I was 15 when this came out. There were so many great movies in 1985, I was lucky to be a teenager during this time. My dad was the custodian at our school. All the kids loved him. When he retired from being the custodian, he worked part time in the snack bar that the school had and they called the snack bar Mel's diner after my dad. My dad passed away just over 13 years ago and it's still called Mel's diner. The kids going to school now didn't even know my dad and they ask their parents, who most went to the school and knew my dad, why it's called Mel's diner. Then they share the story of my dad. Great reaction!!! I'm glad you liked it.
John Hughes brought about a real change in how teens were represented in film. Before him you had the whole Porky's/ Revenge of the Nerds mentality on young people, but he showed them as thinking individuals with problems and issues of their own. That was real progress for the 80s.
Fun Easter Egg: At the beginning of the movie when they are showing the school you can see a student in a photo on a wall who was Man of the Year in prior school years. That student was Carl the Custodian 🤩
@@andrewlustfield6079 This movie is VERY Generation X, speaking as a part of Generation X. But I thought it was funny that Molly Ringwood (short red hair with pink top) said it's "ridiculous" to say it's a Generation X story lol.
@@neutrino78x One Gen X to another---how could she even begin to say that? Has she watched it recently? All those kids were emotionally on their own, and what's more they were used to things being that way. Molly's character, Claire---her mother was an alcoholic, and as long as her character presented the image her parents wanted from her--they didn't really give a damn about what she did or didn't do. That was true of all those kids in one way or another, each one was emotionally on their own---we were the latch key generation--that comes shining through in each scene of the Breakfast Club. Molly needs to watch the movie again.
Because Molly Ringwald was never really a Gen X despite her being in that age group. Her life looked NOTHING like what the rest of us had.@@andrewlustfield6079
Miranda, you’re right about Allison: she is the freest one. However, that freedom is also her burden. She has no expectations on her, but that’s because her parents don’t care and don’t try to hide it. No friends… parents don’t care about her… she may be “free,” but she’s also got the least going for her. Brian is smart. Claire is pretty and rich. Andrew is athletic. Bender is street-smart. All Allison has is her art, but what good is that to her right now if no one ever sees it? Allison is the tortured artist. They’re the ones most likely to kill themselves. Brian may be the one who actually planned it, but Allison is the one who would most likely have succeeded.
The odd contradiction that is being GenX....we loved our freedom but hated being ignored (not always physically ignored. My version of being ignored was having my parents not acknowledge that I was an individual and instead trying to force me to fit into a mold that they wanted)
As an artist I wouldn't call her a tortured artist, but definitely a lonely person who doesn't know how to interact. She has the lying problem which could be from her shame or her wanting attention. Im not sure how much art is a part of her character
If Allison wasn't there that Saturday there would have been no catalyst. she was the "weirdest" kid and she was ok with it. so it let the other kids open up knowing no matter what they say, they aren't as odd as Allison. and you are 100% right, everything she said was with reason. they all contribute in their own way making eachother break out of their shell. but Allison low key affected everybody.
no catalyst? Bender stated almost every argument/conversation by being a dick. Sure they stared her way, but she was not a catalyst. We had her type in my school in 1984 my junior year in Chicagoland..they werent catalyst for anything except a few off comments we make when we dont understand someone because as teenagers, we were mean.
"We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all." Fun Fact: The scene in which all characters sit in a circle on the floor in the library and tell stories about why they were in detention was not scripted. Writer and director John Hughes told them all to ad-lib. Iconic Defiance Fact: Judd Nelson improvised the part at the closing of the film where Bender raises his fist in defiance. He was supposed to just walk into the sunset, so to speak, and John Hughes asked him to play around with a few actions. When he was done and they were finishing up, Nelson threw his fist up without running it by anyone. Everyone loved it, and it has also become an iconic symbol of the 1980s as well as cinema history. Music Enthusiast Fact: "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds, was written for the film by Keith Forsey. It was a number one hit for Simple Minds. Billy Idol and Bryan Ferry turned down offers to record it first (although in 2001, Billy Idol recorded a version as a bonus track for his Greatest Hits album). The song was also turned down by Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, who then suggested they offer it to the band fronted by her husband at the time, Simple Minds.
Interesting. What’s the story with The Smith’s and Ferris Bueller ? It also works in a similar way with it having its own alternate version for the score.
I think this was one of the most pure reactions I've seen to this film. Glad you really enjoyed it and happy to see that nearly 40 years later this still rings true with people.
Hello there. GenXer here. I was 13 years old when this film was released. You have no idea how important and impactful the film was on my generation. Filmmaker John Hughes touched a nerve and showed everyone what’s it like to be a teenager in the middle of Ronald Regan’s America. The 1980’s was seriously a different time than any other decade. Now I’m a 50 year old man with a kid, and when he becomes a teenager, I’ll be showing him this film and explaining to him what life was like then and how it relates to him. The Breakfast Club has stood the test the time, and so has the soundtrack. It’s a time capsule that captures the 80’s perfectly, but it shows us how universal it is at the same time. I’m glad you enjoyed the movie.
This movie is a perfect example of the saying “everyone has a story” which is true, everyone does have a story, and it is also the realization that people aren’t exactly the people you think they would be, you can take a look at someone and think that they’re perfect in the life they have but, if you really get to know them, you might notice there is more underlying in there than you thought.
I was a jock/nerd/metal head hybrid. Lots of friends, but never really fit in with anyone. High school sucked, but the close friends that I had were like no others I've ever had. This movie definitely hits home.
The Basketcase is free, but her freedom comes with a price remember. Her parents ignore her, they don't even care to know where she is right now. She is free but that doesn't mean her parents haven't hurt her the same way everyone else feels.
A lot of films do that stupid "girl who already looks great has to get a makeover for everyone to see how good she looks" thing. They usually put baggy clothes, fake buck teeth and glasses on her as well as giving her messy hair too.
@@Xehanort10I really don't that that's stupid. Attractiveness isn't just pure physical appearance. It's also how you dress yourself, how you act, etc. So it's really not all that odd or "stupid".
Sorry Molly, Ally was the hot one in this movie. Then they ruined it. As one of the wierd ones, this was the worst part of the movie. My happy ending would have been hern authentic self with Brian.
What's particularly interesting about Bender (to me, anyway) is that despite everyone else calling him a liar all the time, he actually doesn't tell a single falsehood in the whole movie. In fact I'd argue he's the most honest person out of the whole group. My favorite parts of this movie are the moments where they have each other's backs (even in small ways, like Bender tossing a Coke to the dark-haired girl), making each other laugh and becoming gradually more friendly with each other.
Glad you loved this movie as much as I have all these years, Miranda. If you want to go down the John Hughes rabbit hole, check out Sixteen Candles, Pretty In Pink, Uncle Buck, Planes Trains & Automobiles, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
&Weird Science & Some kind of Wonderful Too!🤍I was 16 when this came out. These movies were perfect on The Nights they opened in Theaters in the 80’s and they continue to be Perfect in my eyes. These movies have always meant so much to me . John Hughes was so Special and died so young. Imagine all the masterpieces he would’ve created for the past 35 years had he lived past 52 . As teens In the 80’s he really understood us and what our lives were like. I can’t imagine my adolescence or my life with out these films . Please please do a John Hughes deep dive then thank me later 😉🌠✨🤍
Sixteen candles feature two of these same actors: Claire and Brian. Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) plays the cool nerd, the King of the Nerds. It also introduces seminal 80s actor John Cusak (and his sister Joan) to a broad audience.
I went to high school in the 80s. This movie gets the archetypes and look down pretty well. (makes sense since it was made in the 80s!). I remember one time in Junior High a PE teacher gave a full on slap to the face to one kid because he thought he had deliberately hit him in the head with a volleyball. Nothing ever happened to the teacher as far as I know. For better or worse, people just didn't sweat every little thing back then.
I dunno, you could still get in trouble unfairly for some really minor infractions. Teachers had some weird hangups and detention could come out of nowhere over things that weren't even against any rules. By the same token, I remember once when a kid threw one of those heavy wooden desks into a blackboard and shattered it, got in zero trouble for it, and none of us cared because we all knew he had it rough at home. Another time a coach actually scheduled a fight during a class period because "those boys just need to fight it out." Also I think it was a federal law back then that every coach had to teach history class.
my 3rd grade pe teacher threw metal folding chairs at us once bc we wouldn’t stop talking. this was around 2009/2010 so he got fired pretty soon after, but it was still scary asf being 9 years old and having to dodge a chair
@@pillowvibes Whoa, NINE!? Yeah that would be strange even back in the days I was talking about. At that age the most we could expect was a teacher grabbing you by the wrist a little too hard or something along those lines. There were spankings, but there was a process with paperwork involved. The Vince McMahon stuff didn't start until junior high.
