Casey Chong with ten great 80s sci-fi adventure movies…
The 1980s was a great decade for movies with the emergence of modern blockbuster cinema, state-of-the-art special effects, and a wealth of fascinating stories across various genres. Among the most popular of the decade was the sci-fi adventure, with notable works like Back to the Future to the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises; looking beyond those iconic properties, here are ten great 80s sci-fi adventure movies that are well worth exploring, be it for the first time, or a long-overdue revisit…
The Last Starfighter (1984)
It’s easy to dismiss The Last Starfighter as a blatant Star Wars knockoff, but director Nick Castle manages to pull off a better-than-expected entry that is part TRON and part Star Wars without making it look like a poor man’s version of either movie. The story is a classic sci-fi adventure trope: a teenager named Alex Rogan (Lance Guest, in a game performance) breaks the record of the Starfighter arcade video game and earns a place to join the Star League as a Starfighter pilot to defend against the evil Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada. Alex is, of course, skeptical about risking his life and feeling conflicted about everything before he eventually agrees to help the Star League.
The Last Starfighter benefits from a solid cast, notably the scene-stealing Robert Preston as Centauri, a Star League alien-in-disguise as the inventor of the arcade video game who recruits Alex. And not to forget Dan O’Herlihy covered in a lizard-like alien prosthetic makeup as the sardonic Grig. The movie is equally notable for its early use of CGI and even if it looks dated by today’s standards, it’s hard to deny the nostalgic 1980s charm of watching the space battle, complete with Craig Safan’s orchestral score soaring in the background.
Starman (1984)
The romance theme is the last thing that comes to mind, particularly when associated with John Carpenter’s works, and yet the horror master behind Halloween proved to be adept in exploring different genres. He did it before with movies like the gritty crime thriller Assault on Precinct 13 and here Starman sees Carpenter combining sci-fi tropes with romance drama and even a dash of fish-out-of-water comedy. And it works, thanks to Carpenter’s assured direction and an engaging, yet heartfelt storytelling about a grieving widow Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen), who is kidnapped by her late husband lookalike Scott (Jeff Bridges).
The Scott in question is the titular alien in disguise, who arrives from outer space to visit Earth. Given this is a John Carpenter movie, it’s easy to expect the alien is set to appear as a hostile being but instead, he comes in peace. Starman gets a boost from the love-hate dynamic between Bridges’ Scott and Allen’s Jenny and how their relationship gradually blossoms as the movie progresses. Carpenter doesn’t forget to raise some genuine stakes with the involvement of government officials who see Scott as a threat to humanity.
The Abyss (1989)
The 1980s saw the emergence of James Cameron, who proved his directorial prowess in The Terminator and Aliens. He later followed up with The Abyss, an ambitious underwater sci-fi adventure about the discovery of an otherworldly aquatic species. The latter gives us then-state-of-the-art special effects of the manipulative liquid form, which will be perfected two years later in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The visuals are top-notch and so does the epic underwater cinematography.
Cameron skilfully blends sci-fi with intriguing mystery and propulsive action without losing sight of the character development, notably the estranged relationship between Ed Harris’ Virgil “Bud” Brigman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio’s Dr. Lindsey Brigman. Beneath the spectacular technical achievement, the movie also delves into resonant themes of love, sacrifice and redemption. Despite the sheer ambition, The Abyss underperformed at the box office during the summer 1989 release but has since become a cult classic. Do look out for the Special Edition, which benefits from significant restored footage which adds depth and strengthens some of the key plot points.
Miracle Mile (1988)
Imagine picking up a call at a phone booth in front of a coffee shop from someone stressing out over an impending nuclear war at 4 m. That’s what happens to Harry Washello (Anthony Edwards), who initially thinks it was a prank call only for it to end with a threat and the sound of the caller being shot to death. Interestingly, Miracle Mile starts vastly different before that fateful phone call scene with a romantic comedy stretch revolving around Harry trying to win the heart of the girl of his dreams, Julie (Mare Winningham). However, director Steve De Jarnatt, who also wrote the screenplay, has a radical idea as his movie progresses – a charming meet-cute romantic comedy, which soon takes an abrupt tonal shift into a tense paranoid thriller about the nuclear holocaust.
The end of the world is nigh as Jarnatt brings a foreboding sense of apocalyptic dread and he manages to pull it off with a measly $4 million budget. Even with the movie’s race-against-time scenario, he keeps his story intimately small-scale by zeroing in on Harry’s tumultuous journey to reuniting with his love at all costs amid the imminent nuclear attack. It was a pity that Miracle Mile failed to find an audience at the time before it slipped into obscurity. The movie has since emerged as a cult classic.
Night of the Comet (1984)
Released in the same year as his debut Sole Survivor, director Thom Eberhardt’s follow-up is an ambitious sci-fi movie that blends the end-of-the-world dread with a surprisingly light-hearted comedy in between. It all begins with everyone eager to witness the once-in-a-lifetime comet passing by Earth one night. At the beginning of the movie, the story is executed like a teen comedy as we follow protagonist Reggie (Catherine Mary Stewart), a movie theater employee who prefers slacking around playing an arcade game. And later, spending a night with her projectionist boyfriend, Larry (Michael Bowen) in a projection booth. Then comes the next morning, when everything changes overnight. The streets are curiously empty with clothing items all over the place – not to mention the unusually thick, reddish-orange smog that envelops the sky, and it isn’t long before Reggie encounters a zombie trying to get her.
