Comedies of the 1980s were quite different than comedies today. I'm sure most teens would find most of those comedies very tame and boring compared to the gross-out humor of today.
The one scene that everyone seems to remember from this movie is the scene with Tom Cruise in a shirt and briefs singing and dancing along with "Old Time Rock and Roll" by Bob Seger. The year was 1983, and I can admit that it seemed so odd not to have all of the young people with lives oriented around computers, the internet, and cell phones.
The whole time watching the movie, I kept thinking -- OK, I saw this 18 years ago, and remember almost nothing about the plot -- how did all this stuff get resolved? I knew most if not all of it did, but did not remember how.
I viewed this last Friday night on DVD on my 57 inch 16:9 set. The print used for the transfer had some occasional white speckles, but otherwise, the anamorphic transfer looked good. The DVD came out in 1997 and I bought it then, but this was its first viewing.
This movie seemed blander on this viewing than I remember it being in 1984 or so when I first saw it.
One question: do the subway or train lights ever go out in real life, leaving the passengers in the dark? In one scene, they were going on and off every few seconds. They finally went out, conveniently for the love scene.
Another thing I noticed is when Tom Cruise (I can't remember his character name) was having to buy back his stuff, the last thing was the glass egg. When it was being negotiated, there were still some things in the truck. However, a few seconds later, there was nothing in the truck. It was the last thing to be bought back.
------------------
Evans A Criswell
Huntsville-Decatur Movie Theatre Information Site
I always thought that was an inside joke, "Good son" considering he was anything but that during the movie.
Never been on a subway, so I can't say about the lights.
This is one of my favorite films of the '80s, along with the other-thread-mentioned "Ruthless People." ("I've been kidnapped by K-mart!")
"Risky Business" is also one of my favorite movies of the 1980's. I think it is one of the best coming-of-age flicks ever made. There were other decent teen movies made in the 80's, such as "Sixteen Candles". But "Risky Business" is really its own movie and not part of some fashion trend like all those other "brat pack" films made by John Hughes. It is also Paul Brickman's best work. He does more screenwriting work now than and directorial duties.
"Risky Business" is the film that made Tom Cruise, not "Top Gun."
All the way around, it is a great film and it really solidified the acting careers of a few of its stars. Overall, Paul Brickman and crew assembled one hell of a supporting cast. Rebecca DeMornay was awesome in the movie. This was Bronson Pinchot's first film; he got even more popular with "Beverly Hills Cop". Curtis Armstrong got his first feature job with this film, but most people know him has "Booger" from "Revenge of the Nerds". That guy is amost 50 years old now!
Remember Joe Pantoliano as "Guido: The Killer Pimp"? That was one of his earliest films. Damn, that guy has done a lot of acting work since then. Most know him now from his appearance on "The Matrix" and the end of his character's run last week on HBO's "The Sopranos" (Ralphie got whacked).
Finally, this may be the only movie where a Tangerine Dream score really works well, if not perfectly. Just the right kind of mood and atmosphere.