The Breakfast Club - why was/is it such a big hit/favourite?
StratusSphere
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I wasnt around to watch it in the first time when it was released in the 80s. Watching it now for the first time in 2014 it seems a bit...tame, maybe? And all the kids seem to open up to each other quite early; I'm not sure that would happen nowadays either.
I am gradually watching it, I keep taking breaks, and I do intend to finish it (but I do keep getting a bit bored
no offence to anybody who loves it)
What should I be thinking about when watching it? Why was it such a big hit at the time? Does anyone else who didnt see it first time round like it? love it? not get it? Let me know!
I'd love to see a modern remake of it; I think I would 'get' the cliques more - having said that I can't imagine it being done well, a lot of remakes are cheap and crap and lose the spirit of the original. How would a remake work? would be another question. Thoughts?
I am gradually watching it, I keep taking breaks, and I do intend to finish it (but I do keep getting a bit bored
no offence to anybody who loves it)What should I be thinking about when watching it? Why was it such a big hit at the time? Does anyone else who didnt see it first time round like it? love it? not get it? Let me know!
I'd love to see a modern remake of it; I think I would 'get' the cliques more - having said that I can't imagine it being done well, a lot of remakes are cheap and crap and lose the spirit of the original. How would a remake work? would be another question. Thoughts?
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I like the sense of us against the world kind of thing. And the soundtrack is awesome.
Maybe try St Elmo's Fire which I do think has a slightly better storyline (and an equally as wicked soundtrack).
EDIT: I'm 27, so I wasn't around for it in the 80s either! I stumbled across it one night on TV and was obsessed from there on in. It's one of my hangover films.
Rather than stereotypes I would call the characters archetypes, typical of the types we remember from school. 'The Breakfast Club' let's its characters develop and they come to some sort of epiphany.
You can look back and say that teenagers have infested many movies since but like 'Ferris Bueller....', this movie treats the teenage characters with more respect. The movie tries to understand teenage angst and how teenagers come to grips with the idea of becoming adults. That's why it has a timeless quality and would probably be a clumsy remake.
I proudly own the blu-ray. It's John Hughes' best script.
All the grownups are uncaring brutes, desensitised by adulthood, who don't appreciate the beautiful and unique snowflakes that are their precious charges. Probably the first film to perfectly capture the teenage sense of entitlement and self-righteous that we now take for granted in society.
Yeah, it's not really one of my favourites...:p
Didnt really like any of the characters; they seemed to all be quite set in their ways and think that their way of doing things was the only way; and we never quite got to even understand what the jock boy and the rich girl's problems were. I quite liked the crazy girl; she seemed to be the most genuine of all of them despite all the OTT flopping about for attention.
I really would like to see a 'harder' remake. A british version would probably be much more relatable to me anyway.
The kind of people that hate on TBC are the same people who prefer autotune over real vocals.
Oh, I don't hate on it. I just hate it. No superfluous prepositions here, thank you.:p
Sadly, your analogy works in reverse. People who don't like The Breakfast Club prefer credible emotions and feelings in film, as opposed to unconvincing, stylised schmaltz.
I think it's a film that if you haven't seen it by the age of, say 25, you'll hate it. It's told entirely from the kids' perspectives, with all of them mis-understood and pigeon-holed by their peers and teachers, and even though they're completely different, by the end of the film they realise they're all the same when it comes down to it; each kid having his or her specific problems. I'm not sure the archetypes exist quite the same in UK schools as they (presumably) do in the US, but I think every teen can relate to one of them. At a certain age, though, most people tend to forget what it was like to be a schoolkid, and if you only watch it for the time at that point, all you see are a bunch of whiny, snivelling brats with their 'poor me, no-one's ever been through this
FBDO is basically the same, only portraying the other extreme of adolesence, when life is as good as it gets, it's there for the taking and anything is possible if you put your mind to it.
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Yes, a far superior film to The Breakfast Club and dealing with similar subject matter but in a much more authentic way. Amy Heckerling nailed it. That and her later film Clueless are about the only US teen flicks that are still watchable without a sick bag to hand.
Judd Nelson in a janitor's cupboard...
I had such a crush on him when I was 14.
It was my era though. But watching those films back now I actually prefer Pretty in Pink. Mainly because of Annie Potts, who I think is just brilliant.
Yes, we did.
Jock boy's problem was his pushy dad. He (the boy) also felt guilty after being part of a group who attacked and humiliated someone in the changing rooms.
The rich girl's problem was that everyone thought she was an easy shag, when (if I recall correctly) she was actually a virgin.
I can kind of see where people are coming from with the "schmaltzy" comments but I think it might be the only way something like The Breakfast Club would work. If you made it hard(er)-hitting, then you'd still get the people criticising it for containing typical teen angst but in addition, you'd turn off those who could relate to the broad problems of the original.
I like The Breakfast Club. I prefer it to the type of teen film which focuses on the character's attempts to get laid.
Poor Brian ended up with no one.
As for Claire, I don't think her problem was that everyone thought she was an easy shag. That conversation only came up because Allison (Ally Sheedy) claimed to be a nympomaniac. When she admitted it was a lie, this got Claire wound up, leading to John (Judd Nelson) asking Claire how many times she'd done it, which turned out to be zero.
Claire's main problem was the 'burden' of being a spoilt little rich girl, and having to conform to what her parents and peers pretty much demanded of her, such as having to pretend once detention is over that she'd never met - and certainly didn't like - Brian, Allison and John.
The bit at the end where the criminal pairs off with the princess and the athlete with the basket case - when the natural order of things would have had princess & athlete and criminal & basket case together - was quite counter-culture at the time. At least that's what I thought until someone pointed out to me that Andy only fancies Allison after she'd been given a Minnie Mouse makeover that completely removed any visible trace of her weirdness. In other words, to get the guy, you have to change your whole image, which, when you think about it, is quite an un-healthy message to promote.
Didn't they all go ahead with their school lives ignoring their connections and confining it all to one afternoon?
Hence the giving of the earring and stuff at the end as a memento.
Yeah, it's like in Grease, Olivia Newton John's character had to completely change to get John Travolta in the end and act all promiscuous.
You don't think you might be over-analysing this a bit?
Loved it then, love it now.:D
I feel that each person walks out of that detention looking at life in a different way.