10 Flicks: Box Office Favorites
I’m a proud movie nerd.
We’ve covered that so it shouldn’t surprise anyone who reads this blog that I follow box office numbers closely. The only place I go for box office information online is Box Office Mojo.
Recently, I was checking the all time domestic numbers and decided to see if I could narrow the top 100 down to 10. Can you?
So here are my 10 favorite box office moneymakers.
Honourable Mention: Avatar, 300, The Sixth Sense, Saving Private Ryan
Star Wars
#4 – $460,998,007
I adore the original trilogy and enjoyed the prequels but A New Hope will always be my favorite. (Followed closely by Empire Strikes Back.)
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Spider-Man
#9 – $403,706,375
It may not be my favorite superhero movie of all time but it certainly paved the way for some of the most entertaining movies in history.
“Go web go!”
Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King
#12 – $377,027,325
It’s tough to pick one movie when all three are in the top 100. I look at the series and see one giant incredible movie but I had to pick one so ROTK was the winner.
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Transformers
#22 – $319,246,193
Even though I absolutely hated the sequel, the original is one of the most entertaining popcorn movies I’ve ever seen on the big screen. It had giant fighting robots and some of the best and most complex visual effects ever created.
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Independence Day
#30 – $306,169,268
Will Smith is my favorite actor. I’m one of the reasons his movies always make 100 million+ in theaters. Independence Day will always be one of the greats. ID4 is a perfect example of a huge box office blockbuster. Big stars, big FX and big thrills.
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Signs
#70 – $227,966,634
I talk about Signs a lot on this site. I even thought about leaving it off this list to avoid ‘Signs fatigue’. However, I simply couldn’t bring myself to leave my all time favorite movie off the list.
The Matrix Reloaded
#41 – $281,576,461
It’s ambitious, it’s explosive, it’s cool and it’s confusing. It was once the record holder for most anticipated movie until it was toppled by The Dark Knight years later.
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Twister
#61 – $241,721,524
Twister may surprise some people but I’ve always loved this movie. When I was a kid, I used to be terrified of tornado warnings. This eventually ignited an interest in weather and this movie came along right in the middle of that childhood obsession. Twister is a fun movie. Plain and Simple.
Jurassic Park
#15 – $357,067,947
To this day, I’m still fascinated by how well the effects stand up compared to today’s standards. Such a fun movie.
The Dark Knight
#3 – $533,345,358
My second favorite movie ever. I’ve never been so excited to see a movie in my entire life and to have the film deliver on all the hype was amazing.
Try narrowing down your own list of 10 box office favorites. It’s not that easy.
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That’s a nice list.I really thought you would have put Signs up there, regardless of how your friends ribbed you for putting it in most of your other lists. (You know Simon Pegg loves it too! I figured that might make you feel better.)
As for my list I decided to choose the ones I remember seeing in the the theaters. And like you said it was not that easy! More to the point of being downright impossible. These are in no particular order other than being my fav 10 from the list of 100.
1.) Dark Night – Opening Night Midnight showing (Mr. Ledger made the film worthwhile. Even if he didn’t die he did a fantastic job.)
2.) Iron Man (Welcome back to stardom Mr. Downey Jr.)
3.) Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (The only good one in the series!)
4.) Independence Day – Opening Day (I drove right after my morning shift ended at the golf course!)
5.) Star Trek (The only time I looked forward to a Star Trek anything.)
6.) Batman – Opening Night Midnight Showing (I was excited to see how Mr. Mom would be as a super hero. And my first ever Midnight Showing at the ripe ole age of 10.)
7.) Raiders of the Lost Ark (I was three when it came out and I remember bits and pieces, mostly Indy fighting folks and running and of course the music. I already knew John Williams work from Superman I + II and The Empire Strikes Back. Had that on cassette tape with some of the scenes from the film. Weirdest thing!)
8.) Ghostbusters (My favorite character is still Louis Tulley wanting to give the cute little pooch a milk bone!)
9.) Back to the Future (This film sold me on the concept of time travel and how cool it could be.)
10.) Return of the Jedi (Mostly because I was too young to really remember Empire in the theaters, but I thought I was a Jedi like Luke. I cried when Yoda died and one of the Ewoks died. Still slightly scared of the Sarlaac Pit!)
And to keep cool like Jason Honorable Mentions would be:
The Empire Strikes Back (I remember parts of that, mostly because of being two years old, namely Yoda and Cloud City and Carbonite, especially the sound it made. Still my favorite movie of the whole series.)
Aladdin (I remember seeing this in Florida with my Aunt. One of the few movies I remember seeing with her. I really enjoyed the amazing things they did with the graphics.)
Wall-E – Opening Day (By far the most amazing film by Pixar in using very little dialogue and the use of focusing techniques they used. Not the best Pixar film ever though.)
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Oh Signs is up there haha. I’ll probably find a way to jam it into as many lists as possible. I love that movie.
Your list is a big reason why I really liked the idea for the post. It’s a follow up to my Movies vs Films post. Which type shows up primarily in the top box office charts? Movies.
I can’t get enough. Some ‘films’ make it up there as well but Movies pretty much dominate the lists.
Just in time for the Oscars, I decided to take your challenge, sir! Check it out here: http://unopark.wordpress.com/2010/03/07/top-10-box-office-favourites/