I met John Hughes in a book store outside Chicago once in 1988 and told him I was a film student at Columbia and was there any advice he could pass on? To my shock? He stood there for 15 minutes and told me he had never been on a movie set before 16 Candles and knew next to nothing about filmmaking having gotten in as a writer. He did pass on probably the BEST advice I ever got as a student filmmaker. He told me " Don't get caught up in the technicalities of filmmaking. Rely on your crew for that. Remember everything depends on the written page. Focus on the story and character development because a movie can be poorly shot but if the story and characters are well written? The audience wont notice and better yet. They wont care"..... R.I.P John...

This is one of those movies that should never get a remake or something. They'd ruin it. Just my opinion.

These weren't cliche'd characters at the time that the film was released; at the time, these archetypes were recognizable personalities in High School. So many films *SINCE* "The Breakfast Club" have *used* those archetypes, though, that you have to understand that this was literally one of the first teen films to do this. Nobody else but John Hughes at the time, was making films with teenagers as human beings with feelings - it felt revolutionary. His movies spoke to us in a way that other "teen" films just didn't. Prior to Hughes, most "teen" films were just silly sex comedies.

Brian's dad picking him up at the end is the director John Hughes. Also, Andrew's confession during the circle meeting was not scripted. Estevez just went with it and pulled it off. You can see Bender is uncomfortable when Andrew said "You don't even count" cause probably his dad has told him that many times. He almost looks like he wants to break down at one point. And the part of them fighting boredom as well. They all just did what they thought would get rid of boredom. None of it scripted.

Ally Sheedy is my favorite. So many little bits make Allison great, but taking the knife from off-frame and stealing Brian's wallet (presumably when they are walking the halls) makes her the best. I love that her first word is "Vodka" as we enter the second act 🤣🤣🤣 and that she's just there because she's bored and has nothing else to do 😅

I once watched this while high and decided to recreate the butter, cereal and sugar sandwich. By the time I finished eating it my body shook so much that I started to phase through walls.

Here's the thing about Vernon threatening Bender - that shit happened all the time. Only since people were able to be caught on camera has that changed. The teacher was always believed over the student back then. Always.

One of my favorite movies. And Alison saying that her parents ignore her still hits hard, because that was me.

The scene where he's crawling through the ceiling and telling a joke to himself always stuck with me. Specifically the fact that he never finishes the joke. It bugged the hell out of me. For years I tried to find out what the end of that joke was. I tried looking up books about the movie, watching interviews with the actors, I even spent a lot of time in libraries looking through joke books full of one liners and dirty jokes, all so I could find out what the punch line was. This was all pre-internet, so it wasn't easy and took a lot of time. Decades went by, and I'm working a retail job on a Sunday. The radio in the store is tuned to a station that normally plays music, but because it was Sunday morning, they had this sort of interview show; something to do with providing a "public service" so they could maintain their broadcast license. Anyway, they were interviewing one of the writers for this movie. I paid attention as I worked, but I didn't expect anything to come of it. To my surprise, when the call in part of the show rolled around, one of the callers asked about the joke. "I'm finally going to get my answer!" I thought. "Oh, there is no ending to that joke" the writer said. "The character was never meant to finish it, so we didn't bother coming up with one. We just wrote what sounded like the beginning of a good joke and left it at that." I almost threw something through a nearby wall, and the one customer in the store looked at me funny.

Nice pick James. I was 14 in 1985 so, this is pretty much exactly what high school was like back then. There weren't too many movies like this...

Ally Sheedy is amazing in this. I'm a guy, but she was a bit like me in high school. Very socially awkward, didn't say much, but when I did, it was usually something ridiculous and insane. I could have said a lot of her lines back then. I didn't have a clue how to behave because I'd been homeschooled until the age of 16 and my dad was very abusive and didn't let me hang out with kids my own age. He thought they were a "bad influence." So I didn't relate to anyone when I got to school at all. I didn't understand any of their conversations. I had to learn everything on the fly and I became a pretty bitter, angry kid. I wanted to be around people, but when I was I'd push them away, just like she does.

Carl's rip on the whole crew when he comes into the library is great but ended up on the cutting room floor. Also Carl's picture, in the beginning when they show school trophies and pictures, of him elected as most likely to succeed Is priceless, considering he's now the janitor of his old high school. I also love it when Allison steals 1999 from a teacher's locker.

