1. Footloose.
   The Karate Kid.
2. The Lost Boys.
   The Goonies.

Producers were worried that Pat Morita would not be taken seriously as Mr. Miyagi because he had previously established himself in comedic roles. This is one of the reasons they billed him as "Noriyuki "Pat" Morita. He was also in "Happy Days" (as Mitsumo "Arnold" Takahashi) and "Sanford and Son (as Ah Chew/ Colonel Hiakowa).

1. Stand By Me.
   The Lost Boys.
2. The Outsiders.
   Risky Business.

The towns of Brownsville, Franklin, Cottage Groove, Veneta, and Eugene in Oregon were used for most of the shooting. They filmed the train scene in California, and when the boys didn't look scared enough - take after take - director Rob Reiner yelled at them and threatened their lives, which scared them enough to get a good shot.

1. Good Morning, Vietnam.
   Platoon.
2. Full Metal Jacket.
   Taps.

Adrian Cronauer, on whom the movie "Good Morning, Vietnam" was based, said if he had done half the things Robin Williams' character had done, he would have been court-martialed and still be doing time in Leavenworth. However, he was pleased with the movie because it was one of the few that did not portray Vietnam veterans as psychotic rapists.

1. The Hitcher.
   Joe Dirt.
2. Lost in America.
   The Blues Brothers.

Although Aykroyd wrote the screenplay for "The Blues Brothers," Belushi earned twice as much, $500,000. The car chase took extra planning because large numbers of police officers had to close sections of the city down to film them.

1. The Awakening.
   King Solomon's Mines.
2. The Mummy.
   Raiders of the Lost Ark.

A big Alaskan Malamute that belonged to George Lucas inspired the name "Indiana." The same dog also inspired the character of Chewbacca from Star Wars.

1. Like Father Like Son.
   18 Again.
2. Big.
   Freaky Friday.

Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia practiced for months to get the large piano scene down. The producers had professional dancers on standby, which offended Loggia. Hanks and Loggia did fine, and the extras weren't used.

1. The Thing.
   Psycho II.
2. Nightmare on Elm Street.
   The Shining.

Stephen King did not like that Jack Nicholson was cast as Jack Torrance. Since Nicholson had recently finished "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," King felt audiences believed him to be crazy from the beginning, instead of seeing him descend into madness.

1. Field of Dreams.
   The Sandlot.
2. Bull Durham.
   Major League.

"Field of Dreams" was filmed on an Iowa farm . Its owners maintained the field and a gift shop after the movie's release. It sold in 2011, after being listed at $5.4 million.

1. Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland.
   The Little Mermaid.
2. The Princess Bride.
   Krull.

"The Little Mermaid" revitalized Disney Studios. Prior to its release, Disney was focusing on live action films and box office duds like "The Black Cauldron." "The Little Mermaid" was the first feature to use Pixar's computer animation and brought in almost ten times what the "Black Cauldron" had in box office earnings.

1. Beetlejuice.
   Poltergeist.
2. Casper: A Spirited Beginning.
   Ghostbusters

Michael Keaton and Geena Davis immediately wanted to sign on the movie, but Burton had a more difficult time casting Lydia Deetz (Wynona Ryder's character). Although Beetlejuice is the title character, he only appears for 17 ½ minutes of the 92-minute runtime.

1. Cyborg.
   The Terminator.
2. Blade Runner.
   Robocop.

"Blade Runner" was loosely based on the book, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K Dick. The author initially hated the script, but after revisions, he was happy with the results and felt the novel and screenplay reinforced one another.

1. The Abyss.
   *batteries not included.
2. Alien.
   Cocoon.

Robert Zemeckis spent one year working on "Cocoon," while simultaneously doing "Romancing the Stone." After two flops, "Used Cars" and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," the studio took one look at "Romancing the Stone" and fired Zemeckis from" Cocoon," afraid he had become box office poison. However, "Romancing the Stone" ended up doing just as well as "Cocoon" at the box office, and on a smaller budget.

1. A Fish Called Wanda.
   Trading Places.
2. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
   The Big Chill.

"A Fish Called Wanda" was a British film. Many reviewers pointed out that, although people were not brutally murdered and car crashes were not used for humor, people in America would most be upset about three Yorkie dogs dying.

1. The Jericho Mile.
   Chariots of Fire.
2. The Running Man.
   Running Brave.

They based "Chariots of Fire" on the 1924 Olympics and the gold medals won by Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams. It caught a unique glimpse of history when the sport of running took a professional turn. Abrahams' coach (Sam Mussabini) was perhaps not the best man to hire. He believed smoking increased lung capacity and used cocaine and strychnine lozenges to help runners ward off fatigue.

1. The Bride.
   Weird Science.
2. War Games.
   Gothic.

The Apple Lisa, named after Steve Job's daughter and for whom the movie "Lisa" was named, was one of the first computers to use a point-and-click interface instead of line commands. Its price tag when it was released was $9,995.

1. The Exorcist.
   Fright Night.
2. Child's Play.
   Poltergeist.

At first, the MPAA gave Poltergeist an R rating. Stephen Speilberg, however, lobbied for a PG rating since he did not want to be associated with R movies, and the PG-13 rating had not yet been developed.

1. Time Bandits.
   Clash of the Titans.
2. Black Orpheus.
   The Odyssey.

The opening of "Clash of the Titans" was done at Cornwell, England. They had to wait several weeks until the weather was stormy so they could have a rough sea in the background.

