Discover the best summer movies and come immerse yourself in their music with FSO

Now that the summer holidays are here, those movies that we have loved throughout our lives also appear with them. Movies that have made us dream, that invite us to travel to our childhood and adolescence, to our first loves and adventures, those who were our companions while we discovered life.

There are certain films that, along with their unforgettable original music, have marked our life adventure and, now that we have more time, we can enjoy them again after stepping on the sand on the beach or taking a dip in the pool. Adventure films, family films that unite us even more with our loved ones, animation films, and even horror films, prevail in our summer fun.

The best summer movies to enjoy at home

The summer season gives us different and fun moments in different contexts. We have time to discover new places, enjoy the sea, the mountains and wonderful cities, still unknown to us. But there is also time to enjoy at home great classics of summer cinema.

Movies by great directors like Steven Spielberg, which give us moments of tension and horror on the beaches of a small island in Massachusetts; others like Mamma Mia who give us the best Greek summer from the hand of Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth; summers in which to fulfill the unforgettable dreams of dancers like John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in masterpieces like grease, and even the very particular cinematographic language, reinventing Wes Anderson's adventure cinema in Moonrise Kingdom.

Jaws: a summer horror classic

Shark, Steven Spielberg's classic that inherited Hitchcock's magic of suspense and terror back in 1975, remains one of the great summer films. Considered one of the best films in the history of cinema, Shark is the prototype of blockbuster summer film and its premiere is remembered as a true milestone of the seventh art.

It received numerous awards for its soundtrack and editing, and together with Star Wars, was the starting point of the modern Hollywood business system, which revolves around action or adventure films based on simple premises. The enormous man-eating white shark attacks bathers on the beaches of Amity Island, prompting the local police chief to embark on a hunt for the shark alongside a marine biologist and a professional shark hunter.

The film's music, composed by the great John Williams won an Oscar for best soundtrack.. The famous main theme is a simple alternation of two musical notes that has become a classic piece of music from suspense, synonymous with great danger and found within the collective memory.

Mamma mia! and the perfection of summer in Greece

Skopelos is one of the Greek ports in which myths and legends are revived, which would have gone more or less unnoticed in its galaxy of more than 6,000 islands, if the location team of Mamma Mia! (2008), would not have noticed it, to stage the imaginary island of Kalokeri, where the plot of this musical inspired by the Swedish group ABBA takes place.

Meryl Streep is the lead actress, playing the role of Donna Sheridan. Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard play three men who want to know which of them is the father of Sophie (Donna's daughter), a role played by Amanda Seyfried. This is the casting of another of the great summer films that we propose to you in this article.

The songs used in this film make full mention of ABBA, but beyond just using them as an instrument to explain the plot of the film, they also have a meaning, since history predicts them. Most of these songs had influence in several countries that followed the pop musical genre, even more so if they were teenagers from the 70's and 80's.

Grease and the summer nights

grease It was born, simply, as a summer premiere. As its director, Randal Kleisner, pointed out in 2018, “no one could imagine that, 40 years later, we would be showing it on Hollywood Boulevard to seven million people or that the Academy would honor it.” Now it is undoubtedly an enduring classic, repeated over and over again on television on summer nights.

The song 'You're the One That I Want' went to number 1 in the United States and the United Kingdom, with the film's stars, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The soundtrack has sold approximately 22 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time, and is also among the best-selling soundtrack albums. In addition to the performers, Travolta and Newton-John, the album also featured songs by the rock n' roll group Sha Na Na, as well as the hit song 'Grease', written by Barry Gibb (of the Bee Gees) and sung by Frankie Valli (of The Four Seasons) which was an additional number one in the United States).

Moonrise Kingdom and the adventures of summer

For those of us who have ever experienced summer camps, this movie Wes Anderson, strikes a very sensitive chord. This adventure story set in the sixties proposes an exercise in nostalgia that is impossible to resist. If the homeland is, in reality, our childhood, for Anderson, pre-adolescence is the lost paradise, which we find on this island that functions as a dollhouse, legendary forest, puppet theater and Enid Blyton novel. We talk about the nostalgia of lost innocence.

Articulated around the suite 'The Heroic Weather-Conditions of the Universe', composed for the occasion by the Parisian Alexandre Desplat and orchestrated by Conrad Pope, the rest of the soundtrack is a multi-referential journey through different musical moments selected by the director himself.  'The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra' and the opera 'Noye's Fludde', by Benjamin Britten, fragments of works by Saint-Saëns, Schubert and Mozart are included along with songs by country singer Hank Williams or French singer-songwriter Françoise Hardy.

Movies about summer to watch with the family

Summer is undoubtedly an ideal time to watch movies with the family. Here we are going to recommend some to enjoy during this approaching month of August. An ideal option would be Summer Vacation (2023) Santiago Segura, recently released and which reflects a truly summer adventure crazy.

Another very interesting and endearing film would be Lucas (2021), an animated film that takes place in a town by the sea on the Italian Riviera. It reflects the growth of a child who experiences an unforgettable summer with ice cream, pasta and endless scooter rides.

Some great classics are also highly recommended, such as the family comedy from the Disney factory, You to Boston and I to California (1961); the relationship between the boy and the whale Free Willy (1994); Camp Rock, Lilo & Stitch, Moana either Story of a summer. There are a thousand adventures to go on with those we love most, hand in hand with celluloid.

The best songs from summer-themed movies

These films, which we like to enjoy in the summer, also offer us endless unforgettable soundtracks. If you are a music lover, the original music of 007: Skyfall, by Thomas Newman; Mulan, by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith; Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, by the even more legendary John Williams; Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi again from Williams; The Godfather by Nino Rota and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by Patrick Doyle. These are our proposals as the best summer movie songs for the summer.

Other soundtracks that we consider essential to recover in summer would be those of Pulp Fiction (1994), with the legendary Urge Overkill song; Into the Wild (2007), with the impressive work of Eddie Vedder; The Big Lebowski (1998) with music by Carter Burwell or GoodFellas (1990), with unforgettable songs like 'My Way'.

How and where to enjoy summer movie music

And, as it could not be otherwise, we are waiting for you in our new Henko tour, so you can enjoy an experience full of music and joy, to enjoy with the whole family. Many of these songs that we have just mentioned, and some others, have their appointment with the public starting next September 29 in Henko, an original musical adventure, which is also a moving experience and a tribute to inner change. The best film music, which also offers shows such as FSO Dracul either Holly Love, the best love songs in concert. Don't miss them!