Nick Danger

Jurassic Park. It made an impression on me, but not what the director wanted. I was rooting for the velociraptors to eat the kids.
Titanic. My favorite part of the movie was the creepy sound effects of the ship under strain.
Independence Day. That weekend I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey on Saturday, and ID4 on Sunday. I wasn't out to the parking lot after leaving ID4 before I was thinking about 2001 again.
Avatar. The first thing I told Mrs Danger after it finished was "I've seen that movie before."

fujishig

I think Cameron just has some kind of gift for mass hypnosis or something. Name me one person in 2020 that wants to sit through Titanic again. And yet it seems like everyone saw it, often multiple times.

Josh-da-man

I think everybody roots for the dinosaurs, even if they don't want to admit it.

GoldenJCJ

The first Jurassic Park is one of the few movies featuring kids where I actually didn’t hate the kids. I don’t find them very annoying at all. Now every JP sequel is a different story...

bluetoast

The only thing remotely memorable from that movie is the soundtrack. Mainly the Puff Daddy (at the time) collaboration with Jimmy Page (who also sings, for some reason).

TheAllPurposeNothing

Top Gun is the first that comes to mind. Just never saw the wide appeal for what is mostly a meh cookie cutter 80's film with a couple of decent flight sequences and not much more.

Troy Stiffler

I've heard this a lot. Earlier days of music videos. Top Gun was a marriage of music video and movie. People have fond memories of it.

I never connected with it. But I am looking forward to the new one.

brayzie

IDF4/Independence Day
It was enjoyable I guess but a very bland and generic action/science-fiction summer block buster. The aliens and conspiracy theories seen in X-Files, Fire In The Sky, and Communion were creepier. The action sci-fi aliens in Aliens were creepier and had better action and suspense. It was just kind of a big dumb movie. Friends of mine remember it fondly but not me.

E.T.
My parents got it for me on VHS. I hated it and thought it was boring. If I had watched it when I was a little older I probably would of appreciated the Spielberg aesthetics of it. At the time though, never made an impression, so much so that I didn't even recognize the homage to it in Stranger Things. I really like the film now though.

Titanic
The most overrated film I know of. Even at the time the story was overly cliched.

Top Gun
I saw this one TV and felt it was kind of boring. I think I might like it now, and the soundtrack is great. But it seems pretty empty.

orangerunner

I think the idea of forgettable blockbusters has something to do with both age and the current time-frame we're living in now.

The "glory days" of distinct pop culture memories are usually before the age of 25. After that, everything starts to appear more and more familiar and indistinct.

The Transformers and the Marvel Avengers movies are good examples where they all seemed interchangeable and forgettable. Then again, if you showed me a clip from one of the first 8 Friday the 13th films and I can instantly tell you which film it is.

brayzie

More or less. Just about every big 80s movie left an impression on me. By the time I was a teenager in the 90s though, a lot of the films coming out then didn't hold that same magic for me.

Mike86

The problem now days is the blockbusters aren’t really special anymore because there are so many of them throughout the year every year. In ways it’s cool as a fan of a lot of the big franchises, but at the same time nothing ever gets the chance to really set in with audiences and after one release the hype for the next thing is already in motion.

rocket1312

That's an interesting thought. I tried to think about the last time I got really excited by a big blockbuster. There have been plenty in recent years that I've liked, but I mean REALLY excited. The three I could come up with we're X2, Batman Begins and Casino Royale. Those came out when I was 23, 25 and 26, respectively.

Dr. DVD

Titanic and ID4 are both great examples. They hit when it was their time, but were kind of forgotten afterward. I haven't' truly cared for any Terminator movie since T-2. Same with the Alien franchise.

stvn1974

The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception and Interstellar. All hollow and empty.

Obi-Wanma

But are you aware that there's a 5th one?

GoldenJCJ

The 4th one is forgettable shit but the 5th one was surprisingly good and fits right in with the first 3.

orangerunner

I think it's a common feeling. With regards to music, my CD collection and general interest in new music petered-out when I was 26 or 27 years-old. I look at my uncle's old record collection and it too petered-out when he was around the same age in the mid-1970s.

The ways in which music dictated your lifestyle fandom when you were younger just doesn't translate the same way when you're older in age than the new crop of musicians and bands.

Let's face it; when you're 40, you look like a fool fist-pumping to a bunch of 25 year-olds on stage. But if you're fist-pumping to a bunch of 60 year-olds (ala' Motlely Crue) it's sort of passable.

orangerunner

While part of it is age I think much has to do with quantity of titles and all of the different sources of amusement coming from every direction. Ease of access to any and all films also dilutes the sense of exclusivity. I grew-up before VCRs were in every home and while I loved movies the only way of "owning" the film was collecting the various merchandise available; the bubble-gum cards, the tie-in novels, comic adaptations, posters and collectible tie-in magazines with photos from the film. When these films became available for purchase in the VHS and DVD eras, they were something really special and unique to own.

Today, movies just seem to be disposable because the accessibility of it all is so cheap and simple.

L. Ron zyzzle

I want to come down on the pro side for Godzilla 98 (I’m a fan).

The other choices are in some way bland, generic, or rote. Godzilla is quite idiosyncratic. Disappointing? To most, but it definitely leaves an impression.

fujishig

Pirates 4 was apparently based on a completely unrelated book that they had the IP for, which may explain that (I personally never saw past 3).

I agree that blockbusters probably linger at a certain age, but the Marvel movies all seem very distinct to me. Maybe that's me channeling my inner kid or something. Same with Star Wars, even the new movies are distinct to me.

Draven

Yep, I forget that one too

covenant

I’m 53 and love finding new music. Thank God I’m not like all the people still stuck listening to the same music they did in high school. I guess music just isn’t that important to some people.

DJariya

I'm sad to say it because I am a super hero and comic book movie fan, but Justice League from 2017 is pretty forgettable. It was supposed to be the Avengers of the DCEU and failed in so many ways. There are parts of it that I like, but I don't think it's very memorable and people weren't jumping out of their seats cheering like when I saw Avengers End Game.

clckworang

The Harry Potter franchise is a pretty good example for me. The films are certainly well made, but they just didn't do anything for me. My friends love the movies and books. I just sort of smile and nod when they talk about it.

Avatar is a pretty good one, too. Like Titanic, I loved the film from a purely visual point of view, but the screenplay was so weak. Like others, I remember little about the actual film. I think Cameron is more interested with the technical aspects of filmmaking than he is telling a story. He is content playing in his soap box and pushing the technical limits of special effects.

Shannon Nutt

Avatar is the obvious answer here...for as much $$$ as it made, it's just "okay."