Best-Reviewed Summer Blockbusters by Year Since 1975

When it comes to big summer movies, the opinions of critics and audiences are always out of sync. Right? Not so fast. Using our weighted formula, we at Rotten Tomatoes decided to spotlight the best-reviewed wide releases from each summer since 1975 — the year Jaws kicked off the blockbuster era — and it turns out that many of the big winners with the pundits have become perennial favorites with regular moviegoers as well.

1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s

#1990

Presumed Innocent (1990)
86%

#1990

Adjusted Score: 90385%

Critics Consensus: Thanks to an outstanding script, focused direction by Alan Pakula, and a riveting performance from Harrison Ford, Presumed Innocent is the kind of effective courtroom thriller most others aspire to be.

Synopsis: Prosecuting attorney Raymond Horgan (Brian Dennehy) assigns his chief deputy, the taciturn Rusty Sabitch (Harrison Ford), to investigate the rape... [More]

Starring: Harrison Ford, Brian Dennehy, Raul Julia, Bonnie Bedelia

Directed By: Alan J. Pakula

#1991

Boyz N the Hood (1991)
96%

#1991

Adjusted Score: 101999%

Critics Consensus: Well-acted and thematically rich, Boyz N the Hood observes Black America with far more depth and compassion than many of the like-minded films its success inspired.

Synopsis: Tre is sent to live with his father, Furious Styles, in tough South Central Los Angeles. Although his hard-nosed father... [More]

Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nia Long

Directed By: John Singleton

#1992

Unforgiven (1992)
96%

#1992

Adjusted Score: 105716%

Critics Consensus: As both director and star, Clint Eastwood strips away decades of Hollywood varnish applied to the Wild West, and emerges with a series of harshly eloquent statements about the nature of violence.

Synopsis: When prostitute Delilah Fitzgerald (Anna Thomson) is disfigured by a pair of cowboys in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, her fellow brothel... [More]

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris

Directed By: Clint Eastwood

#1993

Jurassic Park (1993)
91%

#1993

Adjusted Score: 105375%

Critics Consensus: Jurassic Park is a spectacle of special effects and life-like animatronics, with some of Spielberg's best sequences of sustained awe and sheer terror since Jaws.

Synopsis: In Steven Spielberg's massive blockbuster, paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff... [More]

Starring: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

#1994

The Lion King (1994)
92%

#1994

Adjusted Score: 102605%

Critics Consensus: Emotionally stirring, richly drawn, and beautifully animated, The Lion King is a pride within Disney's pantheon of classic family films.

Synopsis: This Disney animated feature follows the adventures of the young lion Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), the heir of his father,... [More]

Starring: Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Madge Sinclair

Directed By: Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff

#1995

Babe (1995)
97%

#1995

Adjusted Score: 102009%

Critics Consensus: The rare family-friendly feature with a heart as big as its special effects budget, Babe offers timeless entertainment for viewers of all ages.

Synopsis: Gentle farmer Arthur Hoggett (James Cromwell) wins a piglet named Babe (Christine Cavanaugh) at a county fair. Narrowly escaping his... [More]

Starring: James Cromwell, Magda Szubanski, Hugo Weaving, Mary Acres

Directed By: Chris Noonan

#1996

Supercop (1992)
93%

#1996

Adjusted Score: 97556%

Critics Consensus: Blending hand-to-hand combat with breathtaking stunts and slapstick comedy, Supercop reminds us why Jackie Chan is one of the world's great entertainers.

Synopsis: To infiltrate a drug cartel, police Inspector Chan Ka Kui (Jackie Chan) goes undercover in a Chinese prison. There, he... [More]

Starring: Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, Kenneth Tsang

Directed By: Stanley Tong

#1997

Men in Black (1997)
91%

#1997

Adjusted Score: 97169%

Critics Consensus: Thanks to a smart script, spectacular set pieces, and charismatic performances from its leads, Men in Black is an entirely satisfying summer blockbuster hit.

Synopsis: They are the best-kept secret in the universe. Working for a highly funded yet unofficial government agency, Kay (Tommy Lee... [More]

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D'Onofrio

Directed By: Barry Sonnenfeld

#1998

The Truman Show (1998)
94%

#1998

Adjusted Score: 104348%

Critics Consensus: A funny, tender, and thought-provoking film, The Truman Show is all the more noteworthy for its remarkably prescient vision of runaway celebrity culture and a nation with an insatiable thirst for the private details of ordinary lives.

Synopsis: He doesn't know it, but everything in Truman Burbank's (Jim Carrey) life is part of a massive TV set. Executive... [More]

Starring: Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Natascha McElhone

Directed By: Peter Weir

#1999

The Iron Giant (1999)
96%

#1999

Adjusted Score: 103230%

Critics Consensus: The endearing Iron Giant tackles ambitious topics and complex human relationships with a steady hand and beautifully animated direction from Brad Bird.

Synopsis: In this animated adaptation of Ted Hughes' Cold War fable, a giant alien robot (Vin Diesel) crash-lands near the small... [More]

Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Eli Marienthal, Harry Connick Jr., Vin Diesel

Directed By: Brad Bird