SUPER+HERO-+Adventure

**__Super Hero, Adventure, and Fantasy__** Steven Speilberg dominated this genre beginning with //Jaws// in '75 and //E.T.// in '82. He continued his strong hold in the '80s and '90s with movies such as the I//ndiana Jones// series, //Jurassic Park// and //Hook//. These genres did a good job of combining drama, comedy, fantasy and science fiction, as seen in //Back to the Future// films. Centering on the idea of fantasy worlds, they provoke the audience to think about the What if? question. The majority of these films were rated PG so that kids and adults alike could see them in the theaters. The special effects and action also appealed to many viewers of all demographics, though teens and young adults tended to come back to see them again. In the mid '80s, digital wire removal technology was created and used in //Back to the Future//. This technology allowed the wires that were used to suspend objects and actors to be removed by erasing pixels from the frame during editing. //TRON// ('82) was the first film to use computer-generated imaging, or CGI, with live action, //Toy Story// was the first completely animated movie using the technology. //Casper// was the first completely digital character. Other blockbuster films like //Jurassic Park// really popularized the use of CGI. **Teachable Moments** Many of these films (//The Goonies, Hook, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park//) play to children's imaginations, or at least their perceptions. Several of these films employ teenagers as the main characters and deal with issues that kids and teenagers go through. //Back to the Future// is an example of this. All three //Back to the Future// films could also be used in conjunction with //Lord of the Flies//, illustrating the conflict between the two groups of boys. Characters and stories revolve around adventures that brings the characters to battle some kind of "evil" to achieve their goals. The characters have to use their wits to get to the end of their adventure. Activities involving students figuring out how to complete a task such as how to get off a deserted island could be modeled by these movies. Literature tying in the hero's journey or adventure would also work well with these films. Male students would probably find these movies appealing, so they could be used as a way to draw in those students who struggle in English or may not connect to pieces of literature.

//Ghostbusters (’84)// //The Goonies (’85)// //Back to the Future (‘85)// //Stand By Me (’86)// //The Goonies II (’87)// //Beetle Juice (’88)// //Back to the Future II (’89)// //Batman (‘89)// //Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade// ('89) //Back to the Future III (’90)// //Dick Tracey (’90)// //Hook ('91)// //Batman Returns (’92)// //Jurassic Park (’93)// //Batman Forever (’95)// //Casper ('95)// //Peter Pan// by J.M. Barrie //Alice in Wonderland// by Lewis Carroll //Frankenstein// by Mary Shelley //Into the Wild// by John Krakauer //Lord of the Flies// by William Golding //The Odyssey// by Homer //The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn// by Mark Twain //Gulliver's Travels// by Jonathan Swift //The Hunger Games// by Suzanne Collins
 * Movies:media type="youtube" key="Um8mMa5w41A?rel=0" height="312" width="511" align="right"**
 * Literature To Tie In:media type="youtube" key="UsMr0Rqk6tU?rel=0" height="312" width="512" align="right"**