This is something new that I’ll be doing from now on.  I don’t know if it’s going to be every weekend but it will be as often as possible.

In this first Top Ten post, I’m going to be posting my personal top ten summer blockbusters from the past 5 years not including this current summer.  I was going to do my all time favorites, but I think the last 5 years should be good enough for now.

I know very well that NOBODY agree’s on these types of lists but thats ok.  The point of me posting this is not for people to agree, it’s basically to get my own taste out for everyone to see.  I don’t expect anyone else’s personal list to be the same.  So below you’ll be able to see and read a brief reason why I like these films.  If you feel so inclined, post your own top ten summer blockbusters.  This list doesn’t include the current 2008 summer.  If it did, Iron Man would be on this list.

For the full article read more after the jump!

1. TRANSFORMERS

Transformers was probably my most anticipated movie for the last several years.  Since it was announced till the day it premiered I followed the production from start to finish for all that I can get.  Whatever information came on the Internet, I wanted to read it.  I didn’t care about the spoilers because I wanted as much Transformers news as possible. 

Knowing Michael Bay was going to direct it I expected a lot of action but like a lot of fans, I was worried he was going to screw up the entire film and make it terrible.  Upon the announcement that Peter Cullen was going to return to voice Optimus Prime again, my expectations and hope for the film basically shot through the roof.  I was more pumped for any movie I can remember for a long time.  The only draw back was if my expectations were going to hurt the overall experience.

When it was all said and done, Transformers turned out to be an amazing action film that a vast majority loved.  People still cried and are still crying that Michael Bay “ruined their childhood” and all I can say to them is keep on crying or just grow up.  Transformers may not be a story written by a writing god but it’s sure damn fun to watch.  Between the acting and the Transformers themselves Paramount pictures has a solid franchise on their hands.  As we speak, Transformers 2 is being prepared for a June shoot and I’m expecting it to be even more exciting then the first one.  My anticipation is starting to feel the way it did 2 years ago.

2. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

I remember when the first Pirates of the Caribbean film was starting to get promotion and so forth.  I remember wanting to see it but in all honesty I had little interest in it. 

It turns out that the little interest that I had, made the film watching experience all that much better.  Sure, when the film first premiere I knew Johnny Depp was in it and I know he is a great actor, then there was Orlando Bloom who I said,  “look its the guy from Lord of the Rings,” and then there was this very attractive British girl Keira Knightley who nobody really knew at the time. 

Overall, Curse of the Black Pearl is a movie that every action movie should be.  Granted its not at my number 1 because Transformers is, Pirates 1 is a fantastic movie in basically every single sense.  Writing, dialog, action, acting, supporting cast, CGI, sets, and on and on…. This movie was simply perfect.  Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about the other 2 films.  The second film wasn’t all that bad, however the 3rd film turned out to be a disappointment during a summer of disappointments.  If producers can find the magic that made Pirates 1 an amazing and hugely popular piece of film making  I wouldn’t be opposed to a 4th film, as long as Bloom and Knightley stay out of it.

3. BATMAN BEGINS

In the beginning I thought this was going to be another crappy attempt at a remake.  Upon hearing that a Batman remake was coming I was naturally annoyed since I’m not a fan of remakes to begin with.  Then the photos and trailers started to appear and I still wasn’t all that impressed.  I was always a Michael Keaton Batman fan and I have fond memories of that movie from when I was a child, so as you can imagine I wasn’t keen on this remake.

Then I finally saw it and I was blown away on how good it was.  Batman Begins is probably my favorite comic book movie of all time and it beats out every one on this 5 year list and it beats out probably everyone before it. 

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman was insane… he was so good.  The supporting cast was just huge!  Even the villain, who could be considered small time for a big budget movie wasn’t bad at all and set up a great story for a franchise that’s been reborn.

I can’t wait to see the next Batman adventure, The Dark Knight.  I’m willing to bet that The Dark Knight is going to beat out even Batman Begins.  However, The Dark Knight has some serious competition for the best comic book movie of 2008 because Iron Man is ripping things apart and rightfully so.

4. SPIDERMAN 2

Spiderman 2 is the perfect sequel.  Coming off a very good origin story film, Spiderman 2 spun into action in the best way a sequel can.

Although questionable actors, mainly Kirsten Dunst, Spiderman 2 turned out to be my favorite movie of 2004.  Its hard to believe it’s been that long already.

A lot of movies these days pay too much attention on things that people end up hating anyways.  What made Spiderman 2 so great is it was simply all Spiderman action.  They gave him a tremendous amount of stuff to do and it turned out so damn good.  Everything looked great and people all over loved it.

Unfortunately, in the end Spiderman 3 completely ruined the franchise for me.  I honestly have a hard time looking at the first 2 films with out remembering that there is a third film and it’s one of the worst comic book movie I’ve ever seen.  We can only guess what happened there.

