Bender being frozen in fear was so realistic. Probably was reliving his home life..in that moment he wasn't a loud mouthed bad boy, he was a scared kid that had yet another adult thats supposed to care about him threatening to harm him

The "Eat my shorts" line originated here and John Bender was an inspiration for Bart Simpson. And Bender the robot, of course. Tells you what Matt Groening thinks of this film.

I was a senior in high school when this came out and it was one of the most accurate movies about high school at that time, I went to school with every character. Fast Times at Ridgemont High was another iconic movie from the 80’s that got it right.

I do want to point out that Andrew liked Allison BEFORE she got her makeover. He was the one who asked her about her parents and was the first person to really pay attention to her. Even when he sees her after the makeover, his only comment is "I can see your face".

John Hughes cameo as Brian's dad picking him up at the end. Also that was Anthony Michael Hall's real mother and sister that were in the car when he was dropped off. The part of Andrew's confession during the circle meeting was unscripted and Emilio just went for it. Honestly he's right. "How do you even apologize for something like that? There's no way." He isn't wrong. John Hughes made a lot of movies I still enjoy today. Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, Sixteen Candles, Home Alone, Uncle Buck, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Great films. I also like during Andrew talking about his dad you can see Bender is uncomfortable seeing as he deals with an abusive dad at home. Andrew's dad is more words and mental while Bender's dad is more physical. What I love is how open ended the movie is. Do these people stay friends? Or do they default back to their normal groups? We don't know.

"It doesn't matter if they're all different, all their problems weigh the same on them." Wow loved that.

The thing about John Hughes is that while he gave a cultural voice to Gen X (I was 16 when I first saw this in theatres in 1985 and still remember being blown away by the experience), his themes were so universal and timeless that we're still talking about his movies today. I still remember my father (now 82) being affected by the movie and I personally know of people in their teens and 20s who also love it. The Breakfast Club is and will always be a coming-of-age touchstone.

John Hughes passed at 51 from a heart attack. I was 17 when this movie came out . I saw every John Hughes film it’s day of release. I counted the days. I can’t imagine those years without these movies making us feel seen at a time in film when teenagers weren’t otherwise celebrated or focused on or seen. These movies were the days of our lives . Figuratively & Literally . R.I.P John Hughes & Thank you

One of my favourite films of all time but also makes me so sad. Life will never be like this again.

As someone who went to high school in the ‘80s, I can confirm that EVERYONE fit into one of these characters. I was the weirdo.

I’ve always loved this movie. The saddest thing about it, is that, this would NEVER happen today because everyone would just sit and stare at their phones and completely ignore each other.

The film was a hit when it came out, despite it's restricted rating for language, as it was one of the first teen comedy/dramas that wasn't exploitative. During the 80's, there were so many bad teen comedies that were filled with so many dumb characters and exploitative nudity, many were surprised by its success. Filmmaking fact: The scene where they all talk and confess everything was shot over 3 days. Estevez said in an interview it was the hardest days he ever had acting at the time

I have seen a dozen reactions to this movie and you two easily had the best one of all. Your insights and intelligent responses were fantastic. Thank you both so much for _getting_ this culturally important movie. (says the 62-year old lady)

One reason why Hughes’ movies with teen casts have stood the test of time is because he treats the teen characters like adults. The dialogues and scripts are mature conversations about coming of age.

this is such an epic movie that captured my High School life. I graduated in 1985. The library furniture was literally the same as the furniture in my HS library.

Nostalgia note: Although sushi (8:43) obviously existed in the US long before The Breakfast Club, it was not a commonplace American foodstuff until it started showing up as a very snooty, upscale food eaten by rich characters in movies in the early '80s. All-you-can-eat sushi buffets were springing up everywhere by the mid-'80s, though.

Glad to see you both enjoyed this one. As far as the younger generation reactions go to this movie, it seems to be hit or miss (from what I've seen so far.) I am Gen X myself so this movie really resonates with me, but I've watched The Graduate (which is THE quintessential Boomer coming-of-age movie) and it does nothing for me. And... I can't remember the comment, but if you are expecting an 80s movies with a much darker take on high school life, then it's time to watch Heathers.

