MOVIE TRAILERS

Alamo Drafthouse's Epic 'Summer of 1982' Screening Series & Trailer

by Alex Billington
March 2, 2012

This summer - revisit 1982! As we head into what could be one of the greatest summers in a long time, the Alamo Drafthouse is looking back at exactly how long—as "the best summer ever", was 1982. They've announced a screening series, held in Texas only, showing "eight gargantuas of cinema" being "released in 35mm on their original opening weekend" to recreate that experience this summer. We're co-hosting one of them! Here are the eight movies: Conan the Barbarian, The Road Warrior, Rocky III, Poltergeist, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, E.T., The Thing, Tron (plus Blade Runner, too). What a year, eh?

First things first, the Alamo Drafthouse also whipped up a fantastic trailer (made by Tommy Swenson) to showcase just how incredible the Summer of 1982 was, and recap the eight movies that they'll be showing. And yes, in regards to Blade Runner, they're doing the best to get it in the line-up too, stating only: "the Alamo programming team is working hard to schedule the sci-fi opus Blade Runner." There is no way any movie geek can deny that this wasn't one of the greatest summers ever, there is a favorite of everyone's in that line-up somewhere - get your tickets here. Watch the official Summer of 1982 trailer (via YouTube):

To see the full line-up or start booking tickets, visit drafthouse.com/1982. Each screening throughout the summer is being co-presented by a movie blog, and FS.net is presenting the original Tron event on July 6th, later in the summer. The Alamo Drafthouse will celebrate the "Summer of 1982" in "all markets across Texas and Winchester, VA." However, the schedule out now is for the Alamo Ritz in Austin. Here's the full line-up: May 11th - Conan the Barbarian; May 18th - The Road Warrior; May 25th - Rocky III; June 1st - Poltergeist; June 3rd - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; June 8th - E.T.; June 22nd - The Thing; July 6th - Tron. Plus if they can schedule it, Blade Runner opened June 25th (so maybe June 29th, 2012).

This is such an awesome idea and I'm upset I can't make every single one in Austin every weekend, because what a summer to experience while also going through our upcoming 2012 summer (Avengers, The Dark Knight, Prometheus, Spider-Man). The Drafthouse is trying to make it a complete 1982 experience, even going so far as to program "all of the 35mm trailers that originally played with each film on their opening weekend!" How brilliant is that. This is why I love the Alamo Drafthouse so much, nostalgic amazingness like this. There will also be special guests and new Mondo posters for select films. This art by Luther Himes.

As you can see, the Summer of 1982 was an unprecedented super-tornado of Hollywood magic, mixing high adventure with interstellar impossibilities and unthinkable horrors. A generation of imaginations were set aflame, and there has never been another stretch of cinematic dynamite to match it. These movies endured beyond their opening weekend and decades later the releases throughout the Summer of 1982 are forever tattooed on the hearts of movie fans across the globe. I am excited to be a part of this and can't wait for the summer of 2012 to kick off, so that we can get back to revisiting the summer of 1982 while we're at it.

Filed under Cool Stuff, Events, To Watch, Trailers

From around the web: