The Panda's 100 Most Important Blockbusters (From 1975 to Now)

[The Panda]

I am making this thread in which I compile the 100 blockbusters from 1975 to now that I find most important (blockbuster being anything that adjusts to over 200m) for whatever reason.  This isn't my ranking of quality, otherwise there would definitely be some on here that would be nowhere near this list.  Why am I starting at 1975?  Well, that'll be explained a bit later.

 

Anyways I'll start it out with

 

100

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Nowadays we are starting to be bombarded with live action, "epic" versions of old family movies and cartoons.  Some of them that came out recently were Oz: The Great and Powerful, Snow White and the Huntsman, as well as Maleficent.  We also have even more to come with Cinderella, Tarzan (two of them), Pan, The Jungle Book, and the list goes on and on, however we have one specific to movie to thank for that trend (that also has been the most successful of all these remakes) and that's Alice in Wonderland.  The movie managed to capitalize on the 3D craze started by Avatar just the year before and pass the billion mark, as well as make the billion mark itself less meaningful.  Before Alice in Wonderland there were only 5 billion dollar movies, since Alice in Wonderland 13 have joined the club in a mere 5 year period (with another about to enter it within a matter of weeks).

[Kvikk Lunsj]

This will be exciting to read. 

[The Panda]

99

Ratatouille

Why are you putting one of Pixar's lowest grossing movies on a list of the 100 most important blockbusters?  For the pure fact that this movie was able to become a blockbuster in the first place.  It's a family animation that is designed to appeal to kids, however it takes place in modern france, with the main character being a rat that cooks, not entirely a concept that screams for children to beg their parents to go see it (like most modern animations need to be big 200m+ successes), and families still flocked to it anyways.  It was a risky film that ended up proving that Pixar was a brand capable of selling themselves despite what they made their movie about.

[DAJK]

I'm really looking forward to reading this!

 

Thanks for putting the time into making this 

[Plain Old Tele]

Two down and I already disagree with one.

[DAJK]

Two down and I already disagree with one.

Which one and why?I think each presents valid points, but ill have to wait for the rest of the list before I can decide what changes I would have made

[Kalel009Shel]

Two down and I already disagree with one.

Lol great minds  think alike Tele buddy, and I bet we are all saying  WTF to  Pandas first pick for the list.. LOL

[baumer]

I disagree with Rat, but Alice has its place for the reasons he mentioned.

[Films]

Great countdown so far, can't wait to read the rest

[vc2002]

I guess either Jaws, or SW will be No. 1?

[The Panda]

98

Total Recall (1990)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlkKYpnFu5o

To be fair I could have put True Lies or Twins and gotten across the same point, but I decided on Total Recall over those for the reasoning that it has made the most cultural influence over those other two movies.  Total Recall represents one of Schwarzenegger's biggest hits in his career and you really can't make a list of the 100 most important blockbusters without mentioning at least one of Schwarzenegger's action hits that was marketed solely on the concept of him.

Edited July 31, 2014 by The Panda

[AniNate]

Shouldn't Terminator 2 be Arnold's representative? Unless you have that further up the list...

[The Panda]

97

Beauty and the Beast

The Little Mermaid may have been one of the movies that re-invigorated Disney's box office pull in the late 80s to early 90s, but Beauty and the Beast was their first true blockbuster and what I believe really started their 90s Renaissance.  This is one of Disney's classics that truly did instill itself into common culture and made headway for two bigger blockbusters to come.

Edited July 31, 2014 by The Panda

[Kalo]

Keep them coming liking was I see so far. although I might put Beauty and the beast a bit higher. it was also the first animated film to be Nominated for Best Picture you know. 

[The Panda]

96

Armageddon

This is one of Michael Bay's most important movies, it represents the peak of his non-Transformers career and was also a duel success with Deep Impact.  It is filled with many lasting pop-hits and has a lot of remembrance today, mostly because of Bay's style.  Whether you love Bay or hate him there is no doubt he made his deep impact on the box office with Armageddon.

Edited August 1, 2014 by The Panda

[TServo2049]

Yes, it is certainly remembered today, whether out of love or hate (the animal crackers scene was often called the worst love scene ever, t least up until Attack of the Clones...)

[The Panda]

95

Star Trek 2: Wrath of Khan

It might be an odd choice to pick to represent the Star Trek franchise, but in the end I felt like this was the one that needed to be.  Wrath of Khan brought critical acclaim to the Star Trek movie franchise and inspired future blockbusters even to the point of being somewhat remade in Star Trek: Into Darkness.  I put this one on here less because of its influence on blockbusters, but because of how iconic it has now become in sci-fi society.

[The Panda]

94

Man of Steel

Don't even say I put this on here because of fanboying because I am pretty sure everybody on here knows my disdain for Snyder and this film, however that doesn't mean I can't recognize its impending importance on the movie industry as a blockbuster.  Man of Steel relaunched the Superman franchise by setting the June opening weekend record, it launched DC's cinematic universe which will definitely be around long enough to make an impact on the industry, and it continued the trend of making darker oriented action-fest blockbusters.  I may not think it is the blockbuster that the General Audience deserves, but it is the one they decided they need right now.

[Ethan Hunt]

94

Man of Steel

Don't even say I put this on here because of fanboying because I am pretty sure everybody on here knows my disdain for Snyder and this film, however that doesn't mean I can't recognize its impending importance on the movie industry as a blockbuster.  Man of Steel relaunched the Superman franchise by setting the June opening weekend record, it launched DC's cinematic universe which will definitely be around long enough to make an impact on the industry, and it continued the trend of making darker oriented action-fest blockbusters.  I may not think it is the blockbuster that the General Audience deserves, but it is the one they decided they need right now.

TDK reference makes everything okay.

[The Panda]

93

Platoon

This is an R rated war (or anti) movie that managed to gobbled up 288m adjusted, however I am not just putting it on here because of how great it did at the Box Office or awards.  This movie was a poignant take on the anti-war stance and with its sheer box office size it was able to make sure that it was a movie that the general audience wouldn't soon forget.  This is an important movie on a political spectrum that also managed to make big blockbuster status. 

Edited August 2, 2014 by The Panda