Top 10 Universal Movies of All Time

In this week's episode, Jared shares with us his opinion of the top 10 Universal Studios Movies of all time. 

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In this week's episode of A Dryer Dose of Disney, Jared shares with us his opinion of the top 10 Universal movies of all time. Welcome to this week's episode of a Dryer Dose of Disney. I'm your host, Jared Dryer, and today we are gonna be talking about the top 10 universal movies. Now, over the last couple weeks, we went over the top 10 Disney animated films and the top 10 Disney feature length films, and we're gonna be wrapping up our series with the top 10 universal films. But before we get started we do wanna ask wherever you're watching this podcast or listening to it, that you find that subscribe button and notification button, so that way you can be notified every time we drop a new episode. With this one, this is the last one for this season we have multiple seasons of podcast out there for you guys to consume. And this is the last one of this most recent season. It'll be a little bit before we start our next episode, and if you remember, last year we wanted to do more international traveling episodes. So that's something we're working towards to see if we can get you more information on what it's like to go to the Disney or Universal parks in other countries. And we're gonna continue to work towards that, but it could be a while before we have our next episode, since we are wrapping up this season. So we do wanna ask again, click that subscribe button so when the next episode does drop, you're able to find that and be notified of that next episode as we share the theme park best tips and tricks for you, as well as some of the best foods. And we talk about all the festivals and all the cool things happening at the parks, including the updates that are coming. So it's great podcast to be a part of, and we like to share this information with you. Also down in our podcast description below, there are lots of different links. For a lot of our show supporters, which include things like Mouse dining the Southwest Airlines card, as well as our condo down there in Orlando, so you can stay where we stay at our actual condo and you can see all the cool stuff that we talk about, including our cool artwork there and stuff. So check that out in the description down below. We would love to host you down there. But let's hop right into it. So we went over, like I said, the last couple weeks, the top 10 Disney animated films, the top 10 Disney feature length films. And today we're gonna be covering the top 10 universal movies. Now, as the parks are dedicated to these movies and through the multiple universal parks, we have some really great feature films that are highlighted. But what's surprising is Universal has a huge monstrous catalog of hundreds and hundreds of different movies over the decades. That are all fantastically great films. So this one was a lot more difficult to choose because there are so many great films that are out there that were released by Universal. So a lot of really great content to celebrate here. And we are gonna go through what we think, in our opinion, are the top 10 universal movies of all time. Now, of course, depending on your taste in movies, if you love comedies, maybe there were more comedies you would've put on here. So for example, on this list. One of my all time favorite comedies is The Jerk, which is a Steve Martin film, and that one is a universal film and it is not included on this list. Because there are other films that we thought were better. Now your movie types maybe something like the Harry Potter series, or you may like more action filled movies out there. So you may choose a different lineup of the top 10 movies than what we did. So what we did when we came up with our list is we looked for inspiring movies, things that were not just famous movies, but they did really well at the box office. But these are ones that are not only renowned by us, but by other users as well. Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB these are a lot of the movies that are their top movies as well. And as we went through. The listing of all the universal movies ever made. These are the ones that stood out to us the most as not only the most influential, but the ones that really popped as the biggest movies of all time. That's where this list came from. Of course, you are welcome to comment on our podcast where the comments are allowed, as well as you can find us on Facebook and you can give us your top 10 lists. And we're of course happy to share that on a future episode as well as some of the feedback that we get. So without any further ado, we are gonna jump right in and we are gonna start with the 10th movie on our list. And ironically, the 10th movie is a relatively new movie when you consider their history. And for us to have a movie as recent as this one at number 10, can really tell you how much this movie stood out to us as a top movie of all time. And the 10th movie in the Universal lineup is the new movie, Oppenheimer that was directed by Christopher Nolan. And if you're familiar with Christopher Nolan films, which include inception , as well as the Dark Night Trilogy, Christopher Nolan has a really great way of telling a