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Top 15 TV Shows and Movies with Retrowave Aesthetic You Should Watch

Top 15 TV Shows and Movies with Retrowave Aesthetic You Should Watch Featured Image

TV shows and movies with retrowave aesthetic have been popping up through the years.

Retrowave refers to a style of music and fashion that was popular during the 1970s and 1980s. This style of music and fashion became very popular in the US and UK during the 1970s and 80s. Nonetheless, the retrowave aesthetic has also extended to the aesthetics of certain TV shows and films. Here are those TV shows and films with retrowave aesthetic you should not miss out if you want to dive into retrowave:

TV Shows with Retrowave Aesthetic

top tv shows and movie with retrowave aesthetic
Retro computer monitor with glitch and pixel arrow mouse cursor on neon purple background

1) Twin Peaks (1990-1991)

Twin Peaks is an American television series which aired on Showtime from 1990 to 1991. It was created by Mark Frost and David Lynch.

The show follows FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper as he investigates strange occurrences in the small town of Twin Peaks, Washington. Although it was cancelled after two seasons, the show has become one of the most iconic cult TV shows ever made.

The show features many themes such as murder, sexual abuse, witchcraft, and supernatural phenomena. In addition, the show featured many actors including Kyle MacLachlan, Sheryl Lee, Mädchen Amick, Michael J. Anderson, Harry Goaz, Richard Beymer, Kimmy Robertson, and Grace Zabriskie.

Many people consider Twin Peaks to be one of the best TV shows ever made.

2) Fringe (2008-2013)

Fringe is an American science fiction drama television series developed by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci for Fox Broadcasting Company.

The first season premiered on September 22, 2008, and concluded on May 19, 2009. A second season began airing on October 23, 2009, and ended on June 25, 2010. A third season began airing on January 11, 2012, and concluded on April 14, 2013.

The series revolves around FBI agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), who works at the Fringe division of the Bureau, where she studies cases involving “fringe” events—those impossible or inexplicable things that occur in our world.

Her work takes her to a parallel universe known as the “Fringe,” where she teams up with Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), a scientist working for Massive Dynamic, a company based in the alternate universe. Together they must solve cases linked to both universes.

3) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an American fantasy horror television series developed by writer/producer Joss Whedon.

The series originally aired on The WB from 1997 until 2003, and ran for seven seasons. Set in Sunnydale, California, it chronicles the adventures of high school student Buffy Summers and her struggle against vampires, demons, and other evil forces while balancing her social life and maintaining her popularity among her peers.

She is often aided by her Watcher Giles and her fellow slayers Willow Rosenberg and Kendra Young. The series stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy, Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles, Alyson Hannigan as Willow, Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris, Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins, Juliet Landau as Glory, and Seth Green as Spike.

4) Lost (2004-2010)

Lost is an American science fiction serial drama television series that originally aired on ABC from 2004 to 2010.

The show centers on a group of survivors stranded on a remote island after Oceanic Airlines flight 815 crashes on its way to Sydney, Australia. The crash leads them through flashbacks to explain how they got there. The castaways are led by Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), a former criminal lawyer whose wife died in the crash; Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly), a doctor and his daughter; Sawyer (Josh Holloway), a con artist; Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), a martial arts expert; Sun (Yunjin Kim), a young mother; Bernard Nadler (Samuel L. Jackson), a computer programmer; etc.

5) Heroes (2006-2011)

Heroes is an American superhero action drama television series created by Tim Kring. It was broadcast on NBC between 2006 and 2011.

The pilot episode, which originally aired on February 5, 2006, introduced the concept of people born with extraordinary abilities called “Heroes”, including Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka), who can teleport himself and others anywhere he has memorized a map; Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere), who can read minds; Sylar (Zachary Quinto), who can manipulate molecules; Noah Bennett (Greg Grunberg), and Martin Odum (Jack Coleman), who can move objects with his mind.

6) Smallville (2001-2011)

Smallville is an American teen drama television series based on the DC Comics character Superman.

The series follows Clark Kent (Tom Welling), a teenage boy who discovers that he possesses superhuman powers and must choose whether to use these abilities to help mankind or keep them hidden from the world. He meets Lois Lane (Erica Durance), Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), Jonathan Kent (John Schneider), Martha Kent (Annette O’Toole), and Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum).

Smallville began airing on September 22, 2001, on The CW Television Network. The first two seasons were produced by Alfred P. Sloan Productions, but since 2002, Warner Bros. Television has been responsible for producing the series. The third and final season premiered on October 4, 2008.

