High School Movies to Revisit Before Your Reunion

An iconic high school film, Fast Times introduces us to a variety of relatively fresh faces cast as stereotypical high school characters. Sean Penn’s Jeff Spicoli is the lovable but dope-smoking surfer. Forrest Whitaker’s Charles Jefferson is the superstar jock whose love for football is only eclipsed by that for his muscle car. And who could forget Mr. Hand? Ray Walston’s character seems to strike a familiar chord with just about everyone who’s ever taken a U.S. history course.

The lone musical on our list, and undeniably among the most popular high school movies of all time, Grease tells the story of what happens when summer love meets high school politics. Danny, played by John Travolta, and Sandy, Olivia Newton-John’s character, assume their summer romance is safe from the judgment of their unfriendly peers. When they find themselves enrolled at the same school on the first day of the new year, however, things get complicated.

Nearly all of us, at some point or another, have had a teacher who went above and beyond. She brought the material to life with her passion. He stayed late after class to discuss and share. Sometimes they founded clubs for those hungry to learn more. While others taught you what to think, this special teacher taught you how to think. Dead Poets Society tells the story of one such individual. “No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.”

It’s the last day of the 1976 school year in Texas, and for students at Robert E. Lee High School, it’s all about hazing the incoming freshmen. Relative newcomers Matthew McConaughey and Milla Jovovich headline a cast of characters intent on tormenting their soon-to-be schoolmates, smoking a ton of grass, and kicking off summer with a massive end-of-school party.

Arguably the most famous of the “Brat Pack” films (a series of 1980s coming-of-age movies featuring actors like Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, and Molly Ringwald, among others), The Breakfast Club brings our darkest detention fears to life. Okay, maybe it isn’t quite that dramatic, but Paul Gleason, as Vice Principal Richard Vernon, masterfully portrays the kind of administrator you’d walk through a rainy courtyard to avoid in the hallways.

A senior skip day classic, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off seems to have it all: the car, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT convertible; the girl, Mia Sara as Sloan Peterson; an unforgettable villain in Principal Ed Rooney; and a whole system of 1980s contraptions—intended to trick everyone into thinking Ferris is sick—that would’ve made MacGyver swoon. If you’ve never seen this one, you’re in for a treat.

Oh, unrequited teenage love! Corey Haim’s Lucas introduces us to high school heartbreak alongside a cast that includes Kerri Green as the love interest, Charlie Sheen as the hunk (and Lucas’s competition), and future stars Winona Ryder and Jeremy Piven. Though there’s no fairy tale ending, the film does a good job balancing comedy, emotional complexity, and the coming-of-age theme of self acceptance.

Starring a great ensemble cast (including Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, and Harrison Ford), American Graffiti follows a group of recent high school grads on their last night of summer vacation as they wrestle with some big (and not-so-big) decisions. Both funny and bittersweet, this film gives a nostalgic window into teen life in the early 1960s – and was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.

Which group did you run with in high school? Were your friends more like Jeff Spicoli or the Pink Ladies? Did you have a teacher like John Keating or a group like the Dead Poets Society? Are there other high school films you’d add to our list?