The1980s (pronounced "nineteen-eighties", shortened to "the '80s" or "the Eighties") was the decade that began on January 1, 1980, and ended on December 31, 1989.
The decade saw a dominance ofconservatism andfree market economics, and a socioeconomic change due to advances in technology and a worldwide move away fromplanned economies and towardslaissez-faire capitalism compared to the 1970s. As economic deconstruction increased in the developed world, multiplemultinational corporations associated with the manufacturing industry relocated intoThailand, Mexico,South Korea,Taiwan, and China. Japan andWest Germany saw large economic growth during this decade. TheAIDS epidemic became recognized in the 1980s and has since killed an estimated 40.4 million people (as of 2022[update]).Global warming theory began to spread within the scientific and political community in the 1980s.
The United Kingdom and the United States moved closer tosupply-side economic policies, beginning a trend towards global instability of international trade that would pick up more steam in thefollowing decade as the fall of the USSR maderight-wing economic policy more powerful.
Thefinal decade of the Cold War opened with the US-Soviet confrontation continuing largely without any interruption. Superpower tensions escalated rapidly as President Reagan scrapped the policy of détente and adopted a new, much more aggressive stance on the Soviet Union. The world came perilously close to nuclear war for the first time since theCuban Missile Crisis in 1962, butthe second half of the decade saw a dramatic easing of superpower tensions and ultimately the total collapse of Soviet communism.
Developing countries across the world faced economic and social difficulties as they suffered from multiple debt crises in the 1980s, requiring many of these countries to apply for financial assistance from theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) and theWorld Bank.Ethiopia witnessedwidespread famine in the mid-1980s during the corrupt rule ofMengistu Haile Mariam, resulting in the country having to depend on foreign aid to provide food to its population and worldwide efforts to address and raise money to help Ethiopians, such as theLive Aid concert in 1985.
By 1986, nationalism was making a comeback in the Eastern Bloc, and the desire for democracy insocialist states, combined with economic recession, resulted inMikhail Gorbachev'sglasnost andperestroika, which reduced Communist Party power, legalized dissent and sanctioned limited forms of capitalism such asjoint ventures with companies fromcapitalist countries. After tension for most of the decade, by 1988 relations between the communist and capitalist blocs had improved significantly and the Soviet Union was increasingly unwilling to defend its governments in satellite states.
The 1980s was an era of tremendous population growth around the world, surpassing the 1970s and 1990s, and arguably being the largest in human history. During the 1980s, the world population grew from 4.4 to 5.3 billion people. There were approximately 1.33 billion births and 480 million deaths. Population growth was particularly rapid in a number of African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian countries during this decade, with rates of natural increase close to or exceeding 4% annually. The 1980s saw the advent of the ongoing practice ofsex-selective abortion in China and India asultrasound technology permitted parents to selectively abort baby girls.
The 1980s saw great advances in genetic and digital technology. After years of animal experimentation since 1985, the first genetic modification of 10 adult human beings took place in May 1989, agene tagging experiment which led to the first true gene therapy implementation in September 1990. The first "designer babies", a pair of female twins, were created in a laboratory in late 1989 and born in July 1990 after being sex-selected via the controversialassisted reproductive technology procedurepreimplantation genetic diagnosis.Gestational surrogacy was first performed in 1985 with the first birth in 1986, making it possible for a woman to become a biological mother without experiencing pregnancy for the first time in history.
The globalinternet took shape in academia by the second half of the 1980s, as well as many othercomputer networks of both academic and commercial use such asUSENET,Fidonet, and thebulletin board system. By 1989, the Internet and the networks linked to it were a global system with extensive transoceanic satellite links and nodes in mostdeveloped countries. Based on earlier work, from 1980 onwardsTim Berners-Lee formalized the concept of theWorld Wide Web by 1989.Television viewing became commonplace in theThird World, with the number of TV sets in China and India increasing by 15 and 10 times respectively.
