The 80’s: Films

Introduction Where we come from:  The 70’s: the end of the classic Hollywood, the “Golden Age”.

Tendencies The birth of the “Blockbuster” concept: new kind of cinema  Targeted to familiar audiences, determined structure, huge budgets, etc…  Sequels and sagas, merchandise: change in the industry.  Key names:  George Lucas: Previous success with Star Wars: Episode IV. During the 80’s: Episodes V and VI. (1980 and 1983).  Steven Spielberg: Previous success with Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. During the 80’s: E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Joining of forces: Indiana Jones franchise. Raiders of the lost ark (1981), The temple of Doom (1984), The Last Crusade (1989)

Tendencies Postmodernism  Mix of elements from the past, combination of different genres to create a new ones.  Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982): Science fiction + Film noir = Cyberpunk.

Tendencies New wave of Science-Fiction films.  Much More Action-Packed:  Star Wars, Super-Man II and III (1980, 1983), Flash Gordon (1980), Back to the future I and II(1985, 1989) Key name: James Cameron. The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986). Action Hero  Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis.  Die Hard (1988), Conan the Barbarian and the Destroyer (1982 and 1984), etc.  A place for younger heros: The Goonies (1985), The Karate Kid (1984).

Other tendencies Teen Idol:  Top Gun (1986). Tom Cruise.  New starsystem of young and pretty actors: teens start to cover their folders with pictures of their idols. Rising of important tendencies for the 90’s:  Goth movement.  First Tim Burton films: Beetlejuice (1988), Batman (1989).  Independent cinema.  David Lynch: The Elephant Man (1980), Dune (1984), Blue Velvet(1986). Surrealism.  Cronenberg: The Fly (1986). Deformity of the body.

Conclusion The 80’s mean the forging of the myths that we still have in our current pop culture.  Star Wars, The Goonies, Indiana Jones, Back to the future, Gremlins, etc… Establishment of the system as we know it today.  Europe begins its decline: last films of Bergman and Fellini, new “intellectual” cinema with Tarkovski.  Big american superproductions consumed all over the world.