For me, as someone who entered his teenage years in 1986 this was a pivotal moment. I've always thought this was an important film for teenagers to watch and appreciate. It may seem dated with it's fashions and music, but the general concept is still the same. Kids in school can all come from different backgrounds and have different issues, but under the surface we are all the same and they just need someone to listen to their problems and understand which is eventually what happens in this film. It was a game changer back in the mid 80's. Still have a soft spot for it now at 50 years old.

John Hughes movies were so great when I was a teenager growing up in the 80s. They encapsulated the teenage experience while framing it with humor but examining some real issues and emotions we all dealt with.

One of the greatest coming of age comedy drama films ever made, where teens from different backgrounds learn how to cope with life and difficult challenges as they spend Saturday afternoon detention.

One of my favourite films! Fact for you guys, the scene where they’re sat in circle where they are saying why they were in detention was ad-libbed by the actors and their reactions were genuine….Going to watch it myself tonight after this vid 👍🏻

I saw this in the theater in 1985 when it came out. I was 17 years old. What a great time to be alive! Being a teen in the 80s was awesome!

My favorite teen drama movie from the 1980s, if it gets remade I`ll be really mad.

I first saw this in about 2005 when I was 16 and it really resonated with me even so long after it’s release. Such a quotable film! So glad to see you react to this!

Love love this film so much, btw the Simpsons started 1989 and this film was 1985 and I'm pretty sure that The Simpsons took that eat my shorts from this film. My favorite character is Carl the janitor he really brings Vernons character down a peg or two when they are relaxing having the beers. I would have to say that I was like Andrews character at high school.

I'm happy you guys reacted to this movie! I hope you continue doing John Hughes films, particularly "Sixteen Candles" and "Pretty in Pink."

I’m a teacher that has shown this movie at the end of the year every year for 10 years. The students love it.

In Kevin Smith's Dogma, it starts with Jay and Silent Bob trying to find the Shermer Illinois shown in these films so they can sell pot there only to be crushed that it's fictional. Lol.

One of the best film soundtracks ever. It’s remained on my driving playlist for over 20 years, first as cassette, then CD, and now ITunes.

"Where's your lunch?" "You're wearing it."

This movie is so campy but it has some genuine real moments in it, like the scene with Bender being scared of the adult threatening him, or when Clark starts crying when he talks about his prank on another kid. Those moments are a bug part of why this movie is considered iconic.

Fun Easter Egg, at the start of the movie there is a plaque that shows the 1969 “Man of the Year” was the janitor when he was in the same high school. I think it was to show that who you are in high school doesn’t determine who you are as an adult.

I read recently that John Hughes wrote the script over a weekend and that there was no script for the part where they each have their reason for getting detention so they each had to improvise it. It is definitely not the same school lol

We (my younger sisters and I) probably watched this 100 times in the 80s, having recorded it off a pay channel (probably Showtime, we didn't have HBO) onto a Betamax tape (lol). The immense waves of nostalgia seeing this is mind blowing. Love this movie! Great reaction guys!

When I saw it back in the day, I had to go back and watch it again. I don't re-watch many movies in the theater. Fun fact: Emilio Esteves improvised the whole taping Larry Lester's buns together story. I find that amazing because it's damn near perfect.

I grew up in Cook County, IL, when (and where) these movies were shot. This was filmed at Maine North High School in Des Plaines, and Ferris Bueller was filmed, I believe, at either Glenbrook North or Glenbrook South in (Northbrook) "Glenbrook". 😉💜

Shaun has the correct pronunciation of "clique".

I was in in Grade 10 (High School) when the Breakfast Club came out and it instantly resonated. It became iconic because it perfectly portrayed what high school was like in 1985. Being part of a clique was just how it was. The 5 characters represented people we saw every day but we also saw ourselves in 1 of those characters. It was like looking in a mirror. The 10 minute scene near the end where they just sit and talk echoed what we were all thinking but never verbalized.

