WTOP Film Critic Jason Fraley counts down the biggest blockbusters in movie history.
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14. "Avatar" (2009)
Release Date: Dec. 18, 2009
Box Office: $774,151,900 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "Enter the World"
James Cameron became "king of the world" once more as audiences turned out in droves for "Avatar," surpassing the unsinkable "Titanic" as history's top grossing film
(unadjusted).
Critics, on the other hand, insisted the script
could have used a few rewrites to hone the
dialogue and weed out plot similarities to
"Pocahontas" (1995).
You could say the same about "The Jazz Singer"
(1927), which history remembers not for its
mediocre script, but for its pioneering film technology -- the talking picture.
By opening Pandora's Box of 3D technology,
"Avatar" took Al Jolson's line and told a new
millennium, "What a minute! You ain't seen
nothin' yet."
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1. "Gone With the Wind" (1939)
Release Date: Dec. 15, 1939
Box Office: $1,608,275,200 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "The most magnificent picture
ever!"
To this day, no lovers have burned the silver
screen like Rhett and Scarlett. The "behind the
scenes" tale of David O. Selznick's massive production is just as captivating as the film
itself, launching a nationwide casting search
for Scarlett O'Hara, swapping directors with
"The Wizard of Oz," and burning down the sets of
"King Kong" to stage the burning of Atlanta.
The film grossed the equivalent of $1.6 billion
today, while winning eight Oscars, including
Best Picture, Best Director (Victor Fleming) and
Best Actress (Vivien Leigh). Film history will remember it as a semi-racist longing for the Old South -- with a counter perspective offered by "12 Years a Slave" (2013) -- but it was also an important turning point, as Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Oscar.
"'GWTW' is the ultimate example of the best production of the Hollywood studio
system of the first half of the 20th century,"
Martin Scorsese said. "There's no doubt about
it."
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2. "Star Wars" (1977)
Release Date: May 25, 1977
Box Office: $1,417,832,000 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "A long time ago in a galaxy
far, far away..."
Just try to name another film where the average
person can name this many characters without ever
having seen the movie. "Star Wars" made
household names out of Luke Skywalker, Darth
Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Princess Leia, Han Solo,
Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2, and that's not even
counting Yoda.
Its pop culture impact is immeasurable, with all
five sequels among the Top 100 highest grossers.
"Jaws" can't say that. Neither can "Rocky."
George Lucas was smart enough to secure the
merchandising rights, making a killing off
action figures and video games.
The film lost Best Picture to Woody Allen's
"Annie Hall," but there was no doubt which was
the popular favorite of 1977. Today, "Star Wars"
ranks higher than "Annie Hall" on the AFI's Top
100 Films, a reminder that sometimes, just
sometimes, mainstream hits are worth their
weight in gold.
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3. "The Sound of Music" (1965)
Release Date: March 2, 1965
Box Office: $1,133,626,400 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "The Happiest Sound In All The
World!"
Just four years after winning Best Picture for
"West Side Story" (1961), director Robert Wise
won it again for the sweeping hit "The Sound of
Music."
Julie Andrews was fresh off her Oscar win for
"Mary Poppins" when she played Maria, a nun who
leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess
to the children of Captain Von Trapp
(Christopher Plummer).
Film critic Pauline Kael famously got fired from
McCall's magazine for bashing the film just as
it was rising the box office ranks. Whether it's
one of your "favorite things" or not, there's no
denying the film's place in the
American songbook, including "Do-Re-Mi," "So
Long, Farewell," and the title song promise that
"The Hills Are Alive."
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4. "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial" (1982)
Release Date: June 11, 1982
Box Office: $1,129,160,500 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "He is afraid. He is alone. He
is three million light years from home."
The late Patrick Swayze called it "the most immortal children's movie that's ever been done." Indeed, Steven Spielberg gave us one of the most quotable lines in history with "E.T. phone home" and one of the iconic images of the 20th century when he sent his Reese's Pieces-loving alien cycling across the moon.
Spielberg said he got the idea for the film
while shooting the finale of "Close Encounters."
He wondered what it would be like if Richard
Dreyfuss didn't climb aboard the alien ship, but
rather if the alien stayed behind on earth.
The result got a standing ovation at Cannes, and 1982 Best Director winner Richard
Attenborough ("Gandhi") said Spielberg deserved it over him. He repaid him by playing the park owner in
"Jurassic Park" (1993) -- out of respect.
