guys... i am 52 years old and i was a teenager in 1985. I can assure you that this film had a big impact on me, as well as a lot of folks i know. Rip John Hughes you enlighted my life at that time, and i am so greatful to you. Cheers
I am the same age, but I did not see the Breakfast Club till it came on one of the movie channels so many years later when I was an adult. It impressed me, but did not have the impact it would have if I was 16.
I'm 31 my uncle is your age he took us to all the 80s classics thank GOD. Everyone tells me I'm bender which I was lool then we rented them on VHS and snuck thru his room to play video games on all
Well, it cracks my top 20 Teen Oriented Movies anyway... 01. Back To The Future 02. A Bronx Tale 03. American Graffiti 04. Dazed & Confused 05. Fast Times At Ridgemont High 08. Risky Business 07. Stand & Deliver 08. That Night 09. Some Kind Of Wonderful 10. Dead Poet's Society 11. Ferris Bueller's Day Off 12. Say Anything... 13. Friday Night Lights 14. Orange County 15. Juno 16. Lady Bird 17. White Squall 18. The Breakfast Club 19. The Wanderers 20. Mischief TELEVISION: 01. Friday Night Lights 02. The Wonder Years 03. Freaks & Geeks 04. My So-Called Life 05. Everybody Hates Chris
Many of us 80s parents were not sheltered as kids, even though our parents tried. We heard crap at school. My logic was, I'd rather my children hear from me. Ask me the questions or most of the time, I told them what NOT to fall for at school. Opposite effects. My daughter censors her children. My son has my parenting style. This will be interesting in about 3 years when my grandchildren almost all go through puberty at once.
Fun facts for those who don’t know much about the movie’s background. Ronald Reagan was the first choice to play Vernon, but a meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev conflicted with the shooting schedule and he could not accept the role. In Reagan’s autobiography, An American Life, he calls this “The biggest regret of my life.” Harvey Keitel was the next pick, but after reading the script he told John Hughes that he’d only play the role if he could dress in the same clothes he wore in “Taxi Driver.” So Paul Gleason, son of Jackie Gleason, won the role. During shooting he improvised the movie’s most famous line, “Yo Sal, how come there ain’t no brothers up on the wall?” The role Anthony Michael Hall played was originally written for a chimpanzee. Eric Stolz was originally cast as Bender, then halfway through filming John Hughes realized he wasn’t menacing enough and fired him. But you can still see glimpses of Stolz in the movie. That is his head between Molly Ringwald’s knees. And Hughes wanted Justine Bateman as the Claire character, but Gary David Goldberg would not give her the time off needed to film the movie. Filming was delayed for six months because of a typhoon. Emilio Estevez suffered a heart attack right before shooting began, also delaying the shooting schedule. The five students were originally supposed to serve their detention in the school cafeteria, locked into the walk-in refrigerator, but then producers were worried that children would try to copy the movie and lock themselves into their refrigerators at home, then suffocate. The exterior scenes were shot at a suburban high school right out of Chicago, but the library scenes were filmed at the Princeton University library, which is mostly underground and that’s why you see no windows in the movie’s library. Harvard University refused permission to film the dance scene there, so it was done at Oxford in England. Judd Nelson went undercover as a high school student at a local high school because seven years after graduating from a high school in Maine he had no memory of what high school was like, and found he liked it so much that he stayed at that high school after filming and four years later graduated as their Valedictorian. No one at that school ever realized he was an actor and not a student, even though he had been in three movies before “The Breakfast Club.”
I swear from now on, I am interpreting "it's the 80's" or "it's the times then" to be the illogicalness and reflectiveness of people and life in general.
I like the movie. Still, I'm skeptical that Estevez actually broke the glass. TBC has a nice reference in Pitch Perfect was well. I'm disturbed, but not surprised, at Ringwold's and Sheedy's judging of a film from almost 40 years ago by today's ever-changing standards.And Mr. Hacunda, "MeToo" hasn't been a thing for a few years, ever since the behavior of guys from the Left have been brought to light . It was at it's best when guys from the Right were, um, exposed (Weinstein being an exception).
Rather than seeing Bender being "rewarded" with a relationship, I don't think that's really so much about what's going on, and honestly, the movie would be worse off without it. How he behaves, and what he's doing is a facade in order to cover his own insecurities and loneliness. She gets to see past that to see the actual person he is, which is part of the film's message. There is depth to him, and he himself has value, and she sees that treasure in the rough. It's showing that he's somebody worth caring for, and it's redemptive. It's a development that he's not going to be treated like the archetype. Without it, he's still just "the criminal" while everybody else gets to change, at least to some extent. It sends the message that even the person who might be seen as "the worst" can be empathized with.
Ally & Molly's criticisms of this film are ridiculous. They are a product of their times literally. And it is how people talk & act. This "woke" generation is a joke & I'm embarrassed to be a part of it.
@@nestorsifuentesaguirre2722 That’s great. However, tragically in America, the woke garbage permeates, brainwashes, and destroys much of what is honest, true, and profound. Fortunately, there are those who see through its blinding, deceivingly empathetic haze and recognize it for what it truly is - a self-righteous, zombie-creating indoctrination that actually aligns with horrible ideals.
Excuse me! Do u honestly think the character of Clare had sh*t that didn't stink in this flick?! U just don't get it! The point about bender was that he was NOT a psychopath, or was somehow a psychopath in a good way! It is offensive that u express a hypocritical neoliberal bias against the plight of the working class. U don't seem aware even that Nancy Reagan's just say no was going on at the time. This movie almost seems to have been made so that I /people like me @ I the time would start reconsidering marijuana. It succeeded to. I was unaware that there were people who thought marijuana could be a good thing when I saw this film, /it caused a bit of a crack in my '80s ice. Bender is the hero of this flick! Like; how do you not know that?!?!?! In fact if I'd made this flick I would have made the nerd the 2nd hero of the film, as .y 1 complaint was that hall didn't even get a girl (the basket case should have gone for him, not estavez).
Well not a hero but a terrorist to peruvians who are sick of criminals and shit presidents so consider your arguenent trash since you never lived in Peru
as a 51 yr old man who was in school when this came out, i'm nervous to let my 16yr old daughter watch this. she's aware of 'language' and sexual references but i'm afraid she'll see it as boring as kids today have no attention span or understanding of dialogue with purpose.
I'm seventeen and me and my family watched it recently, I think she'll understand if you haven't seen it yet. Just tell her to be prepared that it takes place in only one room, and is about characters, NOT plot. I don't think kids today have no understanding of dialogue with purpose... That's literally insulting. We can differentiate corny writing to actual good writing. I will say, for me there was a bit of a disconnect because I didn't grow up in the 80s. While I liked this film and can understand why it's a classic, there were many times where I went "nobody talks like this?" So... Not all the dialogue had purpose...🤣
I worked at a theatre when this film came out. The crew watched our own midnight screening (as usual) the Thursday night before Friday's opening. When the film was over, we all agreed we had seen something more than a typical high school comedy. Most of us were in high school at the time. It was our generation. I believed then that it would be seen as representative of my generation in the years to come. Thanks for the revisit.
I guess I should look up the date this movie came out, cuz if you are turning this into a history book, OMG. Movies are being taken too serious!! This is fictitious!! But the representation of my movies from high school is pretty accurate and made me laugh really hard while drinking red wine. I'm 50, and I was a young and HEALTHY girl teenager when these movies came out.
I graduated high school in 1985 and my HS experience sucked. My older sister and I went to see The Breakfast Club that summer. After it ended we didn't really say anything, we just left the theater and walked to the car. We got in, kinda looked at each other and both of us started bawling. All the things that seem problematic today were pretty accurate. The 80s high school scene was a mess.
@@roxannemoser SAME. Though there are parts that pop up every now and again, like a jack in the box. But mainly I steered myself away from the catastrophe of my upbringing
I got along with everyone in Highschool and was friends with about every character type in this movie. It was interesting to see how people from all walks of life dealt with being a young adult. Times have changed but teens still walk this same path.
@@-redacted_by_youtube I would love to attend high school today just to see what the big differences are....besides we could smoke and go off-campus and no metal detectors ...aah the 70s
I got along with everybody too. It's actually scary. Jocks, art-f@gs, techies/gamers, metalheads, all the oddballs... But I've always been adaptive. Not so much the religious kids though.
