(A Chronological Comparison of 10 Summer Films Spanning The Past 30 Years)

Looking back over the box office charts of summers past can be a very nostalgic experience. As I was preparing this article and taking a look over the box office charts from every June between the year I was born and 2017, I enjoyed the inner-reflective nature of being encouraged tp recall the days of my youth. 

This reflective journey looking back over all the summers I’ve experienced throughout my life, recalling memories (good and bad) tied to those summers and by extension, these movies was fun. It also gave me a new perspective of how much the content of summer movie releases has changed in a few short decades.

Let's Start In 1987...

I was born in 1987 and two of the top movies that came out that summer were Robocop & The Lost Boys. These, coincidentally would later become two of my favorite movies even though I was too young to comprehend a movie plot at the time of release.

Robocop (1987)

Robocop was the tale of a police officer whom is mauled by the foot-soldiers of a local gang and brought back to life by an experimental scientific experiment where his brain was attached to a mechanical body and he became a trans-human instrument of war, since he had weaponry and other cool attachments built into his body. 

This film has an IMDB score of 7.5

Check Out This Robocop Poster

The Lost Boys

The other film, The Lost Boys, is what propelled the careers of “the two Cory’s” into astronomical levels of stardom. After moving to Santa Monica, CA with his mother, a young boy begins to realize the town is overshadowed by darkness and a coven of vampires has taken up residence underground near the boardwalk and pier. 

His older brother actually “befriends” the motor-cycle riding rebels in town and he unwittingly introduces himself to the company of vampires since they are one and the same. The rest of the film is about the struggle of the younger brother and his two vampire-fighting friends to stop the blood-suckers from taking over the town, recruiting his brother to their side and to stop the head vampire from seducing the young boy’s mother. 

This film has an IMDB score of 7.3

Here's An Awesome Lost Boys Poster

Now We Proceed Through The First Half of The 90's

From 90 to 95 we saw films come out such as Ghost, Indian in the Cupboard and KIDS.

Ghost (1990)

It was a while before the days of David Russel’s Silver Linings Playbook would come about and the biggest love movie of Summer 1990 was Ghost. Ghost starred Patrick Swayze & Demi Moore. 

It tells the tale of a young man whom is murdered and his spirit stays behind to warn his former lover of impending danger, following his tumultuous path of struggles to communicate with her .

This film has an IMDB score of 7.0

Would You Like A Ghost Poster? Click Here

KIDS (1995)

A cult classic and what might be the most realistic coming-of-age tale as far as my experience as a youth, we went into Summer 1995 being given the controversial film directed by Larry Clark / written by Harmony Korine “Kids.”  This is a dark independent film about lower-class teenagers coming of age one summer in New York City. 

The story follows two best-friends whom come from low-income families and with not much to do, they resort to filling their days with skateboarding, sex, drug use and violence. It depicts extremely candid and true-to-life situations the cast of characters come up against while trying to survive and the effects of their actions when they make bad decisions. We learn that ultimately, something like having a lax attitude about sex can lead to life-threatening results.

This film has an IMDB score of 7.0

Remember This Classic By Buying A KIDS Poster

A Whole Era Is Retired & A New Millennium Begins - Y2K

As we closed out the 90’and began marching full-force into the year 2000, recently having survived Armageddon and ready for new adventures as the tech-boom was underway, we received two notable movies from Father Hollywood - Eyes Wide Shut and American Pie. 

These two very different films had an equally deep impact on the development of my perception of reality, as a 12 year old transitioning from 5th to 6th grade and readying myself for Middle School (which I was not looking forward to.)

American Pie (1999)

American Pie is a mega-hit comedy about a group of highs school friends and the trials/tribulations they face as their senior year comes to a close and they prepare for college. The main character, Jim, is terrified of going off to college whilst still a virgin so he spends the majority of his time scheming on how to resolve this inexperience. He teams up with another awkward character named Finch and they swear their allegiance to a pact which entails plans of losing their virginity by the end of prom night 

This film has an IMDB score of 7.0

American Pie Movie Posters

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Eyes Wide Shut is an extremely symbolic, multi-layered film written, directed and produced by the late, great Stanley Kubrick. It takes multiple viewings and a prior knowledge of the occult history of mankind to truly begin grasping at the subtleties of what Stanley was trying to tell us with this film, but we can make some very basic conclusions that everyone can agree on. 

