Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Footloose

Footloose is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year! We're kicking off our Sunday shoes and kicking off a new series, 80s Dinner & Movie Night! We invited our friends to join us for a themed dinner and classic 80s movie. After watching Footloose, we engaged in a lively discussion where we covered a wide range of topics relating to the movie (and of course everyone's favorite scene, Ren's angsty dance rant, LOL!!) We hope you enjoy revisiting this awesome 1984 film as we share our thoughts watching it again 40 years later.
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[@jdcfink6920]

I remember the Footloose song always playing on the radio and playing air guitar on my leg to it 😂. Pure cheese but pure fun.

[@Our80sLife]

Nice! It's such a feel-good song, the perfect theme for this film. Kenny Loggins was the king of movie soundtracks back in the 80s!

[@jdcfink6920]

@@Our80sLife yes. "I'm Alright", "Danger Zone" and "Meet me halfway".

[@AZCJA]

Looks like a great time!

[@Our80sLife]

Wish you were here!

[@nealanpaulaking9708]

Such a fun teen movie

[@Our80sLife]

Yes!! It's such a perfect snapshot of teen life in the 1980s!

[@Tr0nzoid]

"I don't know if I loved it in the '80s because I don't think I really understood it. I mean I was probably in about fourth grade." Gosh. I was a touch younger and was very much a fan of it. Something is lost in the reflection of this movie and the minimizing of its appeal by thinking that the guys liked it for a girl, and the girls like it for the guys. "Footloose" represented everything that was happening in the country and with MTV. It happened to come out right when MTV had really hit mainstream, with the channel being added to more and more cable providers, and it was bringing the new wave and soul pop into small towns all over. It was a part of the spring and summer of 1984, a year heavy with soundtrack song movies. That was what made up much of the allure of "Footloose," and we mostly went to the movie after having heard the songs and their videos leading up to it. I had the soundtrack before seeing it, as would often happen, and would then notice the songs as they popped up in the movie.

[@Our80sLife]

Good points! There are so many additional topics we could've covered, especially about the music. Didn't consider the impact of MTV at the time, but you're right about that. Thanks for watching our video and sharing your thoughts!

[@Henry-fx2vp]

It was just one of the iconic movies from the 80s…I watched it in the 80s but I was in 4th grade also so I related to it more as I got older…

[@Our80sLife]

Totally agree, iconic is a good word for it. By the way, Footloose is streaming on Netflix right now, yay!! We all decided we liked it even better as adults. There are some powerful messages that went over our heads when we were younger. So good!!

[@steveferguson823]

Love. That. Movie. Was in Utah. Had. Friend. That lived. In Payson. In Utah. We stayed at her house.

[@Our80sLife]

Awesome!! We enjoyed our visit to Payson, it's a beautiful place!

[@sharonm.t.2492]

My first car was an 88 Honda Civic. Before that, I relied on my boyfriends and friends to get me around. They included Chevy Camaros, Pontiac Firebirds, 4x4 trucks, Chevy Malibus & Novas, plus many others. I also lived in an island town in the SF Bay area , so we could also get around on foot, too. Our island was about 3 miles long and a mile wide, so you get it!

[@sharonm.t.2492]

Of course, there was the super popular skating!

[@Our80sLife]

Skating was definitely my favorite mode of transportation until I got my driver's license and first car. And that would be amazing to live in a small island town, how neat! It's hard for me to relate to that having grown up in Dallas. Love it!!

[@sharonm.t.2492]

I was right at 18 when Footloose came out! I turned 18 that May...

[@Our80sLife]

You were the target audience for this movie. Do you remember seeing it in the theater, and did you like it?

[@bigalcincinnatikidadventur7692]

I was just a little baby when Footloose came out. But I remember first hearing the song when I was real young though and I first saw the movie when I was in my teens. The remake was eh, ok, but it didn't top the original. While I was in Kroger's shopping for one thing, I heard the other song from the movie that I liked from Kenny Loggins called "I'm Free". Chris Penn was also in Rumble Fish, the movie Wild Life, At Close Range with his brother, and Beethoven's 2nd just to name a few!!!

[@Our80sLife]

Oh wow, we didn't realize Chris Penn was in Rumble Fish. Being fans of The Outsiders, we've been wanting to watch that one... now we definitely need to make it a priority! I also really like that song "I'm Free" maybe even better than the title track, but both are great. The entire Footloose soundtrack is excellent! Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts Al. Have a great weekend :)

[@btetschner]

x I thought Ariel's character as the out-of-control preacher's kid was an archtype that needs to be on more films, she really nailed the drama of it! x I thought it was interesting that they included a game of tractor chicken, never heard of that before! o My hometown is an agricultural community and they offered a tractor safety program at our junior high and high school to acquire a tractor's license at age 14 (I completed the program and received my license). x I thought the dance scenes were really fun, I especially liked the one where they were in the western-style dance club. x I thought the film was excellent! x The film is an interesting contrast to my experience as we had B.A.D. (Burwell Against Drugs) Dances from the time I was in 7th grade till my graduation. o I went to at least 70 dances before graduation and it was the most unique consistent tradition (actually none of the communities around us had them). o At our dances, it was a rare occurence that anyone showed up drunk or high and it was always just a couple of people when it happened. o If we had sexualized dancing at those dances (which we did not), they would have certainly been cancelled and there would have been no more B.A.D. Dances.

[@Our80sLife]

We were excited to hear your thoughts after watching Footloose, so thanks for sharing! Totally agree with the whole preacher's kid assessment. When I was in high school, the preacher's daughter from my church was an absolute wild child! We've never heard of tractor chicken either, but it seems like a terrible idea! Glad to know you had to take a safety course (and hoping they still do that!) Wow, you had a lot of school dances! Our dances were always very innocent and fun too... those were some good times!

[@btetschner]

@@Our80sLife Good times indeed! A little world play for you...since Ren McCormack worked at the mill, does that make him a Miller?

[@jamesmccluskeycolors]

I didn't have a car, but I did have a cool BMX bike with a number plate. #33

[@sharonm.t.2492]

I enjoyed this format or "setup." 👍

[@Our80sLife]

Thanks Sharon 😊