The decade of the1980s inWestern cinema saw the return of studio-driven pictures, coming from the filmmaker-drivenNew Hollywood era of the 1970s.[1] The period was when the "high concept" picture was established by producerDon Simpson,[2] where films were expected to be easily marketable and understandable. Therefore, they had cinematicplots that could be summarized in one or two sentences. Since its implementation, this method has become the most popular formula for modern Hollywoodblockbusters. At the same time inEastern cinema, theHong Kong film industry entered a boom period that significantly elevated its prominence in the international market.
The cinema of the 1980s covered many subgenres, with hybrids crossing between multiple genres. The course strengthened towards creating ever-larger megahit films, which earned more in their opening weeks than most previous movies due in part to scheduling releases when there were less competition for audience interest.
Blockbusters: The decade started by continuing the blockbuster boom of the mid-1970s. The sequel to1977'sStar Wars,The Empire Strikes Back, opened in May1980 becoming the highest-grossing film of the year. It is considered among the greatest films of all time (being the highest rated 1980s film onIMDb). It was followed byReturn of the Jedi (1983) finishing theStar Wars original trilogy.Superman II was released in Europe and Australia in late 1980, but not distributed in the United States until June 1981. Though now seen ascampier over the original1978Superman,Superman II was received with a positive reaction. From the success ofThe Empire Strikes Back, creatorGeorge Lucas teamed up with directorSteven Spielberg to create one of the most iconic characters in the1981 filmRaiders of the Lost Ark starringHarrison Ford, who had also co-starred inThe Empire Strikes Back. The story about an archaeologist and adventurer,Indiana Jones (Ford), hired by the U.S. government to go on a quest for the mystical lostArk of the Covenant, created waves of interest in old 1930s stylecliffhangerserials as well astreasure huntingadventures like 1984'sRomancing the Stone. It became the highest-grossing film of 1981, leading to sequels all in the top-10 films of the decade. In 1982, Spielberg directed his fairy-tale, sci-fi family blockbusterE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which shattered all records, earning 40% more than any Star-Wars film, and double or triple the revenue of 46 of the top 50 films.
Dance: Many movies during the 80s were centered around dancing and heavily influenced byMTVmusic videos. 1983'sFlashdance, 1984'sFootloose, and 1987'sDirty Dancing were all extremely successful as well as their soundtracks.
James Bond: The James Bond film series entered its third decade in 1981 withRoger Moore starring in the more realisticFor Your Eyes Only after the outlandish excess ofMoonraker in 1979. The decade saw the beginning of a new era for Bond since the previous decade's directors originally directed a1960s Bond; the new director brought to the series,John Glen, criticized for a less stylistic and more "workman" style of direction, directed all theEON Bond films from 1981 to 1989.Moonraker was the last for regularBernard Lee who portrayed Bond's bossM. For the 1980s Bonds, a collection of numerousMI6 superiors would brief Bond on his missions.1983 was a significant year for the series as a non-EON Bond was released,Never Say Never Again, directed byThe Empire Strikes Back directorIrvin Kershner, withSean Connery returning to the role for the first time since 1971'sDiamonds Are Forever; it was competing with the next EON film,Octopussy at the box office with media dubbing the situation "The Battle of the Bonds". Even lesser known in the same year was one-time BondGeorge Lazenby appearing in the TV reunion filmThe Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. as Bond-like character "JB".A View to a Kill (1985) was the last for Roger Moore beforeTimothy Dalton was chosen as the new Bond in 1987'sThe Living Daylights and lastly in1989'sLicence to Kill.
Rite-of-Passage: Beyond just the teenagercoming-of-age stories, more complex rite-of-passage films had older actors changing or transforming through the rituals. So although teenagers were the focus of 1983'sRisky Business, 1984'sThe Karate Kid and its sequels (1986, 1989), and 1985'sThe Breakfast Club andSt. Elmo's Fire featuring theBrat Pack, older people with troubled lives were the subjects ofTop Gun (1986) orAn Officer and a Gentleman in trying to become a fighter pilot, a femalewelder inFlashdance transforming into aballet dancer, andCocoon's (1985) elderly set overcoming old age. EvenThe Big Chill (1983) reunion was a rite-of-passage that challenged old classmates to redirect their lives after the suicide of a friend.The Goonies in 1985 andStand by Me in 1986 were both successful at the box office and went on to be considered classics of the decade. They also both featured a number young actors that would see future success both on the big screen and the small screen.
Thriller: The 1980s saw an immense amount of thriller films, many being of anerotic nature, includingBody Heat (1981) andFatal Attraction (1987). Perhaps two of the most influential examples of 1980s thriller films wereDavid Lynch's bizarrecult classicBlue Velvet (1986), which dealt with the underworld of a seemingly idyllic U.S. suburbia, a subject which has spawned many imitations well into the first decade of the 21st century andStanley Kubrick's horror/thrillerThe Shining (1980).
The decade saw an increased amount ofnudity in film, as well as the increasing emphasis in the American industry on film franchises; especially in thescience fiction,horror, andaction genres. Much of the reliance on these effects-driven movies was due in part to theStar Wars films at the advent of this decade and the new cinematic visuals they helped to pioneer.
With the release of 1984'sRed Dawn, thePG-13 rating was introduced in the U.S. to accommodate films that straddled the line between PG and R. Which was mainly due to the controversies surrounding the violence of the PG filmsIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom andGremlins from earlier that same year.[5]
Some have considered the 1980s in retrospect as one of the weaker decades for American cinema in terms of the qualities of the films released. FilmmakerQuentin Tarantino has voiced his own view that the 1980s was one of the worst eras for American films.[6] Film critic Kent Jones also shares this opinion.[7] However, film theoristDavid Bordwell countered this notion, saying that the "megapicture mentality" was already existent in the 1970s, which is evident in the ten highest-grossing films of that decade, as well as with how many of the filmmakers part of New Hollywood were still able to direct many great pictures in the 1980s (Martin Scorsese,Brian de Palma,John Carpenter, etc.).[8]
In the list, where revenues are equal numbers, the newer films are listed lower, due to inflation making the dollar-amount lower compared to earlier years.
^Ebert, Roger; Bordwell, David (2008).Awake in the Dark: The Best of Roger Ebert (Paperback ed.). Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. p. xvii.ISBN978-0226182018.In his pluralism, [Roger] Ebert proved a more authentic cinephile than many of his contemporaries. They tied their fortunes to the Film Brats and then suffered the inevitable disappointments of the 1980s return to studio-driven pictures.
