The 1980s saw something of a renaissance in terms of explosive creative works, with new frontiers reached in action, adventure, and also humor. Movies of astronomical proportions were produced, and producers dialed up the humor, experimenting with new styles of comedy and pulling out all of the stops in terms of hilarity.
Tongue-in-cheek humor, British humor, slapstick, sarcastic wit, clever narrative with humorous twists, parody, and satire all blended in movie presentations to make 1980s movie viewing a memorable experience. Here are 10 funniest movie moments from the 1980s, all of which made audiences laugh to the point of breaking out in tears, LMAO-ing thirty years before the acronym would see widespread use.
The Three Amigos
This movie has to go down as one of the best-known movies of the 1980s. It has been hailed one of the top comedies of the decade and is often considered to be a genre classic.
Even the narrative of the film is hilarious: a group of goofy cowboys (starring Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short), are celebrated as local heroes by the residents of a little Mexican town. One of the funniest moments in the film is when Dusty accidentally kills the invisible swordsman, in something of a Monty Python-style humorous moment. The script was clearly well-thought-out and definitely memorable.
Caddyshack
This eighties comedy was filled with great, quotable one-liners and has been called one of the most iconic comedies of all time.
One of the funniest moments in this movie is when Carl Spackler (Bill Murray), puts his best put forward in an imaginary golf championship. While commentating for this pretend game, he destroys the country club's beautiful flowers, delivering a moment viewers won't easily forget. This is because he puts on such a determined game and becomes so engrossed in the action, that he completely misses the flying soil and plants!
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
The attack of the killer squirrel has to be one of the funniest moments in this 1980s Christmas spectacular. Who would think a squirrel could cause such mayhem?
This unexpected guest crashes the family's Christmas festivities, and everyone tries to catch it, including the family Rottweilers. In the end, it's the neighbor who gets the raw end of the deal. The rabid squirrel shows her a thing or two, as does the suitably distressed and aggressive Rottweiler.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
This 1986 movie is another fine example of the eighties trend in movies to take an ordinary young person on an extraordinary adventure. It is also a good example of how much can go wrong—and then how much can go right—in a single day.
One of the funniest scenes in this movie is the great race sequence. Bueller has to make it home before his family, though a hilarious series of foul-ups makes this more easily said than done. In one scene, he stops to chat up some sunbathers. The sequence is intense and hilarious, and one wants to tell the flirting Ferris just to "run, Ferris, run!"
Coming To America
Eddie Murphy put on one of his finest performances for this 1988 comedy masterpiece. The scene where Akeem (Eddie Murphy) meets Imani is possibly one of the funniest of this clever comedy. He has never seen his bride-to-be and gets something of a fright when a large woman enters the scene. He believes this to be Imani—he is substantially smaller than the large woman—and his expression if priceless.
The real Imani eventually does make a grand arrival, with a procession of dancers making a way for her, to the song "Queen To Be." Akeem is visibly relieved when he realizes the woman in question really is his bride.
Trading Places
The 1980s cinema producers weren't afraid to experiment with humor and different production execution styles. One of the common themes which arose in this decade was based on characters trading places. Trading Places, as it was aptly titled, played on this theme, with an investor and a con artist (starring the hilarious Dan Ackroyd and Eddie Murphy), finding their positions reversed.
One of the funniest moments in the movie is when Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis) puts on a 'Swedish' disguise. This wasn't actually a planned humorous moment; the story goes that Jamie couldn't quite get her Austrian accent right, so the movie's directors had to get a little creative with the script's interpretation.
When Harry Met Sally
Karaoke scenes always make for some good laughs and some warm-hearted viewing. One of the most humorous moments in this 1989 classic comedy is the karaoke scene, where Harry and Sally visit The Sharper Image and try their hand at karaoke. They do a rather loud rendition of "The Surrey With The Fringe Top," and this whole fiasco culminates with a run-in with Harry's former love, Helen. It's all awkward and funny and action-filled at the same time.
Little Shop of Horrors
This is a movie eighties' movie enthusiasts won't easily forget. Audrey II, the big, carnivorous plant with a mind of her own, keeps audiences laughing. In one scene, Seymour is at the radio station which he has visited for the purposes of being interviewed. Audrey II reaches out to take a nip of the lady at the station behind her back, and Seymour quickly stops her from doing so. This is just as well, as Audrey II doesn't seem to care at whom she is snapping and what of theirs' she is snapping at.
Beetlejuice
The eighties movie Beetlejuice is filled with funny moments and memorable quotes. These brilliantly-crafted quotes sum up the characters and add life and humor. To give an example, when Otho (Glenn Shadix) claims to know as much about the supernatural as he knows about interior design, or when Barbara and Adam come across a man who has been run over by what seems a vehicle of sorts and he responds to their kindness with "thanks, I've been feeling a little flat."
Spaceballs
The movie Spaceballs is a skit on Star Wars and has a go at some of the things audiences love the most about franchise. One of the funniest characters in Spaceballs is Dark Helmet, a ridiculous and completely hilarious Darth Vader spoof. There's a particularly funny scene in the movie where Dark Helmet and Colonel Sandurz, in trying to find out where Eagle 5 has escaped to, watch a movie of the movie they are in. They put in a typical eighties VHS video cassette and flicker through the scenes, with the hope of getting a better view of the narrative they are in.