Bit of Trivia: John Hughes Wanted to hire Anthony (who played Brian) as the lead for "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". But Anthony was busy. I was in school in the 80s. And although later in life I've heard some folks say this focus on cliques was accurate, I didn't see it and felt it was a lens which films and tv were trying to get us to see life through. But, I was also oblivious and kept to myself, so it might simply have been a case of not caring about it.

Great reaction guys! This is my favorite movie of all time. Funfact: the dancing scene was only supposed to be Claire but Molly Ringwald wasn't comfortable dancing alone so the scene was changed to include everyone. 🙂 RIP, the legendary John Hughs

Clique = "Click" is the American pronouncation. So Tom's got the British pronouncation and Shaun's got the American version...you're both right!

OMG Im soooooo excited. Its about time yall watch this. I feel like i watch it every couple weeks. John Hughes is my man! He's got even better ones so i hope those movies are coming too. Too many to list lol!

I consider The Breakfast Club to be the quintessential 80s film regardless of genre.. it's a like a time capsule visually but the themes are timeless..

This is movie gives a great insight into North American highschools during the 80s. I was 15 when I first saw the film. My grade 10 Language Arts teacher brought it to class one day and had us watch it. She was young and cool. Yes, I had a crush on her like the others guys. But, this film along with the other Hughes films really spoke to us Gen Xers.👍🏼

Hughes films gave us a voice in a way films had not previously done.

… and the music REALLY helped to sell this film. We can hear one part of one song from here and we could tell you exactly what we were doing at the very moment we saw this film. When it first came on cable, the space shuttle “Challenger” blew up with the school teach Christine McCullough (sp?) on it.

Sprawling on the fringes of the city In geometric order An insulated border In-between the bright lights And the far, unlit unknown Growing up, it all seems so one-sided Opinions all provided The future pre-decided Detached and subdivided In the mass-production zone Nowhere is the dreamer Or the misfit so alone Subdivisions In the high school halls In the shopping malls Conform or be cast out Subdivisions In the basement bars In the backs of cars Be cool or be cast out Any escape might help to smooth The unattractive truth But the suburbs have no charms to soothe The restless dreams of youth Drawn like moths, we drift into the city The timeless old attraction Cruising for the action Lit up like a firefly Just to feel the living night Some will sell their dreams for small desires Or lose the race to rats Get caught in ticking traps And start to dream of somewhere To relax their restless flight Somewhere out of a memory Of lighted streets on quiet nights Subdivisions In the high school halls In the shopping malls Conform or be cast out Subdivisions In the basement bars In the backs of cars Be cool or be cast out Any escape might help to smooth The unattractive truth But the suburbs have no charms to soothe The restless dreams of youth - ----Rush "Subdivisions"..lyrics by Neil Peart 1982!

7:44 I'm glad you picked up on the 'Kwai' reference and I very much look forward to your reaction to it, lads. Clique rhymes with unique, Shaun!

When I was a kid, mid 80's, I had a vhs tape with the breakfast club, the goonies, and short circuit on it, I watched that shit over and over for like a yr, I would rewind and start it all over again

The Breakfast Club is iconic. Being a teenager in the 80s was the best. Shout out to all the GenXers out there!

My guys...this is special. And hopes everything's going well with your family and friends out in the UK. This is great with a weird lunch.

While most "teen" films tend to be made 'for' teens, the thing that sets Breakfast Club apart is that is 'about' teens. I think that lends to viewers truly seeing themselves and the people they knew in these characters.

Showed my 12 yr old recently and she loved it so kids can definitely sit through it and appreciate it

Americans pronounce cliques the way Shaun said, Tom prounced it the British way

Love John Hughes - love The Breakfast Club. Man I was lucky going to the cinema in the 80s! ❤

My mom and dad were teenagers in the 80s and they were obsessed with John Hughes. They made sure when I was a teen to watch all of his movies and I loved them. They are endlessly rewatchable ❤

I agree with you gentlemen. I'm so glad you gave it a high score. I'm the same age as these characters and it is spot on like my high school. Thank you, till next time!