Still Spiderman 2 holds it’s own and turns out to be an excellent comic book movie.

5. HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

Since the first film, I’ve always enjoyed the Harry Potter films.  I’ve never read the books myself, but the movies are great.

This film in particular, The Order of the Phoenix, is my favorite film out of all of them.  Although each film is very good to begin with, they progressively gotten better with each film.  I’m sure that can be attributed to many things, like the cast and crew are more experienced.

What I like very much about this film is that its becoming more dark and grim for our lead characters.  This isn’t your typical fantasy were everyone magically survives because in the Harry Potter movies, people are getting wasted when ever it works for dramatic purposes and it’s sure working.  I can only expect that with each new story the films get better and I can only imagine how the last two film will turn out, Deathly Hallows part I and II.

6. X-MEN 2

Between X-Men and X-Men 3, there is X-Men 2, the best of the 3 films.  Both the first and second films were directed by Bryan Singer who opted not to direct the 3rd film because he moved on to another Superhero character.

X-Men 2 came out in a great year of movies, between Pirates 1 and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, X-Men was really top notch.

Almost everything about this movie was really great, especially Wolverine who’s getting his own movie for next year.  Being a fan of the cartoon years back, seeing X-Men on the big screen was a cool thing.  The cast of X-Men was almost perfection.  Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and Patrick Stewart as Professor X was simple genius.  The rest of the cast never really bothered me and I’ve liked what I’ve seen, but some roles could have been casted better otherwise it was almost perfection.

That being said, X-Men 2 was the best of the three and added to a good year of movies.

7. SUPERMAN RETURNS

Superman Returns is another film that I anticipated for a long time.  Having loved the Christopher Reeve films, I was very excited to see this character come back.  I was however afraid on how they would go about it. 

Thanks to Bryan Singer who tried to make Superman Returns more of a sequel then a total remake, Superman truly did return.

Although Superman Returns didn’t please crowds as much as was hoped, the end result was still very good.  Superman Returns is a very good movie.  I understand that it doesn’t hold up to comic book movie standards, but as an overall movie, its very very good. 

Even though Superman Returns is a good movie and I like it very much, I’m hoping that a second film, The Man Of Steel, does turn out with more action.  That is expected however.

8. STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH

Episode III was the movie everyone was looking forward to.  Here we were going to finally see the rise of Darth Vader.

What sucked about the prequel films, was that they weren’t all that great.  The only person to blame is George Lucas for the simple fact that he doesn’t know how to direct or write dialog.  He still is however a genius. 

Episode III is in fact one of my favorite summer movies in the past couple of years because we do indeed finally get to see Darth Vader even if it was for a short time.  For me it was something special because it was the first time I was seeing Darth Vader in the theaters.  I couldn’t attend the original movies re-release years ago because at the time, I didn’t have a car yet or a drivers license because I was too young.

Episode III is the best out of the prequels, and some argue that its just as good as Empire Strikes back…. I don’t know if I’d go that far, but it is good.

9. THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM

Another threequel that ended up being the best in the trilogy.  The Bourne Ultimatum the last film in the trilogy, so far at least, is by far the best one.

Here in this movie, Matt Damon is actually convincing enough that he can be an action star.  I do very much like all of the films, but this one really turned out to be something really good.  In this film we finally didn’t have to deal with all of the shaky camera work that is so dreaded in action movies.  It’s still there but it isn’t as bad as say the 2nd film.

The Borune Ultimatum is action packed with a really good story.  It’s intense and Matt Damon really can kick ass.  There has been rumors that a 4th film may possibly be in the works and I personally hope that another gets made.

10. THE DA VINCI CODE

Yea… I know what people are thinking.  How can The Da Vinci Code be in my top ten for the last 5 years.  It’s simple, because I love movies like this.

I have this fascination with historical, mythological and religious fact finding movies.  It doesn’t matter if it’s fact or fiction, these are the kind of movies that I love.  Also Tom Hanks is one of my all time favorite actors.

As much as people complain that this movie is boring, they aren’t seeing what I see.  Intrigue.  It’s that simple.  I love movies that can intrigue me and like some people have said, this is a movie that you love watching Tom Hanks think.  The story is really good, the acting is amazing, the places they shot at are world renowned and the score was fantastic.

I’m very excited to see the next Robert Langdon story in Angel’s and Demon’s coming out a year from now… if it ever starts shooting.

So there it is folks, these are my top ten summer blockbusters  within the last 5 years.  At the end of this summer I may have to update the list.  I know many of you will most certainly not agree with my list, but that’s why its MY personal top ten.  At least you can gain by knowing my tastes a little better.

-Phil