VIDEO
Check out my case for masterpiece status in my
recent review of "Titanic 3D ."
5. "Titanic" (1997)
Release Date: Dec. 19, 1997
Box Office: $1,078,376,800 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "Collide With Destiny."
James Cameron's "unsinkable" blockbuster has
become the posterchild for box office success
and Academy Award domination. Upon its release,
it was the highest grossing movie of all time
and tied the all-time record of 11 Oscar wins. To this day, it remains the No. 2 top grosser,
unadjusted for inflation.
The massive success brought a backlash from some critics, who couldn't stand the melodrama. But when "Titanic 3D " was
released, I pleaded with naysayers to
reconsider.
Even if you roll your eyes at Celine Dion's vocals, James Horner's instrumental version will wreck you like an iceberg. What's more, the film introduced the world to Leonardo DiCaprio and
Kate Winslet, who, in the words of William
Friedkin, "caught the imagination of this
generation the way Bergman and Bogart did in
'Casablanca' 60 years before." Sorry, haters, this one will sail forever.
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6. "The Ten Commandments" (1956)
Release Date: Oct. 5, 1956
Box Office: $1,042,760,000 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "The Greatest Event in Motion
Picture History"
Alright, Mr. DeMille. God is ready for His close-up. Director Cecil B. DeMille was the ultimate showman, the P.T. Barnum of Hollywood's Golden Age.
After directing a silent version in
1923, DeMille decided to reboot his success with
a '50s epic about the Old Testament's most
famous tale.
Charlton Heston plays Moses, who learns of his
true Hebrew heritage and embarks on a divine
mission to deliver his people from Pharaoh (Yul
Brynner) and the beautifully wicked Nefretiri
(Anne Baxter).
John Fulton's Oscar-winning special effects
created one of history's most memorable movie
moments, as Heston parts the waters of the Red
Sea.
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7. "Jaws" (1975)
Release Date: June 20, 1975
Box Office: $1,019,507,400 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "Don't go into the water."
Widely credited as creating the modern summer
blockbuster as we know it, "Jaws" inspired three
sequels and instilled a collective fear for as
long as mankind ventures into the water.
Without this one, there may never have been a
Steven Spielberg, whose career was launched by
the film's monster success. It remains the
ultimate summer flick, due to its Amity
beach setting and imitable tune
that can be repeated to scare your sister on a
family beach vacation.
John Williams' terrifying score teamed with
"point of view" shots to create the menace when
Spielberg's mechanical shark didn't work,
providing a lesson to future filmmakers that
"less is more."
It's also the first film on our list to
crack $1 billion in adjusted gross.
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8. "Doctor Zhivago" (1965)</b>
Release Date: Dec. 22, 1965
Box Office: $988,118,200 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "A Love Caught in the Fire of
Revolution"
Director David Lean was a master of the blockbuster epic,
with "Bridge on the River Kwai" ranking No. 80
and "Lawrence of Arabia" ranking No. 72 in all-time box office. While
those are his greatest works, his highest
grossing remains his adaptation of Boris
Pasternak's "Doctor Zhivago."
A Russian doctor/poet (Omar Sharif) falls in
love with a political activist's wife (Julie
Christie) amidst the Bolshevik Revolution. Like
"Casablanca," the star-crossed lovers are
separated by historical circumstance, landing
their romance No. 7 on the AFI's 100 Passions,
just behind "The Way We Were."
Co-starring Alec Guinness, Rod Steiger and
Geraldine Chaplin, the film's greatest
"supporting actor" is Maurice Jarre's indelible
score, "Lara's Theme," which will echo for lovers across eternity.
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9. "The Exorcist" (1973)
Release Date: Dec. 26, 1973
Box Office: $880,369,400 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "Somewhere between science and
superstition, there is another world. The world
of darkness."
How many horror movies get nominated for Best
Picture? The list is short. But you wouldn't
expect anything less from William Friedkin, who
followed "The French Connection" (1971) with "The
Exorcist" (1973), often voted the scariest movie of all
time.
William Peter Blatty's script adaptation of his
own best-selling novel won the Oscar, while
Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair and Jason Miller were
all nominated. The tale of possession provided
comebacks for Mercedes McCambridge, who voiced
the horrific Demon, and Swedish star Max von
Sydow, whose title character shouted, "The power
of Christ compels you!"
