Hollywood Teen Movies: 80 From The 80s is a book inspired by the popular website www.hollywoodteenmovies.com. The book is a passionate celebration and exploration of teen movies. It features a brief history of teen movies throughout the decades from the 1940s to the new millennium but shifts focus to take you on an informative journey through the 1980s - the decade that teen movies were not only most prevalent but possibly reached a peak in terms of quality and popularity.

For fans of The Movies That Made Us, a behind-the-scenes look at what went into making the favorite blockbuster films of the 1980s. A trip back to the era of troubled teens and awesome soundtracks; of Reagan, rap, and Ridgemont High; of MTV, VHS, and “Axel F”; of outsiders, lost boys, and dead poets; of Bill and Ted, Brooke Shields, and the Brat Pack; of three Porky’s flicks, two Coreys, and one summer when “Baby” refused to be put in a corner. The Ultimate History of the ’80s Teen Movie goes behind the scenes of a genre where cult hits mingled with studio blockbusters, where giants like Spielberg and Coppola rubbed shoulders with baby-faced first-timers, and where future superstars Sean, Demi, and Tom all got their big break. Music, comedy, and politics all play a part in the surprisingly complex history of the ’80s teen movie. And while the films might have been aimed primarily at adolescents, the best tackle universal issues and remain relevant to all ages. From a late ’70s Hollywood influx to an early ’90s indie scene that gave youth cinema a timely reboot, film expert James King highlights the personal struggles, the social changes, and the boardroom shake-ups that produced an iconic time in movie history. “Admirably opting for analysis over nostalgia and gossip, King examines the origin, production, and cultural afterlife of seemingly every youth-centric 1980s movie you've ever heard of and more . . . An excellent adventure through a distinct and genre-spanning era in cinema history. For casual movie fans and industry-minded cinephiles alike.” —Library Journal

From the fictional towns of Hill Valley, CA, and Shermer, IL, to the beautiful landscapes of Astoria and Brownsville, OR, from the iconic suburbs of the San Fernando Valley to the seemingly scary inner cities of Chicago, '80s teen movies had one thing in common: locations mattered. Perhaps moreso than in any other decade, the locations of the '80s teen movies were monumentally important. In Brat Pack America, Kevin Smokler gives virtual tours of your favorite movies while also picking apart why these locations are so important to these movies. Including interviews with actors, writers, and directors of the era, and chock full of interesting facts about your favorite 80s movies, Brat Pack America is a must for any fan. Smokler went to Goonies Day in Astoria, OR, took a Lost Boys tour of Santa Cruz, CA, and deeply explored every nook and cranny of the movies we all know and love, and it shows

"An earlier edition of this work was published in Great Britain in 2015."--Title page verso.

A trip back to the era of troubled teens and awesome soundtracks; of Reagan, rap, and Ridgemont High; of MTV, VHS, and "Axel F"; of outsiders, lost boys, and dead poets; of Bill and Ted, Brooke Shields, and the Brat Pack; of three Porky's flicks, two Coreys, and one summer when "Baby" refused to be put in a corner. Admirably opting for analysis over nostalgia and gossip, King examines the origin, production, and cultural afterlife of seemingly every youth-centric 1980s movie you've ever heard of and more...An excellent adventure through a distinct and genre-spanning era in cinema history. For casual movie fans and industry-minded cinephiles alike. --Library Journal The Ultimate History of the '80s Teen Movie goes behind the scenes of a genre where cult hits mingled with studio blockbusters, where giants like Spielberg and Coppola rubbed shoulders with baby-faced first-timers, and where future superstars Sean, Demi, and Tom all got their big break. Music, comedy, and politics all play a part in the surprisingly complex history of the '80s teen movie. And while the films might have been aimed primarily at adolescents, the best tackle universal issues and remain relevant to all ages. From a late '70s Hollywood influx to an early '90s indie scene that gave youth cinema a timely reboot, film expert James King highlights the personal struggles, the social changes, and the boardroom shake-ups that produced an iconic time in movie history.

'Brilliant' Mail on Sunday Take a trip back to the era of troubled teens and awesome soundtracks; of Reagan, rap and Ridgemont High; of MTV, VHS and 'Axel F'; of outsiders, lost boys and dead poets; of Bill and Ted, Brooke Shields and the Brat Pack; of three Porky's, two Coreys and one summer when everyone called her Baby . . . Fast Times and Excellent Adventures goes behind the scenes of a genre where cult hits mingled with studio blockbusters, where giants like Spielberg and Coppola rubbed shoulders with baby-faced first-timers and where ambitious future superstars Sean, Demi and Tom all got their big break. Music, comedy and politics - all play a part in the surprisingly complex history of the '80s teen movie. And while the films might have been aimed primarily at adolescents, the best tackle universal issues and remain a magnet to all ages. Time of your life, huh kid? From a late '70s Hollywood in flux to an early '90s indie scene that gave youth cinema a timely reboot, respected film expert James King smartly highlights the personal struggles, the social changes and the boardroom shake-ups that produced an iconic time in movie history.

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2016 in the subject Film Science, grade: Pass, Kingston University London, language: English, abstract: The 1980s Hollywood teen genre is a topic which has not attracted significant academic interest in the context of doctoral research. Only recently have writers focused on this period in wider scholarly texts, often positioned in relation to other periods of the teen genre, but not extensively concentrating on the 1980s. This research will address what is a lack of detailed analysis of this cinematic era and offer a contribution to knowledge in terms of Hollywood genre cinema. The aim of this thesis is to argue that teen films produced during the 1980s effectively represent youth concerns and the coming-of-age process, for example, in terms of adolescent identity, the different 'roles' the characters play, sexuality, gender, relationships, class issues and the generational divide. These concerns will often resonate with the wider sociopolitical and economic landscape of the Reagan era. The research will investigate these themes in individual films and then go on to analyse them using several films across the generic spectrum to show how the genre achieves a unity and synergy, despite differences in tone and attitude of the films under scrutiny. The films covered herein will be a selection from the subgenres of the 1980s teen films: the teen sex comedies examined were produced during the first half of the decade; the more romantic comedies and dramas were generally made from the mid-1980s onwards. Also scrutinised will be several delinquent teen films. One of the methodologies used to underpin the central argument is related to the structuralist theories and their binary oppositional factors. This will attempt to make sense of the portrayal of a youth culture by exposing its contradictions. This approach will be merged with film genre theories, for instance, in relation to a film's semantic/syntactic axis and the symb