So here we go again. The 1990s were an odd decade cinematically, ripe with excellent films, ground-breaking work, innovations as well as a large number of duds. There were also films released to rave reviews that never found an audience.
I combed through the decade and came up with 15 films worthy of discussion as the more under-appreciated of the 1990s, though I am positive you will all add immeasurably to the list, as you did with my take on the 1980s.
The independent movement gave us many great films through this span, as well as some formidable new talent, but I must confess I grew tired of the studio slagging through the decade. Among the critical community it became almost a rite of passage. There was some wonderful studio product here and there, of course: “Goodfellas,” “JFK,” “Unforgiven,” “Schindler’s List,” “Apollo 13,” “Saving Private Ryan” and “LA Confidential” are just a few.
My list, in no particular order…
In “Miller’s Crossing,” the Coen brothers do a masterful job of creating a funny and dark gangster film with superb performances from the great Albert Finney, Marcia Gay Harden, and the sleazy John Turturro in a film that gently pulls the audience into its story. Made on the cheap, the art direction and costume designs are great, and that story…man those Coens get so much out of, “What’s the rumpus?”
“The Sheltering Sky” was a stunning visual adaptation from Bernardo Bertolucci of the Paul Bowles story with John Malkovich and Debra Winger as a somewhat doomed married couple trying to find meaning in the deserts of Arabia. Bertolucci fills the screen with the most beautiful desert vistas seen since “Lawrence of Arabia,” but also reminds us that the setting is a potentially lethal place, intensely hot, filled with death. Winger is extraordinary in her last great film performance and Timothy Spall, as always, is wonderful as a treacherous mother’s boy.
Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X” is a film that should have been a massive hit at the box office, and a major Oscar contender, but sadly Warner Bros. got behind Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven” (granted, a masterpiece) and left Lee’s film high and dry. Denzel Washington won the New York Film Critics Circle award for his performance as the dominant civil rights figure and he also deserved the Oscar.
“The Last of the Mohicans” is one of Michael Mann’s very best films. Loosely based on James Fenimore Cooper’s iconic novel, the film follows the conflict between Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis) and a vicious Indian using the British army as his pawns. Wes Studi is marvelous as Magua, the nasty villain of the film, and Day-Lewis is quite extraordinary (when is he not?) as well. Mann plunges his audiences back in history and proves as at home on the pathways through the forests of early America as he does on the highways of contemporary America.
Peter Weir’s “Fearless” contains the most haunting airplane crash I have ever seen in a film, and I include “United 93.” In one paralyzing shot we see the faces of the passengers facing certain death as the main character walks to the front of the plane to sit with a frightened boy who has a clear view into the cockpit. Jeff Bridges is Max, a survivor of the crash who struggles with bizarre feelings of invulnerability in the aftermath. Excellent work from Tom Hulce and John Turturro also on display here.
“Ed Wood” is Tim Burton’s best film hands down, a serio-comic biopic of director Ed Wood, judged by many to be the worst director in film history. Had his talent matched his ambition, there might have been no stopping him, but Wood lived in a strange world with even stranger people surrounding him. Martin Landau gives one of the screen’s all-time great performances as drug-addled actor Bela Lugosi at the end of his career, doing terrible films for fix cash. Bill Murray, Jeffrey Jones and Sarah Jessica Parker are all excellent in this bizarre black and white beauty.
Oliver Stone’s stunning study of a complicated Commander-in-Chief in 1995’s “Nixon” is a surprisingly touching and honest film, with Anthony Hopkins giving a wonderful performance as a deeply flawed man who reached the pinnacle of world power only to be undone by his own weaknesses. Shakespearean in tone, with Hopkins at his best despite looking nothing like the character, the film is a knockout. Hopkins captured, as one critic put it, “Nixon’s wounded soul,” while Joan Allen is drop-dead perfect as Pat Nixon. Paul Sorvino is excellent as Henry Kissinger and Ed Harris is quietly frightening as Howard Hunt. This is one of Stone’s best.
Arthur Miller’s massive play “The Crucible” is one of the finest of the 20th century and it made for a searing film, bolstered by an extraordinary Daniel Day-Lewis performance as John Proctor, one of the greatest roles ever written for a man. Director Nicolas Hytner opens the play up, but the emphasis is on performance, notably Joan Allen (again) as Proctor’s wife, Paul Schofield as the judge, Winona Ryder as Abigail and Rob Campbell as the reverend who sees through a charade in an intensely theocratic society. Fox fumbled the release of the film, and what was one of the year’s best disappeared from theaters weeks after release.
