What are the best 90s movies? The Decade of the 1990s was a revolutionary decade in the film making. Though the use of technology increased in the film making in the 60s decade it was actually the 90s decade that truly showed how far the industry has developed. The decade is known for many Groundbreaking sci-fi movies. The 90s is also known for sparking the race for becoming the top-grossing film of all time. Earlier the record was held by Steven Spielberg’s ‘E.T. –Extraterrestrial’ which was broken by another Spielberg’s film “Jurassic Park”. However, the record was not long withheld by Spielberg and was broken by James Cameroon’s Epic film ‘Titanic’. Titanic is a perfect example that how a non-sci fi movie used technology and re-visited the historical event of the drowning of Titanic.
Apart from producing more than 50 sci-fi movies a year, the production company also put their bet on Action movies and comedy movies. However, the genre that received more critical acclaim in the 90s was Crime. The 80s didn’t saw many Gangster movies but the 90s was full of it. Interestingly, almost all popular crime movies of the 90s decade met critical acclaim.
The genre which didn’t get much critical acclaim was horror. Directors and Producers put their bet on making unnecessary sequels of 80s horror movies. Very few horror movies from the 90s actually stood out of the crowd.
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Best Movies of the 90s
The 90s gave a new trend of making Twist ending movies. There were many mystery suspense movies released in the 90s decade and interestingly most of them had a twist at the end. For Animation Genre, the decade of the 90s was the golden decade. 90s decade was the decade of Disney Renaissance which began from 1989 Disney film ‘The Little Mermaid’ and Ended with 1999 film ‘Tarzan’. I can say Kids who grew up in the 90s decade were most lucky.
New Generation Directors Who become crowd favorite in the 90s were – Quentin Tarantino, Coen Brothers, Sam Mendes, Gus Van Sant, Spike Jonze, Spike Lee, M. Night Shyamalan, and Michael Mann. Steven Spielberg and James Cameroon rose more to fame in the 90s. Among the actors, most popular 90s star were – Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Bruce Willis, Ben Stiller, Jim Carrey, Edward Norton. Robert De Niro Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Anthony Hopkins, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jack Nicholson earned multiple awards for their work in the industry.
The 1990s was also a golden decade for several popular Hollywood actresses. Actresses such as Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet, Hilary Swank, Cate Blanchett, Cameron Diaz, Helena Bonham Carter, Jodie Foster, Helen Hunt, Susan Sarandon, Sandra Bullock, and Winona Ryder were very among the leading actresses of Hollywood in the 90s.
Here is the list of Top 100 Greatest Films from the 1990s decade:
100. Carlito’s Way
Director – Brian De Palma
Cast – Al Pacino, Sean Penn
IMDB Rating – 7.9
Rotten Tomatoes – 80%
Release Date – 7 November 1993
Box Office – $63.8 Million
Genre – Crime, Thriller
Awards – None
Plot – A Former crime lord tries his best to stay away from his old life but in the end he is forced to enter the dragon.
99. Philadelphia
Director – Jonathan Demme
Cast – Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Antonio Bandreas
IMDB Rating – 7.7
Rotten Tomatoes – 79%
Release Date – 22 December 1993
Box Office – $206.7 Million
Genre – Drama
Awards – Won 2 Academy Awards – Best Actor, Best Original Song
Plot – A Patient of AIDS is fired from his law firm so he hire a lawyer who helps him to fight case against the corporate.
98. Mars Attacks!
Director – Tim Burton
Cast – Jack Nicholson, Annette Benning, Glenn CLose, Pierce Brosnan, Danny Devitor, Michael J Fox, Sarah Jessica Parker, Natalie Portman
IMDB Rating – 6.3
Rotten Tomatoes – 53%
Release Date – 13 December 1996
Box Office – $101.4 Million
Genre – Sci Fi, Comedy
Awards – None
Plot – As the Title Suggests, Martians Attacks on Earth.
97. Jerry Maguire
Director – Cameron Crowe
Cast – Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr, Renee Zellweger
IMDB Rating – 7.3
Rotten Tomatoes – 83%
Release Date – 13 December 1996
Box Office – $273.6 Million
Genre – Romance, Comedy, Sports
Awards – 5 Oscar Nominations, 1 Win – Best Supporting Actor
Plot – A Sports agent puts all his hope on an athlete who is also struggling with his career.
96. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Director – Jay Roach
Cast – Mike Myers, Elizabeth Hurley
IMDB Rating – 7
Rotten Tomatoes – 70%
Release Date – 2 May 1997
Box Office – $67.7 Million
Genre – Comedy, Adventure
Awards – None
Plot – A Spy of 60s is brought into the 90s where the world find it hard to handle his charm and $exiness.
95. Enemy of the State
Director – Tony Scott
Cast – Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Regina King
IMDB Rating – 7.3
Rotten Tomatoes – 71%
Release Date – 20 November 1998
Box Office – $250.6 Million
Genre – Crime, Mystery
Awards – None
Plot – A Lawyer uncovers the truth behind unsolved murder cases that are found to be linked with a powerful politician.
