If you were born after 1985 there are certain film which you may have missed while growing up that you need to see in order to truly understand films of today. Many directors, screen writers, graphic artists and more were heavily influenced by the movies of the 1980s & 1990s. Understanding their inspiration can help you better understand why movies are animated/directed/written etc in a certain manner. Often there are inside jokes hidden in script and screen that a viewer familiar with older movies will understand and laugh about but which completely goes over the head of an uneducated viewer. The trend in creating fantasy/science fiction movies as a major force in cinema truly leads back to the release of Lucas's Star Wars in the late 70s. That film jump-started a mostly unexplored genre of movie making that is still being explored today. Below is a list of 20 groundbreaking fantasy/science fiction movies from the 1980s & 1990s that should give you a better understanding of where my generation is coming from - cinematically speaking. Enjoy!
Star Wars 1977 (the original trilogy, not Episodes 1-3)
Mad Max 1979
Beastmaster 1982 (One of my favorite B movies)
Dark Crystal 1982
Neverending Story 1984 (Before Harry there was Bastian for the fantasy loving kid.)
Back to the Future 1985
The Goonies 1985
Flight of the Navigator 1986
Labyrinth 1986
Highlander 1986
The Princess Bride 1987
Beetlejuice 1988
Willow 1988
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids 1989
Edward Scissorhands 1990
The Witches 1990
Beauty and the Beast 1991 (One of the first major animated films to use computer animation.)
Batman Returns 1992
Jurassic Park 1993 (Cutting edge technology was used in this film.)
Nightmare Before Christmas 1993
What movies do you think have influenced current films?
