The Decade of Iconic Hollywood
The 80's gave us some of the most timeless Hollywood blockbusters of all time. Above is an image from Robert Zemeckis' iconic 'Back to the Future' (1985), a film about a young Marty Mcfly (Michael.J.Fox) who is sent back to 1955 in a Delorean time machine where he must try everything possible to get back to the future without adjusting the past.Along with 'Back to the Future', there were also many other hit movies that define 80's cinema, for example, 'Ghostbusters' (1984), Die Hard (1988) and 'Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark' (1981).
Many of the films released in the 80's were turned into series or released it's most popular instalments that led them to become hardcore franchises. The Star Wars Saga, for example, is one of, if not the most famous fandom in the history of film. According to 'Vulture', Star Wars is 2nd in the biggest fandoms of all time, with 'Game of Thrones' taking first place and 'The Twilight Saga' taking third. Here is the list:
1. Game of Thrones
2. Star Wars
3. Twilight
4. Harry Potter
5. Justin Bieber
6. Lord of the Rings
7. The Hunger Games
8. Lady Gaga
9. Doctor Who
10. Arrested Development
Interestingly, all of these 'fandoms' are based around very recent films/books/music. However, Star Wars is the only one from the list which isn't from the 21st Century, although it can be said that neither is Doctor Who as it's first episode was aired in 1963, however, it's increasing popularity and the formation of the 'Whovian' didn't start until it's revival in 2005. The Star Wars franchise has lived to this day from the rise of it's popularity in the 1980's. Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Termintor are all examples of other popular franchises of the time, and although they don't have hardcore fan-bases to their names, they still remain timeless, re-watchable classics.
Perhaps another reason why these films were (are, still) so popular, is because of the originality and creativity of the story and plot. In today's film industry, cinemas are bursting with sequels, remakes and safe plots which gives the modern film a certain lack of excitement and risk. With today's technological advances in film making, with the correct software and equipment, we are now able to create an entire realistic CGI world from a computer desk (e.g. Avatar). Although, to us today, watching
something like Jaws is almost painful when we can clearly see just how 'animatronic' the shark is, when it was released in 1975, it was a realistically scary film. The 80's were a break in special effects in film. Ghosts and ghouls from the 80's are one of my favourites, looking at something like Slimmer from Ghostbusters or the creepy demons from Poltergeist - we can see how unrealistic they are, yet, there is something about them that still makes them brilliant.
Many of the films released in the 80's were turned into series or released it's most popular instalments that led them to become hardcore franchises. The Star Wars Saga, for example, is one of, if not the most famous fandom in the history of film. According to 'Vulture', Star Wars is 2nd in the biggest fandoms of all time, with 'Game of Thrones' taking first place and 'The Twilight Saga' taking third. Here is the list:
1. Game of Thrones
2. Star Wars
3. Twilight
4. Harry Potter
5. Justin Bieber
6. Lord of the Rings
7. The Hunger Games
8. Lady Gaga
9. Doctor Who
10. Arrested Development
To continue the list - http://www.vulture.com/2012/10/25-most-devoted-fans.html#photo=15x00022
Interestingly, all of these 'fandoms' are based around very recent films/books/music. However, Star Wars is the only one from the list which isn't from the 21st Century, although it can be said that neither is Doctor Who as it's first episode was aired in 1963, however, it's increasing popularity and the formation of the 'Whovian' didn't start until it's revival in 2005. The Star Wars franchise has lived to this day from the rise of it's popularity in the 1980's. Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Termintor are all examples of other popular franchises of the time, and although they don't have hardcore fan-bases to their names, they still remain timeless, re-watchable classics.
Perhaps another reason why these films were (are, still) so popular, is because of the originality and creativity of the story and plot. In today's film industry, cinemas are bursting with sequels, remakes and safe plots which gives the modern film a certain lack of excitement and risk. With today's technological advances in film making, with the correct software and equipment, we are now able to create an entire realistic CGI world from a computer desk (e.g. Avatar). Although, to us today, watchingsomething like Jaws is almost painful when we can clearly see just how 'animatronic' the shark is, when it was released in 1975, it was a realistically scary film. The 80's were a break in special effects in film. Ghosts and ghouls from the 80's are one of my favourites, looking at something like Slimmer from Ghostbusters or the creepy demons from Poltergeist - we can see how unrealistic they are, yet, there is something about them that still makes them brilliant.
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