Seen In: Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, Terminator Genisys, Creed, Taken 3, Ant-Man, Jurassic World It used to be a truism that Hollywood blockbusters were a young man's game, that people wanted nothing but youthful, beautiful people. These days, though, the sheer power of nostalgia for past favourites left us with a 2015 in which many of our biggest blockbusters came to us from directors and actors old enough to be enjoying a cosy retirement were they in any other profession. On the directing side, the two Oscar Best Picture nominees that made the big bucks - The Martian and Mad Max: Fury Road - were grandiose, visually spectacular returns to their 1980s pomp for Ridley Scott (at the ripe old age of 78), and George Miller (70). Of course, directors don't have to go through the action stuff themselves, so can continue working to any age, but 2015 was also a big year for the older star, many returning to the parts that made their names decades ago. Most notably, Harrison Ford, at 73, finally got to headline a Star Wars film after almost forty years. Although much of the pre-movie coverage was on the new, young stars, Han was given plenty to do for his swansong in a galaxy far far away (quite a bit more than his original co-stars). At 68, Arnold Scharzenegger played the T-1000 for the fourth time in Terminator Genisys, while it was a seventh time as Rocky Balboa for 69 year old Sylvester Stallone, picking up an Oscar nod for Creed. It all makes 63 year old Liam Neeson, in just his third appearance as Taken's Bryan Mills, seem like a spring chicken in comparison. Even in characters making their first appearance, their was still a chance for elder statesmen to get in on the action as Ant-Man saw Michael Douglas join the MCU and suit up as the eponymous miniature hero at the age of 71. After all that, even Jurassic World saved its big "hero moment" for the ageing, battle-scarred star of the first movie: the T-Rex.
