I need an 80s movie (and a 90s one, etc.)

I'd go Reality Bites for 90s, Valley Girl for the 80s.

 

Thanks! I still have some time to decide. Love the suggestions, even if some won't work. I really like "the Breakfast Club," but it has been on Tv here recently.
Next outreach series is going to be true America in movies, ans that's when Erin Brokavich and Appollo 13 will happen.
Am on vacation now and just checking in. Will give more thought when I get home.
Keep them coming!

 

Actually, Versatile mentioned it on the first page. That would be my pick for the 1990s as well, with Ferris for the 1980s or "Field of Dreams."
Another 80s possibility: "National Lampoon's Vacation." And maybe "Ghostbusters."

 

I second WarGames for the 80's movie.

Cold war fear, early personal computer usage, hacking, video arcade games in an actual arcade, Global Thermonuclear War, “The only way to win is not to play,” etc.

Plus a young Ally Sheedy.

 

But nothing on the soundtrack that's close to something like The Plimsouls.

 

I don't think any movie is going to be able to accurately represent an entire decade for a nation.
Especially a nation as broad and diverse as the US.
The same is true of places such as China and the former USSR.
A movie might be a touchstone for a cultural insider, but that does not make it an accurate representation. The cultural insider gets the caricature and hyperbole, and he/she understands that 'Red Dawn' or 'Ferris Buehler' are each a very small piece of a much larger mosaic.
Someone on the outside looking in does not necessarily comprehend that level of complexity.

 

I like Bull Durham for the 80s, although there's some language.

 

Red Dawn, Officer and a Gentleman, Top Gun, Pretty in Pink, Fast Times at Ridgemont High are great 80s movies in my opinion.