The Breakfast Club [DVD] [1985]

How had I never seen this movie before? Even though you would assume this to be more of a teenage movie I loved every second of it - I could easily relate to at least one of the characters from when I was that age. The cast are spot on and play their roles perfectly and when I heard that some key scenes were improvised I was even more impressed. I love the overall message - that people are more than their stereotypes and differences should be embraced - not shunned

Very good film from the mid-1980s that has scarcely dated. Most people who have been teenagers at school, whatever their age now, will recognise things in it.As with many films, it may only be several minutes into the the Breakfast Club before you 'get' it. However It is obvious from the first few seconds that this is something different. The screen is filled with a pretentious quotation from David Bowie written on a purple background, which suddenly shatters into shards of purple coloured glass to reveal behind it the school building where the action will take place.Details of the plot and whether this film fits into a genre are less important as a guide to whether you would like it than the fact that it is really well done.It is about a Saturday morning and afternoon in the life of a group of American High School students, who normally hang out with different cliques in their school. They start with little in common other than that they all have to spend the day in detention as punishment for some misconduct or other. There is a boy who sets out to annoy everyone, a fashionable girl with wealthy parents, a school sports star, a strange, solitary girl, and a science nerd who acted out of character to be put in detention. By the end of the afternoon, when they are released, despite their differences, there is a solidarity between them all, and a couple of romances have started. However, it is left open whether the adolescent pressure to conform to their respective social sets will allow them to remain unlikely friends.For me, the ginger-haired actress Molly Ringwald playing 'Claire', and the dark-haired, black-clad Ally Sheedy as 'Allison', are particularly interesting, but all the actors are good.While mostly trying to be quite realistic, in a couple of places the film frees itself to be fantasy, especially when the characters spontaneously burst into a wonderful choreographed dance. I especially love Molly Ringwald’s dancing, although the style is more conventional than some of the others. At another point when the students, sneaking out of the detention room while the teacher is away, dodge behind a corner, they move like cartoon characters.Some lines and dramatic moments are really good in the context but hard to explain why out of context, like when Claire suddenly kisses one of the boys, he asks her why she did that and she replies “Because I knew you wouldn’t”; or when she helps Allison groom herself to look more normal and better presented, and when asked why, replies “Because you’re letting me”.The ending is not outwardly dramatic. The teenagers say good bye and set off home or are collected by their parents. However, in a way that is hard to explain and perhaps has to be experienced, it still manages to be uplifting, and leaves the viewer feeling that both they and the characters have experienced something important.I cannot say if the rock anthem ‘Don’t You’ performed by Simple Minds (after Bryan Ferry and others refused it) over the last frame and credits is a great song on its own merits, as I shall always associate it so closely with the emotions created by this film that I cannot separate the two, but it is great here.The ensemble of young actors at the heart of this film and its Writer/Director the late John Hughes all had long subsequent careers and some of them worked together in other 1980s films, although, sadly, never again so successfully.Molly Ringwald subsequently lived in France for several years and appeared in several French films before returning to the USA. She has also had a career as a jazz singer and for a time wrote an advice column for the Guardian newspaper in Britain, but regretted that the format did not always let her to give as detailed advice as she would like. ‘Ally’ (Alexandra) Sheedy had already achieved fame at the age of 12 writing a children’s book, ‘She was Nice to Mice’, a best-seller in the USA, about a mouse at the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England. Despite these early peaks, and occasional well-reviewed, but not always widely seen, film performances in later years, her career and life have apparently brought her quite a few disappointments since.I do not know how the cast feel now when people still want to talk about ‘The Breakfast Club’, rather than what they have done in the 30+ years since, but thanks anyway to all of them and to everyone else involved in making this wonderful film.

As mentioned by others, this thriller follows a fairly predictable plot. It's the sort of thing you might watch and wonder if you've seen the film before. Chances are you haven't, it's just that it pans out like similar films of this nature: girl gets involved with psycho and all hell breaks loose.That said, it still manages to create tension and, over all, it's not too bad. J Lo isn't a bad actress and Ryan Guzman makes a decent fist of the job of resident psycho. I wouldn't want to watch it a second time but it's reasonably entertaining and I wouldn't class it as a waste of time.

After twenty or so years since last watching this film, I forgot just how slight it is. The film's main strength is its casting - Judd Nelson's perma-flared nostrils aside, the young cast bounce off one another nicely, as they gradually unite to thwart the oppression of sadistic teachers, judgemental peers and their own prejudices. To be honest I'd always remembered more focus on the battle between Nelson's streetwise bully and Paul Gleason's antagonistic teacher; in reality this is fleeting, but there is plenty of nostalgic fascination to be had in watching the likes of Emilio Estevez (playing against type as a wholesome 'Jock'), Ally Sheedy and Molly Ringwald in early starring roles.

Being a 90's kid I love old movies with the raw feel it shows how people who live different lives can be the same in many ways it's emotional and crazy but you'll love it. I often find myself searching for older movies like this as the acting is raw and coming of age movies feel more real than the ones you get today. It's classic and timeless and I will definitely be making my kids watch this (When I have them)I would recommend you watch this.

This and many of the Brat Pack films were favourites of mine when I was young. I have introduced my teenage daughter to a lot of the films from this era which she has loved but I didn't have a copy of this film on DVD and so she asked if I would order a copy so she could watch it. She enjoyed it as much as the other films from this era. In my eyes, this is a classic.

It's the breakfast club, what can I say another fantastic movie from my childhood which transcends through the decades to my kids who love it and can relate to it aswell

Some reviews have said that this movie is a bit corny; I totally disagree. This is a film with a big heart, deceptively simple story, and some great performances. It is by far the best of the 'brat pack' movies and the high point of some of the actors' careers (sadly for them, being so young). If you haven't seen it then put it on your bucket list. If you have seen it and though it was corny, then I suggest you do something more sensible and grown up such as reading the Financial Times.