In the summer of 1989, Empire was born – hitting the shelves in the year that gave us Tim Burton’s Batman, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, When Harry Met Sally, and Back To The Future Part II to name but a few. It was an explosive time for movies, and we’ve been bringing you comprehensive movie reviews, access-all-areas interviews, in-depth features and more ever since in the ultimate guide to everything happening on the big screen.
In the September 2019 issue, Empire takes a look back at the 30 years of our lifetime – picking one iconic movie from each year and revisiting it with brand new interviews and write-ups, archive material, tributes and more. Oh, and did we mention that each movie got its own very special cover?
Empire's 30th Anniversary Edition Covers
1 of 30#1 – Batman (Tim Burton, 1989)
2 of 30#2 – Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
3 of 30#3 – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron, 1991)
4 of 30#4 – Reservoir Dogs
5 of 30#5 – Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg, 1993)
6 of 30#6 – The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994)
7 of 30#7 – Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995)
8 of 30#8 – Scream (Wes Craven, 1996)
9 of 30#9 – Titanic (James Cameron, 1997)
10 of 30#10 – Blade (Stephen Norrington, 1998)
11 of 30#11 – The Matrix (The Wachowskis, 1999)
12 of 30#12 – American Psycho
13 of 30#13 – The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)
14 of 30#14 – Spirited Away
15 of 30#15 – Lost In Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)
16 of 30#16 – Shaun Of The Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)
17 of 30#17 – Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)
18 of 30#18 – Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)
19 of 30#19 – No Country For Old Men (The Coen Brothers, 2007)
20 of 30#20 – The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
21 of 30#21 – Avatar (James Cameron, 2009)
22 of 30#22 – Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010)
23 of 30#23 – Bridesmaids (Paul Feig, 2011)
24 of 30#24 – Avengers Assemble (Joss Whedon, 2012)
25 of 30#25 – Gravity (Alfonso Cuaron, 2013)
26 of 30#26 – Birdman (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2014)
27 of 30#27 – Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)
28 of 30#28 – Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016)
29 of 30#29 – Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017)
30 of 30#30 – Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018)
Take a sneak peek inside the new issue, available on newsstands from Thursday 8 August (or order online with the cover of your choice here).
30 Years, 30 Films
When Team Empire hunkered down to name one defining film for each year between 1989 and 2018, there were tantrums, tears, and triumphs. From Burton’s Batman to Black Panther, via Shawshank, Scream, and Spirited Away, we celebrate three decades of iconic cinema, and the films that have come to define Empire’s lifetime.
Francis Ford Coppola
40.years since it arrived, Apocalypse Now remains as mysterious and unknowable as ever. Empire was granted a rare extensive interview with Francis Ford Coppola to talk his Vietnam masterpiece, soon to be arriving in an all-new ‘Final Cut’.
Mindhunter
David Fincher’s criminal psychology drama is back on Netflix in a second season that brings in famed serial killers like Charles Manson and Son Of Sam. Empire went on set to get the inside story, talking to David Fincher, director Andrew Dominik, writer Courtenay Miles and more.
Joanna Hogg
The acclaimed British director returns with powerfully affecting character drama The Souvenir – executive produced by Martin Scorsese. Empire visited the set of its upcoming sequel The Souvenir: Part II for an audience with one of the UK’s most fascinating filmmakers.
Take 20
In this month’s round-up of the twenty film moments that matter, we dig into Marvel’s Phase Four slate, meet Pennywise’s new octogenarian incarnation from It: Chapter Two, talk Knives Out with Rian Johnson, assess the Cats trailer blow-by-blow – and much, much more.
Re.View
In home entertainment, Wild Rose gets an encore with a song-by-song breakdown, Duncan Jones looks back at Moon for its 10th anniversary, Tim Burton’s movies get the Ranking treatment, Michael Palin revisits his first solo movie The Missionary, and more.
On.Screen
Reviewed this month: the return of Quentin Tarantino with Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Springsteen-inspired coming-of-ager Blinded By The Light, shock-doc Hail Satan?, Pedro Almodóvar’s latest Pain & Glory, and everything else worth watching this August.
Pick up Empire's 30th Anniversary Special Edition on shelves from Thursday 8 August, or order online here with free UK P&P.