To be fair, I think Andy liked Allison before the makeover, but as he pointed out, it was nice to actually see her face. She was already wearing makeup before ('why do you wear all that black sh*t around your eyes?'), Claire actually toned her makeup DOWN to look natural.

Dude, I want to SEE the immediate-second-watch reaction and discussion afterward. Unprecedented!

Brilliant film, and now my 11 year old watches it at least once a week 😂

this is definitely a movie that improves with a rewatch. I first saw this film in my Adolescent Psychology class and so many of the themes in it about coming of age, the pressure it puts on adolescents, and how they tend to cope are pretty spot on. we had so many great discussions about this film in that class and ever since being introduced to it, it's become one of my favorite films. thanks for another great reaction guys! ❤

This movie is a Cinematic Masterpiece. The way the school feels soooooo empty yet you have ur core Five and you can almost feel the ghosts of that school who might feel the same way.

"Eat my shorts" was said here before the Simpsons used it.

The fact that John Hughes only directed 8 movies, but wrote for 53 projects is pretty astounding. I mean, the man wrote "Home Alone", and so many other classic films. And it's interesting to see what's referred to as "The John Hughes Effect" in other films. John Hughes’ legacy was changing the way teens were seen and saw themselves. His movies opened the doors to other amazing stories. He created “coming-of-age movies” before they were “coming-of-age movies”. He gave teenagers a place to express themselves.

Anthony Michael Hall( The Brain) has been in some of everything. If you've watched National Lampoon's Vacation, he was Rusty. Besides this movie, he was in other John Hughes films. AMH is still acting, with such recent credits as Yhe Blacklist, Halloween Kills and Clerks III.

Ally Sheedy’s character wanted ultimately to be noticed. Because she gots none at home. So her change imo was what she really wanted. I graduated in 1988, so this was my life.

The way I see Alisson's character is that the breakfast club already liked her for who she was. Andy, the jock, already liked for who she was. The makeover was just a plus. I don't necessarily think it was to make her change who she was, it was just something Claire did for her to bond with her because that's probably how she bonded with her friends.

That was a very earnest, honest and thoughtful reaction review, guys. Thanks.

John Hughes had an amazing gift, reach out to teenagers on their own level, but without talking down to them or patronizing them. He actually understood what teenagers were going through, and what their lives were like. That's why all of his movies from the eighties still remains so popular today. He portrayed teenagers in their own way, as they actually were.

Did you realize that Brian is the prototype personality for their future' society's school rampage killer, like the Columbine boys? Did you notice that Bender didn't have a lunch? Although this movie really speaks to the generation X that it belongs to, the personalities in it can be related to, by any and every generation, in terms of societies' segregated social hierarchy. Every generations youth has their own set of youth cult divisions. That behavior is taught and encouraged all throughout school, to prepare you for the same kind of society.

Having Ferris Bueller in this film would’ve been hilarious. But he would’ve found a clever way to avoid being in detention, so either way, the movie stays the same. 😂

That’s the coat that protects his other coat

Nice pick. Glad your reacting to this wonderful classic:)

lol my fun fact is that my college roommate actually went to the physical high school where they filmed and that that library isn't actually the school's library. It's the school's gymnasium that they turned into a library for the film.

One of my all time favourites. I remember staying up late one school night, and stumbling across it on TV. I wasn’t allowed to stay up to watch it all, so I went to the nearest video store and bought it on VHS the same week.

I watched this with both my kids as they reached their mid-teens. It's very mature content but was a good launching point for discussion. Comparisons of my youth, I graduated from HS the year this came out,. Discussions of peer pressure, and expectations, sex, drugs. It was interesting to hear from them how some things had changed but how many things were still the same. I watched it again when they were in their 20's to see their perspective change. This is certainly not a family film... but watch it with your family and discuss. Grandma may shock you.