story. His method of directing is really different from a lot of others is especially when you consider movies like Tenet, where the movie's going in forward and backwards through different parts of the movie. So Christopher Nolan has a very unique styling, and I have to say I absolutely love it. I think The Dark Knight is the best Batman series that's out there, as well as obviously inception and tenant being fantastic movies as well. And anytime I'm talking to my friends or family about top directors. And there are movies to watch. Christopher Nolan always falls in the top five somewhere, so I have to say he's a fantastic director. He did a great job with Oppenheimer. If you haven't seen Oppenheimer, this is the story of the Manhattan Project and the first atomic bomb. And this story is very historically accurate, as well as very dramatic at the same time. So it's got a lot of really great elements in it. So I do encourage you, if you haven't seen it, run out, check this movie out. It deserves to be in the top 10. It did win a ton of Oscars this last year, and because of that, it's number 10 on our list. Let's go now to number nine. And this movie came out in the mid nineties and I have to say this is a great movie if you like to see a lot of different diverse actors in one film together. And that is Apollo 13. Apollo 13 is the story of the Failed Moon mission that occurred in the seventies. And in this movie you've got Tom Hanks, you've got Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinis. As well as bill Paxton and a host of other people that were part of that Spaceship Crew. So this is a great movie if you like, playing six Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon, where you can go through and try to link any actor or actress to Kevin Bacon because there are so many famous people. In Apollo 13. Now, not only is it a great movie, also historically accurate, and as you can tell, I do like the history part of things because a few of our movies do fall into that category. But this movie had a great soundtrack that accompanied it as well as just a lot of really good heart and emotion in it. So if you haven't seen Apollo 13, definitely go check that out. But this is a top universal movie in our opinion, and it is just a great. Family experience. This movie's totally clean to watch though the thematic elements of being stuck in space and lost can be a little mature for some people. This is something you can feel totally safe showing anyone in your family because it doesn't have any of the violence language or any of the sexual content as a lot of other movies that could be potentially from Universal Studios. We absolutely love Apollo 13. Let's go to number eight on our list, and number eight is a Ridley Scott movie. And if Ridley Scott, he's another great director that has a lot of great movies out there, and this one is Gladiator. Gladiator obviously is the story of Russell Crow being back in the ancient Roman world and competing as a gladiator to earn his freedom back after he was imprisoned due to a conflict between him and the new Emperor as the previous emperor had passed. Gladiator again has a great soundtrack as. And there is a great visual element to this film. So they did a fantastic job not only of capturing ancient Rome, but they did it in a cinematic way that is very appealing. So Gladiator is a great adventure movie. Lots of action. Brings lots of conflict to the screen, and if you haven't checked it out, I definitely encourage you to go see it. Now, they did come out with a sequel. Just this last year and the sequel we thought was actually really good as well, but it didn't beat the first one, which is often the case of a lot of movies that are out there. So the sequel's not gonna be on our list, but we do think that they're both great movies and we encourage you to definitely go check those out because the sequel is a continuation from that first movie with a lot of similar characters, meaning same character played by different actors in some cases of, going forward in time. So definitely go check out Gladiator or its sequel. Number seven on our list is a Steven Spielberg film, which Steven Spielberg goes hand in hand with my top movie director of all time I think. Steven Spielberg is fantastic and as a matter of fact, he's got a handful of movies that are on this list today that we're gonna be talking about. This is the first time he appears on this list so far, but this movie at number seven is one that most people may put in their top five, or maybe even top two or three. The challenge being it's a very mature movie with very deep elements in it, and because of that, we felt that there were other movies that beat it out. But this one also has a fantastic soundtrack, and that is Schindler's List. Schindler's List is the story of world War II and the concentration camps. And Mr. Schindler, who has a list of Jews that he's rescuing from the concentration camps and bringing them to work in his factory. This movie again, deals with very mature issues, so this is not one for the entire family. But what Steven Spielberg did really well with this movie is not only did he have a great cast of characters in this and actors that played them, but he also shot this in black and white, which actually ups the ante on this movie by taking it to