The 1980s were an era defined by bold music, flamboyant hairstyles, and distinctive fashion. It was also a golden age for cinema, with box office giants such as “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back,” and “Batman” achieving unprecedented financial success. This boom in moviegoing extended to a wide range of genres, including award-winning dramas like “Rain Man” and “Platoon,” hit comedies such as “Tootsie” and “Beverly Hills Cop,” and impactful dramas like “On Golden Pond.” While many of these films have remained cultural touchstones, others quickly faded from public memory despite their initial popularity.

Let’s explore five films from the ’80s that were box office sensations but have since slipped into obscurity. These selections are based on their impressive earnings compared to their enduring cultural presence. By examining the top-grossing films of each year, we aimed to identify the titles that once captured audiences but now rarely spark conversation. Although you might stumble upon one of these movies while channel surfing, the likelihood of staying tuned or adding them to your streaming watchlist is slim.

In “Back to School,” we meet Thornton Melon, portrayed by Rodney Dangerfield, a wealthy businessman lacking a college degree. As his son Jason begins his university journey, Thornton decides to join him, enrolling in college himself. Jason struggles to fit in, while Thornton falls for his literature professor, Dr. Diane Turner, who is dating the college dean, Dr. Philip Barbay. Despite his initial focus on partying, Thornton is motivated to hit the books when his son’s academic future is at risk. The stakes rise when Dean Barbay discovers Thornton has been paying others to complete his assignments.

Cast: Rodney Dangerfield, Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Keith Gordon, Adrienne Barbeau, Robert Downey Jr., Sam Kinison, Ned Beatty

There was no more unlikely movie star than Rodney Dangerfield, a stand-up comic who became a leading man in late middle age after the financial success of 1980’s “Caddyshack.” 1986’s “Back to School” was the apex of his stardom, making over $91 million at the domestic box office and becoming the fourth highest grossing film of the year. Today, it feels like a product of a bygone era, in which laughs could be mined from randy slackers chasing nubile coeds around campus. Perhaps its greatest legacy is as the basis for an episode of “The Simpsons,” “Homer Goes to College,” in which Homer discovers campus life isn’t exactly like it is in the movies.

Cast: Rodney Dangerfield, Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Keith Gordon, Adrienne Barbeau, Robert Downey Jr., Sam Kinison, Ned Beatty

Director: Alan Metter

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 96 minutes

Where to watch: Prime Video, MGM+, Apple TV

To celebrate the beauty of the Interstate Highway and protest strict traffic laws, a group of racers gathers in Connecticut to kick off an unofficial cross-country race. Each driver will try to reach the West Coast in the shortest possible time, and they’ll employ a series of disguises and tactics to keep the police from pulling them over. The story is based on the 1979 Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash.

Burt Reynolds’ star power throughout the 1970s and ’80s was so great that he could take a critically reviled turkey like “The Cannonball Run” and turn it into a massive box office success. A reunion between Reynolds and his “Smokey and the Bandit” director Hal Needham, it appealed to the same Southern audiences that turned that movie into a hit in 1977. Featuring a cast of TV veterans, Rat Pack alumni, and even James Bond (Roger Moore), “The Cannonball Run” became the sixth highest grossing film of 1981 and spawned two sequels: 1983’s “Cannonball Run II” and 1989’s “Speed Zone” (which featured almost none of the original cast, save Jamie Farr). Despite grossing a combined $88 million, the “Cannonball Run” series is really only notable today as one of the few movie franchises with only rotten scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an ignominious honor if ever there was one.

Cast: Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Farr

Director: Hal Needham

Rating: PG

Runtime: 95 minutes

Where to watch: Buy on Amazon

Fresh out of the U.S. Army, Brian Flanagan (Tom Cruise) starts hunting for a high-paying executive job in New York City. Instead, he takes a job bartending in order to pay his way through business school. His boss, Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown), shows him the ropes of flair bartending, and before long, he’s a favorite of the Big Apple’s nightlife scene. Brian decides to drop out of college and join Doug in his venture to open a chain of high-end nightclubs, yet their partnership dissolves when both men vie for the affections of an attractive photographer, Coral (Gina Gershon). Bartending in Jamaica in the hopes of opening his own place, Brian falls in love with an American artist, Jordan Mooney (Elisabeth Shue), but his envy of Doug’s financial success clouds his judgment.

