Our Top Ten Boomer Summer Movies

Besides the beach, the movie theater is one of the best places to be during the summer. And in the colder weather, it can warm you up just to watch movie stars frolicking in the sand. Here are ten of our favorite hot-season movies.

Jaws

In 1975, moviegoers were terrified by the monster shark who panicked a small seaside town. Best quote, after the shark attacks a fishing vessel: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

Star Wars What memories - Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, the Jedi Knights, C-3PO and Princess Leia’s doughnut-shaped hair. Like many science-fiction blockbusters, the film tells the story of a difficult journey—in this case, Luke Skywaler’s treacherous path toward Jedi knighthood. Does he make it? Have you ever heard the word sequel?

American Graffiti Every high school has them: the jock, the bad boy, the nerd, the dumb blonde and the sensible brunette. Plus cars. Lots of cruising, drag-racing cars. Directed by George Lucas (of Star Wars fame), this down-to-earth movie chronicles the last night of summer 1962 in a California town. Some kids are going off to college. Others will stay in the town forever. It’s a bittersweet note that raises the movie above the standard teenage-shenanigans story.

Dazed and Confused It’s 1976, fourteen years after American Graffiti, and it takes place at the beginning of the summer, not the end, but some things haven’t changed. Cars and booze are still a big part of the mix in this small Texas town, and director Richard Linklater throws in massive marijuana consumption as well. Where are these kids going? For now, no place special—just to Houston to score some Aerosmith tickets.

Woodstock the Movie Half a million people in a muddy pasture. Not enough port-a-potties. Interminable drum solos. Groovy! If you were there, you probably loved it, and if you weren’t, consider yourself lucky and have a vicarious experience of one of the most important summer cultural events ever. When this was showing in theaters, there was no shortage of drugs in the audience. Just like the concert itself.

Summer of '42 You’re a 15-year-old boy, it’s summer--and a beautiful older woman seduces you. Of course she does. Well, women have chick flicks, so why shouldn’t men have some innocent fantasies? As a lonely woman whose husband is fighting in World War II, Jennifer O’Neill is breathtakingly lovely. And Gary Grimes is awkwardly appealing. But Summer of ’42, released in 1971, also has some very serious undertones.

The Endless Summer It seems only appropriate that the 1966 movie would be released in the summer. The documentary about surfing drew hundreds of thousands of viewers who lined up outside theaters. Not surprising when you consider the spectacular shots of surfers riding immense waves seemingly as easily as most of us walk down the street. These guys aren’t in search of fame or money—just the next perfect wave.

Blue Hawaii Elvis Presley plays Chad Gates, a Hawaiian guy who becomes a tour guide even though his parents don’t want him to. In spite of that job, Elvis spends about half the movie in tight-fitting swim trunks, kicking sand with his bongo band. It’s no plot spoiler to say that his parents finally come around to his way of thinking. Unbelievable final scene: Elvis floating down a stream with his girlfriend to the tune of Hawaiian Wedding Song.

Beach Blanket Bingo Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello star in the fourth of their bikini-series movies. Don’t worry about the plot of this 1965 movie. You just need to know that the kids find themselves up against a motorcycle gang leader called Eric Von Zipper. He has a plan to kidnap singer Sugar Kane, played by Dynasty’s Linda Evans. It doesn’t work. At the end of the movie, a mermaid disappears into the sea. She’s named Lorelei.

The Parent Trap We mean the original, with Hayley Mills, not the remake, with Lindsay Lohan. Mills, one of the most popular child stars ever, does a great job as twin sisters who just want their parents to get back together again. Unlike the remake, where the “twins” are ultra-girly, Mills wears sensible clothes and obviously likes outdoor activities.