Muslims, Jews and Christians may not agree on who God is or how to govern countries, but they can agree that a good story well told is worth listening to. With all the strife, turmoil and unpleasantness permeating the news, its good to step back and escape to another world to experience a good well told story. Cinema provides that escape. And the movies of the early 80’s are great examples of that kind of escape.

The movies that Gen-xers’s  kids and grandkids watch on DVDs and streaming are the movies we watched in the theaters first run, all fresh and new on the big screen.

The late 70’s and 80s were the films of our generation that still are watched by the newer generation.

I focused on the beginning of this era in semi-detail.

The Blockbuster Summer Movie Season Started 50 Years Ago | A Look At Summer Block Buster Movies From 1975 – 1979

And now we progress to the next half a decade of great iconic memorable films.

Starting in the year that defined my generation in

1980

45 Years Ago

Lynne Reid Banks – The Indian in the Cupboard is published 

J. R. R. Tolkien –Unfinished Tales  is published

1980 marks the 40th anniversary of many classic movies and characters introduced in 1940.

Pre-Blockbuster Season

 January 19, 1980 – You Nazty Spy! (1940)  Three Stooges # 44 turns 40.

January 27 –May 4, 1980 –  Galactica 1980  A massive write-in campaign began upon the cancellation of the original Battlestar Galactica. Because letter writing campaigns in favor of restoring cancelled television programs were uncommon in 1979, it prompted ABC to re-think their reasons for canceling the show. After some deliberation, they contacted Glen A. Larson to see about reviving the series, albeit in some modified and less expensive format.

February 7, 1980 – Walt Disney‘s second animated feature film Pinocchio (1940) turns 40.

February 10, 1980 – Tom and Jerry who made their debut in the animated cartoon Puss Gets the Boot (1940) turns 40.

February 29, 1980

 Buddy Holly‘s trademark glasses and the Big Bopper‘s wristwatch are “rediscovered” in old police files by the Mason City, Iowa, sheriff (both were killed in a plane crash on February 3, 1959, along with singer Ritchie Valens).

March 3, 1980

 Sotheby’s auction house in London auctions off a Rivera Hotel, Las Vegas, napkin signed by Elvis Presley for £500. Other items auctioned included four American dollar bills autographed by the Beatles, for £220 and a collection of personal letters belonging to the Rolling Stones, also for £220.

March 3, 1980 – Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940) starring Buster Crabbe turns 40.

March 12, 1980

Glass Houses by Billy Joel
is released

In 2025, Billy Joel was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus, leading to problems with his hearing, vision, and balance. The diagnosis led to him cancelling all his upcoming planned concerts.

March 22, 1980 – Pardon My Berth Marks (1940) starring Buster Keaton turns 40.

April 12, 1980 – Alfred Hitchcock‘s first American film Rebecca (1940) which won the Academy Award for Best Picture turns 40.

April 26, 1980 – Tugboat Mickey  (1940) starring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy turns 40.

April 29, 1980

Sir Alfred Hitchcock, known as “The Master of Suspense”, dies at his home in Bel Air, California, at the age of 80.

May 3, 1980 – Laurel and Hardy‘s last film produced by the Hal Roach Studios, as well as the last film to feature Ben Turpin and Harry Bernard,  Saps at Sea (1940) turns 40.

Blockbuster Season

May 9, 1980 – Friday the 13th – Aside from being the first independent film of its kind to secure distribution in the U.S. by a major studio, its box office success led to a long series of sequels, a crossover with the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series, and a 2009 series reboot. A direct sequel, Friday the 13th Part 2, was released one year later.

May 9, 1980 –The Nude Bomb -A comedy based on the 1965–70 television series Get Smart.

May 11, 1980 – The Return of the King – This was an American -Japanese television film shown on ABC and was created by Rankin/Bass and Topcraft. It is an adaptation of part of J. R. R. Tolkien‘s  The Return of the King (1955) the third and final volume of the novel, and is a sequel to the 1977 film The Hobbit. The first two parts of Tolkien’s story, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, are not covered in this release and are only briefly summarized at the beginning of the movie (the also animated The Lord of the Rings film by Ralph Bakshi from 1978 is an unrelated project, although the two were later marketed together by Warner Bros.).

May 21, 1980

The Empire Strikes Back (A-II) (PG)

As a 9 year old Star Wars fan, this film was enthusiastically anticipated. I used to give morning announcements at school and read something about it over the loudspeakers. I read predictions about what the story would be about in a Time Magazine article. Got a shirt with Luke on his Tantan and wore it when I went to Disney World with my mom. The snow planet. The AT-ATs bearing down on the rebel forces. Yoda being a wise-ass before revealing his true identity. Ben Kenobi coming clean. The asteroid chase. Leah kissing Luke was exciting. Leah kissing Han? What? I thought her and luke would end up together. Cloud City. Boba Fett. Seeing the back of Darth’s head. The bounty hunters. C3PO being blown apart. R2 saving the day. Who is this Lando character? The epic Darth and Luke lightsaber battle. And of course the big reveal. There was no lack of exactment and a hunger for the anticipated mysteries awaiting to be rediscovered. Saw it several times in the theaters and talked about it with kids the next day at school. And of course their was the cliff hanger and this iconic poster.

May 22, 1980

 Namco‘s Pac-Man, the highest-earning arcade game of all time, is released in Japan.

May 23, 1980 – The Shining –The film is based on Stephen King‘s 1977 novel and stars Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, and Scatman Crothers. The film presents the descent into insanity of a recovering alcoholic and aspiring novelist (Nicholson) who takes a job as winter caretaker for a haunted mountain resort hotel with his wife (Duvall) and clairvoyant son (Lloyd). I remember the trailer was shown when I went to see some other film. The elevator opened and a flood of blood came out.

June 6, 2025 – The Life of Chuck – This is a science fiction drama film written and directed by Mike Flanagan. It is based on the novella of the same name by Stephen King, which was published in his 2020 compilation book If It Bleeds. 

May 24, 1980 – Onion Pacific starring Popeye the Sailor turns 40.

May 30, 1980 –Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don’t Come Back!!) -(A-I)(G). I remember a cute girl kisses Charlie Brown. I wanted to be kissed by a cute girl. Another fun Peanuts adventure. It was one of my favorite comics back then. I did book reports on Peanuts, wrote to Charles Schultz and got something back. Wish I hadn’t lost it.

The Peanuts comic strip turned 30 in 1980.

The first 24-hour news channel, Cable News Network (CNN), was launched. The U.S.-based network launched at 6:00 p.m.

June 9, 1980

Richard Pryor sets himself on fire while free-basing cocaine and drinking 151-proof rum. Pryor ran down his street in Northridge, California, until subdued by police.

June 20, 1980 – The Blues Brothers (A-III)(R)rough language and crude situations. This was the first feature film to be based on characters created on Saturday Night Live.  This is yet another great car chase film.

June 25, 1980 – Herbie Goes Bananas – (A-I) (G) ( 1980 ) A Disney Live Action Film

The film is the fourth installment in the Herbie film series

June 25, 1980 –  The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark  (A-I) (G) – A Disney Live Action Film

Elliott Gould agrees to fly missionary Genevieve Bujold and a menagerie of domestic animals to a South Pacific island but, when the plane crash lands, they discover two child stowaways (Ricky Schroder and Tammy Lauren). Directed by Charles Jarrott, the Disney production is disarming and has a lighthearted grace that is irresistible. Appealing fare for young and old.- USCCB Review

July 2, 1980- Airplane! (A-III) (PG) Some Sexual Humor and brief nudity.

This often quoted comedy satire was directed by Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker in their directorial debut  and produced by Jon Davison. It stars Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty and features Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Lorna Patterson.^[ It is a parody of the disaster film genre, particularly the 1957 Paramount film Zero Hour!, from which it borrows the plot, central characters, and some dialogue.  It also draws many elements from Airport 1975 and other films in the Airport series. It is known for using surreal humor and fast-paced slapstick comedy, including visual and verbal puns, gags, running jokes, and dark humor. 

July 27, 1980 – Bugs Bunny who made his official debut in the animated cartoon A Wild Hare (1940) turns 40.

Post Blockbuster Season

August 15, 1980 – Smokey and the Bandit II,

Roger Ebert gave it a one out of four stars and stated that there was “[in 1980] no need for this movie. That’s true of most sequels, but it’s especially true of Smokey and the Bandit II, which is basically just the original movie done again, not as well … how can I say it’s lazy when it has 50 trucks doing stunts in it? Because it takes a lot less thought to fill up a movie with stunts than to create a comedy that’s genuinely funny”

September 10, 1980 –The Gods Must Be Crazy, directed by Jamie Uys, starring N!xau, Sandra Prinsloo and Marius Weyers – (South Africa)

This is one of the few comedy movies my mother really loved.  I mention it here because it is such a unique film and a really good non-hollywood, non-american film.

It is set in Southern Africa, the film stars Namibian San farmer Nǃxau ǂToma as Xi, a hunter-gatherer of the Kalahari Desert whose tribe discovers a glass Coca-Cola bottle dropped from an aeroplane, and believe it to be a gift from their gods. When Xi sets out to return the bottle to the gods, his journey becomes intertwined with that of a biologist (Marius Weyers), a newly hired village school teacher (Sandra Prinsloo), and a band of guerrilla terrorists.

October 10, 1980- Song of the South(re-release) (1946) The controversial Disney film that is criticized for its betrayal of African Americans was once show in cinemas long after it first premiered. There has been no official release of this film on physical media and it is not shown digitally.

October 15, 1980 – Charlie Chaplin‘s  satirical comedy The Great Dictator (1940) celebrates its 40th anniversary.

November 4, 1980

 Former Screen Actors Guild president and film actor Ronald Reagan wins the 1980 United States presidential election in a landslide victory.

