Tron (1982) and Tron: Legacy (2010): 28 years

There’s a terrific Simpsons joke in 1995 in which almost no one in the cast has seen (or will admit seeing) Tron. But the movie, a moderate box office success in the early ’80s, when arcade games were red hot, had enough of a following to spawn a sequel directed by Joseph Kosinski that brought back Tron stars Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner, as well as Tron writer-director Steven Lisberger, this time as a producer.

A third film, Tron: Ares, is due next year, and Tron was also, of course, a very cool video game.

The new Tron paid homage to the original while spinning the original story fascinatingly forward, and looked arguably even cooler than the first. It also proved that Kosinski was stunningly adept at bringing 1980s film into the modern era, as we’ll see again.