Some good ones didn't make the list:
Saturn 3
Mad Max
Caligula
The Nude Bomb

I was 12 in 1980. Caddyshack was the first rated R movie I ever got into on my own. Ahh memories.

That was one crazy summer

Oh, that was 1986

OK how about 1977:
Star Wars
Close Encounters
Saturday Night Fever
Smokey and the Bandit
A Bridge Too Far
High Anxiety
Slap mutherfarking Shot
Annie Hall
The Spy That Loved Me
Oh God!
The Gauntlet
The Hills Have Eyes
The Island of Dr Moreau
Kentucky Fried Movie
MacCarther
Jabberwoky

Oh look, it's this thread again.

I was 19 in 1980.

Saw in theaters that year:

The Shining, The Blues Brothers, Airplane, Used Cars, Caddyshack.

/Used Cars is underrated

Mugato: 1982 had Wrath of Khan, the Thing, Poltergeist, Blade Runner, ET, Conan, First Blood, Tron, the Dark Crystal, 48 Hours and Porky's.

Came here to say THIS. Alamo Drafthouse is doing a Summer of 82 fest - every movie shown on the day of its premier, 30 years later. God I love this town.

Which is why us who lived through it biatch about the shiat movies of today.

Michael Bay? Transformers? REALLY?

Which is why we need to celebrate when things like Cabin in the Woods comes out and squashes asshole Eli Roth, or the Avengers, which really just kicks Watchmen in the big blue junk.

OH poopcorn poopcorn poopcorn films YOU DON'T GET IT EJWIEJWIOMDIW

STFU NOOB. We had awesome. We DEMAND FUTURE AWESOME. Even the schlock we had back then is better than the stuttercam half-bored jerkoff movies we get now.

/Prometheus
//Lucas died in '89

The 80's in general were good for movies. Or maybe the most recent decade just hasn't been. Who knows. God?

I'd take Avengers and DKR over any other two movies released in a prior summer. Live in the now.

farkingismybusiness: Is The Avengers really that good? I've seen all the "prequels" except for the Hulk one and didn't think any of them were very good. All the hype just reminds me of Transformers.

Iron Man? Come'on, man.

Mugato: 1982 had Wrath of Khan, the Thing, Poltergeist, Blade Runner, ET, Conan, First Blood, Tron, the Dark Crystal, 48 Hours and Porky's.

Oh, hells yeah! Don't forget The Sword and the Sorceror, good old cheesy fantasy fun. I recall seeing it at a drive-in.

farkingismybusiness: Ted Kennedy's Brain Tumor: farkingismybusiness: Is The Avengers really that good? I've seen all the "prequels" except for the Hulk one and didn't think any of them were very good. All the hype just reminds me of Transformers.

Iron Man? Come'on, man.

Those two were the best, but they still weren't "great." Just decent popcorn films. I've already forgotten most of the plots.

Iron Man's plot was clear: Tony is a humorous, snarky womanizer. Mission accomplished.

For your consideration, 1988:

Big
The Great Outdoors
Red Heat
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Die Hard
Bull Durham
Coming to America
A Fish Called Wanda
Midnight Run

Ha! I remember "Urban Cowboy" bars springing up like toad stools all over all over town.

/lines of people in "cowboy outfits" waiting to get in.
//this was Santa Monica

bdub77: I liked 1985 (as a kid of course):

Brewster's Millions
Rambo First Blood Part II
View to a Kill
Fletch
Goonies
DARYL
Back to the Future
Mad max Beyond Thunderdome
European Vacation
Weird Science
Pee Wee's Big Adventure
Real Genius
Teen Wolf
Cocoon

Just sayin...

The Breakfast Club
The Color Purple
Clue
Fright Night
Spies Like Us
St. Elmos's Fire
Jewel of the Nile
Rocky IV
Witness

and that's still just scratching the service. 1985 was probably one of the greatest years for movies ever.

Skyfrog: and that's still just scratching the service.

