Top 10 Milestones in Cinema

To date, quite a few films have grossed over a billion dollars at the worldwide box office. In 1997, though, a billion dollar blockbuster was completely unheard of. Nobody ever would have predicted the film to reach this milestone would be James Cameron’s “Titanic,” which had run ridiculously over budget with numerous production delays. Regardless, the most expensive movie of the time became the highest-grossing movie of the time too. In addition to this financial milestone, “Titanic” also won eleven Academy Awards, tying with “Ben-Hur” for the all-time Oscar record.

As primitive as it might seem, this just over ten minute long silent film is to cinematic evolution what the wheel is to technological evolution. Edwin S. Porter’s “The Great Train Robbery” was the first time innovations like multiple camera angles and composite editing were utilized to tell a thrilling, flowing narrative. Audiences were so spellbound that they literally thought the picture might jump out at them. It left everyone on edge until the final shot as a bandit fired directly at the camera.

This iconic space opera changed cinema in more ways than we can count. Above all else, “Star Wars” ushered in a renaissance of trailblazing special effects. For a long time, there were many stories people deemed too complex to put on film. Through “Star Wars,” however, George Lucas made us believe that robots could have personalities, spaceships could travel at light speed, and any idea could become reality. His film was the launching point for Industrial Light & Magic, a company which continues to bring “unfilmable” stories to life even today. Equally important is what Star Wars did for franchising, making the merchandising aspect central to profit making.

Speaking of unfilmable stories, James Cameron toiled with “Avatar” for decades until the technology finally caught up with his vision. Cameron immersed audiences in a living, breathing world, which was only made more tangible thanks to 3D effects. While 3D had been around for years, “Avatar” was one of the first mainstream films in some time that really explored how it could make the audience part of a cinematic experience. Although many blockbusters since have jumped on the 3D bandwagon, few have been as effective as Cameron’s record-breaking moneymaker.

You all knew this one had to make the list. It’s arguably the greatest movie ever made, after all. But it isn’t just the story, characters, and themes that make “Citizen Kane” so great, it’s the groundbreaking way those elements are presented. Orson Welles’ use of music, sound, deep focus cinematography, and non-linear storytelling told from multiple perspectives introduced audiences to a method of filmmaking unlike anything they’d ever seen. Watching “Citizen Kane,” you can’t help but feel grateful for its enduring innovations many of us take for granted nowadays.

The year 1939 was in itself a milestone for film, delivering more perennial classics in the entire history of cinema. The most significant of the bunch was “Gone with the Wind.” Never before had an American epic been larger in scale, grander in romance, and poetic in visuals. Winner of eight Oscars and still the biggest movie ever after inflation, “Gone with the Wind” convinced studios for generations to come that big budget epics were well worth the investment. Without its impact, movies would feel so much smaller and more limited.

Believe it or not, there was actually a time where the summer movie season was non-existent. Some costly films rarely even received a wide release opening. Summer and movie distribution would never be the same again after “Jaws.” The first movie to make over 100 million dollars, “Jaws” had people across America rushing to the theater and avoiding the beach like hell. Although it’s easy to complain about all the stinkers that come out every summer, movies like “Jaws” make us thankful summer blockbusters exist at all.

In the mid-‘90s, almost nobody thought a movie made entirely with computers was practical. But that didn’t stop Pixar from changing animation forever with “Toy Story.” John Lasseter’s film demonstrated all the potential digital animation possessed with breathtaking attention to detail. Where the environments in most hand-drawn animations looked a little too polished, “Toy Story” went the extra mile to create a more convincing world. Digital animation has since become the new norm, making “Toy Story” the most influential animated film since, well, the next film on our list.

Where most people believed Pixar was taking a risk making “Toy Story,” everybody believed Disney was insane for making “Snow White.” The world was convinced that cartoons were good for brief escapism, but that was the extent of the art form. If there’s one thing Walt Disney was known for, though, it was proving naysayers 100% wrong. “Snow White” was instantly hailed as a classic, bringing Disney an honorary Oscar and several miniature statuettes. Almost eighty years later, animation is one of the most profitable and marketable genres in all of film.

Before we advance to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- The First Anime Film to Win an Academy Award
“Spirited Away” (2001)
- The First Use of Photorealistic CG Creatures
“Jurassic Park” (1993)
- The First Sci-Fi Movie
“A Trip to the Moon” (1902)
- Breakthrough in Anime
“Akira” (1988)
- Breakthrough in Computer Animation
“Tron” (1982)

No film that’s come out in the past several decades would be complete without one simple, yet fundamental, quality: sound. In an age of silent pictures, “The Jazz Singer” gave cinema a voice and proved that feature-length talkies were the wave of the future. Like every other film on this list, “The Jazz Singer” was a game changer that went against the status quo. It just goes to show that great art doesn’t come from following the unspoken rules; it comes from defying them.

Do you agree with our list? What movies changed the way you look at cinema? For more informative Top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.