One of the best coming of age movies around. A classic John Hughes film. It really spoke to my generation and I think portions still resonate with younger generations as well. Truth has no expiration date.

this movie is so dope, I just adore that the actors are the main focus- they carry the entire story for me, which is so awesome. I can rewatch this again and again! Hope you enjoyed this one James, catch you in the next one🤍

I gotta give you props two times: one, you nailed it comparing Emilio Estevez jumping around high as a kite to Tom Cruise. I grew up with this movie and seen it easily a hundred times. But never saw it till you threw that out there just how much his performance when he gets really, really intense is totally Tom energy. Now I wonder if that was on purpose because it is so specific and precise to Cruise's style of acting, particularly then. And two, when Judd Nelson is tossing the basketball and taunting the teacher, he then says the word, 'Scholarship' got you to laugh which I was wondering if you'd react to it at all. Very gratifying you found it funny. We all did first seeing it in theatres in '84. I bring it up because some people don't really read into it or it goes over their head what he's doing there. In real life, Judd went to a predominantly black school so all his friends were black thus his influences was black culture. So it would seep into his film roles in subtle and different ways. That line reading was deliberately for a childhood friend of his because that was an in joke between them. But, he laughed during filming just how white the movie was considering his actual high school experience was the opposite. Happy you dug it. I think you dig goth girl, my dude. You know you like that dander. ;P

This and Ferris Bueller's day off, probably have 2 of the most emotional moments from a young character I've ever seen

I was in high school when this came out. It really hit home for a lot of the kids I was in school with. It covered so many of the things everyone was dealing with. Social pressures, home life, cliques, you name it. This movie is two hours of dialogue yet every high school kid absolutely loved it.

When i first met my now fiancee, i walked into her room and she had a huge Breakfast Club poster above her bed and told me it was her favorite movie. I knew we were gonna hit it off just fine

It was perfect timing me and this movie. I first watched it weeks before I finished school for the last time, and everything about it hit harder than I could’ve imagined. Not that I had friends who did horrendous stuff to get them in detention or anything, but in terms of making me appreciate everyone I knew at school, anyone who I even remotely cared about, they were all facing their own battles through the system, in this important stage in their life growing up into adults and be expected to make decisions that’ll change the rest of their lives. That Bowie quote at the start kinda sums it up. That’s what I took away from it. This is one of my absolute favourite movies. Takes me back to that summer I left school, a summer that seemed to last forever once school was over and everyone I knew for years had gone, an endless summer really (synthwave reference for anyone there, goes hand in hand with 80s movies really).

RIP John Hughes. One of my favorite tiny details that's so easy to miss is at the very beginning we see the janitor's picture on the wall because he used to be a student at the school and was voted most likely to succeed or somesuch. A short amount of years later here he is a janitor at his old high school - but he seems perfectly SATISFIED in his job, and he's observantly explaining to the teacher of 22 years experience why _he's_ out of touch. Got to admit that _some_ parts of John Hughes films haven't aged well, but the guy was brilliant and despite how we might look at some things differently now he had a fantastic touch as a filmmaker.

One of the greatest 80s films ever! It is part of the John Hughes trifecta with 16 Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off that are required viewing for all teenagers.

I've been watching this film since I was a kid. It's timeless. It will always be a classic.

Carl is the MAN imo. The smile on his face as they're all leaving is proof alone that he looks at these kids like actual people, not just as kids. Like, he gives them the respect that they're due as people trying to find their way in the world whereas Dick just looks at them like a burden, like little children who don't listen and who need to be 'tamed'. Carl is the MAN. I think the main reason the movie works so well, and that it IS so timeless, is in big part due to the way it's confined to one place, and they way the kids are written the way most writers would write adults. They're not dumbed down and simplified, they're written like genuine regular people with the same kinds of problems most of us have faced at some point, these people just happen to have their school and home lives as the core. Like, instead of workplace pressures it's school pressures, and instead of issues at home with a spouse/kids/etc it's with their parents. Also, setting the movie almost exclusively in the library makes it instantly familiar, and somewhat comfortable, for almost everyone who'll ever watch it. There's no regular distractions of new environments, no changing pace or colour palette or whatever that would come with even something like Clueless. I also love that, as you pointed out, when each of the actors has a scene where they're the focal point, they really just grab onto it, they hold the scene and really just kind of live in it and make it theirs, but there's no oneupmanship like you might find in a movie where one particular actor is a bigger star than the others, or the writers might have a favourite character or whatever, they're all very much each other's equals in almost every aspect. It's perfect.