To this day, horror fans proudly recall how
audience members vomited in their seats. And if you take a stroll through Georgetown, you can still hear the faint sound of "Tubular Bells."
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10. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937)
Release Date: Dec. 21, 1937
Box Office: $867,640,000 (Domestic Adjusted)
Tagline: "Walt Disney's first full length
feature production."
It's no coincidence that Walt Disney has four of
the Top 25 highest grossing films of all time.
The man enticed entire families with the magic
formula: "For every laugh, there should be a
tear." "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"
provides ample amounts of both.
Before its release, critics worried audiences would
not sit through a feature-length animated film.
Some even warned of epileptic
seizures. Disney proved them wrong, as kids were
so engrossed that they wet the seats of Radio
City Music Hall. The Academy awarded him with
one large Oscar and seven mini statuettes.
The film featured a string of song classics in "Heigh Ho," "Whistle While You Work" and
"Someday My Prince Will Come," and it remains
far superior to its two 2012 remakes.
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11. "101 Dalmatians" (1961)
Release Date: Jan. 25, 1961
Box Office: $795,341,300 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "Walt Disney's new all-cartoon
feature"
After a string of live-action features, from
"Old Yeller" to "The Shaggy Dog," Walt Disney returned to the animated feature with a bang.
"101 Dalmatians" introduced one of Disney's best
villains in Cruella de Vil, who kidnaps 99
puppies in order to create spotted coats. The
AFI ranked Cruella the No. 39 greatest villain in film history, returning as Glenn Close in the live-action
remake.
Disney would only make two more animated
features before his death, "The Sword in the
Stone" (1963) and "The Jungle Book" (1967), but
"Dalmatians" lived on through four re-releases,
boosting its box office stats.
12. "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980)
Release Date: May 21, 1980
Box Office: $781,517,900 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "The Adventure Continues..."
The "Star Wars" saga has four of the Top 25
highest grossing films in history, and "The
Empire Strikes Back" is easily the finest of them all, directed by George Lucas' former film professor, Irvin Kirschner.
The franchise's second installment is much
darker, as Darth Vader's Empire exacts revenge
on the Jedi rebel forces, but it was also the
linchpin of the series.
How easily we forget that it was "Empire" that
introduced two of the saga's most memorable
elements: the adorable Jedi-master Yoda and the
famous misquote, "Luke, I am your father."
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13. "Ben-Hur" (1959)
Release Date: Nov. 18, 1959
Box Office: $780,080,000 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "The World's Most Honored Motion
Picture"
Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" (2004)
was hailed as the highest grossing religious
film ever, but when you adjust for inflation, it
ranks No. 59, just behind "Animal House" (1978). "The Passion" is a mere
pretender compared to William Wyler's epic
masterpiece "Ben-Hur" (1959).
After playing Moses in "The Ten Commandments" (1956), Charlton Heston starred as Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince enslaved by the Roman Empire, who crosses paths with Christ en route to facing his nemesis in the Coliseum. The plot inspired both "Spartacus" (1960) and Gladiator" (2000), while the famous
chariot race remains a textbook action sequence.
The film's 11 Oscars remain the most ever, tied with "Titanic" and "Lord of the
Rings: Return of the King."
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15. "Return of the Jedi" (1983)
Release Date: May 25, 1983
Box Office: $748,712,900 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "The Empire Falls...."
In the land of the three-quels, it's about as good as
"Back to the Future: Part III," but nowhere near as good as "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."
"Return of the Jedi" explored the lair of Jabba
the Hutt, mesmerized us with Princess Leia's
"golden bikini," introduced the Ewoks and
brought Darth Vader full circle from villain to Luke's loving father.
The film pales in comparison to "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back," but it provides fine closure to the series. Or so we thought.
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16. "Jurassic Park" (1993)
Release Date: June 11, 1993
Box Office: $731,698,800 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "An Adventure 65 Million Years
In The Making"
The same year Steven Spielberg made arguably his
best film in "Schindler's List" (1993), he continued
his summer blockbuster cred by adapting Michael
Crichton's novel "Jurassic Park" into a roaring
success.
The film was equal parts wonder and danger, as a
team of archaeologists, scientists and lawyers
take a test ride through a dinosaur theme park
that has recreated the mammoth beasts using dino DNA from fossilized amber.
