David Murdock Column: On 1982 in movies (and the magic of 'Star Trek II' in a theater)
Lately, lots of articles have heralded 1982 as an important year in the history of movies. I’m skeptical — not that the year wasn’t important, just that it wasn’t important as the cultural commentators making such claims think it is. It just seems like every time I turn around these days, someone is making a claim that some year or the other — always 10, 20, 30 or 40 years ago — was somehow more important than we thought.
Again, 1982 was an important year in many ways. It was for me. I was 14 going on 15 by the end of it, and I was off to high school at the start of the school year. Perhaps my young age at the time is why I’m skeptical of the claims, but there’s a flip side to that thought, too. It should be prime “nostalgia territory” for me because of how old I was. And it is, just not in the way that the commentators think.
The movie that keeps being mentioned is “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.”Yes, that was the big movie of the year. I have a confession to make. I didn’t see “E.T.” in the theater that year; in fact, I’ve never seen it in the theater. Further confession: Instead, I read the book! So yes, I was aware of the story in 1982, but my version of the story was slightly different than the version of other 14-year-olds. I never saw the movie itself until decades later.
Honestly, I have no idea why I didn’t go see the movie in the theater. It might have something to do with the fact that I was 14 when it premiered in June 1982. My brother didn’t take me to see it, I know, and neither did Mom or Dad. We just didn’t go see movies as a family; sure, we watched them together on TV, but I can only remember going to one movie with Dad and two movies with Mom and none with Greg. At the time, none of my friends at high school could drive, so those facts likely explain why.
Those facts also reveal a minor mystery. Of all the movies listed in these articles about 1982 in film, there was only one other that I know I saw in the theater when it was first released: “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.” Distinctly I remember seeing it at a “late show” in a movie theater crammed with other Trekkers; I just don’t remember who saw it with me or how I got there.
Besides the fact that both movies are science fiction, one other thing them in my mind: I also read the “novelization” of "Star Trek II"before I saw the movie.
It wasn’t uncommon back then for the novelization of a science fiction movie to be released at about the same time that the movie was or maybe even a little before … or so I recall. Pharr’s Variety Store in downtown Attalla had a nice little book section, and I bought both novelizations of the movies there. I still have both books, faded from time and worn with use.
The “Trek” novelization was written by Vonda McIntyre, who also wrote the novelizations for “Star Trek III” and “IV. “She was a fine writer, and those novelizations of Trek movies are among the best “movie tie-in” books I’ve ever read. Not merely script summaries, McIntyre’s novels flesh out what we don’t see on the screen in elegant sci-fi prose. She was quite a talented writer and won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for her original fiction.
Like I said, I saw “E.T.” many years later, but I don’t remember the circumstances. Likely, I rented it. However, that viewing of “Star Trek II” in the theater — however I got there — was a memorable experience. I said that the theater was crammed with other Trekkers — that memory is vivid because I’ve never seen a subsequent “Star Trek” movie with such a responsive audience around me.
While watching that movie, the audience around me audibly gasped at appropriate moments, laughed at appropriate moments, and — here’s the memory that never fades — cheered at the climax of the movie when Kirk and company prevail against incredible odds. I don’t know if my fellow members of the audience wept at the tragic price of victory … I was too choked up myself to notice. The sense of fellowship in that theater is something I’ve never experienced since, and the memory of it is treasured forty years on.
To be utterly honest, “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" is a better movie than “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” in almost all ways. It really is. However, I’ve only seen “E.T.” once; I’ve watched and re-watched “Star Trek II” more times than I can count. Almost every viewing brings back that feeling of magic I felt in the theater.
In all these lists I’ve seen of the great movies of 1982, “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” is never mentioned. “E.T.” is extolled; “Star Trek II” is ignored. Film critics talk a lot about the “magic of the movies.” Maybe the magic is in the audience.
David Murdock is an English instructor at Gadsden State Community College. He can be contacted at murdockcolumn@yahoo.com. The opinions reflected are his own.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: David Murdock looks back at 1982 in movies, including 'Star Trek II'
