The '90s were a pretty amazing decade for film. The rom-com was at its pinnacle; comedies were hilarious (Home Alone, Groundhog Day); critical faves were also crowd-pleasers (Titanic, Forrest Gump); horror films were bone-chilling and realistic (The Blair Witch Project, Se7en); and teen comedies were having a heyday (10 Things I Hate About You, Clueless), making the years 1990 to 1999 a good time to go to the movies if you were a teenager.
Luckily, most of the must-watch movies of the decade can be seen now from the comfort of your couch. We movie lovers at Maire Claire scoured the archives and rounded up the best '90s films with the most iconic characters—from Mrs. Doubtfire to Hannibal Lecter to Cher Horowitz—and we've listed them here. Not only that but, as with the best movies of the 2000s, these 90 films contributed to the culture of the time and are titles you can turn on again and again. We've arranged these great films by genre so you can easily navigate your favorites. The next lazy Saturday you have, why not stroll down memory lane with these iconic, nostalgic films?
Best Romance Movies of the '90s
'Before Sunrise' (1995)
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Suddenly the idea of meeting your soulmate on a train ride heading from Budapest to Vienna, spending one glorious night together, and falling deeply in love seems possible after watching this movie. Richard Linklater's meditation on love and chance will leave you stunned—and two more films follow in this series, so prepare to get the tissue box ready.
'The Best Man' (1999)
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The Best Man was important for a lot of reasons, primarily because it was a long-overdue romance and a damn good movie starring Black actors. It also portrayed everyday struggles and successes: "African American people being people, as opposed to stereotypes," as Taye Diggs once put it. It was a star-making movie for several super-talented actors (Diggs! Nia Long! Harold Perrineau! Regina Hall! to name a few!) and even though it's a deeply 90s movie, there's so much to love.
'The Bodyguard' (1992)
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Forever icon Whitney Houston made her debut in this romantic thriller alongside Kevin Costner as a famous pop singer who hires a former Secret Service agent to be her bodyguard. It gets hot and also terrifying super quick. Don't even get us started on the soundtrack! It's still the bestselling soundtrack album of all time, with more than 42 million certified copies sold worldwide.
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'Chungking Express' (1994)
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Wong Kar-wai’s multi-arc love story set in Hong Kong is one for hopeless romantics. The film follows two separate tales of police officers (Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung) who are mulling over loss in their love lives, and the new women (Brigitte Lin, Faye Wong) who come into their orbit. Famous for its colorful style and serendipitous story, it’s cinema that’s sweeter than pineapples.
'Ghost' (1990)
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Pottery class became sexy after this supernatural romance starring Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze. The pair plays a loved-up couple whose relationship is cut short when Sam (Swayze) is murdered. As his spirit wanders the Earth, he learns Molly (Moore) could have the same fate and must somehow warn her before it's too late.
'Meet Joe Black' (1998)
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When Death visits media mogul William (Anthony Hopkins), he agrees to give William more time in exchange for showing him life on Earth. After taking the body of a young man, a.k.a. Brad Pitt, Death experiences all life has to offer, including falling in love with William's daughter. While we know this romantic drama is a little lengthy coming in at three hours, we promise Hopkins and Pitts' stellar emotional performances are worth it.
'The Piano' (1993)
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Mother-daughter duo Ada (Holly Hunter) and Flora (Anna Paquin) arrive at New Zealand's North Island with a handful of items, including a prized piano, to meet Ada's new husband, Stewart (Sam Neill). The relationship soon goes south when Stewart sells the piano to a neighbor named George (Harvey Keitel), who tells her she can earn the instrument back by teaching him how to play and some other things. Things get steamy!
'Romeo + Juliet' (1996)
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Hollywood may reboot the classic Shakespeare play every few years, but this one starring Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio reigns supreme. Sure, you know the ending, but the modern twist on this classic tale has a few tricks up its sleeve you won't see coming.
'Titanic' (1997)
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This movie, which had most teenage girls sobbing through the late '90s, is a fictionalized account of the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic (obviously). It stars Leonardo DiCaprio at his heartthrob-iest and Kate Winslet, two passengers of vastly different social stature who fall in love during the Titanic’s first and final voyage. The 1997 film was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won 11—including Best Picture and Best Director.