@@Xeno_Solarus We're talking about teenagers here. They've been predictably stupid for thousands of years. It's not about making excuses, it's about handling problems that are so clockwork you can set your watch to them. That kid who raged out and broke the blackboard never cut up again. Nothing good would have come from punishment. It was a one-off, and it's important to be able to sort those kids from the real chronic cases.
Grew up in the 80s.this movie and 16 candles are pretty spot on with high school and home life.teachers,students and parents could be harsh.loved the 80s!!!!
The whistling is from a great movie that no RUclipsr has reacted to yet. Bridge Over The River Kwai and stars a much younger Obi Wan Kenobi. He won an Oscar for it.
I grew up on this movie (came out when i was 11). Sadly, a signpost for transitioning from childhood into adulthood for me was when I realized that this wasn't really a happy ending, and that these five kids almost certainly slipped back into their familiar roles on Monday and never hung out together again.
FYI The “I don’t like Monday’s” graffiti is referencing a song about a school shooting in 1978. It was the reply the shooter (a teenage girl) gave when asked why she did it.
And of course the name of the popular song from 1979 by the Boomtown Rats which chronicled the event. Except the shooting it referenced happened in 1979 as well, as related by the Far Out Magazine website: With ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’, the song documents the 1979 Cleveland Elementary School shooting during which a 16-year-old girl, Brenda Spencer, who lived in a house across the street from the school, opened fire killing the school principal and a custodian and injuring eight children and a police officer. The reason that spender gave for committing the atrocity was confounding in itself: “I don’t like Mondays”.
The "I don't like Mondays" graffiti at the beginning is a line from a song by The Boomtown Rats, which is super dark. It's a quote from a school shooting. When asked why she did it the shooter said, "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day."
I'll just quote Molly Ringwald on why this movie was so pivotal: "It can be hard to remember how scarce art for and about teen-agers was before John Hughes arrived." ... "No one in Hollywood was writing about the minutiae of high school, and certainly not from a female point of view." ... "John wanted people to take teens seriously, and people did. The films are still taught in schools because good teachers want their students to know that what they feel and say is important; that if they talk, adults and peers will listen. I think that it’s ultimately the greatest value of the films, and why I hope they will endure."
If you loved this movie, the next you should check out is St. Elmo's Fire which addresses a slightly later stage in life but is just as amusing, gut wrenching, and totally identifiable to many people. Great reaction on this one. Loved what you had to say.
This film came out when I was a Junior in High School. This was very relatable in terms of everyday life and I cannot speak for others, but there was a little bit of all of them in me and I suspect a lot of others.
I was a chameleon in high school. I could fit in with everyone. I hung out with everyone of these people. That was a gift I have to this day. I can talk to anyone and make friends with anyone. Great reaction! This movie is a great representation of that time. I was a sophomore when this came out. Super relatable!
Up till High School I wasn't , but even though I leaned more toward nerd in general, i had pals from all the social cliques in high school,had Football player friends, "the rich crowd", geeks, stoners..and etc..was everyone cool with other social cliques no, but I got along with most .
I called this ability “floating” which I did quite well, from clique to clique I floated in and out and found a little common ground with everybody. Even though externally I was for the most part a mildly goth emo drama kid/tech nerd/book worm.
Same. My friend/neighbor growing up was "popular" so she was my foot in the door for that group. Some of the more popular athletes and gangsters liked me because I could draw and designed a couple tattoos for them. I loved reading and learning, so I was cool with the nerds. But I didn't seek out any groups, so I was also a loner. The only ones I didn't get along with were the teachers lol They liked me, but were pissed because I was "wasting my potential" because I refused to do homework.
Yeah I can’t relate to that 😂 I was deff one of the quiet/awkward kids who hung out with my small group. Tbf I still am though And other than my spouse (who I met online) I’ve not had any actual IRL friends since high school and that was a decade ago oof
the david bowie quote in the opening card was the idea of Ally Sheedy. she showed the quote to john hughes . he said nothing about it and when the actors saw the premiere it was when Sheedy found out that he put it into the film
This movie became a ritual amongst my friends and I. Every Saturday night after the bar closed, we would head over to a buddy's house, continue to drink and watch this movie. We watched so often we all knew all the lines and would recite them while watching. To change things up, we decided to have each of us draw a character name from a hat and we would act out that character. Yes we were idiots, but we had fun.
"Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me)" is one of the best songs in existence. The mixing on that song is insane, it's my go to song when evaluating the quality of any new audio device that I look to buy. If you can't play the song on your headphones, in-ears, buds, etc. without using an EQ, they are not worth it. That's how perfect of a song it is.
13:25 - He doesn't feel bad for Bender, it just sank in for him that by giving Bender 8 detention weekends in a row, he's now also resigned HIMSELF to being there every Saturday, too 😂. He wouldn't allow himself to relent in front of them because it could be taken by Bender or one of the other kids (but mostly Bender lol) as a sign of weakness.
This director also directed : Sixteen Candles - The Great Outdoors - Planes , Trains & Automobiles - Weird Science - Uncle Buck - Ferris Beuller ' s Day Off - Pretty In Pink - She's Having A Baby - National Lampoon's Vacation - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation . The director passed away : August 6 , 2009
Don't forget that he wrote a few movies that he didn't direct such as Beethoven and Home Alone. *Edit* The Lampoon movies count there too. He wrote them but didn't direct.
All the students have an arc. Bender empowers everyone to open up and be transparent with each other; Andrew learns to be sensitive to weaker and less popular students; Allison breaks her shell and lets people into her personal space; Clare makes someone outside her circle look glamorous (BTW, she's not doing Allison a favor, Allison is doing Clare a favor); Brian has a chance to write the most profound, succinct essay ever to a teacher.
When i was in 9th grade, i recorded this movie onto AUDIO cassette so I could listen to it on the bus. Now I'm a teacher! LOL Thanks for reacting to it. Maybe you'll do a few more John Hughes films. Cheers.
That's honestly a cool story, I feel like people in my generation don't really consider that the best way to listen to 'audiobook' type things was to record it and put it on an audio cassette to play on a walkman or something. I have a good collection of tapes and an original Sony Walkman, took it to school one day since my teacher said we couldn't listen to music on our phones. Needless to say they allowed me to listen to music on the walkman, and a lot of people there didn't even know about cassettes. That was a good...4 or 5 years now and now I'm 21. I feel old already and I'm not even in my prime years yet. I think being raised in a house that held onto a lot of 70s-80s-90s culture and tech, especially because of our lack of money at the time, I think that really shaped me to be raised in a generation that I'm not a part of in some way. Jeez, what a long winded comment, sorry! I just never quite realized how impactful movies and culture like what you see in Breakfast club, never realized those shaped me in a way that I personally think sets me apart from people of a similar age. Whether that's good or bad it's hard to say, hasn't led me in any great directions since my only life goal is to not die before I find a first true love. But hey, maybe that's a cliche goal many share.
Cool ! Wow it must have been a 90 min audio cassette. Do you still have it? Do you see/have any kids like the ones in The Breakfast Club in your classes today?
Halfway thru this reaction, I wrote to my high school bully who tried to friend request me back in 2019. I told him why I didnt want to be a friend back in 2019, but today I wrote with forgiveness in my heart. Turns out he has gone thru a divorce since 2019 and his now 6 year old has had to deal with that. Thanks to this reaction Miranda, two people may have made amends. Thanks for helping the world more than you ever intended with your channel. ❤
This is probably the most beautiful and rewarding thing I have ever read! Thank you so much for sharing! Even 2 people making amends and forgiving helps heal the world. Thank you for doing the work to spread love and make this world a better place ❤️
The last shot where Bender walks through the field and raises his hands up in the air , they made fun of that on Family Guy . And as we all know , Family Guy makes fun of...everyone !! 😂
When I was in High School (Germany), just before summer vacations our teacher wanted us to watch a school-related movie of our choice. My choice was the Breakfast Club, but all those beloved shiny classmates wanted to see Porky's. Well, the Teacher put the VHS in, we watched it and after a short time he turned it off again, and said with an angry tone:"And I thought you are smart grown-ups. A pity that I was wrong." and sent us to our holidays. Month later he came up to me and said:"I watched The Breakfast Club now, because MY daughter wanted me to! I'm so sorry that I didn't take YOUR choice."
