The 8 Biggest Movies of 2013, and Whether They Were Any Good

Eight movies made 2013's money. Not all of them made 2013's good movies. Worldwide box office next to the movie.guru score, counting down to the biggest.

#1 made over a billion dollars and still lost the quality race.

1. 8
   World War Z (2013)5.9

   Half a billion dollars for the most average zombie movie.

   $540.5 million worldwide on a reported $190 to 269 million budget, and a 5.9 movie.guru score. Brad Pitt ran a lot. The movie mostly ran in place.
2. 7
   Thor: The Dark World (2013)5.9

   Tom Hiddleston carried this whole thing. Everyone knows it.

   $644.8 million worldwide and an A-minus CinemaScore, but a 54 on Metacritic. Guru's Take: 4.5. People showed up for Loki and politely sat through the rest.
3. 6
   Man of Steel (2013)6.2

   Audiences liked it way more than it earned.

   56% on Rotten Tomatoes, A-minus from crowds, $670.1 million worldwide. The crowd won the box office. Guru's Take, 5.1, says the critics won the argument.
4. 5
   Gravity (2013)8.6

   The best-reviewed movie here, and it's not close.

   96 on Metacritic, 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, $739.4 million worldwide on a reported $80 to 130 million. One problem: audiences beat just 78%, way below critics' 98%.
5. 4
   Fast & Furious 6 (2013)7.1

   Peak Fast. Everything after this is a cartoon.

   $788.7 million worldwide, an A CinemaScore, and a 7.1 movie.guru score. Justin Lin treated physics as a suggestion, but the cars still felt like cars.
6. 3
   The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)8.7

   Better than Gravity. Barely, but better.

   8.7 movie.guru score, the highest here, plus $424.7 million domestic, more than Iron Man 3 made at home. Jennifer Lawrence made a sequel feel like the main event.
7. 2
   The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)7.6

   The dragon earned this money. The padding did not.

   $959.1 million worldwide and a 7.8 on IMDb, but critics beat only 60%. Benedict Cumberbatch's Smaug is the reason to watch, and the movie knows it.
8. 1
   Iron Man 3 (2013)7.3

   Biggest movie of 2013, only fourth best. Money was wrong.

   $1.22 billion worldwide, a 7.3 movie.guru score. Catching Fire beat it by 1.4 points. Shane Black made Tony Stark weird and funny, and some fans still haven't forgiven him.

$419.83 says someone in the comments puts Thor: The Dark World at #1 and means it.

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