The Top Grossing Films Of My High School Years

1983

1. Return of the Jedi ($309.1m*) - Luke finally becomes a full-fledged Jedi, but the dark side is stronger than ever. (#8 all-time)
2. Terms of Endearment ($108.4m) - Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger live life to its fullest.
3. Flashdance ($94.9m) - Alex, a welder and exotic dancer, wants to become a ballet dancer.
4. Trading Places ($90.4m) - Dan Akyroyd and Eddie Murphy find out how the other half lives.
5. WarGames ($79.6m) - Young Matthew Broderick unwittingly hacks NORAD's computers and poises the world on the brink of WW III.
6. Octopussy ($67.9m) - Bond tracks a fake Faberge egg and a dead 00 agent to a plot to instigate world war.
7. Sudden Impact ($67.6m) - Dirty Harry on the trail of a vicious serial killer (is there any other kind?)
8. Mr. Mom ($64.8m) - Michael Keaton loses his job and becomes an utterly clueless stay-at-home dad.
9. Staying Alive ($63.8m) - Saturday Night Fever's Tony returns in this sequel directed by Sylvester Stallone!
10. Risky Business ($63.5m) - Stressed about college and trashing his father's Porsche, Joel does the logical thing... turns his house into a brothel!

1984

1. Ghostbusters ($238.6m*) - Who ya gonna call? The gang battles ghosts, goblins, and Gozar the Gozarian. (#23 all-time)
2. Beverly Hills Cop ($234.8m) - Detroit cop Eddie Murphy chases a killer to the very different environment of California. (#24 all-time)
3. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ($179.9m) - Indy seeks the Ankara Stone in the film that lead to the creation of the PG-13 rating.
4. Gremlins ($153.1m) - Adorable creatures become malevolent destructors... don't get 'em wet and never, EVER feed them after midnight!
5. The Karate Kid ($90.8m) - Pat "Mr. Miyagi" Morita teaches Ralph "Daniel-san" Macchio to wax on and wax off.
6. Police Academy ($81.2m) - A group of misfits face off against police instructors.
7. Footloose ($80.0m) - Kevin Bacon cuts loose in a conservative Iowa town.
8. Romancing the Stone ($76.6m) - A romance writer teams with a low-life adventurer to rescue her kidnapped sister.
9. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ($76.4m) - Kirk steals the Enterprise to return to the Genesis planet.
10. Splash ($69.8m) - Tom Hanks falls in love with the mermaid who saved him from drowning as a child.

1985

1. Back to the Future ($210.6m) - An '80s Michael J. Fox meets his '50s parents on their turf! (#33 all-time)
2. Rambo: First Blood Part II ($150.4m) - Stallone single-handedly saves a dozen POWs! "YO!"
3. Rocky IV ($127.9m) - Rocky takes on the Russians for the pride of the whole country. "ADRIAN!"
4. The Color Purple ($94.2m) - Whoopi Goldberg discovers who she is in the 1920s.
5. Out of Africa ($88.1m) - Meryl Streep falls in love with Robert Redford on a plantation in Africa.
6. Cocoon ($76.1m) - Old folks discover the fountain of youth in a swimming pool filled with alien pods.
7. Witness ($68.7m) - A cop must adjust to Amish life to protect a boy who was the sole witness to a murder.
8. The Jewel of the Nile ($65.6m) - Jack and Joan tire of their easy life in this sequel to Romancing the Stone.
9. The Goonies ($61.4m) - A group of misfits go on a treasure hunt to save their homes. "Goonies never say die!"
10. Spies Like Us ($60.1m) - Two CIA desk-jockeys are sent to Soviet Union to prevent nuclear disaster... or so they think.

1986

1. Top Gun ($176.8m) - Tom Cruise flies into the danger zone and takes Kelly McGillis' breath away.
2. 'Crocodile' Dundee ($174.6m) - Paul Hogan introduces America to the land down under. "Now that's a knife."
3. Platoon ($138.0m) - Oliver Stone gives us his take on what Vietnam was all about.
4. The Karate Kid Part II ($115.1m) - Daniel and Mr. Miyagi travel to Okinawa for a tournament.
5. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ($109.7m) - Kirk and Spock time-travel to Earth circa 1986.
6. Back to School ($91.3m) - Millionaire Rodney Dangerfield returns to college to help his son get through.
7. Aliens ($85.2m) - Ripley returns to face not just one Alien, but hordes of them.
8. The Golden Child ($79.8m) - A detective specializing in missing children tracks down a very special boy.
9. Ruthless People ($71.6m) - Danny DeVito is delighted when wife Bette Midler is kidnapped!
10. Ferris Bueller's Day Off ($70.1m) - Ferris is determined to have a good time, school day or not. Leisure rules!

1987

1. Three Men and a Baby ($167.8m) - Selleck, Guttenberg, and Danson get a crash course in fatherhood.
2. Fatal Attraction ($156.6m) - Michael Douglas learns to keep his fly zipped when dealing with Glenn Close.
3. Beverly Hills Cop II ($153.7m) - Detroit cop Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills to solve another crime.
4. Good Morning, Vietnam ($123.9m) - Robin Williams heats up Armed Forces Radio during the Vietnam War.
5. Moonstruck ($80.6m) - An Italian widow becomes interested in her safe fiancee's angry brother.
6. The Untouchables ($76.3m) - Federal Agent Eliot Ness hunts down Al Capone and his gang.
7. The Secret of My Success ($67.0m) - Michael J. Fox takes a shortcut up the corporate ladder.
8. Stakeout ($65.7m) - A cop has to watch his partner fall for the woman they've been assigned to watch.
9. Lethal Weapon ($65.2m) - Danny Glover and Mel Gibson team up to get bad boy Gary Busey.
10. Dirty Dancing ($63.9m) - A good girl falls for her bad boy dance instructor.
    The Witches of Eastwick ($63.8m) - Three bored women summon Jack Nicholson to their town.