From the airtightBack to the Futureto the delightfully darkThe Empire Strikes Back,some classic sci-fi movies from the 1980s have aged incredibly well. Due to the cultural differences and shortened attention spans of the past couple of decades,a lot of ‘80s movies have aged poorly— and that includes sci-fi movies. David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation ofDunewas let down by trying to cram Frank Herbert’s entire opus into onemovie, and it looks even more disjointed in light of the perfectly paced two-part adaptation that Denis Villeneuve released in the 2020s.
Tron’s visual effects look dated by today’s standards,Weird Sciencehas a problematic sense of humor, andHoward the Duck’s human-duck love story is just bizarre. But forevery ‘80s sci-fi movie that has aged badly, there are plenty that have aged like a fine wine.Movies likeThe FlyandThe Terminatorare close to perfect, while the action ofAliensandMad Max 2: The Road Warriorstill put modern blockbuster spectacle to shame. FromBlade RunnertoE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, there are a bunch of timeless sci-fi films from the ‘80s.
Predator
Cast
A team of elite commandos led by Major Dutch Schaefer is sent on a rescue mission deep in the Central American jungle. However, they soon find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior with advanced technology and a penchant for collecting human trophies. As the creature picks them off one by one, Dutch must rely on his wits and combat skills to survive the ultimate test of man versus alien.
On paper, John McTiernan’sPredatormight sound like a ridiculous movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger leads a team of commandos deep into the jungle, where they contend with a big-game hunter from another planet who wants to pick them off one by one for sport. The otherworldly tracker has the powers of invisibility and heat vision, and the plot boils down to a one-on-one confrontation between Schwarzenegger and the Predator. It shouldn’t work, but it’s a near-flawless masterpiece of action cinema.
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Predatorstarts off as a typical testosterone-fueled Schwarzenegger action-fest, but it gradually gets stripped down to a primal showdown between man and beast. It’s a surprisingly thoughtful meditation on humankind’s unending battle with the forces of nature. This story isso simple and bare-bones that it transcends the time in which it was made; it could’ve been made this year.
The Fly
The Fly follows scientist Seth Brundle as he makes a groundbreaking teleportation experiment. During testing, he inadvertently merges with a housefly, leading to unforeseen consequences.
FromWolf MantoThe Substance, David Cronenberg’s body horror masterpieceThe Flycontinues to influence filmmakers to this day. Jeff Goldblum stars as a scientist who invents a teleportation machine. While he’s testing it out, a housefly gets into the chamber with him andhe comes out the other side as a horrifying hybrid of man and fly.The woman he loves, played by Geena Davis, is devastated to watch him slowly turn into a monstrosity she doesn’t recognize.
The Flyis as much a character-driven dramaas it isa sci-fi horror movie. Seth Brundle’s transformation into a monster is visually stunning, but it’s also deeply heartbreaking. The emotions of Seth and Ronnie’s tragic love story are timeless, and Chris Walas’ makeup and prosthetic effects still hold up against the horror genre’s very best.
The Terminator
The Terminator, directed by James Cameron and released in 1984, features a cyborg assassin sent back in time to eliminate Sarah Connor, the mother of a future resistance leader. As the relentless machine pursues its mission, a human warrior is sent to protect her and secure humanity’s survival.
James Cameron has been warning people about the dangers of artificial intelligence since the ‘80s, and his anti-A.I. message is sadly still just as relevant today, if not more so.The Terminatorstars Linda Hamilton as everywoman Sarah Connor, who is targeted by a deadly time-traveling cyborg — played by Arnold Schwarzenegger — who has been sent from a post-apocalyptic future where Sarah’s yet-to-be-born son John is leading the resistance against the machines that took over the world.
The Terminatorhas a 100% rating onRotten Tomatoes.
John’s second-in-command Kyle Reese, played by Michael Biehn, is sent back in time to make sure Sarah isn’t killed before John is born. While it deals with heavy themes,The Terminatoris a riveting cat-and-mouse thriller at its core. Visually and thematically, it’s a tech noir. But narratively, it’s a straightforward slasher with a cybernetic serial killer picking off every Sarah Connor in the phonebook.It’s perfectly paced, and filled with nail-biting tension.
