By Michael Lyons
This year, summer started on April 27th. That was the date Marvel Studios moved the release date of “Avengers: Infinity War” to, after relocating it from the first weekend of May.
And with that, the Summer Movie Season began!
Thanks to “Star Wars,” which was released on Memorial Day Weekend of 1977, that first “unofficial weekend of summer” became the first official weekend of the Summer Movie Season. For years, Memorial Day with family get togethers, bar-b-q’s and beach openings was seen as a poor weekend to release a movie...but George Lucas changed all that.
And since then, that first official movie weekend crept up earlier and earlier in May. The weekend before Memorial Day soon became a tent pole weekend for Studios (“Willow,” “What About Bob?” And “Die Hard with a Vengeance” are just a few who staked out that spot) and then in 1996, “Twister” opened on Mother’s Day Weekend, to record box-office numbers and Hollywood soon realized that audiences were ready for summer as soon as April ended.
For years after that, Marvel took the first weekend of May to release their latest super hero opus and kick off the season and this year, the calendar stretched even further to late April.
But at one time, Studios held their cards for Memorial Day Weekend and audiences waited patiently for the Summer Season of popcorn fun to begin. While many of these most memorable and successful films released on this weekend have the names Spielberg and/or Lucas attached to them, other films also sought out Memorial Day to get the most bang from their box office.
While big and anticipated at the time, most of these films have become forgotten time capsules. But, as we find ourselves heading into Memorial Day Weekend and knee deep in another Summer Movie season, it’s the perfect time to look back at these blockbusters that once were.
“Crocodile Dundee II” (Released May 25, 1988).
Hard to believe that thirty years ago the original “Crocodile Dundee” (1986) was so popular that Paramount Studio not only green lit a sequel, but one that was one of their big summer movies and was released on Memorial Day Weekend. In fact, the sequel beat out “Rambo III” at the box-office.
Part II involves the main character (Paul Hogan, who also wrote the screenplay with his son Brett), getting involved with gangsters, who follow him back to Australia.
Essentially a reversed plot from the original and much more likable fish-out-of-water story, “Crocodile Dundee II” is the epitome of the carbon copy sequels that were so prevalent in the ‘80’s.
Not a terrible movie, just an uninspired one. It works as a time capsule, but for sheer charm and entertainment, stick with the original.
“Cliffhanger” (Released May 28, 1993)
Twenty-five summers ago, as audiences waited on “Jurassic Park,” this film was a comeback of sorts for Sylvester Stallone, after several box-office disappointments. In it, he plays a ranger who finds himself involved in a botched heist and is forced to help the criminals scale down a treacherous mountainside.
This is Stallone at his action hero best, thanks to director Renny Harlin, an action film virtuoso in the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s. Filled with some absolutely dizzying camera work and great action set pieces (albeit some go one way too long and push the believability envelope), “Cliffhanger,” with it’s snow capped mountain setting, is most definitely a cool way to spend a summer day.
“Godzilla” (Released May 20, 1998)
If you are looking for an example of the behemoth, mass-marketed, gotta-see-it, summer event movies of the ‘90’s, look no further than “Godzilla.”
Twenty years ago, filmakers Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were hot off of the success of 1996’s “Independence Day” and were given carte blanche when bringing one of filmdom’s most famous monsters back to the screen. In their version of “Godzilla,” Matthew Broderick plays a nuclear scientist who is recruited by the government to help control a radiation-induced, ginormous reptile who wreaks havoc on New York City.
Filled with scene after scene after scene of epic chaos and destruction (which has become a Emmerich and Devlin hallmark), “Godzilla” is movie “junk food”: the audience eats and eats and eats and feels terrible afterward.
The script takes missteps at every turn (all of which had purists fuming) and never really takes itself seriously. The end result is a true guilty pleasure, in a big way. After all: “Size Does Matter!”
“Bruce Almighty” (Released May 23, 2003)
Fifteen years ago, Jim Carrey was at the height of his “Aaaaaallllrighty then!” Popularity when he starred in this clever film about a news reporter who is granted all of God’s powers for one week.
One of several of Carrey’s collaborations with director Tom Shadyac, “Bruce Almighty” has a number of well orchestrated comic moments (the scene in which Carrey controls everything his rival, played by Steve Carrell, says, is brimming with amazing comedic timing).
In addition to being a solidly funny film (even on repeat viewings), “Bruce Almighty” also has a strong, underlying theme that centers on the responsibility that comes with any type of power.
When it opened in 2003, “Bruce Almighty” went on to take in the second highest Memorial Day Weekend box office, up to that point, proving that, at this time, there was nothing funny about the popularity of any Jim Carrey movie.
These movies, like so many others before and after have helped usher in Hollywood’s sun-drenched and most profitable season, which next year may begin on Easter Sunday!
Wishing everyone a great Memorial Day Weekend and a Happy Summer!
Sources:
IMDb
Wikipedia
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