When I was growing up, I was given a lot of leeway after school. Even way back when I was in the sixth grade, I would just leave the school grounds, all by by lonesome (I was a loner even back then!), go to my local shopping complex and spend a couple of hours just watching any movie that was available. I got to watch a lot of movies back then, even ones I wasn’t supposed to, because I guess security was very relaxed that time. As such, I have seen a cornucopia of movies when I was a kid. And there were definitely a lot of them I enjoyed.

As I’ve gotten older, I do tend to look wistfully back during those more innocent times and, wanting to recapture that feeling, I would watch those very movies I went to see. And, watching these same movies now, I feel kind of sad some of them never got the adulation they deserve. Or, in other cases, were venerated at the time of release but have slowly become forgotten as the years passed. So, I’d like to go through my back catalog of movies I believe should get a little more love than they get now.

Oh, just to change things up, instead of linking to trailers or clips of the movies, I’ll be linking to reaction videos of people watching these films for the first time. I do like to see people enjoying the same things I enjoyed way back. Maybe you would want to as well.

#1 Clue

Clue is based on the board game of the same name, making it technically one of the earliest incarnations of a movie based on a game! Anyway, the plot follows multiple people who are invited to the house of the mysterious Mr. Boddy. It turns out all the guests are being blackmailed by their host. Mr. Boddy is murdered and everyone is a suspect. Oh, did I mention Clue is a comedy? It is. And it’s a really good comedy!

Although I prefaced this post as the movies I watched at the cinema when I was younger, Clue wasn’t one of them. Rather, my uncle had a lot of bootleg tapes of movies and I would just watch a whole lot of whatever he had. Clue was one of them and I was immediately enamored by it. This was the first time I saw the legendary Tim Curry in action as Wadsworth, the butler. As a kid, I was immediately drawn to his erratic mannerisms and his over-the-top line delivery. That’s not to say the rest of the cast are blah. Not in the least! Everyone performed their roles perfectly. It’s not surprising as Clue did have an all-star cast of comedians… even if I didn’t know most of them back then!

I do have to say Clue isn’t really a great murder mystery movie. If you’re in it to try to properly solve the murder (or murders?), odds are you won’t as the writers didn’t leave any substantial clues. Then again, you don’t watch Clue for the mystery. You watch Clue for the witty dialogue, spastic slapstick and dry humor.

#2 The Rocketeer

The Rocketeer is based on the lesser known superhero comic book character of the early ’80s. Set just before the start of World War II, stunt pilot Cliff Secord finds a mysterious jetpack and uses it to become the Rocketeer. Little does he know that, by simply finding the jetpack, he’s become embroiled in a conspiracy involving spies, the FBI and the security of the United States.

I vividly remember going to see The Rocketeer in the movie house not because I was looking forward to it because of an awesome trailer or all the money Disney pumped into marketing it. Nope, I went to see it because, one, the poster looked cool and, two, I just wanted a way to while away a couple of hour before I went home. While I will admit a lot of the plot flew over my head (pun intended) when I first saw it, I was still enthralled by how good the movie looks and feels.

As The Rocketeer is set during the late ’30s, this was also one of the first “period piece” movies I’ve ever seen. I was actually kind of blown away with the set design and the overall aesthetic of the look. That really helped me get into the spirit of things. The action is also pretty fun as the flying sequences look really good and I do believe they hold up even by today’s standards.

#3 Defending Your Life

Defending You Life has one Daniel Miller who dies from his own carelessness. He is sent to Judgement City where, as the title of the film suggests, he has to defend his life and all his actions. In order to move on to the next stage of existence, Daniel must prove he has lived a life without any fear and regret, as these are the things that hold humans back. Of course, as he has lived a generally cowardly life, Daniel has an uphill battle.

I will have to say Defending Your Life, for me, is a life-changing movie. This was one of the first movies I saw that dealt with what happens when you die differently. This wasn’t a religious film but rather more of a philosophical look at what holds people back: fear. Not life-threatening fear but those smaller fears we all have. Fear of being different. Fear of being mocked for what you like and/or dislike. Fear of failing. Fear of rejection. Things like that. This really struck my teen brain as I had all these fears and a comedy film, of all things, had to point out how irrational a lot of these fears can be.

As I was a teen when I first saw this, Defending Your Life wasn’t exactly a gut-busting comedy for me then. It was funny and there were funny moments, to be sure. However, what really grabbed me were the philosophical elements and that what made me love it. As I’ve gotten older and more mature, I have come to appreciate the more subtle comedic elements now. Even so, Defending Your Life does hit me a little harder as I have gotten many more life experiences so I still vibe with the philosophical element of how fear controls your life more.

#4 Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day takes you into one day in the life of cynical weatherman Phil Conners as he reports on the Groundhog Day festivities of a small town. Unfortunately for Phil, he gets stuck in a time loop, forcing him to relive the same day over and over again.

I watched Groundhog Day on a whim. I was familiar with Bill Murray mostly because of the Ghostbusters movies. Now, here’s the thing: growing up, I didn’t appreciate Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman all that much because I was more drawn to Harold Ramis‘ Egon Spengler and Dan Ackroyd‘s Ray Stanz as they were the nerd and the geek of the Ghostbusters. But I recognized the name and that was enough to get me to watch Groundhog Day despite not knowing a single thing about the movie. Heck, I didn’t even know what “groundhog day” was about as we don’t have that here in the Philippines!

Still, I’m glad I did because, first off, it is a really fun movie. Secondly, I dare say, like Defending Your Life, it did change my life a bit. Like Bill Murray’s Phil Connors, I would’ve probably done the same things he did in the same order. I’d try to find a way to see if I’m not going crazy, then do all sorts of crazy things since there would be no repercussions like he did. Like the character, I’d probably go crazy and try to off myself just to escape the repetitiveness of it all and finally just using the time to better myself and everyone around me. When I realized I would go through that same journey, I thought to myself “why not just skip to the end?” Since then, as much as possible, I do try to make the world a better place and try to elevate my skills. This blog is a testament to the latter while my secondary blog, My Geek Wisdom, connects to the former.

#5 Sky High

Sky High follows a teen named Will Stronghold who is about to enter his first year of high school. But Will isn’t your regular teen as he’s the son of the two greatest superheroes of the world. As such, even the high school he’s attending isn’t your average school as it’s Sky High and only people with superpowers and those who’s parents are superheroes can enroll. The problem is, despite being the son of two superpowered parents, Will still hasn’t gotten any powers. Because of this, he’s sent to the “sidekicks” class for those who have lame or non-existent abilities.

Disney made Sky during a rather weird time. This was several years before the Mouse purchased Marvel and live-action superhero movies like Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man and Fox‘s X-Men were making bank at the box-office. But Disney was bereft of licensed superheroes at this time and they were still focused on making more kid-friendly movies. Luckily, they had an old script that was never finished about a school of teens who had superpowers so they decided to put that into production. Well, I’m not sure if that’s the true story of how Sky High was made but it sounds about right.

Despite it possibly not made due to the love of creativity in general, there is an earnest sincerity in Sky High. They do a lot of winks and nods to classic superhero tropes such as sidekicks and outlandish costumes. They also make more than a good number of references to typical high school shows Disney put out at the time. There’s also the nostalgia factor of casting Lynda Carter as the principal of the school! But what really gets me is Sky High knows what it is. It’s a silly movie about high school kids who have superpowers and go to a school for people with superpowers. It knows it’s not something serious and it has fun with the premise. I would’ve loved to have seen a sequel to this.

What other movies do you believe deserves more love than it gets today? Let me know in the comments section below!