80's Futuristic Tech in Science-Fiction

Like a doctoral candidate, I must present why you should listen to my thesis before I present it to the board. I was born in the 90's, dead center. 1995 and I'm going to be talking about movies that were created several years before I was a thought in my parent’s head. Now my parents were teens during the 80's, meaning I had a lot of random stuff from the 80's, I listened to tapes dad had, watched VHS's he got. I didn't live during the 80's but I did get to love them.

So I saw Blade Runner 2049 last week. It's a masterpiece. It could easily be my favorite "story I've been told" this year. (I media blend so much, I just loop together.) I might post more about Blade Runner in the upcoming weeks/months because there is just so much to talk about, so just be warned.

However, today I'm going to rant about: Futuristic 80's tech and how I love when its right, and hate it when its wrong. I don't know if any of this will make sense, but I'm going to try.

I love the world of Blade Runner; it is one of the quintessential films regarding Cyber-punk. What I love most, is how it merged 80's tech into a futuristic setting. It fits within its narrative. Something in the 90's cause consumer grade tech to stop advancing (Nuclear War) while government/prosumer tech advanced. In the far-off year 2019, (I love old Sci-fi) we have built so much, yet the average consumer only needs low-grade, with economic issues the answer is to build cheap, low-grade tech that gets the job done. 80's tech not only makes sense in Blade Runner, but it keeps it alive. Even in the new Blade Runner 2049, holograms are everywhere, yet they feel at home. It works in this world, because of the solid world they built.

In movies like Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey, they work because it’s what we thought space travel would look like. It's a fun look at what we thought the future would be. These fit well with the 80's theme and just reflect the culture at the time. I love the design of the new 'Aliens' series. The tech in Prometheus was beautiful. While Isolation did well with keeping the 80's design. It also makes it seem like 80's tech came back, then vanished again. Like things when in and out of style.

Now, another 80's Sci-fi series I've loved for all of my childhood, is Star Wars. Is a franchise that I have given more money to than any other. I used to watch the movies as a kid, I played every video game I could get a hold of and read a few of the books. I loved the extended universe and all its flaws and inconsistencies. Now, I have complaints about every Star Wars film, but I do have a bone to pick with the new ones. How they are revamping the tech.

Star Wars has never been about the Scientific side of things. It followed the themes of Space operas, it didn't care about the actual science, more about the epic storytelling adventures. You can hate on the prequels all you want, but they didn't focus on the 80's aesthetic. George (Love calling him that) knew that the tech wasn't the heart of the series, that the Science Fiction was just the premise of the world, but wasn't the core. Its best show off when playing the Battlefront games, you can jump between the Republic and the Empire and you feel a difference as if it's a new age.

With the new series, it just looks like they wanted to slightly alter the existing vehicles and weapons so fan wouldn't be upset that they just reskinned old tech* it feels lazy and very focus-tested. Oh, fans liked the AT-AT, let's just make one that's a giant gorilla. (Yes, that is literally why this rant exists.) Everything feels like a slightly 'less' 80's reskin version of something that already exists. Even the concept art for the First Order is so much better than what we got. Like, the troopers were more villainous, it was super sleek but seemed to take the 80's design and make it way more militaristic. Star Wars didn't need the 80's tech look to survive, it’s much bigger than that.

Okay, think I feel better. Hopefully, this made sense. But mainly, this is a callout to stop putting 80's tech because it works well with the focus-tested groups and put them in things that they fit. Now excuse me, cause I'm probably going to go replay The Force Unleashed for the eight time.

*WHY DOES A ROCKET LAUNCHER TAKE OUT AN AT-AT IN A SINGLE SHOT, and don't give me the excuse it's an AT-ACT. It's just recolored, there is no way it's weaker. I wasn't crazy about Rouge one, but what it does to cannon is awful.