1980 - Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

8.6 / 8.2 78 8.8 X1 9.14

Following a difficult production, The Empire Strikes Back was released on May 21, 1980, and initially received mixed reviews from critics, although it has since grown in esteem, becoming the most critically acclaimed chapter in the Star Wars saga and one of the most highly-rated films in history. It earned more than $538 million worldwide over the original run and several re-releases, making it 1980's highest-grossing film. When adjusted for inflation, it is the twelfth-highest-grossing film in the U.S. and Canada as of 2012.

The Empire Strikes Back won the Oscar for Best Sound Mixing, and received the Special Achievement Academy Award for Visual Effects. Other Oscar nominations include Best Original Score and Best Production Design. In addition, John Williams was awarded the British Academy Film Award for his compositions: the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music.

The Empire Strikes Back also received British Academy Film Award nominations for Best Sound and Best Production Design. Williams' film score also received the Grammy Award and the Golden Globe Award for best original soundtrack. The film received four Saturn Awards, including Best Actor, Best Director, Best Special Effects, and Science Fiction Film. The Empire Strikes Back won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. The film was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

It was awarded the Golden Screen Award in Germany. Darth Vader was ranked as the third-greatest film villain of all time in the American Film Institute's 2003 list of the 100 greatest heroes and villains, and Wizard magazine selected the ending of The Empire Strikes Back as the greatest cliffhanger of all time. The most well-known line of the film "No, I am your father" was selected as a nominee for the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes. The film was selected in 2010 to be preserved by the Library of Congress as part of its National Film Registry.





1981 - Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

8.3 / 7.2 7.6 X1 8.96

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior is an Australian post-apocalyptic action film directed by George Miller. The film is the second installment in the Mad Max film series, with Mel Gibson starring as Max Rockatansky

The film received much recognition from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. It won the Saturn Award for Best International Film. It received additional nominations for Best Director, Best Writing, and Best Costume Design. Mel Gibson and Bruce Spence received nods for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively. George Miller won the Grand Prize at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival.

Mad Max 2 was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and was awarded the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for Best Foreign Film. The film was also recognised by the Australian Film Institute, winning awards for best direction, costume design, editing, production design and sound. It received additional nominations for the cinematography and musical score.

In 2008, Mad Max 2 was selected by Empire magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. Similarly, The New York Times placed the film on its Best 1000 Movies Ever list. Entertainment Weekly ranked Mad Max 2 93rd on their 100 Greatest Movies of All Time in 1999, 41st on their updated All-Time 100 Greatest Films in 2013, and the character Mad Max as 11th on their list of The All Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture.





1982 - Blade Runner

8.5 / 8.0 88 8.3 X1 9.31

Blade Runner is a American dystopian science fiction action film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. Blade Runner initially polarized critics: some were displeased with the pacing, while others enjoyed its thematic complexity.

The film performed poorly in North American theaters but has since become a cult hit. It has been hailed for its production design, depicting a "retrofitted" future, and remains a leading example of the neo-noir genre. Ridley Scott regards Blade Runner as "probably" his most complete and personal film.

Blade Runner has won and been nominated for the following awards: Oscar nominated for Best Art Direction and Best Visual Effects. Golden Globes nominated for Best Original Score. Won a Special Achievement Award from the London Critics Circle Film Awards. Won the Hugo Best Dramatic Presentation Award. Nominated Best Cinematography the British Society of Cinematographers. The film was also nominated the Fantasporto International Fantasy Film Best Film Award.

At the BAFTA Awards, it won Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design, along with BAFTA nominations for Best Film Editing, Best Make-Up, Best Score, Best Sound, and Best Special Visual Effects. For the Saturn Awards, the film received nominations for Best Science Fiction Film, Best Director, Best Special Effects, Best Supporting Actor.

Blade Runner has a prominent place in many of the established All Time Lists: Sight & Sound 2012 critics top 250 films and 2012 directors top 100 films. IGN Top 25 Sci-Fi Movies of All Time. Total Film 100 Greatest Movies of All Time. 2008 New Scientist All-time favorite science fiction film (readers and staff). Empire The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. American Film Institute Top 10 Sci-fi Films of All Time and AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies. Total Film's Editors 100 Greatest Movies of All Time. Time Magazine's Critics "All-TIME" 100 Best Movies None. The Guardian, Scientists Top 10 Sci-fi Films of All Time. Entertainment Weekly The Top 50 Cult Movies. Online Film Critics Society Top 100 Sci-fi Films of the Past 100 Years. The Village Voice 100 Best Films of the 20th Century.





