The 1980's science fiction movie poll

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Because I thought we did this already. I just took the list from [Removed Illegal Link], so I am not responsible for any bitching about what's left out.

Poll Results

OptionVotes
* Blade Runner (1982) 14
* Videodrome (1982) 6
* Brazil (1985) 6
* The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 6
* Repo Man (1984) 5
* E.T.: The Extraterrestrial (1982) 4
* Robocop (1987) 3
* Akira (1987) 3
* The Thing (1982) 3
* They Live (1988) 3
* Scanners (1981) 3
* Mad Max 2 (The Road Warrior) (1981) 3
* Dune (1984) 2
* Back to the Future (1985) 2
* Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) 2
* The Quiet Earth (1985) 2
* The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) 2
* Predator (1987) 2
* Tron (1982) 2
* The Terminator (1984) 2
* The Dead Zone (1983) 1
* Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) 1
* Lifeforce (1985) 1
* Dreamscape (1984) 1
* Wargames (1983) 1
* Tremors (1989) 1
* Looker (1981) 1
* Trancers (Future Cop) (1985) 1
* Enemy Mine (1985) 1
* Short Circuit (1986) 0
* The Fly (1986) 0
* Slipstream (1989)0
* Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) 0
* The Running Man (1987) 0
* Aliens (1986) 0
* Invaders from Mars (1986) 0
* The Hidden (1987) 0
* Innerspace (1987) 0
* The Fly II (1989) 0
* Millennium (1989) 0
* The Abyss (1989) 0
* Cyborg (1989) 0
* Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) 0
* Alien Nation (1988) 0
* Watchers (1988) 0
* Communion (1989) 0
* Nightflyers (1987) 0
* Deepstar Six (1989) 0
* Leviathan (1989) 0
* The Blob (1988) 0
* Back to the Future Part II (1989) 0
* City Limits (1985) 0
* Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) 0
* Le Dernier Combat (The Last Battle) (1983) 0
* Return of the Jedi (1983) 0
* Twilight Zone - The Movie (1983) 0
* Forbidden World (1982) 0
* The Last Starfighter (1982) 0
* Android (1982) 0
* Altered States (1980) 0
* Outland (1981) 0
* Escape from New York (1981) 0
* Threshold (1981) 0
* Saturn 3 (1980) 0
* The Final Countdown (1980) 0
* Brainstorm (1983) 0
* Strange Invaders (1983) 0
* The Day After (1983) 0
* Flight of the Navigator (1985) 0
* D.A.R.Y.L. (1985) 0
* Cocoon (1985) 0
* Explorers (1985) 0
* Starman (1984) 0
* Liquid Sky (1983) 0
* Nineteen Eighty-four (1984) 0
* 2010 (1984) 0
* Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) 0
* Runaway (1984) 0
* The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) 0
* Testament (1983) 0
* The Quatermass Conclusion (1980) 0


Jordan, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:47 (sixteen years ago) link

Is Outland good? Should I watch it?

Jordan, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:47 (sixteen years ago) link

This is hard, a lot of my favourite films of all time are on this list.

nate woolls, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:49 (sixteen years ago) link

Hmmm. Blade Runner, Terminator or Akira. I think BR will probably win this.

chap, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:51 (sixteen years ago) link

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNE

El Tomboto, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:52 (sixteen years ago) link

blade runner and akira too awesome for their own good

El Tomboto, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:52 (sixteen years ago) link

The Quiet Earth is great and unloved, probably.

ledge, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:53 (sixteen years ago) link

I cannot choose - too many near perfect films on this list. Best Cronenberg, best Carpenter, best Gilliam, Khaaaaaaaaan, Tron, Dune all way up there for me.

Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:54 (sixteen years ago) link

wargames too close to home

tron actually about jesus

El Tomboto, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:54 (sixteen years ago) link

(oh and uh Bladerunner too duh)

Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:54 (sixteen years ago) link

Fuck it, maybe I'll just vote for Empire Strikes Back. Which is amazingly good, lest we forget.

chap, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:55 (sixteen years ago) link

star wars better, ooh controversial, oh let's just not have that conversation.

ledge, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:55 (sixteen years ago) link

star wars also not 80s lol

ledge, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:56 (sixteen years ago) link

this is impossible.

besides the ones already mentioned, i am seriously considering The Thing.

