Take 5: Science Fiction Films of the 1980s

Karen: Boy, it's been a while since we did a Take 5! The premise here is to name your five top picks of the post's topic. Last weekend, I happened to put on the old classic Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Predator. I've always enjoyed that film, not only for the fantastic creature design of Stan Winston and his team but for the solid story and wonderful characters and performances by Arnold, Bill Duke, Sonny Landham, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and of course, Kevin Peter Hall as the Predator. It was a great combination of action and science fiction. It also got me thinking about the science fiction films of the 80s. There were so many good science fiction films released in this decade (well, and a lot of terrible ones too). But a ton of great ones that I still think of fondly and will sit and watch just about any time. So why not do some reminiscing? 

Karen: I'll list my five top picks for my favorites of that decade, then you list yours, and let's all discuss. Deal? 

1. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

2. Predator (1987)

3. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

4. The Thing (1982)

5. Aliens (1986)

Discuss: The Conan the Barbarian Movies, Plus X-Men DoFP Clip

Doug: Of course Conan came up in Karen's Arnold Schwarzenegger post last week. There was a little sidebar that developed, so today let's delve into it further. Speak, then if you will, of the handful of depictions of the future King of Aquilonia on celluloid, and then in larger form as to whether or not faithfulness to the print media detracts from your enjoyment of these films. And hey, if Tarzan creeps stealthily into the conversation that would be OK for the latter discussion.

Doug: I saw this yesterday and thought I'd bring it over. Special effects alone, this looks pretty cool!

NOTE: This post was updated on May 7 2020. I have no idea what the original clip was I'd posted; the YouTube account that originally crafted it is no more. So have this fun scene in its place! -Doug

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True or False: Arnold Schwarzenegger is the Greatest Action Movie Hero of All Time

Karen: The other day I read a fun and engaging article on Grantland.com by Bill Simmons called "The Action Hero Championship Belt." Simmons sets up some rules and then goes through chronologically from 1968 (when Steve McQueen's Bullitt premiered) and selects the top action hero for a particular time period. All the usual suspects are there -Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, Bruce Willis -but Arnold Schwarzenegger comes away with more years on top than anyone else. Looking back, I'd say that's about right too. He was a believable butt-kicker in every role he played. 

Here are Simmons' rules, so you can answer today's question:

Rule No. 1: Over everything else, I need to believe our hero can kick everyone’s ass, in any conceivable situation, at any given time. And he needs to believe this, too.

Rule No. 2: During our hero’s apex, I would have seen his action movie no matter what the plot was, and no matter how lukewarm the reviews were.

Rule No. 3: The body of work from a particular run matters more than a single movie.

Karen: Based on this criteria, and whatever else you care to use, what do you say -is Arnold the Man?