Despite the sticky air and extreme heat reaching the 90s, the summer has come to an end. And with it, came some of the year’s most highest grossing blockbusters — some breaking all-time box office records.
There’s no doubt that 2015 was a big summer for movies, as the season raked in over $4 billion in box office sales, according to Deadline, which is the second highest in earnings overall.
The Union selected a few of the summer’s top performing movies, based on critical and box office suggestion, and let El Camino’s students decide which were the biggest hits.
In first place, with 35 votes, comes “Jurassic World,” the true, and long overdue, sequel to Steven Spielberg’s 1993 classic.
“Jurassic World” didn’t earn the most glorious of reviews, but it did make Universal Studios a ton of money. So much, in fact, that it globally and domestically became the third highest-grossing movie, according to Box Office Mojo.
“Jurassic World” was able to offer everything you could expect from a typical summer blockbuster. Like any other, it had the cheesy one-liners and generally flat characters. But towering over its flaws were the stunning visual effects and solid entertainment.
“Straight Outta Compton” came in a solid second with 33 votes. The biopic on the famed N.W.A. hit hard with passionate and nostalgic fans with smooth direction and outstanding performances.
“It was pretty forward,” Solomon Kanehailu, 18, film major, said. “It really represented the hood.”
Tied for third at 16 votes are Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
When compared to “Fury Road,” “Age of Ultron” dominated the box office. Simply because it’s a PG-13 sequel blockbuster in an era where comic-book movie adaptions rule the film industry.
However, suffering from a more convoluted storyline and sequel fatigue, “Age of Ultron” scored less enthusiastic reviews than “Fury Road.”
It was riddled with all the huge set pieces and superhero fun you’d expect, but Miller’s “Fury Road” succeeded as an octane-filled action flick and an artistic piece of cinema simultaneously.
While the two fall into similar categories, they’re very different movies tailored for fairly different audiences.
While they didn’t make the final cut, honorable mentions — including Pixar’s “Inside Out” and the Tom Cruise-led “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” — provided more than enough entertainment and pulled enough heartstrings to earn a good word of mouth.
“I really liked ‘Inside Out,'” Jennifer Hernandez, 18, psychology major, said. “It showed that it’s OK to be sad and that we can’t be happy all of the time.”
Maria Alcoser contributed reporting.
