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

[baumer]

Shyamalan made shitty movies after Signs, that's why his reputation took a nosedive.  Seriously, Lady in the Water and The Village are absolute drek.

[Hatebox]

Nice thread, but how long will it take? I'd rather go through it when most, if not all of it's done.

[The Panda]

81

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

You can't talk about important blockbusters without mentioning Indy at least three times in the conversation for all three of his movies (I'm sure we'd talk about all four if there were four movies), while this is quite decisively the least important of the three Indy movies it still has its place within blockbuster history.  It pulled off a great summer run, and it continued the line of influence that the saga had on action blockbusters as whole, especially with the many other blockbusters we have had that try to copy the adventurous spirit found in the franchise.

[Dark Jedi Master 007]

 (I'm sure we'd talk about all four if there were four movies)

[The Panda]

80

Casino Royale

It may be a strange pick for me to use as this as Bond's representative, but Casino Royale is the reason James Bond was able to successfully reboot and remain important and intact through today.  Sure, Skyfall made more money, but Skyfall would not have been possible without Royale.  It also changed the way Bond movies have appeared on screen, no longer were they adventurous spy movies, but it went the dark and realistic reboot route which succeeded leaving room for more movies to follow in its path. 

 

[Webslinger]

Signs was nuts. The concept was great, and the advertising was even better (although the movie itself ended up being underwhelming by comparison). As far as box office goes, it was definitely more along the lines of what people were expecting from Shyamalan after The Sixth Sense than Unbreakable was. It's also worth mentioning that Mel Gibson was still huge at the time of Signs' release. Even though it opened well above his usual level, he did carry two movies well over $100 million in 2000.

 

Last Crusade was very impressive as well, even if its box office performance was ultimately far overshadowed by Batman one month later. For what it's worth, though, Last Crusade is the better of the two movies. 

 

Casino Royale had an impressive performance, but more impressive than Skyfall (which is what the writeup implies)? I don't think so. The fact of the matter is that James Bond was still very popular at the time of the reboot. Each Brosnan film improved upon the gross of the previous one, and even though they weren't beloved (except perhaps Goldeneye, which is also arguably more impressive than Casino Royale considering that it resurrected the franchise after the Dalton entries tanked at the box office), they weren't that poorly received, either. It did pretty much as expected: it opened below Die Another Day because of the switch in actors, and then it had long legs because it was very well-received. Ultimately, it didn't really go to uncharted territory for the franchise, although the strength of its reception came through in just how much Quantum of Solace improved upon its opening weekend. But then Quantum got a weak reception, and the Bond franchise had its longest hiatus ever without switching the lead actor. Then, bam, coming off of all of that, Skyfall opens significantly higher than Quantum, tops $300 million domestic and $1.1 billion worldwide, and sells the most tickets of any 007 movie since the '60s. Casino Royale was impressive, sure, but Skyfall's achievements are definitely more staggering.

[Dark Jedi Master 007]

Signs was nuts. The concept was great, and the advertising was even better (although the movie itself ended up being underwhelming by comparison). As far as box office goes, it was definitely more along the lines of what people were expecting from Shyamalan after The Sixth Sense than Unbreakable was. It's also worth mentioning that Mel Gibson was still huge at the time of Signs' release. Even though it opened well above his usual level, he did carry two movies well over $100 million in 2000.

 

Last Crusade was very impressive as well, even if its box office performance was ultimately far overshadowed by Batman one month later. For what it's worth, though, Last Crusade is the better of the two movies. 

 

Casino Royale had an impressive performance, but more impressive than Skyfall (which is what the writeup implies)? I don't think so. The fact of the matter is that James Bond was still very popular at the time of the reboot. Each Brosnan film improved upon the gross of the previous one, and even though they weren't beloved (except perhaps Goldeneye, which is also arguably more impressive than Casino Royale considering that it resurrected the franchise after the Dalton entries tanked at the box office), they weren't that poorly received, either. It did pretty much as expected: it opened below Die Another Day because of the switch in actors, and then it had long legs because it was very well-received. Ultimately, it didn't really go to uncharted territory for the franchise, although the strength of its reception came through in just how much Quantum of Solace improved upon its opening weekend. But then Quantum got a weak reception, and the Bond franchise had its longest hiatus ever without switching the lead actor. Then, bam, coming off of all of that, Skyfall opens significantly higher than Quantum, tops $300 million domestic and $1.1 billion worldwide, and sells the most tickets of any 007 movie since the '60s. Casino Royale was impressive, sure, but Skyfall's achievements are definitely more staggering.

Here's the thing, when I saw Skyfall's trailer, I was hooked, but this is what I thought in the back of my head: "OMG, this looks as good as Casino Royale." Casino Royale has become the benchmark by which my friends and I judge all future Bond films. IDK if that's true for everyone else here, but if it is, then I feel CR is actually more important than Skyfall.

[The Panda]

79

Up

One of Pixar's bigger hits and the first CGI animated film to be nominated for best picture (as well as win Best Original Score and Animated feature).  The movie had incredible legs and has had a resounding immediate impact on culture.  The movie is also another testament to Pixar's premium brand quality that the general audience attaches it to because it (like Ratatouille) took an absurd concept and turned it into a box office smash.  Many also consider either this or Toy Story 3 to be Pixar's peak before their fall from grace, as well as dip in box office credibility, with Cars 2 onwards.