October 4, 1980 – Knute Rockne, All American (1940) 40th Anniversary.  It stars Pat O’Brien as Rockne and Ronald Reagan as player George Gipp,

October 26, 1980 – Our Gang # 191 Goin’ Fishin‘ (1940) turns 40.

November 13, 1980 – Walt Disney’s animated film Fantasia (1940) 40th Anniversary.

November 15, 1980 –Abbott and Costello who made their film debut in  One Night in the Tropics (1940) turns 40. 

November 16, 1980 – In ten years time Home Alone will hit theaters.

November 19, 1980 – Heaven’s Gate becomes one of the biggest box office bombs of all-time and its colossal failure bankrupts United Artists.

November 25, 1980 – Woody Woodpecker who made his debut in the Andy Panda cartoon Knock Knock (1940) turns 40.

December 5, 1980 – Flash Gordon – Flash first turned up in the comics in 1934. Here it gets the big screen treatment. My sister Patty took me to movies sometimes but didn’t want to see this one. 

December 5, 1980 –   The Thief of Bagdad (1940) 40th Anniversary. This movie pioneered the use of chroma key effects.

December 6, 1980 – Go West (1940) starring the Marx Brothers turns 40.

December 8, 1980

 John Lennon is shot to death outside his apartment building in New York City. Lennon’s single, “(Just Like) Starting Over“, subsequently becomes a number one hit in many countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.

December 12, 1980 – Popeye – Another comic character brought to life on the big screen. Popeye first appeared in 1929. Here he is portrayed by the one and only Robin Williams. I think Patty brought me to this one.

1981

Chris Van Allsburg – Jumanji is published.

Pre-Blockbuster Season

February 9, 1981

Phil Collins releases his first solo album, Face Value, whose opening track “In the Air Tonight” popularizes the gated reverb drum sound that would become ubiquitous for the next ten years; while the album would end up a smash success, Collins would remain a member of Genesis until 1995.

February 28, 1981 – March 21, 1981 – Logopolis –  This is the seventh and final serial of the 18th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Because Dr. Who is such a big franchise I thought it deserved a mention.

The serial is set on the planets Earth and Logopolis. In the serial, the Doctor, a time traveller from the planet Gallifrey, forms a temporary truce with his arch-enemy the Master (Anthony Ainley) to stop the unravelling of the universe which the Master had started by accident.

Logopolis is Tom Baker‘s last story as the Fourth Doctor, and marks the first appearances of Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and Janet Fielding as new companion Tegan Jovanka.

The serial received positive reviews with many calling it a worthy farewell to Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor. Baker’s performance received much praise from critics.

March 18, 1981 – February 3, 1983 –The Greatest American Hero –The series chronicles teacher Ralph Hikley’s adventures after a group of aliens gives him a red and black suit that grants him superhuman abilities. Unfortunately for Ralph, he must learn how to use the suit’s powers by trial and error, often with comical results.

The theme song became a popular hit during the run of The Greatest American Hero. “Believe It or Not” entered the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 on June 13, 1981, eventually peaking at No. 2 during the weeks ending August 15–22, 1981.

April 21, 1981

“Weird Al” Yankovic made his first television appearance on NBC’s The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder.

Blockbuster Season

May 1, 1981 –Friday the 13th Part 2

May 1, 1981 – Orson Welles‘ Citizen Kane 40th anniversary.

May 22, 1981 – The Legend of the Lone Ranger –  (A-III) (PG) This movie tried to bring the TV icon to life on the big screen. The Lone Ranger, was  created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker. Producers outraged fans by refusing to allow previous Lone Ranger actor Clayton Moore to wear the character’s mask during public appearances, and created further bad publicity when it became known that the voice of leading man Spilsbury was dubbed by another actor, James Keach.  The film was a critical and commercial failure, and Spilsbury has not appeared in any films since.

June 12, 1981 – History of the World, Part I –   (O) (R) ( 1981 ) Another Mel Brooks Parody of History.

June 12, 1981 Clash of the Titans –  A-III) (PG) 1981 Incidental nudity.

Great Greek Mythology brought to life on the big screen in my lifetime. The highlight of this film was the mechanical Owl created by Athena gives to the hero Perseus to aid his adventure.

June 12, 1981 – Raiders of the Lost Ark (A-III) My father took me to see this in a sneak preview. I don’t think I loved it, but was probably pretty wowed by none the less. It is the first of the Indiana Jones movies.

What elevates Raiders from great entertainment to transcendently great entertainment is the lost ark itself. Lucas has called the ark of the covenant a “MacGuffin,” but this is profoundly mistaken. Hitchcock defined a MacGuffin as something that the characters care about but which doesn’t otherwise matter to the story. The mark of a MacGuffin is that it could be anything; the details don’t matter. Allan Quatermain went to King Solomon’s mines, but once he got there neither Haggard nor any of his adapters had much interest either in the mine or in King Solomon. Make it a lost gold shipment from a plane crash, and it’s substantially the same story.

