Tag Archives: 1986

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Throwback Thursday: this 1986 commercial for Ernst & Julio Gallo Winery (scored by Vangelis)!

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So people still remember this 1986 ad as the “Gallo wines commercial with the classical music” that they loved but could never identify.

Well … it sounds like classical music.  But the composer for the pretty piece is none other than Vangelis.  (If you’re anybody who’s anybody in my particular corner of sci-fi nerd-dom, then you know that Vangelis was responsible for 1982’s legendary “Blade Runner” soundtrack.) 

The name of the piece is “Hymne,” and it was originally released on Vangelis’ 1979 album, “Opera Sauvage.”  The original song, which differs a bit from the version in the commercial, can be found right here.

I only learned while writing this that Vangelis wasn’t really “a group.”  It was a single Greek composer — Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou — who passed away in 2022.

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Throwback Thursday: the debut of Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns,” 1986

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That’s right — the legendary tome saw its 40th anniversary last month.  (I’ve always had the habit of referring to its graphic novel format, but of course it was initially published as a four-issue limited series.)

Forty years — I can’t wrap my mind around that.

For a little perspective, imagine being a young person in 1986 and discovering The Dark Knight Returns for the first time.  (I myself was introduced to it a few years down the line, but still.)  Now picture an older comics fan in 1986 trying to interest you in a title that was published 40 years prior.

THAT COMIC WOULD HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED IN 1946 — a year after the conclusion of World War II.  It would have to be a title like Tintin or the Mark Trail comic strip.

Damn, we’re old.

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Throwback Thursday: the sentry guns scene in “Aliens” (1986)!

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No, you are not suffering from the Mandela effect if you saw “Aliens” in the theater in 1986 and remember a really cool scene with some automatic remote sentry guns placed in a corridor — against which waves and waves of monsters launched an attack.  And you aren’t insane either.

The scene was in the movie when it originally played in theaters, according to my sources on Reddit and Youtube.  But it was not included on the VHS version (whether it’s referred to the “theatrical cut” or not). 

Variations of the scene can be found in different subsequent cuts of the film, according to fans online — like the director’s cut or the special edition, or versions appearing on television. 

Some include dialogue we remember from 1986.  (“Next time they just walk right in,” or something like that.)  And at least one includes the shots of the aliens being cut to pieces in the corridor.  (Notably, the scene below does not.)

Anyway, I am linking to the totally awesome Alien Fire Team Elite on Youtube for the video.  Semper fi, gentlemen.

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Throwback Thursday: the trailer for “Aliens” (1986)!

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I was one of the lucky (and old, I suppose) people who saw “Aliens” (1986) in the theater.  (I am linking here, by the way, to Grindhouse Movie Trailers.)

This trailer had one of the greatest taglines in history too — “Aliens: This Time, It’s War.”

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“You can’t change the world, but you can change the facts.”

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You can’t change the world,
But you can change the facts.
And when you change the facts,
You change points of view.
If you change points of view,
You may change a vote.
And when you change a vote,
You may change the world.

— from Depeche Mode’s “New Dress,” 1986

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Throwback Thursday: “Top Gun” (1986)

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“Top Gun” (1986) was the second movie I ever saw with Val Kilmer.  (I’ve written here before about how much I loved 1985’s “Real Genius.”)  Kilmer made a great story antagonist, and the difference between his role here and the preceding year’s affable prodigy really showed his versatility as an actor.

What a flick “Top Gun” was, too.  Sure, it’s easy to make fun of after 40 years.  But it still made an indelible mark on the culture.

I’ve heard that Kilmer even has a role in 2022’s sequel.  I haven’t seen it yet; I might have to rectify that soon.

[I am linking below to Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers on Youtube.]

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Cover to “Blue Beetle” #1, Paris Cullins & Bruce Patterson, 1986

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DC Comics.

 

 

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My Facebook friends wanted me to make a meme out of my Ellen Ripley post.

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So here it is.

Okay … in a deleted scene for “Aliens” (1986), Ripley is shown to have had a child, blah, blah, blah. But deleted scenes are not canon, My Dudes.

Postscript —  my fellow nerds know that this message works equally well with Ms. Selina Kyle.

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Throwback Thursday: this 80’s-era fake wood paneling!

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People on the “I Found This Online” Facebook page are joking about this weird faux-wood paneling from the 1980’s.  (It got 96,000 “likes.”)  There is even a Reddit page about them!  These walls were everywhere in my rural/suburban New York neighborhood.

I love them!  Sure, you couldn’t hang anything up because you couldn’t get a thumb-tack in.  But they’re dark and rustic, and they take me right back to the 1980’s.  Gimme a basement with these walls, a plush rug, a television, an Atari 2600 and a stack of 80’s horror films on VHS ands I’ll be very happy.  (Hopefully the movies will include 1986’s “Aliens” and 1982’s “The Thing.”)

Better yet, leave out a couple of liters of soda and some chips, and let me invite a couple of Longwood High School friends over.

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Throwback Thursday: “Highlander” (1986)!

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I shared a meme about “Highlander” (1986) on Tuesday, and my girlfriend told me that she had never seen the movie.  I conscientiously informed her that is absolutely the greatest film ever made.

Okay … it isn’t exactly the greatest film ever made.  Among other things, it portrays an Egyptian (Sean Connery) with a Scottish accent and a Scotsman (Christopher Lambert) who has a … French accent?

It’s still a damned enjoyable movie though.  (And it is sacred amongst a lot of 80’s kids, including me.)  Hell, I might have to watch it again just for the wicked-cool establishing shots of 1980’s New York.

(Thanks to the nickbtube Youtube channel for the link.)