Summary
The start of summer means that it’s time to return to some classic summer movies to help welcome the season. Summer at the movie theater usually means that there are plenty of big-budget blockbusters. While there are plenty ofexciting upcoming movieshitting theaters this summer, includingA Quiet Place: Day OneandDeadpool & Wolverine,the season has inspired filmmakers in a wide variety of genres.
Romcoms are naturally suited to summer, as are coming-of-age dramas. There’s something nostalgic about long summers that seems to fit with both these genres. However, there are also horror movies, crime dramas and musicals which manage to evoke the feelings of summer. A great summer movie only needs to tap into the unique atmosphere of the season, but there are still endless possibilities to explore.
10 Movies That Redefined The Summer Blockbuster
The summer blockbuster has gone through several different phases over the years, with many movies and directors changing big-budget cinema.
Summer is a great season for romcoms, so it’s no coincidence that one of thebest romcoms of recent yearstakes place in the sunshine. Unlike inGroundhog Day,the most famous time loop movie of all, Nyles gets to repeat a glorious sunny day over and over again. His nihilistic bliss is interrupted when he accidentally drags somebody else into his sci-fi predicament. As Nyles and Sarah seem to have an eternity to get to know each other, there’s plenty of time for the kind of breezy chatter that romcoms thrive on.Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti are a fine pair to spend some time with.
There are plenty of baseball movies that could count as summer must-watches, but none evoke such feelings of nostalgia for so many fans of the sport as much asThe Sandlotdoes. The family classic follows a young boy who moves to a new neighborhood and tries desperately to connect with the local kids by taking up baseball.Endlessly quotable and undeniably charming,The Sandlotperfectly captures the joy of long childhood summers.The characters see their every move as grandiose and vital, and this only adds to their likability.
13Thelma & Louise (1991)
For about 15 minutes,Thelma and Louisepaints the idyllic image of a summer road trip, as two best friends leave their irritating husbands behind to set out across the American west in search of a good time. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon strike up a tender dynamic as the two friends whose bond is pushed to the limit after they kill a handsy man at a bar and decide to make a run for it.Their chase is a rejection of the world that has been handed to them by men, and the two women would rather die together than survive to be judged by a society that isn’t set up to understand them.
Over the course of one summer in the late 18th century, Marianne and Héloïse are left to share an island paradise isolated from the rest of society. Marianne is originally sent there to secretly paint a portrait of Héloïse so that she can be married off. She studies her throughout the day and paints her alone at night, but her obsessive watching takes on a different meaning as she opens herself up to the possibility of love.Portrait of a Lady on Fireuses music incredibly sparingly, which creates a seismic impact in the final scene, as Marianna watches Héloïse for the last time, accompanied by the Presto from “Summer” in Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”.
11Breaking Away (1979)
A coming-of-age classic about a young man with no direction
Dave lives in the university town of Bloomington, Indiana, but he has no plans to enroll himself. This means that the students sneer at him and his friends. Dave distracts himself from his listless life with his love of cycling, whether he’s going nowhere fast on his racing bike or idolizing the famous Italian cyclists.Dave is irresistibly charming; a kindhearted optimist who just needs some outside influence to give him a push. He and his friends luxuriate in the heat of summer as if it will never end, but Dave comes to realize that he must take his own initiative.
Independence Dayhelped redefine the summer blockbuster, and its effects hold up surprisingly well almost 30 years later. Will Smith plays a fighter pilot who finds himself on the front lines of an alien invasion. He and the rest of the cast, consisting of Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum and a likable roster of stars, go a long way to ensuring thatIndependence Dayremains fun without being overly cheesy. With a good mix of sci-fi thrills and personal drama,Independence Dayis primarily concerned with providing an incessantly entertaining ride. The script also gives Will Smith a good number of quips to let him flex his comedy muscles.
Dustin Hoffman delivers one of his greatest comedic performances inThe Graduate.He plays Benjamin Braddock, a smart college graduate who seemingly has the world at his feet, although he hesitates to take a single step. Between his parents pressuring him into graduate school and his family friend advising him to take up an uninspiring career in plastics, Benjamin instead spends his energy on having an affair with his neighbor’s mother.The Graduateis filled with memorable quotes, but its most iconic moment features Benjamin and Elaine unable to say a single word to each other, as their bus takes them away to an uncertain future.
Quentin Tarantino’s love letter to the Golden Age of Hollywood is a stylish delight.Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s music, fashion and cultural references are all perfectly designed to evoke the legendary summer of 1969. Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie each get plenty of time to strut their stuff around Tarantino’s Hollywood, but there is danger lurking just beneath the surface. Originally, the movie seems concerned with the fading career of an aging movie star, but the Manson family cult rear into view, bringing the story toward an unforgettable finale.
Horror fans deserve great summer movies too.Friday the 13thandMidsommarare two great examples, butJawsremains the most unforgettable summer horror film.Steven Spielberg’s early-career masterpiece helped forge his reputation as the king of summer blockbusters, as he subverted the beautiful, sunny locale to create a piercing horror story about a creature lurking just beneath the water. Although the shark scenes are appropriately terrifying,Jawsfunctions better than most horror movies because of the compelling dynamic between its three main characters, who each have their own reasons for hunting the shark together.
William Shakespeare understood better than most that sometimes, long summer days are simply too hot. In Baz Luhrmann’s modernization ofRomeo and Juliet,the heat is palpable and dangerous enough to make the warring Capulets and Montagues murder each other in the streets.The violence of the story is more apparent in this version compared to more traditional adaptations, but Luhrmann’sRomeo and Julietmostly sticks to the play, even refusing to update Shakespeare’s language. This decision breathes new life into Shakespeare’s prose, and the tragedy of the two star-crossed lovers becomes fresh and vibrant once more.