'Wild at Heart' (1990)
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Leave it to David Lynch to make a road film that includes references to The Wizard of Oz and Elvis Presley, Nicolas Cage in a snakeskin jacket, and one of the most off-the-wall performances from Willem Dafoe. Based on Barry Gifford’s novel of the same name about a young woman named Lula (Laura Dern) who hits the road with her man named Sailor (Cage), it’s a sexy, freewheeling story about love-on-the-run and the kind of Americana fantasy only Lynch could put to screen.
Best Dramas of the '90s
'Boogie Nights' (1997)
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Director Paul Thomas Anderson put himself on the map with the 1997 film about the p*rnography industry in the late 70s and early 80s. We relished in Burt Reynolds' mustache, gasped at Mark Wahlberg's prosthetic penis, and couldn't take our eyes away from the screen until the credits rolled.
'Boyz N' The Hood' (1991)
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John Singleton's debut 1991 film about three men growing up in the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles put a narrative on screen that wasn't always seen. The breakout performance of Ice Cube alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. and Morris Chestnut as they come of age was a message worth noting. Re-watching it now is a reminder of how Singleton's film was a risk worth taking.
'Cruel Intentions' (1999)
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In yet another entry in the illustrious canons of “teen movies in which a popular guy makes a bet to date an unpopular girl” and “teen movies based on centuries-old stories,” Cruel Intentions is a modern retelling of the 1782 French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses—and has since spawned even more spinoffs, including a prequel, sequel, and jukebox musical. It follows the tangled web between a group of rich N.Y.C. teens, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair, and it’s packed with scenes that remain iconic to this day, including the perfect usage of “Bittersweet Symphony” and that kiss between SMG and Selma Blair.
'Edward Scissorhands' (1990)
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Tim Burton's love for monsters and the macabre take the forefront in Edward Scissorhands, which will make you fall for them, too. The creepy quirky comedy follows the journey of a scientist's creation—left unfinished and with scissors for hands after his death—from his eerie castle down to suburbia.
'Elizabeth' (1998)
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All hail Cate Blanchett. This is an absolute tour-de-force performance (Blanchett was only 29 at the time!) of the ascension of Queen Elizabeth. It's got a lot of surprisingly resonant themes: the pressures of a woman to get married, the constant onslaught of men trying to tell her what to do, and a very sexy boyfriend (Joseph Fiennes) who ends up being the worst. She's the 16th-century feminist we love to see on our screens.
'Fargo' (1996)
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The story of a husband (William H. Macy) who hires two criminals ((Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife (Kristin Rudrüd) so he can receive a large ransom from his wealthy father-in-law was unforgettable in 1996. The crime movie that mixed in comedy put the Coen Brothers on the map and won Joel Coen the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival the same year. And for further viewing, the dark comedy also inspired an FX series set in the same world.
'Fight Club' (1999)
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The first rule of Fight Club is don't talk about Fight Club. But we're going to anyway: The unnamed protagonist, played by Edward Norton, is dissatisfied with his white-collar job, so he does what anyone in his position would and starts a “fight club” for men who want to beat each other up recreationally. There's a major twist that shook original audiences, who found the film to be polarizing, but now audiences see it as the smart meditation on toxic masculinity that it is.
'Forrest Gump' (1995)
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This now-classic 1995 Best Picture winner takes audiences through the life of its titular character, the lovable—though slow—Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks). He runs across the country several times, meets Richard Nixon, serves in Vietnam, and teaches Elvis Presley to dance. As he says, "Life is like a box of chocolates."
'Good Will Hunting' (1998)
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20-year-old Will Hunting (Matt Damon) punches a police officer, is allowed deferred prosecution, and seeks therapy and mathematics tutoring from a renowned professor (Robin Williams). Ben Affleck and Matt Damon wrote the film together and won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. How do you like them apples?
'Goodfellas' (1990)
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It's the mob movies of all mob movies based on Nicolas Pileggi's best-selling novel Wiseguy about Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and his rise and fall as a mobster in New York in the '60s and '70s without glorifying the violent behavior the occupation is known for. The six-time Oscar-nominated movie from Martin Scorsese may have debuted in 1990, but cinephiles haven't stopped talking about it since.
