a top ten Summer Blockbuster list

The summer Blockbuster is where Hollywood makes its money and it is almost always a gamble. For every Pirates of the Caribbean, we have a movie like Stealth that cost a ton and bombed at the box office. What I have here is a list of my ten favorite big budget summer blockbusters. For the purposes of this list, I have taken only big special effects type movies, so animated movies or summer comedies have been figured in. Also, this list starts at 1993, when I was really getting into movies and they consist of movies I saw on the big screen, the way these movies are meant to be seen. I did have some input from Robbie Blake, and my parents. Erik sucked and never got back to me so he does not get a say.

Here it is:

10. Armageddon- Sure, this is pure campy drivel in terms of over the top-ness, but what really is not to love here? The movie is big, loud and unapologetic. Bruce Willis is at his usual stoic best and the ensemble features all kinds of weird misfit casting. No one blows things up quite like Michael Bay and no one has utilized slow motion to such over the top craziness. The iconic slow motion line walking is laughable sure, but can you really beat it? People always claim to hate this movie, but secretly they watch it all of the time and they cry at the end. It is about time people just admit it. Oh and about the plot "Regarding the film's premise, Ben Affleck asked director Michael Bay, "Wouldn't it be easier for NASA to train astronauts how to drill rather than training drillers to be astronauts?" Bay told Affleck to shut up." So there!


9. The Mummy- This is your prototypical summer blockbuster. The movie does not take itself seriously, captures some dazzling special effects, has a funny sidekick and even manages laughs for our hero and heroine. In ancient Egypt a forbidden love affair happened, a bad guy got mummified, and the woman was killed. Now, that mummy has been reawakened with one thing in mind, getting his lover back from the dead. In order to do this he needs a human to act as a conduit, enter the sexy sexy Rachel Weitz. Also, throw in Brendan Frazer in a perfect mix of heroism and pure hilarious cowardice and you have yourself a whopper of a movie. It is everything you want form escapism cinema, and while it may be ridiculous, you believe it for the 2hrs it runs on the screen.


8. Spiderman- So what, I am an unabashed Spiderman fan, deal with it. This is pure adrenaline mixed with just enough heart to rise above your standard fare. Toby makes a joyful Spiderman and the first scenes he uses his powers are both hilarious and exhilarating. Kirsten lends a sense of girl next door charm to M.J, but this movie belongs to two people- Sam Raimi( the director) and Willem Defoe. Raimi has always had a manic energy as a director and now he gets to work with a budget suited for his brand of film. He still adds elements of that fun campy style, but he also captures Spiderman's breathtaking abilities and Defoe is perhaps the best on-screen superhero villain, yet. Yes, I know people always go to Nicholson's joker, but he pales in comparison of Defoe's crazy genius take on Green Goblin. The fights are exciting, the heart real and the story timeless.


7.X2- As much as I enjoyed the first X-men movie this one took everything that was right with it and added to it. Yes, there are a lot of characters and not enough time to properly use them, but in the case of Nightcrawler, when the opening sequence is that fantastic, who cares? The make up in this thing is spectacular, and watching Mystique morph in and out of various characters is mesmerizing. Hugh Jackman gives his Wolverine even more rage and unbridled energy which manifests itself best in a whopper of a fight sequence with a female with powers just like his, when neither one can die, that just makes the fight that much more brutal. The plot is more interesting than the first one and Singer, the director, has a better grasp on what to do in terms of action scenes. We also add some great new characters, my favorite being Pyro and watching him blow cop cars to bits is quite a ride!


6. War of the Worlds- Yes it is in to hate on Tom Cruise. Yes, dude is crazy but this movie is pure brilliance from beginning to end. Spielberg, working with evil aliens for the first time gives us a giant movie that feels like a small movie. Yes, the explosions exist and the tripod things are spectacular, but this movie is about a family. It i snot a movie cutting back and forth between 6 or 7 people, it is about 3 people and then it is about 2 people. Some will complain about the very end and that is fine, but the rest of this movie is just one giant thrill ride. We don't know why one van works when no other car does, but that one van makes for some of the more interesting scenes as a group of people try and get in it. Also, the most gripping sequence is perhaps one of the most quiet sequence in film and what makes it thrilling is the acting of Tom Cruise, Tim Robbins and the great Dakota Fanning, mixed with the crazy cool effect of Spielberg's imagination.


