Can you remember where you were, or what you were doing right before the summer of 1989 and its incredible lineup of feature films kicked off? I’ve been reflecting a lot recently on growing up in the 80s, what it meant to me, and how I was flat out lucky to grow up in a time period where so many classic big-screen action adventure, comedy, drama, horror, and Sci-Fi films were released in one decade, let alone in the window of one summer!
For starters, Batman (1989) is without question the biggest summer blockbuster of the last 30 years when you factor in inflation. I still remember all the merchandise as a kid from the jogging pants, toy figurines, t-shirts, hats, you name it, this film had everything it needed to stir up a mass audience. Heck, even Will freaking Weaton was decked out in Batman apparel at the time, ha!
And then of course you had Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Ghostbusters II, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Licence to Kill (007), Field of Dreams, Uncle Buck, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, The Abyss, Nightmare on Elm Street Part 5, Friday the 13th Part 8, When Harry Met Sally, Lethal Weapon 2, Weekend at Bernies, Turner and Hooch, Dead Poets Society, Do the Right Thing, Road House, Karate Kid Part III, The Burbs and the list goes on. I’ll let you fill in the rest. I mean are you kidding me? There was literally something for everyone from May-August of 89. I honestly can’t remember another summer since that point which had so many memorable films week after week.
One interesting bonus of the time period was movie studios were very big on providing merchandise for theater owners to put on display for sale while a film was in the thick of its theatrical run. I’ll never forget when my father took me to see Star Trek V that summer (yes I get it, most hated Trek film of all time) and there were posters for sale like this one in the lobby of the theater:
The same went for the other big tent-poles of that summer with Ghostbusters II, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in that you’d always be able to find some sort of memorabilia on hand as you walked in or out of the theater you were frequenting.
It was also easily a more innocent time for moviegoers when there was no internet to ruin or spoil the plot of the film, and you either were teased via trailers/previews before whatever film you paid to see, or if you were a true die-hard fan you picked up a movie magazine like this one to learn some small nuggets of details before a film’s theatrical release:
Now, in the event you couldn’t purchase one of these movie magazines that usually retailed for about $3.95 back in the day, there was always the occasional TV commercial that previewed the upcoming films for you, like this one:
And how about the insanely long lines of people who would line up outside a privately owned theater to see the big opening of a summer blockbuster? It happened a great deal in 1989, and I rarely, rarely remember it happening all too often in the 2000s as movie theaters began to expand to the point of allowing for an exponential amount of screenings per day. The convenience of not having to wait is certainly easier, but it takes away from how much going to see a film like Batman was an “event” to be had. I keep bringing this up, but there was indeed a certain innocence still alive in 1989 that has been all but lost by 2015. Everything seemed larger than life back then, and maybe that was due in part to my ripe old age of 9, but I’d be interested to read what some of you felt was different, and perhaps better back then during such a summer of memorable flicks.
Even to this day, I remember thinking it was such a stark contrast from that summer to now just in the sense there were legitimate privately owned cinemas, sometimes just owned by one guy or gal who practically lived at their theater. Case in point, I’ll never forget walking into see Batman for about the 6th time with my father, and that particular theater owner just let us in for free by that point. Do you think Regal Cinemas would ever dare do such a gracious thing? Absolutely not. It was a good time to be alive and a fan of going to the movies to say the least…
Bottom line, what do all of you remember about that summer of movies? Was Indiana Jones or Pete Veinkman any more satisfying to you than some of the other heroes depicted in sequels then? Please post some of your best summer of 89 memories below. It’s a heck of a time to be nostalgic! I’d say one of my closer friends summed up the time period best by stating: I remember the late 80s being really great…..movies, music, not a care in the world! And with that, I’ll leave you with this clip from the finale to Batman, that for me, symbolizes the magic of that summer on the big screen. Thanks for reading!
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