@@stirgy4312 I was in High school in the 90s I was empathic to others and could adapt to their personality so I was friends with metal heads, goths, nerds, band geeks, stoners, preps.
Smoking was still moderately accepted back then, so frequently having a good supply of cigarettes, a lot of other kids (from every clique) would bum smokes off me. I was 'popular' but not in a way that I sought out, I would avoid the constant picking away at my supply. people knew me, but they didn't, I was kind of a ghost in school. Always had to divert around outside to have a smoke between classes (I'm was and still am a very heavy smoker, a hopeless one) I was popular, but I wasn't. There were also a lot of non smoking kids who harassed me, or shunned me for being a smoker. It's still like that as an adult. Non smokers are jerks. That's why I'll never be one. Take note, harass a smoker, they will be less likely to quit, you will only piss them off.
How funny that Molly Ringwald threw a tantrum because she was originally asked to play the basket case but she wanted to be the princess. Well... she definitely fit the part!😅 Allot of people say negative comments about Allison's transformation but I actually like it. I mean, the only thing a dark depressed person is going to attract is another dark depressed person. Nothing wrong with some light makeup and lighter colored clothes geesh. 🙄
I don't believe Ringwald threw a tantrum, I'm pretty sure she just wanted to play someone who wasn't like her (source: idk, I forgot where I heard this; you can probably find it pretty easily though) and Allison's makeover is overdone, I think a plain white shirt instead of blush and pastels would have been better
@@nestorsifuentesaguirre2722 ? I'm referring to her makeover near the end of the film and how it was a little too exaggerated. Is that what you're referring to? Your wording is a little confusing
Pre internet and being from Scotland, when these movies you'd never heard of came on really late at night when the station had shut down was just such an amazing experience, telling these cool 80s tales and awakening you to such a huge teen culture as the states had you only sort of heard about...same thing happened with Ferris Bueller, The Lost Boys so many of these films ... weird
Well then! Welcome Scotland! I'm very glad you and yours got finally witness such movie marvles! :D Scot. also has had some pretty good shows on Netflix!
The only thing I don’t like about this wonderful film is how they made Allison “pretty” at the end. I loved the way she looked before and I feel like the message isn’t good.
It is a brilliant movie. I was I high school during the early 60's and I refused to attend detention. Which of course got me more. Speaking your mind to teachers was a no no. I have no regrets.
Yeah, I remember senior year, they gave me 3 days "in school suspension", I decided it would be "out of school" contrary to their expectations, so when I returned 3 days later, they gave me 5 days. But by then I had managed to get some fun smoke, and sat in the all day study hall/detention room (that's what "in school suspension" was in my school) comfortably numb. Ahhhh.... to be a teen again.....
Sounds like there were a lot of young heros back in the 60s - 80s! So, thank you for your service! xD I'm 50, btw. I watched the movies that were described in this. At least from the 80s on.
John Hughes made some FUN movies that touched on serious subjects without having to LECTURE us like everything made today. I was 24 so it really wasn't anything like the high school I went to (we didn't have detention...that was middle school) except for the stereotypes so I could relate. Molly Ringwald became the IT gal (cover of Time mag even) and was forever typecast but I always thought Ally was the better actress. Instead of complaining about how different things were 'back then' (like every generation finds out) learn and grow and talk about it.
Controversial Option: Good, but overrated. The older I get, the more I identify with the principal more and more. He's over the top and out of line, but he is right.
The problem is when you put somebody like Vernon in a place where that is the only tactic anyone ever uses. No one addresses Brian’s suicidal ideations, the bullying and harassment the jock does, or the clear child abuse that Bender was experiencing, etc. You can’t only come down on the individual kids hard, without giving them hope and options. I don’t only discipline my children, I support and protect them.
Because the scene teaches people to not be themselves and if you dig harder, the entire movie is like that which is why Bender is the most outspoken in the movie.
@@KrisBryant99 I don't think that's what it teaches at all. I think the scene is representative of Allison coming out of her shell because she was previously anti-social and in a sense un-dignified. There's nothing wrong with teaching someone to be better than they are.
John Kapelos said that Molly Ringwald & Ally Sheedy were both divas on set. I guess that explains them pissing & moaning about a film that put their acting careers firmly on the map haha.
Getting real sick of ( mostly) women complaining about how they are portrayed in media particularly FICTION from decades ago. Firstly: How big of an issue can it be, if you only realise you're offended by it now? Secondly: In this particular movie the two leading female characters have the best qualities. As I understand it, there is a straight-laced, well behaved Princess and a free thinking, nonconforming misfit. Both characters were arguably stronger than the jock (don't objectify me!!!), the one dimensional brain, and the thug. No one forced these actresses to take these roles. And if they were a better actor maybe they could have portrayed a stronger character instead of a victim. This phenomenon of only realising you were offended by something decades later is ridiculous. Learn from it by all means. But to judge someone's actions from decades ago by today's 'morals' is a joke. Mel Gibson got drunk and said some stupid things a while ago, .... who hasn't said stupid things while drunk? But recently Wynonna Ryder has come out and said: She was at a party in the eighties, and seems to remember Mel making some offensive/off-colour jokes, ... IN THE EIGHTIES!!! Fuck these clowns
Interesting to look back on this film through a 2021 lens. I remember liking the movie as a 13 year old. Still like it now, but noticing the degree to which things have changed in the past 35 years is a bit jarring.
My now fiance and my cousin graduated in '85. That is such a coo year!! I graduated in '90. I think it's good that we can all look back at our corny past and laugh at it or take really good things out about it. Humankind is ALWAYS trying to improve on itself, so it's ok to laugh. :)
You know, Judd Nelson always looked like a young Harrison Ford to me, Hollywood dropped so many balls in not having him play the role in early Indiana Jones roles. I looked up his pictures as he is today, and he still looks like a young Ford.
People getting old and agreeing with Vernon have probably forgotten the whole discussion with the janitor. Did kids change? Or did we change? Because I guarantee the kids in the breakfast club haven’t changed, the context and lens with which we view them has. What kids face now is an absolute nightmare compared to what I faced when I was the same age as those kids in the breakfast club (I was thirteen in 1985). Teens in the Post 911, social media, insurrectionist, Covid era? At least the kids in the Breakfast Club were in a staffed high school and were largely dropped off by their parents.
1 thing I always wondered about the movie was the time of detention. Maybe it's a Chicago thing, since I don't live there, but I've never heard of anyone getting detention on the weekend and staying there for school day hours
@@deacongowan117 yes they had this at my school and I got a fair amount of them. I wasn't a bad kid I was just late a lot and often skipped class after lunch lol
I think John Hughes deliberately puts problematic parts in all his movies. Even Home Alone has Kevin getting bullied by his entire family. And some of them don't even care for him when they know he is alone. It's putting in the grey areas for characters. They do bad things, but they are not completely evil. And it's for the audience to decide how they feel about the character/s.
Execs complained there were no naked boobies, party scene, or under age drinking in a teen flick…mmmkay (guess that’s why they thru in the gratuitous undies scene 🙄)
To me..When Ally Sheed’s character has her makeover the message was not to label people.We are much more complex..And with Bender.It seemed Molly’s character could see the light in him despite him acting like an ass..Again people are neither all one thing or another so don’t label them
I’m kinda glad we never got massive a list stars like nick cage or Jim Carrey or Rick morranis in the movie, as I feel it would have distracted from the down to earth realistic feel of the film
I totally remember Judd Nelson jumping and clicking his heels with him frozen in the are while the song starts... Weird. My own little Mandela effect. I'm sure I'm not remembering correctly but it feels like I can recall what I'm remembering in several moments in my life. Even a cut away gag from family guy. Scary our brains do that. Good chance I'm even just mixing up wizard of oz or something. Still feels odd
One of my favorite movies of all time. A bit disappointing that Molly Ringwald didn't even understand her own character or Judd Nelson's. He was an abused child, lashing out at the world and jealous of her seemingly perfect life. That's why he treated her that way. Once they got to know each other better, she realizes he's hurting inside and they share a connection. Claire even gives him one of her diamond earrings (which he mocked earlier) so he could have a piece of her rich upbringing and a piece of her as well. They know this is the end of their relationship since she will not be seen with him in the halls of school. As far as Ally's "makeover" goes, it was more of a bonding moment between her and Claire who don't really interact much in the movie except during the "confession" circle. Sheedy's character dresses that way because she feels lonely and outcast. The makeover is less about turning her into a "princess" like Claire and more of her coming out of her darkness and loneliness (her parents ignore her). Esteves' character already liked her. She didn't "need the makeover" for him to like her. It's obvious throughout the day. He did like the change, but only because it surprised him. It was more pure, cleaner. She wanted to repel people before, this was a different side of her.
Judd Nelson's character was Johnny Bender. He was the one I identified with, him and Anthony Michael Hall's character (the nerdy kid that you forgot). I was a mix of those two. I was the stoner in the science club. Frequently in detention and "in school suspension" (sit in the office all day) as it was in my school, no Saturday stuff, but I'd be in that if we had it. I didn't go to class all the time, and they had a problem with my smoking on campus. I flowed between 'cliques', smoking weed with the princess on weekends, the jock would join in off-season, the Sheedy type character was an example of many of my friends out back in the smoking area, (I always had cigarettes, so everyone wanted to bum one off me)....which was a LOT easier for teens to do in the 80's. It was a cigarette free-for-all ! Motley Crue did a tribute to it. The big 'crack-down' on cigarettes didn't really start til the 90's. The whole bit about Johnny Bender getting a carton of smokes for Christmas wouldn't be allowed in scripts today.
@@peterbelanger4094 I also floated between cliques and smoked in-between classes. I think I was a mix of bender and Johnson. A bit of a freak, a bit of a geek but accepted by most groups lol.
Sigh. "They act that way because they're hurting inside" is applicable to nearly ALL abusers and it doesn't make them no abusers, and being offered empathy and understanding doesn't stop them from being abusive. They will act that way when they feel insecure, threatened, or not in control because they don't know other ways of dealing with those feelings, and in especially not in this case, because IT GOT HIM WHAT HE WANTED. It isn't Ringwald who didn't understand her character, it's you who doesn't understand abuse.
@@moonlily1 He didn't get what he wanted. Some kissing in the closet from a girl who will never acknowledge his existence after that day. His life is still shit and it probably always will be. Meanwhile Claire will go on with her amazing privileged life while he likely continues a downward spiral into drugs and even more abuse to himself and others. Btw, I'm glad you're an expert on what I know about abuse. It's called character development and story. But these actors are so clueless and vapid they can't see beyond their own shallow views. She was certainly happy to take those fat John Hughes paychecks though.
@@SkorpioMusic It got him her attention, affection and approval. And a diamond. But focus on the abuse part: he's abusive because he's been abused, but he's STILL AN ABUSER. Narratives about how "he's just misunderstood" blah blah blah enable and protect abusers. Ringwald is right that it's deeply disturbing that Claire would develop feeling for John when he's spent all day sexually harassing and insulting her, and actually, literally fucking sexually assaulted her when he put his head between her legs. These actions do NOT get you the girl. Real life abusers don't even go right in with the abuse from the moment they meet you, it is gradual. Bender's home environment does NOT minimize or excuse his horrible, abusive behavior towards Claire who did nothing to him which is based on nothing but the fact that he wants to fuck her and thinks he can't. This is disgusting, unsympathetic behavior.
19:37 maybe Hughes didn't want to go with their ideas not because that were the 80s? Maybe he has stuck to his ideas because very often that's just true? I remember such thing sfrom my high school. Good girls falling for bad boys doing questionable things. Boys falling for the ugly ducklings after transitions. If we like it or not from adults' perspective, these things are just realistic
Since there was so much cut footage, I wonder if there is a scene of Bender apologizing to Claire. He clearly starts off hating her for being popular and coming from a wealthy/positive family. To me, it seems like a quick scene of Bender admitting that he went too far and was jealous of Claire (before he realized how tough it can be to try to be "perfect" for others all the time). Him taking the heat for their "hallway adventure" was probably a step in the right direction (him sacrificing himself for people he had originally didn't care for)...either way, love this movie.
Yes! I've said this before & have seen similar comments as well lol. As you said, there was supposedly so much cut footage (not even included in the blu ray), that I wonder if there was some brief apology or small gesture expressing regret. I mean, this is Bender so I don't see him getting down on his knees begging for forgiveness or completely opening up his soul to Claire at this point, but maybe he just comes up next to her & says "Claire, I'm an a-hole" or something. Like I said, a small gesture but would show he felt bad about the way he'd been behaving? Maybe. Because yes, his taking the blame for all of them leaving the library & the way he jumps in when earlier in the movie Andrew mocks Claire over her situation with her parents ("You're just feeling sorry for yourself" & Bender cuts in with "Sporto? Do YOU get along with your parents?") shows that there's a tiny bit of virtue in him, even if he doesn't like to show it.
@allycat7486 - great points! Also, when Claire goes into the closet, we don't see what they say to each other. I like to think that whatever apology he says comes in that moment and that's when they embrace.
@@thenerdytherapist2996 The extended scene of that is on the blu-ray but there is no apology, just some dialogue & Bender looking as if he doesn't even know what to do with her once they're alone which is kind of cute lol. But there's a cut scene (not included on the blu-ray) where they're all sitting on the banister in the library & he's smoking & it looks like there's a conversation going on (the pics of that have been used in promos & the back of the DVD cases); seems to be before Claire grabs Allison to give her the makeover (because if you recall, by then Bender is not with the group so I guess he had returned to the closet). Anyway, I wonder if he might've said something then that motivated her to later go find him in the closet? Ugh, apology or not, what I'd give to get my hands on all that unused footage lol (sorry for the long reply).
@allycat7486 -.no apology needed! It's great to talk to someone who appreciates this movie! This is one of my favorite movies of ALL time and I find that I just appreciate it more and more as I get older.
I think that in the 80s there was this notion that guys had to be a bad boy to attract women. That meant being rude and dismissive and all that. Bender is definitely misogynistic. Or maybe the movie is saying that’s all an act and he’s actually a very sensitive guy who would be a good boyfriend. Is he a poster boy for toxic masculinity or is he enlightened?
The funny thing is that most stereotypes have a grain of truth at their core. Woman are attracted to the "bad boy" who is funny and good looking. Also, the "nice guy" always gets friend zoned and is always the last one picked.
@@perceivedvelocity9914 There is some truth to that. Perhaps there is a healthy medium many young teen boys can aspire to. I'd say John Cusack in "Say Anything". He wasn't a bad boy. He was a very nice guy but also wasn't a wimp. He had confidence in who he was and what he wanted. But that wasn't a John Hughes movie.
Maybe it doesn't send the best message for Claire and Bender to wind up together, but I remember girls in high school going for the a-holes left and right. The nice guys seemed to get passed over. See the end of The Last American Virgin for another example. It sucks, but it would happen all the time.
Yes, the movie is saying it's an act to hide his vulnerability inside, and also that he's a rebel. If you look at thing form a me too perspective every movie is misogynistic, except the political correct formula movies of these days. People really need to get real again.
@@GloopTrekker Well is it wrong that in an ironic way a bdsm borderline chick would out of the blue pick a nice guy?? Because that also seems to happen in obscure media that deconstructs bad boys for a living and remorselessly. Nothing personal against Bender just pointing out any hypocrisy many dickriders of the Breakfast Club showcase
Listening to the actresses' complaints at the end of this video was so cringy. It makes you realize how obtuse they really are. They dont understand the complexity of the characters they were playing. It's kind of depressing really. We want to think of actors as being these rich, bright, talented individuals with deep understandings of the roles their portraying. Instead it turns out they're just empty vessels. The depth was all designed by Hughes. The girls were just there to do what they were told.
I live in Vancouver and "Don't Forget About Me" is now the goal song of my local NHL team, the Vancouver Canucks. It's awesome! The players sing along with it.
I was in Highschool when I was given a writing test. I was supposed to write about the topic, which I had no understanding and so I wrote basically scene by scene The Breakfast Club. And I was pretty sure I was gonna fail. Not just fail the test, but the grade. And luckily enough I passed the test. And I didn’t even finish it. I like to tell people this because I always wondered who the person was who passed me and if they were a fan of the breakfast club.
