Raise the Titanic (1980) – Jerry Jameson

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed 1980’s Raise the Titanic, but that doesn’t mean it’s great. While it differs from the Clive Cussler novel on which it was based (the author hated the adaptation) and failed to launch hero Dirk Pitt (played by a bearded Richard Jordan) into a franchise I found…

Inferno (1980) – Dario Argento

It’s been a while since I watched Argento’s Suspiria, though I remember enjoying it, so when I learned he did two more films set in the same world I knew I had to seek them out. The first follow-up film is 1980’s Inferno. Rose (Irene Miracle) is living in New York (with Italian locations serving…

Brubaker (1980) – Stuart Rosenberg

Robert Redford has always been a favourite of mine. He’s imminently watchable and very likeable on camera, and Brubaker was a film that was always on my radar but one I had never gotten around to. Based on and inspired by true events, Redford plays Henry Brubaker, a reformist prison warden who has been hired…

The Ninth Configuration (1980) – William Peter Blatty

William Peter Blatty the author of The Exorcist, wrote and directed this spiritual sequel, now defined as part of the faith trilogy formed by The Exorcist, The Ninth Configuration, and The Exorcist III. It’s a fascinating film, in parts funny, in parts heartbreaking, and in parts horrifying. In a remote part of the Pacific Northwest…

Galactica 1980 (1980) – Space Croppers, and The Return of Starbuck

The penultimate episode of the short-lived series, Galactica 1980, is Space Croppers, and it is the last time we see Troy (Kent McCord), Dillon (Barry Van Dyke) and Jamie (Robyn Douglass) in the series. Written by Robert McCullough, this episode debuted on 27 March, 1980, and once again lets the series lean into a little…

Galactica 1980 (1980) – The Super Scouts: Part II, and Spaceball

As the children fall ill, Troy (Kent McCord) and Dillon (Barry Van Dyke) develop a risky plan to save them, and show the chemical company responsible for the pollution, represented by Stockton (Mike Kellin) the folly of his ways. The Super Scouts: Part II aired on 23 March, 1980 and was written by series creator…

The Final Countdown (1980) – Don Taylor

A couple of years before Top Gun put us in the pilot seat of the F-14 Tomcat, The Final Countdown had the full cooperation of the U.S. Navy and delivered some stunning aerial photography in this classic time travel film. Boasting performances by Martin Sheen, Kirk Douglas, James Farentino, Katharine Ross and Charles Durning, I…