It just feels like every summer people always look back at the movies of summer 1982 or 1984. Those have been known as the peaks of what a summer movie season should be.In fact, this year AFI is running a 1982 retrospective and a whole segment focuses on, of course, that incredible summer full of cinematic treats.
What's astounding to me about this last summer's movie lineup is just how good it is despite people's misconceptions that we are living in some kind of cinematic doomsday. It seems like every weekend this summer we've had a great movie. It's not every year you experience a season quite like this:
Dunkirk, Detroit, Baby Driver, War for the Planet of the Apes, The Big Sick, Wonder Woman, The Beguiled, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, A Ghost Story, Okja, Logan Lucky, It Comes At Night
I think we can justly say that this latest summer movie season ranks as one of the greatest ever? At the very least it can compete with the best of them, no? Here are other contenders:
2009
The Hangover, Star Trek, Up, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, District 9, 500 Days of Summer, Moon, Drag Me to Hell, Public Enemies, In the Loop
1999
The Sixth Sense, The Matrix, South Park: Bigger Longer Uncut, American Pie, The Blair Witch Project, Eyes Wide Shut, Notting Hill, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Run Lola Run, The Iron Giant, Summer of Sam
1982
E.T, Blade Runner, Poltergeist, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, John Carpenter's The Thing, An Officer and a Gentleman, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Porkys, Diner, Conan the Barbarian, Tron
2004
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Anchorman, The Notebook, Spider-Man 2
Napoleon Dynamite, The Bourne Supremacy, Collateral, Dodgeball, Fahrenheit 9/11, Maria Full of Grace, Before Sunset, Garden State
1980
The Empire Strikes Back, The Shining, Airplane!, The Blues Brothers, Caddyshack, Dressed to Kill, Fame, Friday the 13th, Used Cars, The Big Red One, The Blue Lagoon
1988
Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Die Hard, Coming to America, A Fish Called Wanda, Big, Midnight Run, Bull Durham, Married to the Mob, The Last Temptation of Christ, Willow
1984
Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Karate Kid, Gremlins, The Neverending Story, Once Upon a Time in America, Purple Rain, Red Dawn, Revenge of the Nerds, Top Secret, The Natural
1989
Batman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, When Harry Met Sally, Dead Poets' Society, Do the Right Thing, The Abyss, Ghostbusters II, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Lethal Weapon 2, Parenthood, Uncle Buck, Road House
2008
Iron Man, The Dark Knight, WALL-E, Tropic Thunder, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Incredible Hulk, Step Brothers, Pineapple Express, Kung Fu Panda
2005
Batman Begins, Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, The 40 Year Old Virgin, War of the Worlds, Wedding Crashers, Broken Flowers, Red Eye, Cinderella Man, Hustle & Flow, Grizzly Man
1998
Saving Private Ryan, The Truman Show, Mulan, There's Something About Mary, Out of Sight, Bulworth, The Mask of Zorro, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Buffalo 66, Blade, Mulan, The Negotiator
What do you think is the best summer movie season ever? Post your choice in the comments below!
