The Worst ’80s Movies

The ’80s were a full generation ago, and yet they remain a dominant force in modern popular culture. Remakes of its biggest movies — Top Gun: Maverick, anyone? Or would you prefer Ghostbusters: Afterlife? — continue to dominate multiplexes, while updates of the era’s big TV shows are all over the airwaves and streaming (Who’s psyched for the new version of Night Court?) Nothing sells these days quite like nostalgia.

Of course, there are some elements of the ’80s that even the decade’s most die-hard fans aren’t nostalgic about. Below, we’ve collected what we believe are the 20 worst movies of the 1980s. You might think of other crummy ’80s movies that missed the cut. But it’s doubtful you’ll disagree that these 20 titles are quite terrible. (Or maybe you’re a huge fan of Mac and Me! That’s okay too. Different strokes for different folks and all that — which, come to think of it, is another 1980s TV show that they’ll probably try to remake one of these days.)

Indeed, at times it can feel like Hollywood is trying to remake everything from that kitsch-filled decade, but that’s simply not true. And we’ve got the awful movies to prove it. Long live the ’80s — but not these ’80s films…