The Most Essential Movies of 1984

The useful part

Horror icons, action heroes we still watch on the big screen today, revolutionary documentaries, and so much more. When you look back on the year, it seems nearly impossible to believe all of the work that came out that year actually came out in that short of a time frame. The film inspired nearly half a dozen film sequels in the succeeding decades, seasons of TV, video games, you name it.

How it works

• The humble beginnings of the franchise are so intriguing to look back on when examining the film on its individual merits.
• There is an indie griminess to the film that shines through the blocking, the occasionally spotty cutting in action scenes, and the general vibe that the team was inventing a new form of action storytelling...
• The story itself isn't anything revolutionary, but the craft and form still feels so singular.
• There is a haunting sense of romanticism to the original film that never quite returns in any of the sequels that sets the original apart as a wholly unique miracle of a film.

Details worth keeping

Let's look at some of the most essential movies of 1984. 'The Terminator' James Cameron's original action sci-fi thriller, like so many of his films, pioneered new forms of visual effects to create one of the most iconic movie "monsters?" of all time in the form of a giant metal endoskeleton.