Welcome to an exciting year-long project here at The Nerdy. 1985 was an exciting year for films giving us a lot of films that would go on to be beloved favorites and cult classics. It was also the start to a major shift in cultural and societal norms, and some of those still reverberate to this day.
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We’re going to pick and choose which movies we hit, but right now the list stands at nearly four dozen.
Yes, we’re insane, but 1985 was that great of a year for film.
The articles will come out – in most cases – on the same day the films hit theaters in 1984 so that it is their true 40th anniversary. All films are also watched again for the purposes of these reviews and are not being done from memory. In some cases, it truly will be the first time we’ve seen them.
This time around, it’s April 5, 1985, and we’re off to see Alamo Bay/em>.
Alamo Bay
After the way March pounded us with releases, it’s a delight to only have one movie this week to focus on.
The story follows the late 1970s and early 1980s Gulf Coast shrimp fishing industry. Vietnamese refugees had settled in the area following the Vietnam War, and entered the industry as well. As prices fell, the Texans took to blaming the Vietnamese for their woes, and racial tensions built to the point of the Ku Klux Klan riling up the Texans to the point of violence. The story in particular, follows a clash between Shang Pierce (Ed Harris) and Dihn (Ho Nguyen), and the love triangle that forms with Glory (Amy Madigan).
The movie is fine, but not terribly inspired. There is a lot that goes unexplained and just seems to be, “This is the way things are, accept them.” I didn’t dislike the movie, and I was engaged throughout, but I highly doubt I will ever think of this film again following the conclusion of this mini-review.
1985 Movie Reviews will return on April 12, 2025, with Cat’s Eye, Fraternity Vacation, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, and Ladyhawke.