this film gave me so much false hopes for in-school suspension. It was never an adventure! Thx for sharing

Just wanted to say, loved your reaction for this. Too many react channels are literally just that, an hour plus of someone laughing, cheering or crying along with a movie, and at the end just saying "that was good and I liked these parts" without much analysis or insight of the movie they're watching, no appreciation of the filming choices, not offering up their own perspectives or breaking down scenes or explaining why they think a shot, a line, a look is effective at establishing a character, etc This checked all those boxes and more for me, and as someone who grew up with this movie and has seen it more times than I can remember, I think you absolutely nailed it on all fronts. Consider me subbed!

I just visited the film location this morning. One of my favorite movies ❤️

🔥🔥🔥GREAT REACTION!🔥🔥🔥 I was in high school in SoCal from 1983 - 1987. This movie perfectly captures the vibe and personalities. Of course it was not a 1:1 match, (many of us were some of each), but I still watch this 1-2 times/year, because it transports me back. ❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️

This is one of those rare movies that's pure genre perfection. It's more than a movie, it's a moment. Your life kinda becomes defined as before and after seeing this

I was born in 82 but this film held up well when I was in high school and it became one of my all time favorites, John Hughes knew how to write for teens especially in the 80s

Clerks is probably the best example of filming location shaping character interaction I can think of.

John Hughes found a way to take movies with simple, relatable concepts and immediately recognisable character archetypes and inject real pain, real suffering and just real emtions in but still keep it funny and fresh. He managed to strike the perfect balance of these elements over and over and over again making some of the best films of all time. Breakfast Club, Ferris Beuller, Planes Trains and Automobiles, the list just goes on.

Ally Sheedy is awesome in this. I Also love her in War Games.

Oh the 80s where we were taught sexual harassment was part of boys will be boys flirty behavior, where the insults hit hard, and where no matter what we wouldn’t have snitched to a adult or gone to them for help. We were more likely to take matters into our own hands if we felt it necessary. I still look back with so much love and sadness at our GenX experience. The breakfast club did such a good job of encapsulating so many of our experiences.

John Hughes is a criminally underrated filmmaker. He wrote or wrote and directed some of the best comedies/dramedies of the 1980s: National Lampoon's Vacation; Mr. Mom; Home Alone; The Breakfast Club; Pretty in Pink; Sixteen Candles; Ferris Bueller's Day Off; Planes, Trains, & Automobiles. Admittedly, the stuff he did after the 80s was less than stellar, but there are countless people who'd love to be responsible for even one of the films I listed, and he was a central figure in all of them.

Iconic and groundbreaking as it is I've always been sorta bummed about Allison getting a makeover. Other than that, real shit. My dad was pretty much the same as Bender's dad (except for the cigar burning) and this being on HBO all the time back then made for some uncomfortable family TV watching. And the teacher threatening a student happened all the time, even to 14-15 year olds. The big question is what did the characters do when Monday came around? Oh, and a funny thing: in the beginning one of the "Man Of The Year" award winners behind the glass is Carl the Janitor.

7:03 the teenager on whatever podcast that asked the girl to name 10 books and she couldn’t. He looks similar

Such a great classic film! Thanks for bringing us the joy today James. Hope you're loving life and experiencing all the good things!

This is my whole family’s favorite movie. Because there is 5 of us kids who all fit the roles of each character.

The irony is I didn't appreciate this film when I was in high school in the 90s. It was "too old"...but now as an adult, this movie is such a classic. Lots of great close ups when real intimate moments happen between the characters and just great story telling.

As a high schooler, this film really spoke to me... hit the emotional button in so many ways. But for something that stands the test of time for my youth, the TV show "FREAKS AND GEEKS" is the BEST. You should do a reaction to that series. It's absolutely brilliant and you'll recognize so many young stars... Seth Rogan, James Franco, and more... It's so well done, and I think you'd love it.

Love this movie too. It's actually one of my favorites.

This will always be one of my favorite movies.

Janitor: *oh btw that clocks 20 mins fast.* Is such a good troll.

I really enjoyed this more than I thought..! Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema Have a great day!

The scene with them all just sitting down and talking is one of my top 10 favorite scenes in film.

I really enjoy this channel for the fact that I get to see someone react genuinely to a film, and appreciate it for what it is, while smiling, laughing and interpreting all the emotion and language in it. Fantastic work

Side note: Dandruff isn't being dirty. Dandruff is just dead skin cells from dry scalp.

