the audience applauded

Just what I expected

Good concept, poorly executed.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Helen Slater, Keith Gordon, Christian Slater and Peter Coyote star in this 1985 drama. Slater (Supergirl) plays Texas teen, Billie Jean Davy who tries to help her brother, Binx (C. Slater) get his scooter fixed. She tries to get the money that's owed for the damages, but becomes a fugitive falsely accused of robbery and a media icon. Gordon (Christine) plays Lloyd, a rich boy Billie Jean finds romance with and Coyote (E.T.) plays cop, Ringwald who tries to find and help her. I grew up watching this and always liked it. Helen & the cast are good in it, I like Craig Sefan's score as well as Pat Benatar's theme song, "Invincible." I recommend this good 80's flick.

I recently purchased the special edition "Fair Is Fair" DVD version of "The Legend of Billie Jean". Partly because I thought it was a fun flashback to the 80s when I thought this movie was so cutting-edge cool when I was still a teenager, partly because it had a soundtrack commentary by stars Helen Slater and Yeardley Smith. I wasn't disappointed.I will say I've watched this movie more than a few times. Each time I am kinda in awe of how blonde and stunning Helen is. She was (still is) a beautiful actress. "City Slickers", "The Secret of My Success" both cast her as the sexy co-star and for good reason. Her sexiness is without question in this movie. This is one of Christian Slater's (no relation) first movies and he's exactly what you'd expect him to be at 15 years old. Yeardley Smith is and always has been a gifted ugly duckling that is as adorable as they get. This is no different. Priceless casting.The story is fairly silly and formulaic. A teenage girl and her brother have their motor scooter trashed by some bullies. The girl goes to the bully's father and demands money for the damages. The dad is worse than the son. They struggle. An accident occurs. The kids go on the lam. Good cop who can read between the lines trails the kids like a bloodhound. Kids become famous outlaws. Big climax at the end. Standard teenage 80s stuff. And it's worth every second of screen time!!!Watching the DVD with the voice-over soundtrack by both Helen and Yeardley made me laugh out loud a few times. It was hilarious listening to these two friends banter back and forth about who did what when and where, the horrible 80s styles and hair now that they're mothers themselves, how their daughters won't even watch it out of sheer horror their mothers were rebellious teenagers (Helen - "We're five minutes into the movie and my daughter has already left." - funny stuff), etc... The fact Helen didn't remember the real actress' name of her own mother character in the movie (Mona Lee Fultz) tells you how raw this audio take is. No editing, just middle-age friends talking into a microphone. It's genuine and even better than this classic 80s flick by itself.The movie is dated, even ridiculous in some cases, and totally awesome (yes, an 80s term)! How can you not sing a few bars of Pat Benatar's "Invincible" in this fantastically cheesy movie? It's self-consciously teeny throughout. Even the adults act more like enabling or overbearing parents than real adults. It's cheerful, uplifting, cool and just plain fun to watch. The writing is irrelevant. Holes in the plot are beside the point. Sit back, slide this piece of 80s nostalgia into your DVD player, put on your headphones, pump up the volume on the headphones at all the right places, and just enjoy the experience.Billie Jean RULES!!! :-)

The mid to late 1980s and early 1990 were the golden age of television for me. Every Summer I would go to my dad's for three to four weeks to visit. I loved hanging out with him as much as I could. However, after he went to bed around 9:00PM every night, the TV came on and the world of cable was waiting for me to ferociously engulf anything I possibly could in the late hours of the night.This period of my life molded my healthy appetite for movies about renegade robots, slashing killers, deadly monsters, troubled teens, and any number of classic actors taking pratfalls for my own pleasure. "The Legend of Billie Jean" just happened to hit HBO and Cinemax around the particular time I was most ready for it.When "The Legend of Billie Jean" was playing every few hours during the Summer of 1986, I had just embraced skateboarding culture and discovered the world of punk rock music. Helen Slater's transformation from homegrown Texan good girl to rebel outlaw really hit home for me subconsciously. Being 13, I highly doubt I put together the fact that I mirrored what I saw on the television. I was in the middle of finding my own identity at that time.There's two ways people should judge the movie. One is as an example of pop and teen culture in 1985. I would say it should get at least an "A" for this aspect. The second way to look at the movie is to gauge whether its message still stands up today. The recurring themes throughout the movie were "Always stand up for yourself no matter what" and "Don't let people walk all over you, no matter how old you are." I believe those principles are just as important today as they were some thirty years ago."The Legend of Billie Jean" is an accurate depiction of PG-13 films made for teens in the early and mid-eighties. There are a lot of kids using bad language. Helen Slater wears some skimpy clothes to attract the "target" audience. We also get some adult situations and violence to top it all off.

Keith Gordon, Helen Slater. Christian Slater...young and beautiful.This is a well done film that gives these young actors and actresses a chance to get started.Cult status is assured from the first viewing.Once again, Keith Gordon does a wonderful job.When Helen Slater appears as "Joan of Arc", it's an almost magical moment.Enjoy "The Legend..." on whatever level it works for you.You will also enjoy Keith Gordon in "All That Jazz", "Static", and other unusual films.Here's Harry Dean Stanton again (remember "Christine"?) These folks work well together.