'Jerry Maguire' (1996)
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Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Reené Zelleweger showed us the money in this instant classic from legendary journalist Cameron Crowe. The film is about a successful sports agent who has an epiphany and decides to start all over, and it took Crowe five years to write. The time was well spent since it earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay at the 1997 Academy Awards.
'The Joy Luck Club' (1993)
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Based on the bestselling 1989 novel written by Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club is a tear-jerker tale between four first-generation Chinese-American women and their mothers. It was the first American film to feature an all-Asian cast, which wouldn't be seen again until the release of Crazy Rich Asians in 2018. Bring lots of tissues and get ready to call your mom when the credits roll.
'Kids' (1995)
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Kids is both a time capsule and a timeless story about youthful hedonism and what happens to children when left to their own devices. Directed by Larry Clark in his debut feature and written by Harmony Korine—then just 18 and revising the script, which was also largely improvised, throughout the production—it follows a group of rabble-rousing Manhattanite teenagers through a single day in New York City. Filmed like a documentary, despite being a feature, it shocked audiences in the ‘90s to see privileged, young people up to no good, but it remains a raw depiction of the throes of adolescence.
'L.A. Confidential' (1997)
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ICYMI, crime and buddy-cop movies were a thing in the '80s and '90s, and L.A. Confidential is one of the most notable from the period. Set in corrupt 1950s L.A., this drama follows three cops, each with their motives, as they investigate a murder that turns out to be much closer to them than they suspected. It's a dark film filled with twists, mystery, and even some humor thrown in.
'Pulp Fiction' (1994)
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This 1994 black comedy featuring several interwoven stories of characters involved in a world of crime and violence cemented Quentin Tarantino's popularity. Pulp Fiction is self-referential, out of chronological order, and entirely iconic. It stars John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, and Bruce Willis, and was nominated for seven Oscars.
'Saving Private Ryan' (1998)
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Sure, there had been war films before Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, but none were nearly as gripping as it was humanist. When Private James Ryan (Matt Damon) is caught behind enemy lines in WW2, Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) and his squad embark on a mission to save him, as he's the last living son from the Ryan family who hasn't been lost to the war. Each young man on the mission undergoes a personal journey in the process. Mixed with heart-pounding action scenes touching emotion, Spielberg serves up a masterpiece.
'Schindler's List' (1993)
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Schindler's List is based on the true story of industrialist Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who, with the help of his wife (Caroline Goodall), saved more than 1,200 Jews by employing them in his factories during World War II. It earned Steven Spielberg his first Oscar win for Best Director and would take home six other Academy Awards.
'Selena' (1997)
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Jennifer Lopez's breakout on-screen role was to play the Tejano music star Selena Quintanilla-Pérez in a biopic about her life and tragic death at 23. The songs are gorgeous, the performance is heartfelt, and the story is important and resonant. For weeks afterward, you'll find yourself singing "Dreaming of You" at the top of your lungs.
'Shawshank Redemption' (1994)
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Stephen King's 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption finally saw the big screen in this Oscar-nominated story of two inmates serving a life sentence at one of the country's harshest prisons, documenting their tight-knit relationship over many years. It's longer than most films, and devastating in its themes, but you'll treasure every minute.
'Thelma and Louise' (1991)
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It's hard to understate the influence of Ridley Scott's thrilling adventure of two best friends on the run. The bond Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon share as the titular Thelma and Louise is nothing short of perfection and illustrates what women can do (and have always been doing) without the over-looming guidance of men.
'The Truman Show' (1998)
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Hundreds of tiny cameras have been watching Truman Burbank's (Jim Carrey) every move for close to 30 years as a part of an extreme 24/7 reality show called The Truman Show. Although, he's unaware that he's the main character of this real-but-fictional world—until he finds out the hard way.
‘The Virgin Suicides’ (1999)
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Based on the novel of the same name by Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides marks not only Sofia Coppola’s directorial debut but also the start of her long-running collaboration with Kirsten Dunst. The film tells the story of five sisters—the daughters of overprotective, very religious parents—whose mysterious and dramatic deaths in 1975 still haunt the now-grown-up neighborhood boys who had spent the months before the tragedies watching and falling in love with the girls from across the street. Widely praised for its depiction of adolescent angst, this dark tale of melancholy and mystery will surely haunt you for a long time, too.
