Movies that Influenced Me (1982-1983)

Now it's time for my second installment to the Movies that Influenced Me. I sense you're seeing a pattern in these films, and the answer is yes, I hate sci-fi/fantasy. OH, didn't expect that did ya? That's because I lied. I'm kinda the opposite in my alleged hate of sci-fi/fantasy films. Ok, enough my yappin'.

1. Blade Runner (1982)

Recently back in the limelight, this sci-fi movie based on a Philip K. Dick story is beautiful and action-packed. Is he/she a replicant? Let's test them. Watch out! Harrison Ford did so much better as an actor when he didn't think so much of himself. Plus, I love to see Rutger Hauer in the bad guy role. I will say that replicant with the snake was uber-hot even for having scales.











2. Conan the Barbarian (1982)

David and I watched this so often that the VHS tape (or was it a Betamax?) was wearing out. Our dad copied this movie from the TV, so he edited out the sex scene (the whole witch scene for that matter) and a lot of the violent scenes (the ending was chopped up a lot). But when I saw the full version, it was just that much better! Anyway, I love movies about a known characters beginnings. Plus, James Earl Jones couldn't have been a better Thoth-amon. Do you wanna live forever?









3. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Classic movie. Spielburg teaming up with the composer John Williams makes for a great sci-fi/fantasy movie. Again, a kid is the protagonist and the alien is a puppet (I see a pattern). I think this may be the first movie I cried at due to poor E.T.'s immune system. There was something magical about this movie (other than the alien's ability to make bicycles fly) that I just can't explain. Drew Berrymore is in this one, plus the main kid actor, Henry Thomas went on to do other great films like Cloak & Dagger, Legends of the Fall, Suicide Kings, and Gangs of New York.







4. Poltergeist (1982)

This movie scared the crap out of me (I was young, c'mon). When the skeletons popped out of the muddy pool, or when the tree tried to eat the kid, or when the clown came to life (nightmares about that one) are all moments that I can't erase. Poor Heather O'Rourke, though. She made three of these films (all good in their own right), and died due to complications from emergency surgery. The movie itself is full of quoteable lines like "This house is clear" or "They're hee-re". If you haven't seen it, you should and if you hear a jingling under your bed, don't look under it for pete's sake!







5. Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan

Meaghin thinks that you are either a Star Wars or a Star Trek person, but I think that you can be a Star Wars guy with a penchant for this movie, the best of a series of ten movies (an eleventh on the way). Khan is one of my favorite villains as he is intelligent and ruthless. And Shatner shows more emotion in this film than when his friend Spock died (Bones was tore up, though). Sacrifice is always a good movie element, but they messed that up in III when they brought him back. Oh well.









6. The Beastmaster (1982)

This movie was a strange one. I remember this movie vividly for the side characters. Rip Torn as the bad guy, the bat-things that absorbed everything on a man except the bones (nightmares again), and the lovable ferrets named Kodo and Podo were some of the images I still have when reminiscing on my childhood movie influences.












7. The Dark Crystal (1982)

Meaghin disagrees with me on this one, but I think it is one of Jim Henson's masterpieces. The storyline was original, the characters were all puppets and all of them had a life of their own, and the music was classic fantasy epic music. That whimper confused me as a child though. I thought that character was female, but I think now that the Skeksis and Ancients were genderless. Great movie.











8. The Secret of NIMH (1982)

One of the most vibrantly animated films of its time, the Secret of NIMH had a good story and it was more adult-theme oriented than other animated feature films. The characters were gritty and determined. The climax was unexpected and made you feel good. Don Bluth did well with this one. Now, for all those reading this, if you see the straight-to-video sequel anywhere, destroy it. I hate that someone did a crappy movie based on these wonderful characters without Bluth's permission or creative input.









9. Krull (1983)

Can you see that fantasy epics were kinda the norm back in the 80's? I loved it! Krull maybe wasn't acted all that well, nor were the graphic effects anything but laughable, and maybe the movie was a tad long and there were holes all over the plot. It did however, make you want a spinning glaive that you could command with the force (you can see this was after all the SW films. Oops.) Anyway, great soundtrack (James Horner) and the storyline made me want a movie about the couple's predestined child, "the one who will rule the galaxy." Maybe Liam Neeson could be in that movie, too.







10. WarGames (1983)

"How about a nice game of chess?"
"No. Let's play Global Thermo-Nuclear War."
Who says that?! Honestly, when I had a Commodore Amiga computer, we pirated this game called Nuclear War (a cartoon game where you build and then launch nuclear weapons at rival countries. Oh, yeah!) and I loved playing it. I didn't understand what the consequences of an actual nuclear weapon would be at the time, and somehow, I don't think Joshua did either (the computer in this wonderful movie). Matthew Broderick made his career from this and Ferris Bueller (in a later post).