94. Natural Born Killers
Director – Oliver Stone
Cast – Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr, Tommy Lee Jones
IMDB Rating – 7.3
Rotten Tomatoes – 47%
Release Date – 26 August 1994
Box Office – $50.3 Million
Genre – Drama, Crime
Awards – None
Plot – A Serial Killer meets the love of his life and both embarks on a journey of killing and loving.
93. Blade
Director – Stephen Norrington
Cast – Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff
IMDB Rating – 7.1
Rotten Tomatoes – 54%
Release Date – 21 August 1998
Box Office – $131.2 Million
Genre – Sci Fi, Horror
Awards – None
Plot – The First Marvel Superhero Film that too with the black hero in lead. The film features Blade a half human half vampire who goes on a mission to kill evil vampires.
92. The Mummy
Director – Stephen Sommers
Cast – Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz
IMDB Rating – 7
Rotten Tomatoes – 58%
Release Date – 22 July 1999
Box Office – $415.9 Million
Genre – Fantasy, Adventure
Awards – 1 Academy award nomination
Plot – A team of archeologists, accidentaly awakens a terrifying mummy from its deep sleep.
91. True Romance
Director – Tony Scott
Cast – Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken
IMDB Rating – 7.9
Rotten Tomatoes – 92%
Release Date – 8 September 1993
Box Office – $12.3 Million
Genre – Crime, Romance
Awards – None
Plot – A Man runs away with the love of his life but he also steals drugs from a dangerous gang and thus began a rat and mouse chase.
90. A Bug’s Life
Director – John Lasseter
Cast – Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey
IMDB Rating – 7.2
Rotten Tomatoes – 92%
Release Date – 14 November 1998
Box Office – $363.3 Million
Genre – Animation, Family
Awards – 1 Oscar Nomination
Plot – An Ant take help of Bugs to save his colony from intruders.
89. Pretty Woman
Director – Garry Marshall
Cast – Richard Gere, Julia Roberts
IMDB Rating – 7
Rotten Tomatoes – 62%
Release Date – 23 March 1990
Box Office – $463.4 Million
Genre – Comedy, Romance
Awards – 1 Academy Award Nomination
Plot – A depressed businessman falls in love with an escort he hired.
88. The Blair Witch Project
Director – Eduardo Sanchez, Daniel Myrick
Cast – Heather Donahue
IMDB Rating – 6.4
Rotten Tomatoes – 87%
Release Date – 16 July 1999
Box Office – $248.6 Million
Genre – Horror
Awards – None
Plot – A Found footage horror film that covers the creepy legend of Blair witch.
87. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Director – George Lucas
Cast – Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman
IMDB Rating – 6.5
Rotten Tomatoes – 54%
Release Date – 22 October 1999
Box Office – $1.027 Billion
Genre – Adventure, Fantasy
Awards – Nomination of 3 Oscars
Plot – Two Jedi trains a Boy to make him the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy.
86. Ace Ventura
Director – Tom Shadyac
Cast –
IMDB Rating – 6.9
Rotten Tomatoes – 47%
Release Date – 4 Fenruary 1994
Box Office – $107.2 Million
Genre – Comedy
Awards – None
Plot – An Odd Man has an odd proffession as a pet detective. Interestingly he also gets cases that solves bigger problems.
85. Clerks
Director – Kevin Smith
Cast – Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson
IMDB Rating – 7.8
Rotten Tomatoes – 88%
Release Date – 19 October 1994
Box Office – $3.2 Million
Genre – Comedy
Awards – None
Plot – Life of two Clerks who are big movie and comic book fans.
84. Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
Director – Neil Jordan
Cast –
IMDB Rating – 7.6
Rotten Tomatoes – 62%
Release Date – 9 November 1994
Box Office – $223.7 Million
Genre – Horror, Drama
Awards – 2 Academy Award Nominations
Plot – A vampire gives interview about his long life.
83. Dogma
Director – Kevin Smith
Cast – Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Salma Hayek
IMDB Rating – 7.3
Rotten Tomatoes – 67%
Release Date – 12 November 1999
Box Office – $31.4 Million
Genre – Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy
Awards – None
Plot – 2 Fallen Angel tries to re enter heaven while creating havoc on earth.
82. Eyes Wide Shut
Director – Stanley Kubrick
Cast – Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack
IMDB Rating – 7.4
Rotten Tomatoes – 75%
Release Date – 16 July 1999
Box Office – $162.1 Million
Genre – Thriller, Mystery
Awards – None
Plot – A New York lawyer learns a secret about his wife that leads to a series of events.
81. The Devil’s Advocate
Director – Taylor Hackford
Cast – Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron
IMDB Rating – 7.5
Rotten Tomatoes – 67%
Release Date – 13 October 1997
Box Office – $153 Million
Genre – Thriller, Mystery
Awards – None
Plot – A Lawyer gets the job of his life but his new boss is weird, charming and upto something evil.