Tom Cruise has been a bankable leading man ever since his 1983 breakout “Risky Business,” and he had a golden touch throughout the 1980s that included “Top Gun,” “The Color of Money,” and “Rain Man.” He even made a box office success out of “Cocktail,” which earned over $78 million and became the eighth highest grossing film of 1988, despite receiving abysmal reviews. Even the most die hard Cruise fans find little to champion in “Cocktail,” which takes his obsessive, charming, and relentlessly ambitious star persona to absurd places.

Cast: Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, Elisabeth Shue, Lisa Banes, Laurence Luckinbill, Kelly Lynch, Gina Gershon

Director: Roger Donaldson

Rating: R

Runtime: 104 minutes

Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV

After being fired from their respective day jobs, aspiring playwright Skip Donahue (Gene Wilder) and struggling actor Harry Monroe (Richard Pryor) decide to leave New York City and make a fresh start in California. While in Arizona, they take a temporary gig wearing woodpecker costumes to promote a bank opening. When their costumes are used by criminals to rob that same bank, Skip and Harry find themselves behind bars. Desperate to break out, they see an opportunity for escape during the annual prison rodeo competition.

After the success of 1976’s “Silver Streak,” Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor became a bona fide box office duo. The pair reunited for 1980’s “Stir Crazy,” which grossed over $101 million (almost double “Silver Streak’s” $51 million) and became the second highest grossing film of the year, behind “The Empire Strikes Back.” You’d think that would give the Sidney Poitier-directed comedy some kind of staying power, but when’s the last time you heard anyone talk about “Stir Crazy”? Even among Wilder and Pryor fans, its legacy pales in comparison to the comedic heights of “Silver Streak” (although its reputation is markedly better than their next film, the critically panned “See No Evil, Hear No Evil,” with Pryor as a blind man and Wilder as a deaf man who witness a murder).

Cast: Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Georg Stanford Brown, JoBeth Williams, Miguel Ángel Suárez, Craig T. Nelson, Barry Corbin

Director: Sidney Poitier

Rating: R

Runtime: 111 minutes

Where to watch: Prime Video, Tubi, Apple TV

Architect Peter Mitchell (Tom Selleck), cartoonist Michael Kellam (Steve Guttenberg), and actor Jack Holden (Ted Danson) share an apartment in New York City. While Jack is shooting a B-movie overseas, Peter and Michael get a surprise when an infant girl winds up on their doorstep. They’re shocked to learn the baby is Jack’s, and they do their best to take care of baby Mary, guided by their landlady, Mrs. Hathaway (Cynthia Harris). Their attempts at dual fatherhood are thwarted when a package of heroin arrives, and when a pair of drug dealers show up looking for their goods, they mistakenly give them a can of Mary’s baby formula. Jack returns and helps Peter and Michael care for his baby while simultaneously trying to trap the drug dealers.

Despite its ludicrous plot, “Three Men and a Baby” became the highest grossing film of 1987, raking in more than $167 million at the domestic box office. Its sequel, 1990’s “Three Men and a Little Lady,” didn’t manage to crack the year-end top 10, a reflection of how quickly the cultural relevance of the Leonard Nimoy-directed farce had faded. Perhaps the first film’s financial success can be attributed to a “you had to be there to understand it” type of moment, but then again, that pretty much summarizes all of the 1980s.

Cast: Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, Ted Danson, Cynthia Harris, Margaret Colin, Celeste Holm, Nancy Travis, Philip Bosco

Director: Leonard Nimoy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 102 minutes

Where to watch: Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV