The Movies of 1986
Trivia, Word Search, and a Quiz
Top Gun is the highest grossing movie this year, just barely beating out second-place Crocodile Dundee. While it initially receives mixed reviews, it quickly expands into additional theaters. This was largely due to its outstanding visual effects and soundtrack, which apparently hyped-up young men so much that the US Navy set up recruiting booths to catch them as they exited the theater. This subsequently led to a documented increase in Navy enlistment of 8% for the year.
Here's some more trivia from the world of cinema in 1986:
- Born this year are Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. Twenty years later they will be together on Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico to begin shooting Transformers (2007). Also born are actors Scott Eastwood and Armie Hammer.
- Sean Bean and Tilda Swinton both make their big screen debuts in the historical drama Caravaggio, as do Jason Priestley and Fred Savage in the fantasy drama The Boy Who Could Fly. Also debuting this year is Jason Patric in the sci-fi adventure Solarbabies, Winona Ryder in the teen comedy drama Lucas, Kevin Spacey in the comedy drama Heartburn, and Paul Walker in the horror comedy Monster in the Closet.
- Timothy Dalton is announced as the fourth actor to portray the fictional spy James Bond after Roger Moore's departure from the role the previous year.
- Actress Sigourney Weaver paves the way for future action heroines with the release of the sci-fi sequel Aliens which outgrosses the original movie.
- Actors dying this year include Scatman Crothers, tough guy James Cagney, and Ray Milland who won the Best Actor Oscar for The Lost Weekend (1945). Otto Preminger, who once directed Scatman Crothers in Porgy and Bess (1959), also dies this year.
1986 Movies Word Search
The movies in the following two word searches were movies released in 1986. Just like all the movies on this page (unless otherwise noted).
The first word search is easy: 20 movie titles hidden in a small 22 × 20 letter grid. The second is more challenging: 36 movie titles in a large 34 × 32 letter grid.
So load your printer with standard 8.5" × 11" paper, download, hit print and start solving. Our PDF files print out beautifully and are always free to download on our site.
More Word Searches
These word search puzzles are on particular movies from 1986. They each have 36 terms hidden in a large 34 × 32 letter grid.
Aliens Platoon Blue Velvet Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
10 Question Quiz on 1986 Movies
How well do you know what came out on the Silver Screen in 1986? Take our quiz and find out. There's no time limit and no scoring. Just have fun!
1. Which actors are The Three Amigos?
2. Jacqueline Bisset was first offered the lead role in Nine 1/2 Weeks before Kim Basinger landed it, beating out other actresses who lobbied hard for the role. Which actress was NOT considered for this movie?
3. Which 1980s band has a cameo in Back to School where they perform their hit single "Dead Man's Party"?
4. The Vietnam War movie Platoon starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, and Willem Dafoe was shot in which country?
5. What is Ally Sheedy's movie Short Circuit about?
6. The screenplay for About Last Night was adapted from what?
7. To get even for a past wrong, in Ruthless People a married couple kidnap their ex-boss's wife and leave a ransom note. What does the ransom note demand in exchange for her safe return?
8. How long did Nick Nolte spend as an actual homeless person in preparation for his role in Down and Out in Beverly Hills, also starring Richard Dreyfuss and Bette Midler?
9. What must James T. Kirk and his 23rd century Enterprise crew retrieve when they travel back to 1986 Earth in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home?
10. What is Jumpin' Jack Flash about?
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