This year’s summer blockbuster has plenty of competition with a list as long as a football field.  But why are there summer movies.  What is the reason that so many anticipated movies come out during the summer and not during the regular seasoned months? 

The summer movies this year include the following:  The Great Gatsby, The Lone Ranger, World War Z, Despicable Me 2, The Wolverine, Fast & Furious 6, Kick-Ass 2, Pacific Rim, Star Trek: Into Darkness, After Earth, Oblivion, Iron Man 3, and Man of Steel.

During the hustle and bustle of the work week and school week, citizens are only able to schedule their time according to the weekend.  It is not until summer that people have a lot more free time and can hang out with friends and family more.  What better way to spend time with loved ones than at the cinema?  Plenty of summer activities can be planned but with the hype that the media portrays for action adventures and gory horror films, people set aside some of their free time to partake in the theater experience. This year’s lineup includes superheroes, fast cars, robots and futuristic worlds, which means there is a taste out there for everyone.

Junior Austin Burns said his must-see movie this summer is Iron Man 3.  “I loved the first two and just from what I’ve seen in the new preview, I’m going to love this one for sure!” 
“Pacific Rim looks really awesome.  I liked the Transformer movies but this movie looks way better and so much more intense!” Pacific Rim is about these ancient creatures that wreak havoc on earth and the humans have to build these mechanical robot machines to fight the creatures back.  It looks amazing and reminds me of this old anime show called Gundam Wing with the same process of giant robots being controlled by humans.” 

Junior Edwige Epossi discussed her views on her choice, The Great Gatsby.  “I’m really looking forward to seeing The Great Gatsby.  I like films based off literature and this one looks like it’s going to be really good.  Besides, who could say no to Leonardo DiCaprio!”  The film looks really dazzling and is based off the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 
Khoran Pope, a co-worker, said this about the summer movies, “With summer movies comes IMAX premieres.  I love watching movies in IMAX but only the ones that are going to be worth seeing on such a big screen so I get that in-depth experience.  Besides, I don’t want to waste $20 bucks on an IMAX movie that wasn’t worth it.  I highly doubt that will be the case though because most of the movies come out this summer are going to be amazing!” 

 
Derek Antos, a movie buff at Towson discusses Kick-Ass 2.  “It was a really tough decision but I would have to go for Kick-Ass 2.  The first one was awesome because it wasn’t like any other superhero movie, it definitely stood out.  It was really raw and felt like people could actually dress up like superheroes and fight crime. Kick-Ass is about a boy who gets tired of backing down to crime and bullies and stands up by making a superhero out of himself, no powers, just a costume and two wooden batons.  The first one was really good, and happened to be good enough to be in my list of favorite movies. 

Professor Orloff, who specializes in film at Hood College discussed her perspective of the summer movie madness.  “I'm not sure about what I hope will top the box office as I haven't seen any of the films yet.  Tom Cruise's new sci-fi thriller Oblivion opened huge overseas, and I'm looking forward to Iron Man 3.  Also The Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer is another one I'm looking forward to seeing.  There's also the new Star Trek and a ‘reboot’ of Superman, but I'm not planning on seeing them in a theater.  One I do want to see that's already opened and is doing better at the box office than anyone predicted is 42, the biopic about Jackie Robinson, the first black player in major league baseball.  I'm not too sure about the Leonardo DiCaprio version of The Great Gatsby.  It could be one that doesn't have the right timing.”

Kyrie Davis, a student at University of Maryland discussed the summer move going experience.  “For me, the reason the media releases so many hit movies during the summer is because they see that these young adults and kids that get out of school hype up all these high-tech action packed films to attract them to go see, and it works!  It is a brilliant method and with this summer’s movies I’m sure the box office is going to make millions.  It is a great marketing plan, very effective and entertains a very high range of ages, especially those that are out of school with nothing to do during the summer.”    

Antoine Terry, a frequent movie goer at the Regal Cinema in Frederick is hoping that Man of Steel takes the win for summer blockbuster.  “Being a comic book lover, I think both Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel willbe great, but since the this superman movie is being done after the trashy Superman Returns movie back in 2006. I just hope this version does Superman some justice.”

With the release of so many summer movies, millions will be made at the blockbuster, but only one movie will stand out above the rest.