The internet was very recently plunged into a heated debate when one fan put forward the case for 1982 to be named as the best year ever for summer cinema, and plenty of salient points were made. However, the argument has now migrated across to Reddit, with 1999 being singled out for particular praise.
Focusing on quality over quantity, the original post lists a myriad of critically acclaimed, wildly popular, and/or enormously successful titles to have hit theaters between January 1 and December 31, and the evidence makes for a compelling case. Of course, it didn’t take long for other users to begin chiming in with their own two cents, with virtual hands soon ready to be thrown.
Old school cinema enthusiasts have thrown 1939 into the mix, which delivered countless classics including Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
1962 came packing Dr. No, Lawrence of Arabia, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lolita, Whatever Happend to Baby Jane?, The Manchurian Candidate, and plenty more besides, while 1984 and 1985 combined to gift the world with Ghostbusters, Top Secret! A Nightmare on Elm Street, Beverly Hills Cop, The Goonies, Back to the Future, Commando, Pale Rider, Rocky IV, and even more undisputed titans of the artform.
In short; there’s absolutely no chance a definitive answer will be reached, although looking at the lineup put forward to support 1993 as the winner, it’s easy to forget the annum might just be one of the industry’s most underrated 12-months spans ever.