It was written and directed by the 80s movie genius John Hughes. It stars Matthew Broderick as the title character in what was truly his breakout role, though not his first. I already featured Broderick's first film WarGames in an earlier issue of "Preview Review." The film follows "Ferris," a high school senior, who skips school to spend a day having fun with his best friend "Cameron" (played by Alan Ruck) and his girlfriend "Sloane" (played by Mia Sara). The film also stars Jennifer Grey as his sister and Jeffrey Jones with a perfect performance as "Principal Ed Rooney."

I consider it one of the best movies of the 80s decade and I still enjoy watching it very much today. Here is the original trailer for Ferris Bueller's Day Off...

The real reason I chose to feature Ferris Bueller's Day Off this week is a thread that I read on MetaTalk which brought up an interesting alternate take on the movie. Here is what was posted there by someone called "Cool Papa Bell":

My favorite thought-piece about Ferris Bueller is the "Fight Club" theory, in which Ferris Bueller, the person, is just a figment of Cameron's imagination, like Tyler Durden, and Sloane is the girl Cameron secretly loves.

One day while he's lying sick in bed, Cameron lets "Ferris" steal his father's car and take the day off, and as Cameron wanders around the city, all of his interactions with Ferris and Sloane, and all the impossible hijinks, are all just played out in his head. This is part of the reason why the "three" characters can see so much of Chicago in less than one day -- Cameron is alone, just imagining it all.

It isn't until he destroys the front of the car in a fugue state does he finally get a grip and decide to confront his father, after which he imagines a final, impossible escape for Ferris and a storybook happy ending for Sloane ("He's gonna marry me!"), the girl that Cameron knows he can never have.

Those of you who have not seen Fight Club might not get the perspective, but those who have might find this intriguing. If you read the rest of the thread at the link above, you will find some interesting comments and debate. This really started me thinking and, though I ultimately came to the conclusion that it was highly unlikely the intention of John Hughes, it was quite the fascinating point of view. I thought I would share this with all of you in the hopes you would enjoy the possibility yourself.

That'll do it for another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Hope you enjoy the "Preview Review" issues and please let me know if there are any 80s movies that you want to see me cover. Thanks as always for reading. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column to find any other issues you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: There are two 80s icons who star in a direct-to-DVD movie release. Debbie (now going by Deborah) Gibson was the late 80s pop star with such hits as "Only In My Dreams," "Foolish Beat" and "Lost In Your Eyes." Lorenzo Lamas was the popular hunk actor who starred on Falcon Crest. They both star in this movie called Mega-Shark vs. Giant Octopus (coming May 26th) that looks so awful and campy, that I might just want to see it. What do you think?

Quote of the day: Here is a quote within a quote from this issue's movie - "A person should not believe in an '-ism,' he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon, 'I don't believe in Beatles, I just believe in me.'" - "Ferris Bueller" played by Matthew Broderick in Ferris Bueller's Day Off