the next level, making it look more like historical footage in that aspect. So we really love Schindler's List. This did win all kinds of Academy awards when it came out. Again, it's a very deep movie. If you wanna learn more about the Holocaust, I definitely encourage you not only to watch this movie but there are a handful of other ones out there, including Roberto. Ben's life is beautiful. That one is one that's fantastic as well. As well as I would tell you, go out to Washington DC and you can go to the Holocaust Museum and learn a lot more about what happened during World War II with the concentration camps. But Schindler's List is absolutely fantastic. It is such a great movie and we encourage you to go check it out. Number six on our list is gonna get us more into the family fun type movies. These next movies as we go through the top six. Definitely have with the exception of one or two, have more family elements to it. These are fun and exciting movies with lots of action, lots of adventure, and they're generally pretty good for the entire audience. In addition to that, at number six, our movie is one that is featured in the parks as well and has a not only a great ride, but it also has probably one of the best character meet and greets I have ever seen in my entire life. And that is Michael Bay's transformers. Now, Michael Bay, again is another director that is known for these big, huge action movies and he's got a whole catalog full of them. His movies are very exciting with lots of explosions, lots of action. But what was really cool about Transformers and the particular reason this made our top 10 list and made it to number six was Michael Bay and the writers of this movie. Took a classic toy that had no other ties to it, other than the fact it was just a cool toy in the eighties, and they put it up on the big screen in such a way that it gave it a story. It gave it a background similar to what Disney did with Pirates of the Caribbean, where they had this intellectual property, but no movie or thing to tie it to. And Michael Bay took these transformer toys, something that I had the privilege of growing up with. And he personified it. He made actual characters up on the big screen, and these characters were very similar to the cartoons that came out in the eighties. With Optimist Prime, having the deep very mellow voice out there talking about his autobots and their mission that they were on. And they created this great world in which autobots live with humans. So the movie is absolutely fantastic. It's action packed. It's got lots of elements to it, but the best part are the special effects and the fact that transformers are now real in this universe. So we absolutely love this movie. We thought it was great. Now, like I said, when we started talking about this movie. This has one of the best character meet and greets at the universal parks of any of the meet and greets that are available. You get a chance, you can meet Optimist Prime, you can meet Megatron, and sometimes you may be able to encounter Bumblebee at the parks. And what the best part is Optimist, prime and Megatron are able to talk and interact with people with their deep voices, which is awesome. So really a great way to interact with your favorite movie characters at the parks. Definitely go check that out next time you're at the parks. But Transformers. By Michael Bay fit our movie grouping here at number six. Next we're gonna go back to a more classic movie, and this one was released in the eighties. This is one of my all time favorite movies and in actual trilogies. And what was so great about this movie is this movie, in a way helped define the eighties and the movie that I'm talking about is Back to the Future. So you have Christopher Lloyd, Michael J. Fox, amongst other famous actors in this movie that are absolutely fantastic. They obviously tell the story of Time Travel and Michael J. Fox going back in time and getting stuck back there with a young Dr. Brown. In the past trying to figure out how to get back to his time without messing up his timeline. This is a fun movie with lots of different elements to it, including relationships between family members, both young and old in those dynamics as well. As the friendship between Marty McFly and Doc Brown, which is awesome. And then of course it carried it on through two additional movies. So Back to the Future, like we said, had a great soundtrack. It has a lot of memorable things, including the one point 21 Gigawatts and the DeLorean, which back in the eighties was a very unique car being made totally of stainless steel and then having the ability to travel through time. So back to the Future was a great movie. Now again, back at the Universal Parks. So not only is Back to the Future, great movie, but it was also a really cool ride at the Universal Parks, both in Hollywood and on Orlando, which later both places. Turned it to the Simpsons ride. But that ride back in the day was groundbreaking and was just a ton of fun. And now fast forward into the future. There are rumors though unconfirmed by us that there is work going on currently. For Universal Studios to make a new Back to the Future ride. So we're very excited about that potential. We hope that does happen, but no guarantees as that rumor is unconfirmed. So back to the