Consensus is Jaws.
Eggs. The living legend needs eggs. Or maybe another milk.
Jayne ,'Jaynestown'
Buffista Movies 5: Development Hell
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
bon bon - Jun 26, 2007 12:07:18 pm PDT #9664 of 10001
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.
Tom Scola - Jun 26, 2007 12:07:22 pm PDT #9665 of 10001
Mr. Scola’s wardrobe by Botany 500
"Jaws" is, by most accounts, the first summer blockbuster. It was released in 1975.
Polter-Cow - Jun 26, 2007 12:11:50 pm PDT #9666 of 10001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
That's the oldest movie that came to my mind, too. Thanks.
The thing is, however, did that trend continue yearly? Like, what was the big summer blockbuster of 1976?
Hayden - Jun 26, 2007 12:14:57 pm PDT #9667 of 10001
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."
I don't know 1976, but you can probably guess what the one from 1977 was.
Tom Scola - Jun 26, 2007 12:19:01 pm PDT #9668 of 10001
Mr. Scola’s wardrobe by Botany 500
Before Jaws, Hollywood didn't realize they could make BIG PILES OF MONEY by releasing big event movies during the summer. They really didn't have anything in the pipeline for 1976.
Strega - Jun 26, 2007 12:20:27 pm PDT #9669 of 10001
From filmsite.org:
Hollywood's economic crises in the 1950s and 1960s, especially during the war against the lure of television, were somewhat eased with the emergence in the 70s of summer "blockbuster" movies or "event films" marketed to mass audiences, especially following the awesome success of two influential films:
- 27 year-old Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975)
- 33 year-old George Lucas' Star Wars (1977)
Polter-Cow - Jun 26, 2007 12:22:29 pm PDT #9670 of 10001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Interesting.
I don't know 1976, but you can probably guess what the one from 1977 was.
Heh, see, that's the thing. I don't know how many of the big, popular movies were summer movies, you know? And some of the summer blockbusters of yore may not have been actual good movies and so aren't talked about as much.
bon bon - Jun 26, 2007 12:23:56 pm PDT #9671 of 10001
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.
I hope the Die Hard sequel is good, though I don't expect that much. Regardless, that Chron review is a disaster. This sentence of synonymous adjectives is my favorite:
He has a caustic, unsentimental understanding of the character and presents us with a McClane who's a cynical difficult man, one whom the years have only made smarter, tougher and more calloused.
ETA: I guess if you think action movies started in the 1990s, tough action heroes must seem like a novelty. No one tell him about Han Solo!
Strega - Jun 26, 2007 12:24:41 pm PDT #9672 of 10001
And some of the summer blockbusters of yore may not have been actual good movies and so aren't talked about as much.People talk about Star Wars all the time.
Laga - Jun 26, 2007 12:28:24 pm PDT #9673 of 10001
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.
Finally saw Night Watch last night. Whew! After Hostel part II I don't think anything is going to seem terrbly violent anymore. And yes parts of it were rather cliche and there was just a teensy bit of ham-fistedness but wow! Visually stunning. Also it's wonderful for me to be able to watch a film where I am familiar with none of the actors. Even the wild fantasy elements seemed realistic to me when I was lost in the characterizations. Beautifully realized, beautifully acted. And it was fun to see someone watching Buffy in Russki.