Alamo Drafthouse to Recreate the Summer of ’82

Posted by on March 2nd, 2012   Filed under: Fandom

Was the summer of 1982 the greatest single summer in cinematic history? When you look at the line-up of sci-fi and fantasy movies that were released between May and July of that year, it’s pretty clear that almost all of them have gone on to become classics. From The Thing to Blade Runner to popular installments in the Star Trek and Rocky franchises, not all of them were well-received upon their initial release, but all have since found a following. Now the Alamo Drafthouse (aka the coolest movie theatre on the planet) is taking it upon themselves to bring us back 30 years into the past to experience them all over again.

They will be holding a series of screenings of most of the biggest movies from that summer, all essentially in the same order in which they were originally released. There have been plenty of cool 1980s screening series before (including the TIFF Bell Lightbox’s own Back to the ’80s series), but none quite like this as far as I know. If I lived in Austin, Texas, I would be there in an instant. What is your favourite summer of all time? Check out the screening schedule after the jump and visit the official website to buy tickets.

  • May 11 – CONAN THE BARBARIAN
  • May 18 – THE ROAD WARRIOR
  • May 25 – ROCKY III
  • June 1 – POLTERGEIST
  • June 3 – STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN
  • June 8 – E.T.
  • June 22 – THE THING
  • TBA – BLADE RUNNER*
  • July 6 – TRON


  • Indianamcclain

    I wasn’t born but the summer of 89 seems pretty cool. Btw I will be going to the screenings of The Thing, and E.T.

  • Big Hungry

    I wish Alamo Drafthouse was in Cleveland Ohio!!!!!!!!!!

  • Falsk

    I dream of the day a Drafthouse opens within a reasonable distance of Philadelphia…

  • Matt

    What about the Summer of ’69…

  • I don’t know if it’s the greatest summer, but it’s definitely one of the strongest ones. I was a little too young in 1982 to attend or even watch some of these films (the only one I saw in real time was ET), but it’s an amazing line-up. I would put any summer of the 80’s against what we have today and the 80’s will win every time. It’s not just nostalgia, people, check out the movies: Ghostbusters, Episodes V and VI, the Indiana Jones trilogy, Die Hard, War Games, The Goonies, Back to the Future Trilogy… I can go on and on and on… almost none of these films were based on comic books, novels or earlier films, not were they sequels 20 years after the fact (the Die Hard “series” has become a joke). They were ORIGINAL.

    Too bad we don’t have something like Alamo Drafthouse in Toronto anymore. The Bloor was the closest, but now it’s been mostly relegated to documentaries. I know there’s the Underground cinema, but I have yet to be there…

  • Ovenball

    You are taunting us with this Alamo Drafthouse business. Taunting us. The closest I’ve gotten to this place in the last year is watching Top Chef: Texas. Now I have to walk around all day today, thinking about this cool thing that I can’t go to. Great. Taunting us.

  • Well, I haven’t seen BLADE RUNNER. Is it really that good?

  • patrik

    #7

    Is that a serious question? If so then yes, yes it is that good.

  • Didn’t “The Thing” and “Blade Runner” kind of gain their popularity later on? I know they came out in ’82, but they didn’t really make much of an impact THAT year.

  • patrik

    I know Siskel & Ebert didn’t like Blade Runner, well Ebert liked the special effects but that was it. He has apparently warmed to it though.

    Here’s their review.
    http://blastr.com/2012/02/1982-siskel-ebert-review-1.php

  • manjiscud

    I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.