I disagree on one point; 60's and 70's sci-fi movies also had a fairly good track record of showing a future that sucks. Star Trek (the tv show) was the main offender in showing a cooperative, utopian future.
But I agree Alien is a masterpiece for the above reasons. And no other movie has more perfectly captured the…

Predator really, really holds up. And Robocop is its own animal.
But Lethal Weapon? Meh.

I would like to see even the opening credits on a big screen.

And the In-Laws!

I think the visual aesthetic and sci-fi/action/ultraviolence mix was uniquely 80's, but paranoia, cynicism, conspiracy, and corporate malfeasance were hallmarks of 60's-70's sci-fi too. Admittedly, the 80's sci-fi constantly hammered on the corporate angle to the point of satire, given the times.

Thanks for hitting on a pet peeve of mine! It was one thing when you could finally rescue film history (like the Wild Bunch) with a director's cut on home video, but the DVD era made director's cuts and extended editions a marketing ploy.
When a film that was released 4 months ago came out on DVD with 3 different…

My nieces and nephews are starting to get into their teens, and (since I'm the movie guy) I am jonesing to start showing them things like American Werewolf in London or Halloween or Dirty Harry. Movies I watched on HBO or VHS when I was like ten years old.
But they're not my kids, and the times are different.

I don't necessarily disagree about the Godfather pts. 1 and 2, but I do think that pt. 2 is a bit of a "do-over" for what I consider the one weakness of the first Godfather movie (and I may get hammered for saying this), which is that the back third of the movie, where Michael suddenly becomes this cold, ruthless…

It also fits snugly into the 70's conspiracy/paranoia flick genre; it just needs Hal Holbrook as Mother.

Agreed. I recall listening to his Hannibal commentary where Scott suggested that Hannibal is able to evade the police at the end of the film because he has Barney (his former orderly) aiding and abetting him. Which is bonkers and completely antithetical to anything in the source material (or his own movie). So I…

The Grodin show during the O.J. trial was must-watch for me and my friends.

Cobra was the movie that convinced me that any criminal conspiracy would be better off simply by ignoring the witnesses to its crimes, rather than exposing itself by coming out in the light of day to silence them (and subsequently getting slaughtered).
See also: every James Bond movie.

Yeah, this one is my favorite, but I had to play a skip-ahead version for my extended family to get to the action.

Yes. I love First Blood to death, but the last time I watched it, I just thought, why is Richard Crenna just screaming at these cops and they think it's normal?

Yeah, the fact that the first 2 Mad Max movies started with great, ominous mood-setting scores, and Thunderdome opens with this yawn-inducing 80's pop song, did not help pique my interest, even when I was a kid. I remember it was the first time I ever fell asleep in a movie theater (I woke up when the chase started).

James Woods.
The only other actor with the same kind of rascally/intelligent livewire energy was James Cagney, whom I would also watch in anything.

Agree 100%. I caught Best Seller, Cop, Salvador, and True Believer in the space of a month back in the late 80s and was blown away. A shame he is underemployed now (or can't shut up, whichever).

Jet Airliner is the only SMB song I like. Never knew it was a cover.

I always enjoy LALD and MWTGG as the "low rent" Moore adventures (heroin? corporate espionage?). But they have great villains and some cutting edge stunts, and are time capsules of a particular era (which you may just as soon want to forget).
A View to a Kill just gives me a headache.

I will take dumber and sillier over serious Moore; For Your Eyes Only is just dreary to me. Spy Who Loved Me is pretty epic, though, plus Caroline Munro.