1983 - The Right Stuff

8.8 / 7.8 7.9 X4 8.62

While The Right Stuff is often classified as period drama, some sources classify it as science fiction, likely due to it's historic accuracy has been doctored by Hollywood. Not to mention it was also nominated for the science fiction focused Hugo award. The film is adapted from Tom Wolfe's 1979 book The Right Stuff about the test pilots who were involved in high-speed aeronautical research at Edwards Air Force Base as well as those selected to be astronauts for Project Mercury, the United States' first attempt at manned spaceflight.

The story contrasts the "Mercury Seven" and their families with pilots like Chuck Yeager. While never selected as an astronaut, Yeager was considered by many test pilots to be the best of them all. The Mercury Seven were Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton. The film stars Scott Glenn as Shepard, Ed Harris as Glenn, Fred Ward as Grissom, Dennis Quaid as Cooper and Sam Shepard as Yeager.

It won four Academy Awards for Best Sound Effects Editing; Best Film Editing; Best Original Score and Best Sound (Mark Berger, Tom Scott, Randy Thom and David MacMillan). It was also nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Sam Shepard), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Geoffrey Kirkland, Richard Lawrence, W. Stewart Campbell, Peter R. Romero, Jim Poynter, George R. Nelson), Best Cinematography (Caleb Deschanel) and Best Picture. It was nominated for the 1984 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. The Golden Globes nominated it for Best Motion Picture - Drama, and nominated Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium by the Writers Guild of America.





1984 - The Terminator

8.6 / 7.2 84 8.1 X3 8.39

Though not expected to be either a commercial or critical success, The Terminator topped the American box office for two weeks and helped launch the film career of Cameron and solidify that of Schwarzenegger. Three sequels have been produced: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), and Terminator Salvation (2009), as well as a television series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008 2009).

The Terminator has received recognition from the American Film Institute. The film ranked 42nd on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills, a list of America's most heart-pounding films. The character of the Terminator was selected as the 22nd-greatest movie villain on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains. Arnold's catch phrase "I'll be back" was voted the 37th-greatest movie quote by the AFI.

In 2005, Total Film named The Terminator the 72nd-best film ever made. In 2008, Empire magazine selected The Terminator as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. Empire also placed the T-800 14th on their list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters. In 2008, The Terminator was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

The terminator won three Saturn Awards - Best Make-Up, Best Science Fiction Film, and Best Writing. It was also Saturn nominated Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Music. The film won the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival Grand Prize.





1985 - Brazil

8.7 / 8.1 88 8.0 8.89

Brazil is a 1985 British science fiction fantasy film directed by Terry Gilliam. It was written by Gilliam, Charles McKeown, and Tom Stoppard. The film stars Jonathan Pryce and features Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, Bob Hoskins, and Ian Holm. Though a success in Europe, the film was unsuccessful in its initial North America release. It has since become a cult film. The film is named after the recurrent theme song, "Aquarela do Brasil", as performed by Geoff Muldaur.

Brazil's long list of awards and nominations include: Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Writing. The film won Best Production Design and Best Special Visual Effects at the BAFTA Awards. For the Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Best Supporting Actor and a Special Commendation award. The British Film Institute Awards awarded the film for Technical Achievement, and was Hugo nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation.

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards awarded Gilliam with Best Director and the National Society of Film Critics nominated it for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor. The film was honored by multiple All Time Lists including: Total Film named Brazil the 20th greatest British movie of all time. In 2005, Time film reviewers Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel named Brazil in an unordered list of the 100 best films of all time.

In 2006, Channel 4 voted Brazil one of the "50 Films to See Before You Die", shortly before its broadcast on FilmFour. The film also ranks at number 83 in Empire magazines list of the 500 Greatest Films of All Time. Wired ranked Brazil number 5 in its list of the top 20 sci-fi movies. Entertainment Weekly listed Brazil as the sixth best science-fiction piece of media released since 1982. The magazine also ranked the film #13 on their list of "The Top 50 Cult Films".





1986 - Aliens

8.8 / 7.6 87 8.5 X2 8.98

Aliens was directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton. The film's action-adventure tone was in contrast to the horror motifs of the original Alien. Following the success of The Terminator (1984), which helped establish Cameron as a major action director, 20th Century Fox greenlit Aliens with a budget of approximately $18 million. It was filmed in England at Pinewood Studios and at a decommissioned power plant. Aliens grossed $86 million at the US box office during its 1986 theatrical release and $131 million worldwide.

Aliens was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Music, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Art Direction. It won two awards for Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects. Sigourney Weaver received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The film received four BAFTA award nominations and won in the category of Visual Effects. It won eight Saturn Awards in the categories of best science fiction film, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, performance by a younger actor, direction, writing, and special effects.

