April Showers Bring May Blockbusters
Over the past 10 years, which was your favorite movie to open the summer blockbuster season?
1997 Lost World: Jurassic Park (5/23/1997)
1998 Deep Impact (5/8/1998)
1999 The Mummy (5/7/1999)
2000 Gladiator (5/5/2000)
2001 The Mummy Returns (5/4/2001)
2002 Spider-Man (5/3/2002)
2003 X2 (5/2/2003)
2004 Van Helsing (5/7/2004)
2005 Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (5/20/2005)
2006 Mission: Impossible III (5/5/2006)
2007 Spider-Man 3 (5/4/2007)
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14 comments:
If Gladiator doesn't win by a landslide, I'm jumping out the window.
Pete, I must comment on your choices here.
1997: Jurrasic Park should have stopped after the first one. To modify a Larry David quote from Curb Your Enthusiasm, "Ya Ya, we get it, dinosaurs, DNA, causing havoc, we get it" (the original quote related to getting a house new house tour, "Yeah, it's a house. It's new. I get it. It's nice". For you Pete I would have expected something ridiculous but actually exciting, maybe CONAIR?
1998: Deep Impact- I never actually saw it but I think there were some better ones out that summer. No X FILES Pete? I would've expected that over Deep Impact. Not having seen Deep Impact maybe I shouldn't be commenting, however I must say there were a bunch of summer movies out that I liked a lot which must be mentioned: Truman Show, Can't Hardly Wait, Out of Sight, There's Something About Mary, Saving Private Ryan, How Stella Got Her Groove Back (just kidding), Blade, BASEketball, Rush Hour, Rounders, Ronin (starting to get out of the summer).
Well I gotta get back to work. This is a great new procrastination tool.
If I had to pick my favorite from the list about however, I would have to agree with Nick and pick GLADIATOR. That movie is simply badass, no way around it.
Mummy Returns is pretty good too (just kidding. Pete, that movie was horrible, I hope you were joking when you put that in the list).
Thanks for the comments, Alec. The above list only includes the 1st summer blockbuster of each year (i.e., the 1st May movie to earn $20+ million on opening weekend, usually after an extensive "high concept" marketing campaign). But if I were to make a list of the all-time best summer blockbusters, I'd definitely include several you mentioned (Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan... and of course, The X-Files).
i really loved the siege. also deep blue sea was really awesome.
i hear one of the founders of this blog is a gay yankees fan. not that there's anything wrong with that (being gay, i mean). i'd just like these rumors to be addressed.
do i count as a reader?
while Van Helsing gives Gladiator a run for its money, it also gives me a hangover. strange.
here are some further thoughts and ratings that no one asked for -
great movies:
Gladiator (2000) - 3+ PB Jars
good movies:
X2 (2003) - 3 PB Jars
The Mummy (1999) - 2 PB Jars
Spider-Man (2002) - 2 PB Jars
M:I 3 (2006) - 2 PB Jars
ok movies:
Star Wars 3 (2005) - 1.5 PB Jars
Spider-Man 3 (2007) - read the soon-to-be posted review
bad movies:
The Mummy Returns (2001) - 1 PB Jar
Lost World (1997) - 1 PB Jar
Van Helsing (2004) - .5 PB Jar
horrible, horrible, make me want to gouge my own eyes out movie:
Deep Impact (1998) - <0 PB Jars
Not to jump on the band wagon, but I would also pick Gladiator as my favorite... with none of the other options being a close second.
First off, just want to throw a shout out to P and B for opening this blog and giving people a peek into your skewed perspectives. Good entertainment, seriously.
As for the issue at hand. When thinking about my favorite summer blockbuster opening, I have to think about how much I was looking forward to seeing it and whether it lived up to my expectations. That is what a blockbuster is all about, tons of hype and anticipation followed by either fulfillment or disappointment. Considering all this, I have to go with Star Wars. For me, it lived up to the hype. Love the last 30 or so minutes of the film. Couldn't have imagined it much better.