On May 15, 2009, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on January 17, 2010. A fifth season began filming in March 2010. The sixth and final season premiered on April 2, 2011.

7) Stargate SG-1 (1997-2007)

Stargate: SG-1 is an American military science fiction television series developed by Brad Wright and Robert Cooper.

It ran for eight seasons from 1997 until 2007, and was followed by spin-off series Stargate Atlantis. The series focuses on the adventures of the United States Air Force’s Stargate Command as well as their interactions with various alien races.

The main characters include Daniel Jackson (Mark Garelik), Teal’c (Christopher Judge), Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping), John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), and General Hammond (Richard Dean Anderson).

8) Star Trek (1966–1969)

Star Trek is an American science fiction television franchise, consisting of six live-action television programs, one animated TV movie, several theatrical films, numerous books, comic books, video games, and other media.

The original 1966–69 series, set aboard the starship USS Enterprise, featured Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Ensign Chekov (Walter Koenig), and Lt. Saavik (Gates McFadden). After the cancellation of the original show, a number of feature film sequels were released, beginning with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). A rebooted version of the franchise, Star Trek Beyond, was released in 2016.

9) Supernatural (2005–present)

Supernatural is an American fantasy horror drama television series about brothers Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles), who are employed by the U.S. government to investigate paranormal occurrences across America. The series premiered on November 13, 2005, on The WB. It moved to The CW when that network took over its parent company, Time Warner, in 2006. In February 2014, The CW renewed the series for a 10th season. Season 11 will be the last season aired on The CW before moving to the new streaming service, Netflix, starting with the 12th season.

10) Terminator (1984–1989)

Terminator is a 1984 American science fiction action television series created by James Cameron and David S. Goyer. The series follows Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a soldier sent back through time  to protect Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and her unborn son John Connor (Edward Furlong) from a future war between humans and machines. The series originally aired on NBC from June 3, 1984, to December 14, 1989. Following its initial run, three feature films were made: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), and Terminator Salvation (2009).

Movies with Retrowave Aesthetic

1) Blade Runner (1982)

Blade Runner is a 1982 cyberpunk noir dystopian science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and produced by Hampton Fancher and Michael Deeley. Based on Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, it tells the story of Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a bounty hunter assigned to track down four replicants—androids remotely controlled by human users—who have escaped from offworld colonies. Harrison Ford stars as Rick Deckard, while Rutger Hauer plays Roy Batty, Sean Young plays Pris, Daryl Hannah plays Zhora, and Edward James Olmos plays Luv. The film also features Brion James, Rachael Harris, William Sanderson, and Joanna Cassidy.

2) Back to the Future Part III (1990)

Back to the Future Part III is a 1990 science fiction comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, Thomas F. Wilson, and Bob Gale. The third installment of the Back to the Future trilogy, it was released in May 1990. It continues where the first two parts left off, with Marty McFly (Lloyd) returning to 1985 to try to save Doc Brown (Glover) from being shot by Biff Tannen (Wilson).

3) RoboCop (1987)

RoboCop is a 1987 American science fiction action thriller film directed by Irvin Kershner and written by Ed Neumeier. Starring Peter Weller and Nancy Allen, it tells the story of Alex Murphy / RoboCop, an officer whose memory has been wiped clean after being critically injured during a shootout with criminals. After being reactivated, he becomes embroiled in a struggle between police forces and private corporations over control of the city of Detroit.

4) Dark City (1998)

Dark City is a 1998 science fiction horror film directed by Alex Proyas and starring Charlize Theron, Sam Neill, and Tom Noonan. The plot centers around a woman who wakes up in a hospital room with amnesia. She begins to remember things about herself, including what happened before she fell asleep, but when she tries to leave the hospital, she finds herself trapped in a strange urban landscape.

5) Starship Troopers (1997)

Starship Troopers is a 1997 science fiction war film based on the novel of the same name by Robert A. Heinlein. It was directed by Paul Verhoeven and stars Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Val Kilmer, Keith David, and Edward Furlong. The film takes place in the far future, where humans have conquered the galaxy. They live in giant spaceships called “Starships”, which are capable of interstellar travel. However, most soldiers are too cowardly or weak-willed to fight for their lives, so they volunteer to be transformed into cyborgs. These new soldiers are known as “Zombies”.

Diving into these TV shows and movies with retrowave aesthetic can help you get a better understanding of how this style developed, and why it became popular. This will give you some insight into the history of television and films, and help you understand the culture that created this subgenre.

You can also discover more tv shows and movies with retrowave aesthetic here. Interested in also listening to some retrowave songs, you can see this list.