The seventies may have seen the birth of the blockbuster but the eighties is where they really dominated the box office with the likes of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg leading the way.
The studios were now seeing the financial rewards of the big budget picture and the franchise was born as studios packaged up their movies and released them along with a merchandising campaign that secured the film's success.
And, as you might expect, there were a handful of actors that stood out during the decade.
Harrison Ford: It was the role of Han Solo in Lucas' Star Wars trilogy A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) where he really made his name as Star Wars dominated the box office in the early part of the decade.
And while Harrison Ford was having fun playing Han Solo it was his second franchise of the decade that made him, and his character a cinematic icon.
Churning out three movies in nine years Indiana Jones, part time teacher and adventurer dominated the box office as all three films: Raider of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade feature in the top ten grossing films of the eighties.
1982 also brought another iconic character for Ford as Rick Deckard in Ridley Scott's sci-fi thriller Blade Runner and he was the leading man of the moment.
His body of work was rewarded in 1985's when his performance in Witness, directed by Peter Weir, secured Ford his first Best Actor Academy Award nomination.
Sigourney Weaver: 1979 saw her career take off when she landed the role of Ellen Ripley, which was going to be a make character, in Alien.
The eighties saw her take on a string of differing roles including Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters and The Year of Living Dangerously.
But in 1986 she returned to the role of Ellen Ripley as Aliens hit the big screen. It was a movie that brought her an Oscar nomination as well as worldwide acclaim.
The next couple of years were incredibly successful for Weaver as she picked up two more Oscar nominations for Gorillas In The Mist, which told the true-life story of naturalist Dian Fossey, and Working Girl.
She won the Golden Globe for Best Actress for both performances but missed out on the Oscar. She rounded off the decade with Ghostbusters II.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: made his breakthrough in 1982, after making the transition from bodybuilding to acting, with Conan the Barbarian in 1982.
The movie was box office hit but the sequel Conan the Destroyer two years later sadly didn't enjoy the same success.
But it was Terminator that really made Schwarzenegger a household name when he starred in James Cameron's sci-fi movie for the first time, he would reprise the role in 1991.
Action films were big business at the box office during the eighties and Scwarzenegger, along with Sylvester Stallone, enjoyed success.
He made a string of hits including Commando (1985), Raw Deal (1986) and The Running Man (1987).After the success of sci-fi and action movie Predator the actor moved into comedy.
He teamed up Danny DeVito in 1988 in for Twins, about an unlikely pair of twins who were separated at birth. Despite the change of pace for Schwarzenegger it appeared he could do no wrong as he had another hit on his hands.
Meryl Streep: by the turn of the decade the actress already had one Oscar nomination as well as a win for Kramer vs Kramer, for Best Supporting Actress.
But during the eighties she dominated the Oscars being nominated six times, winning one of them, cementing herself as one of the greatest actresses to grace the big screen.
The French Lieutenant's Woman saw her bag her first nomination of the decade in 1981 and it was just twelve months later when she won the Best Actress gong for Sophie's Choice.
She was nominated the year after for Silkwood. Hollywood actresses breathed a sigh of relief when she wasn't nominated in 1984, but it wasn't long before she was back in the mix twelve months later for Out of Africa.
Ironweed and Cry In The Dark were the other two movies that she was nominated for by the time the eighties were over.
Mel Gibson: made an impact in 1982 when he starred in World War I drama Gallipoli directed by Peter Weir. But it was Mad Max 2, which was his first American hit that propelled him onto a world stage.
After a year away from acting to focus on his family he returned with The Bounty before reprising the role of Max Rockatansky for the third time, a role which brought him his first $1 million dollar pay check.
And just as one series of movies came to an end he took up another in the form of Lethal Weapon, a movie series that teamed him up with Danny Glover.
Gibson has two outings as Sergeant Martin Riggs in the decade that really cemented him as a Hollywood leading man.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Harrison Ford Sigourney Weaver