed I could play the character of Sofia in a movie he was coproducing— The Color Purple .”
Both Charlie Sheen as well as Robert Downey Jr. were being considered for *The Karate Kid*.
According to Billy Zabka, who played Johnny Lawrence in the film:
“Robert Downey Jr. was considered for Ralph’s part. And Charlie Sheen . I know they had some known names in that category.”
Crispin Glover is still upset over *Back To The Future*.
Controversy erupted between Crispin Glover and Bob Gale. As a result, he was not invited back for either of the sequels.
What production did instead was use a mold of his face and attach it to another actor. Crispin sued and won.
Christopher Reeve turned down the lead role in *American Gigolo*.
Reeve was incredibly selective when it came to his canon of work. At the time, he was offered more than a million dollars to play the part.
It may not sound like much now, but for the time, that amount of money was practically unheard of.
Absolutely nobody wanted Michael Keaton to play *Batman*.
Fans at the time were not exactly pleased that Mr. Mom was going to be thrust into the role of Gotham’s Dark Knight.
The studio reportedly received more than 50,000 letters of protest from angry fans.
Tom Cruise completely ad-libbed his dance scene in *Risky Business*.
As Tom explains, the floor was initially too sticky to allow him to slide.
He had to dust the floor himself and then put an adhesive stick at the right spot to allow him to hit the center frame.
*Gremlins and Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom* ushered in the era of PG-13.
Before 1984, there was no such thing as a PG-13 rating. This meant, that films were put into two broad categories: PG or R.
“I created the problem and I also supplied the solution … I invented the rating,” Spielberg once said.
Vans sneakers became one of the most popular-selling brand of shoe following the release of *Fast Times At Ridgemont High*.
If you’ve never seen Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli, go ahead and do yourself a favor and watch Fast Times at Ridgemont High !
Spicoli’s iconic checkerboard print became one of the most popular and fastest-selling shoes on the market.
