The Best Years for Summer Movies

List of the best "summer seasons" for new mainstream films. The notion of the "summer blockbuster" movie season started in June of 1975, when Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" became the biggest box office draw to date. (The troubled production had spiraled out of control and wound up costing nearly 4 times as much as was initially projected.) Since then, studios have all attempted to program event movies for the summer months, typically including fare designed to appeal to younger audiences, such as action movies and broad comedies. The long July 4th weekend has always been a coveted release date for new films, but the summer season now extends far longer than it did in the '70s and '80s. New "summer" films now open in early May and continue coming out right up through Labor Day.

In the nearly 40 years since "Jaws," many classic films have seen release during the busy summer movie season. It's now possible to go back and look at the actual historical summers that have given us some of these memorable film experiences, and evaluate which season itself featured the most exciting releases. Here are the best years for summer movies, from '75 through the present day.