In Raiders, by contrast, take out the ark of the covenant and you have — an Indiana Jones sequel, or at least a much less effective film. The ark blends the numinous awe Lucas strove for with the Force in his Star Wars films with the quest for Jewish identity and imagination pervading Spielberg’s work. It is because of the ark that Raiders is not just about “blowing up the Nazis real good,” as Ebert puts it. That could have been accomplished with the hero’s bazooka, say, or by any number of other means. Countless action films end with blowing up the villains real good.

Deacon Steven D. Greydanus Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – Decent Films

 July 15-19, 2025

 Many of movies’ most sought-after props are going up for auction, including the Rosebud sled from “Citizen Kane,” Macaulay Culkin’s knit snow cap from “Home Alone” and a whip wielded by Harrison Ford during the Holy Grail trials of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”

June 19, 1981 Superman II – (A-III) (PG) 

I remember seeing this movie with my neighborhood friends Dawn Kosak and Sean Manney. At least I think that is who I saw it with. Sean was in my class and unfortunately has died. May his soul rest in peace. This is great sequel and the last good superman movie in the original Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve. Superman vs. the Krypto villains trapped in the eerie floating phantom zone. Truly a great comic book film.

June 19, 1981 – Herbie Rides Again (1974) (re-release) Swiss Family Robinson (1960) (re-release)

June 26, 1981 –The Great Muppet Caper – (A-I) (G) ( 1981 ) I used to work in a movie theater popping popcorn in a room all day. I would bring my boom box with cassettes. Instead of music I would listen to movies I recorded by putting the tape recorder up to the TV. One of those movies was this one. The great storyline, music, and gags were top notch and outside of the 3 muppet films that Jim Henson was involved in has never been rematched in post Henson Muppet films.

June 26, 1981 –Dragonslayer – is the second joint production between Paramount and Disney, after Popeye (1980), and is more mature than most contemporary Disney films. Because the audience expected the film be solely children’s entertainment, the violence, adult themes and brief nudity were somewhat controversial, though Disney did not hold the North American distribution rights. The film was rated PG in the U.S. Like The Black Hole (1979), the version of the film broadcast on the Disney Channel was edited to remove two scenes

June 26, 1981 – For Your Eyes Only (O) (PG) ( 1981 )– The twelfth film in the James Bond franchise.

I think I saw this in theaters and  remember the opening when Bond drops a villian down a chimney. I may have been offended and thought it was funny at the same time. I may have closed my eyes at the sex scenes. 

July 3, 1981 – In 10 years time Terminator 2: Judgment Day will hit theaters.

July 9, 1981

 Donkey Kong is released, marking the first Donkey Kong and Mario smash hit arcade game developed by Nintendo in Japan.

July 10, 1981 – The Fox and the Hound  (A-I) (G) ( 1981 ) A Disney animated film.

This was a sad sad Disney film that had its scary moments.

Post Blockbuster Season

September 11, 1981

The Pee-wee Herman Show, a stage show starring Paul Reubens as his fictional comic character, Pee-wee Herman aired as a special on HBO. Taped at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California, this marked one of the first significant appearances of the Pee-wee Herman character. The nightclub show notably, had more adult humor than the later children’s television series Pee-wee’s Playhouse.

 September 19, 1981

Simon & Garfunkel perform a free reunion concert in New York City’s Central Park attended by over 500,000 fans.

October 30, 1981 – Halloween II

November 6, 1981 – Time Bandits The film tells the story of a young boy taken on an adventure through time with a band of thieves who plunder treasure from various points in history. The director Terry Gilliam has referred to Time Bandits as the first in his “Trilogy of Imagination”, followed by Brazil (1985) and ending with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988). This movie is a lot of fun to watch. The remade TV series Time Bandits (2024) was so bland and boring compared to the original I couldn’t finish it. 

November 20, 1981 – The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie

November 22, 1981 – In ten years time Disney’s Beauty and the Beast will hit theaters.

December 9, 1941 – The Wolf Man 40th anniversary.

December 11, 1981- In ten years time Steven Spielberg’s Hook with Robin Williams will hit theaters. 

1982

Pre-Blockbuster Season

January 14, 1982

Roald Dahl – The BFG is published

March 29, 1982

Ebony and Ivory 
by Paul McCartney featuring Stevie Wonder
is released.

Blockbuster Season

May 21, 1982 – Annie – (A-I) (PG) (1982) I remember at the time being upset that one of the characters used God’s name in vain. For some reason that stuck with me. 

May 28, 1982 –Rocky III–   (A-III) (PG) Rocky starts piling on the sequels. This movie has Rocky going up against Mr. T before he signed on for the A-Team.

May 29, 1982 – In ten years time Sister Act will hit theaters.

June 4, 1982 –Poltergeist – (O) (R/PG appeal)  Rewatching this movie years later, I thought it was kinna of boring and not at all that spooky.

June 4, 1982 – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan  (A-II) (PG) ( 1982 ) Captain Kirk and the crew enter the summer movie season.I think I didn’t really start liking the Star Trek movies till Star Trek 4 where they go to find the whales. But still Star Trek on the big screen is a grand idea.