John Williams' score was one of his most
beautiful compositions, and special effects lab
Industrial Light and Magic pushed the CGI boundaries, making stop motion all but extinct.
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17. "Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace" (1999)
Release Date: May 19, 1999
Box Office: $718,884,100 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "Every generation has a legend.
Every journey has a first step. Every saga has a
beginning."
Many film historians will forever shake their heads at why George Lucas felt the need to make three prequels to his original "Star Wars" trilogy (1977-1983). The flop of the fourth Indiana Jones flick cemented the notion that Lucas has lost his magic.
Still, the success of "Episode 1: The Phantom
Menace" is a tribute to the popularity of his
original trilogy. Its No. 17 spot in all-time
box office shows the excitement of a generation
raised on "Star Wars," even if we left the
theater cursing Jar Jar Binks.
"Episode II: Attack of the Clones" ranks No. 87, "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" ranks
No. 60, and another trilogy is on the way with J.J. Abrams ("Lost," "Star Trek") set to direct.
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18. "The Lion King" (1994)
Release Date: June 15, 1994
Box Office: $709,605,500 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "The Circle of Life"
Disney's animation wing was on the verge of
bankruptcy in the late '80s, until the music of
Alan Menken and Howard Ashman saved it with "The
Little Mermaid" (1989), "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) and "Aladdin" (1992).
The trio of films seemed hard to top, until "The Lion
King" roared so loud it could not be ignored.
The film was a take on "Hamlet," with a young
prince losing his father, leaving the kingdom,
then returning to take the throne.
The beautiful animation and a star-studded
lineup of voice actors were upstaged only by the
monumental soundtrack by Elton John and Tim
Rice, launching hits like "The Circle of Life,"
"Hakuna Matata" and "Can You Feel the Love
Tonight?"
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19. "The Sting" (1973)
Release Date: Dec. 25, 1973
Box Office: $709,577,100 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "...All it takes is a little
confidence."
After the "buddy comedy" success of "Butch
Cassidy & The Sundance Kid" (1969), Hollywood
once again paired Paul Newman and Robert
Redford, and the result was Best Picture gold.
Redford plays a small-time crook in 1930s
Chicago, who teams with Newman's con mastermind to steal a fortune from a
criminal banker (Robert Shaw, two years before "Jaws").
The script, voted No. 39 all time by the Writers Guild of America,
weaves twist after twist, and Marvin Hamlisch
brilliantly layers the soundtrack with Scott
Joplin's "The Entertainer."
"The Sting" stands in Best Picture history as
the candy-colored romp sandwiched
between the sepia-toned, operatic dramas of "The Godfather" and "The Godfather: Part II."
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20. 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' (1981)
Release Date: June 12, 1981
Box Office: $704,673,200 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "The return of the great adventure."
Billed as "the new hero from the creators of 'Jaws' and 'Star Wars,'" Indiana Jones was the brainchild of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. The result was a whip-cracking, boulder-chasing summer smash.
"Raiders of the Lost Ark" combined the
cliffhanger adventure of Saturday matinee serials with the spiritual wonder of religious artifacts.
Moviegoers flinched as Indy came face-to-face with a giant cobra, sighed with relief when a weapon became a coat hanger, laughed when Indy answered a sword fighter with a simple gun shot, and watched in awe the Ark of the Covenant released its spirits.
As star Harrison Ford put it, "'Raiders' starts with a bang and doesn't really let you breathe."
21. "The Graduate" (1967)
Release Date: Dec. 21, 1967
Box Office: $681,190,900 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "This is Benjamin. He's a little
worried about his future."
After a decade of "sword and sandal" epics, "The
Graduate" convinced studio execs that
artfully made films about the younger generation could also become blockbusters.
Dustin Hoffman plays Benjamin Braddock, a young
college grad searching for purpose and exploring
his sexuality with the original "desperate
housewife," Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). When
Benjamin also falls for Mrs. Robinson's
daughter (Katharine Ross), it becomes the most twisted love
triangle in movie history.
Director Mike Nichols layers the film with
directing genius, like a key landing on a fish-
tank scuba diver, setting up a shot of Hoffman
underwater, drowning in the weight of the "real world."
Simon & Garfunkel provide the entire soundtrack
(a first), from "Mrs. Robinson" to "The Sounds
of Silence."
