At least in the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be coming to an end, and we’ll eventually have movie theaters opening up to full capacity. A recent viral tweet reminded people of a time when you could go to the theater during the summer and have a great selection to choose from. Today’s Top Ten Tuesday ranks the best summers for movies since 2000.
1. 2008
2008 was a massive year for summer blockbusters, headlined by one of the great films in history in The Dark Knight. On the Marvel side, you had Iron Man help kickoff a massive MCU that’s still going strong today. And the comedies were not lacking that year, with Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express, and Step Brothers.
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Tropic Thunder
Pineapple Express
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Hancock
WALL-E
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Step Brothers
Kung Fu Panda
The Incredible Hulk
Sex and the City
The Happening
You Don’t Mess With the Zohan
Get Smart
The X-Files: I Want to Believe
Wanted
Mamma Mia!
2. 2013
The depth and variety of 2013 has it up at the No. 2 spot. Man of Steel was a fresh take on Superman; The Conjuring, The Purge, and World War Z all delivered frights in their own ways; and The Great Gatsby starred Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role for the solid take on the classic novel.
Man of Steel
The Great Gatsby
The Conjuring
Iron Man 3
World War Z
Fast & Furious 6
Despicable Me 2
The Purge
Star Trek Into Darkness
The Wolverine
Elysium
Now You See Me
The Internship
This Is the End
White House Down
Monsters University
We’re The Millers
The Heat
The Hangover Part III
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
Pacific Rim
The Lone Ranger
The Smurfs 2
Planes
Epic
3. 2015
2015 also had depth, but it is headlined by three heavy box-office hitters: Mad Max: Fury Road, Jurassic World, and Avengers: Age of Ultron. HBO’s Entourage also hit the big screen, and Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to play The Terminator again.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Jurassic World
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Entourage
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Terminator: Genisys
Ant-Man
San Andreas
Minions
Southpaw
The Gift
Spy!
Fantastic Four
Poltergeist
Insidious Chapter 3
Ted 2
Everest
Paper Towns
Inside Out
Pixels
4. 2012
2012 has some parallels to 2008. The Dark Knight Rises brought the Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale Batman take to its end, while The Avengers brought some of Marvel’s iconic heroes together. Those two are the clear headliners here.
The Dark Knight Rises
The Avengers
The Amazing Spider-Man
Ice Age: Continental Drift
The Bourne Legacy
Ted
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman
Total Recall
The Dictator
Moonrise Kingdom
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
The Expendables 2
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Magic Mike
The Campaign
The Watch
Brave
5. 2005
2005 was stacked with comedy classics such as Wedding Crashers and The Longest Yard with strong rewatch value, but the first five films were the huge money-makers at the box office that summer.
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Batman Begins
War of the Worlds
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Wedding Crashers
Madagascar
Fantastic Four
The Longest Yard
Cinderella Man
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Four Brothers
Red Eye
The Brothers Grimm
The Island
The Bad News Bears
The Dukes of Hazzard
Rebound
Stealth
6. 2003
If you had kids or were a kid, chances are you saw Finding Nemo in 2003. The summer also delivered the second installments in The Matrix and Fast and Furious franchises, as well as the long-awaited third Terminator film.
Finding Nemo
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
2 Fast 2 Furious
The Matrix Reloaded
Daddy Day Care
The Italian Job
Bad Boys II
Freaky Friday
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde
Bruce Almighty
Seabiscuit
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle
Freddy vs. Jason
Hulk
S.W.A.T.
28 Days Later
The Room
7. 2004
Shrek 2 and Spider-Man 2 were two critically-acclaimed sequels that came out in 2004, as did the third Harry Potter film. We also got Troy, I, Robot, The Bourne Supremacy, The Notebook, and Anchorman. And with the hidden gem Napoleon Dynamite, 2004 was a very good summer for movies.
Shrek 2
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Spider-Man 2
Troy
I, Robot
The Bourne Supremacy
The Notebook
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
The Day After Tomorrow
The Village
Collateral
AVP: Alien vs. Predator
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
King Arthur
The Terminal
White Chicks
Napoleon Dynamite
Garfield: The Movie
The Chronicles of Riddick
The Stepford Wives
The Manchurian Candidate
Yu-Gi-Oh
Catwoman
8. 2017
Perhaps we’ll look back down the line and say 2017 should be ranked higher, as it has a case for the deepest year on the list. Wonder Woman was a sensation, Dunkirk was one of the finest war films ever made, and there were undervalued picks like Atomic Blonde and Baby Driver.
Wonder Woman
Dunkirk
Spider-Man: Homecoming
War for the Planet of the Apes
Despicable Me 3
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Transformers: The Last Knight
The Mummy
Baby Driver
Atomic Blonde
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Wind River
Baywatch
The Dark Tower
Annabella: Creation
Logan Lucky
The Hitman’s Bodyguard
Cars 3
American Made
The House
The Emoji Movie
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
9. 2002
While it was widely panned, we did have a Star Wars movie in 2002 (Attack of the Clones). And both Spider-Man and The Bourne Identity were excellent initial entires in eventual trilogies (with Bourne ultimately going further than a trilogy).
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
Spider-Man
The Bourne Identity
Minority Report
Austin Power in Goldmember
Insomnia
Men in Black II
Scooby-Doo
Lilo & Stitch
Mr. Deeds
Stuart Little 2
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams
Like Mike
10. 2001
Starring Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz, Shrek was somewhat of a phenomenon in 2001, and it’s among the summer’s selections despite first hitting theaters in April. 2001 was filled with sequels including Rush Hour 2, American Pie 2, and Scary Movie 2. Legally Blonde did quite well and helped Reese Witherspoon earn worldwide recognition.
Shrek
Jurassic Park III
Legally Blonde
Rush Hour 2
The Mummy Returns
The Princess Diaries
Scary Movie 2
American Pie 2
Pearl Harbor
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Dr Dolittle 2
A Knight’s Tale
Artificial Intelligence: AI
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Cats & Dogs
Moulin Rouge
TDK is the best.
Good idea