The high school was an abandoned school in Illinois. John Hughes used the school for Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Uncle Buck and Home Alone. They built the inside of the Home Alone house in the gymnasium because it was hard to film in the real house because it had small areas to film. They also built the basement of the neighbors basement in the pool at the school to make all the water go to the basement. They might have used more movies but that is the ones i remember for those films. Now the high school is a police station
I was in 9th grade when this movie came out. I missed it at the theater, but watched it constantly on cable when it hit there. One of the best movies to be exposed to as an 80s teenager.
27:02 "How on Earth did you do that?" They're "strike anywhere" (i.e. non-safety) matches. They barely make them any more because the insurance costs made them too expensive for suppliers to ship them.
42:42 Just realized, he kissed her in front of her dad's car. Just as they were talking about how he might make them go crazy if they saw them together.
I wasn't popular in high school, but I still related to Claire the most out of all of them. I felt bad for her that no one could show any kind of sympathy about her life when she was genuine but when she wasn't genuine they just labeled her the girl who just wants to be popular. She kept trying to point out that her life wasn't perfect either/she also has abusive parents, and it felt like no one would listen. I think part of the reason she fell for Bender even though he was so toxic to her is that he gave her a lot of undivided attention and asked her a lot of not-surface-level questions. I bet she wasn't used to that. Another thing no one mentions is that, while she does have a few not-self-aware popular girl moments, she does still show a lot of empathy and human depth (Like when Brian doesn't want to admit he's a virgin and she makes him feel better about it. She didn't even want to admit it about herself, but she still wanted to make him feel less embarrassed)
I remember middle school in the 80s. We had the dude always starting fights. He started a fight and when the principal broke it up, the student took a swing at the principal. The principal had him pinned to the ground in a heartbreak and drug him through the halls by his ear to the office. Lol. They didn’t play back then. They also didn’t call the police. Oh, and High Schools in the 80’s also had a designated smoking area for the students.
I was in HS when this film came out. It truly represented Gen-X'ers. This film, and it's views and messages, are timeless...reaching out to each generation that discovers it. Great understanding and reaction.
Such a good movie on so many levels. A perfect flick for us who grew up in the 80's to relate to and it can also be relatable anytime really but it was special if you were young at that time. So well acted by the cast and well written by John Hughes who was known for making these kind of movies back in the 80's. Great nostalgia to see it again.
I loved The Breakfast Club! Its such a classic and definately touches on so many different topics but still hits. At the begining of the movie all 5 of the main characters think they're so different but deep down they all have feelings and emotions. Also the pressure of being a teenager and the issues they had with their Parents. I liked how they were able to talk about their problems with each other. Alison really was the character that brought the others together. She's intelligent she knew what she was doing and she was so free in who she was hence why she was able to be the catalyst to have everyone open up. I love this movie. John Hughes is a genius!!
Nice one, darlin. I was a 60's baby. A kid of the 70's. And came of age in the 1980;s. Graduated high-school in 1984, when this film came out into theatres. I was there for it then. Still here for it now. Thank you, Miranda, for this little glance back at our yesterday. Really liking your style. Thanks for your reactions, thoughts, and comments. You are so funny. Big shoutout from the mountains of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Cannot wait to waatch another film with you again real soon. Peace and love to you and yours. Bless you. Go with God. Later.
I like that this film is more like a slice of film rather than something with an A to B to C plot. It reminds of the Before Trilogy, where it kind of feels like the movie is just allowing people to speak and act rather than putting them on rails to hit certain plot points in a certain order. Even while the dialogue cuts deep, it really feels like it’s off-the-cuff for a lot of the time where the characters don’t even realize they needed that release of allowing their inner thoughts to come out. It’s just a well-done film.
John Hughes, the teen-movie-laureate of my youth. R.I.P., sir. ✝ BTW, Miranda, Brian's revelation of bringing a 'gun' to school was completely unheard of in 1985 to the point that it was frightening. Sadly, it's not even shocking anymore, which pisses me off. 😠 ~Jenn-X ♊ (P.S. You see Hughes at the end; he played the part of Brian's dad, picking him up in the car)
Interesting film fact! The tune that they whistle, "Colonel Bogey's March," is a British military song from 1914. It was later given lyrics in WWII, "Hitler Has Only Got One Ball." But this movie is referencing a _different_ appearance of the song from _The Bridge on the River Kwai_ (an excellent film that not enough people react to) starring William Holden, Alec Guinness, and Sessue Hayakawa, where British soldiers are marched into a Japanese POW camp whistling this tune. Also: *Ally Sheedy* (Allison, the weird girl) is also in _WarGames_ with Matthew Broderick.
16 Candles is another great teenage movie of this type, and it also has Molly Ringwald (Claire) and Anthony Micheal Hall (Brian) in it. American Graffiti is also another great graduate-and-move-on movie.
I'm not saying don't watch it, but I think it's important to note that 16 Candles literally has a date rape storyline, and one of the most egregiously racist portrayals of an Asian character as you'll find in just about any movie. In this movie (Breakfast Club), the scene with Bender under Claire's desk is also really gross. I know it was "a different era" but damn, Hughes definitely had some problems. Molly Ringwald wrote a very incisive essay about him in the New Yorker a few years ago.
I stumbled onto your channel for the first time. Good insight, as well as having a thoughtful and intelligent discussion. Really enjoyed this reaction; I can see why you have >8000 subscribers after such a short period of time, compared to a lot of other reactors. Keep up the good work.
Great reaction, have seen this countless times but still love it so much.❤ Yes, high school in the 80s was a lot like this. It's actually set the year I graduated. Most of us can identify with one of the kids or even a partial mix of a pair. Myself my hs years were most likely Allison , many times it seemed no one noticed me.
The custodian actor will always be "Detective Schkanke" of the Canadian TV series, "Forever Knight". I recommend it if you like detective shows, vampires, romance, drama, action.
I was 15 when this came out. It is so stereotypical of high school. Your reaction was great. I was the cheerleading captain, always had to be perfect, and was under a microscope by my father to also have straight A's. I was also in a very toxic relationship with the captain of the football team because we were 'supposed' to date. I married him, which was such a huge mistake (we were more of a habit than a relationship) except for having my children. Although I am probably rare and did love high school in the 80's, I was concerned when my kids went to high school (my boys being excellent athletes in wrestling and basketball and my daughter in cheerleading), I wanted to try to have them not fall into the stereotypes, they did because that's just the way it is and always has been. My oldest son was like Andy, and a state place winner in wrestling throughout high school, and the media put so much pressure on him. But the peer pressure and cliques existed when my grandparents were in high school in the 1920's. They will never go away. I'm proud that my kids are all very successful adults with happy families today. I HIGHLY recommend your reaction to the movie St. Elmo's Fire. (You will see some of the same actors in this from The Breakfast Club - an introduction to the 80's Brat Pack). It's a great movie about life after college - 'now what do we do'? It also has another great soundtrack. I look forward to you watching it!
I often skip the end-movie commentary when it's more than a couple of minutes long but yours was incredible on this movie. Your insight was pretty amazing.
Uh oh, Miranda got a voice on her. Lovely. ❤ Waiting for the reaction itself, and then I’ll edit. So many things come to mind when it comes to this film. It’s very relatable to just about everyone, really. Miranda, you were right when you said “This is like his home life.” He obviously has PTSD and being in that situation was exactly like how his father treats him. Children are taught to respect, fear and obey adults as authority figures. The person they trust and look up to, and when they do something like this, cornering and confronting a student with intimidation, it sent him into flight mode. He immediately felt small, scared and ineffectual. We were the lucky ones to be apart of this generation’s films. So much heart and soul were put into making films like this. There were still fresh ideas and things that came from the heart and a place of something that everyone can relate to. Rather than some agenda or forced message about diversity, or basically any unnecessarily divisive topic I really enjoyed your reaction Miranda, and I’m glad that it captured your heart, mind and least of all, your attention.