Atom Egoyan received a Best Director Oscar nomination for “The Sweet Hereafter,” a haunting parable about a bus accident that robs a small town of all but one its children, a young girl, left crippled and enraged, portrayed well by Sarah Polley. Ian Holm is terrific as a lawyer who arrives looking for people to join his class action suit and finds a community in mourning. There is career-best work from Bruce Greenwood, Arsinee Khanjian, and Alberta Watson. This film was Kenneth Turan’s choice as best film of the year in 1997 and finished second in voting with both the Los Angeles and New York Film critics’ awards voting.
The very same year as Egoyan’s masterwork, “The Apostle” was directed, written, acted and financed by Robert Duvall. He tried for 13 years to get the film made, turned down by every major and minor studio before footing the bill himself. By then he knew the character so well it was second nature to him and he gave a volcanic performance as a flawed preacher trying to redeem himself by founding a new church in the deep south. Duvall is the film and gives one of the greatest performances ever put on film. This one rocked the Toronto International Film Festival when first screened and started one of the most famous bidding wars in movie history that saw October Films victorious.
I saw Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights” for the first time as an unfinished film at the Toronto Film Fest and was knocked out by the writer/director’s talent. Merging the styles of Robert Altman and Martin Scorsese into something increibly unique, he created an energetic and wildly entertaining study of the porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s, when the business moved from film to video. A staggering ensemble cast including Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds (never better), William H. Macy, Alfred Molina (terrifying), Heather Graham, and Mark Walberg (the weakest) create indelible characters based on real people in the business. Brilliant.
Remember “Bulworth?” God I wish Warren Beatty would direct more films. He won an Oscar for “Reds,” gave us the delightful “Dick Tracy” and this savage and biting political film that he co-wrote, produced, directed and stared in. As Senator Jay Bulworth, who thinks he is going to be assassinated (by his own order) and therefore begins speaking exactly what is on his mind, Beatty is sensational. Oscar worthy, even. There are also strong performances from Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, and Paul Sorvino.
In “Magnola,” Paul Thomas Anderson once again directed and wrote a bold, daring, magnificent, wildly original film, this one taking place over the course of 24 hours in California and dealing with several people whose lives inter-connect and will collide, in some ways forever altering them. Tom Cruise is simply electrifying as a sex guru forced to deal with life as never before when he learns his father is dying, while Julianne Moore is heartbreaking as a woman who is devastated at betraying her dying husband. William H. Macy is splendid as a former game show contestant still living on past laurels, while Melora Waters is quietly haunting as an abuse victim being wooed by a purely decent cop (John C. Reilly).
Dare I say it, David Fincher’s “Fight Club” is as important to this generation as Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” back in 1971. A vicious attack on consumerism and government, the film is a masterpiece of cinematography, sound and film editing, anchored by two superb performances from Edward Norton and Brad Pitt. I remember sitting behind a well known Toronto radio personality at the press screening, who when the “twist” happened, threw his hands to his hand in shock. A dark and unsettling film that will in years to come gain in stature and hopefully be recognized as perhaps the most important film of the decade.
“Galaxy Quest” was a wonderful comedy that spoofed the “Star Trek” television series gently, while also being a pretty fine science-fiction thriller in its own right. Tim Allen heads a cast of former stars of a TV show that has been off the air for more than 20 years, but has inspired a cult following of fans that treat them like the Pope. When real aliens summon them for help, they get the chance to be the heroes they have always pretended to be. It is a guilty pleasure to be sure, but also a very funny film that deserved a wider audience when released. Allen does a great riff on William Shatner while Alan Rickman is wonderful as a Shakespearean actor reduced to…ugh…television.
What are some of your favorite under-appreciated gems from the 1990s? Have your say in the comments section below!
Comments
65 responses to “Those underrated gems of the 1990s”
The 90s did have the works by Whit Stilman: Metropolitan (1990), Barcelona (1994) and The Last Days of Disco (1998).
Gems!
Weren’t all of these films pretty praised and recognized even on their release? What’s the criteria for underappreciated?
My choice, which will be no surprise to Tapley, is Meet Joe Black.
Jacob’s Ladder.
Set the stage both for the decade’s non-linear storytelling and also the twist ending.
For the record: Sigourney Weaver in Galaxy Quest — hubba, hubba.
“Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia” are certainly among my five favourite films of the decade, but I would never call them underrated – of course I wouldn’t know how they were received back then.
Underrated gems? I’d say: Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Delicatessen”, Sofia Copolla’s “The Virgin Suicides”, Woody Allen’s “Husbands and Wives”, Gary Ross’s “Pleasantville”, Mathieu Kassovitz’s “La Haine” and Lukas Moodysson’s “Fucking Amal”.