One of my favorite films - so glad you watched it, very much appreciate your analysis!

Hughes had such a talent for creating such vivid characters with very little but a location and a situation. The Breakfast Club is probably the very best example of that. "They only met once but it changed their lives forever" - more than a tagline - we spent 97 minutes with these characters and we're still laughing with them, crying with them and talking about them nearly four decades later....

I was excited when I saw you were reacting to this. I knew you'd appreciate the depth and I loved hearing your thoughts.

I love this movie

I remember watching this movie on replay as a kid during the summer , back to back to back till 5-6am, could quote the whole movie . Amazing film

The thing that blows my mind is how much I have changed how I see this film from when I was 15 (when it came out) to 54 (My age now.) I still think it's better than any teen movie ever made. At the time I was blown away with how well it showed what being a teenager in the mid-1980's was like. Every generation of teenager thinks no one has ever faced the challenges they face, so how could someone who was a teenager in the 1960's understand the issues faced by teenagers in the 1980's? Now I understand thar it is not so different, 1965, 75, 85, 95 05, 15, and I'll bet good money that 25 will be just the same. Not identical, but close enough. I think it would make being a teenager a lot easier if teens knew just how much their parents really do understand about being a teenager. I've tried sending messages back to my teenage self, but he was far to self involved to even notice the attempts.

John Hughes is a genius in stating the obvious...It's not a comedy...it's not a drama...it's being young and becoming aware...and nobody cared. These stereotypes still exist as painful as it is, the point is, most of us got along. Even when we weren't supposed to. Saturday school effing sucked. I was absolutely Bender, but nice. A punk rocker with a cheerleader girlfriend. Timeless

That freeze frame is so god damn iconic

Fun fact- this is the same high school that they filmed in for Ferris Bueller, in fact when Ferris is talking to the freshmen using the pay phones you can see the same red lockers

Yes. It takes place in the year it was made. 1984. Dazed and Confused was made in '93 and takes place in '76. 👍

My younger brother was recently in a high school stage performance version of this movie. He played the nerd.

It definitely reminds me of high school grown up in the '80s. I knew somebody like each one of these characters. The one thing you have to pay attention about Carl is when they're walking through the hallways. There's a case that shows Carl was like student body president. I can't remember off the top of my head, but he was like one of the most popular kids at the high school when he went there

Ferris Buelers day off is my favorite John Hughes high school movie.

Since you’re really interested in “locations” I highly recommend “In Bruges” Really good movie One of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a long time

Great video and this movie I like more and more every time I watch it. I really like the use of the score during emotional moments, or when Bender flips out after talking about his home-life. Also how it captures each character's reactions during conversations so you get an idea what they are thinking. One of the best coming-of-age films and a movie that can never be remade.

This is my favorite movie of ALL TIME!!! Glad you enjoyed it❤❤

James you're one of my favourite movie/series commentators always love ur reactions dude keep them going! I was shown this movie in school (minus the pot smoking scene that was cut lol) and I think it really spoke to me at the time because I loved it.

This is just one of those staple movies that everyone should watch at least once. Has always been one of my favourites

Best message of any film ever: no matter your differences, get high together, and it's all good.

Shoutout to this movie still connecting with something thats real years on years later

You made me notice things I haven’t before. Love your vid.

Great analysis glad you are enjoying the movie love you

*Famous lines from the film:* "Does Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe?" "Don't mess with the bull, young man. You'll get the horns." "When you grow up, your heart dies." "Who cares?" "I care."

literally the best teen drama movie ever made, fucking masterpiece

This is my mom's favorite movie (she was a teenager when it came out) and it's the first R rated movie she ever let me watch, back when Netflix sent DVDs through the mail. 😂

Nobody understands the 80s teen like John Hughes. You should really go through his entire filmography. I love this movie, because such a large portion of it is set in one location that library. I love movies that use very few locations like that. The original saw movie was mostly set in that dingy bathroom with just two guys. Gravity was mostly Sandra Bullock in a space capsule. These characters were the perfect archetypes of the typical teen.

The jocks best role is as Billy the kid in "Young guns". Which takes place in the wild west. Great scenery!

My first thought was: James hasn't done Breakfast Club yet????? And then my second thought was: omg I get to watch James watch the Breakfast Club!!!

One of my all time favorites. Thank you. An interesting movie for location would be Toy Soldiers from 1991. It's about a prep college that gets taken hostage.

