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You know when you finally decide to re-visit an old loved one (film that is) and you feel ashamed that you'd left them alone for so long? Well that's me right now, because yesterday once again I bought the Breakfast Club after scratching my original DVD almost 2 years ago, and its like it had never left my collection.
American Pie, Never Been Kissed, Not Another Teen Movie, Bring it On and countless other 'Teen' movies would never have been around if it wasn't for movies such as the Breakfast Club and many other of John Hughes movies, and I'm not just saying that, the 80's teen movies are now a cult phenomenon, and, to be honest - I rate the Breakfast Club as the top of them all, even if it is as Jay so famously said in Dogma 'a movie where kids actually f****ng turn up for detention'.
The premise of the movie is an easy one, 5 kids turn up for detention on a Saturday, all from different cliques, none of them knowing each other, and one by one introducing themselves into the group and starting new friendships. It sounds such a simple movie to get your head around, and in essence it is, watching it doesn't take much and it does lead to you feeling a lot better at the end.
Watching the actual storyline a lot of people are going to find themselves connecting with traits in each characters portrayal, be it the
slightly geeky side of Brian, the rebellious side of Bender, the pretentious side of Claire, the need to stand up for someone that Andy shows or the attempts to be an outcast of Allison, you could probably find these traits in anyone, even more-so in teens but its these quirks in which the movie excels, in teen movies in general they seem to stereotype characters to a certain type, however the Breakfast Club, even though its 21 years old now, doesn't do that, it shows that people can have more than one side to each other and the general none storyline shows that.
I've known of other people who've seen the movie and hated it because it didn't have a beginning, middle and end as such, but there's a reason behind that, its just about one day in peoples lives, and its trying to portray it exactly as it is, the fact that everyone has days where stuff just happens and there is no definitive outcome to the day, and for that this is why I feel it is one of the greats.
Cast-wise most names are probably still household names to most people, you have Emilio Estevez playing Andy, the sporty type, you have Molly Ringwald playing Claire, the young princess type, there's Ally Sheedy playing Allison, Judd Nelson playing Bender and the one that I always need to look up is Anthony Michael Hall playing Brian (I even needed to look it up for this review). But if you think some of those are household names now, imagine what they were like in the mid-80's, when they formed part of the infamous 'Brat Pack' group of young actors hitting all the parties, being seen out and about and basically being friends in the public eye.
Performance wise, the one that really stands out for me is that of Judd Nelson playing Bender, every school has a Bender type character, the sort of person who causes trouble for no other reason than it seems the easiest thing to do, and Nelson's portrayal to myself at the very least hit's the nail on the head perfectly, there's a bullying side to the character, but a soft side as well - as well as showing both mischievous and chivalrous traits, he shows gutsiness as well in the way that he stands up to Principal Vernon (played by Paul Gleason), and all the time it's a character that you just find yourself smiling at and that's in no little part thanks to the way Judd Nelson plays him.
But that's not meant to take away from the performances given by anyone else, usually when I watch a movie, I can quite easily pick out a 'weak link' in the cast. But I just can't when it comes to the Breakfast Club, Ally Sheedy, is memorable as the 'weird kid' who sits in the corner making funny noises and doing random things, Emilio Estevez is at times just funny as the 'jock-ish' type of guy who prides himself as an unofficial leader of the group, and even Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall put in performances that in any other movie would be rated as the best of the cast, they're just hindered by being in such a good performance.
Music and Scenery wise, it's a simple thing to say, its 80's music and almost all the scenery takes place in one room, but again that's what the movie is all about, showing that you don't need a big budget and massive special effects to make a good movie. Music wise, any 80's music aficionado would easily recognize the style of music with the Pop stylings of the early 80's and the only song that most people would instantly recognize being 'Don't you Forget about me' by Simple Minds, but that doesn't mean to say that that's a bad thing either, because it isn't, it just adds to the setting of the film.
All in all I'd say that this is a movie that anyone can enjoy, but even more so anyone who's aged between say 25 and 40, mainly because to some degree we're all going to remember the 80's, some of us with fond memories, some of us with less than fond memories, but memories still the same - and this movie does brilliantly in bringing back everyone's better memories of that era, and then for people who weren't around then, it shows what young life was like back then.
DVD wise - its nothing to shout home about, it was released back in the time when a DVD release just meant you had a better audio and picture on it, which mean s the features are….. You guessed it, a Theatrical trailer and an Interactive menu, nothing special but then there's not much extra you could add to it.
So go, buy the DVD of the movie, its only going to set you back at the most 10 quid, which is well worth it for the classic that it is.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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I love that you included the Dogma quote! That quote was what finally persuaded me to watch The Breakfast Club, and it's become one of my favourite films.
jesi 06.12.2006 16:34
Just
found you as featured member on the Ciao! homepage ~ I've not watched this film ~ you make it sound interesting ~ I'll check out a few more of your reviews ! ♥♥ ! ~ ........................................................... ~ jes ~ ! ♥♥ !
Tonster 31.10.2006 19:34
Hey great review,. Definatly worthy of 'The ~E~'. Not really my thing though,. sorry,.xxx Hey great seeing you back on ciao.x
John Hughes's popular 1985 teen drama finds a diverse group of high school students--a ... more
jock (Emilio Estevez), a metalhead (Judd Nelson), a weirdo (Ally Sheedy), a princess (Molly Ringwald), and a nerd (Anthony Michael Hall)--sharing a Saturday in deten...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
They were five students with nothing in common, faced with spending a Saturday detention ... more
together in their high school library. At 7 a.m., they had nothing to say, but by 4 p.m. they had bared their souls to each other and become good friends. John Hug...
John Hughes's popular 1985 teen drama finds a diverse group of high school students--a ... more
jock (Emilio Estevez), a metalhead (Judd Nelson), a weirdo (Ally Sheedy), a princess (Molly Ringwald), and a nerd (Anthony Michael Hall)--sharing a Saturday in deten...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
They only met once but it changed their lives forever. Without doubt John Hughes' The ... more
Breakfast Club is one of the greatest teen movies of all-time if not the best. Without it we might not have witnessed the phenomenal rise of the 'brat pack'; the...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![The Breakfast Club [DVD] [1985]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78507091.jpg "The Breakfast Club [DVD] [1985]")
Oct 30th, 2006
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