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
The Road Warrior, aka Mad Max 2, picks up after the original 1976 film and continues following Max’s (Mel Gibson) journey through a post-apocalyptic Australia. This time, Max helps a group of locals escape bandits to protect their wealth of gasoline. George Miller again directs the Mad Max sequel and is often considered the fan-favorite of the original trilogy.
TheMad Maxfranchise as audiences know it today was created in George Miller’sMad Max 2: The Road Warrior. After the first movie’s low-budget depiction of a dystopian near-future, Miller used the extra money afforded by the sequel to plunge audiences head-first into a gonzo post-apocalyptic wasteland ruled by gas-guzzling warlords.It’s essentially a sci-fi spaghetti western, presenting Max as a lone-wolf antiherorolling from town to town, protecting innocent civilians from ruthless gangs.
The thrilling set-pieces ofThe Road Warriorsolidified Miller as one of the best action directors around (a reputation he still holds to this day).
The thrilling set-pieces ofThe Road Warriorsolidified Miller as one of the best action directors around (a reputation he still holds to this day). He established his penchant for practical effects and death-defying stunt work withthe mind-blowing car chases ofMad Max 2.The Road Warrioris more visceral and exhilarating than most of the action movies getting made today.
Blade Runner
The original Blade Runner is a sci-fi neo-noir film set in 2019 in a dystopian cyber-punk society. Harrison Ford stars as Rick Deckard as a Blade Runner for the LAPD, tasked with hunting rogue replicants, genetically engineered humans designed to tackle tasks that human beings cannot. When four replicants go rogue and begin killing humans, Deckard is forced out of retirement to hunt them down and stop them - but the truth isn’t as simple as it seems. Deckard will have to reckon with the philosophical dilemma of what makes someone human.
Ridley Scott created a breathtaking vision of futuristic Los Angeles in his neo-noir opusBlade Runner. Based on Philip K. Dick’s novelDo Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,Blade Runnerstars Harrison Fordas Rick Deckard, a grizzled cop tasked with hunting down and destroying all the humanoid androids that have assimilated into human society. Ironically, as he kills the androids one by one, he gradually loses his own humanity.
Blade Runnerhas a pretty slow pace, especially by today’s standards, which may be challenging for some modern viewers. Butit’s such a mesmerizing cinematic experiencethat the patient pacing actually works in its favor; it gives its audience plenty of time to soak in the neon-drenched visuals and philosophical themes. In between rain-battered action scenes and stunning snapshots of the future,Blade Runnerbegs the timeless question of what it means to be human.
Aliens
Aliens, released in 1986, follows Ripley as she joins a group of Colonial Marines returning to LV-426, site of her previous encounter with the extraterrestrial species. Having been in hypersleep for 57 years, her story of survival is met with doubt, yet she assists in confronting the new threat.
When James Cameron was hired to write and direct a sequel toAlien, he knew he couldn’t make a horror movie as fiercely effective as the original, so he pivoted to a different genre.Aliensis a high-octane action thriller that multiplies the threat of the xenomorphby the dozen. Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley reluctantly agrees to accompany a band of Colonial Marines to an off-world colony that’s been ravaged by a swarm of xenomorphs, on the off chance that there could be survivors who need help.
Aliensstill holds upasone of the most exhilarating action movies ever made. And not only that; it’s one of the most emotionally engaging action movies, too. Ripley’s surrogate mother-daughter relationship with the colony’s only survivor — a young orphan named Newt — ensures that there’s a captivating, heartfelt drama underneath all the sci-fi spectacle.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, directed by Steven Spielberg, follows a young boy named Elliot who befriends an alien accidentally left on Earth. As the task force searches for the extraterrestrial, Elliot, his siblings, and their newfound friend form a deep connection while attempting to return the visitor home.
