I think it might be St. Elmo's Fire. It has aspiring upward yuppies, the fashion and feel of that decade. The 80's themselves were something that either you liked or didn't including the culture just like the film. I imagine most think it was bad, like the film.
What's your candidate?
Teen Wolf, Revenge of the Nerds
shareLoverboy (1989)
shareFor sheer excess;
The Blues Brothers
Top Gun
Beverly Hills Cop
Rocky III
For pop culture;
Flashdance
Breakdance
Footloose
The Breakfast Club
Sci Fi;
Back to the Future
ET
Return of the Jedi
In terms of capturing the quintessential 80s look, I think Can't Buy Me Love.
Weird Science
shareNight of the Comet.
shareHard to say, coz the 80s was wildly variant. I wanna say Short Circuit, but then there's Superman, there's Poltergeist, there's Adventures in Babysitting, there's Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, there's Twins, there's Back to the Future, there's Weekend at Bernie's, there's Annie. You see what I mean? Even fixating on one genre like horror or sci-fi would give you multiple answers. It's impossible to say one movie captured the essence of the entire era.
shareNinja III: The Domination
- Ninjas
- Over the top action
- Aerobics Class
- Arcade Games
- V8 Sex