June 4, 1982 – Bambi (1942) (re-release) A-I (G)

June 11, 1982 –E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America has rated it PG — parental guidance. Move over Jaws and Star Wars, there is a new highest-grossing film in town. The flying bikes, the cool aliens, the main character my age kissing a girl, what was there not to love in this film.

June 11, 1982 –  Grease 2,  (A-III) (PG) This movie gives us Michelle Pfeiffer  in her first leading role.

June 19, 1982 – In Ten years time Batman Returns will hit theaters.

June 22, 1982
The Coca-Cola Company acquires Columbia Pictures for $750 million.

June 25, 1982 – Blade Runner – Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos and directed by Ridley Scott, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick‘s 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The film is set in a dystopian future Los Angeles of 2019, in which synthetic humans known as replicants are bio-engineered by the powerful Tyrell Corporation to work on space colonies. When a fugitive group of advanced replicants led by Roy Batty (Hauer) escapes back to Earth, burnt-out cop Rick Deckard (Ford) reluctantly agrees to hunt them down.

A sequel was released in 2017, titled Blade Runner 2049, with Ryan Gosling alongside Ford in the starring roles.

July 2, 1982 – The Secret of NIMH  (1971) (A-I) (G)  The movie was based on Robert C. O’Brien‘s children’s novel, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. This was the was the first feature film to be directed by Don Bluth. A great movie but I think I found it a little unsettling at the time. A direct-to-video sequel directed by Dick Sebast and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation titled The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue was released on December 22, 1998.

July 9, 1982 – Tron —(A-III) This is the first feature film to use computer animation extensively. What a great trip of a film this is. There is some great christological theological catechetical moments you can take from this film. It produced a great video game I played in the arcade.

October 10, 2025 – Tron: Ares 

July 30, 1982 –Tex (A-II) (PG)– A Disney Live Action Movie

I remember renting this when I was young on VHS. I don’t think I liked it cause it was a serious Disney movie and I wanted Don Knotts doing goofy slapstick stuff. Those days of uncanny comedy were gone just like the 70’s. More edgy PG rated fare was no the Disney Standard.

Post Blockbuster Season

August 13, 1982 – Friday the 13th Part III – The film marks the first appearance of Jason’s signature hockey mask, which has since become a trademark of both the character and the franchise, as well as an icon in American cinema and the horror genre in general. It was the first film to remove E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial from the number-one box office spot and became the second highest-grossing horror film of 1982, behind Poltergeist.

September 26, 1982 –April 4, 1986  – Knight Rider – The show stars David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight, a sleek and modern crime fighter assisted by KITT, an advanced, artificially intelligent, self-aware, and nearly indestructible car. 

October 22, 1982 – Halloween III: Season of the Witch

October 22, 1982 –First Blood – It is the first installment in the Rambo series, followed by Rambo: First Blood Part II. The story follows Rambo who, after entering a small town and getting into a conflict with the local police, attempts to survive a manhunt using his expertise in survival and combat skills. It also co-stars Richard Crenna as Rambo’s mentor Colonel Sam Trautman and Brian Dennehy as Sheriff Will Teasle.

November 11, 1982 – In ten years time Walt Disney’s Aladdin will hit theaters.

November 19, 1982 – Bugs Bunny’s 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales

November 20, 1982 – In ten years time Home Alone 2: Lost in New York with a cameo by Donald Trump will hit theaters.

November 22, 1982 – Casablanca 40th Anniversary.

November 30, 1982

Michael Jackson releases his sixth studio album Thriller, which would go on to be the greatest selling album of all time at 70 million units sold worldwide.

December 10, 1982 – Airplane II: The Sequel

December 17, 1982 – The Dark Crystal – A dark Jim Henson fantasy film.  The plot revolves around Jen and Kira, two Gelflings on a quest to restore balance to the world of Thra and overthrow the evil, ruling Skeksis by restoring a powerful broken Crystal. An Emmy Award-winning prequel television series, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, premiered on Netflix in 2019 and ran for one season.

December 17, 1982 – Trail of the Pink Panther –It is the seventh film in The Pink Panther series, the first film in the series following Sellers’ death and also the last in which he appeared as Inspector Clouseau. Sellers died 18 months before production began; his performance consists entirely of his deleted scenes and outtakes from previous films. Although the Sellers estate sued United Artists and the unauthorized use of the footage was ruled illegal, the film was allowed to be released.^[3] The newly shot material in the film stars Joanna Lumley as journalist Marie Jouvet searching for the missing Clouseau – and running afoul of the inspector’s enemies who do not wish to see him return.

1983

Pre-Blockbuster Season

February 26, 1983

 Michael Jackson‘s Thriller album hits #1 on the US charts, the first of thirty-seven (non-consecutive) weeks it would spend there on its way to becoming the biggest-selling album of all time.

March 2, 1981

Compact discs go on sale in the United States. They had first been released in Japan the previous October.