I can agree emphatically on several mentioned by John: Malcolm X, Last of the Mohicans, Ed Wood, Boogie Nights (which I thought Mark Wahlberg was fantastic in), and especially Fight Club.
I do believe Fight Club is perhaps the best and most important film of the decade in terms of influence on modern cinema and pop culture alike, with, naturally, Pulp Fiction being it’s main competitor.
I would like to add these titles to our retrospective:
Dazed and Confused – imo the best high school/teen film ever made and such a wonderful depiction of the 70’s.
Hamlet – Kenneth Branagh’s 96 picture specifically. Probably my favorite Shakespeare film
Bottle Rocket – too much to say. Huge Wes Anderson fan
Jackie Brown – commonly looked at as a weak spot on QT’s filmography. It isn’t
The Big Lebowski – I really think this is my favorite movie ever. not a joke. Perfectly made in almost all aspects. Oscars for Bridges and Goodman please.
Gattaca should be on a list like this, seeing as it’s the best film of 1997 and one of the decade’s 10 best.
My opinion, of course.
The Doors (1991)
Romeo Is Bleeding (1993)
Death And The Maiden (1994)
Grace Of My Heart (1996)
Lost Highway (1997)
Beloved (1998)
It’s hard for me to see how Paul Thomas Anderson’s movies are underrated (or how Gattacca is for that matter). But I love seeing The Sweet Hereafter, Nixon and Galaxy Quest on here. And nice input from RichardA re: the Whit Stillman films.
To Die For
Nikita
Léon
The Last Seduction
La Reine Margot
Casino
Three Kings
How about Gregg Araki’s “The Living End.”
For me, the best movies of the 1990s:
1) GoodFellas (Martin Scorsese, 90)
2) Breaking the Waves (Lars Von Trier, 96)
3) The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan, 97)
4) Crumb (Terry Zwigoff, 94)
5) Toy Story and Toy Story 2 (John Lasseter, 95/99)
6) Schindler’s List (Steven Spielberg, 93)
7) Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 94)
8) Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 92)
9) Ed Wood (Tim Burton, 94)
10) Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 99)
11) Barton Fink (Joel and Ethan Coen, 91)
12) Time Indefinite (Ross McElwee, 93)
13) Three Colors: Blue and Three Colors: Red (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 93/94)
14) Life is Sweet (Mike Leigh, 91)
15) Sling Blade (Billy Bob Thornton, 96)
16) Rushmore (Wes Anderson, 98)
17) The Remains of the Day (James Ivory, 93)
18) Europa Europa (Agnieszka Holland, 90)
19) The Celebration (Thomas Vinterberg, 98)
20) Election (Alexander Payne, 99)
21) Short Cuts (Robert Altman, 93)
22) Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 99)
23) To Live (Zhang Yimou, 94)
24) Dazed and Confused (Richard Linklater, 93)
25) King of the Hill (Steven Soderburgh, 93)
1993 and 1999, in particular, were great years. RUNNERS UP: The Rapture, Natural Born Killers, Delicatessen, A Single Girl, The Matrix, The Vanishing, Saving Private Ryan, Jackie Brown, and Hard Boiled.
Heavenly Creatures.
Time Indefinite. Now that’s underappreciated.
How the heck is Gattaca NOT underrated?
Unless, of course, you just think it’s not a very good movie, which is fair enough.
what about PETER WEIR’S “TRUMAN SHOW”?
What seasondays said.
Good point made about criteria for this list — as the site is an Oscar site I went for films that lacked the porper amount of Oscar attention, box office, and in some areas critical attention — many of these films were critical favorites, none were box office smashes — in some cases Oscar smiled with a sprinkling of nominations, three perhaps four but not the amount the film deserved — for instance, why was ‘Magnolia” not up for film, director, cinematography, supporting actress (Moore), and more?
And for Kris, never beena fan of “Gattaca”, and I agree about Weaver in ‘Galaxy Quest” — rockin’ –
An finally, “The Truman Show” and ‘Man in the the Moon” should be among the films listed here, but space, guys, space — I cannot make Kris crazy with long articles — ‘The Truman Show” foreshadowed reality television did it not? And Carrey was nothing short of a revelation as Kaufmann…Oscar blew it.
If you think The Truman Show was good at predicting the reality-driven future, check out Real Life from 1979.
Love “Gattaca.” The very definition of “underrated.” Still, for my money, the best film of 1997 (and arguably also underrated) is “The Ice Storm.”
Thanks for clarifying your criteria, John, as I was also thinking that many of your choices are duly appreciated today.
