The movie industry is constantly evolving. What was regarded as groundbreaking yesterday is old news today.

That’s a good thing, though. Every innovation helps fuel future filmmakers, leading to more once-in-a-lifetime movies that capture our imaginations.

Some of these movies are more important than others in ways most people don’t realize. It’s not just their impact as a critical success or box office hit. We’re talking about behind-the-scenes stories providing insight into the moviemaking process that not only made their movie better, but also helped shape the future of the industry.

Jaws

It’s hard to believe that Jaws, at one time, was a movie with a troubled production, but that’s the case.

There were so many issues on set with the mechanical shark that Steven Spielberg had to improvise. This resulted in the decision to minimize the on-screen presence of the shark. Instead of showing the beast, its presence was heavily suggested. This was done out of necessity, but it worked to create a more tense movie experience. Not only did it lead to a better movie, but it was also a stylistic choice for future filmmakers to build up to a villain’s eventual on-screen reveal.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

One of the most impressive aspects of Terminator 2: Judgement Day is how well the CGI holds up for a movie made in 1991.

James Cameron and his team helped raise the bar in terms of how CGI can lead to impressive storytelling.

Jurassic Park

Two years later, the same can be said of Jurassic Park.

Its combination of CGI and animatronics further raised the bar for the power of CGI in Hollywood. It’s ironic that its Speilberg here, who helped birth the modern blockbuster, that is once again pioneering movie production on the back of an ambitious scope and story.

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Waterworld

Sometimes, however, ambition doesn’t always lead to success. Take 1995’s Waterworld, notorious for its sky-high budget and failure at the box office.

As a result, it changed the way studios approached these types of movies, leading to the importance of proper budget management. Ironically, it’s a lesson that rings true today, as movie budgets are skyrocketing out of control.

Take the upcoming Tom Cruise movie Deeper, which is reportedly on hold because Cruise is pushing for a $275 million budget while the studio refuses to exceed $230 million. There’s no guarantee that the studio will see a profit with that, and you can argue the lessons learned from Waterworld are helping the studios of today exercise a little more restraint.

Heaven’s Gate

Speaking of box office failures, you can’t mention that, as well as the topic of changing Hollywood, without bringing up 1980’s Heaven’s Gate.

The movie itself seems unassuming: it’s a pretty bad movie that failed at the box office, but its legacy is far more impactful: its failure is responsible for Transamerica Corporation, parent company of distributor United Artists, leaving the movie maker business entirely. MHM purchased United Artists for $350 million in 1981, and the days of United Artists as an independent studio were over.

Psycho

Janet Leigh’s casting as Marion Crane was a big deal, as she was a major actress at the time.

Yes, something was clearly afoot, and you can sense she was in danger, but she was the apparent protagonist. There’s no way the movie would kill her off, right?

What makes Psycho so iconic, as well as groundbreaking, was Alfred Hitchcock’s decision to kill off the supposed lead in the movie. It may be commonplace now, but in 1960, it was legitimately shocking.

The Blair Witch Project

The entire marketing campaign surrounding The Blair Witch Project was convincing moviegoers that this was a true story.

It worked: people’s curiosity got the better of them, and it led to not just the success of The Blair Witch Project itself, but the birth of the found footage movie genre.

The Dark Knight

While The Dark Knight isn’t solely responsible for the popularity of comic book movies, it is responsible for the industry taking the genre seriously.

It proved that these movies can be more than just blockbuster adaptations catering to the mainstream, but also legitimate works of art that get recognition during award season, as indicated by Heath Ledger’s Best Supporting Actor win for his portrayal of the Joker.

Ironically, Joaquin Phoenix would also win an Oscar in 2019’s Joker.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Temple of Doom wasn’t the first PG-13 movie; that distinction goes to Red Dawn. However, along with Gremlins, it was becoming apparent that there needed to be a rating in between PG and R, as the content was seen as too intense for younger audiences, but not enough to be strictly for adults.

Steven Spielberg helped suggest to the MPAA that a middle ground should exist, leading to the creation of the PG-13 rating.

The Empire Strikes Back

Even today, it’s common for sequels to be nothing short of a cash grab, looking to capture lightning in a bottle twice without adding anything new to the story.

The Empire Strikes Back is not that type of sequel. Not only does it push the Star Wars story forward, but it also helped popularize the idea of filming certain scenes in secret to keep major plot twists, such as Darth Vader being Luke’s father, a secret.

Star Wars

Before The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars had already influenced the future of Hollywood in several ways.

First, there was George Lucas’ founding of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), helping to pioneer visual effects. Second, there’s the amount of revenue the film generated from merchandising: toys, lunch boxes, you name it, they sold it. Today, Star Wars remains one of the most influential movies in history.

Lawrence of Arabia

Going back even further, before Star Wars, Lawrence of Arabia influenced countless future directors, including George Lucas. Steven Spielberg said that it inspired him to make movies.

It’s the definition of an epic, filmed on 70mm Super Panavision, that is still one of the best looking movies today. It helped prove that when spectacle delivers, it can attract audiences.

Titanic

Speaking of epics, despite their success over the years, their popularity was waning leading into the release of Titanic.

It brought about renewed interest not only in historical epics but also reinforced how a movie can become a pop culture phenomenon.

Toy Story

Toy Story represented not just the start of Pixar’s dominance at the box office, but also the birth of digital animation over traditional hand-drawn animation that we were accustomed to.

Moving forward, digital computer animation would become the norm in both movies and television shows, minus a few exceptions.

Barbie

Barbie isn’t the first movie to be based on a toy, and it certainly won’t be the last. It is, however, easily the most successful.

True to the movie’s message, it also proved that movies about women, made by women, can draw at the box office, having earned over $1.4 billion.

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