Best Comedies of the '90s
'American Pie' (1999)
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Vulgar, insensitive, and yet oddly endearing, American Pie ushered in a whole new level of teen comedies when it explored the difference between how young women and young men view sex in the 1990s. While not all of its cinematic progeny are winners (the world would have been OK without Van Wilder), it was groundbreaking at the time and still gets some hearty laughs today.
'Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery' (1997)
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Mike Meyers's goofy send-up of the secret agent genre is still quoted over 20 years on, and for good reason: It's extremely funny. Packed with stars and memorable characters, it's one of those satires that is so brilliant that it ends up making the secret agent movies that came after it look sillier by comparison.
'The Big Lebowski' (1998)
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The Coen Brothers could have had no idea the impact their strange film The Big Lebowski would have had when it came out in 1998. A slacker-y gentleman (Jeff Bridges) gets mixed up in a case of mistaken identity with a rich guy and his petulant young bride, and then has to go to war with some nihilists alongside his bowling buddies in down-and-out L.A.? Actually, yeah that’s pretty much what happens. Other stuff too, but if you’ve never seen it, you ought to watch and figure out what everyone’s been quoting for the last 20 years. The Dude abides.
'The Birdcage'
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Robin Williams plays a gay cabaret owner in Miami who convinces his drag queen partner (played by Nathan Lane) to pose as a woman when their son announces he's engaged to the daughter of a conservative senator. It's funny, warm, and (while it probably wouldn't be made quite this way nowadays, given that it has mostly straight actors playing gay characters) surprisingly progressive for the period, showing that there's no one way a loving family has to look.
'Dazed and Confused' (1993)
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Richard Linklater struck solid gold with Dazed and Confused: An ensemble comedy that was simultaneously goofy, nostalgic, and weirdly heartwarming at the same time. It’s about the last day of school for a 1970s Austin high school—and all the weird politics and sexual escapades that go into it. It’s a classic and filled with some of your favorite actors (hey Matthew McConaughey and Parker Posey!) doing some weird stuff. Oh, and the soundtrack is killer.
'Death Becomes Her' (1994)
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Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Isabella Rosselli, and Bruce Willis—need we say more? The fantastical satire about two women (Streep, Hawn) who have a years-long rivalry over the same man (Willis) and take a potion promising eternal youth is an all-out romp. It helped make headway for more roles for women over 30 upon its release and has since been embraced by the LGBTQ+ community for its campiness, so pour back this magic concoction of a film and have fun.
'Drop Dead Gorgeous' (1999)
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It’s hard to believe how many then-up-and-comers, who went on to be icons in their own right, and comedy legends filled out this cast—from Kirsten Dunst and Amy Adams to Kristie Alley and Allison Janney. Styled as a mockumentary, it depicts a beauty pageant in a small Minnesota town that goes awry when someone starts killing off the contestants. Every character is hysterical and the midwestern accents are a treat; it’s truly a killer comedy.
'Election' (1999)
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If you think Reese Witherspoon is an overachiever now, wait ’til you see her as Tracy Flick. A young Witherspoon plays high school junior Flick, who’s running for student government president in an unopposed race—until social studies teacher Jim McAllister (played by Matthew Broderick), no great fan of the overeager student, convinces a popular football player to run against her. The result? A spot-on satire of both high school and real-world politics and the murky morality underneath it all.
'Empire Records' (1995)
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So quintessentially '90s you'll be in awe, Empire Records had a little bit of everything that made the era great (and, well, not so great). There's killer music, breakout performances from before-you-knew-them stars (hey, Renee Zellweger!), and impeccable fashion that looks new again nearly 30 years on. Who cares that this movie has like 10 plots? Immerse yourself in the nostalgia.
'Friday' (1995)
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Recently unemployed Craig (Ice Cube) finds himself in a bind when he and his buddy Smokey (Chris Tucker) have to come up with $200 in one day. Nearly 30 years later, this film will make you laugh until your stomach hurts.
'Galaxy Quest' (1999)
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This comedy follows the former cast members of a Star Trek-esque space opera (including Sigourney Weaver, Tim Allen, and Alan Rickman) who get beamed onto an actual spaceship when aliens mistake their sci-fi show for a documentary. The cult classic is hilarious and action-packed, with a heart-warming storyline hiding underneath the satire.
