Battle of the Studios: Winners

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

13. Finding Nemo

The voters chose Finding Nemo (Disney) as the winner in this matchup. Finding Nemo won over House of Wax (Warner Bros.), Mrs. Doubtfire (Fox), Despicable Me 2 (Universal), Ghost (Paramount), and Kramer vs. Kramer (Sony).

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

12. M.A.S.H.

In this matchup, the voters gave the win to M.A.S.H. (Fox). M.A.S.H. won the vote over Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Sony), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Universal), Twister (Warner Bros.), Bambi (Disney), and White Christmas (Paramount).

[Walt Disney]

 

and

 

 

Presents:

 

11. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

In this matchup, the winner was Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Warner Bros.). The first movie in the LOTR trilogy defeated the Steven Spielberg directed Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Paramount), The Caine Mutiny (Sony), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Disney), The Poseidon Adventure (Fox), and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Universal).

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

10. Pinocchio

In this matchup, the classic Disney animated film Pinocchio received the win from the voters. It defeated Smokey and the Bandit (Universal), the cult classic film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Fox), the first Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Warner Bros.), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount), and From Here to Eternity (Sony).

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

9. Back to the Future

In this matchup, the voters gave the win to Back to the Future (Universal). The Robert Zemeckis film with the famous Alan Silvestri score won the vote over Tom Jones (UA), Rocky III (MGM), Spider-Man 3 (Sony), The Greatest Show on Earth (Paramount), Sleeping Beauty (Disney), Superman (Warner Bros.), and The Towering Inferno (Fox).

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

8. The Dark Knight Rises

The voters chose the third Christopher Nolan directed Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises (Warner Bros.) as the winner here over National Lampoon’s Animal House (Universal), The Robe (Fox), Disney’s animated Jungle Book film from 1967, Beverly Hills Cop (Paramount), The Bridge on the River Kwai (Sony), Rain Man (MGM), and Fiddler on the Roof (UA).

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

7.  2001: A Space Odyssey

The voters gave the win here to the Stanley Kubrick directed 2001: A Space Odyssey (MGM). 2001: A Space Odyssey defeated  One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (UA), Men in Black (Sony), Love Story (Paramount), the Disney/Marvel superhero blockbuster The Avengers (Disney), the second film in the LOTR trilogy The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Warner Bros., Cleopatra (Fox), and American Graffiti (Universal).

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

6. Lawrence of Arabia

In this matchup, the voters went with the classic film Lawrence of Arabia (Sony). Lawrence of Arabia defeated Airport (Universal), Home Alone (Fox), My Fair Lady (Warner Bros.), Mary Poppins (Disney), Grease (Paramount), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (MGM), and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (UA).

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

5. Rocky

The voters gave the win in this matchup to Rocky (UA), a movie about an under-dog boxer from Philadelphia starring Sylvester Stallone in his star making role. Rocky beat out a loaded field in this matchup. It defeated Quo Vadis (MGM), the Steven Spielberg directed Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Sony), Forrest Gump (Paramount), Fantasia (Disney), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Warner Bros.), Independence Day (Fox), Jurassic World (Universal), and Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones (Lucasfilm), which is the 2^nd movie in George Lucas’ Star Wars prequel trilogy and the fourth independently filmed and financed Star Wars movie by George Lucas’ Lucasfilm.

Edited December 8, 2017 by Walt Disney

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

4. The Godfather

The voters went with the classic mafia film The Godfather (Paramount) in this round. The Paramount classic defeated The Sting (Universal), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Fox), Warner Bros.’ 1989 superhero film Batman, the Disney classic The Lion King, Tootsie (Sony), How the West was Won (MGM), West Side Story (UA), the Steven Spielberg direct World War II film Saving Private Ryan (Dreamworks), and Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Lucasfilm).