[Jessie]

If anything Skyfall is more important because it shows what a film can do with he right advertising and publicity. Its performance is a freak of nature, it's unusual for a sequel to a poorly received predecessors to open much higher and obliterate it in practically every country, not to mention it's UK gross is a staggering £100m (that's like a movie earning $1B in the US) all because they used the Olympics as a great marketing strategy.Casino Royal lost it's OW to Happy Feet lol. Still keep em coming Panda, great list.

Edited August 9, 2014 by jessie

[The Panda]

78

Mission: Impossible

A blockbuster that spawned a large franchise all because of the star power of Tom Cruise.  Everything about it has now become iconic, and it is still holding its power to pull in an audience after Ghost Protocol.  Although none of the other movies in the franchise have been able to reach the height of the first one, it doesn't make the entire franchise any less impressive for becoming a smaller version of 007.

[The Panda]

77

The Hangover

An absolute breakout of a comedy that grossed nearly unprecedented numbers for its genre.  It created a franchise of successes (with Part 1 and Part 2) as well as inspiring more comedies to follow in its foot steps (such as Bridesmaids).  It also widened the market to become more and more accepting of rated R comedies as large blockbusters with many rated R comedies getting over the 100m and even 150m mark within the last few years.

[TServo2049]

Wasn't M:I unexpectedly frontloaded for a non-sequel blockbuster in 1996? From what I recall, its business dropped off due to some people being turned off by the film being difficult to follow (I had that problem, but I had the excuse of being 8 years old) and having a misleading marketing campaign?

Ethan's IMF team, all played by relatively "name" actors, all die in the first act.

Yes, M:I was still a huuuuge hit ($333m adjusted - plus it was a success on home video afterward) but did it have a mini-"backlash"?

[The Panda]

Wasn't M:I unexpectedly frontloaded for a non-sequel blockbuster in 1996? From what I recall, its business dropped off due to some people being turned off by the film being difficult to follow (I had that problem, but I had the excuse of being 8 years old) and having a misleading marketing campaign?

Ethan's IMF team, all played by relatively "name" actors, all die in the first act.

Yes, M:I was still a huuuuge hit ($333m adjusted - plus it was a success on home video afterward) but did it have a mini-"backlash"?

 

Doesn't mean it wasn't important as a blockbuster.

 

76

Tangled

A true return to form for WDAS and re-affirmed the general audiences faith in the Disney brand after over a decade of lackluster quality and box office performance.  Sure, many will say Bolt was the true movie to bring the return to form being earlier, but it was Tangled that really brought back in the audience.  Tangled re-instated the Disney brand as a must see for the audience and made the possibility of Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph's success possible as well all of the future successes that will end up following it.  Another fun little tidbit is it started the trend of adjectives for names of Disney movies (such as Brave and Frozen) instead of names such as Rapunzel, The Snow Queen, or The Bear and the Bow.

Edited August 10, 2014 by The Panda

[AniNate]

Tangled and BATB's spots should be switched. BATB had a higher adjusted gross, got better reviews, was nominated for Best Picture, and in general has had a bigger cultural impact.

[The Panda]

Tangled and BATB's spots should be switched. BATB had a higher adjusted gross, got better reviews, was nominated for Best Picture, and in general has had a bigger cultural impact.

 

True, but I believe Tangled is going to be seen as more and more important as Disney's new Renaissance continues.

 

75

Transformers

In a summer of third installments from sequels all underperforming in quality and thus also in box office Transformers was a breakout that really was released at the right the time.  Since then it has become a world wide phenomenon and the fourth installment of the franchise is going on to set the record in China while also having a Chinese gross higher than the domestic one.  Transformers is the bay style action at its peak and it has truly left a remarkable impact on the modern box office and on the style of summer blockbusters attempting to appeal overseas.

[mahnamahna]

[*]Transformers 

[*]Tangled 

[*]Up 

[*]Who Framed Roger Rabbit? 

[*]Spider-Man 2 

[*]Mrs. Doubtfire 

[*]The Dark Knight Rises 

[*]Hancock

[*]Shrek

[*]Platoon

[*]Man of Steel

[*]Beauty and the Beast

[*]Total Recall

[*]Ratatouille

[*]Alice in Wonderland

Ones I haven't seen (in order of how much I want to see them) 

[*]Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 

[*]Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

[*]The Hangover 

[*]Dances With Wolves 

[*]300 

[*]Casino Royale 

[*]Rambo: First Blood Part II

[*]Mission - Impossible 

[*]Armageddon

[*]Twilight (never want to see this) 

[Jessie]

Up was fucking shit

[Webslinger]

True, but I believe Tangled is going to be seen as more and more important as Disney's new Renaissance continues.

 

It won't be. Tangled was a big hit, but it wasn't a game-changer; Beauty and the Beast was.

[ChD]

Up was fucking shit

 

One of the most overrated movies I know.

[AniNate]

I think Tangled's buzz has been all but drowned out by Frozen.

Edited August 13, 2014 by tribefan695