Jordan, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:56 (sixteen years ago) link

I narrowed it down to 25, but fuck it, I'm voting for Terminator. Blew my mind when I was 12.

nate woolls, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:57 (sixteen years ago) link

1980-1983: the golden age of 80s sci/fi

Sparkle Motion, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:57 (sixteen years ago) link

I can totally understand the 'Star Wars better' argument, I just happen to prefer Empire.

xxxpost

chap, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:57 (sixteen years ago) link

E.T.: The Extraterrestrial is the great film here, but I'm not sure I consider it science fiction.

And The Fly close behind it -- horror, I think.

Peter Berg will direct a new Dune, did you hear? Such fascination w/ such a boring book.

Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:57 (sixteen years ago) link

i hope this turns into a 200 post thread with 0 votes.

Jordan, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:58 (sixteen years ago) link

My short list is a lot like Shakey's - Fly, Brazil, Bladerunner, The Thing. I also have testosterone/adrenaline darkhorse candidates like Tremors and The Hidden to consider.

Oilyrags, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:00 (sixteen years ago) link

oh man morbius with the spielberg fanboy flame bait already

this is going to be fantastic

El Tomboto, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:00 (sixteen years ago) link

brazil is too criterion

El Tomboto, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:00 (sixteen years ago) link

reminder: none of the Star Wars are sci fi

Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:01 (sixteen years ago) link

Dune is a totally boring book - so what? people make great films from shitty source material all the time.

Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:02 (sixteen years ago) link

okay I'll bite - Morbz what is this weird "sci-fi" criterion you seem to have that I'm sure no one else will agree with

Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:02 (sixteen years ago) link

i thought morbs would go right for "aliens (predator/the thing/terminator/star wars/robocop) isn't sci-fi."

xpost lolololol

Jordan, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:03 (sixteen years ago) link

BTTF1/2 are awesome but you have to be able to vote for both together. gestalt zemeckis

El Tomboto, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:04 (sixteen years ago) link

BTTF 2 is horrid.

ledge, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:05 (sixteen years ago) link

^^^^
Lies

chap, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:05 (sixteen years ago) link

3 is pretty good except for the chitty-chitty-bang-bang ending.

ledge, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:05 (sixteen years ago) link

BTTF 2 is horrid.

-- ledge, Wednesday, March 19, 2008 4:05 PM (50 seconds ago) Bookmark Link

Mr. Que, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:06 (sixteen years ago) link

Is Outland good? Should I watch it?

-- Jordan, Wednesday, March 19, 2008 10:47 AM (15 minutes ago)

yes it is and yes you should!

* Space Western
* Drugs
* Mining
* Space
* Corruption
* Futuristic
* Io
* Jupiter
* Marshal
* Moon
* Racquetball
* Violence
* Hologram
* Exploding Body
* Explosive Decompression

gff, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:06 (sixteen years ago) link

The Thing, no question about it

Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:07 (sixteen years ago) link

You'd have to be pretty miserable not to be able to find something to enjoy in each of the BTTFs.

chap, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:07 (sixteen years ago) link

sweet, gff. it was already pretty high up on my queue, but space racquetball puts it over the top (i'll overlook the lack of hoverboards).

Jordan, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:08 (sixteen years ago) link

Brazil, easy.

Mark G, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:09 (sixteen years ago) link

what is this weird "sci-fi" criterion you seem to have that I'm sure no one else will agree with

I don't know! It's like obscenity to that dead Supreme Court justice, I just know it when I see it. Wrath of Khan is close enough, as eugenics and creation of 'artificial' life are at the core.

BTTF2 stunk, never saw 3.

Dr Morbius, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:09 (sixteen years ago) link

I'm not going to vote for They Live, but I would like to point out that it's great.

chap, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:10 (sixteen years ago) link

ice pirates/spaceballs no show

El Tomboto, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:10 (sixteen years ago) link

this seems like a perfect time to plug my upcoming radio venture (with mark s!), a show about old SF short stories from 1935-1965 airing on Resonance FM 104.4 in London, on Wednesdays at 10pm. there'll be a web site, podcasts etc but we're still working on that part.

anyway, our very first show is going to be about "Who Goes There", the novella that was the basis for The Thing!

Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:10 (sixteen years ago) link

I remember that one! Written by John Campbell himself, no?

James Redd and the Blecchs, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:11 (sixteen years ago) link

tempted by liquid sky komedy vote

gff, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:12 (sixteen years ago) link

Are you guys going to do "The Cold Equations," Tracer?

James Redd and the Blecchs, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:12 (sixteen years ago) link

James - yes! it's really really good. I don't think Campbell himself ever really wrote any other stories of much note, but that one was a doozy.

Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:13 (sixteen years ago) link

buckaroo bonzai, worth re-watching?

