MovieChat Forums > The Breakfast Club (1985) Discussion > Abysmal film

Abysmal film

posted 7 years ago by Riding46 (71)
32 replies | jump to latest

Poorly made film about a bunch of spoilt & immature brats.
This really was the bottom of the barrel of those teen comedies from the 80s.
For those of us in the UK, this lot seem to have led privileged lives and very much deserve to be on detention. Are we supposed to sympathise with them? I would have laughed at the "...I failed shop..." part but it was just embarrassing. Teen suicide is no laughing matter and I felt they trivialised it here. I hated my teachers but I sure sympathised with the ones in this film!

[–] Prelude (1443) 7 years ago

Well, it can't be denied that American teens are a different kettle of fish to British teens, and yes most of them live in a different standard of living that might seem spoiled and privileged to the average UK viewer, but is pretty standard or at least relatable to most Americans.

You have to watch films like this through a different inner lens if you're from a different culture, take it for what it is and WHEN it is, as it's also a different era now too.

[–] Befus (494) 6 years ago

No, I'm American and I hate this movie. These kids were a bunch of spoiled brats.

[–] snepts (11123) 6 years ago

I don't get why you say this. Judd was a rough kid who didn't have anything given to him. The jock and the nerd had their own issues. Sheedy was a weirdo who didn't seem to fit in anywhere. Ringworm might have been the only one who was spoiled, but she managed to be put into detention, so she couldn't have been too prissy.

[–] HelpMeRhonda (1158) 6 years ago

Newsflash: many teens ARE spoiled. I understand where the OP is coming from, but this is a well-made movie with a teen audience in mind.

While most films have their faults, I will say that the OP is the first person I’ve ever heard say that this was a poor movie.

[–] TaRaNRoD (1579) 5 years ago

"While most films have their faults,"

Every single movies have their faults. Even near perfect movies have something lacking.

This is an objective observation since I personally have absolutely no problem with it: The Godfather 1 and 2 are nearly perfect movies, but could have been a bit shorter. I have NO problem at all with their length, but I know people who were bored by how long they were and said they should had been shorter.

I talk about The Godfather because it's my favorite movie (1 and 2 of course) with the first Rocky and I personally can't see any issue with them, but if I had to be objective...

[–] HelpMeRhonda (1158) 5 years ago

Godfather and Rocky are perfect movies. Godfather 2, I like, but the plot was too hard for me to follow when I first saw it.

[–] TaRaNRoD (1579) 5 years ago

Yeah, I too had somehow of a hard time to follow and appreciate The Godfather 2 on my first watch. But when I gave it a second watch, I understood it better and appreciated it way more.

It's the kind of movie you really have to watch more than once to really get. Like Fight Club, I don't know many people who really understood it on the first watch.

[–] HelpMeRhonda (1158) 5 years ago

Yup, The Matrix is another.

[–] captainbucky (15252) 7 years ago

Hi cake

[–] Washingtonnative (2613) 6 years ago

Some people just don't know!

[–] captainbucky (15252) 6 years ago

Do they know how

[–] Washingtonnative (2613) 6 years ago

Shrugs!

[–] Obifuntoknowme (1133) 6 years ago

Well I’m from the UK and I absolutely LOVE this film! I consider it one of the best films of the ‘80s.

[–] Washingtonnative (2613) 6 years ago

Yeah, that's what im talkin' about!

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

I'd say more than anything it just hasn't aged particularly well. I really enjoyed it when I first saw it (early 90s) up to through about the mid 2000s but not so much when I saw it recently.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

"Poorly made film about a bunch of spoilt & immature brats."

It should be aging like a fine wine and getting more and more relevent then! : )

[–] TaRaNRoD (1579) 5 years ago

Hahaha good one!

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

I wouldn't say that Bender was all that spoiled. But yeah overall it is kind of empty but a lot of films were back then. I still enjoy it for what it is though.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I remember it being popular and successful in Australia even though we’re also quite different to America. It was never a favourite of mine but I have a sentimental fondness for it and I think the theme of everyone feeling like an outsider despite your background is fairly universal.

It has its flaws but I don’t accept that it’s an abysmal film.

[–] snepts (11123) 5 years ago

I like the film. Had to have had a fairly low budget, and it's focused on a small number of characters stuck in a relatively small environment. The director did a great job getting these young people to play their roles well, especially interesting because they were intentionally rather artificially different from one another. Hood-Jock-Nerd-Sosh-Goth. I thought it was rather touching with enough humor to keep it light. Nothing wrong with making friends in unexpected places.

[–] Shibez (914) 5 years ago

You make it seem like there is no middle class in the UK...I guess these kids would be spoiled if you came from a poverty stricken home. It's a movie about suburban teens that go-to a suburban highschool. Wtf did you expect?🙄 Newsflash..even kids in the suburbs have issues/problems. I myself grew up in the suburbs..and went to a suburban highschool. I lived in rundown house my mom rented..she raised 3 boys on her own and we had a slum landlord that never fixed shit. I was basically the poor kid in school..but at least I wasn't the kid in my school who tried to kill himself every other month.

Highschool is tough..it's all about peer pressure to fit in. I hated it. While dated, The Breakfast Club I thought portrayed an Excellent job of this. It showed that no matter the social class you belonged to in school..everyone has their own problems..from the geeks to the cool kids..even the rebel outsiders. But if the main takeaway you got from this movie was all of the main characters were spoiled brats...I suggest watching a movie about an urban american highschool.

[–] snepts (11123) 4 years ago

Good for you for saying this.
All of us have a subjective reality that can feel like torture.
I know I do, so what a teenage feels must be 10x worse.