My list would include “Husbands and Wives,” “Lawn Dogs,” “Safe,” “Love Serenade,” “Ju Dou,” “Proof,” “The Double Life of Veronique,” “Grace of My Heart” (thrilled to see someone else mention this), “The Portrait of a Lady,” “Mars Attacks!” and a South African gem called “Paljas.”
I’ll throw misunderstood blockbusters Kindergarten Cop and Bram Stoker’s Dracula into the equation.
I’ll second “Dracula.”
Top Ten of the 90s
1. Dead Man
2. Happy Together
3. Pulp Fiction
4. The Double Life of Veronique
5. Breaking the Waves
6. Hoop Dreams
7. Short Cuts
8. Rosetta
9. The Promise
10. The Virgin Suicides
Sorry Kris, while I greatly admire “Gattaca”, I have to disagree with you naming it the best film of 1997. In my opinion that title goes to “Eve’s Bayou”. That would be number one on my “Most Underrated 90’s Films” list. Other films that I feel are underrated include:
-Jackie Brown (1997)
-Beloved (1998)
-Kalifornia (1993)
-The Virgin Suicides (1999)
-To Die For (1995)
-Fresh (1994)
-Crooklyn (1994)
-Gattaca (1997)
-Man on the Moon (1999)
-The Truman Show (1998)
-Léon the Professional (1994)
-Dark City (1998)
-New Jack City (1991)
-The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
-Swimming With Sharks (1994)
I’m sure there are more that I could think of, but I’ll leave it at that.
I hate “Miller’s Crossing” and most Coen brothers films.
Ones I’d call underrated (in a top 10 of mine, yet not overly well known or if they’re known, not that talked about)
The Straight Story (1999)
A Simple Plan (1998-For my money, better than Fargo)
Little Voice (1998)
Gattaca (1997)
Fireworks (1997)
In the Company of Men (1997)
Happy Together (1997)
The Ice Storm (1997)
Live Flesh (1997)
Lost Highway (1997)
Fast Cheap and Out of Control (1997)
Bottle Rocket (1996)
Hard Eight (1996)
The Portrait of a Lady (1996)
Chungking Express (1994)
Exotica (1994-This, not the Sweet Hereafter, is Egoyan’s best film)
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
Death and the Maiden (1994)
Vanya on 42nd Street (1994)
Before the Rain (1994)
A Mere Formality (1994)
Short Cuts (1993)
Fearless (1993-Bridges should have not only been nominated, he should have won)
The Player (1992)
Enchanted April (1992)
Passion Fish (1992)
Hearts of Darkness (1991)
I’ll leave it at that…
The Talented Mr. Ripley. I don’t know if this is an underated film. I belive it got 6 nominations. The thing is that it didn’t got one for best picture, and is the best film from Mingella. Underated or not I think it deserved better.
Oscar and Lucinda.
For the sci-fi genre, I’d throw in “Dark City”. It was terribly marketed when it was released but I still find it to be an amazing film.
Thanks Kris for mentioning Gattaca. It IS one of the best films and most underrated of the 90s, and that soundtrack….WOW. IMO, it’s one of the most underappreciated and emotional soundtracks of all time.
And thanks John for mentioning Galaxy Quest. I found it to be one of the best parody sci-fi films ever and with one of the most hysterical performances from Sam Rockwell.
One of the best moments of Galaxy Quest:
Guy Fleegman: I changed my mind. I wanna go back.
Sir Alexander Dane: After the fuss you made about getting left behind?
Guy Fleegman: Yeah, but that’s when I thought I was the crewman that stays on the ship, and something is up there, and it kills me. But now I’m thinking I’m the guy who gets killed by some monster five minutes after we land on the planet.
Jason Nesmith: You’re not gonna die on the planet, Guy.
Guy Fleegman: I’m not? Then what’s my last name?
Jason Nesmith: It’s, uh, uh – -I don’t know.
Guy Fleegman: Nobody knows. Do you know why? Because my character isn’t important enough for a last name, because I’m gonna die five minutes in.
Gwen DeMarco: Guy, you have a last name.
Guy Fleegman: DO I? DO I? For all you know, I’m “Crewman Number Six”! Mommy! Mommy!
Sir Alexander Dane: Are we there yet?
Based on Guy’s logic, these are my additions to the list, in no particular order:
Rushmore-delightfully quaint little film, really brought Wes Anderson into his own, and features some brilliant performances from Bill Murray (How could the Academy let THAT slip by?) and Jason Schesrtzman
Heavenly Creatures-Peter Jackson’s first serious attempt at filmmaking is a haunting, powerful tale of friendship and the power of imagination. Jackson’s direction, the gorgeous cinematography and the perfectly cast Kate Winslet all should have been nominated
Barton Fink-by far the strangest Coen Brothers film I’ve seen. John Turturro is perfectly flustered as the radical playwright with major writer’s block, and John Goodman is in fine form as Charlie, but the real standout is Michael Lerner as the blustering bully of a studio executive. Surreal, philosophical and more often than not funny as hell, Barton Fink deserved every award it got and more than a few that it didn’t
And I couldn’t agree more with Magnolia, Ed Wood, and Malcolm X
Here’s five I haven’t seen yet.
