Summer of 2019 has had a few huge movies (Avengers: Endgame obviously being one of them), but no one would claim it’s been an Earth-shattering summer for film. Back in 1989, however, all the forces of destiny seemed to have converged to form one of the biggest movie summers of all-time. ComingSoon.net wants to hear from its readers about which film they consider to be the best (and worst) of Summer 1989, so make your voice heard in the polls below!
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So what made Summer 1989 so amazing? If you were too young to remember, it was a year when studios unleashed a wave of sequels to hugely popular, decade-defining films, and served as something of a template for the modern franchise-focused tentpoles that dominate the months of April through August. New installments of Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, Lethal Weapon, Star Trek and 007 helped feed the appetite of audiences that wanted more of these iconic heroes.
But this was also a moment in time when original, non-IP films had a chance to make a big splash. It’s hard to imagine a low-key romantic comedy like When Harry Met Sally… raking in nearly $100 million ($200 million in 2019 dollars) today. A film like that might even go Direct to VOD. More human comedy/dramas like Parenthood, Dead Poets Society and Uncle Buck all did great business as well. It was also a huge summer for powerful filmmaking voices like Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing) and Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies, and Videotape) to emerge as the independent film movement took hold.
The big draw that summer, though, was Batman. It’s hard to imagine if you weren’t there at the time, but Tim Burton’s superhero blockbuster was a true cultural phenomenon, with lines wrapping around theaters to see Michael Keaton’s Dark Knight battle Jack Nicholson’s Joker in a gothic dystopian Gotham City. The film changed the way tentpoles were marketed, and ushered in the era of the modern, grittier superhero movie.
Of course, in any classic era for films there are always a lot of duds as well. New entries in the Friday the 13th, Fright Night and Karate Kid series all died at the box office. You also have oddities like the sci-fi comedy musical Earth Girls Are Easy or the campy Nicolas Cage cult film Vampire’s Kiss. Even vehicles for big stars like Sly Stallone (Lock Up), Clint Eastwood (Pink Cadillac) and the re-teaming of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor (See No Evil, Hear No Evil) didn’t really work.
Which are your favorite movies of 1989? Let us know in the comments below!