I know this is an old video, but the scene where they were all sitting on the floor talking sort of round table, mist of that scene was improv/ad libbed. These kids for their age were remarkably talented.

Great reaction, James! Every high school has these kids in them!

I was a senior in high school when this movie came out. I related to this movie at that time more than any other high school film because I went to school with everyone of those characters.

One of my all time 80s teen films. that scene in the library where they were spilling their secrets was all improv

I love how this movie flip flops between fun lighthearted bits and super sudden deep talks about life. That’s, oddly enough, kinda how I experienced it as a teenager. Your chilling with friends talking about video games and before you know it you go on a walk in the middle of night for hours talking about your deepest issues. I guess teenagers just have no filter haha

Watched your channel forever been waitin for you to watch my favorite movie

This is the quintessential 80s film IMO.. it might feel "dated" aesthetically but the themes are timeless..

Hey there “Big Game” James. 😅 The Breakfast Club was a movie set in it’s current time frame of 1985. I was entering the 8th grade. The movie takes place on Saturday March 24th, 1984. Once you’ve watched the movie you feel more connected to the characters because we can all relate to them at some point. I’m sure that we all would agree that you do need to check out the remainder of John Hughes 1980’s classics, such as 16 Candles, Weird Science, Pretty In Pink. Those were all taking place in the fictional town of Shermer, Illinois. May I recommend a few Spike Lee movies from the 1980’s and one from around 2002-03. 1st one- School Daze, 2nd- Mo Better Blues, 3rd-Do The Right Thing. 4th He Got Game. 25th Hour great cast in that one. And last but not least Inside Man,

I'm so glad you watched this film. It's one of my all-time favorites. I've been a sub for a while now and your film selections are awesome. I love how you aren't afraid to watch classics from (I assume) before your time. I think I caught you getting a little emotional on this one. 😀 Keep up the good work man.

Love this movie sooo much, such a huge part of my childhood and holds a special place in my heart

Right after this came out my high school decided to do an all day Saturday detention thinking it would make people like me behave. Didn’t work. Approximately 12 weeks it lasted until no teacher wanted to do it anymore and i was in there for all but 2 of them. Our home lives were different but i was basically Bender. I kept Everclear, vodka and/or whiskey in my locker instead of weed and i didn't have a blade in there, but my locker was that messy even. 😂

Loving all the classics recently.

Fun fact.. in the very beginning of the movie they show a picture of the man of the year. It’s the janitor.

This is literally my favourite movie I'm so happy you're only just seeing it for the first time

The Bowie quote is from his song "Changes"

Making the goth girl stop being goth by the end of the movie was the only misstep

This really would be a great play since most was shot in the library.

I love how well they set up everyone's unique character and home life right at the beginning when everyone is arriving at school.

Great movie, but one major criticism I have of it; The massive "downgrade" of Allison near the end, how making her more in accordance to 'beauty standards' suddenly improved things. Never liked that and the sort of message that would give to certain people. This only affects me because I know people close to me who needed to hear that they're fine in their own way, and that own way of theirs is similar enough to Allison. Shouldn't have to conform to find the kind of love she does. And no, I don't mean the being dirty part. It's the everything else. Otherwise, one of my favorite films.

Fantastic movie. It deserves to be protected from any attempt at a reboot,remake or an update for 'modern' audiences.

The most influential setting in a movie I’ve seen would be in Three Men And A Baby. From the setting I got the sense that life could be fun, beautiful, and something to look forward to. Like from the building, inside the apartment, and montage of the park. Really the whole deal.

I graduated in '88. This isn't too far off from midwest high school back then.

When I was a senior at high school, I was able to do a mural of this movie’s poster on one of the ceiling tiles of the art room. I can still see it when I look through the window. Also, at Prom, I went up on the bleachers and started doing the dances and everyone cheered.

Now, imagine seeing this for the first time, in the theater, as a teenager, with a bunch of other teenagers who you don't know all around you. You might be in the theater with a friend or 2, but for the most part, everybody else in the theater is a complete stranger to you. And as you watch this movie, every single person in that auditorium feels something, the exact same thing, the exact same way. And then the movie ends, and the lights come up, and you look around at all these strangers, but you feel like you're connected to them, because of what You all just saw together. That was the pure and inescapable magic of the movies that John Hughes made. That man may have understood teenagers better than just about any other adult on the planet at the time, and he let it show.