Top 100 Films of the 1990s
I am a child of the 1990s. Being born in 1992 I experienced most of the decade and did so from the point of view of a kid. I’ve talked about how before my parents weren’t especially strict with what I was allowed to watch as a kid and my sister and I wound up watching movies far out of our age range. That’s true, and it did affect the way the 90s felt in my memory. As I made this list I actually wound up shying away from nostalgia picks most people my age may have gravitated towards (save for one very special childhood favorite). I’m not saying some didn’t make the list (Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, and The Lion King are all on there) but they all carry additional significance in cinema history. So when it came to my memories and expectations of the decade I was expecting the films I watched to be scattered and loud. They were…sort of.
The decade of identity crises. To be honest I really struggled to make the “decade thread” the way I did for the 2000s and 2010s. Those decades had clear, distinct themes that ran through them. I knew that my simplistic view of this time period wouldn’t reflect reality. I was a child after all. I still thought there would be some reflection of my memories; and I guess in the way that a kid sees the world as chaotic, that would be true. The early part of the decade was a highly angsty period. We know that was the case for music—grunge and gangster rap sales dominated during this time. Cinema was not much different. Barebones DIY movies too off in a big way. Clerks, Kids, and Slacker all got picked up and started multiple long careers between the three of them. With those major titles making waves many more from-the-heart homemade features (many of which were snagged by Miramax) emerged. Others of significance include El Mariachi, Mary Jane Isn’t A Virgin Anymore, The Watermelon Woman, and The Blair Witch Project come to mind.
While typically trends and culture at the beginning of a decade change by the end, the 90s however, seem to be the starkest to me. Towards the middle of the decade, I saw a shift and that angsty declaration of self began to evolve into an identity crisis. Films like My Own Private Idaho, Se7en, and Fight Club focus on characters with deep internal struggles concerning their identity and personal values. Jim Carrey, who really excelled in the 90s, did two prominent films about this: The Truman Show and Man on the Moon. Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood, both starring Johnny Depp having an equally big career moment, did the same. From other countries we got films like Eternity and a Day, Benny’s Video, and Where Is My Friend’s House. Documentaries didn’t shy away from the central decade theme either with Hoop Dreams and American movie taking the topic head-on. Even Disney explored this with Simba in The Lion King, the Beast in Beauty and the Beast, Buzz in Toy Story, and countless other characters (Mulan literally sings about it). It seemed as if the 90s weren’t sure what they wanted to be and worked overtime trying to figure it out. As you read down the list consider the ones you’ve seen; there’s a good chance at least one central character is struggling with a part of themselves and this struggling is driving the movie. (As always click here if you want to see this on Letterboxd with the poster art.)
100. Titanic
99. The Matrix
98. Looking For Richard
97. Fight Club
96. Benny’s Video
95. Crumb
94. The Crow
93. Ghost
92. The Indian Runner
91. Short Cuts
90. Naked
89. Leon the Professional
88. The War Zone
87. Pretty Woman
86. Paris is Buring
85. Dogfight
84. The Juniper Tree
83. Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore
82. Ratcatcher
81. The Nightmare Before Christmas
80. Wind in the Willows (1995 British version)
79. The Ice Storm
78. My Own Private Idaho
77. The Prince of Egypt
76. American History X
75. Swingers
74. Basic Instinct
73. Robin Hood: Men in Tights
72. Beauty and the Beast
71. The Usual Suspects
70. The Insider
69. Boyz N The Hood
68. Night on Earth
67. Jacob’s Ladder
66. The Iron Giant
65. Ed Wood
64. Saving Private Ryan
63. Schindler’s List
62. Natural Born Killers
61. Afterlife
60. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
59. The Sixth Sense
58. Pulp Fiction
57. Happiness
56. Falling Down
55. Flirting
54. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
53. Eve’s Bayou
52. Just Another Girl on the IRT
51. Secrets & Lies
50. Life, and Nothing More
49. The Watermelon Woman
48. Man Bites Dog
47. Office Space
46. A Brighter Summer Day
45. La Haine
44. Through the Olive Trees
43. Scream
42. Misery
41. Crash (1996 Cronenberg)
40. Jackie Brown
39. Clueless
38. American Movie
37. White Men Can’t Jump
36. My Cousin Vinny
35. Before Sunrise
34. El Mariachi
33. Man on the Moon
32. Three Colors: Red
31. Carlito’s Way
30. Toy Story
29. Slacker
28. All About My Mother
27. Edward Scissorhands
26. Dumb and Dumber
25. The Blair Witch Project
24. The Truman Show
23. The Big Lebowksi
22. Se7en
21. The Virgin Suicides
20. Homicide
19. Dazed and Confused
18. Daughters of the Dust
17. The Lion King
16. Clerks
15. The Grifters
14. From the East
13. Heat
12. Close-Up
11. Being John Malkovich
10. Hoop Dreams
9. Where Is My Friend’s House?
8. Fargo
7. Chungking Express
6. Jurassic Park
5. Unforgiven
4. Glengarry Glen Ross
3. Goodfellas
2. The Silence of the Lambs
1. Eternity and a Day
There were other little observations I made, like how prominent of a role comedy played. Many of the 90s comedies (like The Big Lebowski, Dumber and Dumber, and Office Space) are still well-regarded classics. It appeared that T2 was the last of a dying breed of action movies, whose popularity was replaced with laughter. There also was more a willingness to cover taboo topics like female sexuality, homosexuality, racism, violence, and drug use. An entirely new generation of actors and filmmakers pushed their way into the conversation and the change happened quickly, as it would appear to do every 20 years or so.
So that’s my Top 100 of the 1990s. Next will be the 1980s, which I expect to be large, loud, and bursting some blocks.