The Shining is a 1980psychological horror film produced and directed byStanley Kubrick and co-written with novelistDiane Johnson. It is based onStephen King's1977 novel and starsJack Nicholson,Shelley Duvall,Danny Lloyd andScatman Crothers. The film presents the descent into insanity of a recovering alcoholic and aspiring novelist (Nicholson) who takes a job as winter caretaker for a mountain resort hotel with his wife (Duvall) andclairvoyant son (Lloyd).Production took place almost exclusively inEngland atEMI Elstree Studios, with sets based on real locations. Kubrick often worked with a small crew, which allowed him to do many takes, sometimes to the exhaustion of the actors and staff. The then-newSteadicam mount was used to shoot several scenes, giving the film an innovative and immersive look and feel.
The film was released in the United States on May 23, 1980, byWarner Bros., and in the United Kingdom on October 2 byColumbia Pictures through Columbia-EMI-Warner Distributors. There were several versions for theatrical releases, each of which was cut shorter than the preceding cut; about 27 minutes was cut in total. Reactions to the film at the time of its release were mixed; King criticized the film due to its deviations from the novel. The film received two controversial nominations at the1st Golden Raspberry Awards in 1981—Worst Director andWorst Actress—the latter of which was later rescinded in 2022 due to Kubrick's alleged treatment of Duvall on set. (Full article...)
... that, during the 2012Weezer Cruise, band members oversaw wedding vow renewals, a shuffleboard contest, a midnight movie screening, and a 1980s-themed prom?
... that ministerGeorge Freeman ranThe Monastery as a gay church, nightclub, and homeless shelter in 1980s Seattle?
... that in the 1980s, "Sherman Bonner, The Human Thermometer" presented the weather onan Arkansas TV station?
... that Japanese actressJunko Ikeuchi was known as the "Queen of TV Dramas" from the 1960s to the 1980s?
... thatLGBTQ synagogues helped shape the American Jewish response to AIDS in the 1980s, even as the disease killed many of their members?
... that theFighting Vanguard waged a guerrilla war against the Syrian government in the 1970s and 1980s?
Boy George was the lead singer ofJesus Loves You between 1989 and 1992 and still performs solo and with Culture Club, who have reformed twice since initially parting ways in 1986. He began his career as a DJ in the mid-1990s. Outside of music, Boy George's other creative activities involve mixed media art, writing books, designing clothes and photography. He has also made several appearances in television, which include the22nd UK series ofI'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in November 2022, eventually finishing in eighth place. (Full article...)
Image 12Stage view of theLive Aid concert atPhiladelphia'sJFK Stadium in the United States in 1985. The concert was a major global international effort by musicians and activists to sponsor action to send aid to the people ofEthiopia who were suffering from a majorfamine. (fromPortal:1980s/General images)
Image 17TheGrateful Dead in 1980. Left to right: Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh. Not pictured: Brent Mydland. (fromPortal:1980s/General images)
Image 20The world map of military alliances in 1980:NATO & Western allies,Warsaw Pact & other Soviet allies, Non-aligned countries, China and Albania (communist countries, but not aligned with USSR),××× Armed resistance (fromPortal:1980s/General images)
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TheDaicon III andIV Opening Animations are two8 mm film anime short films that were produced for the 1981 Daicon III and 1983 Daicon IVNihon SF Taikai conventions. They were produced by a group of amateur animators known as Daicon Film, who would later go on to form the animation studioGainax. The films are known for their unusually high production values for amateur works and for including numerous references tootaku culture, as well as its unauthorized appropriations of thePlayboy Bunny costume. Usage of the songs "Runaway" byBill Conti (from the soundtrack to the 1981James Bond filmFor Your Eyes Only) as well as "Twilight" and "Hold On Tight" by Englishrock bandElectric Light Orchestra were also unauthorized.
