Ever since Jaws created the modern blockbuster in 1975, Hollywood’s summer movie season has been defined by big-budget spectacles. You know the type: the tentpole that costs millions of dollars and rakes in millions more. Blockbusters dominate our current movie landscape, expanding beyond the summer movie season where they got their start to take over the entire calendar year.

But what year was the best year for blockbusters? Was it the original blockbuster summer of 1975? Was it 1999, when The Matrix marked a high point (and a turning point) for the genre? Or was it 2008 with Christopher Nolan’s superhero opus The Dark Night and the launch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

The Inverse Entertainment team put their heads together to debate which year takes the crown.

The Witcher, like its main character, has made a name for itself on monster-slaying action set pieces. But Volume 1 of Season 3 (the season is split in half, with Volume 2 arriving on Netflix on July 27) takes a surprising left-turn into political intrigue.

The first two seasons of Netflix’s The Witcher have sported unique tones and storytelling styles, and it’s immediately clear that showrunner Lauren Hissrich is running with that idea again. Geralt, Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), and Ciri (Freya Allan) are still the central characters, but much more time is afforded to side characters this season, making it feel more like an ensemble show.

This shift feels like a deliberate choice to bring the focus a bit off of Geralt, likely because of Henry Cavill’s imminent departure next season. It all contributes to the overall vision this season clearly has of a grand political play, where multiple parties are forwarding plans and trying to capture Ciri to further their own means. It’s a more focused style of storytelling that almost instantly feels markedly better from the scattered second season.