John Hughes earns his title as screenwriting god with this epic and timeless testament to teenage angst and vulnerability, especially given this masterpiece was written in the space of two days.

Hard to believe it went on to become a pivotal coming of age bookmark for an entire generation.

If you were a teenager in the 1980s this movie works as a window inside the glory and the horror of the high school experience; the perception completely dependent upon the clique of which you happened to belong.

But that is what makes the story so relevant. Any teenager anywhere can relate to at least one of the characters portrayed. The clothes may have changed, but the cliques rarely do. There will always be a jock, a brain, a princess, criminal and a basket case.

The story begins when five students arrive for their Saturday detention. They're all pretty different, and aside from Andy (Emilio Estevez) and Claire (Molly Ringwald), they don't even seem to be orbiting in the same universe.

Immediately John Bender, played with conviction by Judd Nelson, assumes the position as troublemaker. We get the sense it's not his first time wearing those particular shoes. Even though principal Richard Vernon (played by the late Paul Gleason) wants to knock off the chip Bender obviously carries on both shoulders, nothing short of a category five hurricane could do the trick.

At first glance, one could dismiss each character, Bender included. Claire is obviously the Queen Bee; spoiled and rich. Andy is the athlete, filled to the brim with a scary combination of testosterone and insecurity. Brian (played by 80s Geek De Jour Anthony Michael Hall), is smart, but a doormat And Allison, the resident outcast Goth forerunner (Ally Sheedy) is just plain weird.

Militant Vernon decides that the best way to handle this motley crew is to force them to write an essay on who they really are, despite the fact that he had already put them all in neat little boxes.

This happens to be the very last thing on Bender's To Do List.

Instead he dominates the room from the get-go. He instantly recognizes that he can antagonize Claire, threaten Andy, terrorize Brian and captivate Allison with a bit of arrogant posturing. That he can annoy Vernon in the meantime ("Does Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe?") is simply a bonus.

Therefore Bender doesn't endear himself to his fellow classmates by continually pushing the envelope and risking everyone's peaceful Saturday - something everyone besides Detention resident Bender - just want to get over with.

Heads begin to butt, and John Bender is the bull.

In a rare but successful move to keep the story contained to minimal locations, the incomparable John Hughes is able to break down the environment and focus the attention on the dialogue, which is both clever and revealing. The strength of the actors' portrayals as diverse young men and women who are just trying to find their place in the world and among each other, makes this a poignant and moving expose into the human condition and how we are socialized.

It is not just a teen movie in any sense of the word.

Behind the scenes, Universal Pictures did not have any confidence in the material and forced Hughes to cut it from its original running time of two and a half hours down to a 97 minute version. And in an obviously very short sighted move destroyed all the deleted scenes.

John Hughes has said in interviews he has the only full copy.

Perhaps one day he'll release the master and we'll get to see the full story as he intended. Until then, this film still stands as a classic that reminds us with heart, humor and heartache that we're all the same, no matter how society wants to categorize us.

A+

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