The movies of the '80s were interesting, full of memorable characters, and featured a lot of coming of age themes. Yes, I know that there are movies today that feature coming of age themes, but not like they use to be. Movies today rely on special effects, sometimes overdone plots, and lots of skin, violence, and profanity. That didn't happen in '80s movies. Take for example some of the stellar(?) movies from that decade: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and The Karate Kid just to name a few. They all featured young people navigating life, fighting bullies, discovering romance, and learning how to face the world. Take that same movie today and it would probably have 3 f-bombs (or more) and several sex scenes. Have movie people actually forgotten how to write a script without resorting to bad language and nudity? I think I might be on to something there.
There were also cool action movies that didn't feature piles of dead bodies. The Lost Boys, The Goonies, Ghostbusters (2 of them), 3 Indiana Jones movies, 2 Star Wars movies, and E.T. Are some of the effects a little corny now? Sure. But those movies didn't have advance CGI to work with, so they had to rely on great stories and great acting. I contend that both of those things are missing from many (most?) movies today.
And the songs, many of which are still iconic today (think Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Rogers, Michael Jackson) told a story. The artists back then didn't have the luxury of auto-tune. That particular device wasn't even released until 1997. Before that, singers had to be able to actually sing. I know that is a novel concept today where so many artists put on a "show" but lip-sync during concerts. I like the "old school" approach of a singer actually singing.
I could go on, but I don't want to inundate anyone with more information. But I am curious. If you agree with me that the '80s rules, post a comment about why that was the best decade.