The film's long list of recognition continues with: won Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo Award; won Best Sound Editing by the Motion Picture Sound Editors; nominated Best Foreign Language Film by the Japanese Academy Awards; and nominated Best Casting by the Casting Society of America.

In 2007, Entertainment Weekly named Aliens as the second-best action movie of all time, behind Die Hard. In a Rotten Tomatoes analysis of the top 100 science fiction films, Aliens ranks tenth among the best-reviewed films of the genre. In 2004, Aliens was ranked 35th on Bravo's "100 Scariest Movie Moments". IGN ranked it third in its "Top 25 Action Films of All-Time"





1987 - Predator

6.9 / 7.0 36 7.8 X1 7.92

While initial critical reaction to the Predator was generally negative, Roger Ebert was more complimentary of the film, saying "it supplies what it claims to supply: an effective action movie." He praised its pacing, location photography, strong but simple characterizations, and special effects. The film has been a perennial cable favorite outside of America, in India and other countries.

Predator was Oscar nominated for Best Visual effects and Hugo Awards nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation. The BMI Film Music Awards awarded Alan Silvestri for Best Music, and the Golden Reel Awards awarded the film for Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects. Winning Saturn Awards Best Music Award, it was also Saturn nominated for Best Science Fiction Film, Best Special Effects, and Best Actor.

In 2001, it was one of 400 films nominated for the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Thrills list, though it did not place in the top 100. In 2003, the Predator creature was one of 400 characters nominated for AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains. In 2007, C. Robert Cargill of Film.com ranked Predator as the seventh best film of 1987, calling it "one of the great science fiction horror films, often imitated, but never properly duplicated, not even by its own sequel."

Entertainment Weekly named it the 22nd greatest action movie of all time in 2007, and the 14th among "The Best Rock-'em, Sock-'em Movies of the Past 25 Years" in 2009, saying "Arnold Schwarzenegger has never been as manly as he was in this alien-hunting testosterone-fest. IGN proclaimed it the 13th greatest action movie of all time. In 2008, Empire magazine ranked it 336th on their list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.





1988 - Akira

7.4 / 8.0 76 8.0 8.11

Akira has been regarded as one of the greatest animated movies of all time and prompted an increase in popularity of anime movies in the US and, generally, outside of Japan. It is still admired for its exceptional visuals. Channel 4's 2005 poll of the 100 greatest cartoons of all time featuring both cartoon shows and cartoon movies, Akira came in at number 16.

On Empire magazine's list of the 500 greatest movies of all time, Akira is number 440. It showed again on Empire's list of The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema, coming in at #51. IGN also named it 14th on its list of Top 25 Animated Movies of All-Time.

Akira is regarded by many critics as a landmark anime film, one that influenced much of the art in the anime world that followed its release with many illustrators in the manga industry citing the film as an important influence. The film led the way for the growth of popularity of anime outside of Japan. Akira is considered a forerunner of the second wave of anime fandom that began in the early 1990s and has gained a massive cult following since then.

Akira has also been cited as a major influence on live-action films ranging from The Matrix to Chronicle. The Akira anime also made TIME magazine's list of top 5 anime DVDs. The film also made number 16 on Time Out's top 50 animated movie list and number 5 on Total Film's Top 50 Animated Films list. Wizard magazine also listed the film as #5 on their list of the greatest anime.





1989 - The Abyss

7.2 / 7.0 62 7.6 X1 7.78

Rotten Tomatoes consensus: "The utterly gorgeous special effects frequently overshadow the fact that The Abyss is also a totally gripping, claustrophobic thriller, complete with an interesting crew of characters." Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Travers enthused, "The Abyss is the greatest underwater adventure ever filmed, the most consistently enthralling of the summer blockbusters...one of the best pictures of the year."

The release of the Special Edition in 1993 garnered much praise. Siskel remarked, "The Abyss has been improved," and Ebert added, "It makes the film seem more well rounded." In the book Reel Views 2, James Berardinelli comments, "James Cameron's The Abyss may be the most extreme example of an available movie that demonstrates how the vision of a director, once fully realized on screen, can transform a good motion picture into a great one."

The Abyss won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects along with Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound. The won the Saturn Best Director Award and Saturn nominated for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Music, Best Science Fiction Film, Best Special Effects, and Best Writing. The American Society of Cinematographers nominated it for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography and Hugo nominated for Best Dramatic Presentation. It also won the Key Art Best Action Spot Award and the Motion Picture Sound Editors Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects. Young Artist Awards nominated the film for Best Family Motion Picture.





SCI-FI BEST FILMS BY YEAR - 1990 to 1999 > > >




Resources: wikipedia.org, imdb.com, rottentomatoes.com, metacritic.com





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