The 8 Best ’80s Movie Dads

Father’s Day is upon us, and it’s time to honor thy father — or plop down on your couch to watch 16 hours of ’80s movies featuring some rad dads. It’s been 365 days since Father’s Day, and you should celebrate your paterfamilias once again. We’re sure he’s tired of getting neckties and barbecue equipment, so print this out and stick it in your corny card (bonus points for incorporating the word “dad-itude” in your message). We know one thing’s for sure: the eight best movie dads don’t hold a candle to yours … or do they?

Darth Vader, The Empire Strikes Back

SPOILER ALERT: “Luke, I am your father.”

Although not the greatest father figure to his twin children (blows up daughter’s home planet; cuts off son’s hand), Darth Vader is one badass dad. Not only is he the head of the military arm of the Galactic Empire, he’s also a trained Jedi gone dark. If the Sith lord is your father, watch where you shop. You might find yourself with a fate like Captain Needa’s if you get your Dark Father (that’s Darth Vader, translated) a piano key necktie.
Arnold, Torch Song Trilogy

If you’re gay and your dad is nice about it, if your dad is the sensitive type, or if he’s a New York drag queen, turn on this oft-forgotten gem. Harvey Fierstein’s three ground-breaking plays were adapted to film in 1988, challenging “both gay and straight audiences to champion an effeminate gay man’s longings for love and family.”
Jack, Pretty in Pink

Harry Dean Stanton brilliantly plays a super-devoted single dad that wants the world for his teenage daughter. He’s a depressed alcoholic with a broken heart and a fake job, but Stanton’s undeniably sweet performance gave “the teen-movie genre one of its most nuanced parent roles.”
RoboCop

If you grew up with a cop for a dad, RoboCop still has him beat. Alex Murphy had a son named Jimmy prior to his morphing into the human-robot hybrid that reigns down justice with fist-mounted data spikes. Your dad’s not a cyborg. RoboCop wins.
George McFly, Back to the Future

“Think, McFly! Think!”

If you time-traveled back to salt your dad’s game with your future mom and he manages to love you anyway, that’s the mark of a true blue man. But George McFly couldn’t catch a break in high school. Always being bullied by Biff and upstaged by time-traveling Marty, George has to knock out the school bully before he rightfully wins the woman with whom he has kids.
Clark Griswold, Christmas Vacation (and Vacation)

It may not be December, but the dad from Christmas Vacation deserves a little mid-year love. The bumbling dad doesn’t do anything right, but he certainly loves his kids. Clark Griswold personified ’80s dad-itude with his deadpan deliveries and slapstick humor.
Rocky, Rocky IV

If I can change, and you can change — everybody can change!

Not only one of the top ’80s films, Rocky IV is one of the best movies ever. Rocky watches his best friend die, gives his brother-in-law a robot, flees to the Soviet Union to train to beat a Russian, and single-handedly wins the Cold War. But in his last speech while draped in the American flag, he wishes his son a merry Christmas. That’s a dad worth fighting for.
Ray Kinsella, Field of Dreams

“If you build it, he will come.”

It’s one of the best movies of all time, and Kevin Costner plays a truly fantastic father. Ray Kinsella is a family man that’s plagued with visions of a baseball field in place of his field of Iowa corn. In order to honor his father, he builds the diamond, despite everyone believing him to be crazy. He saves his daughter from choking on a hot dog, hangs out with James Earl Jones, and realizes a dream that honors his father. Ray just might be the greatest dad ever. Happy Father’s Day!