Everytime I rewatch this I'm like John Bender is such a damn asshole but then I remember oh yeah he's got a shitty home life most kids who act up like him usually have horrible home life's which doesn't excuse their behavior but you understand it , man this movie is such a classic and so relatable I love it( also I haven't ate bologna in years and I'm glad I quit it 😂😂😂)
Yes and unfortunately, there’s a John Bender in every school! 😣🙄 Those kids are part of why/how school is so torturous, you don’t wanna even go to school and deal with those pains in the asses
“I don’t like Mondays” was (is) a very popular song by “The Boomtown Rats” You’d like them too. 80’s is loaded with these type bands unreal era of great music
As a GenX'er, I think most of my group considers the theme song our Call to Arms. It's our song. The Breakfast Club is our movie. But it's eternal. It's why when big cities have these movie nights in a park somewhere, Breakfast Club is on the list....
Its fun to train the doggos to say num num before getting treats, its something they can easily sound out. Great reaction and yes, it is a very good movie. I only had one teacher on a serious power trip, a math teacher, and probably why I hated math :o)
Cool facts about the movie. 1. John Hughes is from Chicago, therefore all of his movies are based in or around Chicago. 2. The cast tried to go undercover in a real highschool in order for them to get the feel for what it was like (most of them were older than 20 by this point). 3. Emilio was actually recognized, which blew the whole thing lol. 4. "Shermer high" was actually an old library that they made into the library and even put in the books correctly.
I went to a pretty small high school. 97 in my graduating class. We've known each other since we were 5. So by high school, we all felt pretty much like cousins. We knew everyone's whole name, their parents, their siblings, and where they lived. So by senior year, we really all felt like a large extended family. It made dating super weird though. I honestly only know one couple who ended up married. The rest of us had to graduate and get our partners from out of town. LOL
Lol, same here. Class of 150ish, but only like 100ish actually graduated together. Even with such a small class, cliques were ALWAYS a huge part of school life. It was weird though. Towards the end of senior year, we all kinda talked to random people from other cliques we normally wouldn't. In a way, it also felt way too late to be starting new friendships since I knew everyone would be parting ways soon. Each class throughout the day literally felt like detention in this movie. Random people would talk to each other, but in the halls, it would be like you never existed to them because they would completely ignore you as you'd walk by.
I saw it in the theater while in High School... and for 40 years it is current... The greatest part for a theater nerd like you should be that 90% of the movie was shot in 1 room, the library. It is a classic about clicks and social groups that will live for... well forever
Out of all the characters the one I loved the most was Allison her hair, the way she talks, walks, the way she looks at people, the way she dresses, smiles almost everything about her and it melted me when she said "When you grow up, Your heart dies and then after that comes Brian i felt him and his words deeply when he said he want to shoot himself with a gun but I laughed out loud when he said that it was a flare gun
I and every other boy I knew crushed hard on Allison and weren't impressed by the makeover at all. That character was the proto-goth that led to all of us dating at least one girl who smoked clove cigarettes later in life. As a result, Ally Sheedy is probably personally responsible for selling at least 10% of all albums by The Cure and Sisters of Mercy.
@@masterpenguin3507 I've got nothing but love and respect for my goth exes. We may not have been a fit for each other but we still had good times. I've found that when you seek out the misfits, they'll show you a side of life you wouldn't have found yourself. Plus it's just a kindness to befriend an outcast, they need someone in their corner who will stick up for them, and you'll be rewarded with the most loyal of friends. My life wouldn't be half as good without them.
@@masterpenguin3507 One I don't talk to because she moved away, we just drifted apart. No hard feelings. Another is still my friend and we don't talk often, but have remained in regular contact for decades, and we pick up right where we left off each time. My closest ex from those times is more like a sister now, we can rely on each other in hard times. My very closest goth gf isn't my ex, she passed before we could marry, but she said yes when I proposed. I don't regret any of those relationships, they've all made me into who I am today. Obviously I've had some heartbreak and tragedy, way more than I'm elaborating on here, but it's like I said, seeking out the ones who don't fit in has never led me wrong. Beyond dating, that's also how I've found my best guy friends too.
“ I am the eyes and ears of this institution”. Reminds me of a job I had for 11 years. All department heads and supervisors confided in me because they knew I could keep my mouth shut. So I knew everything about everything. Even things I wasn’t supposed to know. 🤔😁
I was a nobody in school. I could fit in with any group but wasn't a part of one. I was also picked on until halfway through Junior High, so I guess I was mostly a loner as a result.
This is a classic film from my youth, but I never liked the makeover that Allison gets If the film is basically about accepting others that are different from you and more importantly accepting YOURSELF, why is it necessary for Allison to change from goth girl to preppie? Also, why is it that she is only worthy of the attention from the jock once she superficially changes her appearance? None of the other characters fundamentally change from beginning to end, other than possibly discovering that you can't just label someone so easily and that we all have hidden depths that you might not see on the surface...except Allison. She has to change to be accepted
Being goth was her hiding herself. The makeover may or may not been closer to her true self but it got her to drop the image which she likely created to keep people away from her. Being goth could've simply been her not accepting herself, making herself something that others overlook. Her parents ignored her so she doesn't see herself as someone worth seeing. Yeah, preppy is cliche but it's inviting and friendly to most people so that allows them the notice her and open interactions. It is the extreme pendulum swing from what she came in as and she'll likely find a bit of middle ground between the two. She had to accept herself as someone to be seen before anyone else at all. Tje jock was the one that was drawn to her because he couldn't accept himself because his parents were the opposite in that they imposed a persona onto him so he felt invisible to them and others despite being "popular."
I was 15 when this came out. There were so many great movies in 1985, I was lucky to be a teenager during this time. My dad was the custodian at our school. All the kids loved him. When he retired from being the custodian, he worked part time in the snack bar that the school had and they called the snack bar Mel's diner after my dad. My dad passed away just over 13 years ago and it's still called Mel's diner. The kids going to school now didn't even know my dad and they ask their parents, who most went to the school and knew my dad, why it's called Mel's diner. Then they share the story of my dad. Great reaction!!! I'm glad you liked it.
Great story👍
There were so many great movies in the whole 1980s in general, not just 85
Aww, sweet :)
@@nsasupporter7557i was born in 83. Love 80s movies
@R F When your dad arrived at the Pearly Gates, he asked what he must do to enter Heaven, and St. Peter replied, "Kiss thy grits!"
John Hughes brought about a real change in how teens were represented in film. Before him you had the whole Porky's/ Revenge of the Nerds mentality on young people, but he showed them as thinking individuals with problems and issues of their own. That was real progress for the 80s.
Fun Easter Egg: At the beginning of the movie when they are showing the school you can see a student in a photo on a wall who was Man of the Year in prior school years. That student was Carl the Custodian 🤩
the deleted scenes has Carl explaining that to the kids and it never should have been cut out.
It's not just you. This movie "touched a place inside" in a lot of us. Great insight into an iconic 80s movie!
The ultimate Gen-X suburban high school experience movie.
@@andrewlustfield6079
This movie is VERY Generation X, speaking as a part of Generation X. But I thought it was funny that Molly Ringwood (short red hair with pink top) said it's "ridiculous" to say it's a Generation X story lol.
@@neutrino78x One Gen X to another---how could she even begin to say that? Has she watched it recently? All those kids were emotionally on their own, and what's more they were used to things being that way. Molly's character, Claire---her mother was an alcoholic, and as long as her character presented the image her parents wanted from her--they didn't really give a damn about what she did or didn't do. That was true of all those kids in one way or another, each one was emotionally on their own---we were the latch key generation--that comes shining through in each scene of the Breakfast Club. Molly needs to watch the movie again.
@@andrewlustfield6079 totally agree! And, I can't find the quote right now so hopefully I misremembered! 🙂
Because Molly Ringwald was never really a Gen X despite her being in that age group. Her life looked NOTHING like what the rest of us had.@@andrewlustfield6079
Bender's face when Brian is saying why he's there is great. It reads that he realizes everyone's parents are cruel in their own way.
To me thats the moment where he stops being jealous of Brian and sees the larger picture, he realizes what's actually important.
Miranda, you’re right about Allison: she is the freest one. However, that freedom is also her burden. She has no expectations on her, but that’s because her parents don’t care and don’t try to hide it. No friends… parents don’t care about her… she may be “free,” but she’s also got the least going for her. Brian is smart. Claire is pretty and rich. Andrew is athletic. Bender is street-smart. All Allison has is her art, but what good is that to her right now if no one ever sees it? Allison is the tortured artist. They’re the ones most likely to kill themselves. Brian may be the one who actually planned it, but Allison is the one who would most likely have succeeded.
The odd contradiction that is being GenX....we loved our freedom but hated being ignored (not always physically ignored. My version of being ignored was having my parents not acknowledge that I was an individual and instead trying to force me to fit into a mold that they wanted)
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." -- Janis Joplin.
As an artist I wouldn't call her a tortured artist, but definitely a lonely person who doesn't know how to interact.
She has the lying problem which could be from her shame or her wanting attention.
Im not sure how much art is a part of her character
If Allison wasn't there that Saturday there would have been no catalyst. she was the "weirdest" kid and she was ok with it. so it let the other kids open up knowing no matter what they say, they aren't as odd as Allison. and you are 100% right, everything she said was with reason.
they all contribute in their own way making eachother break out of their shell. but Allison low key affected everybody.
I love the Klepto vibe.
"I don't wanna get into this with you man ..."
*takes knife*
no catalyst? Bender stated almost every argument/conversation by being a dick. Sure they stared her way, but she was not a catalyst. We had her type in my school in 1984 my junior year in Chicagoland..they werent catalyst for anything except a few off comments we make when we dont understand someone because as teenagers, we were mean.
"We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all."
Fun Fact: The scene in which all characters sit in a circle on the floor in the library and tell stories about why they were in detention was not scripted. Writer and director John Hughes told them all to ad-lib.
Iconic Defiance Fact: Judd Nelson improvised the part at the closing of the film where Bender raises his fist in defiance. He was supposed to just walk into the sunset, so to speak, and John Hughes asked him to play around with a few actions. When he was done and they were finishing up, Nelson threw his fist up without running it by anyone. Everyone loved it, and it has also become an iconic symbol of the 1980s as well as cinema history.
Music Enthusiast Fact: "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds, was written for the film by Keith Forsey. It was a number one hit for Simple Minds. Billy Idol and Bryan Ferry turned down offers to record it first (although in 2001, Billy Idol recorded a version as a bonus track for his Greatest Hits album). The song was also turned down by Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, who then suggested they offer it to the band fronted by her husband at the time, Simple Minds.
Interesting.
What’s the story with The Smith’s and Ferris Bueller ?
It also works in a similar way with it having its own alternate version for the score.
'Don't You (Forget About Me)', the anthem of the 80's. 😊~Jenn-X ♊
the picture of bender raising his fist, was my computer background wallpaper since windows95
Ferris Bueller has a Simple Minds poster in his room. And a Bryan Ferry one.
I think this was one of the most pure reactions I've seen to this film. Glad you really enjoyed it and happy to see that nearly 40 years later this still rings true with people.
One of, if not the, greatest movies of all time. And what a stellar cast. Every single one of them deserved an Oscar.
Hello there. GenXer here. I was 13 years old when this film was released. You have no idea how important and impactful the film was on my generation. Filmmaker John Hughes touched a nerve and showed everyone what’s it like to be a teenager in the middle of Ronald Regan’s America. The 1980’s was seriously a different time than any other decade. Now I’m a 50 year old man with a kid, and when he becomes a teenager, I’ll be showing him this film and explaining to him what life was like then and how it relates to him. The Breakfast Club has stood the test the time, and so has the soundtrack. It’s a time capsule that captures the 80’s perfectly, but it shows us how universal it is at the same time. I’m glad you enjoyed the movie.
This movie is a perfect example of the saying “everyone has a story” which is true, everyone does have a story, and it is also the realization that people aren’t exactly the people you think they would be, you can take a look at someone and think that they’re perfect in the life they have but, if you really get to know them, you might notice there is more underlying in there than you thought.
THIS
I was a jock/nerd/metal head hybrid. Lots of friends, but never really fit in with anyone. High school sucked, but the close friends that I had were like no others I've ever had. This movie definitely hits home.
The Basketcase is free, but her freedom comes with a price remember. Her parents ignore her, they don't even care to know where she is right now. She is free but that doesn't mean her parents haven't hurt her the same way everyone else feels.
I do have to admit, I was a goth kid when this came out, and the makeover scene kinda horrified me.
And you were right to feel that. Her having to change her look to be accepted basically contradicts most of what the film is trying to say
A lot of films do that stupid "girl who already looks great has to get a makeover for everyone to see how good she looks" thing. They usually put baggy clothes, fake buck teeth and glasses on her as well as giving her messy hair too.
@@Xehanort10I really don't that that's stupid. Attractiveness isn't just pure physical appearance. It's also how you dress yourself, how you act, etc. So it's really not all that odd or "stupid".
Sorry Molly, Ally was the hot one in this movie. Then they ruined it. As one of the wierd ones, this was the worst part of the movie. My happy ending would have been hern authentic self with Brian.
same. it made me angry
What's particularly interesting about Bender (to me, anyway) is that despite everyone else calling him a liar all the time, he actually doesn't tell a single falsehood in the whole movie. In fact I'd argue he's the most honest person out of the whole group.
My favorite parts of this movie are the moments where they have each other's backs (even in small ways, like Bender tossing a Coke to the dark-haired girl), making each other laugh and becoming gradually more friendly with each other.
Glad you loved this movie as much as I have all these years, Miranda. If you want to go down the John Hughes rabbit hole, check out Sixteen Candles, Pretty In Pink, Uncle Buck, Planes Trains & Automobiles, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
&Weird Science & Some kind of Wonderful Too!🤍I was 16 when this came out. These movies were perfect on The Nights they opened in Theaters in the 80’s and they continue to be Perfect in my eyes. These movies have always meant so much to me . John Hughes was so Special and died so young. Imagine all the masterpieces he would’ve created for the past 35 years had he lived past 52 . As teens In the 80’s he really understood us and what our lives were like. I can’t imagine my adolescence or my life with out these films . Please please do a John Hughes deep dive then thank me later 😉🌠✨🤍
Sixteen candles feature two of these same actors: Claire and Brian. Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) plays the cool nerd, the King of the Nerds. It also introduces seminal 80s actor John Cusak (and his sister Joan) to a broad audience.
Some Kind of Wonderful is my favorite John Hughes movie.
Why do people always leave out Dutch? So funny and probably his most overlooked film.
I went to high school in the 80s. This movie gets the archetypes and look down pretty well. (makes sense since it was made in the 80s!). I remember one time in Junior High a PE teacher gave a full on slap to the face to one kid because he thought he had deliberately hit him in the head with a volleyball. Nothing ever happened to the teacher as far as I know. For better or worse, people just didn't sweat every little thing back then.
I dunno, you could still get in trouble unfairly for some really minor infractions. Teachers had some weird hangups and detention could come out of nowhere over things that weren't even against any rules. By the same token, I remember once when a kid threw one of those heavy wooden desks into a blackboard and shattered it, got in zero trouble for it, and none of us cared because we all knew he had it rough at home. Another time a coach actually scheduled a fight during a class period because "those boys just need to fight it out." Also I think it was a federal law back then that every coach had to teach history class.
my 3rd grade pe teacher threw metal folding chairs at us once bc we wouldn’t stop talking. this was around 2009/2010 so he got fired pretty soon after, but it was still scary asf being 9 years old and having to dodge a chair
@@pillowvibes Whoa, NINE!? Yeah that would be strange even back in the days I was talking about. At that age the most we could expect was a teacher grabbing you by the wrist a little too hard or something along those lines. There were spankings, but there was a process with paperwork involved. The Vince McMahon stuff didn't start until junior high.
@@rivercitymud"Having it rough at home" is not an excuse for delinquent behavior.
@@Xeno_Solarus We're talking about teenagers here. They've been predictably stupid for thousands of years. It's not about making excuses, it's about handling problems that are so clockwork you can set your watch to them. That kid who raged out and broke the blackboard never cut up again. Nothing good would have come from punishment. It was a one-off, and it's important to be able to sort those kids from the real chronic cases.
Breakfast club is such a classic 🥲
💯 👍
Grew up in the 80s.this movie and 16 candles are pretty spot on with high school and home life.teachers,students and parents could be harsh.loved the 80s!!!!
What about Pretty in Pink?
And the janitor here was the oily beau-hunk in 16 candles.
Long live the Brat Pack!!
The whistling is from a great movie that no RUclipsr has reacted to yet. Bridge Over The River Kwai and stars a much younger Obi Wan Kenobi. He won an Oscar for it.
