As a geek, one cannot undermine the power film had over us at becoming what we are today. From taking us to the far reaches of the universe in vessels we had only dreamed about until that point, to showing us dragons as we always imagined them, film and geekdom go hand-in-hand. And there are certain films that specifically set us all down the path we are on today. Here are eight films that pretty much ensured we would all be geeks for life (and we mean that in a good way!)

Star Wars

As if you could start such a list with anything but Star Wars. Yes, there are movies that go back further, but Star Wars forever changed the way we look at the concept of the ‘space opera’. From the strange way Chewie communicated to the heavy, mechanic breathing of Darth Vader, these are things ingrained in our geek brains because of this amazing series.

Can’t wait to see where Abrams takes it in 2015!

Clash of the Titans

Keep in mind, we have nothing nice to say about the remake. We are talking about the original here. The version with the badass robotic owl. Though we can watch it now and laugh at  some of the claymation effects, there is still something undeniably cool about it as well.

It was high fantasy like we had never seen before in film. My very favorite movie through most of my youth, too!

The Goonies

Do you recall the way you felt the first time you saw the Goonies? The way it made you believe that YOU could get into an adventure as outlandish and amazing as the kids in the movie? That movie opened so many of our young minds to the idea of adventure and of being the hero, and that is something true Goonies fans never shook and actually used to help define them.

Also, HEY YOU GUYYYYYSSSS!

Lord of the Rings (Old Animated and New)

Depending on what generation you are from, you may have experienced different Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. For all you millennials, you experienced the AMAZING Peter Jackson movies, which melted your face with their sheer awesome. For those of us a little older, we had the Ralph Bakshi cartoons. And honestly, though they may not stand up to the films, for the time, they were kind of awesome, songs and all.

Included above is a clip from the animated movie to show some of the younger generations the version WE grew up with. Funny side note, the original movie was supposed to be a film and the cast was going to be the Beatles.

Not even kidding a little.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Another one just like the Goonies, Indiana Jones made us truly believe there were jobs like that out there. That maybe, one day, if we were cool enough, we would be wearing a leather jacket and swinging over pits using a whip, too.

Sadly, many went on to learn being an archaeologist involved far less whipping and boulder running than this movie  and series led them to believe.

The Last Starfighter

We all know this movie came after Star Wars and was kind of a rip off of that, but the incorporation of video games into the plot was pretty genius, and for those of us who were already gamers and into arcades at the time, it was the perfect mix of both of those worlds. Pretty sure Ender’s Game (which came out in book form a year later) seemed AWFUL SIMILAR to this idea, too. Just saying.

Still wondering why they never made a sequel to this cult movie, to be honest.

War Games

Some of the younger crowd may not have seen this Matthew Broderick movie, but it DEFINITELY had a huge factor in the amount of programmers and hackers you see in the world today.

A movie where a kid almost mistakenly starts world war 3 as the result of some hacking seemed to awaken something in many would-be geeks for years to come. Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Little of both, probably.

Harry Potter (series)

This series did SO MUCH for getting kids back into reading, there really aren’t enough good things that can be said about it. And though the movies may not have been as good as the books, they still did a damn fine work of making the magical world of Hogwarts seem real (and also fueling a generation of future nerds who will hopefully be the next great generation of fantasy authors).

So we may look at movies and think of them as simple entertainment or a nice distraction from life, but this list proves they have a far-reaching effect in helping some of us happily define ourselves as geeks.

What other movies would YOU add to this list? Let us know in the comments below!

[Image via The Examiner]

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