Choose The Best Summer Movie Season ('89-'06)

Pete-D · 07-11-2006, 11:47 AM

Looking back on things what do you guys feel would be the best summer movie season? I'll list the notables starting from 1989 ...

1989-
Batman
Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade
Lethal Weapon 2
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!
Ghostbusters II
Dead Poets Society
When Harry Met Sally
The Abyss
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Do The Right Thing
Field Of Dreams
License To Kill
The Karate Kid Part III

1990-
Dick Tracy
Ghost
Total Recall
Die Hard II
Back to the Future III
Arachnaphobia
Days of Thunder

1991-
Terminator 2
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
City Slickers
Naked Gun 2 1/2
The Rocketeer
Backdraft
Boyz N' The Hood
Thelma & Louise

1992-
Batman Returns
Lethal Weapon 3
Sister Act
A League Of Their Own
Unforgiven
Patriot Games
Honey, I Blew Up the Kid!
Death Becomes Her

1993-
Jurassic Park
The Last Action Hero
The Fugitive
Cliffhanger
The Firm
Sleepless in Seattle
Free Wiley
In The Line of Fire

1994-
The Lion King
Forrest Gump
The Flinstones
True Lies
The Mask
Speed
Beverly Hills Cop 3

1995-
Batman Forever
Apollo 13
Pocohontas
Die Hard with a Vengance
Casper
Water World
Braveheart
Dangerous Minds
Mortal Kombat

1996-
Independence Day
Twister
Mission: Impossible
The Nutty Professor
The Rock
Eraser
The Hunchback of Notre Dame

1997-
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Men In Black
Air Force One
Batman & Robin (shudder)
My Best Friend's Wedding
Con Air
Face/Off
Hercules
The Fifth Element

1998-
There's Something About Mary
Armageddon
Saving Private Ryan
Godzilla
Lethal Weapon 4
Deep Impact
X-Files: Fight the Future
Mulan
The Truman Show
Mask of Zorro

1999-
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
The Sixth Sense
Austin Powers 2
The Blair Witch Project
Runaway Bride
Notting Hill
American Pie
The Mummy
Tarzan
The Matrix* (released 03-31-99)

2000-
Gladiator
Mission: Impossible 2
X-Men
The Perfect Storm
What Lies Beneath
Gone In 60 Seconds
Dinosaur
Scary Movie

2001-
Shrek
Rush Hour 2
The Mummy Returns
Pearl Harbor
Jurassic Park 3
Planet of the Apes
The Fast & The Furious
Tomb Raider
Legally Blonde
The Princess Diaries
The Others

2002-
Spider-Man
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
Signs
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Austin Powers in Goldmember
Minority Report
The Bourne Identity
Men In Black II
Lilo & Stich
Scooby Doo

2003-
The Matrix Reloaded
X2
Pirates of the Caribbean
Finding Nemo
Bruce Almighty
Terminator 3
The Hulk
Sea Biscuit
Bad Boys II

2004-
Shrek 2
Spider-Man 2
Troy
Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban
The Bourne Supremacy
Van Helsing
The Village
Fahrenheit 9/11
I, Robot
Alien Vs. Predator (ugh)

2005-
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
Batman Begins
War of the Worlds
Wedding Crashers
March of the Penguins
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Kingdom of Heaven

2006-
Pirates of the Caribbean 2
Superman Returns
The Breakup
X3
The Da Vinci Code
Lady in the Water
Cars
Monster House

Of course 2006 isn't quite over yet, so you may have to rule 2006 out of the running.

Interesting when looking back. I think I'd give either 1991 or 1993 the nod for my favorite summer. Summer 2005 gets a bad rap, I think it was a pretty good summer season.

1997 was really a bad period for Hollywood "event films" ... no wonder there was an opening for Titanic to move in, I think at that point a lot of people were fed up with what Hollywood had churned out that summer, especailly women.

Walter Kittel · 07-11-2006, 11:58 AM

For my money you'd have to go back to 1982:

48 Hours
Blade Runner
Conan The Barbarian
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Poltergeist
Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan
The Thing
Tron
The World According to Garp

But, limiting it to the years you've listed...

1991 has a lot of favorites.

- Walter.

Pete-D · 07-11-2006, 12:05 PM

Wowza, 1982 was a monster year.

I would say the summers of '77 (Star Wars), '82 (E.T.), '89 (Batman), '91 (T2/Robin Hood), '93 (Jurassic Park), '99 (Star Wars returns, horror/teen movie galore), and '02 (Spider-Man) would be the big pop-culture years for movie summers ... years, where the movies really defined that year as a whole.

When there's a big summer like that, you can almost feel a little bit extra bit of electricity in the air when you go to the theater.

Chuck Mayer · 07-11-2006, 12:12 PM

You forgot the best summer movie in 1997. You included Con Air, but ignored Face/Off? Face/Off alone made that summer.

Answers later...

Pete-D · 07-11-2006, 12:15 PM

Face/Off has been added. I'm going mostly off memory and a quick glance at Box Office Guru's site, so some I may have missed a film here and there, but the "big ones" are pretty much there I think.

While I didn't mind Face/Off ... it does remind me how dissapointing that summer was, because going into that summer I don't think anyone would've picked Face/Off as the "must see" movie.

**HTF Ads**

James@R · 07-11-2006, 12:19 PM

I wouldn't really say 1997 was a bad year for event films. Aside from Batman and Robin, every one you listed was a pretty big hit.

Rod J · 07-11-2006, 12:31 PM

Wow.

The only movie in the whole list that I saw "in a theater" was Spiderman.

Pete-D · 07-11-2006, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James@R

I wouldn't really say 1997 was a bad year for event films. Aside from Batman and Robin, every one you listed was a pretty big hit.