It's Ewan McGregor.
And it was in a beer commercial, wasn't it?
I grew up on this movie (came out when i was 11). Sadly, a signpost for transitioning from childhood into adulthood for me was when I realized that this wasn't really a happy ending, and that these five kids almost certainly slipped back into their familiar roles on Monday and never hung out together again.
That’s called projecting.
That’s called projecting.
That’s called projecting.
That’s called projecting.
That’s called projecting.
FYI The “I don’t like Monday’s” graffiti is referencing a song about a school shooting in 1978. It was the reply the shooter (a teenage girl) gave when asked why she did it.
And of course the name of the popular song from 1979 by the Boomtown Rats which chronicled the event. Except the shooting it referenced happened in 1979 as well, as related by the Far Out Magazine website:
With ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’, the song documents the 1979 Cleveland Elementary School shooting during which a 16-year-old girl, Brenda Spencer, who lived in a house across the street from the school, opened fire killing the school principal and a custodian and injuring eight children and a police officer. The reason that spender gave for committing the atrocity was confounding in itself: “I don’t like Mondays”.
This movie is great. No matter who you are, there is surely something you can latch to. People haven't changed a lot in the past 40 years.
The "I don't like Mondays" graffiti at the beginning is a line from a song by The Boomtown Rats, which is super dark. It's a quote from a school shooting. When asked why she did it the shooter said, "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day."
Be kind to people. You never know what they may be going through.
I'll just quote Molly Ringwald on why this movie was so pivotal: "It can be hard to remember how scarce art for and about teen-agers was before John Hughes arrived." ... "No one in Hollywood was writing about the minutiae of high school, and certainly not from a female point of view." ... "John wanted people to take teens seriously, and people did. The films are still taught in schools because good teachers want their students to know that what they feel and say is important; that if they talk, adults and peers will listen. I think that it’s ultimately the greatest value of the films, and why I hope they will endure."
If you loved this movie, the next you should check out is St. Elmo's Fire which addresses a slightly later stage in life but is just as amusing, gut wrenching, and totally identifiable to many people. Great reaction on this one. Loved what you had to say.
St. Elmo's is a sequel.
Breakfast Club is way better than St. Emo's Fire.
Molly Ringwald was very important to me in the 80s, and her dancing was just...entrancing
This film came out when I was a Junior in High School. This was very relatable in terms of everyday life and I cannot speak for others, but there was a little bit of all of them in me and I suspect a lot of others.
I was a chameleon in high school. I could fit in with everyone. I hung out with everyone of these people. That was a gift I have to this day. I can talk to anyone and make friends with anyone. Great reaction! This movie is a great representation of that time. I was a sophomore when this came out. Super relatable!
Up till High School I wasn't , but even though I leaned more toward nerd in general, i had pals from all the social cliques in high school,had Football player friends, "the rich crowd", geeks, stoners..and etc..was everyone cool with other social cliques no, but I got along with most .
I called this ability “floating” which I did quite well, from clique to clique I floated in and out and found a little common ground with everybody. Even though externally I was for the most part a mildly goth emo drama kid/tech nerd/book worm.
Same. My friend/neighbor growing up was "popular" so she was my foot in the door for that group. Some of the more popular athletes and gangsters liked me because I could draw and designed a couple tattoos for them. I loved reading and learning, so I was cool with the nerds. But I didn't seek out any groups, so I was also a loner. The only ones I didn't get along with were the teachers lol They liked me, but were pissed because I was "wasting my potential" because I refused to do homework.
Yeah I can’t relate to that 😂 I was deff one of the quiet/awkward kids who hung out with my small group.
Tbf
I still am though
And other than my spouse (who I met online) I’ve not had any actual IRL friends since high school and that was a decade ago oof
I was a sort of chameleon too - I was able to be outcast by every crowd in any situation 🙃
the david bowie quote in the opening card was the idea of Ally Sheedy. she showed the quote to john hughes . he said nothing about it and when the actors saw the premiere it was when Sheedy found out that he put it into the film
The quote is from Bowie's song, "Changes."
The lunch meat in Allison's sandwich was pimento loaf, not bologna. The cereal she put in the sandwich was Cap'n Crunch.
And Pixie Sticks.
Looked like olive loaf.
@@johnglue1744 nope. Pimento.
The lunch meat looked like a plastic fake puke.
This movie became a ritual amongst my friends and I. Every Saturday night after the bar closed, we would head over to a buddy's house, continue to drink and watch this movie. We watched so often we all knew all the lines and would recite them while watching. To change things up, we decided to have each of us draw a character name from a hat and we would act out that character. Yes we were idiots, but we had fun.
"Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me)" is one of the best songs in existence. The mixing on that song is insane, it's my go to song when evaluating the quality of any new audio device that I look to buy. If you can't play the song on your headphones, in-ears, buds, etc. without using an EQ, they are not worth it. That's how perfect of a song it is.
13:25 - He doesn't feel bad for Bender, it just sank in for him that by giving Bender 8 detention weekends in a row, he's now also resigned HIMSELF to being there every Saturday, too 😂. He wouldn't allow himself to relent in front of them because it could be taken by Bender or one of the other kids (but mostly Bender lol) as a sign of weakness.
This director also directed : Sixteen Candles - The Great Outdoors - Planes , Trains & Automobiles - Weird Science - Uncle Buck - Ferris Beuller ' s Day Off - Pretty In Pink - She's Having A Baby - National Lampoon's Vacation - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation . The director passed away : August 6 , 2009
Don't forget that he wrote a few movies that he didn't direct such as Beethoven and Home Alone.
*Edit* The Lampoon movies count there too. He wrote them but didn't direct.
All the students have an arc.
Bender empowers everyone to open up and be transparent with each other;
Andrew learns to be sensitive to weaker and less popular students;
Allison breaks her shell and lets people into her personal space;
Clare makes someone outside her circle look glamorous (BTW, she's not doing Allison a favor, Allison is doing Clare a favor);
Brian has a chance to write the most profound, succinct essay ever to a teacher.
When i was in 9th grade, i recorded this movie onto AUDIO cassette so I could listen to it on the bus. Now I'm a teacher! LOL
Thanks for reacting to it. Maybe you'll do a few more John Hughes films.
Cheers.
i definatly second that.... can´t go wrong with john hughes
Thank you do much for the support!! Thank you for doing what you do for the youth of the world ❤
That's honestly a cool story, I feel like people in my generation don't really consider that the best way to listen to 'audiobook' type things was to record it and put it on an audio cassette to play on a walkman or something. I have a good collection of tapes and an original Sony Walkman, took it to school one day since my teacher said we couldn't listen to music on our phones. Needless to say they allowed me to listen to music on the walkman, and a lot of people there didn't even know about cassettes. That was a good...4 or 5 years now and now I'm 21. I feel old already and I'm not even in my prime years yet. I think being raised in a house that held onto a lot of 70s-80s-90s culture and tech, especially because of our lack of money at the time, I think that really shaped me to be raised in a generation that I'm not a part of in some way.
Jeez, what a long winded comment, sorry! I just never quite realized how impactful movies and culture like what you see in Breakfast club, never realized those shaped me in a way that I personally think sets me apart from people of a similar age. Whether that's good or bad it's hard to say, hasn't led me in any great directions since my only life goal is to not die before I find a first true love. But hey, maybe that's a cliche goal many share.
Cool ! Wow it must have been a 90 min audio cassette. Do you still have it? Do you see/have any kids like the ones in The Breakfast Club in your classes today?
Halfway thru this reaction, I wrote to my high school bully who tried to friend request me back in 2019. I told him why I didnt want to be a friend back in 2019, but today I wrote with forgiveness in my heart. Turns out he has gone thru a divorce since 2019 and his now 6 year old has had to deal with that. Thanks to this reaction Miranda, two people may have made amends. Thanks for helping the world more than you ever intended with your channel. ❤
This is probably the most beautiful and rewarding thing I have ever read! Thank you so much for sharing! Even 2 people making amends and forgiving helps heal the world. Thank you for doing the work to spread love and make this world a better place ❤️
This Film was 100% Accurate To How Exactly the World Was! There Was Absolutely NO BULLSHIT FEELINGS & NO CODDLING OF Our FEELINGS!
