Ten terrific movies that are turning 40 this year
From mogwai to giant marshmallow men, 1984’s films were filled with nightmarish visions, high drama – and, in some cases, plenty of laughs.
It was the year that David Lange’s Labour government swept into power, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated and Pātea Māori Club’s Poi E topped the New Zealand music charts.
Meanwhile, Kiwi cinema-goers turned up in droves to see Hollywood comedies like Beverly Hills Cop, Police Academy and Top Secret!, as well as blockbusting sequels Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and The Muppets Take Manhattan.
To celebrate the arrival of a followup – Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire – to one of 1984’s most memorable movies next week, Stuff to Watch has wound the clock back and picked out 10 terrific flicks that turn 40 this year (and where you can watch them now).
Amadeus (Netflix)
Tom Hulce might have played the eponymous wunderkind composer, but it was F Murray Abraham who stole the show in Milos Forman’s sumptuous adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s 1979 stage play.
Deeply jealous of his rival’s talent, his Antonio Salieri is a truly memorable character, as he plots the maestro’s downfall.
“Scrumptiously beautiful, sizzlingly alive and bristling with social comedy,” wrote Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Scott Cain.
Gremlins (iTunes)
One of the greatest Christmas movies is also an excellent primer for youngsters on the perils of pet responsibility.
A gleefully subversive comedy clothed in 1980s child-friendly garb, Joe
Dante’s 1984 classic has it all – furry creatures, barely contained mayhem and Phoebe Cates.
“Director Joe Dante gleefully sinks his teeth into the kind of fluffy, sugary, sickly small-town fantasy beloved of his pal and sometime producer Steven Spielberg,” wrote Time Out London.
Ghostbusters (Neon, iTunes)
Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Sigourney Weaver teamed up for this hilarious sci-fi comedy about three out-of-work parapsychologists who become New York’s only hope when the ghosts of the Big Apple go on the rampage.
A potent combination of spectral thrills, colourful characters, surprising twists and seemingly endless zingers ensures this never drags from the first frames to the gloopy finale. “One of those rare movies where the original, fragile comic vision has survived a multimillion-dollar production,” wrote Chicago Sun-Times’ Roger Ebert.
The Karate Kid (Netflix)
Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita star in this crowd-pleasing teen drama about a handyman/martial arts master who agrees to teach a bullied boy karate.
While there have been plenty of sequels, spin-offs and reboots, nothing has quite captured the sheer joy of John G. Avildsen’s original underdog tale.
“An exciting, sweet-tempered, heartwarming story with one of the most interesting friendships in a long time,” wrote Chicago Sun-Times’ Roger Ebert.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (iTunes)
As Netflix’s The Movies That Made Us reminded us in 2021, if Wes Craven hadn’t managed to overcome a number of obstacles in order to get this now seminal horror movie into cinemas, our own Sir Peter Jackson might never have got a shot at making his Lord of the Rings cycle.
Notable for featuring a young Johnny Depp, this introduced the world to Heather Langenkamp’s Nancy and the American Midwest’s “midnight mangler” Fred ‘Freddy’ Krueger, the incarnation of a dark secret that the parents of the town’s teens have been hiding.
“What makes Freddy truly terrifying, and an inspired invention on Craven’s part, is that he exists not in the real world but in the shadowy realm of dreams,” wrote Empire magazine’s Simon Braund.
Paris, Texas
(AroVision, Academy OnDemand)
Forty years before he gave us an Oscarnominated tale about a Tokyo toilet cleaner in Perfect Days, German director Wim Wenders charmed the world with this Palme d’Or-winning road movie about a drifter (Harry Dean Stanton) who reunites with his brother (Dean Stockwell), son (Hunter Carson) and wife (Nastassja Kinski) after a four-year absence.
“I’ve seldom seen such a potent combination of superior talents,” wrote The Guardian’s Derek Malcolm. “Watch the first hour, and what you will see is an unparalleled summation of America as seen by wondering European eyes.”
A Passage to India (iTunes)
Legendary British director David Lean’s (Doctor Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia) final film is also one of his finest – and most accessible. Featuring terrific performances from Judy Davis, Peggy Ashcroft, Victor Banerjee, Art Malik and Alec Guinness, this evocatively captures the cultural mistrust and false accusations that doom a friendship between an Indian doctor, an engaged Englishwoman and a British educator, first brought to life in E.M. Forster’s critically acclaimed 1924 novel.
Splash (Disney+)
While its Little Mermaid-esque central conceit may not be compatible with more modern mores, this Ron Howarddirected rom-com still charms thanks to the chemistry between leads Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah.
“A romantic comedy that is as salty and bracing as a plunge in the surf,” wrote Time magazine’s Richard Schickel, while Empire magazine’s Ian Freer thought it “really showed Hanks’ promise as a deliverer of great comedy and heart-warming pathos”.
This is Spinal Tap (TVNZ+)
Still one of the finest and mostquotable mockumentaries ever made, Rob Reiner’s wild tale chronicles the chaos of the UK rock group’s US tour in support of their album Smell the Glove.
“It stays so wickedly close to the subject that it is very nearly indistinguishable from the real thing,” wrote The New York Times’ Janet Maslin.
The Terminator (iTunes)
This is the sci-fi horror that truly announced the Canadian-born James Cameron as a young director to watch.
He makes great use of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s screen presence and stilted delivery of English in getting him to portray a cyborg sent back from the future (2029) to kill a woman (Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor) destined to be the mother of the man who will save humanity from “the rise of the machines’’.
While not nearly as slick or winningly propulsive as 1991’s Judgment Day, this offers plenty of thrills and nightmarish visions.