1982 - The year of Scifi

Discussion in 'Media Central' started by Demiurge, Sep 13, 2011.

  1. Demiurge

    Demiurge Goodbye and Hello, as always.

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    Will we ever have a better scifi year than 1982?

    STII - The Wrath of Khan
    E.T.
    Blade Runner
    The Thing
    Tron
    The Dark Crystal
    The Secret of Nimh
    Poltergeist

    The first 5 are often considered among the top 25 scifi films of all time.
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  2. We Are Borg

    We Are Borg Republican Democrat

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    Nope. The year was 1977.

    Two of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time were released that year.

    And to break down your list:

    Tron - Highly debatable that this makes into a "top" scifi film list.

    The Dark Crystal - Fantasy, not scifi. And not all that great, either.

    The Secret of Nimh - Good flick but would not count it as scifi

    Poltergeist - Also a good film but not scifi.
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  3. Demiurge

    Demiurge Goodbye and Hello, as always.

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    Let's see, 1997:

    Alien Resurrection
    Contact
    Cube
    The End of Evangelion
    Event Horizon
    Face/Off
    The Fifth Element
    Full Metal Yakuza
    Gattaca
    The Lost World: Jurassic Park
    Men in Black
    Mimic
    Nirvana
    The Postman
    Spaceman S
    Starship Troopers
    The Sticky Fingers of Time
    Zone 39

    Gattaca is considered by some critics to be a great film, but I'd say that's highly debatable and doesn't come close to genre changing classics like Blade Runner or ET, or the best Star Trek film ever.

    Contact? Perhaps you are an uber Sagan fan, but that isn't on any critic's top 25 list. Most of the movies I listed are on most critics top 25 list of scifi, with Blade Runner widely considered to be the greatest of all time.

    The rest of it is fluff or outright crap.

    So I'd be willing to consider other years, but that ain't it.
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  4. We Are Borg

    We Are Borg Republican Democrat

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    Oops. Might want to edit your post to save yourself some embarrassment.
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  5. Diacanu

    Diacanu Comicmike. Writer

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    1980 was no slouch...

    Empire Strikes Back
    Mad Max
    Flash Gordon
    Superman II
    Altered states
    Be forever Yamamoto
    Saturn 3


    And look at the eternal classics in other genres...

    Airplane!
    The Blue Lagoon
    The Blues Brothers
    Caddyshack
    Cannibal Holocaust
    The Elephant Man
    The Fog
    Friday the 13th
    The gods must be crazy
    Herbie goes bananas
    Hero at large
    Ordinary People
    Popeye
    Raging Bull
    The Shining
    Stir Crazy
    Urban Cowboy
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  6. Diacanu

    Diacanu Comicmike. Writer

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    Maybe this is where "the Star Trek curse", REALLY came from, it wasn't just Trek, the even numbered years of the whole 80's were blessed.
  7. Demiurge

    Demiurge Goodbye and Hello, as always.

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    You might as well name your two 'greatest films' out of that list.

    It's already embarrassing, you might as well own it. :D
  8. Spaceturkey

    Spaceturkey i can see my house

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    err... he said 1977, not 1997.
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  9. Demiurge

    Demiurge Goodbye and Hello, as always.

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    Doh! :)

    OK, me and my dyslexia will take a look at that:

    Close Encounters of the Third Kind
    Damnation Alley
    Demon Seed
    Empire of the Ants
    Hardware Wars
    The Island of Dr. Moreau
    The People That Time Forgot
    Star Wars
    Starship Invasions
    The War in Space
    Welcome to Blood City
    Wizards

    Not a lot of films that year. Star Wars and Close Encounters are worthy contenders.

    However, vs Blade Runner, Wrath of Khan, ET, the Thing, and Tron (which was groundbreaking for its computer animation and prescient concerning our video gaming culture) I'd have to give it to 82 myself.

    Maybe we should do a poll for contenders. :)
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2011
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  10. Paladin

    Paladin Overjoyed Man of Liberty

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    Oh, COME ON! Saturn 3 was an incredible slouch. Just awful in almost every respect. They even re-dubbed Harvey Keitel's voice, for cryin' out loud.

    Blade Runner and E.T. are bona-fide classics of the genre, and The Thing and Wrath of Khan are great films (though I'd say more in the horror and space opera genres, respectively), but TRON is a footnote in cinema history, notable only for its early use of computer graphics.

    I'd argue that none of these are nearly as influential or significant as Star Wars or Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Yes, E.T. was big box office, but it was essentially a kid's movie and I know of few movies geeks who would say it's Spielberg's best. Blade Runner was panned and over-looked when it was released; recognition of its greatness is a fairly recent phenomenon.
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  11. Diacanu

    Diacanu Comicmike. Writer

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    But you remember it, don't you?
    Bam, it's a classic.
    :diacanu:


    Ope, ope, slow down there.