Yankees suck, Clemens isn't going save the season.
Yeah, Gladiator wins hands down. I was tempted to be controversial and pick something else, but there's really no question.
Also, why are so many of the movies in the list sequels? Does the competition to be the opening summer blockbuster somehow mean that you want to go with a known quantity that people presumably like? Maybe one of the esteemed bloggers on this site, perhaps Skippy or Jif, could reply. j/k guys - awesome blog
1997 Lost World: Jurassic Park (5/23/1997)
The beginning of the lull for Vince Vaughn. I think we've struck Psycho , The Cell, and Domestic Disturbance from the record far too quickly. Joe Claus better deliver.
1998 Deep Impact (5/8/1998)
Deep Impact came out the year I went to Israel, and El Al played it on the plane ride home. Also, on the plane ride home, I had a terrible case of the scoots and was so hopped up on Imodium that I couldn’t do anything about it except hang out in the men’s room and wonder if someone would bust down the door Chuck Palahniuk style. Anyway, if you've ever spent a 12 hour plane ride with fireworks going off in your stomach and no way to put them out, you might begin to understand just how awful this movie was. Alas, where have you gone, Lelee Sobieski…
1999 The Mummy (5/7/1999)
Brendan Fraser, action hero? Why that's even sillier than Keanu Reeves, action hero. Wait a second...
2000 Gladiator (5/5/2000)
Easily the best movie on the list. I’m not sure Russell Crowe deserved an Oscar, but he does get points for not having an Australian accent for almost all of the film—a new record for him.
2001 The Mummy Returns (5/4/2001)
Wins points for the giant, fake, animated Scorpion King at the end (also known as the best acting the Rock has done to date).
2002 Spider-Man (5/3/2002)
Stuck to the comic book storyline, which I commend it for and is something that 3 apparently does not do. Does gain points for effectively ending Tobey Maguire’s serious acting career; but loses them right away for casting Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane (there wasn’t one redhead in all of Hollywood to play this role?).
2003 X2 (5/2/2003)
Probably the second-best movie on this list. Although you forgot the subtitle “X-Men United”; don’t feel bad, though, the studio forgot to add it until the week before the movie was released--I have no idea what that was about.
2004 Van Helsing (5/7/2004)
Didn’t see it. Heard it was terrible. Heard it bastardized the character of Van Helsing. Moving on.
2005 Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (5/20/2005)
Best thing about the Star Wars prequels: the Pepsi One soda cans featuring all the characters. I’m still one short of the complete collection—I could have had it at Max Messervy’s house, but I forgot to take it! This was at least the best of three, which is like saying I'm funnier than p or b--so it's a Pyrrhic victory for me and George Lucas.
2006 Mission: Impossible III (5/5/2006)
Not as bad as some expected it to be, not as good as J.J. Abrams wants us to think everything he does is. The plot was akin to scientology rationale (i.e., non-existent), but Tom Cruise can still deliver the goods.
2007 Spider-Man 3 (5/4/2007)
I’m always leery of superhero movies feeling they have to up the quotient with more villains and bigger action sequences. Spider-Man 2 didn’t, and I thought it was excellent. Spider-Man 3 doesn’t seem to follow suit.
Longest, comment, ever.
Ryan, Mr. Burns would be so proud that you busted out "Pyrrhic victory" in a movie blog. Kudos. Also, on the subject of J.J. Abrams, we should have a discussion about Lost soon now that I'm caught up...
I'm not sure anyone can ever really be caught up on Lost. Probably not for another three years at least...
The Rundown was a highly entertaining movie. I admit, Christopher Walken can take a lot more credit for that than the Rock, but nonetheless it is certainly the Rock's best outing to-date.
this brings me to a future posting and debate topic... top 5 Chritopher Walken movies of all time. i'll have to think about that one.
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