7 Jaws (1975)

The master filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s perfect intertwining of sentiments, suspense, and strong character performance, come together to make a film like this one. Jaws managed to spawn a new movie archetype that filmmakers are still trying to replicate! It was the first time a movie was released in hundreds of theaters simultaneously. 

Jaws is a 1975 monster movie all about a great white shark terrorizing beach-goers in the small town of Amity. John William rendered an incredible score to the movie that still sets it apart from the others 47 years later. Jaws instilled an eerie sense of terror into the viewer of an unseen danger lurking somewhere they cannot see. This movie was the showstopper of all monster movies ever made.

The pacing, terror, and danger that Jaws managed to instigate in the audiences are incomparable to what any other movie could do thereafter. It was the first-of-its-kind major motion picture to be shot on an ocean. The film was released to over 450 screens at the same time, which was considered huge at that time. It was the highest-grossing film until the release of Star Wars in 1977. The producers of this film launched 30-second trailers on multiple channels and then released the movie simultaneously across the US so that all Americans could watch it at once. This pattern of releasing a film has been standard ever since. (1, 2)

8 The Titanic (1997)

The Titanic was a benchmark for Hollywood films earning more than $1 billion at the box office. It was a blockbuster globally that proved that it doesn’t take only A-listers to make a runaway success!

James Cameron’s The Titanic was the first-of-its-kind film to make use of real-life events into a fictional love story. The storyline, excellent directorial skills, music, and character development of the movie have not only awed the entire generation that saw it but also inspired many further-to-come generations. The story narrates a tragic love story that is perceived to be true. Audiences watch the masterful operatic dimension in awe as everyone knows the climax beforehand.

The fascination with the sinking of the unsinkable ship and the taking down along with it more than 1,500 people had only intrigued Europe and America before the movie was made. After The Titanic film, the entire world reminisced about the loss of the great vessel, such as the impact of the powerful movie. A good tear-jerker, this movie remained afloat on the cash seas of the production houses as the first-of-its-kind Hollywood movie to initiate a successful global haul. (1, 2)

9 The Jazz Singer (1927)

This breakthrough movie brought in sound in the form of dialogues. The Jazz Singer was the first-of-its-kind movie to bring on spoken dialogue into its production. It also won the first honorary Academy Award for technical advancement.

The Jazz Singer was the first-of-its-kind, 1927 Hollywood film to add spoken dialogue. Warner Bros. Studios achieved this feat by using a then ground-breaking technology called “Vitaphone.” Although the sound came out a bit unsteady, it was the first important leap in movie-making. The Jazz Singer was the first feature-length movie with a synchronized recorded music score and lip-synchronous singing and dialogues. 

The Vitaphone technology was soon replaced by sound-on-film processes, but it was still used for cartoon pictures throughout the 1940s. The film was first offered to comedians Eddie Cantor and George Jessel, who declined, leaving the role for the fortunate Al Jolson. The Jazz Singer was a financial success and established Warner Brothers as a major studio. The studio bagged an award for “…producing The Jazz Singer, the pioneer outstanding talking picture, which has revolutionized the industry.” (1, 2)

10 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

This outstanding science fiction film made a giant leap in man-made special effects used in film-making. 2001: A Space Odyssey proved that dialogues are optional to make a successful movie, as it hardly has any! 

2001: A Space Odyssey created a completely new genre of movies in Hollywood that relies on special effects, audio-visual effects, and images for narration. Director and producer Stanley Kubrick used special effects, audio effects, and images to create a spellbinding outer space experience for the viewer. It proved that a compelling narrative can be speechless.

These techniques have since been used in a host of other movies to come including, Star Wars and Alien. This movie defied the protocols that had been set by other sci-fi or space-fiction movies. Music is often used as an auditory cue for the audience to determine what they are seeing or should be feeling, but without any music, it takes a really good direction to keep the audience sitting on the edge of their seats! Stanley Kubrick hit a bullseye here with his smart direction! (1, 2)

11 Jurassic Park (1993)

Another masterpiece by Spielberg, Jurassic Park, was the first-of-its-kind movie to bring dinosaurs to life. Using animatronic robots and technologically-advanced special effects, the whole visual experience seemed realistic. Thanks to Jurassic Park, people could now relate to the dystopian world of the past when dinosaurs existed.

Released in 1993, Steven Speilberg’s Jurassic Park changed Hollywood forever! Adapted from Michael Crichton’s best-selling book from 1990, this movie showcased realistic-looking dinosaurs using astounding visuals and soundtrack. Computer-generated imagery (CGI), animatronics, and cutting-edge technology made the dead-millions-of-years-ago beasts come alive. People now had a notion of how dinosaurs looked and behaved.

This movie proved that CGI is limitless. Although in common use now, Jurassic Park was the first-of-its-kind movie to use these effects and paved the way for other movies like the Avengers, The Lord of the Rings, and Avatar. Steven Speilberg consulted famous paleontologist Jack Horner to get the precise presentation of dinosaurs. (1, 2)

12 The Lord of the Rings (2001- 2003)

Using high-end computer animation and artificial intelligence software, The Lord of the Rings trilogy about orcs, hobbits, and rings bagged many Academy Awards. The fantasy series changed everyone’s perception of cinema and easily became a mainstream hit. 

The Lord of the Rings is a series of three epic fantasy films from the novel of the same name authored by J.R. R. Tolkein. It is regarded as one of the most influential films of all time grossing a net profit of $3 billion worldwide. This film raised the bar for creating immersive worlds on the screen using MASSIVE (multiple agent simulation systems in a virtual environment), a computer AI, and an animation package used for generating crowd-related visual effects.

Director Peter Jackson worked on the trilogy for eight years, and all three movies were filmed at the same time. What is astonishing in these series is the effect they managed to create at a time when sources and technology were quite limited. The movie had a storyline of good versus evil with incredible battle sequences and groundbreaking visual effects. (1, 2)