future, number five on our top 10 universal movies. Number four, we're going back even further in time. And if you didn't know this, universal Studios is the home of Alfred Hitchcock. I absolutely love Alfred Hitchcock again. On this list, we've talked about Christopher Nolan as well as Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott as some of the best directors of all time. Alfred Hitchcock definitely makes that top 10 list as well. If not getting into the top five. Even for me now with Alfred Hitchcock movies, you have some fantastic movies out there, including North by Northwest. You've got Vertigo, you've got the birds. But the one that made this list that we think is absolutely the best of his work is psycho. Not only was it the best of his work, but like some of these others, it was incorporated into the parks. Now it was only really incorporated out in Hollywood on the back lot tour. But on the back lot tour you get a chance to drive by Bates Motel and the Psycho house. And then they usually have an actor that's gonna chase after the tram with a knife playing Norman Bates. But the story of Norman Bates is of that, of a serial killer, of a murderer, and he lives with his mother at this creepy old house next to a motel, the Bates Motel, and they run it. So his name's Norman Bates and they run this hotel. This movie is very complex because the movie actually has two distinct plot lines and elements to it. You have the lady, the damsel distress in the movie at the very beginning, who actually though she may be in some kind of peril. She's actually a thief. She robs her employer and takes money on the run and while on the run, while the people are investigating it, trying to chase after her, she winds up at the Bates Motel, where then she has an unfortunate encounter with Norman Bates and ends up dying. Then from there, now you've got people investigating this woman and trying to find her, which lead them to Norman Bates, who is a criminal in and of himself. This movie is very dynamic with lots of different elements, and I will tell you Alfred Hitchcock is a master storyteller. So if you have not seen psycho, I will tell you this is not one for the little kids. This is a great movie with a lot of suspense and a lot of really cool thematic elements and including camera shots. There are some very unique camera shots in this movie. So I encourage you to go check out Psycho, which we think is Alfred Hitchcock's best work up there with North by northwest the birds and vertigo. Those are, I would argue, his top four movies of all time. So definitely go check that out. Now as we go onto the top three, a little bit of a spoiler alert, I'm gonna tell you all three of these were done by the same director. As I said earlier, in fact, we have five movies outta the top. 10 are done by Steven Spielberg. So these three are all Steven Spielberg films. These are, in my opinion, the top universal movies of all time. And though some people may disagree, I'm gonna give a good explanation why. So in number three. One of his blockbuster hits is Jurassic Park, which is from the nineties. So Jurassic Park is a fantastic movie. It's a book by Michael Crichton. I actually have it back here on this bookshelf behind me, and it is, if you've never read it, it's a fantastic book. I will tell you, you should definitely go read Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park, as well as some of his other works, 'cause they're all really good. And Steven Spielberg took this concept of. In Animal Park and bringing dinosaurs back to life. And he put it on the big screen, which was incredible for people like the kids that grew up like me in the eighties and nineties, we had some dinosaurs on the big screen, but most of the dinosaurs we saw were like from the land of the lost or some of the older movies, which were more like claymation and they weren't very good dinosaurs. And through the eighties, you had good movies like gremlins, which kind of upped the creature effects and took things to the next level by utilizing puppets and other things on the screen. What Jurassic Park did is it took it to a whole other level, combining not only puppetry and animatronics, but also great CGI. So for the first time on the cinematic big screen, you had what looked like actual live dinosaurs, especially the T-Rex and when the T-Rex is attacking the two vehicles at the midpoint scene of this movie. Really just ups the ante in this movie, and it's exciting to see. It's also terrifying to think about being attacked by a T-Rex, but Steven Spielberg did a fantastic job with Jurassic Park. Now, in addition to that. All top three of these movies have the same soundtrack, composer, and that's John Williams. And John Williams did a fantastic job making the score for Jurassic Park, and it's an easy to recognize. Sound and song that if you hear it today, whether in the parks or on the radio or maybe it's on your playlist, you immediately know it's Jurassic Park. So it's a fantastic addition to the Universal catalog. And obviously then on top of it, when you go to the parks, you have these rides at the parks, so that gives you another chance to live the movies with Universal Studios. And Jurassic Park takes number three on our list. We're going to number two, obviously, again, a Steven Spielberg film and the number