By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Take my hand.
Let’s go back to 1986 and to my 5-year-old self. It was the best year of my life.
I was about to enter Kindergarten, things were still innocent around me and I had just completed the greatest summer hanging out with my dad. After our daily lessons preparing me for school, we did a workout or activity. Then we had awesome snacks and watched some cartoons or caught a movie before he went to work.
That summer laid the foundation for my film preferences, and in the coming years these 10 movies from 1986 became some of my all-time favorites.
I am ranking the best of the top 100 grossing movies from 40 years ago. You might start to notice a trend in my selections. Thomas Sellers Sr. had a goofy sense of humor, loved animation and didn’t mind a few explosions in his film choices.
10. The Transformers: The Movie
Ranked No. 99 for box office gross in 1986, I would have given The Transformers: The Movie the No. 1 spot about 39 years ago. I was all about the Autobots vs. the Decepticons in my early years. The plot of this film involved the Autobots stopping a colossal planet-consuming robot who goes after the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. At the same time, they must defend themselves against an all-out attack from the Decepticons. The live action version came out 21 years later and I realized I was over the entire franchise as an adult. The cartoon still holds a special place in my heart and was pure in its original form to sell me cool toys.
9. Howard the Duck
As a child, it is much easier to suspend reality and believe in a humanoid duck carrying an entire plot. The film was about a comic book character, Howard the Duck. Howard was beamed from Duckworld to Earth, where he lands in Cleveland, Ohio. Howard rescues a rock singer named Beverly from thugs and forms a friendship with her. That relationship led to Howard meeting his nemesis Dr. Walter Jennings.
Now Howard and his new friends must stop an alien invasion. I can still watch this movie with a 5-year-old mindset, but the 44-year-old Thomas lumps this in the same category as another 1986 movie Little Shop of Horrors.
8. Stand by Me
The plot is too simple. Four boys from Oregon learn that a stranger has been accidentally killed near their rural homes. They set out on a journey to see a dead body. With the narration reflecting the childhood journey with one’s friends, this becomes a wonderful coming-of-age tale. It’s funny, emotional and gripping throughout the 90 minutes. The Ben E. King classic makes the film even more iconic.
7. The Karate Kid Part II
Coming off the 1984 classic, my family couldn’t wait to see how Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi were doing a couple of years later. The same formula from The Karate Kid was used in Asia for Part II. Daniel accompanies his mentor, Mr. Miyagi, to Miyagi’s childhood home in Okinawa. Miyagi visits his dying father and confronts his old rival. So Mr. Miyagi got a little more depth in this movie. Meanwhile Daniel falls in love with a girl who used to date a bad boy. Sounds familiar? Daniel-Son makes a new rival and has a climatic fight — again.
6. Lucas
Once again 1984 provided me with a template. The Revenge of the Nerds was an excellent story about little guys beating the big, bad guys. So having a nerd as an underdog to cheer for was right in my wheelhouse.
Corey Haim was awesome in his portrayal of the lead character Lucas, a socially inept 14-year-old. Lucas endured heartbreak for the first time when his two best friends fell for each other. Cappie was his big brother figure. New girl that Lucas was crushing on, Maggie, ended up liking Cappie. The football ending was an emotional roller coaster. I love this inspirational movie that helped me prepare for high school love.
5. Short Circuit
1980s movies had solid soundtracks. Even the goofy films gave us classics like El DeBarge’s “Who’s Johnny?” Johnny was the No. 5 robot. The experimental military robots were hit by lightning and came to life. With 80s anchors Steve Guttenberg and Ally Sheedy doing the heavy lifting, the movie based on a robot coming to life was super enjoyable and funny. You find yourself rooting for this robot to escape and not die. It was 40 years ahead of its time with all this AI going on.
4. ¡Three Amigos!
The dream team of Martin Short, Chevy Chase and Steve Martin team up for a period piece comedy that I still will watch today. Those three comedy legends play actors invited to a Mexican village to perform their onscreen bandit fighter roles. The catch: the villagers believe they are real-life bandits who can stop their nemesis El Guapo. Everyone quickly learns that the three men are masters of pretending.
They made some adjustments and got things taken care of in quick order.
3. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
My dad loves this movie and was too happy to explain Ferris Bueller’s action throughout the run time. As a youth I would have called him cocky. My dad thought Ferris was cool. The high school senior had the most epic skip day in modern history. The tricks Ferris used to escape a day at school and irritate his sister were too good. My dad took notes and let me know I wouldn’t be able to get away with any of those shenanigans. The adventures conducted by Ferris that day are legendary and timeless.
2. One Crazy Summer
Hoops McCann, an aspiring teenage cartoonist, just graduated high school and failed to get into the Rhode Island School of Design. To battle boredom and depression, he joins his friends for a family trip. McCann and friends come to the aid of a singer played by Demi Moore, trying to save her family property from developers. McCann takes on a typical 80s bully and outsmarts him during a boat race to save the day.
1. Wildcats
This movie means so much to me in 2026. It was my introduction to the combination of sports, hyjinks and warmness being a perfect recipe for a film. Later came “Happy Gilmore,” “Benchwarmers,” and “Major League.”
In Wildcats Goldie Hawn starred as inspiring football coach Molly McGrath. She had to win over her high school team, which was in last place and down on its luck. The young roster featured now common faces Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. McGrath was able to whip the inner-city team into shape, restore pride, and motivate the entire school by winning. It was a fun movie. Super funny and has a great plot that is very believable. This is my best top grossing film of 1986.
THOMAS SELLERS JR. is the editor of The Millington Star and both the sports editor and a weekly personal columnist for West 10 Media/Legacy Media. Contact him by phone at (901) 433-9138, by fax to (901) 529-7687 and by email to thomas@legacy-media.net