After tackling the concept of alien visitors in the abstract inClose Encounters of the Third Kind, Steven Spielberg explored the topic on a more intimate level inE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Henry Thomas stars as 10-year-old Elliott, a lonely child of divorce who discovers a kindred spirit ina friendly, Reese’s Pieces-loving alien who got accidentally left behind on Earth. As Elliott and his siblings try to figure out a way to get E.T. back to his ship, he forms an unbreakable emotional bond with the alien.
Despite its sci-fi conceit,E.T.is one of Spielberg’s most personal films. It’s as much a coming-of-age drama about a kid dealing with loneliness and an absentee father as it is a sci-fi adventure about an alien trying to get back to his home planet.E.T.is just as touching today as it was when it became a box office smash.
The Thing
A team of researchers set out to study an alien spacecraft found in Antarctica, where they also discover an alien body on the site. The alien buried in ice is actually alive and has the ability to imitate human form. The group must find a way to distinguish who the real person is from The Thing and stay alive. John Carpenter’s 1982 film is a remake of 1951’s The Thing from Another World and stars Kurt Russel as the hero RJ MacReady.
John Carpenter’s reimagining ofThe Thing from Another Worldisone of the most masterfully crafted horror movies ever made. InThe Thing, Kurt Russell leads a team of scientists at an Arctic outpost. When a shapeshifting alien entity makes its way into the facility and he has no idea how many people have been assimilated, he and his colleagues quickly become paranoid and start turning on each other.
Although it’s set up as a sci-fi chiller,The Thinghas all the components of a whodunit. It has a group of people trapped in an isolated location, gradually getting picked off by an unseen killer, unsure of who they can trust.The Thingproved that Carpenter is a master of suspense — the blood test scene alone demonstrated that — and it’s just as compelling now as it was then.
Back to the Future
Back to the Future follows teenager Marty McFly as he is inadvertently sent back to 1955, where he disrupts his parents' meeting. With the assistance of eccentric inventor Doc Brown, Marty must restore the timeline by ensuring his parents fall in love and find a way back to 1985.
Movies don’t come much more perfect thanBack to the Future. Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s screenplay is watertight — every word in the script is either setting something up or paying something off — andMichael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd make for one of the most compelling on-screen duos in movie history. Fox plays Marty McFly opposite Lloyd as Doc Brown, the inventor of a time machine. When Marty accidentally goes back in time and unwittingly interrupts his parents’ meet-cute, he has to make sure they get together so he has a life to go back to.
Back To The Future’s Director Would Have Removed 1 Part Of The Ending If He Knew A Sequel Would Happen
Zemeckis didn’t plan a Back to the Future sequel, making Jennifer’s sidelining and the original film’s cliffhanger feel surprisingly unintentional.
The time-travel storyline means that the movie is very much of the ‘80s, and when Marty goes into the past, it’s very much of the ‘50s. But despite featuring the cultural hallmarks of two bygone eras,Back to the Futureis a truly timeless movie. It’s rock-solid storytelling full of lovable, relatable characters.
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
The Empire Strikes Back is the second installment in the original Star Wars trilogy, directed by Irvin Kershner. Released in 1980, it follows Luke Skywalker as he trains under Jedi Master Yoda, while Princess Leia, Han Solo, and the Rebel Alliance face ongoing threats from the Galactic Empire and Darth Vader.
The first sequel toStar Wars,The Empire Strikes Back, isstill ranked as one of the greatest sequels ever made. It established the trend of sequels taking a darker turn and exploring grimmer storylines and subject matter. Luke Skywalker goes to the swamp planet of Dagobah to train with Yoda as he prepares to confront Darth Vader, and Han Solo and Leia Organa fall in love as they flee from the Imperial fleet.
From Han and Leia’s romantic confession to Vader’s bombshell revelation that he’s Luke’s father,The Empire Strikes Backhas some of the most iconic moments inStar Warshistory.
From Han and Leia’s romantic confession to Vader’s bombshell revelation that he’s Luke’s father,The Empire Strikes Backhas some of the most iconic moments inStar Warshistory. It’s every bit the fun-filled space adventure that the first one is, butit also reflects the moral murkiness of real life(asClerkspointed out). Four decades and more than a dozen Disney productions later, theStar Warssaga still hasn’t toppedThe Empire Strikes Back.