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22. "Fantasia" (1940)
Release Date: Nov. 13, 1940
Box Office: $661,026,100 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "Hear the pictures! See the
music!"
After the smash success of "Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs" (1937), Walt Disney was cooking
with gas. His second feature animated film,
"Pinocchio" (1940), ranks No. 39 in the all time box office, but
his third feature, "Fantasia," comes in at No. 22.
The film broke ranks with its predecessors by
eliminating virtually all dialogue and layering
the soundtrack with Western classical music
performed by the Philadelphia Symphony
Orchestra.
Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" pits Mickey
Mouse against dancing brooms. Stravinky's "The
Rite of Spring" tells the tale of evolution.
Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours" is a ballet of
hippos, elephants, and alligators. Finally,
Mussorgsky's "A Night on Bald Mountain" and
Schubert's "Ave Maria" pit good and evil in a
battle of darkness and light.
VIDEO
Check out a full breakdown of "The Godfather" on
my blog: The Film Spectrum .
23. "The Godfather" (1972)
Release Date: March 15, 1972
Box Office: $628,223,600 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "An offer you can't refuse."
Yet another example of a rare box office king
that won Best Picture, Francis Ford Coppola's
"The Godfather" took America by storm. Not only did it revive the career of Marlon Brando, it launched the careers of Al
Pacino, Diane Keaton, James Caan, Robert Duvall
and Talia Shire.
"'The Godfather' is the best filmmaking ever in
the history of American cinema," said Coppola's
"Apocalypse Now" star Martin Sheen. "There is
nothing that speaks more to who we are, where we
came from, what we stand for, and where we're
gonna go. That's the work of a true genius."
Its sequel, "The Godfather: Part II" (1974), also won
Best Picture, making it the only original and
sequel to both win the top prize. The late director Sidney Lumet said, "They are as close to perfect movies as I think exists."
VIDEO
Check out a full breakdown of "Gump" on my blog:
The
Film Spectrum .
"Forrest Gump" is currently playing every
afternoon at the Newseum.
24. "Forrest Gump" (1994)
Release Date: July 6, 1994
Box Office: $625,223,000 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "The world will never be the
same once you've seen it through the eyes of
Forrest Gump."
Robert Zemeckis has been a summer blockbuster
machine, from "Back to the Future" to "Roger
Rabbit," but none was bigger than "Forrest
Gump."
It was that rare movie to both win the Oscar for
Best Picture and garner the most box office
receipts. Usually, the two don't go together,
but the Academy couldn't resist this inspiring
tale of beating the odds and the political
allegory layered underneath.
"Forrest and Jenny represent the American
population in the last 40 years, stumbling from
one historical event to another, swept along by
circumstances, sometimes rising to great heroic
action, sometimes falling by the wayside," Roger
Ebert wrote. "'Forrest Gump' is not only a great
and magical entertainment, but the more you
think about it, the more it reveals itself as
actually sort of profound."
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25. "Mary Poppins" (1964)
Release Date: Aug. 29, 1964
Box Office: $622,327,000 (Domestic
Adjusted)
Tagline: "It's
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"
Julie Andrews became a star as Eliza Doolittle
in Broadway's "My Fair Lady," but when it came
time to cast the movie, Hollywood went with known-commodity Audrey Hepburn. Andrews instead took the title role in "Mary Poppins" and exacted revenge by beating Hepburn for Best Actress.
Andrews enchants as the umbrella-flying nanny,
bolstered by the charm of Dick Van Dyke and the
songs of Roger and Richard Sherman: "A Spoonful
of Sugar," "Step in Time," "Let's Go Fly a Kite," "Chim-Chim-Cheree," "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,"
and Walt Disney's personal favorite, "Feed the
Birds (Tuppence a Bag)."
The film also combined live action with
animation a full 24 years before "Who Framed
Roger Rabbit?" (1988).
Top 25 Biggest Movie Blockbusters
They thrill us, capture our imaginations and enter our pop culture lore. Movie blockbusters, quite literally, describe those movies that "bust the block" with lines starting at the ticket window and stretching around the block.
In sheer dollars, the biggest blockbusters are "Avatar" (2009), "Titanic" (1997), "The Avengers" (2012) and "The Dark Knight" (2008), leading a list where 19 of the Top 25 grossers are all from the 21st century.