Blockbuster Season

May 1, 1983 – V – Its debut on NBC in 1983 initiated the science-fiction franchise concerning reptilian aliens known as the Visitors trying to gain control of Earth, and of the reaction by the human populace.

May 3, 1983

“Weird Al” Yankovic
by “Weird Al” Yankovic
is released

May 25, 1983 – Return of the Jedi, (A-II) (PG)

I remember spoiling this movie before it came out by reading the advanced comic book of it. It didn’t really ruin because I saw it several times in the theater loving it every time.

• The battle over the scarlet pit.
• Jabba the Hutt is a great villian.
• How will they revive Han Solo?
• They didn’t kill off Boba Fett!
• Holy Cow the Emperor.
• Leia is Luke’s Sister??!!!
• Speeder bikes.
• Another great fight scene.
• Ewoks are awesome.
• I wish I could kiss Princess Leia in the woods of Endor.

These are some of the thoughts my 12 year self thought while watching this film several times.

Star Wars will not hit theaters again till May 19, 1999 with the release of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

June 3, 1983 – Psycho II – (O) (R) It is the first sequel to Alfred Hitchcock‘s 1960 film Psycho and the second film in the Psycho franchise. Set 22 years after the first film, it follows Norman Bates after he is released from the mental institution and returns to the house and Bates Motel to continue a normal life. However, his troubled past continues to haunt him as someone begins to murder the people around him. The film is unrelated to the 1982 novel Psycho II by Robert Bloch, which he wrote as a sequel to his original 1959 novel Psycho.

June 3, 1983 – WarGames – Matthew Broderick plays David Lightman, a young computer hacker who unwittingly accesses a United States military  supercomputer programmed to simulate, predict and execute nuclear war against the Soviet Union, triggering a false alarm that threatens to start World War III.

June 10, 1983 –Octopussy  (A-III) (PG) It is the thirteenth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth to star Roger Moore as the MI6 agent James Bond

June 11, 1983 – In ten years time Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park will hit theaters.

June 13, 1983

Pioneer 10 passes the orbit of Neptune, becoming the first human-made object to leave the vicinity of the major planets of the Solar System.

 June 17, 1983 – Superman III –  (A-II) (PG)  Film critic Leonard Maltin said that Superman III was an “appalling sequel that trashed everything that Superman was about for the sake of cheap laughs and a co-starring role for Richard Pryor”. The film was nominated for two Razzie Awards including Worst Supporting Actor for Richard Pryor and Worst Musical Score for Giorgio Moroder.Audiences also saw Robert Vaughn‘s villainous Ross Webster as a weak replacement for Lex Luthor.

There is however a great scene where Superman fights himself.

June 19, 1983 – Cannonball Run II (A-III) (PG) Sequel with Burt Reynolds and friends is a sort of cinematic People magazine-on-whee1s. Stuntman Hal Needham’s direction of this demolition-derby comedy is geared toward dangerous auto stunts and off-color jokes.  USCCB Reviews

June 22, 1983

Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old Vatican girl, mysteriously disappears in Rome while returning home from a music lesson. The disappearance of the girl led to many speculations involving international terrorism, Italian organized crime, and even a plot inside the Vatican to cover a sexual scandal inside the Holy See. Because of all these theories, the Orlandi case would later become Italy‘s most famous mystery.

June 24, 1983 –Twilight Zone: The Movie –(A-II) (PG) – Based on Rod Serling‘s 1959–1964 television series of the same name, the film features four stories directed by Landis, Spielberg, Joe Dante, and George Miller

The film’s production achieved notoriety when Morrow and two illegally hired child actors were killed in a helicopter crash during the filming of Landis’s segment. The deaths led to several years of legal action; although no individuals were found to be criminally liable, new procedures and safety standards were imposed in the filmmaking industry

July 16, 1983 – Batman (serial)  40th Anniversary. It was the first appearance on film of Batman, and for introducing story elements that quickly became permanent parts of the Batman character’s mythos.

July 22, 1983 –Jaws 3-D –  A-III (PG) (  The film made use of 3D during the revived interest in the technology in the 1980s, amongst other horror films such as Friday the 13th Part III and Amityville 3-D. Cinema audiences could wear disposable cardboard polarized 3D glasses to create the illusion that elements penetrate the screen. Jaws 3-D was nominated for five 1983 Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Lou Gossett Jr.), Screenplay, and Newcomer (Cindy and Sandy, “The Shrieking Dolphins”), but received none.

July 23, 1983

 During production of Twilight Zone: The Movie, Vic Morrow and two child actors are accidentally killed during a helicopter scene, leading to reforms in filmmaking safety and child-labor laws.

July 29, 1983 – National Lampoon’s Vacation (A-III) (R) – Chevy Chase stars in this comic saga of a family’s misadventures driving from Chicago to a California amusement park. As in any trip there are moments of fun and humor and long stretches of dull, tedious travel. Directed by Harold Ramis, there is some tasteless humor involving a corpse, some sexual innuendo and brief nudity.  USCCB Reviews

Post Blockbuster Season

August 5, 1983 – Daffy Duck’s Fantastic Island -This was another compilation of classic Warner Bros. cartoon shorts and animated bridging sequences, hosted by Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales.  This was the first Looney Tunes compilation film to center on Daffy Duck, as the previous ones had centered on Bugs Bunny.

