1982 - A great year for movies

Cafe Society
21

1984:

Best:

Terminator
Indian Jones and The Temple Of Doom
Beverly Hills Cop

Second Best:

Dune
Once Upon A Time In America
Ghostbusters
The karate Kid
Sixteen Candles
Footloose
Gremlins
Red Dawn
This Is Spinal Tap

1994:

Best:

The Shawshank Redemption
Pulp Fiction
Forrest Gump
The Lion King (I really don’t consider animated movies, movies, but… )
Natural Born Killers
Legends Of The Fall
Clerks
Second best:

Speed
Interview With The Vampire
The Crow
Ed Wood
The Professional
Stargate

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=17377571

22

And yet…

23

I’ll agree with 1982 being a great year for movies, especially the summer. I saw a lot of them that year. In addition to those listed by the OP, we had:

**The Atomic Café

Annie

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid

Victor Victoria

Firefox** (Great effects!)

**Swamp Thing

Poltergeist** (as Ellis Dee already observed)

It also saw the re-release of Disney’s Bambi, which I had never seen before (although I grew up on the Disney record of it)

Between The Thing, Star Trek II, Tron, and Bladerunner, it was a helluva summer for science fiction (I exclude ET, because I HATE ET.)

24

For 1984 you missed Amadeus, one of my all-time favorite movies.

25

yes, i seem to remember it being quite good

26

It seems that discerning film quality isn’t a strong suit.
The 1982 list is largely filled with forgettable pap that pandered to the masses and which does’t even influence most modern film.

27

Many of those films are among the most highly regarded in film history. Most of the 1982 films are barely shown on modern television.

28

You take that back or we’re going outside

29

ROFL! What a load of film-school snobbery!
“Pandered to the masses”…Oh my GOD! How clichéd can you get?

30

Ok, let’s go outside.

31

Yes, but all those films were crippled by the Hayes Code. Not what they might have been. The 1982 batch, despite their weaknesses, could at least express themselves freely.

32

Which makes it even more remarkable that those films are so great.

Grease 2 was not then, and is not now, highly regarded. Look at the imdb ratings: Grease 7.2, Grease 2 4.1. That’s a historic level dropoff for a sequel.

33

that would probably mean something to me
if i cared about film history
but, i prefer movies that are actually: entertaining

34

Blade Runner - dark; saw it fairly recently; not sure I liked it all that much (despite the fact it had Harrison Ford in it)
ET - I’ve never been interested in watching that one
Fast Times Ridgemont High - one of my all-time favorites (I was in high school at the time)
Conan The Barbarian - I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this one
The Thing - another one of my all-time favorites (did you see the prequel to it by that Danish director a few years back?)
Tron - I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this one
First Blood - was that the first “Rambo” film?
Star Trek II: The Wrath OF Kan - liked it ('course, I was pretty much a sucker for Star Trek films back in the day. To a certain degree I still am)
Rocky III - Saw it. Liked it.
An Officer And A Gentleman - I think I’ve seen this one. It didn’t make much of an impression on me.
48 Hours - Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte, isn’t that right? What ever happened to Eddie Murphy, anyway?
The Man From Snowy River - I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this one. I’ve heard it’s good (maybe I’ll borrow it from the campus library one of these days if I can remember to do so)
The Road Warrior* - I think I’ve seen this one but I don’t remember, for sure. As with An Officer and A Gentleman it didn’t make much of an impression on me

35

I saw Sophie’s Choice for the first time a few years ago. For some reason I’ve never been much of a fan of Meryl Streep’s but she gives a powerful performance in that one. I still bite my lip when thinking about that film’s conclusion.

36

Poltergeist freaked me out. Especially the evil clown doll under the bed. :eek:

37

Guess those films are too highbrow for you.
I suppose that you’ll be looking for to the latest installments of the Fast & Furious and Transformer franchises.

They have things that go BOOM! in them.:smack:

38

I agree. Some great films were made during the Hayes Code era. But that does not change the fact that I think every film made during that time should have an asterisk next to its name.

39

Certainly stronger than your ability to read a room.

40

The summer 1984 was when I fell in love with movies. In hindsight, though, Ghostbusters, Gremlins & Red Dawn aren’t necessarily a cornerstone for which to base one’s newly found passion.

In my time as a moviegoer, I submit** 1999**, which scored big time with smart, mainstream studio movies as well as groundbreaking indies:

The Matrix
Three Kings
Election
The Sixth Sense
Toy Story 2
Being John Malkovich
Run, Lola, Run!
Notting Hill
American Pie
Dogma
Blair Witch Project
South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut
The Iron Giant
The Insider
Office Space
Fight Club
American Beauty (ironically, a mediocre Best Picture)
Magnolia
Boys Don’t Cry
The Talented Mr. Ripley
The Green Mile