‹ All movies
The Legend of Billie Jean poster

The Legend of Billie Jean

year 1985decade 80sdirector Matthew Robbinsgenre Drama / Action

96 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Helen Slater Billie Jean Davy
Keith Gordon Lloyd Muldaur
Christian Slater Binx Davy
Richard Bradford Mr. Pyatt
Peter Coyote Lieutenant Larry Ringwald
Martha Gehman Ophelia Jacks
Yeardley Smith Putter Jacks
Barry Tubb Hubie Pyatt
Dean Stockwell Mr. Muldaur

The Legend of Billie Jean | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryan
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

Apex Mountain

Five personal teenage-crush favorites are discussed, with additions and eligibility exclusions.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:26Read transcript
  • The retrospective list is framed around the speaker’s own high-school years and five favorite high-school movie characters.
  • The five named favorites are Kelly Preston in Secret Admirer and Mischief, Helen Slater in Billie Jean, Joyce [transcribed Heiser] in Just One of the Guys, an garbled Karate Kid actress, and Mia Sarah in Ferris Bueller.
  • Jennifer Gray in Ferris Bueller is added.
  • Rebecca D. Moray in Risky Business is excluded because her character is not in high school; Molly Ringwald was not a favorite, and Sean Young in Stripes is excluded as an adult.
  • Winona Rader in Lucas and Amanda Peterson in Can't Buy Me Love are additional examples.

Most Rewatchable Scene

The Invincible exchange montage and the first videotaped haircut reveal receive distinct favorite selections.

In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 00:28:57Read transcript
  • The opening credits with Boys in Town are nominated for immediately establishing the Texas setting.
  • The harassment, escape and accidental shooting at the souvenir store are discussed; the apparent shoulder wound prompts questions about injury realism.
  • The mall exchange with Rebel Yell and marbles is nominated; more time in the mall and more stores are desired.
  • The two mustached cops suggest an unmade buddy-cop film, and Hubie emerging from plants is enjoyed.
  • The Joan of Arc viewing, haircut reveal and rich house are discussed, including the dark rooms, security cameras and bedroom-to-pool slide.
  • Lloyd’s horror masks are compared to Rick Baker; his confident rapport and suit conflict with the impression of a solitary horror enthusiast.
  • The Fair Is Fair tape playing at the police station and the child copying the gesture are praised.
  • The reward-seeking couple shooting at Billie Jean is enjoyed for its absurdity, while another response reserves it for the aged-worst category.
  • The five-minute Invincible montage of Billie Jean being exchanged across Texas is selected as a favorite; the communication network without phones or internet is questioned.
  • The motorcycle ride and crowd appearance are compared jokingly to a live podcast and meet-and-greet.
  • The burning store, discarded merchandise and third use of Invincible close the candidate rundown.
  • The first tape after the haircut is another final scene preference; the accompanying you-look-famous line is singled out.

The most "year the movie came out" thing

The beta camera, local radio and haircut stand out among the 1985 details.

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:39:02Read transcript
  • The music by Pat Benatar, Divinyls and Billy Idol, plus the Honda Elite scooter, are nominees.
  • Panama Jack sun products and gas priced at $1.05 are period details.
  • Watching a wall of televisions for major news is nominated; the beta movie camera is called the winner.
  • Hubie’s patterned jams shorts evoke wearing swim trunks all day.
  • Jimmy J. Judge on C-101 is a major omission from the initial list; all Corpus Christi characters seem to listen to the same station.
  • Craig’s addressed response picks the haircut.
  • Favorite movie-radio-DJ comparisons include Play Misty for Me, Reservoir Dogs, The Warriors, The Fan and The Fog.

What’s Aged the Best?

The villain, mall exchanges, young cast, music and assorted 1980s conventions are praised.

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:42:21Read transcript
  • Mr. Piat is praised as a disgusting, well-drawn villain whose souvenir business fits his rapid merchandising.
  • Mall exchanges gone wrong work well with hiding places, chases and escalators.
  • Young Christian Slater, the haircut phenomenon and the TV interviewer dismissing a woman’s perspective are highlighted.
  • Shoplifting with IOU notes and the unrelated Slaters looking like siblings are enjoyed.
  • Hiding in an empty suburban mansion is a favored device, compared with Beverly Hills Cop II.
  • Cruel teenage villains such as Hubie’s crew, Pretty in Pink bullies and Johnny Lawrence are recalled, with their late realizations.
  • Characters offended by a low ransom value are enjoyed, including Lloyd’s reaction to $10,000.
  • The money-lets-you-get-away-with-anything line and Lloyd’s hostage plan as a ploy to stay near Billie Jean are praised.
  • Mark [transcribed Saffin] is credited with score work and the golf-course song; Win in the End from Teen Wolf is recalled.
  • Stranger Things is suspected of drawing on this film, E.T., Goonies and The Karate Kid, including the haircut and music.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

The wide lake shot and the haircut reveal are admired.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:47:46Read transcript
  • The quiet wide shot of the pair lying on the wooden structure in the lake is admired.
  • The haircut reveal beginning at the pool is praised; Jeffrey Kimball is reported to have also shot Top Gun.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

The abused-child rescue and bounty-seeking couple sequences are nominated.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:50:25Read transcript
  • The Kenny rescue or couple shooting for the reward are offered, with a qualification that the latter is enjoyable despite taking the movie sideways.
  • Yeardley Smith is reported to have questioned Putter’s first-period subplot.
  • Saving Kenny while on the run strains the story, and the grandmother placement prompts a dark joke that she could be worse.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Vermont fantasies, shooting near children, unstable cars, music repetition, adult behavior and the reshoot wig are criticized.