One of the best movies ever. Timeless and universal is the hallmark of a classic piece. Also, movie was perfectly cast. Which is the key for cultural stickability. Everyone can identify with someone in the cast & their believability.
I did see it in theaters when it was released ,but have watched it more on VHS . I graduated in 1985 . Loved this movie and can definitely relate to it . School in the 80s was sort of like this . Also still enjoy the simple minds song from the movie great times.
I subbed several HS Sociology classes who had to watch this as an 'exploration' of generational relatives'. And let me tell you .... the generation gap was quite inclusive. Not only did today's youth RELATE to the stereotypes of this film, but the characters doubly. Most pertinently John Bender "the outcast" Brian Johnson "the nerd" and Claire "the princess" in the societal struggles they endured with having to mainstay their clique personae, while maintaining who they really were ... as Claire put it 'You don't realize the pressure your friends put on you, to be and think just like them'
While John Bender is one of my favorite characters, I don’t agree with the way things ended with him and Claire. I feel like it would have been more appropriate if John was man enough to apologize to Claire about his harassment towards her. Claire could have accepted after seeing him for who he was after the group share their issues with each other and THEN gave him her earring to show that she held no grudge and forgave him. The ending between these two in the movie is pretty unacceptable, especially since John made Claire so uncomfortable. Also, Allison should have been allowed to be herself until the end, instead of Andrew actually making a move on her after she changes her appearance. With the rather deep conversation and connection between them, I’d like to think Andrew would have loved her with her plain white tee shirt, especially if she simply moved her hair out of her eyes.
This was interesting to see, thanks for sharing this. I have it on DVD got it for a dollar. It's the Highschool Reunion collection. The Breakfast Club.
While watching the movie back in High School, I was honestly hoping that, if anybody, Bender would end up getting with Allison, and if Claire got with anyone, that it be Brian. The pairings that actually happened by the end of the movie have always felt a bit off to me, especially after learning Judd Nelson was around 25 by the end of production… (like, yikes, my guy)
I like the movie. But the stereotypes are Not broken down at all:D The prom queens Talent is a lipstick-trick ,she thinks of herself as the Most popular and seduces the Bad guy. The Bad guy comes from a troubled home and wants to get in the panties of the prom queen. The Brain wanted to kill himself because of a Bad grade and gladly writes essays for everybody. The sport guy gets bullied by his father and seduces the pretty girl. The weird cool girl gets a horrible makeover- and WOW- who could have known? She is actually pretty!!
Fun fact that fist scene at the end was done at Maine East high School, same high school that Harrison Ford and Hillary Clinton went to.. take that home chew it. It's delicious
My theory is. Vernon won the lottery and has millions stacked in the bank for retirement. However he likes the principal and works there for a low wage, he studies the youth and mentors them.
while I don't like it, Allison's makeover is more symbolic than anything. It represents her peeling back the layers of defense she had built up and letting the person beneath those layers shine. the problem is that it's too over-the-top and undermines the film's message a little bit
Wait Nicolas Cage as the criminal? I can definitely see him doing that character. But he was too expensive to add to The breakfast club. That's a bit odd cuz the only movie he was in before that was valley girl I think. And then after The breakfast club would have gone on to moonstruck. Which would have made him a sought after actor. Unless I got the timeline for the movies wrong. But after valley girl I didn't think he did anything noteworthy until moonstruck. I might have the time line wrong
It is such a shame that Ringwald and Sheedy have disavowed some of the important scenes. They are necessary. They may not be PC, but that is a good thing. Sheedy didnt really have any style, so that image change is pretty darn minimal. Bender was a dick, amazingly, there are still a ton of them out there and there will be so in the future. Best get to rights with that.
Honestly, I've seen the movie a couple of times, but it never resonated with me. I hated school--I particularly despised high school--and the whole "teenage angst thing" was not my cup of tea. I had a few friends, then moved away, and then declined to make any at my new school because they were all fakes, phonies, and frauds. However, I love your take and interpretations of movies, so I watched.
John Kapelos lived in an apartment above a high school friend's family in Chicago in the mid 80s. Occasionally, John would chat with us when he found us sitting in the hallway, and he wasn't altogether different from his character Carl in the Breakfast Club. He even gifted me bongos once he learned we were trying to form a band, as I was an aspiring drummer with no drum kit at the time. The sweet surreality of youth......
Nelson's infamous method acting tactics would NEVER be tolerated in this day and age, and he'd be instantly fired. It's also hard to watch Bender get rewarded for all his bullying and sexual harassment of Claire by having them start a romantic relationship by the end.
When you think of the classic films released in 1985, like Breakfast Club and Back To The Future, it's amazing that the Oscars went with Out Of Africa for best film. I don't think Breakfast Club was even acknowledged.
would be interesting to see those deleted scenes as I always thought there was a chunk missing from the movie. It's gooood ... but it could have been great.
guys... i am 52 years old and i was a teenager in 1985. I can assure you that this film had a big impact on me, as well as a lot of folks i know.
Rip John Hughes you enlighted my life at that time, and i am so greatful to you. Cheers
I'm 51, graduated H.S. in '88...
This movie is the iconic movie of our generation.
I am the same age, but I did not see the Breakfast Club till it came on one of the movie channels so many years later when I was an adult. It impressed me, but did not have the impact it would have if I was 16.
Im 51 and totally agree. I know its cliche but the 80s was great time to be a kid/teen. The movies and music in that era was awesome.
I'm 31 my uncle is your age he took us to all the 80s classics thank GOD. Everyone tells me I'm bender which I was lool then we rented them on VHS and snuck thru his room to play video games on all
same #88grad
Arguably the best teen movie of all time the cast the story just perfect 10/10 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Loved every second of this classic
Well, it cracks my top 20 Teen Oriented Movies anyway...
01. Back To The Future
02. A Bronx Tale
03. American Graffiti
04. Dazed & Confused
05. Fast Times At Ridgemont High
08. Risky Business
07. Stand & Deliver
08. That Night
09. Some Kind Of Wonderful
10. Dead Poet's Society
11. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
12. Say Anything...
13. Friday Night Lights
14. Orange County
15. Juno
16. Lady Bird
17. White Squall
18. The Breakfast Club
19. The Wanderers
20. Mischief
TELEVISION:
01. Friday Night Lights
02. The Wonder Years
03. Freaks & Geeks
04. My So-Called Life
05. Everybody Hates Chris
Great list
@@royshaheer weee
@@Geronimo_Jehoshaphat weeeeeeeepepe we eeeeeeeeee
it’s amazing this movie was rated-R, but my parents let me see it at 7 in 1985.
Very different time.
No violence but a lot of swearing in it especially for 1985.
@@Lance37a well there was that one scene when he was hiding under the table
@@501stClone67 Is that violence? I mean, I suppose it is, technically. It's assault of some kind.
I think your parents were ahead of their time! These days many filming companies allow more to pass, so feel lucky.
Many of us 80s parents were not sheltered as kids, even though our parents tried. We heard crap at school. My logic was, I'd rather my children hear from me. Ask me the questions or most of the time, I told them what NOT to fall for at school. Opposite effects. My daughter censors her children. My son has my parenting style. This will be interesting in about 3 years when my grandchildren almost all go through puberty at once.
When Life was GOOD!! I'd give anything to go back to this time!! I so miss the 80's
Fun facts for those who don’t know much about the movie’s background. Ronald Reagan was the first choice to play Vernon, but a meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev conflicted with the shooting schedule and he could not accept the role. In Reagan’s autobiography, An American Life, he calls this “The biggest regret of my life.” Harvey Keitel was the next pick, but after reading the script he told John Hughes that he’d only play the role if he could dress in the same clothes he wore in “Taxi Driver.” So Paul Gleason, son of Jackie Gleason, won the role. During shooting he improvised the movie’s most famous line, “Yo Sal, how come there ain’t no brothers up on the wall?” The role Anthony Michael Hall played was originally written for a chimpanzee. Eric Stolz was originally cast as Bender, then halfway through filming John Hughes realized he wasn’t menacing enough and fired him. But you can still see glimpses of Stolz in the movie. That is his head between Molly Ringwald’s knees. And Hughes wanted Justine Bateman as the Claire character, but Gary David Goldberg would not give her the time off needed to film the movie. Filming was delayed for six months because of a typhoon. Emilio Estevez suffered a heart attack right before shooting began, also delaying the shooting schedule. The five students were originally supposed to serve their detention in the school cafeteria, locked into the walk-in refrigerator, but then producers were worried that children would try to copy the movie and lock themselves into their refrigerators at home, then suffocate. The exterior scenes were shot at a suburban high school right out of Chicago, but the library scenes were filmed at the Princeton University library, which is mostly underground and that’s why you see no windows in the movie’s library. Harvard University refused permission to film the dance scene there, so it was done at Oxford in England. Judd Nelson went undercover as a high school student at a local high school because seven years after graduating from a high school in Maine he had no memory of what high school was like, and found he liked it so much that he stayed at that high school after filming and four years later graduated as their Valedictorian. No one at that school ever realized he was an actor and not a student, even though he had been in three movies before “The Breakfast Club.”
