Frosty drinks. Patios. Beaches. Frosty drinks. Summer movies. Picnics. Sunshine-filled days. Frosty drinks. Campfires. S’mores. Did we mention frosty drinks? And summer movies? Let’s face it, the best, warmest, happiest season is far too short. So you can bet we’re taking advantage of every second we have to party with friends, reminisce and reconnect. But there’s something about a summer movie, those films that shoot us right back in time to those hazy, lazy days we love, that make us feel like we are right inside summer. Getting excited yet?
So here they are: Our throwback suggestions for movies that make us think about summer fun. Did we miss any?
10 CLASSIC SUMMER MOVIES THAT MAKE US HAPPY
CLASSIC SUMMER MOVIE 1:
Grease
Is there anything better than summer lovin’? Nope, not when it comes with dancing and smoking and growing up in the 50s. The classic musical about young love, the new girl and the cool kids is still a hit—every time we watch it and sing along. Oh and the fashion, right?
Confession: we still want to be a part of the Pink Ladies, especially when they’re having a sleepover.
CLASSIC SUMMER MOVIE 2:
Field of Dreams
If he builds it, they will come. What is it? Well, obviously it’s a baseball diamond in the middle of a corn field. Who are they? Why, the hot boys of summer in the form of the 1919 Chicago White Sox.
You don’t have to be a baseball fan to appreciate this Academy Award winning film starring Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan and Ray Liotta.
CLASSIC SUMMER MOVIE 3:
Jaws
It’s scared us out of our seats back then, and even now, get ready for chills. It’s the nightmare we’ve all had and still have and will always have. A giant man-eating shark hunts beachgoers in a summer resort town.
More than 4 decades (yikes!) after its original release, this classic thriller still makes us think it is not safe to go in the water. But it’s worth it.
CLASSIC SUMMER MOVIE 4:
Dirty Dancing
What does a bored girl from a wealthy do while her family spends their summer vacation at a resort in the Catskill Mountains? She does what any girl coming of age in the 50s would do. She finds the staff after hours party places and bags the hottest, sweetest guy she can find.
Oh, and she spends all her time learning to dirty dance with Patrick Swayze, of course! Nobody puts baby in a corner.
CLASSIC SUMMER MOVIE 5:
Top Gun
You can’t deny it. There is just something so appealing about hot shot pilots all dolled up in uniform. But it’s when they are stripped down on a beach and playing an intensely competitive game of volleyball that the summer heat really sets in.
The action is non-stop in this romantic drama about the life of a pilot in training, starring a young (wow, this guy can actually act!) Tom Cruise.
CLASSIC
SUMMER MOVIE 6: Meatballs
This one time…. At summer camp… Who can forget? Not us. The late 70s and early 80s were the golden era of cheesy comedies. And that is why we love laughing our way through the wild hijinks of the camp counsellors at Camp North Star.
Especially since the hilariously loveable Bill Murray stars, and the film is set in, you guessed it, northern Ontario.
CLASSIC
SUMMER MOVIE 7: Indian Summer
Since we are talking summer camps, how about a summer camp reunion? When their beloved childhood summer camp is on the verge of closure, a group of former campers, now adults, return for one last week of camp.
What happens? You’ll have to watch to find that one out.
CLASSIC SUMMER MOVIE 8:
Summer Lovers
If you love a steamy beach read, then a steamy romance onscreen is the next best thing. A visit to a nude beach on a Greek Island leads a young couple to to shed their inhibitions. Whoa, right?
You may want to crank the AC to the max before you settle yourself down to get into this one.
CLASSIC SUMMER MOVIE 9:
A Walk on the Moon
Set during the era of Woodstock and free love, a lonely housewife breaks free of convention when she meets The Balloon Man, a smoking hot traveling salesman.
If more salesmen looked like this guy, wethinks the door-to-door sales business would still be booming.
CLASSIC SUMMER MOVIE 10:
The Big Chill
After an unexpected tragedy, a group of college friends reunite after 15 years of living separate lives. To a 60s soundtrack that can’t be beat, they spend a weekend together at a vacation home and relive their glory days.
Fun fact: Kevin Costner was cast as the deceased friend but shots of his face were cut from the film. How about that?
