Preach Paul! And don't forget hits like FRIGHT NIGHT and FLETCH also. In fact here's the top films from that summer...note a few of these were spring releases that played during the summer but you get the drift!
1 Rambo: First Blood Part II $145,393,330 2,074 $150,415,432 May 22 TriStar Pictures
2 Back to the Future $132,664,418 1,550 $211,850,472 Jul 3 Universal Pictures
3 Cocoon $68,685,467 1,163 $76,113,124 Jun 21 Twentieth Century Fox
4 The Goonies $61,389,680 1,705 $61,389,680 Jun 7 Warner Bros.
5 Fletch $50,612,888 1,303 $50,612,888 May 31 Universal Pictures
6 A View to a Kill $50,327,960 1,588 $50,327,960 May 24 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
7 National Lampoon's European Vacation $45,891,591 1,547 $49,364,621 Jul 26 Warner Bros.
8 Pale Rider $41,410,568 1,710 $41,410,568 Jun 28 Warner Bros.
9 Brewster's Millions $40,833,132 1,521 $40,833,132 May 22 Universal Pictures
10 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1985 Re-release
$40,607,502 1,701 $40,607,502 Jul 19 Universal Pictures
11 Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome $36,230,219 1,475 $36,230,219 Jul 12 Warner Bros.
12 St. Elmo's Fire $29,312,201 1,207 $37,803,872 Jun 28 Columbia Pictures
13 Silverado $27,233,723 1,190 $32,192,570 Jul 12 Columbia Pictures
14 Prizzi's Honor $26,657,534 722 $26,657,534 Jun 14 Twentieth Century Fox
15 Beverly Hills Cop $25,941,838 2,006 $234,760,478 Dec 5 Paramount Pictures
16 The Emerald Forest $24,468,550 1,110 $24,468,550 Jul 5 Embassy Pictures
17 Pee-wee's Big Adventure $24,417,782 894 $40,940,662 Aug 9 Warner Bros.
18 Weird Science $23,834,048 1,172 $23,834,048 Aug 2 Universal Pictures
19 Fright Night $21,842,548 1,545 $24,922,237 Aug 2 Columbia Pictures
20 The Black Cauldron $21,288,692 1,276 $21,288,692 Jul 26 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
21 Code of Silence $20,345,361 1,810 $20,345,361 May 3 Orion Pictures
22 Summer Rental $19,569,818 1,595 $24,689,703 Aug 9 Paramount Pictures
23 The Gods Must Be Crazy $15,398,133 147 $30,031,783 Apr 6 Twentieth Century Fox
24 Mask $14,546,693 1,024 $48,230,162 Mar 8 Universal Pictures
25 Follow That Bird $13,961,370 1,129 $13,961,370 Aug 2 Warner Bros.
26 Volunteers $13,484,894 1,560 $19,875,740 Aug 16 TriStar Pictures
27 Teen Wolf $13,231,923 1,425 $33,086,611 Aug 23 Atlantic Releasing Corporation
28 Perfect $12,918,858 1,344 $12,918,858 Jun 7 Columbia Pictures
29 Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment $12,801,795 1,613 $55,600,000 Mar 29 Warner Bros.
30 Desperately Seeking Susan $12,637,307 1,108 $27,398,584 Mar 29 Orion Pictures
31 Witness $12,161,174 1,169 $68,706,993 Feb 8 Paramount Pictures
32 Year of the Dragon $12,085,410 982 $18,707,466 Aug 16 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
33 Lifeforce $11,603,545 1,526 $11,603,545 Jun 21 TriStar Pictures
34 The Return of the Living Dead $11,594,364 1,506 $14,237,880 Aug 16 Orion Pictures
35 Return to Oz $11,137,801 1,238 $11,137,801 Jun 21 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
36 Gotcha! $10,806,919 1,218 $10,806,919 May 3 Universal Pictures
37 Explorers $9,873,044 1,750 $9,873,044 Jul 12 Paramount Pictures
38 Real Genius $9,067,684 990 $12,952,019 Aug 9 TriStar Pictures
39 The Man with One Red Shoe $8,645,411 1,049 $8,645,411 Jul 19 Twentieth Century Fox
40 Secret Admirer $8,622,757 1,300 $8,622,757 Jun 14 Orion Pictures
41 D.A.R.Y.L. $7,840,873 1,100 $7,840,873 Jun 14 Paramount Pictures
42 Just One of the Guys $7,476,561 1,215 $11,528,900 Apr 26 Columbia Pictures
43 Ladyhawke $7,178,178 1,056 $18,432,000 Apr 12 Warner Bros.
44 Red Sonja $6,948,633 1,091 $6,948,633 Jul 5 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Alas we're never going back to those days, it's never going to happen. Studios can make too much money playing it safe and recycling crap. They're even more "corporate" in their programming than they were back then -- I mean the studios may have been corporate owned in 1985 but they still had human beings mostly running them with their own individual tastes.
Either way it's a different game today. The adult/"riskier" projects aren't being configured as films anymore for the MOST part, they're streaming and it makes more sense for them to try and hit the nail on the head with those as a series -- that can keep going -- than make a solitary movie.
Absolutely we're seeing, and have seen, a shift in film. The Academy Awards have never been less culturally significant -- and the fact they've expanded the field to include junk like BARBIE, which never in a zillion years would have even qualified 20, 30, 40 years ago, tells you where the cinema is at. Big ticket "amusement park cinema" is going to be 80% of it.