Today’s episode of Sounds of Cinema featured a look back at films released in 1982 with a focus on fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Movies like Blade Runner, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and The Thing are beloved titles that have influenced the pictures being made today. The program featured guest commentary from Andy Wardinski and Ben Wardinski in which we explored the various films of 1982.
The horror genre had some notable titles debut in 1982. Slasher films were dominant at the time but there were some other great spooky titles as well. In this part of the conversation we considered Creepshow, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Friday the 13th Part III and Poltergeist.
The science fiction genre also produced quite a few notable films in 1982, many of them very influential and era defining. In this piece we discussed E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Thing, Blade Runner, and TRON.
Andy talked us through the significance of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, often regarded as the peak of the film franchise. As he points out, Wrath of Khan saved Star Trek and determined the path of the rest of the series.
In this clip we discussed comedy films including Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Grease 2, and 48 Hrs. Fast Times and 48 Hrs. are often categorized as comedies and while they are funny these films are also very dramatic with some serious social issues dramatized in the stories.
Sylvester Stallone had an extraordinary year in 1982 with the release of Rocky III and First Blood. The Rocky threequel is one of the best entries in the series and First Blood introduced the character of John Rambo.
Lastly, here is a quick overview of other notable films of 1982 including The Verdict, Missing, Sophie’s Choice, Fitzcarraldo and more. Some of these movies are well known and others are more obscure but they are worth your while to track down.