'Groundhog Day' (1993)
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If you're ever looking for a hilarious comedy that doubles as a 101-minute thought experiment in philosophy, well, there's honestly only one movie to turn to, and that's Groundhog Day (1993). The film follows a curmudgeon-y weatherman (Bill Murray) as he's inexplicably caught in a time loop that forces him to live the same day over and over (and over) again for years on end.
'Home Alone' (1990)
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Chris Columbus directs the outrageous movie of Kevin (Macaulay Culkin), a young boy mistakenly left at home—eating whatever he wants, contending with burglars—as his family flies to Paris for vacation. It was the highest-grossing live-action comedy film in the United States from its release in 1990 until 2011 (when The Hangover Part II overtook it).
'Mrs. Doubtfire' (1993)
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Robin Williams' character is recently divorced and missing his children, so he dresses up as a female housekeeper, whom he calls Mrs. Doubtfire, to be closer to them. The film—hilariously funny, witty, and iconic—was one of Williams’ greatest successes.
'Romy and Michele's High School Reunion' (1997)
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Former high school losers, unite! In this offbeat, wacky, heartfelt movie, Romy and Michele try not to get bullied at their high school reunion by pretending they invented Post-Its. What starts as a wacky comedy of errors turns into a kind of refreshing take on just letting your true weirdness shine through.
'Rushmore' (1998)
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Rushmore is the first Wes Anderson movie to nail the director’s signature style. Sure, 1996’s Bottle Rocket is fantastic, but today feels like an outlier from Anderson’s later oeuvre. Jason Schwartzman stars as the precocious, ambitious oddball Max, who is friends with a much older played by Bill Murray. The two eventually go head-to-head when a pretty new teacher (Olivia Williams) catches their eyes. The best scene, of course, is near the end when we see the fruits of Max’s playwriting labor in action.
'The Sandlot' (1993)
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The baseball movie of all baseball movies focuses on a group of kids and the adventure-filled summer they shared in 1962. Terrifying dogs, battling neighborhood bullies, treehouse sleepovers, and one crush on a lifeguard awaits!
'Sister Act' (1992)
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This film (and to a lesser extent its sequel) has so many things going for it: a charismatic Whoopi Goldberg performance, gorgeous songs, and hilarious religious hijinks. In the iconic original, lounge singer Deloris is put into witness protection in a run-down San Francisco convent and transforms their choir into an absolute powerhouse.
'Tommy Boy' (1995)
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The '90s to Chris Farley are like peanut butter and jelly. They just go together. When Tommy Boy came out, Farley was finishing up his fifth and final year at Saturday Night Live, and would we miss him. The comedy about a loser son who has to try and take back the family business after his father's death with the help of an accountant (David Spade) is unforgettable. Yes, the movie may not be "critically acclaimed," but it represents the comedies of the decade so well.
'Wayne's World' (1992)
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The much-loved Saturday Night Live skit goes to the big screen in Wayne's World, starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as two slackers hoping to take their late-night cable-access show big. Chock full of oddball jokes and memorable catchphrases, Wayne's World pokes fun at the pop culture of the '90s and will make you laugh while doing so.
'Welcome to the Dollhouse' (1995)
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Growing up sucks—which is something Welcome to the Dollhouse knows all too well, and doesn’t shy away from depicting it so. Todd Solondz’s coming-of-age film was ahead of its time, starring a young Heather Matarazzo as the painfully awkward and unpopular seventh grader Dawn, who will stop at nothing to be accepted by her classmates (or at least kiss a boy). An earnest exploration of how hard it is to face puberty through cringe comedy, it’ll take you right back to middle school in a way you thought you never had to revisit.
Best Rom-Coms of the '90s
'10 Things I Hate About You' (1999)
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A modernized, teenage-drama version of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, 10 Things I Hate About You is about Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who is in love with a girl (Larisa Oleynik) whose father won’t let her date until her older sister, intelligent, surly Kat (Julia Stiles), does. Cameron attempts to convince bad boy Patrick (Heath Ledger) to take Kat out, and the two enter into an angsty, bittersweet romance.
