One of the biggest television surprises recently has been the success of the series Cobra Kai. The series is a continuation of the hit 80s film Karate Kid. It picks up decades later as the middle-aged Daniel LaRousso and Johnny Lawrence find themselves as karate rivals once again.
Few people would have thought Karate Kid needed a continuation, but the series proved there are a lot more to be said about this story. With this 80s classic getting revisited on television, there may be some other great films from that era that could also get the same treatment and find interesting new stories to tell.
The Lost Boys (1987)
The 80s was a great era for fun horror comedies and The Lost Boys falls perfectly into that category. The movie follows two young brothers who move to a new town and quickly discover that it is the haven for a group of young vampires.
A television reboot of this story could be very popular with the young teen crowd. A story exploring the lives of these youthful and rebellious vampires sounds like a mix between Riverdale and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
TRON (1982)
The look of TRON might be outdated to modern audiences, but this movie was quite ground-breaking back in the day. The original movie starred a young Jeff Bridges as a computer hacker who is abducted into a digital world where he is forced to participate in their gladiatorial games.
While a new TRON movie is apparently on the way, a series could really explore this world in great detail. There is endless potential for this world and the movie feels like it only scratched the surface.
Red Dawn (1984)
Leaning into the Cold War fears of the time, Red Dawn was the story of a group of young teens who form a guerilla army to fight back when the Russians invade America. It is a perfectly cheesy 80s action movie that is a ton of fun.
While the 2012 remake might have proved this story doesn’t work outside of the 80s, it could work as a series as long as it is not taken too seriously. Perhaps it could be presented as an alternative history taking place in modern-day and showing what has become of America in the years since the invasion.
The Princess Bride (1987)
One of the most beloved films from the 1980s is surely The Princess Bride. When a grandfather reads a story to his grandson, we are transported into this charming, thrilling, and hilarious fairy tale filled with lovable characters.
A television series could continue on with the various other stories set inside this fairy tale kingdom, either following the characters from the movie or introducing new ones. It could become like a much funnier and light-hearted version of Game of Thrones.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
The incredibly inventive comedy Who Framed Roger Rabbit was set in a world where humans coexist with cartoons. The story follows a hardened private eye who takes a job trying to clear the name of a famous cartoon rabbit accused of murder.
The mix of real-life and animation might not be as impressive now but it is no less fun. A television series could maintain the private eye hook and follow Detective Eddie Valiant and his new partner Roger Rabbit as they solve crime in the toon world.
The Goonies (1985)
For any young kids growing up in the 1980s, The Goonies was probably a very big deal. Decades later, the film is still filled with nostalgia. It is the story of a group of misfit friends who find an ancient treasure map that leads that on a treasure hunt.
There have long been talks about how to revisit the story. A television series could be a lot of fun, whether it be an 80s-set reboot or a modern sequel exploring a new generation of Goonies. It has the potential to be a light-hearted Stranger Things-like series.
Fletch (1985)
Chevy Chase had one of his best starring roles in Fletch. He starred as Irwin M. “Fletch” Fletcher, a dedicated newspaper reporter who finds himself mixed up in the murder of a millionaire.
The character is taken from a series of novels that could all be used as inspiration for a new series. There is a not of fun that could be had following Fletch on his various investigations and becoming involved in dangerous situations.
The Breakfast Club (1985)
John Hughes is one of the biggest names in the 1980s film world. Perhaps his movie popular film was The Breakfast Club. The movie was set in a high school detention room during the weekend when five very different students are forced to spend the day together and learn to put aside their differences.
It could be very interesting to have a series revisit these characters decades later to see how they have changed as adults. It would also be interesting to see how these relationships would be different all these years later.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Yet another classic from John Hughes was the terrifically entertaining Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Matthew Broderick starred as the titular high school star who went to great lengths to fake an illness to stay home from school in order to have the perfect day with his friend and girlfriend.
A series could go in a few interesting directions. It could be a high school-set comedy exploring Ferris’ various adventures out of class, or it could catch up with an adult Ferris suffering a mid-life crisis and looking to recapture some of the fun of his younger days.
Revenge Of The Nerds (1984)
Movies from the 1980s explored stereotypes quite frequently. Revenge of the Nerd was certainly one of those movies as it followed a group of nerdy outcasts who form a college fraternity to get back at the jocks who constantly bully them.
There is a way to do an interesting new approach to this story set in modern times. Much like how Cobra Kai plays around with the idea of the supposed heroes and villains, a Revenge of the Nerds series could look at how “nerd” culture has changed over the years and even became mainstream.