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:51:23Read transcript
  • Binks’s Vermont fantasy rests on a poster and heat avoidance; Hot Dog…The Movie is offered as an imagined influence.
  • Shooting at Billie Jean amid children for a house down payment is condemned; station wagons fishtailing reflect worse car handling, though it improved chases.
  • Invincible is jokingly proposed for fewer or many more repetitions, and an acoustic version for a love scene is imagined.
  • The report that Pat Benatar disliked the film is questioned despite her performing the song; a settle-down response is proposed.
  • The way adults speak to Billie Jean is recalled as an earlier criticism.
  • A reported reshoot wig is criticized for obvious hair discontinuity, especially given the earlier concern over her haircut.

Is There a Better Title for This Movie?

Fair Is Fair might have helped the box office, but The Legend of Billie Jean better supports cult status.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:53:24Read transcript
  • Fair Is Fair is reported as the original title.
  • The alternative title might sell better initially, but the released title is thought to help its later cult identity.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Freeze mass media at this era; Keith Gordon’s performances vary wildly.

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:56:09Read transcript
  • Mass media is imagined stopping at early cable, radio and scarce personal video cameras; the speaker accepts a record-store career in that world and recalls the music of 1984–85.
  • Everybody probably thinks their childhood moment of games or cable TV was perfect.
  • Keith Gordon is proposed as having extreme performance variation: praised here and in Dressed to Kill, criticized in Back to School, with a mixed reconsideration of Christine and a positive Jaws 2 mention.
  • Gordon is praised as a director, particularly A Midnight Clear; The Chocolate War credit is uncertain, and his acting persona is compared to a darker off-brand Matthew Broderick.

Apex Mountain

Helen Slater is disputed; Christian Slater is rejected, while Honda Elite scooters and self-haircuts are endorsed.

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:11Read transcript
  • Helen Slater prompts debate among this film, Supergirl and The Secret of My Success, with box-office failures weighed against the Michael J. Fox opportunity.
  • City Slickers is counteroffered; expectations for Slater are compared to Elizabeth Shoe and Kelly Preston, with a hypothetical Working Girl role.
  • Christian Slater is rejected.
  • Honda Elite scooters are endorsed and Lou Reed’s 1985 advertisement is recalled.
  • Billie Jean’s self-haircut is called unmatched and immediately iconic, leading to COVID haircut memories.
  • Peter Coyote is weighed against Ken Burns narration and E.T.; E.T. is preferred.
  • Billie Jeans prompt comparison of the film, song and tennis player, with uncertainty about the filmmakers’ reaction to the shared name and a Billy the Kid interpretation.
  • Fair being fair and short-haired women are proposed; specific haircut memories remain uncertain.
  • Sturby Beach and Corpus Christi movies are endorsed; Yeardley Smith’s apex is The Simpsons, Barry Tubb’s Top Gun, and Keith Gordon’s Christine; Joan of Arc has other peaks.

Cruise or Hanks?

Young Tom Cruise could play Binks or a sympathetic gang member.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:10:33Read transcript
  • An All the Right Moves-era Tom Cruise is proposed as Binks.
  • His Collateral hair is recalled, and a nice member of Hubie’s gang is another possible role.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

A Brad Ingelsby prestige version and Lloyd’s adult-film sequel are imagined.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:23Read transcript
  • A Corpus Christi prestige version would make Piat a major drug dealer behind a shop front and put Binks into a fentanyl storyline; Billie Jean is proposed as its title.
  • A sequel would turn Lloyd into a Jack Horner-style VHS pornography producer.

Is This Movie Better With…?

Peter Schrager is added to the impersonation roster; Mad Dog questions the rally sharpshooters.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:16:04Read transcript
  • The existing imitation roster is recited, then Peter Schrager is explicitly added with affection.
  • The Schrager imitation treats Billie Jean’s commitment to fairness and response to radio coverage like an athlete’s comeback.
  • The Mad Dog Russo imitation protests sharpshooters targeting Billie Jean at the beach rally.

Just One Oscar

Pat Benatar’s Invincible and Jeffrey Kimball’s cinematography are considered.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:17:05Read transcript
  • Pat Benatar is suggested, but whether Invincible was written for the movie is explicitly uncertain.
  • Jeffrey Kimball’s cinematography is called the best part of the movie, although an Oscar is difficult to justify.
  • Say You, Say Me is recalled as the original-song winner over Power of Love; Invincible is thought a possible nominee rather than established as eligible.