two of all time Universal movies in our opinion is a classic 1980 Steven Spielberg film, et If you haven't seen Et the Extraterrestrial this is a great family movie about a boy Elliot. And his encounter with et the extraterrestrial alien that he meets this movie also has Drew Barrymore in it, which many of you know. She was a young child in that movie. She played the role of Gertie, and it's a great family movie of a single mom taking care of her three kids and trying to navigate life when their life is interrupted by an alien. And of course, Elliot's trying to keep it a secret from his mother. He involves his siblings eventually and their whole goal is to get ET home. And you've all seen the movie. It has again, a fantastic score with probably some of the best movie music ever made for a film. So ET score. If you haven't listened to that, I encourage you to go check that out also by John Williams. But what was so impactful about this film is the heart in this film. So obviously you have Elliot trying to save et they form a friendship. There's a lot that happens in there and I don't wanna spoil it in case you may have kids that haven't seen it and they're listening to this, but there's a lot of drama that happens between Elliot and et and then of course, at the end, trying to get him home really tugs at your heartstrings. Okay, so that now takes us to the number one movie of all time. And if you have seen my other podcast, I've talked about this movie and a couple others, if you're looking at my background, if you're watching it on YouTube, you may be able to look above me and take a good guess at what this movie is. But the number one movie, I think in of all Time from Universal Studios, that was also done by Steven Spielberg is the classic 1975 movie. Jaws. Jaws was the first summer blockbuster, it was the first movie that got this huge mainstream following in the middle of the summer and had people going to see it time and time again. Spending money at the box office, obviously generating a great revenue. And it is a terrifying movie to an a certain extent, depending on if you like sharks or not. This is one that I will say I typically don't show young children, but I have shown it to my nieces and nephews when they were of an appropriate age. I would say somewhere in the ballpark of eight to 10 years old. They may be able to handle it as long as they're mature but it's definitely a movie I have seen a hundred times in my life and I absolutely love it. This movie takes place in multiple acts. Obviously you have the first part where they're trying to figure out what's going on, why people are dying. You have the second part then where they figured it out. And then the third part, now they gotta go out to sea and they've gotta go try to find this animal and kill it because it's gonna hurt their summer. It's gonna hurt their 4th of July weekend. It. But what makes this movie so huge? Not only is it the fact that it was the first summer blockbuster and had a robotic shark that they made look lifelike, which was amazing at that point in time, but it is the music in this movie. So again, John Williams composed the score for Jaws, and what was fascinating about this movie is the first half of the movie, you don't even see the shark at all. Throughout the whole first half of the movie, the villain in the movie is the music. Obviously you have the da, da da da happening throughout the movie, and that's when you know the shark is hunting something or coming after somebody, and that music personifies the shark without even seeing it on the big screen. You don't see the shark until later in the movie when the shark is eventually attacking the beach and attacking the boater. Who's out there with by the sailboat. That's the first time you actually see the shark in this movie. Now there is a scene where he attacks a little boy and you see his raft flip over and stuff like that, but you don't actually see the shark in that shot. So it's not until about halfway through the movie you actually even see it. So that was the first of its kind it's the first time the music was viewed or listened to as the villain in the film and not the actual scary thing that was happening. It's a really great concept when you think about it. John Williams did a fantastic job with it. And Steven Spielberg obviously killed it. Now I love to go and watch the making of some of these movies, and I encourage you, if you've not seen the making of Jaws there are some specials out there where you can see documentary footage of it, and I encourage you to go watch it. It's amazing to watch how many times this shark broke down, how long it took them. To film this movie because the shark continued to break down. So it's a really fun story. You have some great, obviously actors in this movie that are interviewed and they talk about their experience with Steven Spielberg. So again, jaws is our number one of all time Universal movies. So please, if you haven't seen it, definitely go check it out. So with that, we wanna hear from you. If you agree or disagree with our top 10 list, please let us know in the comments or find us out there on Facebook and send us a message. But until next time, we wish you a magical week as you're planning your next vacation, and we will talk to you guys on our next episode. Bye-bye.