[Walt Disney]

 

3. Raider of the Lost Ark

This matchup featured a lot of massive blockbusters from various studios. In the end, it was Paramount winning the matchup with Raider of the Lost Ark. Raiders of the Lost Ark is directed by Steven Spielberg and features a classic score from John Williams. It defeats another classic Spielberg directed film that was scored by John Williams, Jurassic Park (Universal), as well as the James Cameron directed Avatar (Fox), Shrek the Third (Dreamworks), Star Wars: Episode one- The Phantom Menace (Lucasfilm), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1 (Lionsgate), Around the World in 80 Days (UA), Ben-Hur (MGM), Spider-Man 2, and Disney’s 1961 animated classic 101 Dalmatians.

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

 

2. Jaws

In this matchup, Universal’s second highest domestic adjusted grossing film was the Steven Spielberg directed, John Williams scored, original summer blockbuster, Jaws. It was up against some monster box office champs from other studios. Fox’s film in this round was The Sound of Music. Warner Bros. film was the Christopher Nolan directed film The Dark Knight. For Disney, their second highest domestic grossing film of all-time was Star Wars: Episode VII- The Force Awakens, which shows the power of the Lucasfilm purchase. Lucasfilm had an independent film of its own in this round in Star Wars: Episode VI- Return of the Jedi. Dreamworks film was Shrek. Carolco Pictures was represented in this round by Rambo: First Blood Part II. Paramount’s film was the biblical epic The Ten Commandments. For Sony, it was Spider-Man. MGM’s film was Doctor Zhivago. For United Artists, it was Goldfinger, a film starring Sean Connery as James Bond. For Lionsgate, it was The Hunger Games.

The voters gave the win to Jaws.

 

[Walt Disney]

 

Presents:

1. Star Wars: Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back

In the battle of each major studio’s highest domestic adjusted film of all-time, it wasn’t only the major studios involved. Some of the minor studios had films as well, along with some producer driven independent films. For the major studios, it was a who’s who list of great blockbusters. Universal was represented by the Steven Spielberg direct film E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Disney’s film in this matchup was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. For Warner Bros., it was the classic horror film The Exorcist. Sony Pictures was represented by Ghostbusters. MGM’s film was the epic Gone with the Wind. United Artists was represented by Thunderball, starring Sean Connery as James Bond. For RKO, it was The Bells of St. Mary’s. Paramount’s film in this matchup was the James Cameron directed epic film Titanic. For Fox, its film was George Lucas’ Star Wars.

Those big studio films would compete against a lot of successful blockbusters from smaller studios. Lucasfilm’s entry was Star Wars: Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back, pitting this sequel against the  first Star Wars, amongst other films. Carolco Pictures was represented by Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which is another James Cameron directed blockbuster. Lionsgate was represented by The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Dreamworks was represented by Shrek 2. Marvel Studios had a film in this round, which was their independent smash hit Iron Man. Aavco Embassy had a film as well with The Graduate. Orion Pictures had a film in this matchup with Dances with Wolves.

Then there were the independent creator driven films from studios that never did repeat this level of blockbuster success again. From David Selznick and his Selznick Releasing was the epic Duel in the Sun. From independent producer Samuel Goldwyn and Goldwyn Productions was The Best Years of Our Lives. From famed director Alfred Hitchcock and Shamley Productions was the independently produced Psycho. From Spyglass Entertainment was The Sixth Sense. From IFC was My Big Fat Greek Wedding. From actor and star Paul Hogan and Rimfire Films was Crocodile Dundee. From Mel Gibson and Icon Pictures was The Passion of the Christ.

The box office theory voters ultimately went with Star Wars: Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back. George Lucas did it his way and with great success, as his sequel to Star Wars topped the original’s quality. His independently filmed and financed movie made by Lucasfilm beat out all of the biggest hits from all of the big studios. It killed James Bond, it vanished The Exorcist, and it sunk the Titanic. George Lucas defeated his good friend Steven Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. In the end, the voters decided that the best film of each studio’s highest grossing domestic adjusted films wasn’t from a big studio at all. Instead, it was from a small studio, driven by one man’s creativity, that took place in a galaxy far far away.