American Cinema of the 1980s: Themes and Variations

Screen Decades: American Culture/American Cinema

by Stephen Prince (Editor)

During the 1980s, American cinema underwent enormous transformations. Blockbusters like Raiders of the Lost Ark , E.T. , and The Empire Strikes Back grabbed huge revenues for the studios. At the same time, the growth of home video led to new and creative opportunities for independent film production, resulting in many of the decade's best films. Both large- and small-scale filmmakers responded to the social, political, and cultural conditions of the time. The two-term presidency of Ronald Reagan spawned a new Cold War with the Soviet Union, which Hollywood film both embraced and critiqued. Also during this time, Hollywood launched a long-awaited cycle of films about the Vietnam War, exploring its impact both at home and abroad. But science fiction remained the era's most popular genre, ranging from upbeat fantasies to dark, dystopic visions.

Bringing together original essays by ten respected scholars in the field, American Cinema of the 1980s examines the films that marked the decade, including Ordinary People , Body Heat , Blade Runner , Zelig , Platoon , Top Gun , Aliens , Blue Velvet , Robocop , Fatal Attraction , Die Hard , Batman , and sex, lies & videotape .

Genres: Film, Nonfiction

280 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 2007

About the author

Stephen Prince teaches film history, criticism, and theory at Virginia Tech’s School of Performing Arts . He received his Ph.D from the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Carolyne Borel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un peu rébarbatif comme lecture: on peut trouver des bouquins bien plus intéressants et d'approche plus plaisante sur le marché... Mais Stephen Prince a réussi a faire une analyse socio-politique de l'ere Reagan (et de sa représentation a l'écran) très en profondeur avec des points intéressants. Un livre a recommander a ceux qui veulent se spécialiser dans le sujet Cinéma Américain des années 80, ou alors tout simplement avoir un aperçu sur l'utilisation de l'image aux States a cette époque-la.