*surface

/wtf

1982 was better, mainly b/c of the higher nerd quotient (Caddyshack is great, but it's not a nerd movie.) Blade Runner and Tron especially were nerd-only type movies (which is why they went underrated for so many years.)

However, depending on the quality and returns of Prometheus, Dark Knight Rises, Spider-man, and Total Recall, this might turn out to be the biggest and best nerd summer in movie history.

The_Sponge: The Summer of '87 was rad:

Beverly Hills Cop II
The Untouchables
Harry and the Hendersons
Predator
Spaceballs
Full Metal Jacket
Robocop
The Monster Squad

No, Rad came out in '86.SpikeStrip: it wasn't a corvette summer, though.

This.

r1chard3: Ha! I remember "Urban Cowboy" bars springing up like toad stools all over all over town.

/lines of people in "cowboy outfits" waiting to get in.
//this was Santa Monica

Ya...that move is awesome to watch now because, like other 70's and 80's movies, it was totally ok to beat up your old lady, as long as the guy she's cheating on you with doesn't do it. Ahhhh...simpler times.

In order to properly judge the long term quality of a summer would require cross referencing their opening ticket sales and long term demand.

If I were an economist I'd write this up as a peer reviewed paper.

Nadie_AZ: 1980 was a pretty damn good year for music, too.

Yes. If you like elevator music!
/I keed

Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
Iron Maiden - S/T
Ozzy - Blizzard of Ozz
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
Judas Priest - British Steel
AC/DC - Back in Black

all 1980

Is that Adam Baldwin in "My Bodyguard"? Does that son of a biatch ever age?

The_Sponge: The Summer of '87 was rad:

Beverly Hills Cop II
The Untouchables
Harry and the Hendersons
Predator
Spaceballs
Full Metal Jacket
Robocop
The Monster Squad

May I add 'Three O'Clock High'? Not sure if that was a summer movie though.

I'm liking how 2012 is shaping up.

John Carter (should have done better.)
Cabin in the Woods
Hunger Games
The Avengers
Amazing Spider-Man
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman
Brave
The Dark Knight Rises
The Hobbit
Ted
Frankenweenie

Dark Horses or guilty pleasures:

The Bourne Legacy
The Expendables 2
MIB3
Battleship
Total Recall
Taken 2

And don't forget

MAX HEADROOM biatchES

So, nothing against the lists you guys have posted, but so far--unlike most linked lists--this article is doing pretty damned good.

I forgot about My Bodyguard.

1983 had some good movies.

Return of the Jedi
Vacation.
Risky Business
A Christmas Story
Flashdance
War Games
Mr Mom
Twilight Zone The Movie
Trading Places
Strange Brew

1983's Wargames. How about a nice game of chess? It was a good decade for movies. Too bad about Reaganomics, AIDS, Jerry Falwell, the Falkland Islands war, junk bonds, hostile takeovers, GM's X-cars, parachute pants, The Culture Club, Madonna, and the videodisc player.

And Galactica 1980.

bdub77: I liked 1985 (as a kid of course):

Brewster's Millions
Rambo First Blood Part II
View to a Kill
Fletch
Goonies
DARYL
Back to the Future
Mad max Beyond Thunderdome
European Vacation
Weird Science
Pee Wee's Big Adventure
Real Genius
Teen Wolf
Cocoon

Just sayin...

I await the day that PWBA has its own marathon.

First day of summer?
/I'm waiting TBS ...

Disabled List: For your consideration, 1988:

Big
The Great Outdoors
Red Heat
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Die Hard
Bull Durham
Coming to America
A Fish Called Wanda
Midnight Run

Uh,
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

/was '88

And 1980 was hands down the best summer for classic comedies. End. Of. Discussion. Your argument is invalid.

I think the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin is doing a "Summer of '82" marathon all summer.

Really? no 1989 yet?

The Burbs
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Heathers
Field of Dreams
Pet Sematary
Road House!!!!!
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Batman
Do the Right Thing
Weekend at Bernie's
When Harry Met Sally...
UHF
Turner & Hooch
The Abyss
Uncle Buck
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation