Top 20 80s Comedies That Are STILL Hilarious

Chevy Chase has starred in a number of our favorite comedies, but there’s just something special about the original “Vacation” film that started it all. For starters, this initial entry still possesses much of the satirical bite that links “Vacation” to the “National Lampoon” magazine. Elsewhere, the Griswald Family’s sojourn to Walley World is a true comedy of errors, a journey that’s full of hilarious disasters. Chase’s comedy timing is impeccable, his delivery amazing, and the ensemble cast more than game to bring their own enviable skills to the table. This one is just as funny now as it ever was.

There’s an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the cast and crew behind 1981’s “Stripes.” For starters, the film was helmed by the formidable Ivan Reitman, the future “Ghostbusters” director that’s paired here with Bill Murray and Harold Ramis. Ramis also helped co-write the screenplay, which sees a down-on-his-luck New Yorker decide, on a whim really, to join the army. John Larroquette, John Candy, Judge Reinhold, Sean Young and more also appear in the film, which possesses a chaotic and anarchic sense of humor. “Stripes” has held up surprisingly well over the years, and remains a likable (and very funny) ‘80s comedy gem.

One underlying theme to this list is how scenes that could be considered problematic today don’t necessarily need to ruin the totality of a film’s good will. “Trading Places” from 1983 has been singled out for a scene featuring Dan Aykroyd in blackface, which is undoubtedly uncomfortable today. That said, much of “Trading Places” also calls out the classist and racist beliefs held by its antagonists, the Duke Brothers. It’s up to Aykroyd and co-stars Eddie Murphy and Jamie Lee Curtis, to take down the Dukes after their lives are turned upside down by the brothers’ cruel wager. “Trading Places” straddles a line between black comedy and wacky hijinks, and does so with an amazing amount of energy and charm.

There are road trip movies…and then there’s “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” The much-missed John Candy co-stars with Steve Martin in a film that’s become something of a Thanksgiving tradition. It’s about the journey more than the destination with this film, as Martin’s Neal Page is attempting to make it home for Thanksgiving dinner. The success of “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” primarily lies with the chemistry of Martin and Candy as the leads, particularly the latter’s character of Del Griffith. There’s a heartfelt reveal near the end of the film that’s both foreshadowed and earned, lending “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” a welcome place at our Thanksgiving table every year.

There’s perhaps no more lovably dimwitted duo in all 1980s comedy. Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted “Theodore” Logan are destined to bring peace to the world with the music of their rock group, Wyld Stallyns. First thing’s first, however: a most excellent journey throughout time, in order to collect all of the correct pieces for a most triumphant school presentation. We just love to watch these two metalheads travel in their phone booth time machine, while comic legend George Carlin puts in a welcome appearance as Rufus, who’s been assigned to help them along their way. “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” was successful enough to spawn a franchise, reuniting the boys for two sequels that were most definitely NOT bogus.

Can you even be considered a card-carrying ‘80s kid if you CAN’T quote “The Goonies” verbatim? The film is basically bulletproof at this point, a family-friendly classic with an impeccable young cast of actors that paved the way for later TV series like “Stranger Things.” Viewing it fills our hearts with a warm, life-affirming nostalgia. This wouldn’t matter much if “The Goonies” was a lesser film, but thankfully this classic has endured to the modern day, thanks in part to generations of film fans passing it along to their own kids. And we hope it never goes away.

This is another film with a fantastic premise and an iconic execution…with one glaring asterisk. Does the fact that Tom Hanks’ Josh Baskin enters into a romantic relationship with an adult when his wish to become “big” comes true make this movie problematic? Some might say “yes,” but Penny Marshall’s film remains firmly within the realm of fantasy, never making this plot point feel icky, sleazy or gross. Instead, the big picture of well…er, “Big,” is about not wanting to grow up too fast, to enjoy fleeting youth while we can. Hanks was still known largely as a comedic actor at this stage, but “Big” did a great job hinting at the more dynamic work the man would do in coming years.

We’re honestly gobsmacked that a film based upon a board game turned out this good. Heck, “Clue” is better than good, it’s an ‘80s comedy that we totally don’t mind watching on repeat. We always notice something new with each new viewing, too, thanks largely to how game this ensemble cast is. Christopher Lloyd, Madeline Kahn, Michael McKean, Martin Mull and, of course, Tim Curry all make “Clue” a wonderful viewing experience. The “whodunnit” aspect of the plot flies by at a breakneck pace, with tons of physical comedy along the way that’s sublimely silly. Oh, and the multiple ending gimmick is brilliant, too. What can we say? “Clue” is just the best.

There have been a multitude of comedy movies based upon sketches from “Saturday Night Live,” and all of them have this film as a benchmark. “The Blues Brothers” is the standard against which all other SNL movies are measured, thanks primarily to the world-building at play. The backstory of Jake and Elwood Blues feels lived-in, like an old pair of shoes. Meanwhile, director John Landis (alongside co-screenwriter Dan Aykroyd) helps create tons of wacky situations for the duo, not to mention car crashes galore. There’s also plenty of guest stars on hand, from Carrie Fisher and Ray Charles to Aretha Franklin, James Brown and John Candy, to help lift “The Blues Brothers” to true “classic” status.

It’s difficult for us to narrow down the best of all Mel Brooks’ wacky parodies and stone-cold comedy classics. “Spaceballs” just has to be on the short list of Brooks’ finest work, however, a gloriously nutty send-up of the “Star Wars” franchise (and space operas in general) with a million quotable lines. We’d honestly have to “comb the desert” in order to find any line from “Spaceballs” that we’ve forgotten, and we never tire of rewatching this one over and over. Not all genre parody films possess enough creative legs to endure through the years, but the humor of “Spaceballs” is both specific and broad enough to appeal to anyone and everyone.