1. Good Will Hunting.
   St. Elmo's Fire.
2. Stand and Deliver.
   Dead Poets' Society.

Many of the lines Keating says were based on Shulman's Acting-Directing teacher at Montgomery Bell Academy, Harold Clurman. However, the actions, such as the iconic standing on the desk, can be attributed to his English teacher, Samuel Pickering, who felt making his class entertaining would make his students enjoy reading and writing.

1. A Room With a View.
   Peggy Sue Got Married.
2. When Harry Met Sally...
   Pretty in Pink.

The "how we met" interludes were based on real love stories captured by Reiner during interviews with elderly couples. Actors were used to re-tell their stories for the interludes.

1. Re-Animator.
   Pet Sematary.
2. Night of the Living Dead.
   Let Sleeping Corpses Lie.

Stephen King always felt that Pet Sematary was one of his scariest works, not only because it confronts a lot of taboos, but also because it was close to home. King lived in Maine—the film's setting; King's family cat died on a nearby road and was buried in a similar "pet sematary," and a vehicle almost hit King's son on the same road.

1. Wall Street.
   Rollover.
2. The Crash.
   Pretty Woman.

"Wall Street" was released two months after a real stock market crash, the Black Monday of October 19, 1987. Many accused Oliver Stone of knowing the crisis would come, but he said he would have made a lot of money if he actually had seen it coming.

1. Six Pack.
   Days of Thunder.
2. The Wraith.
   Cannonball Run.

Cannonball Run was based on an actual series of races called the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash and the adventures Brock Yates, a founder of the race, had while running it. Although race contestants were required to pay their own tickets, the legal ramifications and increased traffic led Yates to cancel it in 1979.

1. A Question of Silence.
   9 to 5.
2. The First Wives Club.
   The Handmaids Tale.

Jane Fonda originally wanted "9 to 5" to be a drama, but she felt it was becoming too preachy.

1. Beaches.
   Say Anything...
2. Can't Buy Me Love.
   One Crazy Summer.

In 2017, Lifetime remade "Beaches" with Idina Menzel and Nia Long. Although the storyline was the same, it was updated from the 1988 version to reflect modern culture.

1. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.
   Fame.
2. Footloose.
   Flashdance.

The New York City High School for the Performing Arts (Fiorello LaGuardia High), where Fame was set, is a real school. Irene Cara, who sang the theme for the movie, also played the role of Coco Hernandez in the film.

1. Explorers.
   Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
2. Gremlins.
   Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

Disney was concerned that a known horror director, Stuart Gordon, could make a family-friendly film. After convincing them that Anty would not be scary and that he would not kill off the kids, Gordon had to leave because he got sick. Joe Johnston replaced him.

1. Private Benjamin.
   Hot Shots.
2. Stripes.
   An Officer and a Gentleman.

Because the Defense Department liked the film script, they were allowed to shoot in Fort Knox, and real troops played the parts of some of the extras. Army recruitment increased by about 10% after the film was released.

1. The Emperor and the Assassin.
   Once Upon a Time in China.
2. Ju Dou
   The Last Emperor.

The production crew of "The Last Emperor" received permission from the Chinese government to shoot on location—even in the Forbidden City. They loosely based Pu Yi's life on his memoir, with many romantic scenes thrown in to spice things up and some of the more nasty aspects removed.

1. Goodfellas.
   The Outsiders.
2. Do the Right Thing.
   A Bronx Tale.

Spike Lee based "Do The Right Thing" on an incident in Queens, New York, where three youths, trying to find help for a broken down car, stumbled across members of an Italian gang before entering a pizzeria. When they came out, 12 youths had assembled and proceeded to beat them, forcing one into traffic where he was struck by a car and died. In real life, the owners of the pizzeria were not involved in the incident.

1. Iron Eagle.
   Firefox.
2. Blue Thunder.
   Top Gun.

Clint Eastwood was fired from his contract at Universal Studios in 1959 because his Adam's apple stuck out too far. At the same time, they fired Burt Reynolds because he "couldn't act." Reynold's reportedly told Eastwood, "You know, you are really screwed because I can learn how to act. You can't get rid of that Adam's apple."

1. The Hunt for Red October.
   Das Boot.
2. The Abyss.
   The Fifth Missile.

Das Boot was originally filmed in German. Since all the actors could also speak English, they dubbed their own lines for the U. K. and U. S. A. distribution.

1. Braveheart.
   Highlander.
2. Conan the Barbarian.
   The Last of the Mohicans.

The film was supposed to be shot in Yugoslavia, but due to political tension, it was moved to Spain. The three main actors had to train for five months for their roles.

1. Love Is Never Silent.
   Children of a Lesser God.
2. See No Evil, Hear No Evil.
   Bridge to Silence.

Marlee Matlin won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work on "Children of a Lesser God." The film was nominated for four more Oscars and two more Golden Globes.

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey.
   Wargames.
2. Tron.
   Innerspace.

Originally inspired by Pong, the computer animation created quite a stir as traditional animators felt it was "cheating." It was only after several studios declined to make a fully animated cartoon version that Lisberger pitched a live-action/animation combo to Disney and snagged their interest.

1. Testament.
   Dark Circle.
2. Silkwood.
   Radioactive Dreams.

The movie painted a convincing picture that Silkwood was murdered by Kerr-McGee over a cover-up. The company admittedly had 574 radiation exposures in just five years and was an awful place to work, closing one year after Silkwood's death. However, is was determined that Silkwood fell asleep at the wheel after consuming too many sleeping pills.