Daicon III was made byHideaki Anno,Hiroyuki Yamaga andTakami Akai andDaicon IV credits twelve people, including Yamaga as the director and Anno and Akai as animation supervisors. Despite the questionable legal status of the works, the production ofDaicon III resulted in debts that were repaid by selling video tapes and 8 mm reels of the production, the profits of which went to the production ofDaicon IV, which later received the "Local Works" award in the Minor Anime Grand Prix section of the 1983 Anime Grand Prix, organized by the anime magazineAnimage. In 2001,Animage ranked theDaicon animations as the 35th of the "Top 100" anime of all time. (Full article...)
The plot revolves around Adam and Barbara Maitland, a recently deceased couple. Asghosts, they are not allowed to leave their house. They contact Betelgeuse, a sleazy "bio-exorcist", to scare the house's new inhabitants away. The film prominently features music fromHarry Belafonte's albumsCalypso andJump Up Calypso. (Full article...)
Rudraveena focuses on the ideological conflicts between 'Bilahari' Ganapathi Sastry, a reputedcarnatic musician and his younger son Suryanarayana "Suryam" Sastry. Sastry's discrimination towards the people belonging to lower castes is criticised by his son, Suryam, who believes in society's welfare and walks out for good later. The events that led to the change in Sastry's views form the remaining part of the story.Ganesh Patro wrote the film's dialogue and worked on the script with Balachander for two months, though it was tweaked many times during the shoot.Ilaiyaraaja composed the soundtrack and background score. R. Raghunadha Reddy was the director of photography. Ganesh Kumar edited the film and Mohanam was the art director. (Full article...)
Scrooged was filmed on a $32 million budget over three months inNew York City andHollywood from December 1987 to March 1988. Murray returned to acting for the film after taking a four-year hiatus following the success ofGhostbusters, which he found overwhelming. Murray worked with Glazer and O'Donoghue on reworking the script before agreeing to join the project. The production was tumultuous, as Murray and Donner had different visions for the film. Murray described his time on the film as "misery", while Donner called Murray "superbly creative but occasionally difficult". Along with Murray's three brothers,Brian, John andJoel,Scrooged features numerous celebrity cameos. (Full article...)
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The Care Bears Movie is a 1985animatedmusicalfantasy film directed byArna Selznick from a screenplay byPeter Sauder. It was the second feature film made by the Canada-based studioNelvana Limited after the 1983 filmRock & Rule, in addition to being one of the first films based directly on a toy line and the first based onCare Bears. It introduced the Care Bears characters and their companions, theCare Bear Cousins. The voice cast includesMickey Rooney,Georgia Engel,Jackie Burroughs andBillie Mae Richards. In the film, an orphanage owner (Mickey Rooney) tells a story about the Care Bears, who live in a cloud-filled land called Care-a-Lot. While traveling across Earth, the Bears help two lonely children named Kim and Jason, who lost their parents in a car accident, and also save Nicholas, a young magician's apprentice, from an evil spirit's influence. Deep within a place called the Forest of Feelings, Kim, Jason and their friends soon meet another group of creatures known as theCare Bear Cousins.
American Greetings, the owners of theCare Bears characters, began development of a feature film adaptation in 1981. Later on, the greeting card company chose Nelvana to produce it and granted them the film rights to the characters, in addition to financing the film along with cereal manufacturerGeneral Mills and television syndicatorLBS Communications. Nelvana's founders were producers, with fellow employeeArna Selznick directing the film. Production lasted eight months, with a production budget of at least $2 million, and took place in Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea.Carole King andJohn Sebastian contributed several songs for the film. Though major American film studios passed on the project, newly established independent distributorThe Samuel Goldwyn Company acquired the distribution rights to the film and soon spent a record $24 million promoting it. (Full article...)
It premiered onCBC Television in 1984 and was later broadcast onAmerican Playhouse in 1985. The film received mixed reviews from critics.Overdrawn at the Memory Bank was featured in the eighth season finale episode of the comedy television seriesMystery Science Theater 3000 in 1997. (Full article...)