An Innocent Man
by Billy Joel
is released

August 12, 1983 – Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 – Janet Maslin of The New York Times gave the film a negative review, saying, “The already skimpy running time of Smokey and the Bandit, Part 3 is padded by an opening montage of earlier Smokey scenes, including shots of Burt Reynolds lounging in a zebra-print hammock. He is grinning, as well he might, because he has been able to sit out Part 3 altogether. What has he missed? An interminable car chase punctuated by dumb stunts and even dumber dialogue, plus the well-worth-missing sight of Paul Williams in a dress”.

August 12, 1983 – Curse of the Pink Panther – This is the last The Pink Panther film to feature the character Inspector Jacques Clouseau in the original film series.

October 27, 1981 – Roald Dahl – The Witches is published.

November 18, 1983 – A Christmas Story – The classic Christmas movie you watch every Christmas and can quote. But perhaps you shouldn’t watch this film. You’ll shoot your eye out kid.

November 24, 1983 – Terry Pratchett – The Colour of Magic is published. 

November 24, 1983 – In ten years time Mrs. Doubtfire will hit theaters.

The first book of the Discworld series. The first printing of the British edition consisted of only 506 copies. Pratchett has described it as “an attempt to do for the classical fantasy universe what Blazing Saddles did for Westerns.”

The story takes place on the Discworld, a planet-sized flat disc carried through space on the backs of four gargantuan elephants – Berilia, Tubul, Great T’Phon and Jerakeen – who themselves stand on the shell of Great A’Tuin, a gigantic star turtle. The surface of the disc contains oceans and continents, and with them, civilisations, cities, forests and mountains.

December 20, 1983 –The Day After – The war film postulates a fictional conflict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact over Germany that rapidly escalates into a full-scale nuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. The action itself focuses on the residents of Lawrence, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri, and several family farms near American missile silos. More than 100 million people, in nearly 39 million households, watched the film when it first aired on November 20, 1983 on the ABC television network.

December 25, 1983 –The Song of Bernadette 40th anniversary.

1984

Pre-Blockbuster Season

January 12, 1984 – Dr. Seuss – The Butter Battle Book is published. 

January 27, 1984

Michael Jackson‘s hair catches fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.

February 15, 1984

 The Walt Disney Studios establishes Touchstone Pictures to release films with more mature subject matter than the traditional Walt Disney Pictures banner.

February 26, 1984

CBS airs the network broadcast television premiere of Star Wars.

March 30, 1984 – Romancing the Stone

This movie propels Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito and director Robert Zemeckis to super-stardom. The film also gave Zemeckis his first box office hit, which gave Universal Pictures confidence to allow him to direct his next film, Back to the Future.

April 13, 1984 – Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter – Despite being billed as the final entry, its success prompted another sequel, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, one year later, followed by a further six sequels and a reboot.

Blockbuster Movie Season

May 6, 1984 – V The Final Battle

May 23, 1984 –Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – (A-III) (PG)  

This is the movie you talked about at school the next day with all the other kids who saw it. There are so many great scenes in this film that stood out making it a fun memorable and quotable film that I saw in the theater more than once.

June 1, 1984 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock – (A-II) (PG) They actually blew up the Enterprise in this film. I couldn’t believe it.

June 8, 1984-  Ghostbusters – (A-III) (PG) I remember my friend Gabriel wasn’t allowed to see this movie. Honestly there has never been another Ghostbuster movie that has equaled the comedic fantastical elements of the original movie.

Ghostbusters Day 2025

Stranger Things Animated Series Takes Inspiration from The Real Ghostbusters

June 8, 1984 –Gremlins– (A-III) (PG) ( 1984 ) The film draws on legends of folkloric mischievous creatures that cause malfunctions—”gremlins“—in the British Royal Air Force going back to World War II. The story follows Billy Peltzer, who receives Gizmo as a pet, who then spawns more of his kind that evolve into the titular imp-like monsters that wreak havoc on Billy’s hometown during Christmas Eve.

June 15, 1984 – In ten years time Walt Disney’s The Lion King will hit theaters.

June 22, 1984-  Top Secret! –(A-III) (PG)Some sexually oriented humor. Creators of “Airplane” (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker) have set out to parody movies of international intrigue. But this time they haven’t gotten it right and most of the jokes misfire. USCCB Reviews

June 22, 1984- The Karate Kid –  (A-II) (PG)  The director of Rocky brings us another tale of an underdog who turns into a champion. The Karate Kid saga begins.  

May 30, 2025 – Karate Kid: Legends

July 1, 1984

The Motion Picture Association of America institutes the PG-13 rating, as a response to violent horror films such as Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

July 6, 1984 – In ten years time Forrest Gump will hit theaters.

