Time is the enemy of all films as it erodes what was once exciting and original. Truly great movies are able to withstand the test of time, but I wonder if enough time has passed to take a look back at the 1990s cinema and make some decisions.
There was a major breakthrough in the decade with filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, who did not so much open the door for indies as he did kick it in and stomp on it with his “Pulp Fiction,” a gloriously acted, directed and written masterpiece about criminals in Los Angeles. When Godard spoke of making films with a guy, a girl and a gun, was this what he had in mind?
Though Tarantino has strugled to follow up his legendary 1994 effort with an equally powerful offering, there is little doubt he will, or at least could if he wanted to. (Though he keeps stopping and starting on his latest ambitious project.) After all, he is still growing as a director. And just look at Steven Spielberg, who for my money has grown artistically through the last 15 years more so than any other major filmmaker. It was as though “Schindler’s List” and the release of winning the Oscar set him free.
Anyway, for the record and argument, here are my ten best films of the 1990s:
1. “Pulp Fiction”
2. “Schindler’s List”
3. “Goodfellas”
4. “Unforgiven”
5. “Saving Private Ryan”
6. “The Sweet Hereafter”
7. “Magnolia”
8. “L.A. Confidential”
9. “The Shawshank Redemption”
10. “The Silence of the Lambs”
You?
Comments
44 responses to “Best of the 90’s”
Off the top of my head:
1) The Thin Red Line
2) Fargo
3) The Silence of the Lambs
4) Magnolia
5) Pulp Fiction
6) Glengarry Glen Ross
7) The Usual Suspects
8) The Blair Witch Project
9) The Truman Show
10) Leaving Las Vegas
Hm. This is a more conventional list than I would have expected.
My ever-changing list:
1. “The Thin Red Line”
2. “JFK”
3. “Gattaca”
4. “Goodfellas”
5. “Pulp Fiction”
6. “Schindler’s List”
7. “The Insider”
8. “The Lion King”
9. “The Usual Suspects”
10. “Unforgiven”
Films that poke into the list from time to time:
“Being John Malkovich”
“Fargo”
“The Iron Giant”
“L.A. Confidential”
“Lost Highway”
“Malcolm X”
“The Matrix”
“Natural Born Killers”
And I have a hunch “Delicatessen” would make it close, but alas, I’ve yet to see it.
Hey John,
your list is so representative of the last decade! but you left out 95 and 96, where were released some classics like Trainspotting, Seven and Fargo. I think those films are so much better than Saving Private Ryan. Anyway is a great list .
My top three by year
90
Miller´s Crossing/Goodfellas/Edw Scissorhands
91
Silence of t Lambs/Thelma&Louise/BoysNHood
92
Reservoir Dogs/Crying Game/T Player
93
T Piano/Schindler´s /In t Name of t Father
94
Pulp Fiction/Shawshank/Reality Bites
05
Seven/Leaving Las Vegas/Heat
96
Trainspotting/Fargo/T People vs. LarryFlynt
97
T Sweet Hereafter/Boogie Nights/ Gattaca
98
Thin Red Line/Rushmore/Happiness
99
Magnolia/Fight Club/T Matrix
1. “The Thin Red Line”
2. “Goodfellas”
3. “Heat”
4. “The Player”
5. “Bugsy”
6. “The Usual Suspects”
7. “L.A. Confidential”
8. “Rushmore”
9. “Fight Club”
10. “Boogie Nights”
Breakthrough Filmmakers of the 90’s
1. Quentin Tarantino
2. Wong Kar Wai
3. Paul Thomas Anderson
4. Tom Twyker
5. David Fincher
6. Francois Ozon
7. Wes Anderson
8. Spike Jonze
9. Alejandro Amenabar
10. Danny Boyle
Perhaps not the best (I’ve still a lot of catching up to do) but some of my favorites, for quality if not a landmark breakthrough:
Oscar and Lucinda
Sense and Sensibility
Howards End
The Remains of the Day
The Shawshank Redemption
Elizabeth
Before Sunrise
The Age of Innocence
The Crucible
Fargo
Nothing from outside North America, John? Really?
Mine:
1. Three Colours: Red
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Proof (1991 – not to be confused with the John Madden film)
4. Husbands and Wives
5. The Ice Storm
6. Breaking the Waves
7. Magnolia
8. Ju Dou
9. The Thin Red Line
10. All About My Mother
The top half is pretty firm; on another day, various other titles could sneak in – King of the Hill, GoodFellas, Ratcatcher, Run Lola Run, Thelma and Louise…
Damn it, I forgot Short Cuts.