If you saw at the beginning, the Janitor was pictured in the glass case and voted "Most Likely To Succeed"

When I was young I made the mistake of seeing this first out of all the John Hughes films. So I thought they'd all be like this. Then I watch Sixteen Candles and it's crazy silly with some really questionable stuff going on and I was like, what the hell??? Lol. And Bender is in a way truly tragic. Bad home life, teachers looking to just get him but if you pay attention he's really really smart. His troublemaking is very clever, he's laser sharp in perceiving others (maybe as a defense mechanism but still) and how he speaks, his word choice. Okay, that's because John Hughes does good dialogue BUT it does translate to Bender being sharp. But he gets no breaks.

When the teacher says I expect more from a varsity Letterman he meant you should have told me who took the screws out of the door

8 hours without your phone? We spent our whole lives without cellphones,

MESS W THE BULL YOU GET THE HORNS

I watched this when I was 5. Didn’t really understand it but I was always so enamored by it. There is something so beautiful about this film

I was born in the 80s but I was in high school in the last half of the 90s and it was still very close to this. Cliques were commons but maybe a little looser. I don't remember being pigeon-holed into my group of friends as much or maybe my character allowed me to be more fluid even though I felt clearly at home around the nerdy people tables. I have watched a lot of react to this movie, watched it myself maybe two times in the past 5 years (first time) and I like it a lot. Idk how i missed that movie back then. My family was watching up to 3 movies every weekend so my childhood and teen years involved a lot of movies.

This is my all time favourite movie. My dad showed it to be when I was younger because he wanted me to know old movies and how some movies don't have to be action and magic and super heroes. I absolutely love the message behind this movie.

My niece has been hankering to see this for a couple of years now, but my sister wanted to wait til she hit 15. We did, accidentally, show her Valley Girl a few years too early…🤷‍♀️

John Hughes based and filmed many of his films in the suburbs of Chicago--namely Lake Forrest.

We didn’t have these groups in UK schools, but we all wished we had a John Bender because we all fancied him!

John Hughes wrote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off specifically for Anthony Micheal Hall but he couldn’t do it due to scheduling. He was a real talent as a kid, he’s so good in this and especially Weird Science.

I was in high school in the noughties, and while the lines were a little more blurred between cliques (mostly cause a lot of us knew each other since we were 4-5) a lot of this still hit a chord. Like, no matter what circle you ran with, there was an unspoken understanding that we ALL *hated* our vice-principle.

Anthony Michael Hall underwent his own transformation after this, seriously bulked up with muscles & landed the role of the bully in Edward Scissorhands. he's almost a different person.

RIP, John Hughes 🙏 I love all his movies. This one is so good!

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

I think this is Hughes' coming-of-age masterpiece.

Less Than Zero (1987) would be an interesting reaction

Yes!! I've waited 2 and a half years for this film reaction 🎉

Thank you for reacting to this film! I agree that it does still have a universal quality to it, in that each character is dealing with something that deeply affects them, and those situations often stem from their home lives. Allison's parents ignore her the way the world ignores her because she is seen as deeply strange. Andy and Brian's families are over-involved in their lives and put dangerous expectations on their performances (Andy in athletics and Brian in academics). John's father targets and abuses him physically and emotionally. Claire's parents overindulge and coddle her to score points to "win" battles between themselves. Because of these home situations, Claire surrounds herself with people who appear to support and adore her but she needs to curate a specific social performance to keep them; John takes his rage out on others and uses drugs to numb-out the deep pain he carries around; Brian searches for a solution that can help him escape the despair and shame that comes with failure (an unthinkable situation for him and his family); Andy struggles to find and separate himself from his father, but being in athletics is a way out and that social group is very insular and participates in hazing and bullying; and Allison doesn't trust people enough to get close to them and reveal her very sensitive heart. These situations are not alien to us, nearly 40 years later. How many people are still living in situations like this?