The last shot where Bender walks through the field and raises his hands up in the air , they made fun of that on Family Guy . And as we all know , Family Guy makes fun of...everyone !! 😂
When I was in High School (Germany), just before summer vacations our teacher wanted us to watch a school-related movie of our choice. My choice was the Breakfast Club, but all those beloved shiny classmates wanted to see Porky's. Well, the Teacher put the VHS in, we watched it and after a short time he turned it off again, and said with an angry tone:"And I thought you are smart grown-ups. A pity that I was wrong." and sent us to our holidays. Month later he came up to me and said:"I watched The Breakfast Club now, because MY daughter wanted me to! I'm so sorry that I didn't take YOUR choice."
The high school was an abandoned school in Illinois. John Hughes used the school for Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Uncle Buck and Home Alone. They built the inside of the Home Alone house in the gymnasium because it was hard to film in the real house because it had small areas to film. They also built the basement of the neighbors basement in the pool at the school to make all the water go to the basement. They might have used more movies but that is the ones i remember for those films. Now the high school is a police station
I was in 9th grade when this movie came out. I missed it at the theater, but watched it constantly on cable when it hit there. One of the best movies to be exposed to as an 80s teenager.
27:02 "How on Earth did you do that?" They're "strike anywhere" (i.e. non-safety) matches. They barely make them any more because the insurance costs made them too expensive for suppliers to ship them.
42:42 Just realized, he kissed her in front of her dad's car. Just as they were talking about how he might make them go crazy if they saw them together.
I wasn't popular in high school, but I still related to Claire the most out of all of them. I felt bad for her that no one could show any kind of sympathy about her life when she was genuine but when she wasn't genuine they just labeled her the girl who just wants to be popular. She kept trying to point out that her life wasn't perfect either/she also has abusive parents, and it felt like no one would listen. I think part of the reason she fell for Bender even though he was so toxic to her is that he gave her a lot of undivided attention and asked her a lot of not-surface-level questions. I bet she wasn't used to that.
Another thing no one mentions is that, while she does have a few not-self-aware popular girl moments, she does still show a lot of empathy and human depth (Like when Brian doesn't want to admit he's a virgin and she makes him feel better about it. She didn't even want to admit it about herself, but she still wanted to make him feel less embarrassed)
The way you reacted to this made me feel validated.
I can't believe this movie is THIRTY EIGHT YEARS old now. I'm so ancient.
This movie will always be a classic.
I remember middle school in the 80s. We had the dude always starting fights. He started a fight and when the principal broke it up, the student took a swing at the principal. The principal had him pinned to the ground in a heartbreak and drug him through the halls by his ear to the office. Lol. They didn’t play back then. They also didn’t call the police. Oh, and High Schools in the 80’s also had a designated smoking area for the students.
I was in HS when this film came out. It truly represented Gen-X'ers.
This film, and it's views and messages, are timeless...reaching out to each generation that discovers it.
Great understanding and reaction.
This is one of those movies that you absolutely cannot remake, ever.
In the opening credits, the custodians picture was on the wall with ‘ man of the year ’ for his senior year
Such a good movie on so many levels. A perfect flick for us who grew up in the 80's to relate to and it can also be relatable anytime really but it was special if you were young at that time. So well acted by the cast and well written by John Hughes who was known for making these kind of movies back in the 80's. Great nostalgia to see it again.
4:40 This song plays loudly in the hockey arena in Vancouver every time the Canucks score a goal
I loved The Breakfast Club! Its such a classic and definately touches on so many different topics but still hits. At the begining of the movie all 5 of the main characters think they're so different but deep down they all have feelings and emotions. Also the pressure of being a teenager and the issues they had with their Parents. I liked how they were able to talk about their problems with each other.
Alison really was the character that brought the others together. She's intelligent she knew what she was doing and she was so free in who she was hence why she was able to be the catalyst to have everyone open up.
I love this movie. John Hughes is a genius!!
Thanks for reacting to this movie. It's a classic and I still laugh at all the one-liners even nowadays! Glad you enjoyed this one.
Nice one, darlin. I was a 60's baby. A kid of the 70's. And came of age in the 1980;s. Graduated high-school in 1984, when this film came out into theatres. I was there for it then. Still here for it now. Thank you, Miranda, for this little glance back at our yesterday. Really liking your style. Thanks for your reactions, thoughts, and comments. You are so funny. Big shoutout from the mountains of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Cannot wait to waatch another film with you again real soon. Peace and love to you and yours. Bless you. Go with God. Later.
I like that this film is more like a slice of film rather than something with an A to B to C plot. It reminds of the Before Trilogy, where it kind of feels like the movie is just allowing people to speak and act rather than putting them on rails to hit certain plot points in a certain order. Even while the dialogue cuts deep, it really feels like it’s off-the-cuff for a lot of the time where the characters don’t even realize they needed that release of allowing their inner thoughts to come out.
It’s just a well-done film.
What's really going to bake your noodle later is what the punch line to Benders joke as he's crawling across the ceiling is.
In the opening credits, the burnt out locker is Brian's, where his flare gun had gone off.
@37:00 Thank you Miranda, you're a mother and a big sister to all of us!!
This movie always makes me nostalgic and a little emotional, I love this movie
If im gonna be honest your reaction to this movie is the most genuine and best by far
John Hughes, the teen-movie-laureate of my youth. R.I.P., sir. ✝
BTW, Miranda, Brian's revelation of bringing a 'gun' to school was completely unheard of in 1985 to the point that it was frightening.
Sadly, it's not even shocking anymore, which pisses me off. 😠 ~Jenn-X ♊
(P.S. You see Hughes at the end; he played the part of Brian's dad, picking him up in the car)
Interesting film fact! The tune that they whistle, "Colonel Bogey's March," is a British military song from 1914. It was later given lyrics in WWII, "Hitler Has Only Got One Ball." But this movie is referencing a _different_ appearance of the song from _The Bridge on the River Kwai_ (an excellent film that not enough people react to) starring William Holden, Alec Guinness, and Sessue Hayakawa, where British soldiers are marched into a Japanese POW camp whistling this tune.
Also: *Ally Sheedy* (Allison, the weird girl) is also in _WarGames_ with Matthew Broderick.
I would definitely recommend Ferris Buellers Day Off. John Hughes directed it as well and it definitely makes a statement.
Fun fact: Anthony Michael Hall plays Brian. Brian's mom and sister in the beginning is Hall's actual mom and sister...
Classic timeless movie! ♥ Great soundtrack! I think all the kids had their own issues & strengths
16 Candles is another great teenage movie of this type, and it also has Molly Ringwald (Claire) and Anthony Micheal Hall (Brian) in it. American Graffiti is also another great graduate-and-move-on movie.
I'm not saying don't watch it, but I think it's important to note that 16 Candles literally has a date rape storyline, and one of the most egregiously racist portrayals of an Asian character as you'll find in just about any movie. In this movie (Breakfast Club), the scene with Bender under Claire's desk is also really gross. I know it was "a different era" but damn, Hughes definitely had some problems. Molly Ringwald wrote a very incisive essay about him in the New Yorker a few years ago.
I stumbled onto your channel for the first time. Good insight, as well as having a thoughtful and intelligent discussion. Really enjoyed this reaction; I can see why you have >8000 subscribers after such a short period of time, compared to a lot of other reactors. Keep up the good work.
Love your reaction, comments and philosophical viewpoint of the Breakfast Club (1985).
Great reaction, have seen this countless times but still love it so much.❤ Yes, high school in the 80s was a lot like this. It's actually set the year I graduated.
Most of us can identify with one of the kids or even a partial mix of a pair. Myself my hs years were most likely Allison , many times it seemed no one noticed me.
The custodian actor will always be "Detective Schkanke" of the Canadian TV series, "Forever Knight".
I recommend it if you like detective shows, vampires, romance, drama, action.
I was 15 when this came out. It is so stereotypical of high school. Your reaction was great. I was the cheerleading captain, always had to be perfect, and was under a microscope by my father to also have straight A's. I was also in a very toxic relationship with the captain of the football team because we were 'supposed' to date. I married him, which was such a huge mistake (we were more of a habit than a relationship) except for having my children.
Although I am probably rare and did love high school in the 80's, I was concerned when my kids went to high school (my boys being excellent athletes in wrestling and basketball and my daughter in cheerleading), I wanted to try to have them not fall into the stereotypes, they did because that's just the way it is and always has been. My oldest son was like Andy, and a state place winner in wrestling throughout high school, and the media put so much pressure on him. But the peer pressure and cliques existed when my grandparents were in high school in the 1920's. They will never go away.
