Sunday, December 30, 2012

1982 Was A Hell Of A Summer For Movies



I was 17 that summer and we saw everything new that came out. I so remember $2 Tuesdays. You could see a movie multiple times without it taking a huge chunk of your allowance to do so. It's no surprise that these films were some of the most popular ever released. They made the home video business into something viable and thrilling.

6 comments:

Sam G said...

I have a very special place in my soul for that summer. It was actually a very stressful time in my life...but not as bad as it could have been because I was so wrapped up in these summer movies.

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

1982 had possibly the greatest concentration of science fiction and fantasy movies in a single year. It seems that after "Empire" in 1980, everyone wanted a piece of the genre pie and the studios were willing to greenlight anything in order to get it. But we viewers were the one who got to reap the benefits.

The best runner up year I can think for sheer amount of SF Work would be 1999: Iron Giant, The Matrix, Unbreakable, Galaxy Quest, even the much lauded Phantom Menace. Not to mention there was a big boom on TV with Farscape, Futurama and Batman Beyond.

"No one stays dead in science fiction?" Way to de-value an entire genre dude. Not to mention SPOILERS!

Kal said...

OMG the spoilers! Sean Young is a replicant? Spock dies? WTF? And this was long before the Internet. My head would have exploded to hear that six months before. That moment when Kirk breaks down against the glass and turns away from Spock was harsh. I turned to my buddy and he was as teary as me.

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

Wrath of Khan is still one of my favorite. I remember back in 2010 I watched for the first time in about five years and wondered if it still held up. You'd better believe it did! Even though it was a DVD and I could pause it anytime I wanted and my bladder was begging for sweet relief from all that soda I drank, I just had to see the nebula better all the way until the end!

Only other film can remember having to see it through before I even considered pausing the disc for a bathroom break was during the Bar Shootout in "Inglorious Basterds".

Interestingly enough I finally added both Blade Runner and Wrath of Khan to my collection this past summer. The Director's Cut of Khan was only $7 on Amazon while the Director's Cut of Blade Runner was only $0.50 at the local Salvation Army, and it was still in the plastic wrap!

D.I. Felipe González said...

Great year for Sci Fi, indeed.

Kal said...

And that scene where Khan has Kirk and the Enterprise by the BALLS and he pulls off the greatest save in Star Trek history...then Sulu says 'You did it' like he is surprised that they got out of the shit they were in. That was Trek at it's best and proves what I always say, the hero is only as good as the villain.