Jordan, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:13 (sixteen years ago) link

Vincent Schiavelli, RIP.

i hope this turns into a 200 post thread with 0 votes.
I don't know if I'll be finished reading the list of candidates in time for the voting deadline.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:14 (sixteen years ago) link

woops xpost - I don't know, we've only sketched out the first 3 or 4 shows so far. I like "Cold Equations" a lot although i always get annoyed by the close tolerances for fuel necessary to make the story work - does that bother you too? I realize it is somewhat small of me to pick that nit.

Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:16 (sixteen years ago) link

I mean, surely the emergency craft wouldn't even take off if there was too much weight on board.

Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:17 (sixteen years ago) link

i only saw blade runner for the first time last week, so that has to get my vote.

darraghmac, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:19 (sixteen years ago) link

Yeah, like maybe the guy made a mistake in his calculations and realized it later: Oops, sorry! Or like his bosses were really stingy with his allocation and didn't take into account such contingencies. And if that was the case, why didn't they weigh the ship before takeoff?
(xxpost)

Looks like y'alls show is intentionally pre-Dangerous Visions, which is probably for the best.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 16:19 (sixteen years ago) link

Also, no Tetsuo? Not sci-fi enough?

(from earlier in the thread)

David R., Wednesday, 26 March 2008 20:31 (sixteen years ago) link

Altered States - some terrible acting and lousy dialogue, but the gonzo visuals carry the day. writhing crucified man with head of an eight-eyed goat? check. snake turns into your naked girlfriend, then into desiccated dust statue eroded by desert winds? check. lava lamp soul implosion whirlpool? check. but when william hurt sits at his kitchen table watching his arm ripple, I think that's not sci-fi, that's how I spent most of my time in college.

Blair Brown nekkid vs. Saturn 3 Farah Fawcett
Bailey vs. Jennifer

Eazy, Wednesday, 26 March 2008 20:33 (sixteen years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

ILX System, Thursday, 27 March 2008 00:01 (sixteen years ago) link

give me one (1) break!

Tracer Hand, Thursday, 27 March 2008 00:10 (sixteen years ago) link

how did aliens get no votes? and nobody repped for innerspace either. Oh, we are a failure, aren't we.

El Tomboto, Thursday, 27 March 2008 00:11 (sixteen years ago) link

Blair Brown nekkid

I parsed this incorrectly and it conjured up some very disturbing imagery.

emil.y, Thursday, 27 March 2008 00:13 (sixteen years ago) link

Alien won the first poll, and there are way more options on this poll, so I can understand it.

latebloomer, Thursday, 27 March 2008 01:07 (sixteen years ago) link

how did aliens get no votes? and nobody repped for innerspace either. Oh, we are a failure, aren't we.

Better movies were released in the 1980s and Inner Space is a vast wasteland of suckage.

Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 27 March 2008 01:10 (sixteen years ago) link

I expected three of ILX's top five to put me to sleep. I was right, and I haven't even seen the other two.

Kerm, Thursday, 27 March 2008 02:09 (sixteen years ago) link

good for you! good for you!

latebloomer, Thursday, 27 March 2008 02:10 (sixteen years ago) link

so does anything cool happen towards the end of Blade Runner?

Kerm, Thursday, 27 March 2008 02:12 (sixteen years ago) link

she's a he

latebloomer, Thursday, 27 March 2008 02:14 (sixteen years ago) link

but we did sort of have a renaissance of aliens love, between this and the aliens poll.

honestly, i thought the thing would be #1 or #2.

Jordan, Thursday, 27 March 2008 04:27 (sixteen years ago) link

btw blade runner: the final cut just arrived today from netflix.

Jordan, Thursday, 27 March 2008 04:27 (sixteen years ago) link

honestly, i thought the thing would be #1 or #2.

I thought so too. (I voted for The Quiet Earth though)

Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 27 March 2008 05:13 (sixteen years ago) link

No *batteries not included, no credibility

JTS, Thursday, 27 March 2008 08:57 (sixteen years ago) link

Still, I would have thought Aliens might have gotten at least one vote. I expected a bigger turn out anyway.

Ste, Thursday, 27 March 2008 09:26 (sixteen years ago) link

aliens more likely to get repped in an action poll.

Cosmo Vitelli, Thursday, 27 March 2008 09:34 (sixteen years ago) link

83 votes is not bad for a poll, they rarely get over 100.

ledge, Thursday, 27 March 2008 09:49 (sixteen years ago) link

*batteries not included,

isn't this about old people?

