No stripling movie is complete without an larger-than-life prom night .   They provide such rich symbolic fabric for filmmaker because they tick the instant characters transition from puerility into maturity .   Some are funny and clumsy , and some are joyous solemnisation . Others are even poignant expression on the loss of naturalness .

So , slip into that gimcrack promenade dress , straighten up that bowtie and clip - on that bouquet , because we ’re about to weigh down the best ever movie prom nights .

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

eldritch and kinky comedyNapoleon Dynamitewas a surprisal hit with both audiences and critic and has gained a significant fad following in the year since its sack . It even spawned a dead - live animated TV series .

The plastic film follows the unknown dangerous undertaking of its eponymous booster ( spiel by Jon Heder in his lineament film debut ) as he navigates mellow school in rural Idaho .   The school promenade is fittingly stilted , awkward , and features some hysterically dreadful terpsichore ( and fashion ) .

Footloose (1984)

80s classicFootloosetells the write up of disaffected adolescent Ren McCormack ( Kevin Bacon ) who move from urban Chicago to a small-scale town in Utah to survive with his aunty and uncle .   He soon discovers that motivated by the proselytizing of the local government minister ( the outstanding John Lithgow ) , the townspeople ’s council has put a prohibition on all dancing and rock and roll euphony .

The film features some epically 80s terpsichore sequences – including Kevin Bacon athletically rage - dancing in an empty warehouse .   And it culminate in one of the most joyous promenade night in cinema history as the local adolescent terpsichore in celebration of their frustration over the ban .

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

A mod reimagining of Shakespeare’sThe Taming of the Shrew,10 Things I detest About Youwas a critical and commercial hit and launched the careers of its young asterisk , including Heath Ledger , Joseph Gordon - Levitt , and Julia Stiles .

Cameron ( Gordon - Levitt ) desire to ask democratic Bianca ( Larisa Oleynik ) to their school promenade , but her overprotective Father-God ( Larry Miller ) has enforce a strict rule : Bianca can only go steady if her social outcast sister Kat ( Stiles ) is also dating .   So , Cameron and Bianca hatch a programme to convince gamey school bad male child Patrick ( Ledger ) to ask out Kat .

Things seem to be working until the night of the promenade , when arrogant Joey ( Andrew Keegan ) , who has spent the movie sleazing on Bianca , reveal the plan to Kat .   you could probably guess how it all ends , but the prom scene is still memorable for some great 90s outfits , as well as the moment Bianca punches Joey in the face .

Ben Affleck as Christian drumming his hand on the table while talking to Cynthia Addai-Robinson’s Marybeth in The Accountant 2

American Pie (1999)

teenaged sex comedyAmerican Piecenters on a group of four gamey shoal friends who make a treaty that they will lose their virginities by prom night .   Although the celluloid was a bang with 90s audiences and even breed an intact enfranchisement , many of its gross - out muzzle have n’t get on particularly well by 2020 banner .

The flick culminates at prom night , where the protagonist each fulfill their part of the pact – although not in the way any of them would have expected .   And while the moving-picture show has some rum – and perhaps even affecting – moments , revisit it 20 eld after its first press release makes you realize just how far popular posture towards issues like consent have shifted since the 90s .

Lady Bird (2017)

Teen come - of - age filmLady Birdfollows Christine “ Lady Bird ” McPherson ( Saoirse Ronan ) as she fight to come to footing with the complex demand of her bulk large adulthood .   praise by critics , the pic marked the directorial debut ofGreta Gerwigand was nominated for five Academy Award , including Best Picture .   Ronan also picked up a Best Actress nomination for her role .

After trying to ingratiate herself with the copious , democratic coterie at her hard-and-fast Catholic eminent school in Sacramento , prom night marks a second of self - actualisation for Lady Bird .   She ditches the democratic kids and instead choose to reunite with childhood friend Julie ( Beanie Feldstein ) – an bit that shows how she has come to respect herself and her past tense .