By the way,John, I very much doubt that Tarantino will ever match Pulp Fiction. Right now, I’m not even sure he’ll ever make another good film.
The Thin Red Line
Miller’s Crossing
Ed Wood
Short Cuts
Sling Blade
Dead Man
L.A. Confidential
The Shawshank Redemption
Groundhog Day
Twelve Monkeys
1. Three Kings
2. The Matrix
3. L.A. Confidential
4. The Silence of the Lambs
5. Three Colors
6. The Ice Storm
7. Boyz n the Hood
8. The Shawshank Redemption
9. The Sweet Hereafter
10. Run Lola Run
In random order:
1. JFK
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Goodfellas
4. Heat
5. The Truman Show
6. Schindler’s List
7. L.A. Confidential
8. The Shawshank Redemption
9. Se7en
10. Saving Private Ryan
One of the films that had most influence on me though was Independence Day. I was like the perfect age to be blown away with it (12 orso) and I saw it on like the biggest screen ever (somewhere in Cheltenham, England).
Another one of those films is Apollo 13, loved that one too as a kid, and I still do. It may be a bit obvious on the emotion, but it is such a well made film.
In random order:
1. Fargo
2. Farewell, my concubine
3. L.A. Confidential
4. Magnolia
5. Being John Malkovich
6. Schindler’s List
7. Fight Club
8. The Thin Red Line
9. Unforgiven
10. The Usual Suspects
1. Goodfellas
2. Huozhe ( To Live)
3. Heat
4. Gattaca
5. Pulp Fiction
6. Schindler’s List
7. The Shawshank Redemption
8. The Insider
9. Se7en
10. Fargo
Always changing though…
1. “The Silence of the Lambsâ€
2. “Pulp Fictionâ€
3. “Barton Finkâ€
4. “Schindler’s Listâ€
5. “Husbands and Wivesâ€
6. “Magnoliaâ€
7. “Goodfellasâ€
8. “Saving Private Ryanâ€
9. “Being John Malkovich†/ “The Truman Show†(tie)
10. “Bullets Over Broadwayâ€
Tough decisions…
1. The Usual Suspects
2. The English Patient
3. Heat
4. Affliction
5. Schindler’s List
6. Forrest Gump
7. The Shawshank Redemption
8. The Silence of the Lambs
9. American History X
10. Casino
Goodfellas
Ed Wood
The Matrix
Groundhog Day
JFK
Léon
Schindler’s List
Pulp Fiction
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Se7en
1. “Schindler’s List” (1993)
One of the greatest films ever made… powerful, gut-wrenching masterpiece.
2. “American Beauty” (1999)
Poetic and profound entertainment.
3. “GoodFellas” (1990)
A masterwork of sprawling character studies.
4. “Pulp Fiction” (1994)
Pop culture dynamite, one of the most entertaining pictures ever.
5. “The English Patient” (1996)
Terribly underrated now, this is one of the greatest, most sweeping romantic epics ever to hit the screen. Gorgeous.
6. “Magnolia” (1999)
A hard-hitting, thought-provoking tour-de-force.
7. “Howards End” (1992)
A stunningly beautiful production, expertly written and acted.
8. “JFK” (1991)
Electric and consistently riveting.
9. “Titanic” (1997)
One of cinema’s most beautiful love stories.
10. “Fargo” (1996)
A sardonic crime caper masterpiece.
More of the 90s’ best:
“Dances with Wolves”
“The Lion King”
“Forrest Gump”
“Shine”
“Unforgiven”
“The Shawshank Redemption” is one of the most overrated films of all time. Wouldn’t make a Top 30.
1. Pulp Fiction
2. The Thin Red Line
3. American Beauty
4. Being John Malkovich
5. Natural Born Killers
6. The Blair Witch Project
7. Dead Man Walking
8. Saving Private Ryan
9. Shakespeare in Love
10. Magnolia
My top ten:
1. Pulp Fiction
2. The Piano
3. American Bauty
4. Fargo
5. Three Colors: Blue (I like all of three, but I love this and Juliette Binoche)
6. The talented Mr. ripley
7. The Sweet Hereafter
8. L.A. Confidential
9. Edward scissorshands
10. Sense and sensibility
10. Mrs. Doubtfire (guilty pleasure)
9. Titanic (I know I’ll be mocked, but I love it)
8. Howard’s End
7. Beauty and the Beast
6. Goodfellas
5. Fargo
4. Saving Private Ryan
3. American Beauty
2. The Shawshank Redemption
1. Schindler’s List
Some just off:
Edward Scissorhands
The Grifters
Silence of the Lambs
Thelma and Louise
Remains of the Day
Pulp Fiction
LA Confidential
Good Will Hunting
Shakespeare in Love
1. Heat
2. Saving Private Ryan
3. The Silence of the Lambs
4. Schindler’s List
5. The Shawshank Redemption
6. Pulp Fiction
7. L.A. Confidential
8. The Lion King
9. The Insider
10. Titanic
Alternates: Gattaca, Good Will Hunting, The Thin Red Line
just how i feel today and not including more than one film per director and with very short summaries:
