Cyberpunk in the 80's and 90's

Blade Runner

Jun 25, 1982

Blade Runner the movie is closely based on the book 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' by Philip K. Dick. It follow Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) as retired 'Blade Runner' as he attempts to hunt down and 'retire' replicants that have escaped. The Ridley Scott directed movie was initially panned by critics but has since achieved cult sic-fi classic status.
Trailer: Blade Runner Trailer

AKIRA

Dec 6, 1982

AKIRA is a cyberpunk anime written and illustrated by Katsuhiro Otomo. The anime was set in 2019 in Neo-Tokyo after World War III. In total there were 6 volumes released between 1982-1990 and was widely credited as helping spread the Manga hysteria outside of Japan.

Cyberpunk by Bruce Bethke

Nov 1, 1983

Cyberpunk is a short story written by Bruce Bethke and was released in the Amazing Science Fiction Publication in November of 1983. The story was about a group of teenage hackers. Although the story does not keep with current themes of Cyberpunk it is widely thought to be the first use of the term.

Neuromancer

Jul 1, 1984

William Gibson is universally considered the god-father of the cyberpunk genre. Neuromancer was his first novel and the first the 'Sprawl' trilogy.

RoboCop

Jul 17, 1987

'Serve the public trust, Protect the innocent, and Uphold the law'
RoboCop was realised in July of 1987 and went on to spawn many a sequel, spinoff and reboot.

Akira (Video Game)

Dec 24, 1988

Akira the video game was based on the manga of the same name. Although not nearly as successful.

GURPS Cyberpunk

Mar 1, 1990

GURPS Cyberpunk written by Steve Jackson is a handbook written as a guide to Cyberpunk computer games. On the 1st March 1990 the offices of Steve Jackson were raided by the Secret Service citing the book as a 'handbook for computer crime' even though the book contained usage of things that didn't exist. Click here to find out more.

Jean Paul Gaultier AmFar Show

Sep 2, 1992

Jean-Paul Gaultier is renowned for his out of the box fashion and trendsetting designs. in 1992 he held a star studded fashion show to raise funds for AIDS research. Billy Idol and models walked the runway to his song Neuromancer in Leather, Sunglasses and bleached hair and marked the start of his cyberpunk era and sparked a worldwide trend. NSFW fashion show click here

Billy Idol - Cyberpunk

Jun 29, 1993

Following his appearance at the amfAR show, Billy released his concept album cyberpunk that is said to draw influence from Neuromancer. Here is a video of Billy talking about his album.

The Matrix

Mar 31, 1999

The movie directed by The Wachowski Brothers drew on influences from past pieces such as Akira and Neuromancer to become arguably the most prominent Cyberpunk movie of the era.