Please continue with more John Hughes! I almost feel like this movie should be required viewing for parents and teachers. The character Vernon is such a prime example of everything you want to avoid being as a teacher. Main message that I take away is that you can’t judge a book by its cover. There was so much more to each character than just their labels and they each had so many layers.

Being an almost 52 year old man, this movie was a MUST SEE as I was 13 years old when it was released in February 1985. I related a lot to the character of "Brian" (Anthony Michael Hall). I was a self-proclaimed "nerd/geek." Not knowing that I was autistic, that was a reason I was highly intelligent in some subjects & others I could not grasp. The difference between his character and myself was when my family moved for the final time during my school years in the middle of me being in the 6th grade, my older sister in the 7th (she was held back because when our mom had her first heart attack and open heart surgery in the spring of 1980, my dad pulled my sister out of 5th grade - I was in the 3rd - and because she had missed nearly 2 quarters, she had to repeat that grade level). It would take me nearly my entire to truly understand why she did what she would eventually do and I was finally able to talk with her about my forgiveness and understand for what she did. We started at Stemmers Run Middle School on January 17th, 1983. The start of the 2nd week as I was walking in between classes, some guy that I did not know shoved me into a locker and yelled "F****T." The next day, a completely different guy stuck as his leg as I was getting ready to walk down the steps in between floors of our school and again I heard "F****T" and "you don't deserve to live and should just kill yourself. I went to my older sister on our way that afternoon, because even though I was a boy, I idolized my sister and she had a rep of fighting guys. I surely thought she would protect me. When I told her what was happening, she said she knew nothing about it but would do something if she heard and/or saw something. Though I am a gay man, back in January 1983 at the age of 11, I had no clue what being "gay" was all about ... Almost on a daily basis I was getting shoved into lockers, pushed down stairs, having my backpack taken from me and thrown out of bus windows. Being told that I was ugly, fat and that since no one would ever love a f****t, I should just kill myself. Though I tried three times between January 1983 and May 1989 to kill myself, thankfully it was one of the things I would not good at. It started my unhealthy relationship with food. My mom couldn't understand why her little boy who used to be so happy, singing and dancing, suddenly was asking not to go to school and/or coming up with schemes to stay home. On the night of March 8th, 1994 (I was scheduled to leave my hometown of Baltimore, Maryland and go back to Seattle, Washington on Sunday, March 10th - the city that was closest to the Naval base I had been serving on until I came out as being a gay man, though when I did on September 30th, 1992 at the age of 21, I was a true virgin - I had not been intimate with anyone, male or female and I had come home to Baltimore but couldn't stand to be around my homophobic family. I was at a local bar with my sister and her boyfriend at the time, when I hear a female voice say "Oh goodness, he is so HOT!" It turned out to be a friend of my sister and then I heard my sister say this "Him, not him, that's my brother and trust me, you're not his type. He's gay." and then ... "You want to hear a funny story? When we first moved down here in about a decade ago and started middle school, I started a rumor that he was gay! Isn't that funny I knew back then when he had no clue!"

Im 47. My now 16 yr old daughter enquired to me age 13 about this film. So, we watched it. Tbh, I didnt expect her to like it much, if at all, especially how it resonated with me as a youngun and adult. Well lol! She adored it. Few weeks later she searched for it in HMV on dvd so I bought it for her. Next....I end up buying her a bc poster that she loved. It may, along with Lost boys be her fave film. She loves 80s films and her room mimics mine with all the 80s film posters on the walls. Its amazing how films from that particular decade seem to impact todays teens. It also made led to her discovering simple minds too x.

Thank you Jesus!! Finally lol!! Saw this movie in Jr. High at 13 late night on the TNT channel at 2am. I just watched this movie a week and half ago and saying all the lines of each character! When ever you guys score a movie, I always predict it 5 seconds before you say it 😆. I'm so glad that you guys watched and glad Tom enjoyed it so.much ☺️❤️