Obviously, Dorothy’s red pumps from The Wizard of Oz are among the absolute most famous shoes ever in film, but for this article we’re gonna stay a bit more modern for ya. Below, we’re going to take a journey back with you to some awesome movies you’ll likely remember from your youth—and each just happens to feature an important cameo from a pretty amazing shoe.
From Benny “The Jet’s” PF Flyers in The Sandlot to Marty McFly’s crazy futuristic Nike Air Mag’s in Back to the Future Part II, the following are five of the most iconic shoes in film history!
If you remember The Goonies, you’ll remember Data. Kid always had a literal trick up his sleeve or a “booty trap” in his arsenal. One of his tricks was, of course, his “slick shoes,” which were actually a customized pair of Nike Sky Force His that had their heels hollowed out and fitted with a spring and a latch. Peep the video:
If you’re not a fan of The Sandlot, we’re not sure we can be friends. Seriously, you’re killing us, smalls. It’s a great baseball movie but an even better coming-of-age story. And in it, Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez relied on the sheer awesomeness of his PF Flyers to tackle the hefty task of taking on “The Beast.”
Forrest Gump was a triumphant cinematic achievement upon its release in 1995, netting lead actor Tom Hanks his second “Best Actor” Oscar in a row (directly on the heels of his performance in 1994’s weighty Philadelphia). Of course, we all know Forrest was all about running, whether cross country or simply through the end zone, and the “Just Do It” nature of the Nike Air Cortez were the perfect fit for Gump.
This one throws it back pretty far (1988) to one you may not be acquainted with, but should be—Big. It’s another Tom Hanks joint, and in the Penny Marshall-directed film (the first by a female director to gross more than $100 million), Hanks and the late Robert Loggia act out one of the truly iconic scenes in film history at FAO Schwarz in New York. It took a specially designed giant toy piano and a cameo by the Nike Air Force IIs, but movie magic happened:
You knew we had to feature Back to the Future II’s Nike Air Mag’s and their sublime power laces, right? The producers of the film approached Nike and requested they create a shoe that looked straight out of 2015 (remember, this was 1985 we’re talking about). The development process was helmed by the legendary Nike designer, Tinker Hatfield.
You can hear more about the development process here. Notably, on Oct. 21, 2015—the same date Marty McFly traveled to the future in the 1985 film—Nike announced their self-lacing, real-life version of the Nike Air Mag, which went on sale in limited quantities in Oct. 2016 to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Cool shoes for a good cause!