5. Independence Day- Will Smith breaks out as a massive action star, Jeff Goldbloom adds an odd comic touch to the movie, Bill Pullman will make everyman feel Patriotic, oh and the White House gets blown to bits. What is not to love here? The Aliens are awesome looking, their ships even cooler looking. Watching them take out giant landmarks is crazy fun and as Harry Connick Jr. and Smith weave their way around the smaller alien ships, we get a sense of that first Star Wars movie and how people felt watching it for the first time. Randy Quaid adds an interesting touch as comical tragic father, trying to pay back the Aliens for a tortured past and in his final seconds, it is hard to not fall victim to manufactured tears. Lastly, Pullman gives one hell of an inspirational speech tat made me wish I could jump into a fighter jet and blow up some aliens.


4.Jurassic Park- I don't care who you are, Dinosaurs are bad ass. Imagine a movie where they have live dinosaurs in modern times. Now imagine that movie where the Dinosaurs get loose and start eating people, how cool is that?? Spielberg's dinosaurs still look great, even 14 years later and the chases are just as thrilling now as they were at first. Watching a jeep just out of reach from the jaws of a giant mean looking T-Rex will always be cool and watching Raptors quietly figure out how to open doors and sniff out the two children remains a moment I will always love. Throw in some great lines from Jeff Goldbloom a hilarious one-liner from Sam Jackson (Hold on to your butts) and you have pure movie joy.


3. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl- Let us try and remember the first part of this trilogy, you know the good one. Let us remember before the second movie sucked the life out of it, back when Johnny Depp's off the wall performance was fresh and invigorating and not Charlie Chaplin like and borderline retarded. Do you have it? Good because no matter how bad this series gets they cannot take the first movie away from us. The laughs, the sword fights, the incredibly cool skeleton effects and the oh so sexy sneer of Keira Knightley. Geoffery Rush is brilliant in the role of a villain, and his monologue bursts with a creepy sympathy and then leads to a great visual of a bunch of skeletons rowing a giant ship. There was nothing wrong with this movie, until it made a ton of money and they ruined it by making a horrid sequel.


2. Men In Black- I may have a bias here being such a Will Smith fan, but this movie is a perfect summer movie. Granted it is nothing more than a summer movie, but in that popcorn genre it achieves perfection. From the opening sequence where Danny Elfman's score buzzes with quirkiness, to the end where Smith gets a new partner, it is always just a bit off beat and funny. The aliens are always different looking, the script pops with great jokes and the story keeps you interested. Tommy Lee Jones has never used his dead pan personality to this level of perfection and Vincent D'Onofrio is so good as the Alien, it is hard to see him do anything else. The quotes are endless and the action manages to keep up with the wit and bubbling chemistry between our two leading men. Yes, the sequel was unfortunate, but when the original is this good you can forgive that kind of mistake. Oh and those guns are sick!


1. Spiderman 2- Is this really any sort of shock? While Men In Black is summer perfection, Spiderman 2 is not only the perfection of summer, it is the perfection of any season of any year. Where the first one gave us a great villain and the beginnings of a great superhero, the sequel gives us a great internal conflict with Peter, as well as great villain. Alfred Molina, in a piece of odd casting turns in a tragic performance as Doc Ock, and what Raimi does with his tentacles is brilliant and scary. The fight scene as Spidey and Ock climb a building, shows us an overpowering villain and allows us to see Spiderman is not Superman. The acting rises above what people expect from a comic book movie and the story is just as good as any movie and watching Harry's slow transformation to the dark side is fun to watch. The train fight sequence is also one of my all time favorite fight scenes in movie history.

So there you have it. This summer we will have- Spierman 3, Pirates 3, Fantastic four 2, Harry Potter 5, Transformers and a few other big summer blockbusters. It should be one killer Movie season!