The Breakfast Club
A huge hit when it was first released and still iconic today, The Breakfast Club is one movie that has really stood the test of time.
Written and directed by John Hughes, The Breakfast Club is about a group of teenagers in detention that are all very different from one another. By the end of the day, they realise they aren’t so different after all.
The students start off by being very cagey with each other but as the day goes on they find ways to connect and are drawn together by a mutual hatred of their Teacher and minder for the day, Mr Vernon.
The focal point of the movie is the letter the Group are forced to write by Mr Vernon detailing “who you think you are”. Brian writes the letter on behalf of them all and basically says Mr Vernon sees them in a certain way but in spending the day together the five of them realise they all have a little bit of each other inside.
John Hughes says the film was originally to be 2 and ½ hours long but some scenes were cut. He is the only person with the complete copy.
There have been many rumours of a sequel but nothing has ever come to fruition. I very much hope things stay that way.
Brat Pack Rating
The absolute classic, stands the test of time and has five of the Brat Pack members in the cast. Films don’t get much better than this, a hard 10 out of 10.
The Breakfast Club Characters
Claire Standish – The typical pretty rich girl who attracts the attention of Bender.
John Bender – The bad boy of the group. Always in trouble and is in detention for setting off the fire alarm.
Brian Johnson – The geek. Brought a flare gun to school that went off in his locker.
Andrew Clark – The athlete and state champion wrestler.
Allison Reynolds – A bit crazy, strange and just plain weird. In detention because she had nothing better to do.
Starring; Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy.
The Breakfast Club Trivia
Anthony Michael Hall’s mother and sister in the movie are his real life mother and sister. Also, John Hughes played his Dad at the end of the movie.
The robot Bender from Futurama is named after John Bender from The Breakfast Club.
John Hughes almost got rid of Judd Nelson because of his attitude towards Molly Ringwald off camera. This was due to Judd staying in character even when the cameras stopped rolling.
The Breakfast Club Links
The Breakfast Club @ Rotten Tomatoes
St Elmo’s Fire
Although lacking two key ingredients in Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall, St Elmo’s Fire is the Brat Pack movie.
Ok, it’s not the best script in the world, it’s not the best acting in the world and the characters are not really very likable but the film just has a bit of magic about it.
For me I think it’s the nostalgic feel I get when watching it, nothing can beat Rob Lowe going for it on that sax!
Joel Schumacher co-wrote St Elmo’s with Carl Kurlander who had recently left university. They drew on the own experiences of life after college. The story may not have a whole lot of substance but it was accurate of the situation a lot of young adults found themselves in at that time.
The film is all about a group of friends that are dealing with life after college. I’m not really sure what message if any they were trying to get across but I guess it could be ‘no matter how bad things get, as long as you have a sax and a yellow vest, everything will be ok’.
Brat Pack Rating
Arguably the defining Brat Pack movie along with The Breakfast Club. If you’re a fan of the genre, you’ll adore it. Gets a 10/10.
St Elmo’s Fire Characters
Billy – The wild child of the group, loves to party but is married with a young baby.
Wendy – Straight laced virgin who has a huge crush on Billy.
Alec – A career in politics is his aim and he’s well on the way but at what cost?
Leslie – Alec’s girlfriend who feels pressured by him into settling down before she is ready.
Kirby – A wannabe lawyer who has developed an obsesion with a woman he met at college.
Kevin – Kevin is a struggling writer who is madly in love with Leslie.
Jules – Like Billy has a wild streak and a cocaine habit to go with it.
Starring; Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy.
St Elmo’s Fire Trivia
Director Joel Schumacher chose Demi Moore for the part of Jules after seeing her flee from a John Hughes casting session.
The characters all went to Georgetown University but the Uni would not allow filming on campus so they used the University of Maryland for these scenes.
Rob Lowe won a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor.