Born To Watch - A Movie Podcast

This week on Born to Watch, Whitey flies solo for a massive deep dive into 1982: Year in Review, revisiting one of the most important, influential and completely stacked years in cinema history. While 1982 might not officially hold the crown as the greatest movie year ever, it delivered a collection of films that completely changed Hollywood forever.

In this special episode, Whitey breaks down how one single year gave us E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Blade Runner, The Thing, First Blood, Rocky III, Poltergeist, Conan the Barbarian and Tron all within the same incredible stretch of cinema history.

Whitey explores the insane eight-week period where science fiction and fantasy films absolutely rewired Hollywood forever. It was the year when genre filmmaking exploded, CGI truly began, practical effects reached their peak, and audiences somehow ignored two movies that are now regarded as masterpieces: Blade Runner and The Thing.

There's a huge breakdown of the 1982 box office top ten, including Whitey revisiting Spielberg's emotional masterpiece E.T., which held the box office record for an entire decade. He reflects on how modern kids' movies rarely hit adults emotionally the same way they once did, admitting E.T. absolutely destroyed him on the cry meter during a recent rewatch.

The episode also revisits cult favourites like First Blood, with Whitey passionately defending it as one of the great character-driven action films of the 1980s. There's love for Stallone's unbelievable double act of releasing both Rocky III and First Blood in the same year, proving just how dominant Sly was during the early 80s.

Whitey also dives into why Rocky III remains one of the best Rocky films ever made, praising Mr T as one of the greatest movie villains of the decade and celebrating the pure charisma he brought to Clubber Lang despite having no acting experience.

Australian cinema gets its flowers too, with a huge spotlight on Mad Max 2 and The Man from Snowy River. Whitey argues that both films stand proudly alongside any Hollywood blockbuster of the era and explains how Mad Max 2 became the blueprint for almost every post-apocalyptic movie that followed.

There's also a deep appreciation for practical effects and filmmaking craftsmanship throughout the episode. Whitey passionately argues that The Thing still contains the greatest practical creature effects ever put to screen, while Blade Runner's vision of a futuristic Los Angeles remains one of the most influential science fiction worlds ever created.

Along the way, there are classic Born to Watch tangents and stories, including:

Whitey also celebrates underrated classics like Firefox, Creepshow, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and 48 Hrs., while exploring how 1982 represented a time when studios were still willing to take massive creative risks on strange, ambitious and original films.

This is one of the biggest movie deep dives Born to Watch has ever done, packed full of nostalgia, movie trivia, hilarious stories and genuine love for cinema.

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