*yawn* – man, this HAS been happening for a while! You might be thinking of 1991’s ‘Rocketeer‘ – but how about BRAZIL??? That was 1985 and was my first introduction to what I saw as the glimmerings of Steampunk! Sheesh, slap these ‘zeitgeist’ people on the head with a vacuum tube… 
Anyway – here’s the article in MTV news: What Is Steampunk? A Subculture Infiltrating Films, Music, Fashion, More:
Sci-fi usually connotes something from the future, but not always. The widely acknowledged founding fathers of steampunk, late-19th-century authors Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, took then-modern technology and set it in the steam age. Airships, submarines, typing tools and others objects were reimagined as mechanical devices that were powered by, you guessed it, steam.
(For more on the subculture, check out a Movies Blog post on steampunk films, a Newsroom item from a steampunk newcomer and loads of photos from two steampunk events.)
The term arose during the 1980s, when literature that basically transported cyberpunk tales into the past became popular. The aesthetic gradually spread into other art forms.
…Although steampunk is generally based in brown earth tones, the style is very similar to a traditional goth’s black garb. Goth authority and musician Voltaire believes the connection is so close that most goths find it easy to transfer over to steampunk. “Steampunk came along, and all of a sudden, old-school goths find those kinds of aesthetics appealing,” he said.
Like most subcultures these days, the steampunk community grew on the Internet. Jaborwhalky.netG.D. Falksen have been monitoring the scene since its inception. Kriete credits the fashion phenomenon to an inventive steampunker, Kit Stolen. co-founders Evelyn Kriete and
“He invented these hair falls, which almost appear like he’s wearing electronics in his hair,” she said. “There is a famous photo of him taken by Nadya Lev. She posted it to her Web site, and it started to get around. People were like, ‘That looks good. What’s this steampunk thing?’ “
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Yeah, steam punk trends have almost come and gone in gaming circles. I suppose you could say the Tardis was very steampunk ?
I always thought 1984’s Dune was pretty “steampunk”. I never called that look “steampunk” though. I always referred to it as “that Jules Verne look – brass and wood technology”. Yeah, it doesn’t roll off the tongue like “steampunk”.
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