Plot Summary

Nicolas Billon analyzes the success of American popular cinema at the end of the 20th century. Film critics, academics and directors discuss these films that made a mark on audiences in the 1980s and 1990s. "Jaws" was one of the pioneers, and Steven Spielberg later became the benchmark. These films, very diverse, have propelled their main actors, such as Tom Cruise or Arnold Scharzenegger, to the rank of stars. On the technical side, the sometimes abusive use of special effects underlines the technological mutation of cinema. This documentary rehabilitates a number of films sometimes despised by critics by placing them in a historical perspective.