'Clueless' (1995)
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This 1995 modern retelling of Jane Austen's Emma centers on Cher (Alicia Silverstone): a superficial, attractive, wealthy 16-year-old in Beverly Hills. She plays matchmaker for teachers and students alike, gets dressed with an interactive carousel of clothing options, and conducts a makeover on a “tragically unhip” new girl. The movie was hugely influential, even changing the lexicon of the American teenage girl—“As if!”
'Four Weddings and a Funeral' (1994)
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Oh, 1994, what a time to be alive! We were first really introduced to the unbelievably charming Hugh Grant, and nothing was the same. The story of a man who realizes he might have found his soulmate (Andie MacDowell) after running into each other at five different social events is set to make any heart a little bit bigger. We may have come for the love story but stayed for Hugh Grant's hair.
'How Stella Got Her Groove Back' (1998)
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Stella (Angela Bassett), a successful 40-something stockbroker is convinced by her best friend (Whoopi Goldberg) to go on a much-needed beach vacay. While soaking in the sun, she falls for a young islander named Winston (Taye Diggs) and she's forced to reconsider her demanding life back home. This film only proves that Angela Bassett can do no wrong and it's a great watch to escape from reality for two hours.
'Never Been Kissed'(1999)
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Drew Barrymore stars as a reporter going undercover in a local high school to try to redeem the terrible experience she had the first time around. A movie that has the trappings and joy of a rom-com in a plot that gets weirder the more you think about it (and if you want to enjoy it, don't dwell on the questionable relationship Josie has with her English teacher). Despite all that, it weirdly holds up!
‘Notting Hill’ (1999)
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In the 1990s, Julia Roberts was the undisputed queen of the romantic comedy genre, so her role in this 1999 hit as a hugely popular actress desperate for normalcy in her life was a bit on the nose. That doesn’t make it any less enjoyable—if anything, it makes it even more believable that Anna Scott would fall in love with a bumbling bookstore owner (played by Hugh Grant) while on a press tour in London. Notting Hill was the highest-grossing British film of all time for a period; it’s since been knocked well off that pedestal by a spate of other quintessentially British films, including the entire Bridget Jones’s Diary and Paddington series.
'Pretty Woman' (1990)
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The movie that made Julia Roberts a star (and earned her a best actress Oscar nom in 1991). Vivian (Roberts) is a Hollywood sex worker hired as an escort by a wealthy businessman (Richard Gere), and over their week of social events and parties together, the two develop an unlikely love. The film’s script originally detailed the dark landscape of sex work in Los Angeles but turned into a romantic comedy with a huge budget from Disney.
'Shakespeare in Love' (1998)
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The Best Picture Oscar winner in 1999, Shakespeare in Love stars Joseph Fiennes as the Bard himself, fallen on hard times and looking to score a hit with his new play, Romeo and Juliet. Meanwhile, Gwyneth Paltrow stars as a noblewoman with dreams of becoming an actress (at the time, women weren’t allowed to act and female parts were given to younger men in drag). Re-watching it now, this film is surprisingly progressive! It’s also still hot.
'She’s All That' (1999)
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She’s All That might check off every single teen movie trope in one fell swoop: The most popular guy in school makes a bet with his friends to take the outcast girl to prom and, in a completely unpredictable twist, promptly falls in love with her; said outcast girl takes off her glasses and is instantly revealed to be—gasp!—beautiful; dozens of students inexplicably perform a perfectly choreographed dance-off at the prom; and, most importantly, it stars Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook in the lead roles. Need we say more?
'Sleepless in Seattle' (1993)
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Sleepless in Seattle is as much a thinkpiece about romance movies as it is a romance movie itself—and my goodness, it's a classic. The first pairing of '90s rom-com dynamos Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, it's a film about loss, love, and fate—with as many brilliant one-liners as you'd expect from a Rob Reiner and Nora Ephron join.
'You've Got Mail' (1998)
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Following the success of 1993's Sleepless in Seattle, this delightful rom-com reunites Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, two actors who have undeniable chemistry. It's a now-quaint-seeming story of two professional rivals who, unbeknownst to them, meet and fall in love via an online chat room. Written by Nora Ephron, they just don't make movies like this anymore.