1. Eyes Wide Shut – how has this not even been mentioned yet? Kubrick’s best. as hard as that is to say.
2. The Truman Show – among my all-time favs. also check Fearless for more Weir goodness.
3. Pulp Fiction – you know.
4. The Matrix – i feel sad whenever i think about how astounding this and Bound were and how that will probably never happen again from the W’s.
5. Titanic – it literally applauds itself towards the end and gets away with it. absolutely massive but utterly real.
6. American Beauty – yup.
7. The Big Lebowski – it’s very tough choosing this over Fargo. after so many views it’s still revealing things.
8. Romeo + Juliet – i’ve never seen a better interpretation.
9. Being John Malkovich – probably the straight up funniest. but more than that.
10. The Lion King – most adult, epic disney ever.
best 90´s movie theater experiences
1. fight club
2. trainspotting
3. jurassic park
4. magnolia
5. the matrix
6. seven
7. titanic
8. the sweet hereafter
9. philadelphia
10. twister
1. Forrest Gump – one of the only 2 film’s to EVER make me cry.
2. Malcolm X – Spike Lee’s most accomplished work. So big in scope, but powerfully small in the way he dissects this polarizing figure.
3. Silence of the Lambs – One of the Best Suspense/Thillers of all-time.
4. Goodfellas – My fave Scorsese flick.
5. American Beauty – For some reason, this film has gotten a bad rap over the years. This is a great dark comedy and satire.
6. Se7en – Still Fincher’s best to date IMO.
7. Pulp Fiction – Took me a few years to realize how great of movie this is.
8. Boyz-N-the Hood – A bit dated but still very powerful.
9. Shawshank Redemption – This should have been a dud, everything went right.
10. Fargo – So funny…I still can’t believe some people don’t think this film is a comedy, no matter how dark things get…this is a comedy ALL u idiots on IMDB.
Does the 90’s technically include the year 2000 or not? If so…(not including 1990: Goodfellas)
1. In the Mood for Love
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Schindler’s List
4. Trois Color: Blue
5. Fargo
6. Boogie Nights
7. All About My Mother
8. JFK
9. The Thin Red Line
10. S7ven
man, it’s a decade! so many awsome movies in it!
In no partucular order a few that came to mind.
Shindler’s List, Exotica!!!!!!!, Summer Tale, Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Being John Malkovich, Princess Mononoke, Glengarry GlenRoss, Fisher King… Mortal Kombat?
Movies I consider overrated:
The Truman Show, Casino, The Usual Suspects, American Beauty
01. The Piano (Jane Campion)
02. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino)
03. Trois Couleurs (Krzysztof Kieslowsi)
04. The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick)
05. Schindler’s List (Steven Spielberg)
06. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese)
07. Fargo (Joel Coen)
08. A Taste Of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami)
09. Underground (Emir Kusturica)
10. The Silence Of The Lambs (Jonathan Demme)
01. Husbands and Wives
02. Fargo
03. Zentropa/Europa
04. The Matrix
05. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
06. Soapdish
07. The Talented Mr. Ripley
08. Reality Bites
09. Groundhog Day
10. All About My Mother
Four I can’t believe are on anyone’s list:
01. American Beauty
02. The Silence of the Lambs
03. The English Patient
04. The Truman Show
I know that if I did this tomorrow, I would find different films to put after the top 4, but here goes:
1. The Shawshank Redemption – Like 95% of fans, I didn’t see this until home video.
2. Schindler’s List – The film that made me realize how great the cinema is. Life changing movie for me.
3. Saving Private Ryan – Best. War. Movie. Ever. How the hell did this lose to SIL?
4. American Beauty – Just like Darabont, Mendes delivered a masterpiece his first time time. Perfect mix of all aspects of movie making.
5. Heat – As the years go by, this film will only grow in importance. The bank robbery shootout will be studied as long as movies are around.