But these numbers are deceiving, because today's money is worth much more than the days when bread cost a nickel. When you adjust for inflation, the only fair way to compare different eras, only one film in the Top 25 is from the 21st century, as "The Dark Knight" and "The Avengers" fall to No. 29 and No. 27, respectively.
This leaves us with one fascinating question: which movies have truly put the most butts in the seats? Here's to the fan favorites, the pop culture powerhouses and the box office kings.
Jason Fraley , WTOP film critic
WASHINGTON – Smack dab between “The Amazing Spider-Man” opening on July 3 and next week’s launch of “The Dark Knight Rises” lies the height of the summer blockbuster season.
If February is a time to award the rare “art” of cinema, mid-July is a time to celebrate the popular favorites, the popcorn flicks, the blockbusters. The term, quite literally, describes those films that “bust the block” with lines starting at the box office ticket window and stretching around the block.
The biggest movie blockbusters of all time, in terms of sheer dollars, are rated based on the amount they grossed. “Avatar” (2009) leads the pack followed by “Titanic” (1997), “The Avengers” (2012) and “The Dark Knight” (2008).
All four are from the last 15 years.
But those stats can be deceiving.
When you adjust for inflation, the only fair way to compare different eras, “The Dark Knight” falls to No. 29 while “The Avengers” falls to No. 26.
To see which movies comprise the top 25, check out the gallery for a look at those films that have truly put the most butts in the seats. The results may surprise even the biggest movie fans.
GALLERY: Top 25 Biggest Movie Blockbusters
The movie blockbuster has been an evolving, popcorn-munching beast, requiring a special recipe to capture mass audiences. Many have tried. Many have flopped. And while most will not show up during Oscar season, they allow us a dark, air- conditioned escape from the sweltering “dog day afternoons” of summer, and a warm gathering place to huddle together during the cold of winter.
D.W. Griffith invented the notion of the blockbuster with his three-hour epic “Birth of a Nation” (1915). Soon after, Charlie Chaplin launched the highest grossing summer hit of the silent era, making Roaring ’20s audiences roar with laughter in “The Gold Rush” (1925).
Ironically, many of the films we think of as the masterpieces of Hollywood’s Golden Age did not draw big crowds. “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) was dwarfed by “Gone With the Wind” (1939). “Citizen Kane” (1941) was slandered by newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. “Casablanca” (1942) suffered because the entire male population was fighting in World War II, and “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) was not appreciated in its time.
Hitchcock upped the ante with “Psycho” (1960), literally locking the theater doors after the start of the movie to prevent audiences from arriving late, as they so often did in the days of serials and double features. He also put up signs warning audiences not to spill the film’s secrets, creating additional buzz that would be impossible in the era of internet spoilers. Attendees say the screams were so loud during the shower scene that you couldn’t hear Bernard Herrmann’s slashing violin score.
After a decade of “sword and sandal” epics like “The Ten Commandments” (1956), “Ben-Hur” (1959) and “Spartacus” (1960), “The Graduate” (1967) convinced studio execs that blockbusters could be targeted to a younger audience using more dangerous directors and risque themes.
The modern blockbuster can be traced to one line, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” (1975) was the perfect summer blockbuster, with its Amity beach setting, endless thrills and imitable tune that could be repeated to scare your sister during a family beach vacation.
For an entire generation, Spielberg and friends George Lucas and Robert Zemeckis would carry the blockbuster mantel, turning out “Star Wars” (1977), “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980), “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981), “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial” (1982), “Return of the Jedi” (1983), “Back to the Future” (1985), “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” (1988), “Jurassic Park” (1993) and “Forrest Gump” (1994).
Each step has created priceless movie memories. Tom Hanks recalled his while accepting the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, describing how he “paused mid-air” with a piece of popcorn while watching “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977).
VIDEO
Tom Cruise took a similar approach with his opening monologue for the first post- 9/11 Oscars.
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What blockbuster moments shaped your life? And what is your favorite movie blockbuster of all time? Tell us on the WTOP Facebook page or Tweet me @JasonFraleyWTOP #blockbuster.
Read more from WTOP Film Critic Jason Fraley by clicking “Fraley on Film ” under the “Living” tab above, following @JasonFraleyWTOP on Twitter, and checking out his blog, The Film Spectrum .
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