The Lost World was also a big dissapointment. That film really dropped like a rock after a massive opening and after years of anticipation for a Jurassic Park sequel.

Remember at that time, Jurassic Park was the biggest movie of the 1990s, so the sequel was a *huge* deal.

Chuck Mayer · 07-11-2006, 12:38 PM

1989-
Batman
Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade
Lethal Weapon 2
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!
Ghostbusters II
Dead Poets Society
When Harry Met Sally

The year I fell in love with movies. Doesn't hold up so well (Batman didn't live up to the hype, IJ is the worst of the three, etc), but not bad.

1990-
Dick Tracy
Ghost
Total Recall
Die Hard II
Back to the Future III

And Robocop 2! Nuke lives, biatch! And Arachnophobia. Less event. But lots of fun.

1991-
Terminator 2
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
City Slickers
Naked Gun 2 1/2
The Rocketeer
Backdraft

Great summer. T2 had all the hype, and actually lived up to every ounce of it. Just a monster film. I've yet to see such anticipation pay off in a summer film since. The other crap was pretty good. But T2 just owned this summer.

1992-
Batman Returns
Lethal Weapon 3
Sister Act
A League Of Their Own
Unforgiven
Patriot Games

And Alien3. This summer I was out of touch. No comment.

1993-
Jurassic Park
The Last Action Hero
The Fugitive
Cliffhanger
The Firm
Sleepless in Seattle

One of the legends, almost solely due to JP. TLAH also bombed, which was a big deal.

1994-
The Lion King
Forrest Gump
The Flinstones
True Lies
The Mask
Speed

My vote. Easily. Speed was a huge, True Lies was huge, Forrest Gump and The Lion King were BOTH phenoms. Two phenoms in one summer is extremely rare.

1995-
Batman Forever
Apollo 13
Pocohontas
Die Hard with a Vengance
Casper
Water World

And Braveheart. Kind of dull this year.

1996-
Independence Day
Twister
Mission: Impossible
The Nutty Professor
The Rock
Eraser

You ragged 1997. Here is the low point of summer filmmaking. A bunch of pointless explosionfest, without a redeeming film among them. Just formulaic tiresome crap. I did love The Hunchback of Notre Dame, though.

1997-
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Men In Black
Air Force One
Batman & Robin (shudder)
My Best Friend's Wedding
Con Air
Face/Off

Thanks for adding Face/Off, which saves this miserable list from total asstasticity. Batman and Robin is still the becnhmark for all cinematic shitpiles. I don't think it can be bettered.

1998-
There's Something About Mary
Armageddon
Saving Private Ryan
Godzilla
Lethal Weapon 4
Deep Impact

No major impressions. Just there.

1999-
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
The Sixth Sense
Austin Powers 2
The Blair Witch Project
Runaway Bride
American Pie
The Mummy

Anything with new Star Wars is memorable. It buoyed the entire summer. Great year for films...but not a great summer. I did like Notting Hill though.

2000-
Gladiator
Mission: Impossible 2
X-Men
The Perfect Storm
What Lies Beneath

I liked this summer. Nice variety, and I really loved Gladiator. X-Men was a surprisingly good film as well.

2001-
Shrek
Rush Hour 2
The Mummy Returns
Pearl Harbor
Jurassic Park 3
Planet of the Apes

99% crap. Moulin Rouge was the only worthwhile summer film in a year of mediocrity. All of those disappointed me.

2002-
Spider-Man
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
Signs
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Austin Powers in Goldmember
Minority Report
The Bourne Identity

Big summer. SW film (even if I didn't like it), a new monster franchise, some Spielberg, a few sleepers. Very big summer, even if I don't have a particular attachment to it. The Bourne success was the second biggest story.

2003-
The Matrix Reloaded
X2
Pirates of the Caribbean
Finding Nemo
Bruce Almighty
Terminator 3
The Hulk

I am teh bias. Reloaded is one of my favorite films. Throw in X2, Nemo, and Pirates, and this is a monster year. Loved this summer.

2004-
Shrek 2
Spider-Man 2
Troy
Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban
The Bourne Supremacy
Van Helsing

Top two were big money. I didn't even see Shrek 2, though I loved Spidey. VH was the first "event" movie I had the brains to skip, so thanks for that. Not very impressive. Take out the big two, and it'd be completely mediocre financially.

2005-
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
Batman Begins
War of the Worlds
Wedding Crashers
March of the Penguins
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Kingdom of Heaven

If KoH had been the LONG version, this would probably have won for me. SW finally hit it right, Batman is smarter than 99.9% of summer films, and the variety (and strong comedy showing) makes this a banner year.

2006-
Pirates of the Caribbean 2
Superman Returns
The Breakup
X3
The Da Vinci Code
Lady in the Water

In progress.

Overall:
I'd argue 1996 as the actively worst, with a few dull years in there. Almost every year had something I liked, but the special years had something I loved, a few I liked, and some pop culture resonance.

Ranked:
1994
1991
1993
2003
2005
A lot in the middle
2001
1996

Fun trip down memory lane,
Chuck

Pete-D · 07-11-2006, 12:44 PM

I agree '96 is perhaps the worst ... but I have to say I did enjoy "The Nutty Professor" (a nice return to form for Eddie Murphy), and yes, as much as I hate to say it -- ID4 was fun the first time I saw it. The whole giant saucer coming over New York City/the White House blowing up did become iconic as well (for better or worse).

The general reaction I think people had to The Lost World and Batman & Robin the following summer seemed to be much more negative upon initial viewing.

1994 is probably the "deepest" summer ... lots of big hits, and two big-time blockbusters leading the pack. I don't really know if you could call the summer of '94 the summer of Gump or the summer of the Lion King, both were about equal.