One of the things we can look forward to during any summer is the potential blockbusters in cinemas. Some of the best and most iconic films are released during the summer season, holding a place in the hearts of many film lovers and pop-culture experts with several features standing out in the world of cinema. Whether it’s an epic adventure or a touching tale of friendship or romance, there’s something for everyone nearly every year. This list will look at my top 10 summer blockbusters, based on how well they were received, how they hold up and the impact they left on cinema.
10. Back to the Future
Back to the Future (1985) kickstarted Michael J. Fox’s career from a popular TV actor to the next hit star in Hollywood. The film maintained a steady success for 11 of its 12 weeks of release, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1985. Marty McFly is accidentally sent thirty years in the past in a time-travelling DeLorean by eccentric scientist Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), where he must help the past versions of his parents fall in love or risk fading from existence. With an Oscar-nominated script, Back to the Future has something for everyone with iconic characters and memorable lines that everyone is quoting to this day, including former-actor President Ronald Reagan in his 1986 State of the Union address.
9. Forrest Gump
Adapted from Winston Groom’s wonderful novel, Robert Zemeckis’ Forrest Gump (1994) touched on almost every major cultural milestone in the second half of the 20th century: Vietnam and the marches on Washington, Watergate, “Sh*t happens” shirts, Elvis, world-class ping pong and many other historical events. These are all told from the perspective of Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) a man from Alabama with a below-average IQ who only wants to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart, Jenny Curran (Robin Wright). Though at times, it appears more fantastical than factual, Forrest Gump, like its titular hero, is so charming. This six-time Oscar winner is a wonderful watch from beginning to end with moments that will make you laugh, cry and tug at your heartstrings.
8. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Throughout the 80s and 90s, James Cameron was a name synonymous with the term ‘blockbuster’ and Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) remains one of his most popular features to date. After the events of The Terminator (1984), Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the iconic T-800 Terminator alongside Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and John Connor (Edward Furlong) to battle a state-of-the-art villain that was unlike anything seen in cinema. The action remains some of the best put to screen, even after 30 years alongside revolutionary visuals that kickstarted the CGI revolution during the early 21st century. T2 also features a brilliant story as the prophesied doomsday appears to get closer with every passing minute; all of this together makes this film a thrill ride that keeps generations of viewers on the edge of their seats.
7. Mad Max: Fury Road
George Miller’s epic saga of Mad Max released their fourth instalment with Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), thirty years after the release of Beyond Thunderdome (1985). Despite the delay, Fury Road blew up the standards of what a modern blockbuster could be, with Max (Tom Hardy) and Furisosa (Charlize Theron) joining forces to free a group of female prisoners and flee from cult leader Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). With a firestorm of practical visual effects, visionary design, anti-patriarchy themes, and pure undiluted action, Miller created a film that stormed that year’s Oscars, earning a Best Picture nomination and taking home most of the awards that night. Though only a mere six years since its release, Fury Road has become a modern classic, riding eternal to the gates of Valhalla.
6. Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark
During the mid-to-late 70s, the films of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were the ones everyone was watching. So imagine what would happen if they combined their talents to create another major blockbuster, well Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) is the perfect answer. With Spielberg behind the camera and Lucas contributing to the story, the pair gave life to the adventures of Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), an archaeologist and adventurer in 1936, who is hired by the US government to find the fabled Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis. What started as a tribute to classic matinée serials, outdid the genre that inspired it, becoming a commercial success as the highest-grossing film of 1981, and was nominated for several awards, winning five Oscars, seven Saturn Awards and one BAFTA.
5. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
A lot of the summer blockbusters on this list revolve around heavy action and violence, but E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) doesn’t have any of that, telling a story about a friendship between a young boy, Elliott Taylor (Henry Thomas) and his out-of-this-world new friend. One of Spielberg’s more personal pictures, E.T. succeeds at being a family drama, an eccentric comedy and a heart-warming sci-fi, creating what is described as “one of the touching and timeless bonds of movie history.” The effects are just as timeless, emphasising how much of an extraordinary picture this film is with the flying bicycle scene becoming one of the most iconic scenes in cinema. Though not as action-heavy, E.T. is no less spectacular than these other blockbusters.
4. The Dark Knight
There were several great films in 2008, though none were able to enrapture audiences like The Dark Knight (2008). When a madman named Joker (Heath Ledger) threatens to bring Gotham to ruin, Batman (Christian Bale) must engage in a battle of brains and brawn to return justice to the city. A sequel to Batman Begins (2005), director Christopher Nolan delivered an ambitious new take on the Caped Crusader, delivering more action, higher stakes, and complex characters to deliver one of the best modern superhero features. Ledger’s mile-high performance as Joker was also well-received, sweeping the accolades, and becoming perhaps the most iconic depiction of the infamous comic-book villain. With a grittier tone and portrayal of both physical and psychological warfare, The Dark Knight redefined superhero films and cinema in general.
3. Jurassic Park
Just as the rippling water in the now-iconic scene signalled the grand entrance of the T-Rex, so too did Jurassic Park (1993) begin a new era of cinematic innovation. Stephen Spielberg is a legendary film director and his work with Oscar-winning special-effects artist Stan Winston had a major influence on filmmakers, inspiring stars like Stanley Kubrick, Peter Jackson, and James Cameron, to experiment with modern VFX. When palaeontologist, Alan Grant (Sam Neill) visits a nearly completed theme park full of living dinosaurs, a security problem releases all the prehistoric predators and Grant must fight for survival alongside the other visitors and park staff. Jurassic Park has become a landmark in cinema for its special-effect and chilling story with one cinema historian stating the film “heralded a revolution in movies as profound as the coming of sound in 1927.”
2. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) is one of the films that sparked the trend of a summer blockbuster. The characters are legends, the universe and mythos are some of the most recognised in pop culture and the effects were years ahead of what people expected from cinema. This epic space-opera follows the journey of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) who goes on an adventure to deliver two droids carrying sensitive information to the rebellion to defeat the villainous Darth Vader and the tyrannical Empire. Though it was assumed this film would flop, A New Hope became the highest-grossing film at the time and inspired a legacy that is continuing to this day.
1. Jaws
There’s a reason this film takes the top spot, it’s the prototypical summer blockbuster that established the template for every other film on this list and sparked the summer movie season. When a man-eating shark terrorises a summer town, police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfus) and shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw) venture out to the ocean to hunt the beast down. The major reason this film was successful was the ominous theme used accompanying the shark’s approach which Spielberg and others have considered to be reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock, the “Master of Suspense”. Jaws was an unprecedented critical and financial hit, grossing $472 million against a $9 million budget, and only a handful of summer blockbusters have been able to emulate its success.
Jacobs Reel Reviews 