What’s interesting is Eberhardt manages to capture the empty streets of the otherwise busy Los Angeles, considering his Night of the Comet costs a lowly $700,000 to make. He even subverts the usual expectations by going in the opposite direction. And that is, focusing on the small-scale character-driven drama revolving around Reggie and her younger sister, Sam (Kelli Maroney), as we see how they cope with the new norms of living in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Reggie and Sam are likable characters while the story leans more on the refreshingly feel-good factor than a straight-out doomsday sci-fi horror.
2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984)
Making a sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s groundbreaking 2001: A Space Odyssey may have seemed like a recipe for disaster and sure, Peter Hyams’ follow-up 2010: The Year We Make Contact is inferior, lacking the thought-provoking cinematic wonder that Kubrick perfected in his sci-fi classic. And yet, this is the type of sequel which manages to hold on its own, thanks to Hyams’ overall captivating direction.
Hyams, who also adapted the screenplay from Arthur C. Clarke’s novel 2010: Odyssey Two, does a good job merging the thematic value of global cooperation for the greater good seen in the story’s joint U.S.-Soviet mission to Jupiter and the intriguing interstellar search for answer surrounding the aftermath of the Discovery One mission with stunning visual imagery. The latter showcases Hyams’ flair in giving the audiences an epic quality in special effects, notably the incredible sight of Jupiter. Kudos also goes to the director for assembling a stellar cast led by Roy Scheider as Heywood Floyd as part of the space crew.
Innerspace (1987)
An entertaining mix of sci-fi and comedy, Joe Dante immerses us in a wild, high-concept Fantastic Voyage-like cinematic ride into the… human body of an unsuspecting store clerk played by Martin Short. And the person in question entering the body is Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid), a pilot who volunteers for the miniaturization experiment, which shrinks him and the pod to a microscopic form.
Innerspace boasts stunning visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic, which went on to win a much-deserved Oscar for Best Visual Effects. The cast is energetic with Quaid and Short deserve mention for their lively performances. Interestingly, Innerspace was originally conceived as a serious-minded spy thriller with sci-fi elements but once Joe Dante was onboard, the movie was reworked to lighten up the tone by injecting comedy.
Dreamscape (1984)
Dreamscape marks the first time Joseph Ruben ventures into the sci-fi territory starring then-freshly minted star Dennis Quaid as Alex Gardner, a young man with psychic ability. The story focuses on Alex becoming part of the scientific research experiment for entering people’s dreams. While the movie takes its time to pick up the pace, it does benefit from above-average performances all around and Ruben’s genre know-how direction in effectively combining different elements.
More than just a sci-fi adventure, Ruben also incorporates surreal horror that echoes A Nightmare on Elm Street, the film ironically preceding Wes Craven’s seminal genre masterpiece by a few months. It even gets more intriguing with the added political thriller vibe: an assassination plot revolving around killing the President of the United States by manipulating his recurring nightmares, where David Patrick Kelly plays the mentally disturbed antagonist possessing the same psychic ability.
D.A.R.Y.L. (1985)
An acronym for “Data-Analyzing Robot Youth Lifeform”, D.A.R.Y.L. explores the underlying moral ethics of artificial intelligence in the form of a boy played by Barret Oliver as Daryl. But beyond his ordinary-looking façade lies a super-intelligent robot with multiple talents. At one point, he had no problem scoring a home run during a baseball game and even proved to be a skilled driver.
The movie may have been family-friendly, emphasizing the lighter tone and heartfelt family dynamic. But director Simon Wincer isn’t also afraid of bringing in enough palpable stakes, notably in the second half once Daryl becomes a target, resulting in some thrilling action set pieces including a spectacular nighttime highway pursuit. Looking from today’s point of view, the movie’s subject matter on artificial intelligence and what it means to be human remains thematically relevant as ever.
Trancers (1984)
Leave it to Charles Band to come up with a fun, low-budget B-movie that combines different elements in just 76 minutes. That movie in question is Trancers, a sci-fi adventure starring the incomparable Tim Thomerson as Jack Deth, a grizzled police trooper from the future – 23rd century, to be exact – who is tasked to hunt down the notorious Martin Whistler (a perfectly sinister Michael Stefani). Dance incorporates the time-travel tropes as Jack required to go back in time to the ‘80s era by taking over the body of his ancestor.
Once there, the movie hops around from Jack and Lena’s (Helen Hunt in one of her earlier roles) romantic subplot to a fish-out-of-water comedy and even a dash of zombie horror. The latter is especially true with Martin’s psychic powers that turn people into zombie-like “trancers”. The special effects may have been cheesy but it still retains its unique ‘80s charm while the movie benefits from Thomerson’s deadpan lead performance as the no-nonsense Jack Deth. Trancers spawned five more movies between 1991 and 2002, although Thomerson made his exit with 1994’s Trancers 5: Sudden Deth.
SEE ALSO: 8 Great Cult Sci-Fi Films from 1985
What are your favourite 80s sci-fi adventure movies? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Casey Chong
