20 Reasons Why Growing Up in the 80s and Early 90s Was Best Time For Cinema

16. Originality €“ Not Everything Was A Sequel

This point isn€™t unique to the €™80s, but it is relevant in comparison to the more modern era. There is still plenty of originality in modern filmmaking, but it€™s becoming more and more seldom with the audiences having to seek it out. But as this list is about growing up, it€™s the more mainstream, accessible stuff with which this is concerned. A look at the worldwide box office of the €˜80s shows a great mix of what cinema could offer. The popularity of sequels was something studios were starting to notice and the idea of the movies as a franchise had begun, but they certainly weren€™t ubiquitous. Of the top ten, four were sequels, the two Indy€™s, Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade and the two Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The €™90s was actually a great decade for originality, with the only sequel in the top ten being Toy Story 2. But then things took a turn. Kick-started by the reinvigoration of the superhero movie with the release of X-Men in 2000 and Spider-Man in 2002, the remainder of the decade became a wash with sequels, franchises and reboots€the €˜80s didn€™t even know what a reboot was! The only original film between 2000-2009 to make the top 10 was James Cameron€™s Avatar. Put a positive spin on it and call it the €œblossoming of the superhero genre€ if you like, really its just lazy, low risk tactics from the studios. Yes, some of the films are well made and exciting, but that€™s all they are. The number 1 film of the €˜80s, E.T, had more imagination, character, charm and emotion in his bright bony finger than the top 10 of the 2000s combined.
 
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David is a film critic, writer and blogger for WhatCulture and a few other sites including his own, www.yakfilm.com Follow him on twitter @yakfilm