In order of release year, here’s a look back at 30 great sci-fi movies from the 80s that fans kept talking about long after the credits rolled.
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
NoStar Warsmovie since has come close to delivering such a complete and well-told story asEmpire Strikes Back. Almost 40 years after its release, it is still the benchmark to which all entries in the franchise are measured – thanks to such iconic moments as Han Solo frozen in carbonite and the whole “I am your father” thing.
Darth Vader further solidifies his place among the greatest movie villains and Luke further hones his skills as a Jedi.Irvin Kershnerdirects from a perfect script byLawrence Kasdan(The Force Awakens) that humanizes these characters from that galaxy far, far away in ways that make them relatable and likable despite their world being full of lightsabers and tauntauns.
Flash Gordon (1980)
A cult-favorite that’s hard not to love,Flash Gordonis arguably the most ‘80s a movie can get without having been directed by the car fromKnight Rider. Infused with a strong dose of intentional (we think?) camp and an epic soundtrack byQueen,Flash Gordonwas truly an embodiment of its era.
Flashcenters on one hunky football player being the only thing that stands between Earth and the evil Ming that wants to destroy it. This is what happens when the 80s tried to reboot a story from the 1930s. The dated special effects don’t hold up, but the weird, go-for-broke technicolor visual aesthetic does.
Scanners (1981)
Yup, this is the “exploding head” movie. And of course it’s from directorDavid Cronenberg, Hollywood’s unofficial king of body horror. Based on his own script, about a group of individuals gifted (or cursed, depending on which side they are on) with telekinesis, Cronenberg excels here by building the world ofScannersso seamlessly into our own.
Grounding it in a very believable reality makes the film’s more extraordinary (and bloody) moments all the more powerful.Scannersis not mentioned as often as it should be among the director’s impressive list of credits, but it deserves to be a popular topic in that conversation.
Decades beforeMad Max: Fury Road“shiny and chrome’d” audiences into submission,The Road Warriorserved as visionary directorGeorge Miller’s best trip to the Wasteland. We wouldn’t haveFury Roadwith out this firstMad Maxsequel and its commitment to in-camera action scenes and thrilling car chases – especially that finale, which is one of the best chases ever in movie history. Miller creates a gritty world that is built on gas, bullets, and blood.
The lines between right and wrong have long-since been blurred for the law of survival at any cost – and Max (Mel Gibson) is torn between self-perseverance and doing the right thing when he confronts a gang of terrifying, nothing-to-lose marauders. The only language they speak is violence, both Max and Miller are fluent in it. And the conversation they have with audiences is an adrenaline rush of set pieces that makeFast & Furiousmovies look like Driver’s Ed.
Time Bandits (1981)
Before directorTerry Gilliammade his definitive time travel film,12 Monkeys, he dipped a toe in the temporal mechanics withTime Bandits.Easily one of the polarizing filmmaker’s most entertaining films, this sci-fi fantasy finds an ordinary boy dragged across and through time by a (wait for it) band of eccentric dwarves.
The imaginative take on time travel here is only matched by the film’s sense of humor, makingTime Banditsone of Gilliam’s few films aimed at a family audience. The movie is one of those underrated efforts that pops up on “most under-seen movies of the ‘80s” lists all the time, so best seek it out if you haven’t watched it already.
Escape From New York (1981)
Snake Plisskin is, hands-down, one of the genre’s most iconic and insanely popular anti-heroes. You’d think he had a whole franchise of films, but, nope, just two – and the best of them isJohn Carpenter’s first foray into full sci-fi. (As befitting 2019, a reboot is in the works, withSaw’sLeigh Whannelldirecting.)
Kurt Russellstars as Snake, the eye-patch sporting, camo-pants wearing gunslinger charged with going into the ruins of New York to rescue the President of the United States. It’s a crazy B-movie premise that Carpenter elevates with his no-frills, full-tilt execution of the material that gave audiences even more reasons to love Kurt Russell’s unique standing as a leading man.
E.T. (1982)
Steven Spielberg’s 1982 blockbuster is both one of the greatest movies ever made and the quintessential story about friendship and childhood – all put through a very warm and inviting sci-fi lens. This seminal film only gets better with age – especially when viewed during our more modern and troubled times.
This classic routinely vies for a spot in the director’s Top Five, if not taking that list’s No. 1 spot, given its contribution to pop-culture that still resonates today. That iconic John Williams score only bolsters its legacy.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
It’s not a spoiler to say, more than 35 years after the film was released, thatWrath of Khanends with Spock’s death. It was the torpedo-bay funeral heard ‘round the world, one that director and uncredited co-writerNicholas Meyertook very seriously and gave significant weight. LikeEmpire Strikes Backbefore it, this watershed film in the venerable series is the bar to which allTrekmovies are measured against.
Not one of the franchise’s 13 films has ever surpassed it in quality (but some have come damn close). Khan’s vengeful hunt for the man that marooned him, Admiral Kirk (William Shatner), is aRun Silent,Run Deepaffair as two starships stalk each other across the galaxy while a drama about friendship, getting older, death, and new life plays out within the hull of the Enterprise.
The Thing (1982)
The Summer of 1982 gifted us with this classic – even though it was a box office disappointment thanks to everyone getting caught up inE.T.fever. (Who wants to watch a sci-fi horror monster movie about an alien that can turn into anything it sees and touches when you have the cute Mr. “Phone Home”?)
John Carpenter’s best film would ultimately find an audience and cement its legacy as one of the greatest sci-fi and horror movies ever. (Also, if there’s a better beard in the movies than the face suitKurt Russellsports here, we don’t wanna know about it.)
Blade Runner (1982)
Ridley Scott’s rain-soaked and neon-lit classic changed the way we make movies, despite the film’s tepid response at the Summer 1982 box office. Visually and thematically rich,Blade Runneris a slow-burn film noir hiding out in a bleak sci-fi tale about identity and humanity.
No matter which cut of the seminal film you watch, it’s hard not to get lost in the landmark visual effects or the story ofHarrison Ford’s Deckard – an “ex-cop, ex-Blade Runner” charged with “retiring” advanced androids called Replicants. His search leads to the discovers that the machines being hunted are more human than the man gunning them down.