Best Scary Movies and Thrillers of the '90s
'The Blair Witch Project' (1999)
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Written, directed, and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, The Blair Witch Project is famously terrifying for its unique—and cheap—method of filming on handheld cameras. The film uses “recovered footage” from three student filmmakers who sought to document the local legend, the “Blair Witch,” and disappear in the process. The film premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival with extreme success.
'The Craft' (1996)
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Things start so well in The Craft: Several teenage girls begin practicing witchcraft to get revenge on their assorted bullies and abusers in a bout of supernatural justice. Of course, it all quickly goes awry, as the girls become too powerful for their own good, and their spells are revealed to have harsher consequences than intended, leading the coven to turn on each other in brutal ways. Their powers are eventually taken away (or are they?), but maybe the real craft was the campy, feminist fun we had along the way.
'Scream' (1996)
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Scream is a horror classic and, when it was released, it turned the genre on its head and went meta before going meta was such a common move. It would go on to have multiple spin-offs and be the go-to Halloween costume for last-minute shoppers everywhere.
'Set It Off' (1996)
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Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Vivica A. Fox, and Kimberly Elise play a group of friends who decide to start robbing banks in this thriller. Beyond being an exciting and moving film, Set It Off is also the movie to watch about working-class Black women's lives in '90s LA, while films like Boyz in the Hood were mostly focusing on men.
'Se7en' (1995)
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It's not necessarily an easy watch, but this David Fincher classic is a tense, well-acted, riveting drama that doubles as a compelling whodunit. The film improves the more you watch it.
'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991)
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Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) is an imprisoned psychiatrist, cannibal, and serial killer, whose insight and advice FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) seeks for a new case. The psychological thriller is creepy AF, but the movie is good. The Silence of the Lambs is, at this point, the first and only horror film to win Best Picture.
'The Sixth Sense' (1999)
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To this day, the 1999 horror thriller by M. Night Shyamalan remains the be-all-end-all of twist endings. Though the director would never again have the monocultural filmmaking clout that he had in the wake of this film, this movie was everywhere for an entire year and is still referenced today.
'The Talented Mr. Ripley' (1999)
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The dark themes in the movie (a poor man ingratiates himself into a rich man's social circle, becomes obsessed, and—spoiler alert—murders the guy) are offset by the fact that the movie is just so stylish and sexy. The setting and the lavish lifestyle of the young and wealthy, combined with the gorgeous actors swanning around in linen, make this film just as beautiful as it is macabre.
Best Action Movies of the '90s
'The Fifth Element' (1997)
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Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich star in this wacky sci-fi odyssey about a futuristic cab driver and the super-smart alien he takes possession of in the 23rd century. Directed by Luc Besson, the vivid and bleakly believable (though not totally dystopian) imaginings about the human race's distant future are wildly engaging, and the film's overall strangeness has made it something of a classic.
'Heat' (1995)
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Michael Mann’s Heat is a class act in action-crime filmmaker and performance. Icons Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro go head-to-head as LAPD detective and career criminal—marking their first time acting opposite one another. It’s a sleek and riveting thriller that’s hot the entire way through.
'Jumanji' (1995)
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Long before every popular toy started getting its movie deal, Jumanji shook an entire generation of ‘90s kids to our cores by telling the wild story of a board game with very intense consequences—including the possibility of getting sucked into a jungle for 26 years. It stars Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt, and a young Kirsten Dunst, and it may or may not make you very wary of all future game night invites.
'Jurassic Park' (1993)
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Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg, was hailed for its mix of practical effects and groundbreaking computer-generated imagery. But beyond that, with its classic score, memorable sequences of dinosaurs running across fields, and the way Laura Dern exudes sheer wonderment, it's the kind of blockbuster that embodies movie magic. For some time, before the release of Titanic, it was also the highest-grossing film of all time, and has since spawned various sequels.
'The Matrix' (1999)
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In this dystopian future world, people exist in a simulated reality called “The Matrix,” and a select few (Laurence Fishburne, Keanu Reeves) can enter and exit it. From the Wachowski sisters, this iconic sci-fi film has been critically acclaimed for its innovative visual effects and cinematography.
'Men In Black' (1997)
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Think F.B.I but for out-of-this-world monsters. Fortunately for James Edwards (Will Smith) of the N.Y.P.D., they're looking for recruits. Unfortunately for James, he has no idea what he signed up for, but it's up to him and his partner "K" (Tommy Lee Jones) to save the Earth from some super creepy aliens before it's too late.
