Blade Runner. TRON. ET. And, of course, Star Trek II. We sf fans wouldn't be here without them. SF in general wouldn't be what it is without them, at least in movies and tv.
People always talk about 1982, but for me it was only really TWOK and The Thing that I really cared about from that year (much as I admire Blade Runner, I've just never been able to love it as much as others). For me it was actually 1984 that was the most special: Ghostbusters, Terminator, Temple of Doom, Gremlins, and Star Trek III. And heck, I'd probably throw Romancing the Stone in there too.
Back in 2012, the Alamo Drafthouse ran showings of numerous 1982 films opening on their anniversaries. Got to see The Road Warrior, Star Trek II, Poltergeist, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High all on the big screen. I missed out on Conan the Barbarian, The Secret of NIMH, TRON, and The Dark Crystal. I watched Blade Runner and The Thing at home.
1982 was also the debut of the He-man and the Masters of the Universe toy line; the cartoon followed starting in 1983.
I see your 1984 and raise you 1986: Aliens Big Trouble in Little China Blue Velvet "Crocodile" Dundee Ferris Bueller's Day Off Flight of the Navigator The Fly The Golden Child Highlander Labyrinth Little Shop of Horrors The Mission The Money Pit Platoon Short Circuit Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ¡Three Amigos! Top Gun The Transformers To name a few...
Yep - we're going through each film this year, as the date arrives, doing a thirty years viewing. WONDERFUL year and GREAT memories! Add in The Last Starfighter Conan The Destroyer The Neverending Story Dune Starman Repo Man Greystoke The Philadelphia Experiememt Red Dawn 2010 Bucakroo Banzai Dreamscape CHUD 1984 Nightmare on Elm Street Supergirl and that's without the just great 80's films like Beverly Hills Cop The Karate Kid Splash Footloose This Is Spinal Tap Police Academy Revenge of The Nerds Electric Dreams Uuuuummmmm............yeah. I think 1984 wins HANDS DOWN!!!!!
As many great scifi movies as there has been since then, there's just something about those 80s movies that makes them seem a bit more magical I think. Probably because of the heavy reliance on models and puppets and old school, often hand-animated visual effects (think the proton streams from Ghostbusters), which were so much bolder and more colorful than the kind of generic, computerized look that came later with CGI.
Saw The Wrath of Khan four times that summer. Now, my wife and I might see a movie in an actual theater once a year. It was a great year for movies. Ah, you're only young once, I suppose. Actually, our last three theater visits were all Trek related, the two JJ films and the TNG Best of Both Worlds screening.
What's remarkable, is the variety offered during both these years. Space opera, fantasy, superhero, action adventure. While the last 2 years have given us space opera (Prometheus, Trek, Ender's Game) and of course, super-heroics, it feels, at least to me, a little more... blander now (hoards of teen sparkling vampires and werewolves) than those 2 lists show. Perhaps it's just the haze of nostalgia making it seem better than the present.
1982 also had Airplane II, where we not only see Shatner in a great over-the-top performance, but (as far as I know) the only big-screen appearance of the pre-refit Enterprise (prior to the recent rescreenings or other special events, of course). My cousin and I were so into Trek at the time, we both applauded when it came onscreen.
1979-1982--some of the greatest years in film. Much can be written about that era--the feeling of that period.