I swear from now on, I am interpreting "it's the 80's" or "it's the times then" to be the illogicalness and reflectiveness of people and life in general.
I guess it's a good thing Hughes didn't give future wokists, Sheedy and Ringwald, their way. It would've been much less of a movie.
I like the movie. Still, I'm skeptical that Estevez actually broke the glass.
TBC has a nice reference in Pitch Perfect was well.
I'm disturbed, but not surprised, at Ringwold's and Sheedy's judging of a film from almost 40 years ago by today's ever-changing standards.And Mr. Hacunda, "MeToo" hasn't been a thing for a few years, ever since the behavior of guys from the Left have been brought to light . It was at it's best when guys from the Right were, um, exposed (Weinstein being an exception).
Metoo has always been around. Andrew 'Dice Clay got his ass canceled in the early 90's.
2nd best high school movie......Fast Times is #1.
Rather than seeing Bender being "rewarded" with a relationship, I don't think that's really so much about what's going on, and honestly, the movie would be worse off without it. How he behaves, and what he's doing is a facade in order to cover his own insecurities and loneliness. She gets to see past that to see the actual person he is, which is part of the film's message. There is depth to him, and he himself has value, and she sees that treasure in the rough. It's showing that he's somebody worth caring for, and it's redemptive. It's a development that he's not going to be treated like the archetype. Without it, he's still just "the criminal" while everybody else gets to change, at least to some extent. It sends the message that even the person who might be seen as "the worst" can be empathized with.
Well don't expect Latinos to see past false rages because of our ever increasing paranoia created by shit presidents like Pedro Castillo
i didnt like this movie. sorry but most of my friends in high school just laughed at the cringe.
I didn't much care for it. To me "Ferris Bueller" was far superior.
Ally & Molly's criticisms of this film are ridiculous. They are a product of their times literally. And it is how people talk & act. This "woke" generation is a joke & I'm embarrassed to be a part of it.
Then you possibly are naive because in Latin America no Bender-like beings are allowed to exist for reasons bigger than woke
@@nestorsifuentesaguirre2722
That’s great. However, tragically in America, the woke garbage permeates, brainwashes, and destroys much of what is honest, true, and profound. Fortunately, there are those who see through its blinding, deceivingly empathetic haze and recognize it for what it truly is - a self-righteous, zombie-creating indoctrination that actually aligns with horrible ideals.
He made fun of her blind father? Ugh
Excuse me! Do u honestly think the character of Clare had sh*t that didn't stink in this flick?! U just don't get it! The point about bender was that he was NOT a psychopath, or was somehow a psychopath in a good way! It is offensive that u express a hypocritical neoliberal bias against the plight of the working class. U don't seem aware even that Nancy Reagan's just say no was going on at the time. This movie almost seems to have been made so that I /people like me @ I the time would start reconsidering marijuana. It succeeded to. I was unaware that there were people who thought marijuana could be a good thing when I saw this film, /it caused a bit of a crack in my '80s ice. Bender is the hero of this flick! Like; how do you not know that?!?!?! In fact if I'd made this flick I would have made the nerd the 2nd hero of the film, as .y 1 complaint was that hall didn't even get a girl (the basket case should have gone for him, not estavez).
Well not a hero but a terrorist to peruvians who are sick of criminals and shit presidents so consider your arguenent trash since you never lived in Peru
as a 51 yr old man who was in school when this came out, i'm nervous to let my 16yr old daughter watch this. she's aware of 'language' and sexual references but i'm afraid she'll see it as boring as kids today have no attention span or understanding of dialogue with purpose.
I'm seventeen and me and my family watched it recently, I think she'll understand if you haven't seen it yet. Just tell her to be prepared that it takes place in only one room, and is about characters, NOT plot.
I don't think kids today have no understanding of dialogue with purpose... That's literally insulting. We can differentiate corny writing to actual good writing. I will say, for me there was a bit of a disconnect because I didn't grow up in the 80s. While I liked this film and can understand why it's a classic, there were many times where I went "nobody talks like this?" So... Not all the dialogue had purpose...🤣
I worked at a theatre when this film came out. The crew watched our own midnight screening (as usual) the Thursday night before Friday's opening. When the film was over, we all agreed we had seen something more than a typical high school comedy. Most of us were in high school at the time. It was our generation. I believed then that it would be seen as representative of my generation in the years to come. Thanks for the revisit.
I guess I should look up the date this movie came out, cuz if you are turning this into a history book, OMG. Movies are being taken too serious!! This is fictitious!! But the representation of my movies from high school is pretty accurate and made me laugh really hard while drinking red wine. I'm 50, and I was a young and HEALTHY girl teenager when these movies came out.
I graduated high school in 1985 and my HS experience sucked. My older sister and I went to see The Breakfast Club that summer. After it ended we didn't really say anything, we just left the theater and walked to the car. We got in, kinda looked at each other and both of us started bawling. All the things that seem problematic today were pretty accurate. The 80s high school scene was a mess.
The message I always think of from this movie is, "when I grow up, I'll never turn into my parents."
And I DIDN'T. My parents were a huge MESS.
@@roxannemoser SAME. Though there are parts that pop up every now and again, like a jack in the box. But mainly I steered myself away from the catastrophe of my upbringing
John Hughes was the persona of the 80's into the early 90's. Love his works.
My childhood ❤ my 31 year old daughter can quote all the lines to this and Ferris Bueller
I got along with everyone in Highschool and was friends with about every character type in this movie. It was interesting to see how people from all walks of life dealt with being a young adult. Times have changed but teens still walk this same path.
Lol no they don't. Children are taught to be divided based on race and "privilege ". The school system is absolutely disgusting nowadays.
@@-redacted_by_youtube I would love to attend high school today just to see what the big differences are....besides we could smoke and go off-campus and no metal detectors ...aah the 70s
I got along with everybody too. It's actually scary. Jocks, art-f@gs, techies/gamers, metalheads, all the oddballs... But I've always been adaptive. Not so much the religious kids though.
@@stirgy4312 I was in High school in the 90s I was empathic to others and could adapt to their personality so I was friends with metal heads, goths, nerds, band geeks, stoners, preps.
Smoking was still moderately accepted back then, so frequently having a good supply of cigarettes, a lot of other kids (from every clique) would bum smokes off me. I was 'popular' but not in a way that I sought out, I would avoid the constant picking away at my supply. people knew me, but they didn't, I was kind of a ghost in school. Always had to divert around outside to have a smoke between classes (I'm was and still am a very heavy smoker, a hopeless one)
I was popular, but I wasn't. There were also a lot of non smoking kids who harassed me, or shunned me for being a smoker. It's still like that as an adult. Non smokers are jerks. That's why I'll never be one. Take note, harass a smoker, they will be less likely to quit, you will only piss them off.
Wait what?! Ringwald thinks she danced badly?! I watched this movie today and wish I could do that damn dance she did lol it looks fun as hell
I miss the good old days when people were called "neo maxi-zoom dweebies".
what does that mean?
How funny that Molly Ringwald threw a tantrum because she was originally asked to play the basket case but she wanted to be the princess. Well... she definitely fit the part!😅
Allot of people say negative comments about Allison's transformation but I actually like it. I mean, the only thing a dark depressed person is going to attract is another dark depressed person. Nothing wrong with some light makeup and lighter colored clothes geesh. 🙄
The film wouldn't have worked if Molly had played any other part. She was too hot to not be the princess.
