Ah, to be a teen in the ‘80s — big hair, shoulder pads, and some awesome teen romance movies to inspire your own romantic ways. The ‘80s were definitely a heyday of teen romance movies. Indeed, some of the movies on this list are so iconic, they still provide inspiration for today’s romantics. A boombox over the head may no longer be a thing like it was in the ‘80s, but an iPhone over the head can be just as effective. Actually, you know what? No. No, it cannot! It’s not the same.
Anyway! Let’s get to what you’re here for – our list of the top 10 best ‘80s teen romance movies. We hope you’re a John Hughes fan because he’s all over this list!
10. Valley Girl (1983)
Valley Girl features Nicolas Cage in one of his first starring roles as Randy, a punk from Hollywood who woos a popular high school girl, Julie, in the San Fernando Valley. Julie finds herself caught between the Valley lifestyle with her boyfriend Tommy, and wanting to branch out with rocker Randy. In the end, she must choose between the two. Romeo and Juliet was a partial inspiration for this film, as you can see in the names of the two lead characters.
9. Just One of the Guys (1985)
A classic comedy trope is on full display in Just One of the Guys. After Terry loses out on a writing internship at a local paper that goes to two guys instead, she’s convinced it’s because she’s a girl. She decides to take things into her own hands and, with the help of her brother, dresses up like a guy and enrolls at the rival high school. While there, she meets a sorta nerdy guy she decides to mentor, only she starts to fall for him along the way. Classic!
8. Can't Buy Me Love (1987)
Patrick Dempsey plays the nerdy Ronald in Can’t Buy Me Love. He decides to pay a popular cheerleader $1,000 to pretend to be his girlfriend for a month, thereby increasing his cool factor. Ronald gets a little too into being a part of the popular crowd, though, and soon starts ostracizing his real friends in order to stay in the in crowd. Of course, he eventually learns his lesson and redeems himself, getting the girl along the way, because duh.
7. Heathers (1989)
Now here we have a complete 180 to most of the teen romances of this era in Heathers, a dark satire of the teen comedy itself. Still, it has an epic teen romance at its core between Winona Ryder and Christian Slater’s characters. It’s violent and dramatic and just a bit crazy, but has certainly earned its cult favorite status.
6. Pretty In Pink (1986)
Pretty in Pink is a classic John Hughes film featuring his muse Molly Ringwald as the lead character Andie, a high school girl who lives on the poor side of town and is best friends with a fellow outsider, Duckie. This movie is a pretty tried and true tale of someone from the “wrong side of the tracks” dating the rich, popular kid, and the trials and tribulations along the way thanks to high school social structures.
5. Say Anything (1989)
And here we have the iconic Lloyd Dobbler and his epic boombox in Say Anything. This film is Cameron Crowe’s directorial debut, and features John Cusack in one of his most memorable roles. Lloyd is a bit of an underachiever who falls for the valedictorian during the summer before she heads off to college. Her father doesn’t approve of them together, and manages to create quite a rift between them. But, love prevails, thanks in part to the aforementioned boombox.
4. Sixteen Candles (1984)
In John Hughes’ and Molly Ringwald’s first collaboration, Sixteen Candles, Molly’s character Sam is turning sixteen, but everyone in her family has forgotten her birthday. On top of that, she has a nerdy kid trying to seduce her, all while she has eyes for the dreamy senior Jake Ryan. Many antics ensue over the course of the film, some of the most memorable featuring the exchange student Long Duk Dong. But, of course, who can forget that ending with Sam finally getting a kiss from Jake?
3. Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Though many of John Hughes’ movies of this era get more attention than Some Kind of Wonderful, that’s honestly really a shame, because this film deserves to be included too, and we’d argue it’s even better than some of his others (thus ranking higher on this list). Eric Stoltz stars as a working-class kid who harbors a crush on one of the popular girls, played by Lea Thompson. He works with his best friend, Watts (played by Mary Stuart Masterson), to woo Lea’s character on an epic date night. What he doesn’t realize is that Watts has feelings for him — so what does he do once he realizes this? Well, if you haven’t seen the movie, go watch it to find out!
2. The Breakfast club (1985)
Though The Breakfast Club isn’t centered on a romance like many of these other movies, it still has multiple budding romances in the film, so we think it counts. And honestly, it’s one of the best teen movies in existence, period, so that’s why it gets ranked so highly here. The movie is all about high school cliches and how really we’re not all that different underneath, and features romances between the princess and the criminal, and the athlete and the basket case.
1. Dirty Dancing (1987)
Though many of these films take place in the ubiquitous high school atmosphere, Dirty Dancing is slightly different in that it takes place over the summer at the Catskills. While dancing teacher Johnny, played by Patrick Swayze, may not be a teenager, our lead character Baby, played by Jennifer Grey, most certainly is, and the budding young love between the two is irresistible. Plus, it features dancing and great music, an all-around winning combination.
What was your favorite teen romance movie in the ‘80s? Do you agree with our ranking? Let us know in the comments!
- Dirty Dancing was based on screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein’s own childhood spending summers in the Catskills competing in “dirty dancing” competitions. In 1980, a scene Bergstein had written for the Michael Douglas film It’s My Turn featuring erotic dancing was cut, which prompted her to come up with the story for Dirty Dancing.
- During the 1980s, a group of young actors was called the “Brat Pack” after appearing together in multiple teen-oriented coming-of-age films. The core Brat Pack members are considered to be Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, and Rob Lowe.
- The original ending for Pretty in Pink had Andie ending up with Duckie instead of Blane, but when test audiences didn’t like that ending, they changed it. John Hughes never liked that change, and responded by writing Some Kind of Wonderful, which switches up the genders of the main characters, but has a very similar story.
- Lea Thompson originally turned down the role in Some Kind of Wonderful, but after Howard the Duck flopped, decided to take it. She and director Howard Deutch (who also directed Pretty in Pink) ended up falling for each other while filming, and got married in 1989. They are still together today and have two daughters.
- Viggo Mortensen almost played Jake Ryan in Sixteen Candles. Molly Ringwald revealed it was between him and Michael Schoeffling for the part, and she was rooting for Mortensen because he actually kissed her in the final audition. His first film role came soon after with Witness.
- Dirty Dancing was based on screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein’s own childhood spending summers in the Catskills competing in “dirty dancing” competitions. In 1980, a scene Bergstein had written for the Michael Douglas film It’s My Turn featuring erotic dancing was cut, which prompted her to come up with the story for Dirty Dancing.
- During the 1980s, a group of young actors was called the “Brat Pack” after appearing together in multiple teen-oriented coming-of-age films. The core Brat Pack members are considered to be Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, and Rob Lowe.
- The original ending for Pretty in Pink had Andie ending up with Duckie instead of Blane, but when test audiences didn’t like that ending, they changed it. John Hughes never liked that change, and responded by writing Some Kind of Wonderful, which switches up the genders of the main characters, but has a very similar story.
- Lea Thompson originally turned down the role in Some Kind of Wonderful, but after Howard the Duck flopped, decided to take it. She and director Howard Deutch (who also directed Pretty in Pink) ended up falling for each other while filming, and got married in 1989. They are still together today and have two daughters.
- Viggo Mortensen almost played Jake Ryan in Sixteen Candles. Molly Ringwald revealed it was between him and Michael Schoeffling for the part, and she was rooting for Mortensen because he actually kissed her in the final audition. His first film role came soon after with Witness.