July 13, 1984 –The Last Starfighter – This was a fun exciting sci-fi movie.  The fact a young kid my age was looking at playboy didn’t ruin the movie for me. I really was very traditional and proper when it came to that sort of thing back then. I haven’t changed. he film, along with Walt Disney Pictures‘ Tron (1982), has the distinction of being one of cinema’s earliest films to use extensive “real-life” computer-generated imagery (CGI) to depict its many starships, environments, and battle scenes.

The film tells the story of Alex Rogan (Lance Guest), a teenager who, after winning the high score in an arcade game that’s secretly a simulation test, is recruited by an alien defense force to fight in an interstellar war. It also features Dan O’Herlihy, Catherine Mary Stewart, and Robert Preston in his final role in a theatrical film. The character of Centauri, a “lovable con-man”, was written with him in mind and was a nod to his most famous role as Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man (1962)

July 13, 1984 – The Muppets Take Manhattan – (A-I) (G)

Kermit and Miss Piggy emulate Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in this spoof of old-time Hollywood musicals. Under Frank Oz’s direction, the third screen outing of Jim Henson’s Muppets offers some highly entertaining musical numbers, much witty comedy and a lot of fun. Highly recommended for family viewing.  USCCB Reviews

June 7, 2025

Muppet*Vision 3D closes at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Walt Disney World is closing the Muppet theater show – the last major project Jim Henson worked on before his death in 1990 – to clear space for its upcoming Monsters Inc.-themed Monstropolis land. But The Muppets are not leaving the park.

Disney announced last year that the characters would be taking over the current Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith ride, transforming it into a Muppets-themed coaster starring Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Today, in a social media post, Kermit the Frog confirmed that The Muppets version of that coaster will be opening next year.

Robert Niles –The Muppets are moving on at Walt Disney World

July 20, 1984 – The NeverEnding Story–  This was just a great magical fun movie that brought you to a world full of imagination and gave you some food for thought. I thought the The Childlike Empress was super pretty. I believe I saw this film with my dad or some other family member. 

Post Blockbuster Season

August 10, 1984 – Cloak & Dagger –A young boy and his imaginary friend end up on the run while in possession of a top-secret spy gadget. IMDB I have found memories of this film. 

August 15, 1984 – The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension – The film centers upon the efforts of the polymath Dr. Buckaroo Banzai, a physicist, neurosurgeon, test pilot, and rock star, to save the world by defeating a band of inter-dimensional aliens called Red Lectroids from Planet 10. The film is a cross between the action-adventure and science fiction film genres and also includes elements of comedy and romance. It is considered a cult sci-fi classic.

August 15, 1984 –Dreamscape – A man who can enter and manipulate people’s dreams is recruited by a government agency to help cure the President of the United States of his nightmares about nuclear war but stumbles upon an assassination plot. – IMDB

October 30, 1984

“Born in the U.S.A.”
by  Bruce Springsteen
is released

August 16, 1984 – Going My Way 40th anniversary.

September 17, 1984 –  November 11, 1987 –The Transformers premiers in syndication. 

October 26, 1984 –The Terminator (O) (R)  – Defying low pre-release expectations, The Terminator topped the United States box office for two weeks, eventually grossing $78.3 million against a modest $6.4 million budget. It is credited with launching Cameron’s film career and solidifying Schwarzenegger’s status as a leading man. The film’s success led to a franchise consisting of several sequels, a television series, comic books, novels and video games. In 2008, The Terminator was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

November 9, 1984 – A Nightmare on Elm Street – Dawn Kosak, a neighbor of mine saw this movie. I didn’t see R rated movies at the time. She described it to me in detail. I would end up seeing it years later.  I dressed up as Freddy Krueger for Halloween day at school one year during high school.  This was Johnny Depp‘s  film debut. The film’s plot concerns a group of teenagers who are targeted by Krueger, an undead child killer who murders teenagers through their dreams, as retribution against their parents who burned him alive.

November 21, 1984 – Supergirl

November 22, 1984 – Meet Me in St. Louis 40th Anniversary.

December 5, 1984 – Beverly Hills Cop – This first film in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise shot Murphy to international stardom, won the People’s Choice Award for “Favorite Motion Picture”, and was nominated for both the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1985.

December 14, 1984 – Dune –  After over a year of hype and anticipation this film written and directed by David Lynch, and based on the 1965 novel of the same name by Frank Herbert was released.  I remember hating this movie after seeing it. Comparing it to Star Wars, Star Trek and The Black Hole it was an un-interesting, un-understandable mess of a film where there was a lot of whispering of the main characters.  The new Dune is so much better.

December 15, 1984 – The Return of Godzilla – It is the 16th film in the Godzilla franchise, the last film produced in the Shōwa era, and the first film in the Heisei series.  The film serves as both a sequel to the original 1954 film and a reboot of the franchise that ignores the events of every Shōwa era film aside from the original Godzilla, placing itself in line with the darker tone and themes of the original film and returning Godzilla to his destructive, antagonistic roots.