9 Awesome 80s Kid's Movies You Probably Forgot

The recent appearance and popularity of the homage-filled Netflix series, Stranger Things, just goes to show how much love there is for kid’s movies from the 80s. Many of them are now considered cult classics – think The Goonies, The Never Ending Story, E.T., Labyrinth, Flight Of The Navigator, Return To OZ, Willow, Stand By Me… the list could go on.

The enduring characters, stories and practical effects served to ingrain these movies into the psyche of a generation. These are the movies that taught us right from wrong, good from bad, and that friendship can overcome any adversity. They took us on wild adventures the likes of which we could only dream of.

To say that “they don’t make ‘em like they used to” feels like an understatement.

The beauty of the 80s is that for every “classic” movie that comes to mind, there's a lesser-seen gem that you may only have vague recollections of. They’re movies you swear existed, but you can’t quite remember what they were called. And when you try to describe them to people, they look at you blankly, as if you'd just make this sort of thing up...

So sit down, strap in, and enjoy a blast of nostalgia as we highlight 9 awesome kid's movies from the 80s that you might have totally forgotten about.

Starchaser has some obvious parallels with a certain little movie released in 1977 called Star Wars. The hero is an unassuming type who has the adventure somewhat thrust upon him. Oh, and he also has a light sword thing. There is a rogue smuggler who has a pretty kick-ass ship (named Starchaser), there are some droids, and even a princess. But, if these similarities are taken as nothing more than homage and you can get over them, you will find that this film is thoroughly entertaining.

It’s a rocket of an adventure in which Orin, a human slave living in a subterranean mine-world, embarks on a quest to find a sword blade that will defeat his captors and bring about freedom.

But that is just scratching the surface.

A pioneer of the time, it was the first animated movie to be theatrically released in 3-D, although it is highly unlikely that you will be able to find it in that format these days. However, you will not lose anything by not viewing it in 3-D as the adventure and animation is still fabulous without.

It is, as the taglines pointed out, an adventure of epic proportions!