The good thing about having a childhood with little leisure options is that children of the eighties and nineties all grew up with the same references. Our children can now spend half an hour looking at platform menus to choose a series or a movie and, in the end, end up stressed with so much choice. We were lucky if in summer or at Christmas a minimally interesting movie premiered that thought of us as the main audience. Therefore, it is normal that forty-year-olds want to transmit to their children the magic we experienced with those stories of kids on bikes, little adventures with mystery, and very benign adult supervision filters.
It is wonderful to imagine our children applauding and getting excited at the same moments as we did. You are waiting for someone to fly across in front of the moon or say some iconic phrase that you have repeated a thousand times to look at them and say: “Isn’t cinema wonderful?”. But this amazement does not always happen when we revisit our film childhood as a family.
Audio-visual rhythms have changed and now any movie that is a few years old seems much slower. The film has not changed, but your children will get impatient in the first minutes of initial exposure… and maybe you too. Also, these stories will seem more brutal than the fiction our children normally consume. In fact, depending on the platform where you watch them, the age rating changes. Some say they are for all audiences, while others recommend them for over 12.
All these recommendations, ordered by release date, I have watched with my 10 and 5-year-old children, so it has been a shared experience, although I am the only one signing the column.
‘Star Wars’ (1977, from 7 years old)
What for us was always ‘Star Wars’ and now is ‘Episode IV: A New Hope’, our children perhaps experience as just another content on the Disney+ menu. It cannot amaze them as much as at its original release because they have grown up surrounded by merchandising everywhere. But once you sit them on the couch, you will see that fascination fills their eyes and that the Force is strong in them.
‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ (1982, from 6 years old)
What lonely child hasn’t wished for a friend to change their life, even if it’s a wrinkled extraterrestrial? For my children, ‘E.T.’ scared them and the first half hour seemed very slow. But the bike moments still give anyone goosebumps.
‘The Karate Kid’ (1984, from 7 years old))
If as a forty-year-old you have been enjoying the series ‘Cobra Kai’ for years, now you can return with yours to the All Valley tournament and relive the eternal story of the underdog who ends up becoming the winner. It is almost guaranteed by a notary that you will all end up doing the crane in the dining room. Honest characters, simple stories full of people looking for their place in the world, youth… all great ingredients for a classic. Seen today, the fight scenes seem somewhat pathetic, so don’t worry about the violence your children might find, because in their schoolyard they will have seen stronger things.
‘The Goonies’ (1985, from 8 years old)
The ‘Goonies’ gang was looking for the pirate One-Eyed Willy’s treasure, but for children of the eighties the treasure was movies like this. Seen today, it is full of swear words and childish humiliations (well, like childhood itself), corpses, and a monstrous Sloth that scares the first times you see him. My children and I stopped halfway to watch it later so they can enjoy it without trauma.
‘Back to the Future’ (1985, from 8 years old)
This trilogy will provide you with hours of nostalgia and fun. It is true that the first one starts with terrorists shooting Doc at point-blank range (warn your children), but everything that follows are funny gags with emotional characters and great cinematic moments. Watching it, you will travel through time without a DeLorean and feel like a child again next to yours.
‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’ (1989, from 6 years old)
Pure family fun, totally timeless, whose pace and humor hold up very well. If the kids get hooked on this, you can continue with the sequel ‘Honey, I Blew Up the Kid’ (1992), which is also funny.
‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ (1990, from 7 years old)
When I saw it in the cinema, even as a child I thought it was dark, somewhat cheesy, and did not reflect the joy of the animated series. Still, in terms of action and fun it has moments that are a delight. And their rubber suits work much better than the modern adaptations full of special effects. If you watch it in Spanish, I warn you it ends with a “Cowabunga” translated as “awesome,” which the little ones will spend days repeating.
‘Home Alone’ (1990, from 7 years old)
There is no Christmas without returning to the McCallister house. It can serve to talk about the importance of family, the need to forgive and connect with others, to be resourceful yourself… but what your children will enjoy are the countless and painful ways to mess with two thieves. Watching it will save you a few months of alarm, because from now on your children will be watching.
‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ (1993, from 8 years old)
Surely we all remember the hilarious gags of the movie, like Robin Williams having to dress and undress as a woman, pretending to be two people at once, or burning the fake breasts while cooking for the first time. But a large part of the story deals with the parents’ divorce, with harshness and sadness, which can leave the family a little shaken.
‘Jumanji’ (1995, from 9 years old)
Decades may pass, but surely the drums of this adventure still echo in your head. If yours have enjoyed the recent versions with Dwayne Johnson and Jack Black, travel together to the original. Because board games still have magic and so does this classic.
And you, what movie would you add because your family loves it? I’ll read you in the comments.
