Links to the Hollywood movie collections for the periods covered in this section:
1980s 1990s 1980s & 1990s (All) 1980s & 1990s GEMs
Commentary:
During this period, motion pictures started to become available on a new medium other than the movie theater. People started to watch movies in the comfort of their own homes, first on VHS videotapes and later on DVDs, and the home video market took off. Thus, TV shows now had competition in the form of a VCR or DVD player, and this had some influence on the kind of movies that were made during this period.
Not coincidentally, many stars of both the small screen and the big screen made a successful transition into filmmaking and became well-known directors. Among them were Clint Eastwood (who had actually made his directorial debut in the 1970s with Play Misty for Me), Danny DeVito, Leonard Nimoy, Rob Reiner, Robert Redford and Warren Beatty. The movies they made (in the order of the directors listed) included Unforgiven, The War of the Roses, Three Men and a Baby, A Few Good Men, Ordinary People and Reds.
Some other prominent directors who emerged during this period were Barry Levinson, Chris Columbus, the Coen Brothers, David Fincher, James Cameron, Oliver Stone, Quentin Tarantino, Ridley Scott and Spike Lee. The movies they made (in the order of the directors listed) included Rain Man, Home Alone, Fargo, Seven, Titanic, Wall Street, Pulp Fiction, Blade Runner and Malcolm X.
The 1980s also ushered in the trend of movie franchises based on successful TV shows. The first of these was Star Trek, which ironically had not been very successful in its original run from 1965 to 1969 (3 seasons) but later became a huge fan favorite in syndicated re-runs. The first Star Trek film in 1979 (Star Trek: the Motion Picture) did not do particularly well either with critics or at the box office. However, the next one in the series (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) was much more successful and established the highly successful movie franchise which continues to this day. The first six Star Trek movies had the stars of the original TV show William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley, along with much of the supporting cast of the TV series.
Many other movie franchises were established in different genres during this period, including Star Wars (sci-fi/fantasy), Superman & Batman (super-hero), and Terminator & Mission Impossible (action). Just like Star Trek, all of these franchises have continued in various forms until the present day.
Another major trend started during this period was the revival of animated films, which took a giant leap forward both on the technical side as well as in the form of stellar performances by well-known actors voicing the major characters in the films. The two companies responsible for this revival were the old reliable Disney (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King) and the new kid on the block Pixar (Toy Story, A Bug’s Life).
There was a long list of actors and actresses who established themselves in the 1980s and 1990s, as shown below:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis, Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy, Keanu Reeves, Harrison Ford, Kevin Costner, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mel Gibson, Michael Douglas, Michael Keaton, Richard Gere, Robin Williams, Russell Crowe, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Will Smith
- Carrie Fisher, Cate Blanchett, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Demi Moore, Frances McDormand, Geena Davis, Glenn Close, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Lange, Jodie Foster, Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet, Kathleen Turner, Kim Basinger, Meg Ryan, Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger, Sandra Bullock, Sharon Stone, Whoopi Goldberg
(Most of these performers continued their careers well beyond the 1990s, and nearly all of them are active even today.)