Continuing our look at one of the greatest movie-going summers ever (and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of said summer), here are my Top 5 faves from that unforgettable summer…the 5 flicks that gave me the most fun, the most laughs, the most scares, and enough memories to last 3 decades.

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Edmonton - June 17, 2012 - Continuing our look at one of the greatest movie-going summers ever (and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of said summer), here are my Top 5 faves from that unforgettable summer…the 5 flicks that gave me the most fun, the most laughs, the most scares, and enough memories to last 3 decades...

5. FRIDAY THE 13th PART 3 in 3D - until Avatar came around to ruin everything (and basically every 2nd movie being released is in 3D), there was this…quite simply the greatest 3D movie EVER! Faced with going to the well one more time for their low budget cash cow of a franchise, Paramount decided to release the 3rd Jason saga in 3D, a gimmick which had seen only sporadic use since the 1950’s. It resulted in the most successful Friday to date, as audiences rushed to see spears, spikes, eyeballs and joints come spewing off the screen at them. If you ever have a chance to see this one in a theatre, do it - you won’t be disappointed! (PS: This is also the one where Jason first dons his iconic goalie mask).



4. POLTERGEIST - from the director of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and produced by Mr. E.T. himself (long-rumoured to have taken over the reigns and directed this one himself), this is the movie that scared the sh*t out of us all in the summer of ’82, as audiences lined up around the block to get scared but good! Set in the similar suburban world of Spielberg’s other ’82 release, E.T., this is the terrifying ‘flip side’ to the suburban world presented in that film. This is also the movie responsible for making us all ridiculously terrified of clown dolls for years to come.



3. STAR TREK II: The Wrath of Khan - Whether you were a Star Trek fan or not (I was not), this was THE must-see sci-fi, action thriller of the year, as every piece of the puzzle fell perfectly into place (great script, great action, great villain), and the Star Trek franchise gained millions of new fans (and won back a few old ones after the relative disaster that was Star Trek: The Motion Picture). Ricardo Montalban is simply spectacular as Khan, and Shatner and Nimoy are at the top of their games in this ridiculously entertaining joyride. Bonus points for making the audience of Trekkies I saw it with gush torrents of horrified tears when Spock says his last goodbye).



2. THE ROAD WARRIOR (aka: MAD MAX 2) - way before Mel Gibson went batsh*t crazy, exposing himself as a racist, homophobic anti-semite…well, he was a pretty awesome action movie superstar. And even though the Mad Max character was pretty much unknown to North American audiences when Warner Bros decided to release this film, The Road Warrior quickly became a fanboy favorite, eventually finding mainstream success on home video (as was the case with a lot of the movies on this list! Slightly underperforming upon release, yet standing the test of time…). With a small budget, unknown cast, and no digital effects to work with, director George Miller created one of the all-time great action thrillers - a movie that holds up to anything seen today.



1. THE THING - this is another in a long line of movie on this list that ‘under-performed’ (or in this case, outright flopped), yet The Thing has gone on to be lovingly remembered as one of the greatest, most revered sci-fi / horror movies ever made; responsible for influencing countless films that have come in the years since it was first released (including the 2011 remake/prequel…which also flopped!). The special effects were revolutionary, the scares were many, and the cast of character actors (and one former Disney teen star) was top-notch. But, in the summer of E.T., there just wasn’t room for an alien this nasty - or an ending this bleak. So, The Thing would have to be content with waiting 20 years before finally being recognized as the ground-breaking masterpiece it really was. Do yourself a favour this weekend: get the Blu-Ray, turn down the lights, crank up the audio…and enjoy.



BONUS PICK:
1A. FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH - maybe the greatest high school movie ever made, this classic based on Cameron Crowe’s ‘undercover’ stint for Rolling Stone magazine remains one of the decade’s defining films…and it stands up generations later. And the Phoebe Cates ‘swimming pool’ scene remains one of the most iconic of any teen movie ever made…not to mention the fact it was a definite coming of age moment for every teen male of the era!



Those are ‘my’ personal favorites, but it was a summer to remember, so there are lot more classic ‘80’s flicks you can add to your Netflix queue...movies like:

PORKY’S - the top-grossing Canadian film all time still packs a raunchy punch.



ROCKY III - hard to believe Stallone could top parts 1 and 2 (and the series definitely jumped th shark with parts 4 and 5), but with Part 3, he created the perfect crowd-pleaser. This was the movie that had audiences cheering loudest all summer long.



CONAN THE BARBARIAN - John Milius’s highly-anticipated swords & sandals epic was a great showcase for Ah-Nuld, and made a ton of dough…even though it was pretty crappy (mind you, it’s pretty much a masterpiece compared to the awful follow-up, Conan the Destroyer!).



FIREFOX - Clint’s attempt to jump on the special effects bandwagon turns out to actually be a pretty damn good movie, with tons of action and great special effects. Besides, can you ever really go wrong with Clint??



MEGAFORCE - this is an absolute must-see…20th Century Fox’s big-budget sci-fi extravaganza (starring Barry Bostwick!?) sported a then-massive $20 million dollar budget…and promptly laid a giant egg at the box-office. Truly one of the worst movies of the decade…and that’s really saying something.



AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN - one of the year’s biggest hits, this romantic drama featured one of the decade’s biggest stars in Richard Gere, and one of the decades biggest songs, Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes’ inescapable hit, Up Where We Belong (you’re humming it now, aren’t you?).



CLASS OF 1984 - Mark Lester’s wicked high school thriller starring Perry King, Roddy McDowall, and a very young ‘Michael Fox” (before he added the ‘J.’), is the perfect example of the type of nasty little b-movie they just don’t make any more. Fast-paced, violent, and over the top, watch it right after FAST TIMES and you’ve got the perfect ‘80’s high school double feature!



Hope you enjoyed the list, and I hope you’re able to seek out 1 or 2 of these classic flicks that you maybe haven’t seen. I’d also love to hear what YOUR favorite flicks from the Summer of ’82 were, so feel free to email me and I’ll print your comments in a later column!