Year: 2018

10 Classic ’80s Sci-fi Moments: ‘The Empire Strikes Back’

Jeff Mitchell

#1 – “The Empire Strikes Back” – Darth Vader’s reveal – June 20, 1980 is a day that shook the world.  On this day, the much anticipated sequel to “Star Wars” (1977) hit the big screen, and in the film’s third act, Darth Vader (David Prowse/James Earl Jones) reveals that he is Luke Skywalker’s (Mark Hamill) father. What?? Absolutely no one saw this coming, and this seminal moment forever-altered fans perception of the series and its characters, and it became the fulcrum for every “Star Wars” film afterwards, except for…

10 Classic 80s Sci-fi Moments: ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’

Jeff Mitchell

#2 – “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’ – Spock’s sacrifice – After the dull and obtuse Star Trek feature film debut “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (1979) reached the silver screen three years earlier, fans might have been skeptical walking into “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” in 1982.  Oh, one would be hard-pressed to find any disappointed faces.  This swashbuckling adventure peppered with Shakespeare is arguably the best of the series, and the dual between Kirk (William Shatner) and Khan (Ricardo Montalban) is nothing short of…

10 Classic ’80s Sci-fi Moments: ‘The Terminator’

Jeff Mitchell

#3 – “The Terminator” (1984) – “I’ll be back.” – If one is compiling any type of Top 10 List involving science fiction films from the 1980s, James Cameron’s seminal picture “The Terminator” has, has, has to be included on the list.  Have no fear, we are following the “rules”, and it just so happens that this is Cameron’s second feature on our Top 10, back-to-back actually. Well, time travel, cybernetic beings, gunplay, violence, and hair-raising chase scenes are all thrown together into a bastion of action-packed thrills, concepts and…