Agreed
I don't believe Ringwald threw a tantrum, I'm pretty sure she just wanted to play someone who wasn't like her (source: idk, I forgot where I heard this; you can probably find it pretty easily though)
and Allison's makeover is overdone, I think a plain white shirt instead of blush and pastels would have been better
@@Bottle_O_Glue Even Goths are no overkill with their makeups
@@nestorsifuentesaguirre2722 ? I'm referring to her makeover near the end of the film and how it was a little too exaggerated. Is that what you're referring to? Your wording is a little confusing
Pre internet and being from Scotland, when these movies you'd never heard of came on really late at night when the station had shut down was just such an amazing experience, telling these cool 80s tales and awakening you to such a huge teen culture as the states had you only sort of heard about...same thing happened with Ferris Bueller, The Lost Boys so many of these films ... weird
Well then! Welcome Scotland! I'm very glad you and yours got finally witness such movie marvles! :D Scot. also has had some pretty good shows on Netflix!
RIP John Hughes. You made me laugh and relate to so many things in your films. I was a teenager when these films came out.
The only thing I don’t like about this wonderful film is how they made Allison “pretty” at the end. I loved the way she looked before and I feel like the message isn’t good.
It is a brilliant movie. I was I high school during the early 60's and I refused to attend detention. Which of course got me more. Speaking your mind to teachers was a no no. I have no regrets.
Yeah, I remember senior year, they gave me 3 days "in school suspension", I decided it would be "out of school" contrary to their expectations, so when I returned 3 days later, they gave me 5 days. But by then I had managed to get some fun smoke, and sat in the all day study hall/detention room (that's what "in school suspension" was in my school) comfortably numb.
Ahhhh.... to be a teen again.....
Sounds like there were a lot of young heros back in the 60s - 80s! So, thank you for your service! xD I'm 50, btw. I watched the movies that were described in this. At least from the 80s on.
I graduated high school 20 years ago and I still relate to this movie
I graduated in 1990 and I still remember some of the movies portrayed from the 80s! Such as Pretty in Pink, Sweet 16, Breakfast Club., etc. :D
John Hughes made some FUN movies that touched on serious subjects without having to LECTURE us like everything made today. I was 24 so it really wasn't anything like the high school I went to (we didn't have detention...that was middle school) except for the stereotypes so I could relate. Molly Ringwald became the IT gal (cover of Time mag even) and was forever typecast but I always thought Ally was the better actress. Instead of complaining about how different things were 'back then' (like every generation finds out) learn and grow and talk about it.
It’s a skill that directors don’t have nowadays. Now everything is forced down your throat.
Then why don't movies cut out that obscene char. like Molly R. and only have Allys?
We had after school detention. I went in, signed in and out, and left. 🙄 it was lame.
Controversial Option: Good, but overrated. The older I get, the more I identify with the principal more and more. He's over the top and out of line, but he is right.
Agreed, Vernon goes over the line by threatening to beat up Bender, and his actions would NEVER be tolerated today, but he did have a point.
I don't think people say it's that good it's just that it's iconic
The deleted scenes flesh Vernon out a lot more.
The problem is when you put somebody like Vernon in a place where that is the only tactic anyone ever uses. No one addresses Brian’s suicidal ideations, the bullying and harassment the jock does, or the clear child abuse that Bender was experiencing, etc. You can’t only come down on the individual kids hard, without giving them hope and options. I don’t only discipline my children, I support and protect them.
You briefly sounded like the Current Captain America on the out of line but right thing
I never understood why people don't like the makeover scene. It totally adds to the entertainment value.
Because the scene teaches people to not be themselves and if you dig harder, the entire movie is like that which is why Bender is the most outspoken in the movie.
@@KrisBryant99 I don't think that's what it teaches at all. I think the scene is representative of Allison coming out of her shell because she was previously anti-social and in a sense un-dignified. There's nothing wrong with teaching someone to be better than they are.
John Kapelos said that Molly Ringwald & Ally Sheedy were both divas on set. I guess that explains them pissing & moaning about a film that put their acting careers firmly on the map haha.
Getting real sick of ( mostly) women complaining about how they are portrayed in media particularly FICTION from decades ago.
Firstly: How big of an issue can it be, if you only realise you're offended by it now?
Secondly: In this particular movie the two leading female characters have the best qualities. As I understand it, there is a straight-laced, well behaved Princess and a free thinking, nonconforming misfit.
Both characters were arguably stronger than the jock (don't objectify me!!!), the one dimensional brain, and the thug.
No one forced these actresses to take these roles.
And if they were a better actor maybe they could have portrayed a stronger character instead of a victim.
This phenomenon of only realising you were offended by something decades later is ridiculous.
Learn from it by all means.
But to judge someone's actions from decades ago by today's 'morals' is a joke.
Mel Gibson got drunk and said some stupid things a while ago, .... who hasn't said stupid things while drunk?
But recently Wynonna Ryder has come out and said: She was at a party in the eighties, and seems to remember Mel making some offensive/off-colour jokes, ... IN THE EIGHTIES!!!
Fuck these clowns
Yeah I gotta agree. It's utterly lame to complain like decades later. It comes across as phony and just wanting to fit in with woke me too culture.
@@Spiritualchick82 I hope you are not of those who believe rapists are right
One of my all time favorite movies. It was my generation and it touched on so many subjects. I felt like i was there. It was a great time!
Interesting to look back on this film through a 2021 lens. I remember liking the movie as a 13 year old. Still like it now, but noticing the degree to which things have changed in the past 35 years is a bit jarring.
Right?? Kids are still the same, but their restrictions are much worst today. Parents can't (publically) spank their kids, so.
The movie of my high school years. I graduated in 1985 and this movie meant so much to my friends and I.
My now fiance and my cousin graduated in '85. That is such a coo year!! I graduated in '90. I think it's good that we can all look back at our corny past and laugh at it or take really good things out about it. Humankind is ALWAYS trying to improve on itself, so it's ok to laugh. :)
You know, Judd Nelson always looked like a young Harrison Ford to me, Hollywood dropped so many balls in not having him play the role in early Indiana Jones roles. I looked up his pictures as he is today, and he still looks like a young Ford.
On the upside, you've now been successfully diagnosed with Prosopagnosia.
@@Geronimo_Jehoshaphat Oof. I don't get the resemblance either, but that was a serious burn.
@@RonJDuncan 😆
Ahh Ally Sheedy. I had such a crush on her back then
Roger Ebert 3 stars. 🙄
Always disliked his reviews.
People getting old and agreeing with Vernon have probably forgotten the whole discussion with the janitor. Did kids change? Or did we change? Because I guarantee the kids in the breakfast club haven’t changed, the context and lens with which we view them has. What kids face now is an absolute nightmare compared to what I faced when I was the same age as those kids in the breakfast club (I was thirteen in 1985). Teens in the Post 911, social media, insurrectionist, Covid era? At least the kids in the Breakfast Club were in a staffed high school and were largely dropped off by their parents.
1 thing I always wondered about the movie was the time of detention. Maybe it's a Chicago thing, since I don't live there, but I've never heard of anyone getting detention on the weekend and staying there for school day hours
Wasn't this done to further add to the punishment?
I had Saturday detention but it was only 4 hours from 0700-1100 in the morning. You couldn’t bring anything, homework included.
@@deacongowan117 yes they had this at my school and I got a fair amount of them. I wasn't a bad kid I was just late a lot and often skipped class after lunch lol
I love and still love this movie I was the brainy kid . this movie is my Rocky horror picture show I can still say it pretty much verbatim
A childhood classic
I love this movie I was 16 when it came out and is my favorite John Hughes movie up all his movies
I think John Hughes deliberately puts problematic parts in all his movies.
Even Home Alone has Kevin getting bullied by his entire family. And some of them don't even care for him when they know he is alone.
It's putting in the grey areas for characters. They do bad things, but they are not completely evil. And it's for the audience to decide how they feel about the character/s.
