Summer of 1982 Science Fiction/Fantasy movies:
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Universal): $359.2 million
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Paramount): $78.9 million
- Poltergeist (MGM): $76.6 million
- Conan the Barbarian (Universal): $76.6 million
- Tron (Disney): $33 million
- Blade Runner (Warner Brothers): $27.6 million
- The Road Warrior (Warner Brothers): 23.7 million
- The Thing (Universal): 19.9 million. (p. 242-243):
“The results for 1982 are now in: The year was a box-office bonanza for movie-makers. More than $3.4 billion worth of tickets were sold across the country, a box-office record.” –Aljean Harmetz, New York Times (p. 246)
Chris Nashawaty’s The Future Was Now: Madmen, Mavericks, and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer of 1982 takes a deep dive into the eight movies Nashawaty claims set the movie industry on a whole new course. Nashawaty writes about how these films got to be made despite some long odds.
Steven Spielberg, at the height of his powers, conceives E.T. as an unusual family tale–and is initially rejected by Columbia’s Frank Price. Then Spielberg takes over the troubled production of Poltergeist, a horror film he had been working on for years. More problems.
Ridley Scott, with his success with Alien, jumps at the opportunity to tackle a Philip K. Dick story that becomes Blade Runner-a box office failure that became a cult classic. But the production was a nightmare.
Nashawaty’s stories of how films like Tron, Conan the Barbarian, and The Thing got made are also fascinating.. Since these three films were “outside the box” the directors faced endless complaints and problems from film executives.
Nashawaty argues these films presented a fabulous turning-point in Hollywood history. The market for high-concept films, rabid fanbases, incredible merchandising potential, and the prospect of endless sequels. If you’re interested in Hollywood movie history, The Future Was Now reveals plenty of secrets! How many of the Nashawaty’s eight films have you seen? GRADE: A
I’ve seen five of them. 1982 certainly was a different time & place. I think reading this book would be a little depressing—because it shows the beginnings of the sequel-mania/product-mania/comic-book universe that now dominates the entertainment sector.
Deb, Hashawaty makes a strong case for exactly what you believe: sequel-mania/product-mania/comic-book universe dominates the entertainment sector. DEAD POOL AND WOLVERINE was the top movie again this weekend.
I’ve seen them all, of course. Could have done without TRON.
Jerry, Disney thought TRON was the future of movies. Oops!
Well, it was the best Saturday morning cartoon I’d seen (about as much as I can say for it). Saw it in the company of a number of young women, including two I was very much attracted to, which probably didn’t hurt much.
Todd, TRON led to more dramatic and advanced Special Effects in movies.
No, George. THE BLACK HOLE was the future of movies. Double oops!
Jerry, you are so right! Disney’s SF movie plans really fell into THE BLACK HOLE after that flop!
I saw all of them at a movie theater except TRON. Do we not make movies of that caliber anymore or am I just not going to them?
I think you mostly give them a miss. Aside from BLADE RUNNER (and even there, it has some aspects of banana oil), it’s a pretty bubble-gummy mix. Though THE ROAD WARRIOR was a definite improvement over MAD MAX, likewise ST 2: KHAN over ST: THE MOTIONLESS PICTURE which I suspect Harlan Ellison wasn’t the only one to call it).
Patti, I think the kind of movies made pre-1982 are seldom made any more. Hollywood is more interested in blockbusters and movie franchises than quality.
I’ve seen five in entirety, only bits of POLTERGEIST (I was already very tired of Spielberg by then), CONAN and THE THING. What I saw of the latter three didn’t make me burn to see the whole picture as yet.
Todd, the plans were to have a CONAN movie ever two years like the James Bond films. Only, by the third CONAN movie, the franchise flopped.
I remember this summer very well and sensed at the time that it marked a turning point for science fiction and fantasy in popular culture. I saw everything here. I caught “E.T.” on one of those great wraparound Cinerama screens and liked it at the time but it hasn’t aged well for me (nor has Spielberg). Speaking of Spielberg, “Poltergeist” should have been a taunt, intimate little horror film but he steered it into a messy, jokey effects-laden mess. I was once naive enough to be excited about CGI but “Tron” looked like it had been filmed with a Xerox machine and hand colored by a child. Still, at least Disney was taking chances back then.
“Road Warrior” was good popcorn for its time but I’d never watch it again and have no interest in the recent sequel/prequels-whatever-the-hell they are. “Conan” looked great with all the concept art preceding it but the movie itself looked one of those cheap Italian Hercules movies from the sixties and Arnie’s awful performance really dragged the whole thing to the bottom. “The Thing” was hugely disappointing, devoid of the requisite suspense and terror and the makeup and effects were really overrated. I’ll take the Hawk’s version any day.
“Bladerunner” was just wonderful to look at and I still love the cheesy/sleazy score but the script was meandering and dull like Scott’s direction and wasted a great cast. “Wraith of Khan” is the only one of the bunch I’d watch again if I stumbled across it. It’s not great but it knows what it wants to be and it gets there. Nick Meyer knew how to punch up a script and was a solid enough director to at least give the thing enough momentum to cross the finsh line. The early CGI was also much better than anything in “Tron.”
The sad thing is these movies did open the floodgates for all the infantilizing franchise films that followed. I miss good dramas and adult films in general like crazy. I haven’t been to a movie theater since before the pandemic and I honestly don’t know when I’ll go again.
Byron, just as the cinematic landscape changed in 1982 with these movies, the Pandemic changed the landscape again. I don’t know how AMC is still open. Steaming services seem to be the Wave of the Future for movies.
All of them, of course, though I never cared for TRON.
Jeff, TRON was Disney’s idea of The Way Forward for movies. They were wrong.
I see Jerry and I are in sync, as so often.
There was a critic in the NYT over the weekend claiming that 1999, 25 years ago when he started as a critic, was “the best” year ever for movies. Judging by the movies he named…not so much, at least for me. I could have made a much better case for 50 years ago – 1974. But then, I’m old and he isn’t.
And get off my lawn.
Jeff, the 1970s were the Last Best Days for the Hollywood kind of movie you, Patti, and I love. Today, movies are all about Special Effects and merchandise sales.
1999:
THE MATRIX
EYES WIDE SHUT
TOY STORY 2
AMERICAN BEAUTY (won the Oscars; I hated it)
THE SIXTH SENSE
FIGHT CLUB
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
STAR WARS, Episode 1 (hated., hated, hated it)
1974:
THE GODFATHER Part II
CHINATOWN
THE CONVERSATION
I rest my case.
Dang, Jeff, If I am ever up on a serious criminal charge, will you be my lawyer?
I liked BEING JOHN MALKOVICH a lot, but the rest of that cited pile is pretty dire, indeed.
Todd, dire perhaps but those films changed the whole business model of Hollywood for a generation.