6. Goodfellas – One of Scorsese’s best and a gangster picture that achieves the virtually impossible: Stands alongside The Godfather and The Godfather Part II in the gangster genre.
7. JFK – Oliver Stone’s best as well as Costner’s best. No matter how many times I’ve watched it, the final half hour enthralls me like few scenes in history.
8. L.A. Confidential – I love Titanic (Shut up!), but this was clearly the film of 1997. Magnificent cast and script as well as direction make this the high point of Curtis’ Hanson’s career (so far).
9. Pulp Fiction – I agree that Tarantino will probably never equal or surpass this, but in the end, it won’t matter.
10. Beauty and the Beast – The only animated movie I would call a masterpiece, and yes, I’ve seen and own several of the Disney classics from the 1930’s and 1940’s. My only regret is that I wasn’t able to see it on the big screen in IMAX, where the animation would’ve been a sight to behold, especially the ballroom sequence. If Pixar ever makes a movie on this level, and they’ve come damn near close with The Incredibles, Ratatouille and WALL-E, it’ll be a joyous day.
Frank Lee, why do not like those four films?
For today and in no particular order:
1. Unforgiven
2. Howards End
3. Fight Club
4. The Big Lebowski
5. The Sixth Sense
6. The Apostle
7. Braveheart
8. The Piano
9. Last of the Mohicans
10. Sling Blade
on a different day:
1. Shine
2. Kundun
3. Reservoir Dogs
4. Fargo
5. Sense & Sensibility
6. Pulp Fiction
7. Silence of the Lambs
8. Good Will Hunting
9. Forrest Gump
10. Raise the Red Lantern
1 – Goodfellas
2 – The Shawshank Redemption
3 – Schindler’s List
4 – Pulp Fiction
5 – The Truman Show
6 – Magnolia
7 – Reservoir Dogs
8- Heat
9 – Unforgiven
10 – Fargo
It puzzles me that Braveheart was mentioned only once. Surely others can appreciate the mother of all modern historical epics.
1. “Schindler’s List”
2. “The Shawshank Redemption”
3. “Goodfellas”
4. “The Silence of the Lambs”
5. “Titanic”
6. “Saving Private Ryan”
7. “Dances With Wolves”
8. “Forrest Gump”
9. “Se7en”
10. “Life is Beautiful”
10. Babe: I do not think family entertainment gets much better than this classic movie about a farmer and his sheep-herding pig. This touching and well-made movie is a family classic.
9. Beauty and the Beast: The best Disney film of the 90s and one of the best ever made (it is the only animated movie to ever garner an Oscar nomination for Best Picture), the classic movie has everything, great songs, a great script (especially for an animated kids movie), and cinematography that rivals any live-action movie I have seen.
8. Goodfellas: Martin Scorsese at his best (although “The Departed is a close second). This is the classic gangster movie from a classic gangster director. Besides the direction, the script is both hardcore and has elements of dark comedy. Then there is the acting. Lorraine Bracco (pre-Sopranos), Robert DeNiro, and Ray Liotta all give great performances, but it is Joe Pesci that steals the show (and won the Oscar). His Tommy DeVito has little-man’s syndrome on crack. Classic flick.
7. Fargo: The characters and the writing make this the best dramedy I have ever seen. Lead by Frances McDormand in the best role of her career, and maybe the best female performance of the decade, this film is both witty and wry. I also give it props for being short and to the point (its only a little over and hour-and-a-half long). The Coen Brothers have never been better.
6. Forrest Gump: The mid nineties were very good to Tom Hanks, and vice versa. With back-to-back Oscar winning roles, Hanks is amazing as a simple Southern man who observes history as he lives his life. The music and the score alone are reason enough to see this. Director Robert Zemeckis does a great job. Sally Field and Gary Sinise and Robin Wright-Penn give great supporting performances.
5. The Birdcage: The best comedy of the decade, Robin Williams and Nathan Lane are absolutely hilarious in this great movie about a gay couple in Miami preparing to meet their son’s fiancee’s conservative parents. Mike Nichols, as always, does a great job directing, but this movie belongs to Williams and Lane. Best Line: “O I pierced the toast!”
4. American Beauty: While now the distopian suburbia has been overdone, in 1999, director Sam Mendes pieced together this fantastic, multiple Oscar-winning portrait of a family falling apart. While different than “Ordinary People” in that is commented on suburbia, this movie has it all, directing, a great score, a great script by Alan Ball (Six Feet Under) and performances that will be remembered for a long time. Annette Bening and Oscar winner Kevin Spacey shine as a dysfunctional couple who still love each other, in a way. Equally good, but overlooked is Chris Cooper, as the hard military man with a secret. Great movie.