Execs complained there were no naked boobies, party scene, or under age drinking in a teen flick…mmmkay (guess that’s why they thru in the gratuitous undies scene 🙄)
To me..When Ally Sheed’s character has her makeover the message was not to label people.We are much more complex..And with Bender.It seemed Molly’s character could see the light in him despite him acting like an ass..Again people are neither all one thing or another so don’t label them
I’m kinda glad we never got massive a list stars like nick cage or Jim Carrey or Rick morranis in the movie, as I feel it would have distracted from the down to earth realistic feel of the film
I totally remember Judd Nelson jumping and clicking his heels with him frozen in the are while the song starts... Weird. My own little Mandela effect. I'm sure I'm not remembering correctly but it feels like I can recall what I'm remembering in several moments in my life. Even a cut away gag from family guy. Scary our brains do that. Good chance I'm even just mixing up wizard of oz or something. Still feels odd
Never jumped, I hate that effect.
You mean from 0:08 on this video? This is just before "Don't You Forget About Me" starts...
I was born in 1986, but these 80's movies still played a huge role growing up and I'm glad to have been exposed to them as a kid.
I love the recurring theme of Anthony Michael Hall's Characters "Girlfriend, Whom lives in Canada" In a few of the John Hughes Films ;)
Alisons makeover was terrible. she looked way better in her black sweater and dishovled hair
One of my favorite movies of all time. A bit disappointing that Molly Ringwald didn't even understand her own character or Judd Nelson's. He was an abused child, lashing out at the world and jealous of her seemingly perfect life. That's why he treated her that way. Once they got to know each other better, she realizes he's hurting inside and they share a connection. Claire even gives him one of her diamond earrings (which he mocked earlier) so he could have a piece of her rich upbringing and a piece of her as well. They know this is the end of their relationship since she will not be seen with him in the halls of school.
As far as Ally's "makeover" goes, it was more of a bonding moment between her and Claire who don't really interact much in the movie except during the "confession" circle. Sheedy's character dresses that way because she feels lonely and outcast. The makeover is less about turning her into a "princess" like Claire and more of her coming out of her darkness and loneliness (her parents ignore her). Esteves' character already liked her. She didn't "need the makeover" for him to like her. It's obvious throughout the day. He did like the change, but only because it surprised him. It was more pure, cleaner. She wanted to repel people before, this was a different side of her.
Judd Nelson's character was Johnny Bender. He was the one I identified with, him and Anthony Michael Hall's character (the nerdy kid that you forgot). I was a mix of those two. I was the stoner in the science club. Frequently in detention and "in school suspension" (sit in the office all day) as it was in my school, no Saturday stuff, but I'd be in that if we had it. I didn't go to class all the time, and they had a problem with my smoking on campus. I flowed between 'cliques', smoking weed with the princess on weekends, the jock would join in off-season, the Sheedy type character was an example of many of my friends out back in the smoking area, (I always had cigarettes, so everyone wanted to bum one off me)....which was a LOT easier for teens to do in the 80's. It was a cigarette free-for-all ! Motley Crue did a tribute to it. The big 'crack-down' on cigarettes didn't really start til the 90's.
The whole bit about Johnny Bender getting a carton of smokes for Christmas wouldn't be allowed in scripts today.
@@peterbelanger4094 I also floated between cliques and smoked in-between classes. I think I was a mix of bender and Johnson. A bit of a freak, a bit of a geek but accepted by most groups lol.
Sigh. "They act that way because they're hurting inside" is applicable to nearly ALL abusers and it doesn't make them no abusers, and being offered empathy and understanding doesn't stop them from being abusive. They will act that way when they feel insecure, threatened, or not in control because they don't know other ways of dealing with those feelings, and in especially not in this case, because IT GOT HIM WHAT HE WANTED. It isn't Ringwald who didn't understand her character, it's you who doesn't understand abuse.
@@moonlily1 He didn't get what he wanted. Some kissing in the closet from a girl who will never acknowledge his existence after that day. His life is still shit and it probably always will be. Meanwhile Claire will go on with her amazing privileged life while he likely continues a downward spiral into drugs and even more abuse to himself and others. Btw, I'm glad you're an expert on what I know about abuse. It's called character development and story. But these actors are so clueless and vapid they can't see beyond their own shallow views. She was certainly happy to take those fat John Hughes paychecks though.
@@SkorpioMusic It got him her attention, affection and approval. And a diamond. But focus on the abuse part: he's abusive because he's been abused, but he's STILL AN ABUSER. Narratives about how "he's just misunderstood" blah blah blah enable and protect abusers. Ringwald is right that it's deeply disturbing that Claire would develop feeling for John when he's spent all day sexually harassing and insulting her, and actually, literally fucking sexually assaulted her when he put his head between her legs. These actions do NOT get you the girl. Real life abusers don't even go right in with the abuse from the moment they meet you, it is gradual. Bender's home environment does NOT minimize or excuse his horrible, abusive behavior towards Claire who did nothing to him which is based on nothing but the fact that he wants to fuck her and thinks he can't. This is disgusting, unsympathetic behavior.
So good that Hughes didn’t fire Nelson. His improv moves and lines were too important and some iconic.
19:37 maybe Hughes didn't want to go with their ideas not because that were the 80s?
Maybe he has stuck to his ideas because very often that's just true?
I remember such thing sfrom my high school.
Good girls falling for bad boys doing questionable things.
Boys falling for the ugly ducklings after transitions.
If we like it or not from adults' perspective, these things are just realistic
Since there was so much cut footage, I wonder if there is a scene of Bender apologizing to Claire. He clearly starts off hating her for being popular and coming from a wealthy/positive family. To me, it seems like a quick scene of Bender admitting that he went too far and was jealous of Claire (before he realized how tough it can be to try to be "perfect" for others all the time).
Him taking the heat for their "hallway adventure" was probably a step in the right direction (him sacrificing himself for people he had originally didn't care for)...either way, love this movie.
Yes! I've said this before & have seen similar comments as well lol. As you said, there was supposedly so much cut footage (not even included in the blu ray), that I wonder if there was some brief apology or small gesture expressing regret. I mean, this is Bender so I don't see him getting down on his knees begging for forgiveness or completely opening up his soul to Claire at this point, but maybe he just comes up next to her & says "Claire, I'm an a-hole" or something. Like I said, a small gesture but would show he felt bad about the way he'd been behaving? Maybe. Because yes, his taking the blame for all of them leaving the library & the way he jumps in when earlier in the movie Andrew mocks Claire over her situation with her parents ("You're just feeling sorry for yourself" & Bender cuts in with "Sporto? Do YOU get along with your parents?") shows that there's a tiny bit of virtue in him, even if he doesn't like to show it.
@allycat7486 - great points!
Also, when Claire goes into the closet, we don't see what they say to each other. I like to think that whatever apology he says comes in that moment and that's when they embrace.
@@thenerdytherapist2996 The extended scene of that is on the blu-ray but there is no apology, just some dialogue & Bender looking as if he doesn't even know what to do with her once they're alone which is kind of cute lol. But there's a cut scene (not included on the blu-ray) where they're all sitting on the banister in the library & he's smoking & it looks like there's a conversation going on (the pics of that have been used in promos & the back of the DVD cases); seems to be before Claire grabs Allison to give her the makeover (because if you recall, by then Bender is not with the group so I guess he had returned to the closet). Anyway, I wonder if he might've said something then that motivated her to later go find him in the closet? Ugh, apology or not, what I'd give to get my hands on all that unused footage lol (sorry for the long reply).
@allycat7486 -.no apology needed! It's great to talk to someone who appreciates this movie!
This is one of my favorite movies of ALL time and I find that I just appreciate it more and more as I get older.
I think that in the 80s there was this notion that guys had to be a bad boy to attract women. That meant being rude and dismissive and all that. Bender is definitely misogynistic. Or maybe the movie is saying that’s all an act and he’s actually a very sensitive guy who would be a good boyfriend. Is he a poster boy for toxic masculinity or is he enlightened?
The funny thing is that most stereotypes have a grain of truth at their core. Woman are attracted to the "bad boy" who is funny and good looking. Also, the "nice guy" always gets friend zoned and is always the last one picked.
@@perceivedvelocity9914 There is some truth to that. Perhaps there is a healthy medium many young teen boys can aspire to. I'd say John Cusack in "Say Anything". He wasn't a bad boy. He was a very nice guy but also wasn't a wimp. He had confidence in who he was and what he wanted. But that wasn't a John Hughes movie.