Oh sure, one could ask the question “Is 1988’s ‘Beetlejuice’ a horror movie or a comedy?” To which we’d answer, simply, “Yes.” There are plenty of kooky, imaginative set pieces to place “Beetlejuice” in the perennial Halloween-time movie canon. However, Michael Keaton’s performance as the titular ghost with the most is one of the funniest of the decade, and ensures “Beetlejuice” never feels too scary. The balance here is perfect, from morbid jokes about life, death and everything in between, to hilarious physical comedy bits that helped make “Beetlejuice” one of the defining films of the 1980s.

Isn’t it funny how certain movie characters can be perceived differently by subsequent generations? Many modern viewers claim the character of Ferris Bueller, he of the famed “day off,” is actually kind of a jerk. This takes nothing away from the movie being funny, yet the catalyst for so much of what happens to Ferris Bueller and his friends comes down to the star being rather selfish, deceptive and inconsiderate. At the time, Ferris Bueller was considered the height of cool, a likable scamp for whom we’re supposed to cheer. Yet, these days, it may be more fun to turn “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” into a game about counting how many questionable choices are made by its lead!

Eddie Murphy will always be a big deal, but he was a really big deal back in the 1980s. An ultra-bankable movie star that was responsible for some of the decade’s biggest and best hits. “Coming to America” is one of his most beloved ‘80s comedies, but it’s not just Murphy that helps make this movie great. Director John Landis and crew also bring together some of the industry’s best African-American actors, and create a massive ensemble backdrop for Murphy’s international quest for true love. “Coming to America” is imminently quotable and not only for the scenes featuring profanity. Instead, this flick combines heart and a wicked sense of humor…not to mention a callback to those dirty Duke Brothers from “Trading Places!”

One doesn’t have to be British in order to appreciate the humor at play in 1988’s “A Fish Called Wanda.” The script from “Monty Python” alum John Cleese is one part crime caper, one part absurdist comedy and one hundred percent hilarious. Love, sex, jealousy and greed all combine in a film that makes the most out of its incredibly talented cast. Cleese co-stars alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Cleese’s former “Python” partner, Michael Palin. The jokes here are smart, but never stuffy, if anything lean more into physical comedy gags and one-liners that never fail to make us giggle, even today.

Leslie Nielsen may be best known today for his comedic chops, but it’s important to note that this Canadian actor had previously been cast as either square-jawed heroes or dastardly antagonists. This first film in the “Naked Gun” franchise continues Nielsen’s comedic run by having the actor reprise his television role of police Lieutenant Frank Drebin. Anything goes in this type of film, with sight gags and silly humor being the order of the day. This was the sort of material at which The Zucker Brothers excelled, alongside their creative writing partner Jim Abrahams. Sure, “The Naked Gun” may also feature O.J. Simpson as a co-star, but we still advise checking this one out, and laughing along, if you’ve never seen it.

Some people believe that the tropes and traditions of a particular decade usually aren’t codified until close to the halfway point of the decade. Perhaps this explains why “Caddyshack” from 1980 still feels like a comedy that could’ve been released back in the mid-1970s. The “slobs versus the snobs” premise hadn’t yet become deeply ingrained within cinematic comedy culture, so the execution here never feels tiresome. Additionally, “Caddyshack” contains a veritable murderer’s row of comedic talent, including Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Ted Knight. And Knight in particular is adept at playing the ultimate stuck-up stick-in-the-mud, serving as a perfect foil for Dangerfield’s “everyman” routine. Oh, and there’s a gopher. Never forget the gopher.

If you want a good party game for the next time your friends sit down to watch “This Is Spinal Tap,” try this one. Shout out what bands you think are being parodied within this ultimate rock/mock-umentary. The truth is that what happens to the fictional group Spinal Tap is an amalgamation of every hard rock cliche in the book. Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and more serve as great sources of inspiration for the extravagance that went into stadium touring back in the 1970s and ‘80s. Beyond this, however, “This Is Spinal Tap” is just funny. It doesn’t even matter if you’re a fan of heavy metal: this one just ticks all of those funny bone boxes.

It’s one of those movies that we can quote front to back, a stone cold classic of which we never tire. It’s “Ghostbusters,” and it’s just about a perfect ‘80s comedy. Hell, it might be the best comedy EVER, full stop. Every decade possesses one of those lightning rod, tentpole movies, one that becomes intertwined within that era’s DNA. “Ghostbusters” is that movie, a cultural phenomenon whose influence is still being felt today with sequels, requels and reboots. There’s a great balance here of smarts, smarm and silliness that brings something for everyone to the table.

There’s probably no creative team out there that mastered the art of film parody better than The Zucker Brothers. 1977’s “Kentucky Fried Movie” introduced audiences to their special wit, and 1980’s “Airplane!” was a perfect distillation of their screwball zaniness. The film was a three-way collaboration involving both David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, and skewers 1970s disaster movies with note-perfect accuracy. Again, this is a film whose humor works regardless of whether or not one “gets” the jokes. Sure, if you happen to be an expert on all of these tropes, “Airplane!” works on multiple levels of humor. That said, movie fans of all ages will certainly be able to pick up what this hilarious satire is putting down.

If we’ve learned anything throughout this list, it’s that ‘80s comedies could be a lot of different things to a lot of different people. “Back to the Future,” however, just might possess the biggest heart of them all. There’s a sincerity at play here within both cast and script that sets “Back to the Future” apart from so many other films of the day. The attention to detail is also astonishing, and viewers see something new with each subsequent viewing. Throughout it all, though? “Back to the Future” is funny. Funny, entertaining, and heartwarming all at once. It’s a perfect movie, and a cornerstone of any proper cinematic diet.