Jordan, Thursday, 27 March 2008 13:47 (sixteen years ago) link

what is it with 80's sci-fi flicks about old people

latebloomer, Thursday, 27 March 2008 13:49 (sixteen years ago) link

do the star trek flicks count as part of this sub-genre?

latebloomer, Thursday, 27 March 2008 14:00 (sixteen years ago) link

this poll was too hard was the problem

n/a, Thursday, 27 March 2008 14:14 (sixteen years ago) link

seriously. so many notable flicks.

latebloomer, Thursday, 27 March 2008 14:15 (sixteen years ago) link

I, for one, couldn't choose.

treefell, Thursday, 27 March 2008 14:16 (sixteen years ago) link

what is it with 80's sci-fi flicks about old people

Cocoon was a hit, ripoffs ensue.
No MAC and me on this poll...so sad.

Sparkle Motion, Thursday, 27 March 2008 14:18 (sixteen years ago) link

tom - 90's poll? :>

Jordan, Thursday, 27 March 2008 14:23 (sixteen years ago) link

predicting Virtuosity for the win

latebloomer, Thursday, 27 March 2008 14:23 (sixteen years ago) link

vs. Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace

Jordan, Thursday, 27 March 2008 14:29 (sixteen years ago) link

watched Robocop last night, and noticed that it featured at least two england footballer lookalikes, David Platt and Wayne Rooney

Ste, Thursday, 27 March 2008 14:30 (sixteen years ago) link

No MAC and me on this poll...so sad.

totally;_;

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8cqqjOUdgAw

latebloomer, Thursday, 27 March 2008 14:31 (sixteen years ago) link

more like Big Mac and me amirite

latebloomer, Thursday, 27 March 2008 14:38 (sixteen years ago) link

yeah I didn't vote - too hard. surprised to see Videodrome place so high and the Thing place so low tho.

Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 27 March 2008 15:48 (sixteen years ago) link

I am pleased that Repo Man came in ahead of E.T..

Daniel, Esq., Friday, 28 March 2008 01:14 (sixteen years ago) link

Oops, forgot:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41SZPWZJT8L._AA280_.jpg

And Alan Rudolph's Endangered Species is either about aliens or black helicopters.

Eazy, Friday, 28 March 2008 01:19 (sixteen years ago) link

Oh, and with a similar poster, it turns out:
http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/celebrity/images/Movie/poster-endangered.JPG

Eazy, Friday, 28 March 2008 01:20 (sixteen years ago) link

everything thru the thing (and several after) i would take over any on the 90s list

balls, Friday, 28 March 2008 01:22 (sixteen years ago) link

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/d/d5/Zapped.jpg

I guess 80s teen science fiction is a whole other category.

Eazy, Friday, 28 March 2008 01:58 (sixteen years ago) link

of the top ten, i haven't seen videodrome or they live.
what are they all about and why do i love them>

ian, Friday, 28 March 2008 03:39 (sixteen years ago) link

oh man you need to see both asap, dude

latebloomer, Friday, 28 March 2008 06:25 (sixteen years ago) link

i miss neon grids.

Cosmo Vitelli, Friday, 28 March 2008 06:32 (sixteen years ago) link

Videodrome is maybe DC's finest theorem about the New Flesh, I think of it every time I shoulder past some zombielike texter on the sidewalk

Dr Morbius, Friday, 28 March 2008 14:11 (sixteen years ago) link

They Live is silly as hell but its good. Videodrome is definitely one of Cronenberg's high points and must be seen immediately.

also Zapped! gawd that is some funny shit

Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 28 March 2008 15:53 (sixteen years ago) link

i watched Outland last night. aside from a few silly plot points, it's pretty good! sean connery as wild west sheriff meets modern drugs/unions/corporations plot, set in space.

Jordan, Tuesday, 1 April 2008 17:49 (sixteen years ago) link

six years pass...

man The Hidden is great! can't believe I never saw that before. Deserved at least a vote :(

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 26 August 2014 18:41 (nine years ago) link

special lol @ Mrs. Haverchuck from Freaks and Geeks appearing as a stripper

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 26 August 2014 19:58 (nine years ago) link

two years pass...

You guys - there is this straight-to-VHS film from '87 called Death Row Game Show and it is amazing. Baffled that it never got a cult following, the blackly ironic tone is ridic.

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 27 December 2016 04:38 (seven years ago) link

I mean

http://cinapse.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Deathrow-Gameshow-03-Old-DVD.jpg

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 27 December 2016 04:41 (seven years ago) link

seven months pass...

why don't i ask on one more thread -- anyone know this Sokurov '88 film?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Days_of_Eclipse

ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 3 August 2017 20:12 (six years ago) link


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