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If there’s one genre synonymous with the 1980s, it’s science fiction.
But as the budgets of blockbusters grew, the movies got bigger in more ways than one.
As arcades and computers became commonplace, audiences were ready and willing for sci-fi movies to take them away.
Here are just 32 of the greatest sci-fi movies of the 1980s.
But time has been very kind to Transformers: The Movie.
Truly, Transformers: The Movie is more than meets the eye.
Originally a project undertaken by Alejandro Jodorowsky, it eventually landed in control of similarly revered auteur David Lynch.
Is Dune a good movie, or a good adaptation?
It could be both, it could be neither.
What really matters is that it’s unforgettable.
When he couldn’t, he made Star Wars instead.
(Solid trade-off, honestly.)
No one who claims to love sci-fi should go without seeing it at least once.
Predator (1987)
“If it bleeds, we can kill it.”
(Wasn’t he dead, anyway?)
Spaceballs (1987)
It just doesn’t get funnier - or more ’80s - than Spaceballs.
RoboCop (1987)
“Dead or alive, you’re coming with me.”
Peter Weller stars as police officer Alex Murphy who is fatally shot by a notorious Detroit gangster.
Would you buy it for a dollar?
In 1987, King’s book The Running Man became a classic Arnold Schwarzenegger movie.
The Last Starfighter (1984)
Before Ready Player One, there was The Last Starfighter.
Ghostbusters (1984)
We know who to call.
WarGames (1983)
Would you like to play a game?
Propulsive yet charming, WarGames is a quintessential ’80s movie that foresaw the high-fidelity realism of digital entertainment.
The movie’s downer ending shouldn’t take away how much Brazil takes flight.
Scanners (1982)
Talk about a mind-blowing movie.
Let it blow away yours.
But the mission takes a strange turn when the crew encounters an alien presence below.
“I have been, and always shall be, your friend.”
the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
E.T.
might have crashed the video game industry, but he changed cinema forever.
As Elliot tries to help (and hide) “E.T.”
and send him home, the two become close to form a friendship that transcends dimensions.
A critically acclaimed smash hit upon its release in 1982, E.T.
is now an indelible part of American pop culture.
Search your feelings, for you know this to be true.
(Among those men: frequent Carpenter collaborator Kurt Russell, as helicopter pilot R.J.