CTRL + F: Big Night
CTRL + F: Breakdown
CTRL + F: The Cruise
CTRL + F: Go
CTRL + F: Quiz Show
Naked
Dead Man
Run Lola Run
Shallow Grave
Croupier
Box of Moon Light
Proof (Australian – 1991)
The Hairdresser’s Husband
Breaking the Waves
Leon
An Angel at My Table
Chung King Express
Orlando
Ruby in Paradise
All About My Mother
The Indian Runner
LOVED Galaxy Quest! Best line is Sigourney Weaver saying “screw that” before going into the chompers…which was a purposeful overdub for “F*** that!” Hilarious!!! (that and “quick before somebody kills Guy”)
Barton Fink (1991) – a masterpiece…
Husbands and Wives (1992) – great performances by Pollack and Davis. Top notch writing.
Bullets Over Broadway (1994)- They chose Four Weddings and a funeral over this??
If were talking about the 1990’s then it really boils down to Fight Club Pulp Fiction, Goodfellas, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and dont forget the SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
GATTACA! no question.
I still wonder how that did not become a hit, even a minor one at that…one thing is for sure, the score should be considered one of the best of all time.
For me, the most underrated films in the 90s.
Three especially for 97. I still didn’t understand how the Academy choose mediocre films like “titanic” and “good Will Hunting” instead those three excellent films.
1. The Sweet Hereafter – Sarah Polley deserved the Oscar for Supporting Actress that year!.
2. Boogie Nights
3. The Ice Storm
4. Ed Wood
5. Malcolm X (If Denzel would lose for Downey Jr. or Rea that would be fine, but for Pacino’s one of his worst performances…)
6. Ponnette – Thivisol is amazing in that film and she had only 4 years old!…
7. Three Colors: Blue: Juliette Binoche deserved one place at Best Actress nominees that 1994…
8. Hamlet
9. Miller crossing
10.Magnolia
11.All About My Mother – YES it won Cannes and AMPAS, but still the screenplay and Cecilia Roth deserved more…
12. Holy Smoke!
“The Ice Storm” and “Jackie Brown” are two that come to mind as being criminally underrated.
Boogie Nights >>>> Magnolia
I also think Fight Club has no business being on your list. I’m not exactly sure how anyone would consider it underrated, even if they thought it was the best film of all time. I for one wasn’t super taken by it, but to each his own.
I thought Ed Wood was better in design than in execution. Edward Scissorhands is by far Tim Burton’s best work, and I’m surprised no one has mentioned it yet.
I also want to give a mention to the heart-breaking Jacqueline du Pré biopic from 1998 “Hilary and Jackie.” In my opinion, Emily Watson gave one of the best performances of the decade.
SHINE.
Where’s the love for Pleasantville?
^^^
Good call.
I love Pleasantville–its concept and storytelling. Absolutely underrated.
I know Fincher’s Fight Club is there, but I gotta put Seven on that list too, I know it made a pretty good amount and was a hit, but it is a damn great film.
Leon was also a good call by previous posts as was Dazed and Confused
I’d throw a little CONTACT in the mix.
Some Underrated:
– Go (1999) – I a lot of people call it ”Pulp Fiction rip-0ff” (Pulp Fiction is my favorite movie ever so im not biased, lol) the only similarity is the jumping timeline and thats it.
– Boyz n the Hood
– Menace II Society
– Gattaca
– A Bronx Tale
– Ronin
– Carlito’s Way
– Cube
– Donnie Brasco
– Face Off
– Speed
– Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
– Fist of Legend
– From Dusk Till Dawn
– Get Shorty
– Ghost Dog – The Way of the Samurai
– Killing Zoe
– King of New York
– Lost Highway
– Run Lola Run
– Natural Born Killers
– Out of Sight
– Rounders
– Swingers
– The Rock
– True Romance
How can you put The Crucible on here? I agree that DDL and Allen were terrific and the source material can’t be argued with, but the girls in this movie and most specifically Wynona Ryder, make this film nothing but a laugher. Whenever she comes on screen I do nothing but laugh.
If I had to pick one movie that is underrated from the 90’s I’d have to go with the Usual Suspects even with the attention it already receives.