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

The screenplay for 80s teen classicFast Times at Ridgemont Highwas written by Cameron Crowe , adapted from his own gonzo book about his experience going hush-hush as a bookman at a Southern California gamy school . So , while the cinema is ostensibly a drollery , it deals with some lawful - to - biography number confronting teens , such as drug , abortion , and nonaged sex .   It also feature a great ensemble cast of future stars , including Jennifer Jason Leigh , Forest Whitaker , Judge Reinhold , Sean Penn , and even a brief cameo from a untested Nic Cage .

Ridgemont High ’s prom night come towards the ending of the film and serve as a orderly little plot equipment to demonstrate the ways in which the various character have matured over the school year .   Plus , you get to see perpetually stoned surfer dude Jeff Spicoli ( Penn ) jump on stage to sing the forgotten classical song “ Wooly Bully ” with the band .

Pretty in Pink (1986)

write by John Hughes , teen rom - comPretty in Pinkis another enduring classic of the 80s .   The motion-picture show stars Molly Ringwald as Andie Walsh , a teen from a work - year screen background get up in suburban Chicago , and features a stiff supporting cast including Jon Cryer , James Spader , and Harry Dean Stanton .

The movie has one of the best new waving soundtracks in picture palace , including Sung by The Smiths , Echo and the Bunnymen , and INXS , not to mention the hit song by the Psychedelic Furs that lent the moving picture its title . Plus , the climactic scene at the school prom features Molly Ringwald in her iconic homemade pink dress , an image that has become almost synonymous with 80s teen motion picture .

After Marty McFly ( Michael J. Fox ) travel back in prison term to the night his parents met at their high shoal saltation , he must check that he does n’t accidentally do anything to jeopardize their love story .   If he does , he runs the peril of pass over himself out of creation .   Unfortunately for Marty , instead of strike for his dad ( Crispin Glover ) , his mom ( Lea Thompson ) seems more smitten with him .

In a dusty landscape Finn stares out into the distance in Star Wars: The Force Awakens

She’s All That (1999)

An update onMy Fair Lady , iconic late 90s stripling romantic comedyShe ’s All Thatstars Freddie Prinz Jr. as cocky Zachary Siler , who makes a stakes with his friend Dean ( Paul Walker ) that he could bend any missy in school into the Prom Queen . As the matter of their experimentation , Dean selects diffident art student Laney Boggs ( Rachael Leigh Cook ) .

The film follow a predictable path to the climactic prom night , with Zachary finally ingratiating himself with Laney , and the two falling for one another despite their difference , only for the secret bet to be discovered by Laney and yada yada yada .   The true glory of this movie ’s prom night is n’t in its significance to the forgettable secret plan , but rather the incomprehensible moment the total schoolhouse suddenly break into a pre - choreographed saltation to Fatboy Slim ’s “ The Rockafeller Skank . ”

Carrie (1976)

The gramps of high school day prom pic is Brian De Palma ’s 1976 horror classicCarrie . The first picture to be adapted from a novel by Stephen King , it star a young Sissy Spacek as the titulary teenager with clandestine telekinetic might and Piper Laurie as her fanatically religious and abusive mother .

Social Ishmael Carrie believe she may have finally been accept by her schoolfellow after she is crowned Prom Queen .   However , unbeknown to her , the whole affair has been orchestrated as a prank to humiliate her . While she is on stage accepting her crest , rowdy strike down a bucket of pig ’s roue over her headland , resulting in one of the most iconic images – and promenade nights – in cinema history .

NEXT:10 Best Teen Horror Movies , Ranked ( According To IMDb )

A collage image of Luke Skywalker in A New Hope

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Napoleon Dynamite standing in front of yellow lockers in school corridor.

Kevin Bacon at a party in the film Footloose.

10 Things I Hate About You Cropped

Most Awkward Movie Sex Scenes American Pie

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Fast Times At Ridgemont High

Jon Cryer and Mollie Ringwald in Pretty in Pink

Back to the future

Rachael Leigh Cook in She’s All That

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