3. Schindler’s List: Numbers two and three couple almost be interchangeable, but I had to put one in front of the other, so here it is. There is not a lot to say about Steven Speilberg’s masterpiece about the Holocaust. I cry everytime I watch it and the girl in the red coat, even if she is a cheap emotional ploy, is one of the most haunting images in film. Amazing.
2. Silence of the Lambs: The acting and the screenplay make this classic horror/suspense movie tick. Winner of five Oscars in 1991, this movie is in my top five of all time. Anthony Hopkins is amazingly horrific as Hannibal the Cannibal. The audience simultaneously feels sorry for him and hates him. Jodi Foster also give an Oscar-worthy performance as Clarice Starling, the FBI trainee sent to talk to Lecter. I could go on with the quotes and the sounds from the movie, but I don’t need to since everyone knows them. It doesn’t get much better than this…
1. The Shawshank Redemption: except for this. In my opinion the best movie ever made, this movie based on a Stephen King story and directed by Frank Darabont was criminally overlooked in 1994 as overly emotional and just ok. While now somewhat of a cult classic, this movie is just great. I find it hard to put into words why I love it as much as I do. Maybe it is the the story of a man wrongly-accused who finally escapes. Maybe its because it has Morgan Freeman, who I love. Maybe there are a lot of other reasons, but this is just the greatest film of all time.
1. The Truman Show
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Schindler’s List
4. Beautiful Girls
5. American Beauty
6. Pleasantville
7. Exotica
8. JFK
9. Fight Club
10. L.A. Confidential
Honorable Mentions (could pop up in the list depending on the day, and one time they were on it): Se7en, The Matrix, Happiness, Bringing Out the Dead, Barton Fink and Demolition Man (my biggest guilty pleasure ever).
I still have a lot of catch up to do, so surely it’ll be different a couple of years from now.
I miss comedys in your list so………
1. Fargo
2. Jerry maguire
3. Rushmore
4. Reality Bites
5. The Big Lebowski
6. The Player
7. Happiness
8. Election
9. Dazed and Confused
10. My Best Friend`s Wedding
Hmmmmm…. I missed comedies? Yet the blackest of all comedies tops the list! Tarantino was stunned when some execs failed to find the humor in his screenplay, yet though not a standard comedy (or film for that matter) I cannot remember laughing as hard at any other film as I did at this one.
In no particular order…
American Beauty
Fargo
Boogie Nights
Pulp Fiction
Good Will Hunting
Jerry Maguire
Election
Beauty and the Beast
The Truman Show
Haven’t seen Schindler’s List, Unforgiven, L.A. Confidential, or Goodfellas. Between those four, I’m guessing one of them would claim the final spot.
Overratted: Shawshank, Se7en, The Usual Suspects, and American History X
Right now:
Thelma & Louise
The Insider
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Death Becomes Her
Fargo
Gattaca
Fight Club
The English Patient
Edward Scissorhands
Boogie Nights
Which any other day can turn into:
Elizabeth
Barton Fink
10 Things I Hate About You
Dick Tracy
The Matrix
The First Wives Club
The Professional
Aladdin
The Lion King
Forrest Gump
Special mentions: Demolition Man, Scream, Como agua para chocolate, Scream, Braveheart
There is much from the 90’s that I haven’t seen, and much I’m forgetting. Already I can see that I forgot T2, The Age of Innocence, The Abyss and countless others I’m sure.
Thanks for the Grammar Lesson John, i need it
Pulp Fiction- dark comedy… common!!!
Trainspotting and Bowling for Columbine made me laugh a lot but i don´t think them in a comedian way.
Some that are in my list:
Pulp Fiction
Se7en
Heat
GoodFellas
Casino
Dazed and Confused
The Big Lebowski
Fight Club
Pulp Fiction, Schindlers List and Shawshank seem to be on most lists and would be on mine but I’ll omit them to make room, in no particular order, for:
The Fisher King
The Crying Game
Farewell, my concubine
Shortcuts
Six degrees of separation
The Flower of my Secret
Breaking the Waves
Waiting for Guffman
Fight Club
Happiness
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Trianspotting
3. The Dreamlife of Angels
4. Fight Club
5. Seven
6. The Sweet Hereafter
7. Magnolia
8. The Silence of the Lambs
9. Rushmore
10.Leaving Las Vegas