'Mission: Impossible' (1996)
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There's a reason they turned this into a franchise. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is a secret agent disavowed by his organization after losing his entire team of spies. On the run, he's forced to complete a dangerous mission for an arms dealer. Over-the-top plot aside, it's also an excuse for Cruise to do cool stunts, like hanging from ceilings and the top of trains; this is where that trend all began.
'Point Break' (1991)
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Once you watch Point Break and see Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze as shirtless surfers in Southern California, you'll thank us. It's a wild premise—about an undercover FBI agent solving recent burglaries in the SoCal area—but it's a true blast and an exciting, early work from Kathryn Bigelow. Just ride the wave and enjoy.
'Princess Mononoke' (1997)
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An animated film from Studio Ghibli, this is the story of a world in which gods and humans live in harmony—until they don’t. It follows a boy named Ash*taka who is bitten by a demon and goes in search of a deer-god, leading him on an adventure in which he meets the companion to the wolf-gods, Princess Mononoke. It remains one of the top-grossing anime movies, and is a beautiful allegory for protecting the planet in the face of climate change.
'Speed' (1994)
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The gist of this movie is simple: Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock are trapped on a bus loaded with explosives that will blow up if it drops below 50 miles per hour. This film is a technical feat with impressive camera work and mind-boggling stunts and will have you on the edge of your seat for the entire runtime. Plus, the chemistry between Reeves and Bullock is made all the better knowing they were secretly crushing on each other during filming.
'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' (1991)
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Rarely is a sequel more beloved than the original, but T2 is a classic of the action and science fiction genres. Not only were the special effects mind-blowing in 1991 (and still pretty good today), but Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor will go down in history as one of the most badass women in all of film.
Best Family Movies of the '90s
'Beauty and the Beast' (1991)
(Image credit: Walt Disney Pictures)
Beauty and the Beast was one of those movies many '90s kids had on repeat. With its musical numbers and enchanting romance, this film captures the magic of Disney with its story as "old as time." Fun fact: Beauty and the Beast is the first animated film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
‘Hocus Pocus’ (1993)
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Listen up, sistahhhs! If you’re looking to harness that nostalgic feeling of spooky seasons past, look no further than this childhood classic. You don’t have to wait until Halloween to recapture the magic of the Sanderson sisters—played to witchy perfection by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy—but beware: They just might put a spell on you.
'Hook' (1991)
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Steven Spielberg has a knack for getting us right in the feelings, and Hook is a masterclass. Robin Williams stars as a grown-up Peter Pan who has forgotten his role as the leader of the Lost Boys in Never Never Land and grown into his role as a well-to-do lawyer. But when his kids get kidnapped by Captain Hook, he has to sprinkle on some fairy dust and rescue them. Sweet, charming, tear-jerkingly moving? Check, check, and check.
'The Lion King' (1994)
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The Lion King represents the peak of the Disney Renaissance and set box office records worldwide on its release. A clever retelling of Hamlet, the movie has as much drama and heart as its 2019 live-action film.
'The Nightmare Before Christmas' (1993)
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Tim Burton's claymation classic has stirred debate mainly for one central question it never satisfyingly answers: Is this a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie? Why not call it both and sit back, relax, and enjoy the gorgeous animation, thoughtful plot, and extremely catchy songs of this animated beauty?
'The Parent Trap' (1998)
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Identical twins Annie and Hallie (Lindsay Lohan) never knew the other existed until they crossed paths at summer camp. The only logical response? Trade places so they can meet their other parent for the first time while getting the 'rents back together. We're forever thankful to director Nancy Meyers for casting Dennis Quaid as their father.
'Space Jam' (1996)
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Space Jam, starring Michael Jordan and several animated Looney Tunes characters, suggests an alternate history of Michael Jordan’s life between his retirement from basketball in 1993 and his 1995 comeback. The film features Jordan’s interactions with Bugs Bunny, several aliens, an amusem*nt park, and a new love interest for Bugs.
'Toy Story' (1995)
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The first-ever full-length Pixar tale changed the game for animated movies. The 1995 film, which told the story of what toys do when we leave the room (spoiler: come to life and exist in their complex society), was groundbreaking and spawned several sequels.