    Looking at it now with our modern computer literacy, and the history that's taken place since, the code cracks open, and it's an allegory to the computer industry back then.

    It more than any other sf flick predicted the world we're living in right now.

    Well, that, and Blade Runner...but the simulants won't be for awhile...

    It may not be the greatest film, but it's very important.
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  12. Jenee

    Jenee Driver 8

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    1977 if for no other reason than Star Wars alone. Damnation Alley is a good film also, but Close Encounters .... I know everyone likes it, but honestly, the only thing I remmber from it is the music and a mountain of mashed potatoes.
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  13. We Are Borg

    We Are Borg Republican Democrat

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    But you remember. And I bet that's still more than you remember from 99% of any other movie you ever saw.
  14. We Are Borg

    We Are Borg Republican Democrat

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    No, Paladin nailed it. It's only important as a footnote in the evolution of computer FX in film. But "predicting" the so-called future neither makes it a good or important movie.
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  15. Mr. Plow

    Mr. Plow Fuck Y'all

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    Didn't The Road Warrior come out in '82? Or was that '83?
  16. Paladin

    Paladin Overjoyed Man of Liberty

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    I remember Kirk Douglas's ass.
    His horrible, horrible naked ass.
    :sob:
    Allegory, shmallegory. I'd rather watch someone play the video game for 90 minutes.
    Oh, yeah? Well, where's my digital Cindy Morgan? Hmmm?
    Bah. It's Alice in Wonderland done with Commodore 64 Logo turtle graphics. :bailey:
  17. El Chup

    El Chup Fuck Trump Deceased Member Git

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    1977 was unquestionably the year of sci-fi. Not because of the number of movies that came out, but because Star Wars changed everything and made sci-fi acceptable to a much wider audience. It paved the way not only for the return of Star Trek but for many other franchise and movies (Alien immediately springs to mind) that would likely not otherwise have been made.

    Similiary the same can be said for 1978 in respect of comiv book movies with the release of Superman.

    It's a shame that these days Hollywood seems even less daring than it was before Star Wars. There do not seem to be ground breaking movies anymore, just formulaic crap.
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2011
  18. Diacanu

    Diacanu Comicmike. Writer

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    "Hollywood", was never daring, just every now and then, once a generation if we're lucky, we get an Alan Ladd Jr, or a Bob Shaye.

    And they invariably end up fired by the cowards.

    :mad:
  19. Diacanu

    Diacanu Comicmike. Writer

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    Yeah, this is what really chaps ya. :diacanu:

    Well, give Japan time to work on the blank robot to download her into.
    :lol:

    Me, I prefer the Olivia Wilde model. :smarm:
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  20. Jenee

    Jenee Driver 8

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    Mad Max came out in '79
    Road Warrior in '81
    Beyond Thunderdome in '85
  21. shootER

    shootER Insubordinate...and churlish Administrator

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    Some things are classic
    Some things are just old
  22. Demiurge

    Demiurge Goodbye and Hello, as always.

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    No, but being a ground breaking computer effects movie that proved CGI could work as the entire background of a movie DOES. It not only predicted the future - it showed the way to get to that future.

    Star Wars is certainly a cultural phenomenon, but it's hardly scifi. It just happens to be set there - the science is quite frankly laughable, and the technology is irrelevant compared to the other themes, and one of those are clearly magic is better than tech.

    Hell, Star Wars wasn't even the best Star Wars film - Empire was! :D
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  23. Jenee

    Jenee Driver 8

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    bite your tongue
  24. Spaceturkey

    Spaceturkey i can see my house

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    why?
    He's right.
  25. Jenee

    Jenee Driver 8

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    no. You're deluding yourself because the bad guys win and you think that's cool cuz it seldom happens in the movies.

    But, Empire is not a stand alone movie, therefore, it cannot possibly be "better". For it to be a better movie, it would have to be a whole movie - a story in and of itself without needing "bookends".
  26. El Chup

    El Chup Fuck Trump Deceased Member Git

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    One wonders what the "Fi" in Sci-Fi means.
  27. El Chup

    El Chup Fuck Trump Deceased Member Git

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    As far as am concerned it can be watched as a standalone, although Lucas has said that he views it as the second act in a 6 hour movie.
  28. Jenee

    Jenee Driver 8

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    You can watch it as a stand alone because you've seen the other two movies. But, Star Wars is the only one of the three that is a stand alone.
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  29. We Are Borg

    We Are Borg Republican Democrat

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    Jenee's right, whether you guys want to admit it or not.

    ESB is my favourite of the trilogy, but there can be no debate about the impact of Star Wars (the first movie) on popular culture. Without SW, there would be no ESB.
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  30. Ancalagon

    Ancalagon Scalawag Administrator Formerly Important

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    I couldn't live without my ESB.

    [​IMG]

    :matt:
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