For the most part, when people go to the cinema to watch a blockbuster movie they're not sitting down to think - action and spectacle is what they demand and Hollywood more often than not is happy to oblige. Different films serve different functions: blockbusters are largely escapist entertainment, about as far removed from the kind of smart and intelligent cinema found playing in the smaller art house venues as you can possibly get, designed to be the cinematic equivalent of a theme park ride. The fact that some of the biggest blockbusters of all time - Jaws (the first of the new era blockbusters), Back To The Future and Jurassic Park to name but a few - have all had theme park rides based on their movies speaks volumes to this dynamic. But while a film like Pirates Of The Caribbean might prove that even theme park rides themselves can be suitable material for blockbuster movies, others demonstrate that a big budget event movie doesn't have to be so shallow and unchallenging. While it might only be a small percentage of blockbusters, there are a few which deliver action and excitement against a complex narrative and thematic backdrop. The following list covers ten great blockbuster movies which prove that a big budget event movie doesn't have to be dumb to be a hit.
