The Family Films

The late 1970s and early 1980s saw a popular rebirth in the science fiction film in America, leading to the genre's market dominance in the decades to follow. Following the experimental period of the late 1960s and 1970s, so-called New Hollywood entered its second phase of development, which was largely marked by the industry's embrace of the summer blockbuster in the 1980s. Thomas Schatz dates the arrival of the blockbuster with Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975), closely followed by two major science fiction hits Star Wars (dir. George Lucas, 1977) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (dir. Steven Spielberg, 1977). In the wake of these films, Lucas and Spielberg went on to produce and direct a large number of science fiction films and were central figures in the re-creation of the film series. Witnessing their success, other producers and directors followed suit. For instance, the late 1970s also saw the beginning of the Alien series (1979, 1986, 1992, 1997), followed in the mid-1980s with The Terminator films (1984, 1991, 2003), the Back to the Future series (1985, 1989, 1990), as well as Robocop and its sequels (1987, 1990, 1993).

Lucas is, of course, famous for his ongoing Star Wars serial, currently numbering six films in all (1977, 1980, 1983, 1999, 2002, 2005), and after the success of the action/adventure, Indiana Jones series (1981, 1984, 1989), Spielberg's Jurassic Park films (1993, 1997, 2001, fourth film currently in production) continue to draw audiences and reap vast profits.