I'm proud that my kids are all very successful adults with happy families today.
I HIGHLY recommend your reaction to the movie St. Elmo's Fire. (You will see some of the same actors in this from The Breakfast Club - an introduction to the 80's Brat Pack). It's a great movie about life after college - 'now what do we do'? It also has another great soundtrack. I look forward to you watching it!
I often skip the end-movie commentary when it's more than a couple of minutes long but yours was incredible on this movie. Your insight was pretty amazing.
Uh oh, Miranda got a voice on her.
Lovely. ❤
Waiting for the reaction itself, and then I’ll edit.
So many things come to mind when it comes to this film.
It’s very relatable to just about everyone, really.
Miranda, you were right when you said “This is like his home life.”
He obviously has PTSD and being in that situation was exactly like how his father treats him.
Children are taught to respect, fear and obey adults as authority figures. The person they trust and look up to, and when they do something like this, cornering and confronting a student with intimidation, it sent him into flight mode. He immediately felt small, scared and ineffectual.
We were the lucky ones to be apart of this generation’s films.
So much heart and soul were put into making films like this.
There were still fresh ideas and things that came from the heart and a place of something that everyone can relate to. Rather than some agenda or forced message about diversity, or basically any unnecessarily divisive topic
I really enjoyed your reaction Miranda, and I’m glad that it captured your heart, mind and least of all, your attention.
I was soccer captain back in high school. So i can REALLY relate with Andrew's part on his and his father's relationship..
Everytime I rewatch this I'm like John Bender is such a damn asshole but then I remember oh yeah he's got a shitty home life most kids who act up like him usually have horrible home life's which doesn't excuse their behavior but you understand it , man this movie is such a classic and so relatable I love it( also I haven't ate bologna in years and I'm glad I quit it 😂😂😂)
Yes and unfortunately, there’s a John Bender in every school! 😣🙄
Those kids are part of why/how school is so torturous, you don’t wanna even go to school and deal with those pains in the asses
LIVES
Was Bender mit the cool guy?
@@nsasupporter7557Bender? No this Emilio Estevez was one of the guys who make school miserable.
Who knew a movie review could hit you as hard as the movie itself? Nicely done, Miranda.
I've never seen such an analysis of this movie. You are impressive, in more than one way. Thanks.
“I don’t like Mondays”
was (is) a very popular song by “The Boomtown Rats”
You’d like them too.
80’s is loaded with these type bands unreal era of great music
Weird Science is a must if you like Brian.
Which version?
@@sebswede9005 the movie from 1985
His name is Anthony Michael Hall
As a GenX'er, I think most of my group considers the theme song our Call to Arms. It's our song. The Breakfast Club is our movie. But it's eternal. It's why when big cities have these movie nights in a park somewhere, Breakfast Club is on the list....
Its fun to train the doggos to say num num before getting treats, its something they can easily sound out. Great reaction and yes, it is a very good movie. I only had one teacher on a serious power trip, a math teacher, and probably why I hated math :o)
Cool facts about the movie. 1. John Hughes is from Chicago, therefore all of his movies are based in or around Chicago. 2. The cast tried to go undercover in a real highschool in order for them to get the feel for what it was like (most of them were older than 20 by this point). 3. Emilio was actually recognized, which blew the whole thing lol. 4. "Shermer high" was actually an old library that they made into the library and even put in the books correctly.
I went to a pretty small high school. 97 in my graduating class. We've known each other since we were 5. So by high school, we all felt pretty much like cousins. We knew everyone's whole name, their parents, their siblings, and where they lived. So by senior year, we really all felt like a large extended family. It made dating super weird though. I honestly only know one couple who ended up married. The rest of us had to graduate and get our partners from out of town. LOL
Lol, same here. Class of 150ish, but only like 100ish actually graduated together. Even with such a small class, cliques were ALWAYS a huge part of school life. It was weird though. Towards the end of senior year, we all kinda talked to random people from other cliques we normally wouldn't. In a way, it also felt way too late to be starting new friendships since I knew everyone would be parting ways soon. Each class throughout the day literally felt like detention in this movie. Random people would talk to each other, but in the halls, it would be like you never existed to them because they would completely ignore you as you'd walk by.
I saw it in the theater while in High School... and for 40 years it is current... The greatest part for a theater nerd like you should be that 90% of the movie was shot in 1 room, the library. It is a classic about clicks and social groups that will live for... well forever
Out of all the characters the one I loved the most was Allison her hair, the way she talks, walks, the way she looks at people, the way she dresses, smiles almost everything about her and it melted me when she said "When you grow up, Your heart dies and then after that comes Brian i felt him and his words deeply when he said he want to shoot himself with a gun but I laughed out loud when he said that it was a flare gun
I and every other boy I knew crushed hard on Allison and weren't impressed by the makeover at all. That character was the proto-goth that led to all of us dating at least one girl who smoked clove cigarettes later in life. As a result, Ally Sheedy is probably personally responsible for selling at least 10% of all albums by The Cure and Sisters of Mercy.
@@rivercitymud so you guys got to date someone like that
That's really wonderful
@@masterpenguin3507 I've got nothing but love and respect for my goth exes. We may not have been a fit for each other but we still had good times. I've found that when you seek out the misfits, they'll show you a side of life you wouldn't have found yourself. Plus it's just a kindness to befriend an outcast, they need someone in their corner who will stick up for them, and you'll be rewarded with the most loyal of friends. My life wouldn't be half as good without them.
@@rivercitymud so did it work
Are you guys still together or not?
And it was a good experience, right?
@@masterpenguin3507 One I don't talk to because she moved away, we just drifted apart. No hard feelings. Another is still my friend and we don't talk often, but have remained in regular contact for decades, and we pick up right where we left off each time. My closest ex from those times is more like a sister now, we can rely on each other in hard times. My very closest goth gf isn't my ex, she passed before we could marry, but she said yes when I proposed.
I don't regret any of those relationships, they've all made me into who I am today. Obviously I've had some heartbreak and tragedy, way more than I'm elaborating on here, but it's like I said, seeking out the ones who don't fit in has never led me wrong. Beyond dating, that's also how I've found my best guy friends too.
I love your outlook on life, Miranda.
Imagine Ferris Bueller and breakfast club did a crossover movie
That totally would be the SHITE! 😮😮😁😁
Ferris and Bender trying to outsmart each other with words‼️
“ I am the eyes and ears of this institution”. Reminds me of a job I had for 11 years. All department heads and supervisors confided in me because they knew I could keep my mouth shut. So I knew everything about everything. Even things I wasn’t supposed to know. 🤔😁
He's not smelling the weed because he is in the basement going through the personnel files.
If a movie can squeeze emotions out of you, it's a good movie. Even if the emotions are the worst. This is the number one rule in film school.
I was a nobody in school. I could fit in with any group but wasn't a part of one. I was also picked on until halfway through Junior High, so I guess I was mostly a loner as a result.
Another good John Hughes movie is
Some Kind of Wonderful ©1987
Judd Nelson is great actor thats why he got the lead inTransformers the movie in 1986 with an all star cast and amazing rock n roll soundtrack.
This is a classic film from my youth, but I never liked the makeover that Allison gets
If the film is basically about accepting others that are different from you and more importantly accepting YOURSELF, why is it necessary for Allison to change from goth girl to preppie?
Also, why is it that she is only worthy of the attention from the jock once she superficially changes her appearance?
None of the other characters fundamentally change from beginning to end, other than possibly discovering that you can't just label someone so easily and that we all have hidden depths that you might not see on the surface...except Allison. She has to change to be accepted
Being goth was her hiding herself. The makeover may or may not been closer to her true self but it got her to drop the image which she likely created to keep people away from her. Being goth could've simply been her not accepting herself, making herself something that others overlook. Her parents ignored her so she doesn't see herself as someone worth seeing.
Yeah, preppy is cliche but it's inviting and friendly to most people so that allows them the notice her and open interactions. It is the extreme pendulum swing from what she came in as and she'll likely find a bit of middle ground between the two. She had to accept herself as someone to be seen before anyone else at all. Tje jock was the one that was drawn to her because he couldn't accept himself because his parents were the opposite in that they imposed a persona onto him so he felt invisible to them and others despite being "popular."