Nickel-base superalloy 718 films have been sputter deposited to thicknesses of 20 mu m. These as-deposited films were single-phase nanocrystalline solid solutions, which possessed tensile strengths of 1 GPa but negligible ductility. Standard 718 aging heat treatments resulted in modest grain growth, atypical precipitation behavior, significant ductility, and impressive strengths at both ambient (2 GPa at 25 degrees C) and elevated (750 MPa at 700 degrees C) temperatures. The density of grain boundaries was shown to have a dramatic effect on the precipitation pathways of this alloy. Published by Elsevier B.V.