American Cinema of the 1980s: Themes and Variations

Timeline. The 1980s

T I M E L I N E The 1980s ■■■■■■■■■■ 1980 29 APRIL Director Alfred Hitchcock dies at age eighty. 4 NOVEMBER Ronald Reagan defeats Jimmy Carter to become the fortieth president of the United States. 14 NOVEMBER Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull premieres, subsequently cited by many critics as the best film of the decade. 19 NOVEMBER United Artists releases Heaven’s Gate to disastrous box office and critical reception. 8 DECEMBER John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in New York. ■■■■■■■■■■ 1981 30 MARCH President Reagan is wounded in an assassination attempt by a man influenced by the movie Taxi Driver. 9 JUNE Oil executive Marvin Davis buys Twentieth Century Fox. 12 JUNE Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark launches his popular series of films about adventurer Indiana Jones. 5 AUGUST President Reagan fires the nation’s striking air traffic controllers after they refuse his order to return to work. 20 OCTOBER The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rules that home videotaping constitutes copyright violation. ■■■■■■■■■■ 1982 4 JUNE Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, with sixty seconds of computer graphics, and Tron (released 9 July), with forty minutes of computer graphics, signal the dawn of the age of digital special effects. 21 JUNE The Coca-Cola Company buys Columbia Pictures. 23 JULY During production of Twilight Zone—The Movie, actor Vic Morrow and two child actors are killed in a helicopter crash triggered by special effects explosions. 1 DECEMBER Columbia Pictures, CBS television, and HBO announce plans to jointly form Tri-Star, a new major studio. xi ■■■■■■■■■■ 1983 8 MARCH In a speech before a conference of Evangelical Christians, President Reagan declares that the Soviet Union is “the focus of evil in the modern world.” 23 MARCH President Reagan proposes a missile defense shield that is quickly nicknamed “Star Wars.” 15 APRIL Flashdance is released, exemplifying high-concept filmmaking and lucrative marketing tie-ins with MTV. 23 MAY Lucasfilm introduces the THX certification system for optimizing theater sound and projection. Return of the Jedi is exhibited as a demonstration of the process. 23 OCTOBER In Beirut, 241 U.S. servicemen are killed by a Hezbollah truck bomb. 25 OCTOBER The United States invades the small island nation of Grenada. 20 NOVEMBER The Day After, a made-for-television movie about the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust, is viewed by 100 million Americans. ■■■■■■■■■■ 1984 17 JANUARY The U.S. Supreme Court rules that home videotaping is a fair use activity. 9 MARCH Splash becomes the first film released under Disney’s new Touchstone label. 9 MAY President Reagan calls the contras battling the Sandinista government in Nicaragua “freedom fighters.” 1 JULY Following criticism of the violence in the PG-rated Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Gremlins, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) adds a new ratings category, PG-13. 15 AUGUST The MPAA requires that home videos of Hollywood films carrying the G, PG, PG-13, R, or X ratings must be the same version as the theatrical release so rated. 7 NOVEMBER Ronald Reagan is reelected in a landslide. ■■■■■■■■■■ 1985 23 JANUARY Blood Simple wins the first Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic) at the United States Film Festival, later known as Sundance, dedicated to independent films. 18 APRIL Hal Roach Studios announces production of colorized home video editions of classic black-and-white films. xii TIMELINE — THE 1980s 24 SEPTEMBER Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. finalizes its purchase of Twentieth Century Fox. 2 OCTOBER Popular romantic film star Rock Hudson, who earlier in the year became one of the first public figures to announce that he had AIDs, dies. 31 DECEMBER The year’s adult video releases climb to 1,600 titles, skyrocketing from 400 in 1983. ■■■■■■■■■■ 1986 28 JANUARY The space shuttle Challenger explodes, killing all aboard. 10 FEBRUARY Pixar is formed as a separate company from the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm. 26 MARCH Turner Broadcasting Systems buys MGM/UA. In September, Turner sells MGM/UA but keeps its library of 3,650 films. 21 MAY Studio marketing studies show a large decline in movie theater attendance as households with VCRs rent an average of four videos per month. 20 AUGUST She’s Gotta Have It, Spike Lee’s debut feature, marks an emerging generation of African American filmmakers in Hollywood. 13 NOVEMBER President Reagan denies that the United States attempted to...