In the immortal words of Jim Morrison, Summers Almost Gone. That doesn’t mean however that we can’t relive those heady summer days through the autumn and the dark cold months of the winter.
One of the best ways to do that is with a classic summer movie because, despite the genre, these movies are good any time of the year.
So, what makes a great summer movie?
There’s no off the shelf formula but, based on the choices from the team here at ClickPlay and outlined below, there are a few elements that really help.
First up, they need to be set in, you guessed it, the summer. No summer blockbuster is going to be set in a frozen Arctic wilderness. So, whatever action or story might unfold in the movie, it has to unfold in a landscape and a climate that evokes that feeling of summer, long days and balmy nights rather than falling leaves and winter coats.
What else? Summertime is a magic time. There’s something about the warmth and the travel and the adventures that unfold in the summer that the best summer days a dream-like quality. The best movies capture this, maybe with slightly out of focus camera shots, great music and sun rays obscuring our periphery vision.
Cate le Bon achieves this effect in this video for her psychedelic summer song, with blinding sun rays that turn the world to silhouettes.
So, with that in mind, what are the best summer movies ever? We asked the team here at ClickPlay to choose their favourites and, after much debate over popcorn and hotdogs, we settled on the below five. Is your favourite in here? Let us know!
No summer movie roundup would be complete without this classic from Steven Spielberg. Set on the sunny coast of a relaxed beach town, Jaws turns the perfect summer into a terrifying ordeal.
Holidaymakers find themselves stalked by a great white shark with only the films heroes, a police chief, marine biologist and professional shark hunter standing in the way.
With lush summer landscapes contrasted with the ever-increasing tension evoked by Spielberg, Jaws is a summer must.
Point Break takes the surfer dream of rebelliousness and care-free summer living and takes it to the next level. The film sees an undercover cop played by Keanu Reeves trying to infiltrate a notorious gang of surfers who keep the party going by robbing banks.
The film explores the tension between the gangs will to freedom, and the consequences of their action for the rest of society. With great music and even greater surfing scenes, Point Break has become a cult summer classic.
Stand by Me, based on a Steven King story that was a rare foray away from straight horror, is a classic coming of age story. Four young boys wile away the summer in small town America navigating the challenges of growing up and exploring the true meaning of friendship.
With incredible performances from a young star including River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Kiefer Sutherland, Stand by Me captures the spirit of long-summer breaks from school, when the world feels as though it’s a story waiting to be written.
The Talented Mr Ripley sees a genius impressionist and conman infiltrate the lives a group of American socialites holidaying on Italy’s iconic Amalfi Coast. With a soundtrack of evocative summer jazz and endless shots of rustic villas and calm blue seas, this movie makes the most of its Italian setting. After watching this, you’ll be booking your Italian holiday for next summer, though try and avoid Mr Ripley if you go!
Another surfing movie, this time an iconic documentary from way back in the 1960s which opened the world’s eyes to surfing culture and the endless summer it promises.
The documentary follows two surfers from California who, rather than wait out the winter there, follow summer around the world taking in beaches across Europe, Africa and Australia on the way. With a grungy surf rock soundtrack and lo-fi filming techniques, watching Endless Summer is like watching a dream unfold. The perfect antidote to a cool winter’s eve.
These are just some summer hits; and we could list a thousand more! Which of the above is your favorite? And which movies did we miss?
