by Heath Lynch, Contributing Writer
Welcome back one and all to another Oscars: What If, a retrospective look at the Oscars. I know that you’re undoubtedly cramming in some movie watching before this year’s Oscars air in a couple weeks so you can win your office pool, but it’s time to take a break and look back. For the newcomers to this series, we look at categories the Academy should be honoring, but for one reason or another, they aren’t. Hopefully someday the Academy will do right by these creative talents, but until then we must do their job for them. Let’s look back at the year Rupert Murdoch launched the Fox Broadcasting Company, Halley’s Comet crossed the night’s sky, The Oprah Winfrey Show debuted, the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl exploded, the Hands Across America charity event took place, and the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after takeoff. It is time to examine the films of 1986, celebrated at the Oscars in 1987. Let’s see what could have been!
Best Stunts and Choreography
Given to the best achievement in dance, stunts, related performances, and overall choreography for film.
And the nominees are… Aliens, Big Trouble in Little China, Cobra, Platoon, Top Gun
And the winner is… Top Gun!
I would like to say that this was a close call. It wasn’t. Top Gun was a phenomenon. Not just in its soundtrack and cultural impact, but in its action and how it was captured on film. While there are some awkward editing cuts, even parts in the final battle in which we see the same shot multiple times, this doesn’t change the fact that the stunts themselves were tremendous. The aerial feats accomplished by these pilots are still stunning decades later. The inverted dives, barrel rolls, and multiple jets pulling helix maneuvers in close proximity is stunning. You get whiplash just by seeing it, and you love every second of it. Top Gun is doing more with these jet sequences than most action movies do throughout their entire runtime. It absolutely deserves the Oscar gold. Plus, there’s some hilarious homoerotic volleyball action. That has to count for something, right? …Right?
Best Performance by Voiceover or Motion Capture
Given to the best off screen voice performance, or on screen motion captured performance, for film.
And the nominees are… Barrie Ingham as Basil of Baker Street in The Great Mouse Detective, Nehemiah Persoff as Papa Mousekewitz in An American Tail, Vincent Price as Professor Ratigan in The Great Mouse Detective, Levi Stubbs as Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors, Mayumi Tanaka as Pazu in Castle in the Sky
And the winner is… Levi Stubbs as Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors!
Again, another in the, “This one wasn’t even close, but thanks for coming out? category. Because Stubbs is nothing short of exceptional as our evil man-eating plant from outer space in Little Shop of Horrors. He brings so much verve and energy to this performance, a level of exuberance that few voice actors, or any performing actors for that matter, ever seem to deliver. From his sultry, smooth voice, hilarious line readings, and powerful singing, he owns every scene he’s a part of, and he’s not even on the screen. He created an iconic performance that stage performers are still replicating to this day. He became Audrey II. He actually brought a plant to life, and for that, Stubbs deserves the Oscar.
Best Performance by an Ensemble Cast
Given to the best overall ensemble cast performance for film.
And the nominees are… Blue Velvet, Hannah and Her Sisters, Little Shop of Horrors, Platoon, Stand by Me
And the winner is… Hannah and Her Sisters!
This was actually a fairly stacked category. You could go back and watch all five of these nominated films and get a solid range of different ensemble performances, each of which had a good shot at winning this award. But, as is tradition with a Woody Allen movie, Hannah and Her Sisters is a tour de force of ensemble acting, and it stands above the competition. Though the titular Hannah is actually not in the movie that much, Mia Farrow still does a solid job when she’s there. But the main group consisting of Barbara Hershey, Dianne Wiest, Michael Caine, and Allen are fantastic. You’ve even got complementary performances from the likes of Carrie Fisher, Max von Sydow, and Sam Waterston to round out the movie. Everyone delivers fully realized and unique characters who are blessed with subtlety and nuance, which helps to create dynamic scenes with tension and emotion. There’s resentment, jealousy, lust, hope, paranoia, anger, and love all wrapped up into these characters, and not a single person mishandles the script. Everyone is doing a stellar job making Hannah and Her Sisters a deserving winner.
Best Directorial Debut
Given to the best achievement in direction by a debut directing talent for film.
And the nominees are… David Anspaugh for Hoosiers, Howard Deutch for Pretty in Pink, Randa Haines for Children of a Lesser God, Spike Lee for She’s Gotta Have It, Ron Clements, Burny Mattinson, David Michener, and John Musker for The Great Mouse Detective
And the winner is… Spike Lee for She’s Gotta Have It!
Over the decades, Lee has become one of our greatest living directors. His journey to such a legendary status began right here with his impressive debut effort, She’s Gotta Have It. This is a movie that was progressive and ahead of its time, by decades, with its messaging regarding female sexual empowerment, the deconstruction of “ownership” concepts in a relationship, and forward thinking look at dating in a modern world, as opposed to the confines of monogamy. Lee was able to do all this with a tightly constructed script that delivered laughs as much as it delivered emotional moments, all in just 84 minutes. Couple this with getting some strong performances from his cast (that actually just missed being nominated for Best Ensemble), and some sharp framing and cinematography, and it’s no wonder why we have to give Lee the Oscar for this debut.
Best Popular Film
Given to the best audience supported motion picture that earned a spot as one of the top 25 box office films of the year.
And the nominees are… Aliens, The Color of Money, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Platoon, Top Gun
And the winner is… Aliens!
I would imagine that a decent chunk of people thought this would be Top Gun. Platoon would also be a logic pick, as well as the other nominees. Hell, a solid argument could also be made for Stand by Me, which wasn’t even nominated! There were just that many quality movies which also cashed in at the box office this year. But for my money, this has to go to Aliens. It was a massive blockbuster that accomplished a multitude of achievements. First, it solidified James Cameron’s career. After breaking out on the scene with The Terminator, his work with Aliens proved he was a directorial force to be reckoned with. Decades later, the man is still making massive, box office-shattering, epics. Second, this movie brilliantly showed how well modern visual effects could be used to enhance a story and blend genres. It is at once a sci-fi space opera, an action/adventure journey, a spine-tingling horror, and an intense thriller. Riveting from beginning to end, this movie held its audiences captive all those decades ago and still does now. Furthermore, it was a box office smash. Sure, it wasn’t the top money-maker of the year. That honor goes to Top Gun. But Aliens still made $85.1 million at the domestic box office, with a worldwide gross somewhere in the range of $131.1-183.3 million in total (exact numbers aren’t known). For the mid-’80s, that’s quite the haul, making it the third highest global winner for the year behind Top Gun and Crocodile Dundee of all things. Lastly, Aliens had a staggering seven nominations at the Oscars, including two wins. Even more impressive, they weren’t just below-the-line technical nominations. Sigourney Weaver received a Best Actress nomination for her magnificent turn as Ellen Ripley, one of the most iconic action heroines of all time. The legacy of these achievements, paired with the film’s impact on pop culture and lasting history, makes Aliens the right choice for Oscar gold as the Best Popular Film from this year. Game over, man. Game over!
Another month, another Oscar year of looking at what could’ve been. It was a fun trip down memory lane as we looked at several great coming-of-age flicks, a campy military romp that took the world by storm, and one of the greatest space action horrors ever in Aliens. This was a loaded year of blockbusters and awards contenders, a year worth revisiting. Be sure to come back again for the next article when we look at films like Dirty Dancing, The Princess Bride, and Moonstruck. Next month we return to the Oscars of 1988, celebrating the films of 1987!
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