Set in ruralYorkshire during the summer of 1920, the film follows a destituteWorld War I veteran employed to carry out restoration work on a medieval mural discovered in a rural church while coming to terms with the after-effects of the war. (Full article...)
The screenplay ofBlue Velvet had been passed around multiple times in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with several major studios declining it due to its strong sexual and violent content. After the failure of his 1984 filmDune, Lynch made attempts at developing a more "personal story", somewhat characteristic of thesurrealist style displayed in his first filmEraserhead (1977). The independent studioDe Laurentiis Entertainment Group, owned at the time by Italian film producerDino De Laurentiis, agreed to finance and produce the film. (Full article...)
Lucas conceived the idea for the film in 1972, approaching Howard to direct during thepost-production phase ofCocoon in 1985. Bob Dolman was brought in to write the screenplay, coming up with seven drafts that Lucas was actively involved in developing. It was finished in late 1986. It was then set up atMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) andprincipal photography began in April 1987, finishing the following October. The majority of filming took place inDinorwic quarry inWales with some atElstree Studios inHertfordshire, as well as a small section inNew Zealand.Industrial Light & Magic created the visual effects and animation sequences, which led to a revolutionary breakthrough with digitalmorphing technology. (Full article...)
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was released in Japan on 11 March 1984. The film received critical acclaim, with praise being directed at the story, themes, characters and animation. It is commonly regarded as one of thegreatest animated films, and was the second-highest-ranked animation in a poll conducted by Japan'sAgency for Cultural Affairs in 2006. Though it was released beforeStudio Ghibli was founded, it is often considered a Ghibli work due to its themes, and is usually released as part ofDVD andBlu-ray collections of Ghibli work. (Full article...)
The film's title is taken from a short story inIan Fleming's 1966 short story collectionOctopussy and The Living Daylights. Although the events of the "Octopussy" short story form part of the title character's background, the film's plot is mostly original. It does, however, contain a scene adapted from the Fleming short story "The Property of a Lady" (included in 1967 and later editions ofOctopussy and The Living Daylights) (Full article...)
Filmed on location in and aroundNew Orleans in late 1980 with assistance from the Louisiana Film Commission, additional photography took place at De Paolis Studios in Rome. Released theatrically in Italy in the spring of 1981,The Beyond did not see a North American release until late 1983 through Aquarius Releasing, which released an edited version of the film titled7 Doors of Death; this version featured an entirely different musical score and ran several minutes shorter than Fulci's original cut, and was branded a "video nasty" immediately upon its release in the United Kingdom. The original version of the film saw its first United States release in September 1998 through a distribution partnership betweenRolling Thunder Pictures,Grindhouse Releasing, andCowboy Booking International. (Full article...)
Following the commercial success ofThe Evil Dead (1981), Raimi and Campbell decided to collaborate on another project. Joel Coen of theCoen brothers served as one of the editors onThe Evil Dead and worked with Raimi on the screenplay. Production was difficult for several members of the crew, and the production studio,Embassy Pictures, refused to allow Raimi to edit the film. Several arguments broke out during the shoot of the film due to continued interference by the studio. (Full article...)
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Fanny and Alexander (Swedish:Fanny och Alexander) is a 1982period drama film written and directed byIngmar Bergman. The plot focuses on two siblings and their large family inUppsala, Sweden during the first decade of the twentieth century. Following the death of the children's father (Allan Edwall), their mother (Ewa Fröling) remarries a prominent bishop (Jan Malmsjö) who becomes abusive towards Alexander for his vivid imagination.
Bergman intendedFanny and Alexander to be his final picture before retiring, and his script is semi-autobiographical. The characters Alexander, Fanny and stepfather Edvard are based on himself, his sisterMargareta and his fatherErik Bergman, respectively. Many of the scenes were filmed on location in Uppsala. The documentary filmThe Making of Fanny and Alexander was made simultaneously with the feature and chronicles its production. (Full article...)
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