Maybe it doesn't send the best message for Claire and Bender to wind up together, but I remember girls in high school going for the a-holes left and right. The nice guys seemed to get passed over. See the end of The Last American Virgin for another example. It sucks, but it would happen all the time.
Yes, the movie is saying it's an act to hide his vulnerability inside, and also that he's a rebel. If you look at thing form a me too perspective every movie is misogynistic, except the political correct formula movies of these days. People really need to get real again.
@@GloopTrekker Well is it wrong that in an ironic way a bdsm borderline chick would out of the blue pick a nice guy?? Because that also seems to happen in obscure media that deconstructs bad boys for a living and remorselessly. Nothing personal against Bender just pointing out any hypocrisy many dickriders of the Breakfast Club showcase
The dance scene was the shit!!!
R.I.P Paul Gleason
I think this film is as close to perfect as one can get.
Hughes was the master of the 80s.
I was in my 20s, but still a teen at heart. Timeless classics.
Listening to the actresses' complaints at the end of this video was so cringy. It makes you realize how obtuse they really are. They dont understand the complexity of the characters they were playing. It's kind of depressing really. We want to think of actors as being these rich, bright, talented individuals with deep understandings of the roles their portraying. Instead it turns out they're just empty vessels. The depth was all designed by Hughes. The girls were just there to do what they were told.
I dislike the makeover as well? It undermines the whole point of the movie.
I live in Vancouver and "Don't Forget About Me" is now the goal song of my local NHL team, the Vancouver Canucks. It's awesome! The players sing along with it.
Alison was way hotter before her transformation and Bender is the greatest character John Hughes ever had.
My absolute fave 80's movie ever.
Molly Ringwald. - Karen
Every time someone says 'in today's money' I'm aware our money is worthless.
The dollar you dad made is worth 30c today.
Why are looking at it that way? 30c was more valuable back then than it is today.
I was in Highschool when I was given a writing test. I was supposed to write about the topic, which I had no understanding and so I wrote basically scene by scene The Breakfast Club. And I was pretty sure I was gonna fail. Not just fail the test, but the grade. And luckily enough I passed the test. And I didn’t even finish it. I like to tell people this because I always wondered who the person was who passed me and if they were a fan of the breakfast club.
One of the best movies ever. Timeless and universal is the hallmark of a classic piece. Also, movie was perfectly cast. Which is the key for cultural stickability. Everyone can identify with someone in the cast & their believability.
I did see it in theaters when it was released ,but have watched it more on VHS . I graduated in 1985 . Loved this movie and can definitely relate to it . School in the 80s was sort of like this . Also still enjoy the simple minds song from the movie great times.
I subbed several HS Sociology classes who had to watch this as an 'exploration' of generational relatives'. And let me tell you .... the generation gap was quite inclusive. Not only did today's youth RELATE to the stereotypes of this film, but the characters doubly. Most pertinently John Bender "the outcast" Brian Johnson "the nerd" and Claire "the princess" in the societal struggles they endured with having to mainstay their clique personae, while maintaining who they really were ... as Claire put it 'You don't realize the pressure your friends put on you, to be and think just like them'
While John Bender is one of my favorite characters, I don’t agree with the way things ended with him and Claire. I feel like it would have been more appropriate if John was man enough to apologize to Claire about his harassment towards her. Claire could have accepted after seeing him for who he was after the group share their issues with each other and THEN gave him her earring to show that she held no grudge and forgave him.
The ending between these two in the movie is pretty unacceptable, especially since John made Claire so uncomfortable.
Also, Allison should have been allowed to be herself until the end, instead of Andrew actually making a move on her after she changes her appearance. With the rather deep conversation and connection between them, I’d like to think Andrew would have loved her with her plain white tee shirt, especially if she simply moved her hair out of her eyes.
The breakfast club is such a good film
Don't forget Degrassi: The Next Generation did an episode paying homage, it was called "Take On Me"
This was interesting to see, thanks for sharing this. I have it on DVD got it for a dollar. It's the Highschool Reunion collection. The Breakfast Club.
While watching the movie back in High School, I was honestly hoping that, if anybody, Bender would end up getting with Allison, and if Claire got with anyone, that it be Brian. The pairings that actually happened by the end of the movie have always felt a bit off to me, especially after learning Judd Nelson was around 25 by the end of production… (like, yikes, my guy)
I like the movie. But the stereotypes are Not broken down at all:D
The prom queens Talent is a lipstick-trick ,she thinks of herself as the Most popular and seduces the Bad guy.
The Bad guy comes from a troubled home and wants to get in the panties of the prom queen.
The Brain wanted to kill himself because of a Bad grade and gladly writes essays for everybody.
The sport guy gets bullied by his father and seduces the pretty girl.
The weird cool girl gets a horrible makeover- and WOW- who could have known? She is actually pretty!!
Fun fact that fist scene at the end was done at Maine East high School, same high school that Harrison Ford and Hillary Clinton went to.. take that home chew it. It's delicious
My theory is. Vernon won the lottery and has millions stacked in the bank for retirement. However he likes the principal and works there for a low wage, he studies the youth and mentors them.
My favorite movie of all time. Ok, along with Weird Science.
while I don't like it, Allison's makeover is more symbolic than anything. It represents her peeling back the layers of defense she had built up and letting the person beneath those layers shine. the problem is that it's too over-the-top and undermines the film's message a little bit
Wait Nicolas Cage as the criminal?
I can definitely see him doing that character.
But he was too expensive to add to The breakfast club.
That's a bit odd cuz the only movie he was in before that was valley girl I think.
And then after The breakfast club would have gone on to moonstruck.
Which would have made him a sought after actor.
Unless I got the timeline for the movies wrong.
But after valley girl I didn't think he did anything noteworthy until moonstruck.
I might have the time line wrong
It is such a shame that Ringwald and Sheedy have disavowed some of the important scenes. They are necessary. They may not be PC, but that is a good thing. Sheedy didnt really have any style, so that image change is pretty darn minimal. Bender was a dick, amazingly, there are still a ton of them out there and there will be so in the future. Best get to rights with that.
Honestly, I've seen the movie a couple of times, but it never resonated with me. I hated school--I particularly despised high school--and the whole "teenage angst thing" was not my cup of tea. I had a few friends, then moved away, and then declined to make any at my new school because they were all fakes, phonies, and frauds. However, I love your take and interpretations of movies, so I watched.
The breakfast club is the young wild free group 🔥🐐
Btw, I grew up in the 80s. Everyone I knew saw this movie in the 80s. Everyone. It was a thing.
I had awesome time in high school and i could relate to the characters in this movie. Every high school had these types. So well written.
John Kapelos lived in an apartment above a high school friend's family in Chicago in the mid 80s. Occasionally, John would chat with us when he found us sitting in the hallway, and he wasn't altogether different from his character Carl in the Breakfast Club. He even gifted me bongos once he learned we were trying to form a band, as I was an aspiring drummer with no drum kit at the time. The sweet surreality of youth......
I always did wonder too why Claire would like a guy after he scolded and insulted the crap out her and her family. Lol
Greatest teen/coming-of-age movie EVER!
The fact that the exec's wanted a terrible shower peeping scene really tells you a lot about the corporate culture of the time
Nelson's infamous method acting tactics would NEVER be tolerated in this day and age, and he'd be instantly fired. It's also hard to watch Bender get rewarded for all his bullying and sexual harassment of Claire by having them start a romantic relationship by the end.
Wouldn't that depend on how famous and influence they are?
This was the best time in my 15 year on the planet (born 1970)
When you think of the classic films released in 1985, like Breakfast Club and Back To The Future, it's amazing that the Oscars went with Out Of Africa for best film. I don't think Breakfast Club was even acknowledged.
@JoBlo Videos you might not know this but recently JoBlo, Cate Blanchett named that as one of her favourite movies, Rare Exports, JoBlo.
Molly grew up and for some reason poo poos this movie so much. why bite the hand that fed ya and made her who she was.
I never liked Ally Sheedy's "make over"
would be interesting to see those deleted scenes as I always thought there was a chunk missing from the movie. It's gooood ... but it could have been great.
What exactly did Claire do with the lipstick?
A very special movie 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️