The ticket to summer fun.(trends in summer movies)(Editorial)

According to the calendar, summer doesn't actually begin until June 21, but for children and adults, the Memorial Day weekend is the "real" start of the season. That is when many open their swimming pools, uncover their grills, and head to the beach. It is a time for parades, barbecues, and backyard fun. It is also when studios kick off their summer box-office bonanza.

Years ago, a summer night at the movies meant packing up the pajama-clad children in the family station wagon and heading to the local drive-in for a double feature that usually included less-than-stellar titles, since major studios avoided summer releases on the premise that moviegoers would rather occupy themselves with outdoor activities. However, the whole concept of the summer movie changed in 1975, evolving into what we call the summer blockbuster and transforming Hollywood in the process. The phenomenon surfaced in June 1975 when Jaws took a giant bite out of box-office revenues by becoming the first to reel in $100 million in domestic sales (today's definition of a blockbuster), slaughtering then-ruler The Godfather, with $85 million, and turning all subsequent releases that year--including the classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest--into mere fish food. With its big thrills and chills, most of which were accomplished by an animatronic great white shark and suspenseful camera shots, the film kept people out of the water and in the theaters as they returned for a second, third, and fourth viewing.

Soon after, the summer film lineups began shining as brightly as the summer sun, thanks in no small part to the use of spectacular effects. Just as Jaws redefined the summer film and made a fairly unknown director, Steven Spielberg, a household name, so, too, did a science-fiction flick called Star Wars, which made Spielberg's friend George Lucas a movie legend. Star Wars remains ...