The plot follows a doctor and his beautiful wife as they maintain fast-paced professional lives amidst the upper-class New York City professionals and a veneer of perfect marriage as they interact with a bustling social scene. After a party held by a local business-man whom is quite suspicious, we see a dynamic forming between the doctor and his wife which we aren’t sure what to make of and an odd side to the movers/shakers in general beginning to emerge. 

Eventually, the doctors curiosity leads him to a private mansion party he had no business being at and when he witnesses a satanic ritual taking place (full of powerful people in charge of local institutions) the doctor is ousted as an intruder and narrowly misses being sacrificed before the black mass. 

The rest of the film continues to explore the idea that our world operates in a way we are blind to, whether willfully or by our ignorance and this reality is filled with some very alarming things. 

Stanley Kubrick died shortly after the release of this film and it was edited heavily to remove footage from key scenes (namely the ritual) and we don’t even know how much of his original directors cut got lobbed-away by unknown forces during this process.

Lucky for us, what they couldn’t wash off was the symbolic language Stanley spoke fluently. It is a good rule of thumb that, if you notice some anomaly or theme sticking out in the background (like posters on walls, colors or shaped used over and over, etc) you need to know Stanley was emphatically meticulous about the minutiae so if something is there, it was very purposely placed there. 

This film has an IMDB score of 7.3 and is my personal favorite out of the list.

Show Your Love of Kubrick's Classic with an Eyes Wide Shut Poster

Onward Through The Y2K, Ya'll

Once we hit the new millennium, there was an obvious shift in what kind of subject matter and themes began filling our summer movie offerings.

If you look, you'll notice a strong preference for big-budget, special-effects packed action movies based on comics and super-hero franchises. These are safe bets that have been a mainstay in American culture dating back many generations. 

As the new millennium progressed we were given more and more sequels to these films and a lessening selection of original, dynamic tales to choose from.

Xmen (2000)

X-Men sets the stage for what is to come and set new standards for what we expect in our special-effects and action scenes. Set in a world where humans and mutants are at odds with each other and fear is the dominant emotion they both share, two outcast mutants with special skills find refuge in each other’s company.

They end up with more of their kind at Charles Xavier’s school where he trains these young mutants to harness their powers for good and purposeful ends. Conflict & battles inevitably ensue. 

This film has an IMDB score of 7.4

Here's An Awesome X-Men Poster

As 2007 was underway, we saw two juggernauts come to theaters which would later become two of the top grossing franchises in the in the history of modern cinema – Transformers & Harry Potter.

Transformers (2007)

One is a classic tale of two factions consisting of mechanical bots that can shape-shift back and forth between looking like normal 4-wheeled vehicles and monstrous metal beasts with arms, legs, heads and heavy firepower – the latter being their true identify. 

This film has an IMDB score of 7.1

Transformers Movie Poster - Buy Now

Harry Potter (2007)

Harry Potter is the adaptation of J.K Rowling’s wildly successful book series and it would become an equally successful movie franchise. It’s the tale of Harry Potter – just an ordinary 11-year old boy living a depressing existence under the guardianship of his evil aunt and uncle.

Things quickly begin looking up when he learns he is actually a wizard and the setting of the story moves to Hogwart’s Academy – a special school for wizards, witches and other kids whom possess supernatural cognitive and physical abilities. 

This film has an IMDB score of 7.5

Get A Magical Poster of Harry Potter for Your Room Now! 

Final Thoughts

As summer 2017 is underway, we see the 6th iteration of Transformers, what is at the very least number 7 as far as Spider-Man goes and a bunch of other sequels re-makes and a small amount of original (yet largely uninspired 0 productions when compared to eras of previous decades.