John Hughes Films: Ranked From Worst To Best

Naked blonde walks into a bar with a poodle under one arm, and a two-foot salami under the other...

By Lewis Howse /

John Hughes was, by his own admission, a very ordinary, non-exceptional kid. He didn't even have a particularly noteworthy high school life, which is somewhat ironic given how effortlessly he managed to convey it in his film work. He may not have been the kid he portrayed in his movies, but he related to them and wanted to show the world they weren't as bad as other films routinely made them out to be.

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One of Hughes' defining characteristics was his ability to see teenagers not as kids or as young adults, but as people. This, in turn, ensured that his films connected with a sizeable audience. But Hughes wasn't just about love triangles, prom nights and cliques - he was so multi-layered and moved away from the teen films that brought him so much success, writing side-splitting comedies and romantic dramas, replacing the teens with twenty somethings and families.

Hughes had a hand in writing many big hits (such as Pretty In Pink, Home Alone and Flubber) but was the writer and director of only eight films between 1984 and 1991, when he decided to quit directing and spend most of his time as a script doctor.

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He made eight films in that seven year period, the majority of which are celebrated as some of the best of their kind...