The BLOCKBUSTER!!!!

The birth of Blockbuster is set in History for all eternity!  And I don't mean the Video shop, I mean the Blockbuster Film.

Yes believe it or not the modern Blockbuster came to life in 1975 when a film was released that changed the face of cinema and the rise of the High Concept and High budget film!

The film well it is one of the best films in history with a simple score of notes that made a villain, with not very super high tech special effects or CGI, you're probably thinking what film are you on about!
If you're guessing Star Wars you're a little bit early that wasn't released until 1977.

The film in question was Directed by one of my favourite Directors of all time, his unique way of making films and writing them has made him become a family name throughout most households!

I am talking about the man himself Mr Steven Spielberg and his classic Epic JAWS!!!!

Jaws was ultimately nothing that had never been seen before on cinema screens, after the age of the Movie Brats (Directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma and George Lucas) Jaws burst onto the scene with a new way of advertising and marketing a film.
As you can see the Film Art is simple and what we would call High Concept Art, you can tell what the film is going to be about from the actual poster.
When i mean marketing a film, Today films can be everywhere all over the internet, TV and Radio, back in 1975, the film company bought up 30 second slots on TV three days before the film was due to be released and made sure that the majority of the public knew about the film, this clever strategy made sure that Jaws remains one of the biggest grossing films in history at the box office!

Jaws's Success paved the way for the Blockbuster culture throughout the late 70's and 80's with big budget films being made and realised to mass audiences using advertising and marketing formats that Jaws had introduced.

No One Can Hear You Scream In Space!

Thinking of High Concept films, I've brushed on them before, and haven't really explained them, some films that you wouldn't think were High Concept actually are.
I can argue that some are not, for and example Alien can be considered a High Concept film due to it's artwork rather than the narrative (which is complex in every detail if you read into it!) as Sir Ridley Scott wasn't just making a Horror/Sci Fi film about an alien killing everyone on a Spaceship... watching the prequel (Prometheus- 2012 on DVD and Blu-ray) the actual content of the narrative is complex as you would ask how did the Alien get on the ship? Why is it there? Whats the reason for killing the crew members?








And leaving Sigourney Weaver's character to be the last human alive on the ship?

The Last Human Left- A Female Hero!

Original Star Wars Cast 

Other High Concept films have followed another legendary hit being Star Wars (1977) by George Lucas, with it's out of this world cinema experience for the time (the later films again the prequels episode 1,2 and 3  were even better for special effects) captured the imagination of a generation. 

With the odd nod to the film in cult comedy series like 'Friends' and cartoons such as 'Family Guy' and 'The Simpsons'. Star Wars went down in history as an epic, with droves of dedicated fans still to this day going to comic book conventions and buying merchandise and one off pieces. That was  what sold the Star Wars franchise again a new technique on the marketing front. Making action figures to go with the film is simple these days back then it was a new thing to make action figures for a market to get involved in a film! Selling mechanise to the general public from an external company made George Lucas rich as the film company thought it'd be silly to keep the rights to themselves! OH HOW SILLY THERE WERE !!!!! 

Rachel dressed as Princess Layer in the iconic Gold Bikini

Yes it is true to say the 'Blockbuster' is here to stay!!!! So when you read the term Blockbuster hopefully you'll understand the term?